Chapter One

Just For Now

It had been a long 13 hours of labor, but at long last, Mika Fullbuster was able to give one last push right before the wail of a newborn baby, after which she collapsed back against the pillows behind her with relief, her white blonde hair plastered across her sweaty brow.

"It's over…it's over, Mika, you did it." Her husband Silver squeezed her hand in both of his, even though she'd just been painfully crushing his hand in hers a moment before. He was positively beaming, and Mika managed to catch some of his encouraging enthusiasm and smile back at him, despite her exhaustion, softening her otherwise ragged look.

"Did I really, darling?" she murmured.

"Oh you bet." Silver kissed her knuckles, and got himself lost in her eyes for a moment.

"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Fullbuster, it's a boy!" cried the midwife, breaking Silver and Mika out of their being transfixed by each other's loving gazes.

Both their jaws went slack as the midwife presented them with a freshly cleaned, wrinkly, wriggling, crying little baby wrapped up in a warm white towel.

Mika reached for the newborn with such eagerness, it was as if the very sight of him had reinvigorated her, all traces of fatigue smoothed away.

"Oh, let me see him!" she gushed, glowing as the whimpering newborn was placed into her arms. "Oh, look at him…he's adorable…." And before she knew it she was crying. "He's perfect." She lifted her sparkling eyes up to her husband, blinking rapidly. "Silver, isn't he perfect?"

Silver peered over to have himself a first real look at his firstborn child.

The baby had stopped crying somewhat now that the shock of being born had worn off and he'd been settled in his mother's arms. He had hair as dark as his father's, and his eyes too were just as dark. But there was a softness to him, in his face, that was more like his mother Mika. He couldn't quite explain it.

Silver smiled, his eyes prickling. "Yeah…he's perfect."

"Would you like to hold him?" his wife asked, her face still brightly flushed.

Silver was slightly taken aback, no less a little nervous. Not that he wanted Mika to know that last part. "Um…well, you haven't gotten to hold him all that long and…uh, well he was just born and…."

"Oh I plan to steal him back from you rather quickly."

Mika winked at him which made him laugh and actually relax a little too.

"All right then."

And he tentatively held out his arms for his son. Actually, as he cradled the baby against his chest, after the baby gave only a moment of grunting protestation at being given away by his mother, it really hit Silver, the weight of what it meant that this child was his son. There was so much potential in this small life, so many things this boy could grow up to be, and just thinking about it was more than enough to fill Silver with pride and joy. And he knew Mika felt the same, the way she was regarding them now.

And he wanted to be there, to see that day when his son would do amazing things. Although he was someone who'd only dabbled in magic of the ice variety for fun—after all, it was common up in the north to have a recreational interest in the stuff—he found himself hoping just a little that maybe, if his son learned a skill like that, that he'd really make something great from it. If he wanted to, of course.

A soft smile settled on Silver's face, as he impulsively reached over and affectionately stroked back his son's dark hair. Then he looked at Mika again. "We still haven't thought of a name," he reminded her, raising his eyebrows, still smiling.

"Hm…you're right." Mika furrowed her brow for a moment, glancing once out of the window of their little bedroom in their little house kept cozy warm inside even now in the deepest depths of iciest winter. Her eyes brushed over the gray opaque of the sky, and then she turned back to her husband. "What about…Gray?"

Silver cocked his head to one side. "Gray? Why Gray?" Then, after a thought, he added, "Because my name's Silver? I swear, Mika, you and your puns and in-jokes…."

But then he took note of the way Mika looked at him now with her big doe eyes, in that smug way of hers that really melted Silver if he was being honest.

"Mmmm, maybe that's part of it, but…it just feels right." And then she nodded her smile towards the window before she looked at him again. "I love this shade of gray in the sky, it's so peaceful. It's the kind of gray that doesn't make you feel gloomy, it makes you feel content with the world."

