Disclaimer: "Fairy Tail" and "Free!" don't belong to me but to their respective authors.

A/N: This fanfic was also posted on Nyah, in portuguese. Beta-ed by the beeeautiful BonneyQ. The art of the cover was made by johannathemad, on Tumblr.

Song: "Never let me go" — Florence + The Machine

In the arms of the ocean

…

"Nee, Haru-sama... Do you love Juvia?"

Her voice echoed through the night. The only sound that can be listened was their breathing rhythmic, while their bodies rested side by side on the floor outside the pool.

Haruka turned to look at her face, his brow furrowing slightly at the sudden question. Juvia looked at the starry sky, her lips parted. Her wet, blue hair, scattered in the cold ground, was mingled with his black locks that were so close. She didn't wear any piece of clothing because there was no need; the water was her eternal full costume.

"Love?" He murmured, and she rolled her head to the left, looking him in the eyes. Unlike the woman by his side, Haruka was wearing his usual swimming shorts, and stared her with curiosity. Juvia nodded, a smile welling in the corner of her lips.

Haru turned to stare at the sky, thinking about the answer to that question. After a few minutes, he turned to stare at her; his cobalt eyes lost in the darkness of the orbs that only she possessed.

Love.

A strong word, for a feeling even stronger. He knew what that meant, but... He has ever felt that? If he loved swimming and being in the water, then he loved Juvia?

He closed his eyes for a moment, searching inside himself for the answer. After a deep breath, opened them again.

"I love the water."

Juvia's face turned slightly to look at him, and outlining a small smile, she sat with her feet touching the pool water.

"I am the water." She looked at him with intensity, as if to drown him. "Is that a yes?"

The answer came to the tip of his tongue, but was lost somewhere in his mind. Nanase Haruka wasn't the type of person who thought about these things, and sometimes he wondered why even tried to answer her, but it wasn't like he could ignore that woman.

Juvia, then, slid her body into the water, with a sly smile on her face, and disappeared. Haruka sat down and looked at the bottom of the pool with a stoic expression, while searching her in vain.

"I know you're there." He said low, as if telling a secret. After a few seconds of silence, let out a resigned sigh and entered the pool, too, diving altogether.

Haru knew when Juvia was around. She, somehow, flooded everything around her with a force he couldn't put into words. She filled him without choke him, was his tsunami, and also his lifeguard. And the water was very different when it was just water, and not Juvia; lost life itself.

He started swimming, feeling how the liquid welcomed him in a warm way, although it was such a cold night. He swim with his eyes closed, unhurried, just allowing himself slipping on the water, while his mind was blank. Finally, rose to the surface to breath panting, staring now the woman formed in front of him. Juvia seemed to be there for an eternity.

He stepped up to her, as the two stood without saying a word, just staring at each other with intensity, their breaths mingling in the air. Haruka raised his right hand to touch her face, and felt like it was a déjà vu; years before, both had experienced it in the day they met.

Looking up from underneath
Fractured moonlight on the sea
Reflections still look the same to me
As before I went under

Haru could remember perfectly. He was a high school student, when, one night, invaded the school to swim in the pool that was there. It wasn't like it was the first time he did that kind of thing, but the water was different. He couldn't say how, or find some plausible explanation for that feeling, but notice how it seemed alive. Then, upon reaching the surface, he saw her. There, standing before him, was a woman whose body was made entirely of water.

"You…" The young man whispered incredulously. Suddenly, her body began to take human form, and he could see how her pale skin and her blue hair mingled with the pool water, as if it were one "Your body... Who... Who are you?" He asked, unable to take his eyes off her. But the girl, in turn, seemed to become shy, and her cheeks flushed furiously. Before Haru could approach, or do any other question, she turned back into water and disappeared, without replying.

The next night, Haruka returned to the pool of the school, hoping to see her again. He couldn't say for sure if what had happened the night before was real or just a dream, but the fact was that he couldn't take off the girl of his mind, since the fateful meeting. And, touching the cold water, he noticed the same oddity of yore.

'It was real', he thought, dipping then. He swam for a moment, feeling how the water enlaced him in a surreal way, and after some time, put half of his body out of the water, looking around.

"I know you're there." He said, and got no response. "Come here... Please."

Then, after a few seconds of waiting, he saw the woman's body forming in water, becoming completely human in the next minute. She had an expression that Haru couldn't explain, and her eyes were as dark as night sky.

"Who are you?" He finally asked.

"J-Juvia... Juvia Lockser." Replied the girl, raising one hand to place a lock of hair behind her ear. "And… And you?"

"Nanase Haruka." His eyes darted from her face down to the water, which came up to her breasts. "Your Body..."

"Is made of water." Juvia's cheeks flushed a little, noticing how Haruka watched her with curiosity. "Juvia is a water mage."

"Mage?" Haru looked back at her eyes. Juvia just nodded, smiling slightly and approaching him, until she was a few inches away. The stare between them was intense, and a strange sensation ran through their bodies. It was as if they were connected, as if they belonged to each other without even knowing.

