414 Days.

A/N: I've written this one shot based on the 413 days episode which I LOVE! I loved it in the subbed version and fangirled like never before after watching the dubbed version last night! Here is my version of the following day. 414. Enjoy!

Gray sat slouched at the bar, his chin resting in his hand as he stared away into nothingness, yesterday had been a bad day, it had been the anniversary of Ur's death, the day she laid her life down for him, the third person he had lost in his young life. Ur wasn't just his teacher or his mentor; she was a second mother to him. She had cared for both him and Lyon, taking them under her wing, the pair of them always causing trouble and getting into fights. The ice-maker magic had been hard and demanding to learn at first – they had to become one with the element, no matter how naked they had to be. After their first 'naked' training session both Gray and Lyon had been absolutely frozen to their cores, their soft skin feeling beaten and raw from the constant nip of the cold snowy mountain air, that was when Ur had given them her scarf to keep the two of them warm – and it had. The thought of the scarf brought the grumpy icemage to Juvia, his thoughts had been on her a lot lately and if they weren't taking missions together then they were doing something be it eating, talking or going out for a walk around town. He sighed at the memory of the dejected watermage sat on the floor in anguish at his rejection of her gift. Their 413th day anniversary. The idea was ridiculous but her gesture had touched him. When she first mentioned it was an anniversary he thought that she somehow knew about Ur's death but upon realising its true origin he had grown cold, how could a day like that be considered happy? She wasn't to know which was why he had politely walked away just wanting to be left alone as the snow began to fall. After a while of wandering the snow covered streets wallowing in self loathing, looking back on all his memories with Ur, the memory of the scarf she had given him and Lyon had weaved into his mind making him feel guilty for how he had treated Juvia as he had frantically made his way back to where he had left her a crumpled heap on the floor as fast as he could, he shouldn't have been so icy towards her. When he had found the scarf he promptly put it on feeling the instant warmth the hand knitted item gave him revelling in it as he walked back to his apartment.

"Yo! Earth to Gray!" Gray was jolted out his thoughts by a loud bang on the surface of the bar. It was Cana. Gray slowly turned to Cana, her gaze fierce. "You've been gazing at the same spot for hours now!" Gray looked puzzled at the card mage. Hours? Had he really been in thought that long? He gazed up to the old clock it was almost 2pm. Crap! Hours really had flown by, he took a quick glance of the room but Juvia was nowhere to been seen. "You missing Juvia?" The cardmage asked winking at him before chugging away at her sake barrel.

"What on earth gave you that idea?!" Gray shouted defensively as he stood up, a vein popping on his head as a small barely noticeable blush framed his cheeks.

"Are you okay Gray?" A soft voice floated over to him from behind the bar. "You didn't stop by the guild yesterday, Juvia was looking for you." Mira smiled at him, Grays expression turned downcast at her name his heart sinking, he still felt guilty, he needed to apologise to her.

"Yeah I bumped into her." Gray replied grumpily.

"Hmmm it is strange that she isn't here yet, she's normally an early riser." Mira thought out loud pinching her chin. Her gaze fell to Gray turning from innocent to murderous. "You wouldn't know anything about this would you Gray?" Mira was damn scary when she got angry her face rivalled that of Erzas.

"I…uh…err…" Gray sweatdropped panicking. If I tell her truth she'll have my guts, if I lie and she finds out the truth another way I'm a dead man! Mira continued to give Gray a look of scrutiny as Lisanna came over to the trio.

"Hey, if you're wondering about Juvia…" Crap, crap, crap! Gray thought. "I passed by her room half an hour ago and she was sound asleep, she didn't come back until late last night." Miras face was now one of complete confusion, the transformation mage didn't know whether that meant things had gone well with Gray or bad, but before she could question him further he was already retreating out the guild looking sheepish. Bad. She thought. Things must've gone bad.

Gray breathed a sigh of relief as he walked out the guild stuffing his hands deeper into his warm black leather jacket as the rain began to fall. The icemage gazed up into the deep gray sky feeling the patter of the cold raindrops on his face as they fell from the heavens. Juvia was sad, he was sure this was her doing. Kicking a stone down the path he headed towards town. 413 days he thought smiling to himself.

Juvia awoke from her sleep with a thick haze, she felt awful, like she had been hit by a train. She was exhausted emotionally and her bones ached from the bitter cold that she had subjected them to the night before. As she made her way to the bathroom she tried to feel positive, today was a new day, a different day, and like Erza said each day is what you make of it. However as the watermage reached the mirror and saw her reflection she knew that today wasn't going to be a good day. Deep dark circles lined the underneath her blue eyes accentuated by her taught pale skin which somehow impossibly seemed paler, she sighed through her half closed lids as she ran a bath hoping to soak her worries away.

The room was full of steam and water vapour as the weary watermage sat in her deep oval bathtub, her knees drawn up into her chest as she drew patterns in the water with her index finger. Juvia was so selfish. Juvia should have known what yesterday meant to Gray-sama…A few tears trickled down her cheeks, she hadn't meant to hurt him but she had. Sighing for the umpteenth time that afternoon, deciding that the bath was not helping her thoughts just clouding them over even more, Juvia got up, dried and dressed deciding that a walk in the fresh air might centre her thoughts and quell her depressive mood, she had to give Gray-sama some space. Juvia placed her hat on her head as she walked down the corridor of Fairy Hills to the outside. The air still had the bitter edge to it that it had had the night before and the whole landscape was covered in white snow, the town looked beautiful, like something off a postcard or a Christmas card. The wooden beams and porches on the towns houses were snow topped and the lights inside them gave off a warm feeling, but not warm enough to melt the cold heaviness that ladened Juvias heart weighing her down. Everyone was allowed off days weren't they? The rain fell down from the overcast sky, it had been raining ever since Juvia had awoken, the rain was her doing. The watermage bit her bottom lip as she trudged through the snowy streets towards the edges of the town; she was half tempted to put up her pink heart umbrella but didn't want any attention drawn to her. Not today. Today she wanted to blend in like a piece of the scenery.