"Hm." Silver considered this and then considered the baby boy in his arms. The newborn was kind of glowering up at him, but that could've been just a result of how wrinkly he was in the face and the fact that he knew nothing of how to express himself with things like smiles.

He would learn though. Because above all else, Silver just wanted his son to be happy. And thinking of the name Gray for him, he felt a warmth inside of his chest.

"Well then," he said again, beaming lovingly at his wife, "Gray it is."

Years later, and that boy named Gray had indeed grown into a young man, who had since lost his parents back when he was still a small boy—his father in fact, he'd had to lose twice due to some from very sinister circumstances involving resurrection at the hands of an eveil demon necromancer. And though his father had been suffering for it, Gray hadn't been able to bring himself to do right by him as his son and give him the peaceful death he longed for so he could be reunited with his mother.

Though that didn't make it any harder to let go as Silver had held his son in his arms one last time—at least, for everything he'd been through, he had gotten to see a little of how his son had grown after all.

Fortunately too, Gray hadn't been alone in that fight like he'd thought. Someone had been there to do what he couldn't do, and when he'd learned of what she'd done…he knew for certain that for what he had to do now, he would need her with him.

That and, he felt better having her with him.

Having woken in the middle of the night, she was the first thing that came to mind after a black and dreamless sleep. Lying awake in the dark, moonlight flooding through his bedroom window, he thought of her, and then he thought of his father again, his chest flooding with an aching warmth.

"Dad," he whispered. "I promise…I'm gonna get E.N.D….pick up where you left off…and make him pay for everything his demons did to you and Mom…."

Then his thoughts were interrupted, his ears pricking up at the clinks and clatter of someone moving around in the kitchen below, followed by the whistle of a kettle going off. He smiled just a little before he got out of bed and went downstairs to join them, totally unconcerned that he had nothing on except his boxers.

"Hey," he said, poking his head in the kitchen.

His housemate and partner in both training and in the fight he had ahead of him, Juvia Lockser, had her back to him at the moment, but she paused and then turned at the sound of his voice. And then she smiled at him the way she always smiled at him.

"Hey," she said, and then started to pour boiling water from a kettle into a mug.

"You makin' tea?" Gray asked, coming over and peering around.

"Mm-hm. Chamomile." Juvia pulled the open tin toward her. "I couldn't sleep." Then she gave him an inquisitive look. "Did you want some too?"

"Yeah. I can't seem to sleep either."

"Hm. Figured as much."

So instead of shutting the tin, she took out another bag and dropped it in another mug. She handed it to him after she poured hot water into that one.

Gray cupped it in both his hands. "Thanks."

"No problem." Juvia put the tin of chamomile away and picked up her own mug. "But you gotta let that steep for a couple minutes," she added, in a warning, almost scolding tone just as Gray was about to try to cool it down faster by flicking an ice cube into it. "It won't diffuse into the water as well if you try to make it cold. Anyway, that water's too hot for ice to last very long," she added with a smirk.

"Oh I see." But Gray smirked right back.

Then he looked at her, the way she had her mug cupped in her own hands, the way she had her blue hair tied up in a kind of sideways ponytail, and the way she wore her tank top and sleep shorts. He liked it when he could steal looks at her like this, and then turn away just when she'd notice his eyes on her, like he did now.

Still, he also took note of her cheeks coloring as she acted with a demureness she'd been hiding from him before they'd started living together like this. Not that he was complaining, he really liked this side of her. He'd been ruminating on how he had to admit to himself that he found her rather cute in her own strange way, especially after that day she'd made him that scarf (which now hung on a hook by the door, even though winter was still a ways away, and the cold didn't bother him, being an ice wizard), but seeing that she could be like this made his being with her this way all the more pleasing.

He nodded to the kitchen window, where they could see the full moon luminous in the sky. "Wanna step out?"

After all, this was probably one of the last nights it was going to feel this comfortably warm before autumn started to set in.

