Chapter I: Parting Clouds

Sitting in the darkness, the young water mage stared at the flickering of pyres emitted from the burning cackling fire. Her knees huddled up against her chest; she solemnly looked at the flames, hoping to find some warmth. It had been a long week since the day she and Gray had a strange falling out of sorts. With the battle against Mard Geer and his followers were finally over, she wasn't able to talk things over with Gray as they were all busy trying to get back to normal status. Their guild was destroyed, and everyone had gone their own separate ways to pursue their own goals. She had wanted to follow Gray, wherever he went, but he had told her he needed time on his own to process what had happened, as well as another objective he couldn't tell her. It was hard for her to hear that he didn't want her to follow him, and more so how serious he was about needing the distance between them.

"Juvia!" a voice called out to her, breaking her out of her trance. Turning to face the voice, she watched as the pink haired dragonslayer came from the distance under the heavy rain, holding a large fish up above his head, "I got a large fish for tonight" grinning he dropped it just next to her, "Sorry if it's repetitive, it's just Happy and I usually find it easier to cook fish on a journey, plus it's kind of hard finding anything else under this rain" scratching the side of his cheek.

Putting up a fake smile, she sincerely disagreed, "No it's all right" assuring him, "Juvia is more than happy enough that Natsu was kind enough to allow Juvia to accompany him on his travels" though, she couldn't help but feel bad that she's caused an unending rain, slightly ruining the trip.

"Ah, no problem" smiling, he rummaged around to find a branch strong enough as he speared through the fish and propped it up against the fire, "I was just a little surprised is all" telling her, "Usually you're all... what's the word..." his eyes dulled as he reached his limitations.

It was then the little blue exceed beside him popped up to assist his friend, "Clingy~" saying in a cheerful expression.

"Ah, right, clingy!" victoriously announcing, "But yeah... why aren't you?" curiously staring over at the blue haired mage.

Her expression began to fall, wondering herself how she could explain it to him. "Juvia... doesn't know" admitting to him, "Gray-sama seemed so,... troubled, but also refused to let Juvia close..."

"Hmm..." thinking over it, he kept his gaze over the fish that was cooking over the large fire. He could vaguely remember the confrontation he had with Gray during the fight over the book of E.N.D. He wanted to destroy it, while he himself wanted to take get it back from them in one piece, "It must be because of that book" pondering over what he could remember, "He seemed awfully obsessed with wanting to destroy it,... obsessed enough to even fight me over it" commenting on what he could remember, "...Stupid popsicle head" slightly peeved that Gray gave him a hard time for something trivial in a dire situation, "Next time I see that ice princess, I'm going to..."

It was then he was met with a cold splash of water, shocking him from the suden action. "Juvia will not tolerate any vile thoughts towards her Gray-sama" suddenly she felt back into her usual mood, "Juvia has faith... that... that..." even her own mind was wavering over the sudden change in Gray, trying to think of only the best and not worst of her beloved.

"Oii" shaking himself off of the water, "I wasn't saying anything bad..." lightly bothered, "Just saying what happened is all... and a bit of the truth" using his scarf to wipe off any more water he chuckled to himself about the names he called Gray, "Food's done!" commenting with a large smile, like that, he exited the bad mood he was in, "Dinner's up, Juvia" cheerfully, he plucked up the fish and began to help serve for the three of them. He was used to it, as any time he called Gray something insulting, or made any statements that the ice mage had vile intentions, Juvia would retaliate with a strike of water.

Under the starlit sky, the three of them ate dinner before clocking in after a long day. The two of them took turns watching camp while the other one showered. She was a little on guard though, as this was the first person she had traveled with, especially them being a male, though, that was unless it was Gray. As night darkened, the two of them hung around the fire, sleeping in their own bags. However, it was still hard for her to fall asleep without thinking about the situation. Rising up slightly, she looked over to see the dragonslayer sound asleep, looking as if he had no care in the world.

…[x]…

The next day rolled by as the two of them packed up their camping and started to head out to another unknown destination. With nothing but excitement of the unknown, though she couldn't help but wonder who or what they'd run into. A part of her began to imagine random scenarios of how every turn they'd make, or every new wild area they arrive in, somehow or someway she'd run into Gray, instilling happiness, yet also crushing it remembering the last time they encountered.

"Juvia thinks perhaps Juvia should have stayed in magnolia..." muttering to herself, she began to get slightly tipsy from not being able to sleep the night before.

Before her, the energetic dragonslayer was happily racing away with the exceed flying in the air beside him. It made her curious how he was able to be happy about not knowing what was going on, or where he was headed; based on just the pure excitement of the unknown. For her, however, it slightly began to terrify her. If she were to run into Gray all of a sudden, how would things go?

"...Eh?" snapping back from her thoughts, she realized that the dragonslayer and the exceed where nowhere to be found. Looking around, she turned to see if there was any trace before slightly worrying that the he had left her behind, alot like someone she knew.

Before she could make another assumption, a blue flying cat appeared as if out of nowhere and began fluttering his way towards her, "Juvia-" the exceed cried out before reaching her.

"Happy?" remembering that it was the exceeds name, she held out her hands to let the blue cat fall on top of and rest, "What's wrong?" asking him.

Resting, the little wings behind his back vanished, allowing the exceed to rest, "Phew..." relieved, he yawned a little before standing back up, "Oh... uh... why did I come here again?" blank, he began to wonder himself the reason behind his urgent calling.

