The Blizzard
A/N : I finally finished it! I've had this drafted for about month now and I finally finished it! Yay! I have a super soft spot for Gruvia, I think they make a perfect pair. I feel that Gray suffers a lot due from his past, and I think Juvia in a way senses that. So I tried to make this kinda angsty for the two, but I still wanted to keep it kinda fluffy! Sorry if it seems a little rushed, a lot has been going on in my life, but I did my best with it! Hope you guys like it!
Pairing: Gruvia
Rated T: For some language
Summary: During a small request, a blizzard occurs bringing angst and troubles to the two wizards. The two struggle to find shelter, but Gray seems to also struggle with something within himself.
"Are you sure this job really needed two people, Juvia?"
The two were on a one-man job request that required someone to retreat a missing gem that was rumored to be somewhere in . Juvia practically insisted on Gray tagging along since their magic combined could be quite beneficial for the mission.
"C'mon darling, it could be fun! You deserve to get out once in a while." She had pleaded back at the guild hall.
"I'm already out and about, Juvia." Gray had argued back, "Besides, it's a one-man job."
Juvia had slumped her shoulders and let her frown hang from her face. That is, until she had the brilliant idea of asking Makarov's permission for two people to go. Why not? Natsu and Lucy did that all the time. Of course, the old man gave his blessing for the two of them to go, and now here they were, both dragging their feet in the mounts of snow.
"I-I'm absolutely sure this job was the meant for the both of us." Juvia replied. She struggled lifting her black high-boots off the snowy ground. Even with her body being entirely made of water, she could still feel the cold snow damp her feet. Nonetheless, this didn't stop her determination in finishing the mission. "With our magic combined," she continued, "There's no way we can't find that gem."
A small grin crept onto Gray's face. He had to admit, as suffocating as he thought Juvia was, he always admired her compliments. Something about them, gave him that extra boost.
Gray began to look up at the sky, giving some silence between him and his partner. "It's dark and cold…just like that night." He thought as he pondered on the grey sky. It always looked like this during his childhood. Sure, there were brief moments of sunshine here and there, but while he was training with Ur, it always looked damp and cold like this night.
"It's going to start snowing again." Gray predicted. Next to him, Juvia clutched the wool of her collar to protect herself from the freezing winds. "It is?" she began to ask
Gray nodded his head, "We better hurry soon if we want to find the gem."
His partner put on her brave face. With him, nothing was impossible. "Right." Juvia replied.
As the two walked more into , the more Gray wondered back to the thoughts of his past. Every day for as long as he had trained with Ur, to the day she died, it was cold, dark, and damp. As ironic as it may be, Gray hated weather like this. Despite him being an Ice-Make wizard, he shuttered at this weather for the painful reminders it brought him. It was this kind of weather when he lost Ur from her brave sacrifice. How could a child witness such a horrific scene like he did? He was a teary mess when she uttered her last words to him.
"I'll live on, please don't cry."
Still, Gray couldn't surpass the ghost of his past that led him to think her death was his fault. "If only I was stronger." He would say to himself, "Ur would still be here if it wasn't for me."
He tried to shrug off the haunting thoughts that occupied his mind. "Damnit, what's wrong with me!" he wailed to himself. Gray hated recalling those specific memories. It was just another reminder of all the sacrifices people had done for him. First Ur, then her daughter Ultear.
Juvia felt the sudden change between the two. Even though she struggled from the weather's cold winds she could see that Gray looked troubled. His forehead furrowed with a blank expression in his eyes. "What was he thinking?" She thought to herself.
Gently, Juvia reached for his empty hand wanting only to comfort his disturbed mind, "Gray?" She spoke softly.
Gray flinched his hand away from hers the moment they touched. "What?" he mumbled
Juvia recognized the flat-tone in his voice. She knew exactly what that meant. He'd been thinking about his childhood again. She'd only know about his past second-hand through Erza. She was the one to tell her everything Gray had gone through as a child. The great Titania warned the water mage that whenever Gray though about his past, he acted stiff and reserved.
"He's not one to talk about his feelings." Juvia recalled from her conversation with Erza, "Everyone's tried to have him talk about his past, but he seems to shut everyone out from that part of his life."
Juvia could feel her heart ache a bit. She felt for her love. She could only imagine the pain he dealt with as a child and even now. His own master sacrificed herself to protect her young apprentices. He witnessed her becoming an ice shell that froze one of Zeref's deadly demons. Years later, he'd come to find out Ultear's sacrifice. She ransomed her life to send everyone back in time before dragons fled through Fiore during the eclipse project. Even though the spell went back only by one minute, it managed to give Gray another chance at life again.
Juvia had heard rumors that Gray was shot not once, but several times, from of the dragon's blasts during the battle of the dragons. Even so, she couldn't remember him dying from such a horrific incident. Just thinking about losing Gray brought tears to her eyes. He was her everything and brought the sunshine to her life when no one else did. If he had died, that feeling of bliss would be yanked away from her life.