Haruka, then, raised his right hand and brought it to Juvia, whose cheeks flushed even more. Seeing as the blue haired girl didn't move away, he touched her cheek lightly, his eyes widening slightly when he noticed that she indeed was real. They stayed like that for long seconds, until Juvia suddenly blinked rapidly and turned away.

"Juvia… Juvia has to go." She spoke hastily, placing both hands on her chest.

"You'll come back tomorrow?"

She looked at him, surprised at the question. That boy wanted to see her again? She lowered her gaze, looking hesitantly for a moment, but then raised her head and smiled a little. With this, she turned completely into water and disappeared, again leaving Haruka without a response.

And it's peaceful in the deep
Cathedral where you cannot breathe
No need to pray, no need to speak
Now I am under all

In the nights that followed, Juvia and Haru continued to meet in the school pool. They don't usually talk much, since Haruka had a reserved personality, and Juvia, for some reason, felt extremely embarrassed to start any conversation. In most cases, they only swam side by side, free, feeling the body of each other.

However, one time, Haruka was surprised to see Juvia against the edge of the pool in her full human form, and with her hands covering her pale face, when he arrived at the school. He approached and entered the water, noting how her shoulders twitched from time to time. She was crying.

"What happened?" He asked when was close enough, and Juvia raised her red face, looking at him. She seemed a little surprised by his presence.

"Juvia is sad..." She murmured, letting out a heavy sigh and looking to the water. "She... She loves a man who doesn't love her back..." Her voice was ragged, and some tears flowed through her face. "It hurts so much... So much..." And sank her face in her hands again, crying. Then, suddenly, she felt a warm hand touching her right shoulder, and looked back at Haruka, astonished.

"Don't cry." He said quietly, almost like a whisper.

Juvia looked at him for a few seconds, unable to utter a word. So, before Haru could pull away or something, she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly and burying her head on the crook of his neck.

Haru couldn't tell what it was that warm feeling welling up in his chest, but decided he didn't like to see her crying, and, for a reason unknown until then, felt an urgency to protect her, to care of her. He hugged her awkwardly, giving light pats on her back. They stayed like that for several minutes, until Juvia finally stopped crying and moved away.

"Thank you, Haru-sama. Thanks for comfort Juvia. You are truly a good person." And smiled, wiping away a few tears that still insisted on going down, with the back of her hand. Seeing her smiling like that, Haru felt a twinge in his stomach, and his heart seemed to beat a little faster. He felt dazed by the beauty that the woman before him had.

And it's breaking over me
A thousand miles onto the sea bed
I found the place to rest my head...

After that day, things have changed a lot between them. They began to talk more — in fact, who always spoke was her, but for the first time, Haru didn't care with this — and Juvia told him about the magical world in which she lived, about guilds and missions that could last even one hundred years, among many other things. Although it seemed too surreal to Haruka, when the girl began to speak, her face lit up, and he couldn't help but let himself smile too, even though almost imperceptibly. Once, he asked how she had gotten there, and Juvia simply replied that she didn't know; in a moment, she was swimming in the pool of Fairy Tail, and then, she flowed, reaching Haru.

So time passed, and the moments they spent together became months. On one occasion, however, the boy didn't enter the water. Instead, crouched on the edge of the pool, fully clothed, with a serious expression. Juvia rested her arms on the ground and stared at him. She looked like a real mermaid, he thought.

"Tomorrow is my graduation."

Juvia widened her eyes in surprise. She knew what that meant.

"It's like a long mission, isn't it?" She spoke, staring at the edge of the pool.

"Yes... The university where I'm going is in another city." He said, and she pressed her hands, without looking at him. "I will not be able to return here."

"Juvia understands... It's okay, she had expected this." She began, her voice seeming to be cracking. "J-Juvia will take a long mission, too, and..."

"I don't want stop to see you, Juvia."

She climbed up her eyes to look at him. It was the first time he called her by name, since was always Juvia who wondered or started any conversation, and he just answered. Hear him say her name, in the silence of the night, made her heart beat so fast that she thought it would come out through the mouth. She smiled sweetly, and after a few seconds of hesitation, put both hands on the edge, and pushed her body up, out of the water. Haruka stood up, watching as the woman left the pool, and began to approach him. It was the first time he saw her completely out of the water, and couldn't stop the blush that was spreading his cheeks and ears. Her slender and totally naked body shined in the moonlight, while the long blue hair adorned her face, as a perfect frame.

Juvia stopped inches away from the dark haired man, looking at him from beneath her long black lashes, hers orbs laden with mystery.

"Will you come back in the summer?" She murmured, and Haru just nodded, unable to take his eyes off of her. Juvia smiled. "So, when summer comes, Juvia will become the sea, and she and Haru-sama can swim together again, in the ocean." She said and approached even closer, standing on tiptoes and lightly brushing her lips on his. "That's our promise, right?" She whispered, and gave him a quick kiss, then pulling away. When she was a few feet from him, grinned. "Don't forget our promise, Haru-sama!" And with only a nod, plunged into the pool, disappearing.

