The rain was coming down hard and freezing, each drop like a cold needle pricking the skin. Thousands of cold needles falling from the sky endlessly and yet it mattered not to her. Sitting on the cold ground she was staring into the canal that her legs were dangling into, not caring that she was being soaked to the bone in the freezing rain as she allowed herself to get thoroughly drenched. She just sat on the edge of the canal, staring into the large vein of water as if she would find her answers if she watched closely or watched long enough.
All it did was remind her of a certain comrade. A comrade that she valued. A comrade that she loved. A comrade that she lost.
Thinking about that fact kept bringing tears to her eyes, even now when no one could see them as they mixed with the rain. It was supposed to be an easy job with the two of them. A simple job of removing some wild animals threatening a farm. Upon getting there though they couldn't find any of the animals they were to remove, just the monster that beat them to it. She had never seen such a thing before as she gazed upon the monster. It's very body shape and appearance reminded her of bacteria, being a simply-shaped organism that had no notable features. Simply a large pile of an unknown black, thick substance that could move freely, sliding over things and sucking them into it's own body to process them for nutrition.
She shudders as she recalls that horrid creature. A monster that survives by devouring the magic of the mages it encounters. Everything produced by magic was easily devoured by that thing which made their attacks meaningless. Her spirits couldn't stand a chance and it struck her heart with terror as she watched them being devoured by that monster, screaming out in pain and fear till they returned back to their own world. Since their existences were brought forth through magic it made since that the monster could easily devour them, hungry for the magic they possessed.
Having no means of fighting or even defending themselves, the only option left was to escape by any means possible. The monster came right after them, refusing to let a source of magic get away from it once it discovered it. They ran as hard as they could, as far as they could. They couldn't get away from it. The longer they ran the more exhausted they became. That monster didn't appear to know exhaustion as it got closer to them the longer the chase went on. Finally, something horrible had happened. Her comrade lost her footing on a rock and stumbled forward, struggling to regain her balance.
That one false move was all the monster needed. She had turned around as she heard her comrade scream out in fear, being engulfed by that monster as it began feasting on her magic. Magic was vital to those that used it so without it her comrade was condemned to die unless she was pulled free from that monster. While she desperately wanted to help she knew there was knowing she could do. If she tried to help her comrade then she would end up being devoured as well. Seeing that the monster stays in one spot while it's digesting the prey it just caught, she used that chance to get away. A decision for survival that she would eternally regret.
She turns her gaze up toward the thick clouds, letting the freezing needles strike her face. Her comrade was gone, a fact that she hated but had to endure. Some would reason that she couldn't have done anything to help anyways, a fact that she also hated but had to except as the truth. What had happened was in its core a simple accident that couldn't be avoided. No one could've predicted that such a monster would be there. No one even knew such a thing even existed and all attempts to track it down after her encounter with it have met with no results. Hopefully, it never shows itself again so that she could forget about it someday.
She closes her eyes, remembering her interactions with her comrade. The two weren't close friends but they weren't worse enemies either. While they were at odds at times due to a one-sided love rivalry, they thoroughly trusted one another to aid them when they needed it. She truly valued her comrade, never considering the possibility that she would lose her so soon. Far too soon. The memories of that encounter have left a major scar on her heart and left it drowning in a sea of sorrows. She hadn't been able to smile once or be happy since then, nor as she been on any jobs. No one was sure what to do to help her. Only good news was she hasn't been driven to be suicidal yet from her sorrows as it would appear. That may not last too much longer though.
The feeling of the rain disappears, leading her to open her eyes to see an object covering her. Given a few seconds she realizes that the object was an umbrella. A familiar umbrella. Looking down to the handle she sees a familiar hand holding it. It couldn't be possible. She must be hallucinating things do to her sorrows by now. A very reasonable thought but that didn't explain why she felt a bit of happiness upon looking at the hand. She follows the length of the arm till she's looking at a woman in blue. The very same woman that was her valued comrade.
"Lucy shouldn't be letting herself get soaked like this. Lucy is going to get very sick."
Lucy was staring up at the water woman, her dead eyes starting to show expression again for the first time in months. An expression of shock was the first thing they showed as examined the woman standing before them. Slowly she reaches up with her hand and touches the arm close to her, finding it firm to the touch. This was far too real to be a mere hallucination. "Juvia... I don't understand..."
Juvia takes a seat next to her blond friend, keeping her umbrella over her friend to allow them to dry. It didn't bother her to be in the rain since she was a rain woman after all. "Juvia doesn't understand it fully either but it appears that Juvia had a special magic that was hidden. Upon death, this magic allows Juvia to come back to Earthland once last time during a rainfall. However, Juvia's time is limited so Juvia only has the time to visit one person before departing. Juvia has come to say her final farewells."
