"Gray-sama…" Juvia sighed as she picked up Gray`s discarded clothing, for the 5th time that day.
She never thought the day she`d be living with Gray-sama would come this soon, not that she would complain. Though; as much as she wants it to be true, she`s not living with Gray for her own reasons. She was doing this to honour the promise she had made to Gray`s father. She promised to 'Take care of Gray', as Silver had put it. Though, Gray had made it difficult at times.
This was one of those times.
"Could Gray-sama pleas put his clothes in the laundry after he takes them off..?" Juvia questioned as she entered the laundry and put them in the basket. If things kept going the way they were going, with Gray leaving his cleanclothes in the dirt, Juvia would have to put another load of laundry on.
"..Yeah, sure," the man in question replied, distracted. He was currently rummaging through the kitchen for food, unsure what he wanted. While doing this, he was wondering why exactly Juvia was treating him like a child who couldn't take care of himself. 'I`m an adult dammit! I can take care of myself'. Not finding anything he wanted to eat, he exited the kitchen of the small house, and walked into the lounge room.
As Gray left the kitchen, Juvia exited the laundry. Looking at the direction Gray had come from and to the clock, Juvia realised it was time for dinner. "Oh!" the bluenette squeaked as she headed in the direction of the kitchen. "What would Gray-sama like for dinner? Juvia will make it."
'That's the last straw!' Gray thought as he reached out and grabbed Juvia`s wrist. Gray had a tight grip on her wrist, not planning on letting her go without a straight answer. He wanted t know why he was being taken care of like a child.
"Why?" Gray nearly growled as his grip tightened on Juvia's wrist.
"What does Gray-sama mean 'Why?'" Juvia answered as she tilted her head to the side, confused. This frustrated Gray immensely.
"Tch..," frustrated, he answered Juvia`s question with one of his own, "Why are you doing this!? Why are treating me like a child!?"
"Like a child? What do you mean Gray-sama? Juvia isn't treating Gray-sama like a child," Juvia was thoroughly confused by her beloved's outburst towards her. His grip on her wrist started to hurt.
"Yes you are! You're cleaning up after me, doing my laundry, making me meals, you're treating me exactly like a child!" the raven haired male shouted.
"Juvia doesn't understand what wrong. She's just taking care of you, Gray-sama. Juvia doesn't see a problem with that," Juvia replied, still confused, "Gray-sama, you're hurting Juvia's wrist," she grimaced.
Letting go of Juvia's wrist, he sighed, "Yeah, well, stop it. It's annoying."
"Juvia is sorry Gray-sama, but she cannot do that," she crossed her arms in front of her chest, and with a sudden boldness that Gray didn't know she had, Juvia stared at him with full determination in her eyes.
"Yeah, and why not?" Gray gave Juvia an equally determined glare. He was starting to get more and more frustrated and angry at the woman.
"Because, Juvia made a promise. A promise she can't break. Not even if Gray-sama demands it!" Juvia did something she rarely ever does. Yell at Gray. This is one thing Gray couldn't make her do, anything else, probably. But, break her promise? Absolutely not going to happen! She looked up at him, tears threatening to fall down her face.
Recognizing Juvia's stubbornness, and that she would never break her promise; Gray decided he wanted to know who she made the promise too. "Who? Who did you make the promise too?"
"Who Juvia made the promise too?" Juvia's tears still threatened to fall down her cheeks.
"That's what I asked," Gray said bluntly, annoyed that she didn't answer him.
Taking a deep breath, Juvia answered. "Juvia promised…. Juvia promised Gray-sama's father that she would look after you," Juvia cried, her voice getting quieter near the end. Her tears started cascading down her cheeks.
To say Gray was surprised by her answer would be an understatement. He was absolutely floored by her response. His voice being barely above a whisper, "My…dad? When?"
"Yes, Gray-sama's father," tears continued to fall from her deep blue eyes, "Father contacted Juvia when she was battling Keyes… he asked her to defeat the necromancer, but Juvia couldn't do that because… because defeating Keyes would mean killing Gray-sama's father. Father told Juvia that it was the only way to stop Face, and… he told Juvia to do it for you, Gay-sama… Juvia dint want to , but it was for Gray-sama's sake, and to stop face…"
Gray was trying to process the information Juvia had given him, he knows she's hasn't finished talking, but still. 'Dad asked her to do it for my sake?' he couldn't process it properly. If only he hadn't be such a damn coward!
Juvia continued, after trying, and failing to dry her tears. "After Juvia… After Juvia defeated Keyes, Father contacted Juvia again. He thanked Juvia for, for killing him! Then… then he asked Juvia to take care of Gray-sama.." she couldn't do it anymore. She dropped to her knees and pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. She felt so ashamed of what she had done, she didn't notice as tears traced their way down Gray's face as well.
Gray felt wetness on his face, he had no idea that he started to cry as well. 'When… did I start crying? Pathetic' He ended up do the same as the woman in front of him, dropping to his knees. He stared at Juvia, crumpled on the floor, crying, anger started to bubble in his stomach. 'Why didn't she tell me!? Why did I have to be such a damn coward!?' How could she think she killed his father, Deliora did it when he was a child. The person that was killed wasn't even alive in the first place. 'How many times to I have to tell you it wasn't your fault?' Gray directed his thoughts to the crying woman on the floor in front of him.
"…Juvia…" he said softly as he reached out and placed a hand on Juvia's shoulder.
Said woman didn't raise her head, she was so ashamed of herself. Gray repeated he name, a little louder. This made the bluenette lift herself up, as she sat on the balls of her feet. She couldn't bring herself to look Gray in the eyes. Her eyes were red and puffy as tears continued to fall down her porcelain skin.
Gray hated this; he hated seeing Juvia like this. It scared him; it was so different to the bubbly and energetic Juvia he was used too.
"….I'm sorry Juvia. I'm so sorry," Gray whispered.
Juvia looked up at him, his head hung low and bangs covering his eyes. She sniffled, and then asked, "Why… why is Gray-sama apologizing to Juvia?"
Gray lifted his head, "Because.., well, because I was being an asshole," Juvia was about to refute Gray's statement, but he cut her off before she could, "Don't deny it, I was. I was being an asshole to you Juvia. I had no right to snap at you like I did. I should've been more patient with you. I'm sorry for making you cry again. I'm… so sorry, Juvia.." He dropped his head, so Juvia couldn't see his face. She would see him crying, again. 'I'm so fucking pathetic.'
"No. Gray-sama is definitely not pathetic," Juvia hated saying that word in the same sentence as Gray's name.
"Shit! Did I say that out loud?' Gray thought.
Juvia reached out towards Gray. She rested her hands on Gray's cheeks, and lifted his face up to look at her. Now Gray was the one, who refused to look Juvia in the eyes.
"Gray, look at me," this made Gray look at her; she didn't use a honorific for his name, and didn't speak in third person. She pulled Gray into an embrace, using her hand to guide Grays head to the crook of her neck; she continued to speak, whispering, "Showing emotions does not make you pathetic, it makes you human. So don't ever say you're pathetic again."
It's like his body moved on its own, as he wrapped his own arms tightly around Juvia's waist. His hands made fists in Juvia`s shirt, as he continued to sob into her shoulder. He can't believe that this is the second time he's cried in front of, and been comforted, by Juvia.
Neither knew how long they stayed like that. Minutes? Hours? They didn't know, and they didn't care. They needed each other, and they'd stay there as long as they needed.
When they separated, Juvia whipped a stray tear off Gray's face with her thumb. She continued to caress his cheek, and he didn't pull away from the contact. He leaned into her hand, finding comfort in her touch.
She was so warm.