Still, it wasn't okay for him to bottle up his feelings from the past. Juvia wanted nothing more than to communicate with Gray about his matters. The two had grown a bit closer after all. If she wanted to get through to him, now was the perfect time for them to talk.
Juvia wanted to reach for Gray's hand again but she just shuffled closer to Gray. "Are you okay?" she began to ask.
He cringed from the water mages concern. "Could she really see right through me?" Gray began to ask himself, "Am I really that obvious?"
"I'm fine." He muttered.
"He's lying to me." Juvia thought to herself. His wincing expression from her question was just enough to show he wasn't fine.
"I-It's just that you se-"
"I'm fine!" Gray interrupted. "Drop it."
His snarled tone was enough for Juvia to step back from him. Erza was right. There was no getting though to him. She looked down to the snowy ground. "I did it again." She thought to herself. Incidents like this weren't the first time to occur. There were many times when Juvia had asked her beloved Gray if he was alright, but he merely respond with a bland, "Yeah, I'm fine." This time, however, she struck a chord in him.
The two traveled further. The weather began to severe as the time passed. The winds fought against the two wizards, giving them great struggle to keep balance. The snow began to fall at tremendous speed, making it even harder for the two to see. Gray knew for sure they were walking straight into a blizzard.
"We have to find shelter before this blizzard gets worse." Gray shouted over the roaring winds.
"But what about the gems!?" Juvia cried out
"Who cares about that? If we don't find shelter, we'll freeze to death."
The pair walked deeper through the sheets of snow. Juvia, could feel herself freeze with every cold wind that shivered her body. Gray, on the other hand, didn't seem to be phased by the icy environment. Gray was an Ice-make wizard, so Juvia tried not to be too surprised with the way he dealt with the icy winds. He walked in front of her trying to guide the two to safety.
Juvia clutched onto his shoulder so she wouldn't get lost. "I can't see!" she wailed
"Just hold on tight!" Gray shouted after her.
After what seemed like hours of walking in the storm, Gray spotted a cave that arched right by a rocky mountain. "Shelter!" he cried out. The two found their hope and hiked towards the cave. However, they failed to realize that the strong winds were making the other mountains cascade their heavy sheets of snow. Oblivious to possible avalanche, they carried on.
The blizzard gave no mercy for the two mages. Juvia, suddenly began to feel weary from the storm. With every step she struggled to keep balance. Gray finally took notice of Juvia's exhausted behavior.
"We're almost there Juvia, just hang on tight." He tried reassuring her.
She nodded her head as her response.
"Gray…" Juvia finally said, softly spoken.
"What is it? He responded all concerned. Even though just a hours ago he lashed out at her, Gray really did care for Juvia. Especially in her fatigued state right now.
"I think I hear something." She said.
"Like what?"
"I hear…something shattering…"
Shattering? Gray stopped his tracks and began to look around trying to identify where the sound was coming from. He heard it too. The noises were coming from all around him, but he noticed they sounded as if they were right above them. Gray put his hands over his forehead, and stared about at the sky.
Crack, crack
"What the?" he mumbled to himself
Suddenly, it felt as if the world stopped. Gray began to feel little pebbles hitting his jacket. He didn't have to look up anymore, he knew exactly what was happening.
"Avalanche!" he cried out. Gray grabbed Juvia's hand and ran like a mad hound away from the sudden droppings of heavy snow. The avalanche created a snowy river making the mages escape difficult. Juvia tried her best to keep up with her partner, especially in her tired state. She could feel herself slipping with every step she took. "Stay strong…Stay strong." Juvia instructed herself.
"Can you see the cave?" Gray yelled out to her.
"No." Juvia choked out. It's hopeless, she now thought, they were going to be trapped in this blizzard with no escape.
"Damnit," Gray cursed as he still tugged Juvia's hand.
She began to feel faint. "I need to stop." She began to say in her mind, "I'm too weak to go on, but Gray can still make it."
As if someone turned off her switch, Juvia fell to the ground. If she had to fall in order for Gray to keep moving and flee from the tormenting blizzard, so be it. Juvia couldn't live with herself if she dragged Gray away from safety. She knew she had to stay behind for his sake. Feeling her absence, Gray spun around to see what was wrong.
"Juvia!" he shouted from the top of his lungs.
"Gray…" she whispered, "Keep going."
"No, C'mon Juvia we have to get to the cave!"
"I can't go on Gray…" She began to tear up, "I'm holding you back, and you need to get to safety."
"Like hell you are!" He cried "I can carry you, Please let me just take you back with me!"
"I can't keep dragging you down. You need to keep going."
Gray began to feel the tears build up in his eyes. This girl was stubborn, but she was willing to stay behind for his sake. She wanted him to keep going so he could live. Juvia knew what was at stake, but she wanted him to stay alive, even if it meant her life. Another sacrifice.
