Title: Always
Summary: —"I promise, even if I'm dying. I'll be there for you, always." And Juvia knows he will because it's Lyon that promises it.
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima
Pairing [Prompt]: Lyon Vastia/ Juvia Loxar [Lyvia]
Word Count: 1944, story content only, (does not include line breaks, author's notes, or the small part [53] after: THE END.)
Written for: The NEW Fairy Tail Writing Challenges— Challenge #1
Juvia is used to waiting.
She has waited seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. She has waited for things that never come. She has waited for things worth waiting for. She has waited for friends and companionship but the thing Juvia has waited the most for is love. She has waited patiently for so long to have love.
Juvia though, is tired of waiting.
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Lyon isn't usually careless.
He is impulsive but he is not careless. That's why even he's surprised when he gets injured on a mission. If his partner hadn't shouted a warning he would've been worse off. The mission hadn't even been dangerous. Their opponent was mediocre at best—Sherri had beaten him with little to no effort. So, why had he gotten injured? Because he'd been distracted. Their opponent noticed it enough to get an easy hit before Sherri incapacitated him. Now, he has a wound on his side and an overly concerned Sherri hovering.
"Lyon-sama, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Head back to the guild on your own," he says waving his concerned friend off.
He is almost proud at the fact that he doesn't wince when he stands up straight to show Sherri that he is fine. He sighs, managing to suppress another wince, at her hesitance to leave him on his own. Even though Sherri had gotten over her infatuation with him she still worried excessively over him.
"Sherri, I'm fine. Besides, you'll be late for your anniversary date with that idiot if you don't leave soon."
"Ah! Lyon-sama is right. I must hurry to meet Ren...for love!" she gasped, waving goodbye as she rushed off.
If there is one thing that always manages to distract Sherri it had to be her husband of three years now. Distractions...
He slumps against a tree when Sherri looks to be out of sight. He can feel his blood slick against his clothing and it is uncomfortable. Just as he is about to inspect his wound more carefully his eyes catch sight of a magenta-colored blur rushing towards him. He stands straight, gritting his teeth against the pain caused by the rapid movement.
"Are you sure you're alright, Lyon-sama?"
"...I have somewhere to be. I'll leave first," he answers curtly, heading off in the direction of Magnolia.
"OKAY! But be careful and don't forget to buy some flowers for love!"
His only response is to lift a hand in acknowledgement. Really, Sherri could be worse than a mother at times. He huffs pressing a palm to his side, his blood had begun to soak through his clothing. He considers changing before going to Magnolia but he is already late as it is without having to make a stop to change his clothing. He could forget about heading to a healer as well, they'd take too long to patch him up. Besides, his wound isn't so bad, the bleeding would stop soon enough. Even though, he is beginning to feel lightheaded it doesn't matter because he has to get to Magnolia.
The only thing that matters is being able to meet her.
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When Juvia reaches her house, the first thing she does is take a shower to clear her mind. She is angry—no, she is livid. She rarely fears anger on this level and it causes the rain outside to fall faster, heavier, harder, and harsher.
She enters the shower with closed eyes. She tries to be calm, to breathe in and breathe out, to feel the warm water of the shower head hitting her soothingly, but all she succeeds in doing is becoming more stressed. Her breathing is hard and her entire body is tense, all she wants to do at the moment is to hit something...or someone. Seeing as how the shower is not help, she washes herself quickly before exiting the bathroom.
A knock on her door startles her. She discards the towel she wrapped around herself for a bathrobe pulling it closed as she rushes towards the door, her anger momentarily forgotten. She trips over herself, hitting her shin against bookshelf and dropping a picture frame. She hastily picks it up, freezing up when she glances at the image. Her fingers tighten around the frame and her eyes narrow at the image. Before she can consider throwing it though, the knocking on her door reminds her that there is someone waiting for her. Juvia can't keep the person waiting.
When she opens the door, the person there is a surprise—not a good surprise either. Juvia looks them up and down slowly before glaring and slamming the door on their face.
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.
It takes him longer than usual to reach Magnolia. Once there he is pelted with rain. He hadn't been expecting it, actually that isn't true. Coming in he'd seen the rain clouds hanging over Magnolia—thick, dark, and heavy with rain clouds. What he hadn't been expecting is the harsh way the rain fell, as if angry.
He pushes his hair back, keeping it out of the way so he can see the road ahead of him. He is just a few feet into Magnolia but he is already soaked to the bone. He coughs suddenly, causing his side even more pain than it is in already. He can't tell if it's stop bleeding either with all the rain. He doesn't think it has stopped yet though, if it had he wouldn't be feeling so lightheaded and his limbs wouldn't be struggling to keep him up right and walking.
He doesn't know how long it takes him to reach his destination, but the next thing he knows he is in front of a familiar door. He lifts his hand to knock, mustering enough strength to not sound pathetic. He listens intently, which takes a lot more concentration than usual, to any sounds on the other side of the door. He hears a slight commotion from inside. He only starts to worry when the door isn't answered after that. He waits for a few minutes before knocking again his arm falling limply to his side afterwards.
