AN: Yo! So I've had this fic drafted for about three months now, but I wanted to have a few chapters finished before publishing it. Thing is, I didn't have enough time to write that far ahead, but then I though this WIP got enough dust waiting in my documents, so here it is! This is my first time writing an AU. Quite the setting I chose but well, the idea stuck on my mind and wouldn't leave haha. Anywho, I hope you like it.

Prologue

Heels sank in the golden sand as the young man dragged his way through the desert, the clinging sound of his sheath breaking the silence at each step. It hadn't been a good day, if a yet again failed attempt to clear a dungeon and several more miles to boot until he reached the city were anything to go by. The only thing he could consider pleasant in the last few hours would be the soft breeze that brushed on his sweaty skin as the late day sun merged with the horizon.

"Damn, I can't find my flask." Gray looked over his shoulder at the pink haired man that lumbered a few meters behind, searching frantically in his pouch.

"You must have lost it when I flew you back on the surface." a blur of blue muttered, flying around his head.

"And I'm so thirsty…"

"I'm sorry Natsu…"

"Remind me why you two tagged along?" he huffed.

"Had nothing else to do. I thought we would get to kick some monster butts or something." The man with the pink hair replied.

Gray scoffed. There were monsters some times, he had fought many. But before they could actually run upon one, Happy – the flying blue blur, which was in fact a small cat that now soared past his head– decided to ignore his order to not touch anything, which resulted in the place collapsing with them barely making their way out, thus losing any chance there was to slay a dungeon monster. And finding it. What Gray had been searching with such vigor for years. And he was running short of patience.

"Maybe next time we find one–" Happy started.

"There ain't gonna be next time. I won't take you with me again." He stopped walking and spoke again before Natsu could protest, "It's your fault. Didn't I tell you not to touch anything?"

"But that ruby seemed so precious! I could buy fish for a lifetime with it…"

He slapped his palm on his face in exasperation. What a significant reason indeed.

"Chill man, it's not such a big deal." Natsu said.

Gray's eyes narrowed. "I'm not doing this for fun." They stared at each other for a charged moment, Natsu barely shrugging at his glare. He sighed, running his hand through his raven hair; what's done was done and there was no point venting on them now. "Anyway. Let's get going. We should be back before nightfall if we hurry."

And with that, he kept walking ahead.

chapter 1

Agrabah was like a bead of heaven in the middle of the desert, albeit only for those who could afford it. A long time ago though, the older ones still remembered, it suffered from an endless drought, breeding disease and poverty among its people. Until, seventeen years ago, the Sultan and his wife gave birth to a girl with hair brighter than sapphire and, as of a miracle, the rain returned to Agrabah, granting its former prosperity and beyond. They named their girl Juvia, in honor to the rain she brought back to the city.

Unfortunately, the Sultan and his wife died on a bandit assault during their travel to a neighbor country when Juvia was no older than 4 years old. From that day on, the girl was raised under the custody of vizier Jose, the former advisor of the late Sultan. The man governed the city until Juvia would be of a convenient age to take over as the Sultan's only heiress.

Jose took good care of her all those years, Juvia had no doubt. She was taught by the best tutors of the continent and she had the world on a silver platter but she had soon grown bored of it all. For she had never been outside the palace. No one beyond these walls knew what she looked like or what her name really was; everyone (sometimes even Jose himself) called her the rain princess, or rain woman now that she was drawing closer to maturity. And likewise, she had no idea how the outside world looked like. Master Jose said it was full of slickers that were after her unique power, and for that reason he insisted that she was safer within the palace, the prison she called home. But she wanted to see with her own eyes. It couldn't be all there was to the outside world. Sometimes she wished she could just be ordinary, free of noble titles or powers. Don't get her wrong, she was more than glad to know that she had brought hope and happiness back to her people, but she couldn't fathom following the same insufferably boring routine for the rest of her life. She was still very young and starved for a bit of adventure.

Carried away by her train of thought, she hadn't noticed she was already standing behind the door of the dining hall, where she would have her ordinary dinner with Master Jose and the rest of the counselors. She heaved out a sigh and pushed on the door leafs. The others were already there.

"Good evening." She said forcing a smile as she took a seat to his left.

The man smiled back at her. "Good evening child. How are you doing today?"

Hardly any different than the previous days. "Good. Thank you for asking, Master."

"Is that so?" Jose leaned forward, crossing his fingers. "Bora-kun left quite disappointed, you know."

Right. That was another part of her routine she would happily dismiss. As she would soon turn eighteen, Master Jose said it was time she got married, so several groom candidates, princes of neighbor sultanates, would come over to meet her, and hopefully agree on a wedding. The thing is, Juvia scared all of them away. And she would be lying if she said she cared.