Gray had stopped by (broken into) Fairy Hills to learn that Juvia was in fact no longer there. If anyone had caught him sneaking in through an open window (he got that trick off Natsu) he dreaded to think of the consequences, the thought of Erza, Mira, Cana and heck even Evergreen reprimanding him scared the bejeezus out of him. The icemage had passed back by the guild peering in to see if maybe Juvia had gone there but she hadn't, Gray now found himself bustling through the surprisingly busy streets in and out of shops hoping to 'accidentally' bump into her, but he had no luck, it was like she had literally vanished from Magnolia. Guilt gripped his heart hard, what if he had driven her away completely? What if she had left Magnolia? Left Fairy Tail? His thoughts had him feeling more and more desperate to find her, there was one more shop left to check out. Quickening his pace he made his way to the little shop through the pale dirty slush which now lined the cobbled streets, the rain hadn't let up all afternoon. As Gray entered the shop he was greeted by a brilliant warmth from the heater, he knew he didn't really feel the cold anymore but this rain was cold on a whole other level to the rain they usually had here. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light in the musty little shop Gray found himself immersed in the little trinkets and items the shop had to offer, he had never been in this shop before, even though he wasn't one to judge a book by its cover the general run down-ness of its outside appearance compared to all the other booming brightly lit shops around it had always subconsciously deterred him. As he gaze grazed over the odds and ends, tracing his finger over some of them his gaze stopped on one particular piece his heart quickening. It was perfect. Gray purchased it and left the shop, it was dark now and the street lamps had all come on giving what was left of the white snow a yellow tinge making it glisten in the light.

Juvia stood on the old little wooden bridge her fingers pressed in the damp railings watching the rain fall into the river below her, the ripples varying in size as big and small drops plummeted into the murky depths. The wind blew, whistling and ruffling the trees, the sound of the leaves rustling against its tyranny filling Juvias ears as she shivered into her navy dresscoat her exposed thighs burning in the cold icy air, she had no idea how much or little time had passed still in the same hazy daze like state she had been in when she woke up, her lids still half closed, her eyes that were normally so deep were now dull and shallow, murky like the river beneath her feet. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would face Gray-sama, be it to apologise or be ignored. She had to tell him she was sorry

"Juvia…" Gray spoke, he had been observing the watermage as he had approached her he couldn't believe she was this far out of town this late into the evening on her own, he had also never seen anyone look so lost and down beaten. Her head had lifted slightly at the sound of her name but she didn't turn in his direction as he kept walking closer and closer. "Juvia." He said again this time more confidently when he was mere inches from her. The blunette snapped her attention straight to him turning so she faced him fully as the beautiful blue waves blew about in the freezing air. Gray studied her features, she looked tired, very tired, her eyes that were always so full of life were now hazy and lifeless, they were lined with dark circles as she looked at him (more like through him) through half open lids. She was lost in a depressive world of her own, if her fantasies were anything to go by then the prison of depression that her mind must have concocted would be deadly poison. He reached for her gently tilting her chin up to face his gaze before dropping his hand back deep into his jacket pockets as her eyes grew wide in realisation.

"Gray-sama..." Her voice was barely a whisper as the fog in her eyes faded her mind scrambling as it desperately tried to string a sentence, an apology together. "Juvi….Juvia is…." Her cheeks flushed pink and hot fresh tears leaked out the corner of her eyes down her cheeks. "Juvia is so sorry Gray-sama!" She bowed her head to him.

"Uh, no. I'm the one who should be sorry. I was a jerk." He scratched the back of his head as the woman that was bowed down in front of him sobbed.

"But Juvia should've known! She was selfish! She tried to make the saddest day of Gray-samas life happy!" She looked him in the eyes and he was sure that he could see her heart bleeding out through them. He felt awful.

"How were you supposed to know? I never told you what day she died." He looked away feeling uncomfortable.

"But Juvia…" She stammered her eyes pooling with emotion as she peered up at him through her lashes.

"You cherish every day Juvia, each and every day." He looked back to her his gaze boring into hers making Juivas heart flutter. "You always see the good in everything. Even me." He paused not knowing where to go with his words next.

"So… Gray-sama isn't mad at Juvia?" She questioned, her voice hopeful as she straightened up the wind blowing between them.

"What…. No… Why?" He stared at her astounded, why would he be mad at her? It was his fault Ur was dead.

"Juvia is forgiven?" She pushed her question again not completely satisfied with his answer.

"There is nothing to forgive Juvia." He sighed seeing her eyes fill with happiness once more as a smile grew on her lips, he could practically feel the positive energy emanating off of her, a smile playing at the edge of his mouth too as he pushed his hand into the pocket of his navy jeans feeling a little pouch there. "413 days wasn't it?" He smirked seeing her face brighten even more as the rain stopped its descent. "I don't wanna make this a thing but…." He pulled the little red draw string bag out. "Here's to 414." Juvias face was a mixture of confusion and elation at the same time which doing funny things to Grays blood pressure as she took the velvet pouch from him speechlessly.

"Oh Gray-sama!" She squealed as she carefully opened the pouch to find a delicate little silver charm bracelet endowed with a small snowflake and sun charm. "It's perfect." She whispered as Gray fastened it around her wrist as their eyes locked, the two mages blushing at the warmth spreading through them despite the bitter air around them.

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this fic :-D

Please read and review!

CrookedMoonlight