Haruka touched his lips with his fingertips, still feeling the taste she had left in his mouth. That had been his first kiss.

Though the pressure's hard to take
It's the only way I can escape
It seems a heavy choice to make
But now I am under all

Months passed, and at last, summer has arrived. Haru returned to his hometown, and the first thing that came to his mind was the promise he had made with Juvia. Does she still remember? She will be there when he showed up? These questions didn't come out of Haru's head. When the sun was setting, he went to the beach and plunged into the sea, longing to find her. He swam a bit, hoping that the water transmitted a different feeling, but everything looked the same. Then, looking at one of the rocks that were there, he understands why. Juvia was lying on one rock with her eyes closed, getting the last rays of sun on her pale skin. She seems to notice Haruka's presence, because quickly turned her face toward him.

"Haru-sama!" The girl exclaimed, with a huge smile. She descended the rock and mixed herself with the water, only appearing when she was close enough to hug him. "Juvia missed you so much!" Whispered, smiling like a child, as she pressed her breasts against his bare chest. She didn't saw, but a small smile welled in the corner of Haru's lips.

"Me too."

They stayed like that for some time without saying anything, just listening to the breath from each other, until she broke the silence.

"Haru-sama, Juvia needs to tell you something..." She separated him a little, looking down "During that time you were away, some things happened..." Juvia took a deep breath, and then climbed the eyes to look up the boy, biting her lower lip in the process. "J-Juvia and Gray-sama, we... We are..."

"Me too." He cut her off, staring at her intently. Juvia didn't seem to understand what he meant. "Rin."

The water mage's eyes widened, remembering all the times that Haruka had told her about this guy, as she told him about Gray. And there was always a special sparkle in his eyes, something she couldn't understand; but now, understood everything. She softened her gaze and smiled sweetly. Haru looked away from her, embarrassed.

"But... I don't want to end this." He murmured after a few seconds, and this time, staring at her.

And the look he had on her was so strong, so intense, that Juvia felt drown, for the first time in her life, the heart beating a mile in her chest. The way that man looked at her, it was different from how he did when he spoke about Rin; extremely different, in a good way.

"Me neither." Whispered the girl, putting both hands on Haruka's face and kissing his lips, this time with more passion than before.

And it's breaking over me
A thousand miles onto the sea bed
I found the place to rest my head

Never let me go, never let me go
Never let me go, never let me go…

After that time, many other summers and moments came, and years passed. She grew up and he too, each in their respective worlds and with their respective lives, but continued to meet in the dead of night when everyone was sleeping soundly.

The water in which they were now was no longer the pool of the school in which Haruka studied, or the sea where they had met many times during the summer holidays. Now, Haru had his own pool in the backyard, and she would visit him whenever she could.

He looked at the water mage in front of him, realizing how far she had come, how she had changed, and was no longer the naive girl of yore; she was a real woman in every way. And deep down, he felt extremely proud to be part of it, and have her in his life, because she had made him mature, too. They were the best kept secret from each other; Haruka never told any of his friends about her. And Juvia, in return, had never said anything about him in Fairy Tail. The feeling that harbored for each other was so strong, that it had been able to break the barriers of space and time, and transport her to a totally different world, just to find him. Destination? No one knew for sure.

So, after remembering all those moments, after feeling so many times her warm lips against his mouth, he realized that as much as time passed, as much as life played with them, and that sometimes they weren't able to find each other in that pool, he could no longer live without her. Because he loved the water, yes, but loved Juvia much more.

He wrapped his arms around her, feeling Juvia's body stay static for some time — she wasn't used to getting hugs from his part — and then relax, hugging him back. Haruka moved his face to her ear, and the mage shivered at the touch of his lips.

"Yes."

She blinked for a moment, trying to absorb what had happened. Suddenly, something went like lightning through her mind: he was answering the question she had made before.

"Haru-sama..."

And she couldn't contain herself, separated a little from him, only to seal their lips in a kiss filled with passion, as she held his face with both hands. Haruka, in turn, returned the kiss, putting one of his palms on the woman's neck, and the other around her waist, underwater.

That night, the water was the only witness that two bodies could occupy the same space, and that, inside it there were no barriers that prevented the inevitable: that many, many times, they became one.

And the arms of the ocean are carrying me
And all this devotion was rushing over me
And the crushes of heaven, for a sinner like me
But the arms of the ocean delivered me…

FIN

A/N: So... Yeah, I put Gray and Rin in the story, because I don't think Juvia will give up so easy, and because Haru is obviously gay, at least bisexual. Actually, I think he is "watersexual", haha.

Anyway, if you ship him with another character (for example, Makoto), just imagine him instead of Rin! I ship everyone in "Free!", so... Oh god, why I'm so confused?

Well, what do you think? Good? Bad? Please, leave a review! *-*

Au revoir! :*