Standing there a little confused, she looked a little pondering at the exceed herself, realizing that these two hung around with another because they were alike. That or some of Natsu's personality rubbed off onto him. During the moment she stood there, looking at the pondering cat, an explosion occurred, shaking the ground as a large burst of flames erupted in the middle of nowhere.

"oh, right!" snapping his fingers with a smile, "Natsu found a giant monster to fight and told me to go back to you so you don't get lost" casually telling her.

Shocked at the mention of what was happening, "What?!" it was shocking at how casual the cat was, "Wait... how big is this gia-"

Before she could finish the response a large reptile looking monster fell from the sky, completely burned. The size of the creature was large, roughly four times the height of an average lizardmen, with width to match. Closing in for a further inspection, the body slightly twitched, causing the two of them to jump as a reaction, only to find it was the result of the dragonslayer struggled to make his way out.

"Phew,... that was a pain" with a large smile, it was hard to take in the silliness of his expression with how serious the situation was, "Well I found us dinner!... or wait, Lunch" thinking to himself, he corrected the statement he had made.

Slightly irate she began throwing a little fit, inadvertently shaking the exceed within her grasp, "Why did you leave Juvia all by herself while fighting something so big on your own?" feeling slightly upset, "Juvia thought..." stopping herself, she was about to say that he had left her behind just as Gray had.

"Eh?" curious, he looked over at her cluelessly, "I did" saying, "I was like 'Juvia, Juvia! There's a giant monster over there so let's go fight it' but you were all dozy, passing in and out, right happy?" turning his attention then to the blue exceed.

With a smile, he threw up a thumbs up, "Aye!" agreeing with him, "Juvia was all 'Graayyyyy, what should Juvia do for you~' right Juvi-" while poorly imitating the water mage fawning over the ice maker, he was met with a sudden imprisonment of water, choking slightly before being released.

"Juvia was not" narrowing her gaze at the cat, "Juvia's just a little..." drawn back to the thoughts she's had, dropped her mood once more, suddenly causing the already constant rain to get worse.

…[x]…

As the day came to a close, the two of them continue to wander about, fighting with whatever came towards them and bringing it along with them in case they had wanted to eat. Whenever a large foe would cross their path, he always took it head on without standing to wait and plan how to take them down, even if he did spread the damage all over the place. Though, with the lack of sleep she had been getting, she was finding it more difficult by the day to keep up with the energetic dragonslayer.

"You okay, Juvia?" asking as he looked over at her while casually esting his head behind his head, "You keep zoning in and out..."

Yawning, she struggled to keep her eyes open, trying to keep herself from stumbling as they traced through the wild, "Juvia ish...fine" wearing in and out, blinking a couple of times, "It's just been a difficult night is all"

"Mmm..." mumbling over, he was curious about, noting she was still having trouble walking, "We should probably take a short break for noW" yawning large, he stretched, "Taking out those giant apes wore me out already" tired, he scratched he back of his head, looking like he was ready to pass out.

She had an idea that this was his way of letting her rest, knowing that she would probably continue to disagree if he had made it in the sense that she was the reason behind it. There wasn't an argument though. Even if she found it difficult to sleep, she had managed to rest without the worry of passing out on the ground. Even if it were just for a short moment, she could feel Natsu's presence around her as she continued to doze in and out. He was always looking out for her since the beginning of their travels.

For the longest time since she's joined Fairy Tail, she's never known much about the other members of Fairy Tail aside from Cana, who encouraged her to be strong and know that everyone loves her even if she was an ex-member of Phantom Lord, Gajeel, a former comrade from the same guild, and of course, Gray, whom she fought when she was once a member of the Elemental Four.

"Sorry, by the way if I offended you last night" saying out of nowhere, she shot up to see him snoozing on the grass, using his bag as a pillow. The blue exceed was out cold right next to him, "I don't say this often, but regardless of all the horrible things I say and do to Gray, he is one of my most trusted friends at the guild"

Thinking back, he must have been referring to the night before when she splashed water at him for possibly making a slight remark at Gray in front of her, "It's okay…" not knowing what else to say aside, "Juvia just,…she's just hopelessly in love with Gray,... and..."

"That's kind of what I mean though" saying once more, he kept up the guise of sleeping, "Sometimes,... you don't know what's going to happen, and what'll happen to those you're close to" recalling that moment he had felt he lost Lisanna, and then later his adoptive father, Igneel, his thoughts began to drift, "Well... I just think you're a great person, Juvia" grinning largely, he stretched once more before finding time to rest, "No matter your troubles, Fairy Tail is always going to be there for you, so don't feel you have to carry everything by yourself" raising up his hand, extending only his index and thumb out, "Don't forget"

The words he told her struck a chord, beginning to snap her out of her slight depression over what had happened. Perhaps she didn't need to fret or think of how to get over, but like he said, not handle everything on her own. For the past week, regardless of her behavior, he was always there with a brimming smile, ready to be there if she ever needed anything. Lying back down on the ground, looking up at the sky, she watched as the clouds parted, bringing to her a clear warm sky.

A/N: Well! That's the beginning *probably* of a short series. Sorry about the slight awkwardness, I wasn't sure how to go about this particular one because I'm not really skilled enough to "shove them" together xD. But as I continue this, if you've any suggestions lemme know, or if you want to leave your thoughts on how its done or should be, that works too! :) Well, even simple comments work too, either way! Till next submission! :D