"Sure," said Juvia amiably, and the two of them took their tea and sat together out on the steps in front of the house they'd take up residence in just a week ago, on the edge of Amefurashi Village—a curiously named hamlet as it hardly ever did anything like rain around here. Just enough to keep the forests green and healthy, anyway. But apparently long ago it used to rain nearly all the time, so that was probably where it's name came from.

Rain though wasn't anything like an issue for Gray and Juvia. Especially Juvia, being a water mage and someone who used to be followed by rain all the time. Was in fact even stronger when it rained.

"So what do you think? You gonna be able to handle training when it starts snowing?" Gray asked Juvia, and he was actually half teasing her.

"Ah, well, I suppose it'll be fine." Juvia gave a weird kind of nervous giggle. "I mean…it's not like I strip too."

"That doesn't make any difference for me," said Gray with a shrug, taking a sip of tea. "I spent years training in the snow with Ur wearing nothing but my underwear. It's only you that's gonna be cold if you strip."

Juvia tugged at the strap of her tank top. "Think I'll stick with clothes for now. Even this is a little too revealing for me." Then she took a sip of her own tea.

But Gray considered her more seriously. "Is that why you're always wearing long sleeves and stuff?"

He'd never really thought about it before, but aside from that dress with the slits in the sides she'd started wearing since the Grand Magic Games which made it easier for her to show off a little leg (though he suspected there had been a more practical reason for that, that being so she could have more freedom of movement with her legs), she was never one to go around wearing anything that showed any skin that wasn't a part of her hands, face, or neck. Even in that dress with the slits she'd wear thigh-high boots that covered most of her legs anyway.

Juvia glanced at him sidelong and then almost burrowed into her mug of tea in a very embarrassed maneuver. "I'm uh…kinda shy about that stuff," she admitted. "I'd…never even shower with the other girls in Fairy Tail."

Gray raised his eyebrows. "Really? You wear all that because you're shy? About your body?"

Juvia swallowed more of her tea and ventured to look up at him, but her face had gone very red. "Yeah. I am. Even with those hot springs we had there for a bit…I'd wait until everyone else had gone for the day before having a soak myself." Then she disappeared into her mug of tea again.

Bemused, Gray turned and looked up at the moon. Then he had a thought and he turned back to her. "For a little while though, you were wearing that sleeveless dress. Back when you had your hair shorter. And before that, when you first approached me about joining Fairy Tail, you had that other sleeveless dress on…."

Juvia jumped slightly and nearly dropped her tea, but Gray reached out a hand and steadied the mug from underneath, still holding his own in his other hand.

"Um..thank you…right…uh…." Juvia slowly withdrew her mug from his grasp. "Well, I was…you know…."

Her voice dropped to a mumble, so Gray barely caught what she said next.

"I was…trying to…get your attention…."

It made Gray remember when they'd first met, facing off against each other in a duel when she'd still been a member of the dark guild Phantom Lord, which had been launching an all-out assault on Fairy Tail. That moment when she'd gotten really shy, like she was doing now, and told him that she didn't really want to fight him, that in fact she could protect him instead. Naturally he'd been rather perplexed by that, seeing as how they'd just met and as enemies no less. Still, he recalled it with the realization that that had been a part of this more muted side of her that she'd been showing more often.

He smiled at her.

"I made you that nervous, huh?"

Juvia looked over at him again, and she smiled back. "Yeah. But I guess being overzealous all the time instead didn't really help either. But I mean…you uh…just made me so…happy." She blushed even more furiously, but this time she tried not to hide in her tea again.

Even so, Gray hunched over a little, very apologetic. "Don't feel bad. It was a bit much yeah…well...I mean…much for me, anyway. But…it was nice, seeing that smile on your face. You were so gloomy when we first met."

"Huh?" Juvia lifted her brows in surprise at him.