"But... why didn't you visit Gray? Surely you would want to say your farewells to him most of all..."
"Juvia did think of Gray, but she wanted to visit Lucy more. Juvia saw the condition Lucy was in and decided Lucy needed Juvia's help the most."
Lucy was a quite surprised while taking in all of this. Juvia was giving a chance to visit anyone she wanted to visit before passing on for good and she chose Lucy? The whole guild was devastated by Juvia's end, especially the man that Juvia would always spend all of her time around directly or stalk him from afar otherwise in secrecy. She could recall very clearly the day she returned home and brought the bad news. She remembered Gray losing his cool at this news and having to be held back by Natsu and Erza to keep him from beating her to death. He had calmed down a lot since then but he still ignores her coldly whenever she's nearby. Surely Juvia's visit was what he needed so why has Juvia come to Lucy instead?
"Lucy, listen to Juvia closely." Juvia spoke to get Lucy's attention back on her. "Juvia wants Lucy to understand that what had happened back then is in the past now. Juvia doesn't hate Lucy for running away, in fact Juvia is happy that Lucy was able to get away like she did. In such a situation it was better that at least one got back to the guild to explain the danger. Thanks to Lucy, the number of casualties that monster would have caused as been reduced now that people are alert of it's presence."
"I don't understand..." Lucy turns away, suddenly unable to look at her friend. Not after what she did. "How could you ever forgive me for what I did? Leaving a comrade to die is downright atrocious."
"Juvia agrees, leaving behind a comrade to death is horrible. However... leaving a comrade to drown in despair because of their past actions is even more atrocious. Juvia knows everyone wants Lucy to get better, they want the old Lucy back but they can't do anything to help unless Lucy helps herself first." Juvia sticks her umbrella into Lucy's hand, having her friend hold it up herself to stay dry. "Lucy never left Juvia to die though. Juvia choose to sacrifice herself to allow Lucy to get away."
Lucy looks back to Juvia, looking even more surprised then before. Juvia's death certainly didn't look like a self-sacrifice. Could that stumble that ended her life have been intentional as well? "No... that couldn't be... why..."
"Juvia knew that we could never get away. Not together at least. Juvia knew that monster would stop to feast on Juvia if she allowed herself to it so Juvia did just that. While been devoured Juvia was happy when she saw Lucy getting away but also sad that she would never see Lucy again, nor anyone else from the guild." Juvia locks eyes with Lucy,taking note that Lucy's eyes were dead but starting to glimmer with light again. "Juvia is truly happy to see that Lucy made it back. Lucy did nothing wrong to Juvia. It will hurt for a very long time but Lucy needs to move on, for both her sake and the sake of our other comrades. Besides, as Juvia's love rival Lucy is the only one Juvia trusts to be with Gray besides Juvia."
Lucy takes this all in, her eyes regaining the life they originally had while that unexplained warm feeling in her heart continued to grow. She soon realized what was happening. She was being saved by her comrade, a comrade that came back to make sure that she could move on. "Juvia..." she trembles slightly as emotion begins to well up inside of her.
Juvia smiles a bit as she sees that Lucy is beginning to recover. That was a sign that her task had been complete. Unfortunately, her time was running out and she couldn't stay any longer. She stands up, looking down to Lucy as her friend looks up to her.
"Lucy... Thank you, for being Juvia's friend..." She smiles warmly before turning to face away from Lucy. "Please... watch over Gray for Juvia." She starts walking away and within a few steps she disappears.
Lucy watches the spot where Juvia disappears, her eyes pouring out new tears that were also hidden in the rain. Looking back to her hand she saw that the umbrella she was holding was still there. Was what happened a real event? The umbrella was prove of that as was the warmth she was now feeling inside of her. Those feelings of sorrow she was drowning in have disappeared, allowing her heart to finally start healing once more. The scar on it would last forever but now it wasn't something she would feel so bad about. The scar would fade in time as would the event, allowing her to move on with herself. Folding up the umbrella she hugs it close to her, her lips finally breaking into a small smile.
"Thank you for being my friend too, Juvia..." she whispers. She looks up, realizing that the rain as stopped as the clouds started to break up. A beam of light shines down on her, more bright and beautiful then she remembers. She rubs at her eyes, feeling the tears that she was crying now that the rain was gone. She wasn't sad anymore though, making them tears of joy as smiles. Standing up she makes her way back toward the guild, wanting to tell everyone what had just happened. She clings to the umbrella, choosing to keep it as a memento of Juvia's encounter. Her way of saying goodbye to everyone and thanking them at the same time.
"Thank you, Juvia..."