He sighs in relief when the door opens, finally. His relief is short lived though when his fiancé looks him up and down with analytical eyes before settling on his face and...glaring!? Wait, his fiancé, his Juvia-chan, is glaring at him?
He opens his mouth to say something but the door is abruptly slammed in his face.
"J-juvia-chan! Please, open the door!" he lifts his hand to knock but a fit of coughs wreaks his chest. He covers his mouth with each harsh cough. He pulls his hand back and catches a glimpse of red. He feels the trickling of blood at the corner of his mouth before he tastes it on his tongue. His wound hadn't been that bad, had it? It hadn't felt that bad. He doesn't think about it for long though, his mind can barely focus. He feels tired. Lyon is so exhausted, he just wants to rest.
He closes his eyelids as his exhaustion consumes him and he blacks out.
.
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.
No matter what, Juvia will not open the door. She will not open the door if he knocks for hours. She will not even open the door if he begs. Lyon had stood her up. He'd done the one thing he'd promised not to do—he'd been like Gray. Gray had strung her along, dodged her love, and avoided giving her an answer for a long time. And then, finally, after all her waiting Gray told her to give up. He hadn't even given her a reason and she couldn't ask him because he'd left for a long, years long, mission.
She'd done as Gray told her though, she'd given up. She gave up pursuing any love. After Gray, it wouldn't feel the same. But then Lyon had been there, pursuing her until she had agreed to date him.
Their first date didn't go smoothly, it had been tense, because all Juvia did was compare him to Gray. She hoped Lyon wouldn't notice but he was intelligent and picked up on it. At the end, he said he wouldn't pursue her any longer. He wasn't Gray and he never would be. He didn't want to be a replacement and he wouldn't stand to be a consolation prize.
It took Juvia a week for his words to set in and when they did, she was irritated. Juvia was not stupid, she knew Lyon wasn't Gray, no one could replace Gray, and she wasn't looking for a consolation prize! So, she went to Lyon's home and told him all of this and more. She told him that if they dated he could not be like Gray. He couldn't string her along and he couldn't keep her waiting. He had promised to not keep her waiting. They dated for two years before Lyon proposed and she accepted. She had been so happy.
She isn't happy now though. Lyon had stood her up on a date he had set up himself. He had had kept her waiting. Usually, it wouldn't make her angry but she'd waited for half a day for him to show up. That is why, no matter what, Juvia will not open the door.
"J-juvia-chan! Please, open the door!"
Her only response is to cross her arms, sniff haughtily and look away from the door, nose in the air. Though, she doesn't hold that pose for long because she hears Lyon coughing harshly. He sounds like he is dying...but still! She will not open that door—not unless he collapsed—
She presses her ear against the door when she hears a thud! She opens the door slowly to find Lyon collapsed on her doorstep. It is safe to say that Juvia reacted accordingly by panicking.
"JUVIA IS SORRY! She meant she'd only open the door if Lyon collapsed on his knees begging! Not if he actually collapsed!" she wails shaking her fiancée by the shoulders.
Seeing as Lyon doesn't wake with this, she picks him up bridal style, carries him inside, and lays him on her bed, before rushing off to find the nearest healer.
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When Lyon wakes up, he is in a bed he recognizes immediately. What he doesn't recognize is why he's in it. The last he'd been aware of is being on Juvia's doorstep. He sits up, only to lay back down when his wound protests with pain. He presses a palm to it and finds it bandaged.
"You're awake!"
"Juvia!" he says, sitting up quickly. He groans, holding his side in pain.
"Lyon should lie down. His wounds have not healed completely."
Her voice is soft and he feels like he hasn't heard it in so long. She grasps his shoulders and pushes him back down gently. Even if it's a little, her touch makes his heart beat faster. Juvia's hands have always been soft and her touches gentle. His hand shoots out to grab hers when she makes a move to leave. He speaks before she can.
"I didn't stand you up. I don't want to give you excuses, you don't deserve that, and I don't have any. I promise you though, that I didn't stand you up," he murmurs, pulling her hand towards his lips and kissing the inside of her wrist.
He watches her eyes widen before softening.
"Juvia knows that already. Because Lyon came even though he was injured."
He can't help but smirk, "Of course, I'll always come to your side."
"Always?"
"I promise, even if I'm dying. I'll be there for you, always."
And Juvia knows he will because it's Lyon that promises it.
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THE END.
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"I almost forgot!"
"What?"
"This..." he says, bringing his hands together to use his ice-make magic "is for you."
She takes the ice flower he holds in his hands, "Won't it melt?"
"Never. Just like my love for Juvia will never disappear neither will this—JUVIA! Where are you going? Don't ignore me!"
EndNote1: I scrapped like 4 or 5 ideas before settling on this one. So, I don't know what to feel about this piece. /sobs
EndNote2: Sorry, if Lyon and Juvia seem OOC and if the dialogue sucked, I'm trying to improve on both these aspects (characterization and dialogue).