Gray lowered his gaze and considered instead the way the surface of his tea caught the moonlight, running the pad of his thumb along the lip of his mug. "Well, when you told me that for your whole life, you'd always been followed around by rain and storm clouds, that you'd never seen the blue sky, it got me thinking…what could've happened to a girl like you that would make something so sad like that happen?"

Juvia's eyes bugged out and she blinked at him like she couldn't believe what she was looking at, and then she gave a nervous laugh, making one of her weird faces. "Gray…I had no idea you thought about things like that," and her face went, if possible, even redder than Gray had ever seen it go. "Well…if you must know," she pressed on, mustering some courage, "I suppose part of it was just growing up in an orphanage…I mean…I never even knew my parents…they died not long after I was born…and then well…there was that problem I had with the rain following me everywhere, and I suppose everyone making fun of me, and making fun of me more for the gloomy rain…made it even gloomier. That's about as much as I can figure out about that, anyway."

Gray blinked, staring up at her, and then he felt guilty again. He knew all too well what it was like to be alone, to be left behind by the people who were meant to love you but instead were taken away. And he supposed she didn't really have much reason to believe he ever did things like wonder about what really went on in her head and what her life was like.

He took another sip of tea, and Juvia watched him, looking suddenly a little less bashful.

"I know you aren't completely cold though," she said to him, and then added, a little slyly, "after all, how could that be, when I felt the warmth from your arms around me as you swooped in and saved me from that sword-stroke on Tenrou Island?!", she absolutely effervesced, her eyes popping with hearts.

Which made Gray choke on his gulp of tea. He took a minute to cough and pound his chest with his fist and get his breath back before he said, slightly hoarse, "I thought you were unconscious for that!"

Juvia covered her mouth and giggled, still giving him a very sly look. "Fu, fu, fu."

"Ahem…yeah well…guess that should be the least of my worries," said Gray, clearing his throat. But he was glad she had brought it up, and it didn't pass his notice either that she'd tactfully avoided mentioning Ultear by name despite her involvement in that situation. After all, he still hadn't been able to open up to her about what Ultear had ultimately done later on during the dragon battle after the Grand Magic Games, and that if it hadn't been for her the two of them wouldn't be sitting here right now.

Somehow though, she seemed to sense that things concerning Ultear in general were sensitive with him and had to be tread upon lightly. After all, even if he hadn't said anything to her, she had befriended Ultear's adopted daughter Meredy, and it was possible the two of them had touched upon the subject of how Gray and Ultear related to each other at least once or twice in their knowing each other.

But it was for that reason that he knew that one day, he would be able to tell her about things like that, because if he was being honest with himself, he wanted to be able to share things like that with someone, and with Juvia, he felt he could do it without fear or shame. When he was ready to, anyway. She was patient like that. And he was grateful to her about that too.

Then Juvia knocked back the rest of her tea. "It's okay Gray. I haven't told anyone about it." She made her eyebrows jump up and down rather conspiratorily before giggling again and hopping to her feet.

Gray watched her as she went inside, his gaze lingering on her until she'd closed the door behind her, and felt that warmth inside his chest that he'd been becoming more and more aware that being with her made him feel. Then he smiled gently up at the moon and finished off his own tea, already relaxed enough to fall back to sleep.

It had only been a week since they'd started living together like this, and to his pleasant surprise, he felt even more comfortable with her than he'd ever felt with anyone before. He hadn't lived with anyone in seclusion like this since Ur and Lyon, and Gray didn't miss how significant this was for him. Of course, their purpose here was to train and get stronger, especially where his new powers as an Ice Demon Slayer—care of his father—were concerned. Get stronger, strong enough that he could fulfill his father's dying wish and avenge his family at last by taking down the mastermind behind demons like Deliora and Keyes the Necromancer, the dark wizard Zeref's most powerful demon, E.N.D..

This comfortable domesticity though, he was actually feeling more peaceful now than he had in a very long time. And even the thought of overcoming the darkness that came with Demon Slayer magic seemed easier to bear knowing Juvia was near.

And, just for now, anyway, that would do.