"No…" Gray muttered, "I'm not letting you do this. If I'm going to be alive, you have to be alive with me."
He scooped her off the ground and held her bridal style. He cradled Juvia's head close to him, and took off running. That could have been another one, he thought to himself, another person I cared about putting their life aside for me.
After minutes of running the two finally made it to the cave. Gray set Juvia on the ground. And collapsed beside her. He panted like a dog as he lay next to her. Juvia's blue hair swept over her face.
"Hey Juvia," Gray said as he shook the water mater mage.
No response.
"Juvia, we're here now, wake up."
Nothing.
Grays' heart began to race. Did she faint? Did the cold get to her? What was wrong?
He checked for her pulse and felt a slow beat. She was still alive.
Gray slumped back against the edge of the rocky wall and sighed. She was tired and knocked out. Still, that didn't make her heartbeat worrisome. He got up and began to strip off his jacket and shirt. "I have to make her warm." Gray said to himself. He laid them on top of his partner like a blanket and tucked a small strand of blue hair behind her ear.
"I'll be right back." He gently whispered, "I'm going to find us something to make a fire."
Moments later, Gray returned back with a few dry logs he found in the depths of the cave. Luckily, Ur taught him a thing or two about lighting a campfire during night trainings.
"Damn, this sure would've been a lot easier if Flame-brain was around." He grumbled to himself after he made a nest of the firewood. He grabbed a rock and two sticks and began his work. Gray briskly plowed through the wood with his other sharp stick. After two hours of this work, he saw a small gentle smoke leave from the smothered sticks. "AHA! I DID IT!" Gray boasted to himself. He sped up the plowing of the two sticks and saw a light ember fuse from the smoke. "Yes!" he silently cheered.
Gray went over to his nest of firewood and sat the small fire in the middle. He watched as the other pieces of wood slowly caught flame.
"This will warm you up."
Gray went over to check on his partner who was still out cold. He laid his hand over her forehead only to detect that Juvia had a slight fever.
He began to feel a little frantic with himself. Gray never really took care of someone, let alone a sick person, but he needed to do something to relieve Juvia's fever. He had already made a small fire, what more can keep her warm?
He sat along next to her trying to think, but his mind began to wander somewhere else. Juvia did so much to protect him, but he couldn't think of another measly thing to keep her warm. She put her life on the line when she wanted him to push forward without her. How could someone in the right mind do that?
"It's because she loves you." A voice echoed in Gray's mind.
Gray sighed at his conscience. He knew that already. But still, he couldn't shake off that Juvia almost sacrificed her life to keep Gray safe.
He exhaled out and laid his hand Juvia's blue head and began to softly stroke her hair.
"You know, I never really said thank you for earlier." He began to say, "You were willing to put your life on the line in order for me to keep going."
A subtle smile crept back onto Gray's face but disappeared as he continued to talk to the sleeping girl.
"I couldn't let you do that because…I've lost too many people that I cared about." Gray chocked out. He could feel the pent up emotions build inside, and it was time to let them out.
"The reason why I was so angry earlier was because I was thinking about my past. This weather actually reminds me of a few horrible days I've had in the past. I lost Ur when it was cold and dark, and then there's Ultear who sacrificed her life for all of us. You may not recall it, but there was a moment when I actually died. If it wasn't for Ultear I wouldn't be here right now. She and her mother gave me another chance at life."
Gray exhaled as he fought back the growing tears in his eyes. "I feel like I owe them so much for their sacrifices. I feel helpless that I can't. Everyone puts their life on the line to protect me, and I don't want that anymore. I don't want the ones I care about to be gone because of me. I care about everyone all too much."
"But then there's you…As much as you suffocate me with your full attention, I can't help but feel protective of you. It feels weird when you're not hanging around me, and to be honest I do actually like your company…we're a team."
Gray knelt down next to Juvia and began to lay next to her. He laid his arm around her side and gave her a small embrace.
"I'm sorry for lashing out at you earlier." He whispered in her ear. Gray could feel the water mage warm up from the body heat now present. Deep inside, she probably knew exactly what was going on and was probably blushing from Gray's sweet actions, but she still lay next to him sound asleep.
"You make me happy Juvia, and for that, I smile because of you."
The next day Juvia woke up from the sun shining in her eyes. "It's…morning?"
She tried to get up only to discover that she was oddly warm and had a bare arm wrapped around her waist. "Could it be?!" Juvia exclaimed to herself. She slightly turned her head and saw her darling Gray sleeping behind her. His dark hair hid his resting eyes, and all you could see were his pink lips. He looked so peaceful as he had his arms wrapped around the water mage. She resisted trying not to break out in dance and cheer, and who could blame her? Her love slept right next to her! Still, she wanted to enjoy this rare and intimate moment, so she closed her eyes again and lived in the moment. She felt lighter, and even happier for other reasons she couldn't explain, but for now she would set that in the back of her mind. Juvia finally rested her hand on top of his hand and fell back asleep.