She stirred in her seat, pretending to make herself more comfortable. "Juvia didn't like him. He was boring." A total asshat if she might add. "And he didn't like Juvia either, so there was no point pretending the opposite."

"It's so sad! Our princess is unappealing and no one wants to marry her… So sad…" Aria, one of Jose's underlings, mumbled between sobs as tears streamed down his face, which was quite usual of him for some reason she hadn't managed to decode yet. She crossed her arms under her chest; she was well aware of her gloomy aura, but hearing it from others still hurt despite her consent.

Jose stood up and walked behind her chair. "My dear girl, I think that you should be a little more reciprocative…more feminine. Why don't you try smiling a little?" He said, pushing at the edge of her lips upwards into resembling a smile. "And refrain from talking in third person like children do."

That was a habit she had adopted early on; since she had no friends to address her by her name, she did it herself because she liked the sound of it. But apparently it was one of the several things that made her unattractive. She sighed.

The man leaned over and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I know it might not be pleasant to you right now, but it's your duty as a princess. How are you going to rule over Agrabah without being married?"

"But why this way?" Juv– I want to marry out of love."

She heard a snort beside her ear, followed by a load of laughter across the table.

"Love she says!" Jose plopped on his seat, still laughing and she felt her eyes hurt as she tried not to cry. What was so funny about it anyway?

"Child, what comes first is to do as the law says and marry a prince before your next birthday. You can fall in love with your husband all you want afterwards."

"It…doesn't have to be in this order if you let Juvia go outside." she said in a low voice.

"That cannot happen." He said, his tone firm and his expression sharpened. "We've discussed this, the world is not a safe place for you, child. Remember what happened to your parents. They died when they left the safety of the palace. Do you have any idea how many outsiders envy your –"

"Power to make it rain, Juvia knows." She interrupted, resisting the urge to roll her eyes in disappointment.

"Besides, you'll only encounter street rats out there. It doesn't suit a princess like you."

"Oui! You have no business with commoners Juvia-sama." Sol, another one of Jose's advisors, added.

Her gaze lowered on her plate, her hand clutching on her baggy pants under the table.

"I'm sorry child, but I can't do that." The man said after a moment of silence. "When you get married, I suppose you can go to any place you want with your husband, but as long as I am responsible for your well being, I can't allow myself to risk your safety."

"I understand." The words left her lips in a faint whisper. She had requested the same thing before, but she had hoped things would be different this time. She was almost eighteen, but people still saw in her the fragility of a child. Perhaps they were right and perhaps she was being greedy for asking more than she had.

"It's a relief to know. Now let's enjoy dinner, shall we?"

She barely touched her meal and half an hour later she was back to her room. She walked over to the balcony and rested her elbows on the marble railing, basking in the warmth of the sun. Her gaze followed the rays that casted their light beyond the high walls securing the palace. It was so painfully close, yet it felt so remote. With a long sigh she shifted away but faltered when she caught glimpse of a tree at the end of the garden, crawling its way beside the wall. Her heart leaped in her throat. Maybe…she could sneak a taste of freedom and no one would have to know.

On the way back to his personal office, Jose grinned to himself. The girl's naivety was so convenient. She had no idea how the world functions, let alone rule a whole city. He was responsible for that, of course, he had raised her this way. Now all he had to do was marry her to an imbecile, and he would keep having as much wealth as he wanted, as much power as he wanted. He was the real ruler, and he had no intention of bestowing this privilege on a girl that only cared about love and rainbows.

"Everything is going according to plan..."

"Juvia can do it, Juvia can do it…"

She had been this way for quite some time; walking back and forth, stopping to glance up at the wall (which seemed much harder to climb on now), then continue muttering to herself. She would be gone only for a few hours. But Juvia would be disobeying Master Jose. No one would notice. But this is so selfish! And then she would do what she had to do. She would be more reciprocative, and marry someone she didn't know, or love. Maybe Master was right, and love would come afterwards. And maybe if she did something reckless for once, she would stop yearning for freedom.

She looked up again. It's just one time, just a few hours, no harm will be done, right? Her hand clenched at the hooded cloak she snatched from the servants' wardrobe. Mustering every ounce of determination she had, she started climbing up the tree, careful not to slip. When she got at the top, she tied a knot on the tree's steadiest branch with the improvised rope she had made (she was going to miss those cashmere shawls). The height made her dizzy as she peered down at the empty street. Clasping at the rope tight, she took a deep breath.

And jumped.

AN: Thanks for reading! I can't guarrantee the most frequent updates since, like I said, I haven't written that far ahead and I'll be having exams to deal with in a couple of months, but I'll try my best to keep a (somewhat) decent updating pace. I'd really appreciate comments, because I've never written an AU before and I don't know where I'm standing and it makes me nervous haha. Like, was it okay or...? Let me know :)