He held her lifeless body close to his chest. Her cold dead body. Tears rapidly cascaded down his face, dripping endlessly on her paling cheek. All he could wonder was why? Why would she do this?

She dodged the jagged movements of the scaly creature, the curse of Poseidon was really being a pain in the ass. Hearing the mention of Poseidon, Juvia thought that the mission would be a piece of cake as both possessed control of the same element: water. However she underestimated his strength. The man who called himself Poseidon had great power, being able to conjure a whole armada of ships, that began to charge at her. He twisted his long pepper grey beard between his fingers, maliciously laughing at the sudden struggle he placed upon her. His cloudy blue eyes challenged her as of to say "Try and beat this!". His ships all had an intimidating siren with a tight scowl, and swords pointed outwards from the forepeak, they were made of white oak but the keels were made with sturdy catalase. She liquefied the moment the smooth white oak of the ships brushed against her skin. Without the help of her companion, she wouldn't of been able to reduce them to dust. His icy spears flew through the air, crushing their target, exploding the ships into nothing. She shifted her head so she could look at him, his ebony black hair was blown back by the salty sea breeze, his dark eyes reflecting the light from the dominating sun above them. Once he realised that she was staring, he smiled at her, he gave her one of his warm genuine smiles. Even though he was so cold, he made her feel so warm. They both nodded at each other, signalling their next attack. They let out a war cry and stormed towards Poseidon, both preparing their assault.

When they began inch closer to their opponent, Poseidon rose his defence: a towering sea creature. Its slick inky scales were sharp like a harpy's talon; one poisonous touch was their death. Its beady black eyes were dark pools of darkness, an eternity of swirling shadows. Its long pointed fangs stuck out from the sides of its wide mouth, saliva oozing downwards, sliding down its body with its revolting stench.

Juvia gasped, her eyes widening as big as plates, her mouth beginning to tremble, her voice only allowing her to mutter, "Poseidon's curse..."

It pounced at the pair, merely missing them. They had to think fast. The needed to find a weak spot or they were screwed. The creature's long neck craned over them, and lurched to attack. Juvia skipped to the side, her partner doing the same.

"Ice geyser!" he bellowed aiming his hands at the monster. Discuses slicing through the air effortlessly, they hit their target, but it did nothing. They simply hit the tough scales and ricocheted, smashing the ice to pieces. His mouth was left agape; one of his most powerful spells was shoved aside. He watched, trembling, as the ice splashed into the water.

"Water nebula!" she screamed from behind the monster. When did she get there? And how did she get there so fast? Whirlpools formed and pushed the monster away, not much but it was something.

She suddenly appeared from above, her face filled with determination, "Juvia kick!" she pounded the slender jaw of the creature, resulting a raging roar of pain. She smirked, beginning to appear from various places, kicking the monster. What speed! He watched in awe as she switched her position every second to aim a hit. He was enchanted by her sleek movements, how it moved without hesitation. But the trance was broken when he heard her shriek. She was slipping into its body. She was sinking into its body, she wasn't being swallowed or eaten, but she was being dissolved into its body.

He leered at Poseidon , a growl forming in his throat, "YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

He began randomly shooting ice bullets, he had no plan, no specific direction, just a kindled rage. A passion to cut his smug face into chunks. It was Poseidon's turn to shake in fear, the ice mage regarded all his morals, every belief he had built up, he just wanted to tear Poseidon apart, he wanted to hear him yell in agony, he wanted to hear him beg: for him to spare his life as he breaks his insides bit by bit. Poseidon made the biggest mistake in his life; he had made the woman the ice wizard loved; disappear.

He never admitted it. He told her he would give her an answer, but he never specifically said what to. Once the battle with Alvarez had ended, he hesitated when she asked for his answer. His palms sweated as he searched his mind for answers, "I-I I really liked those buns you made even though they had my face on it..." he scratched his head and looked at the ground. When he saw her expression, he was shocked to see that it was very sincere, she gave him a small smile her eyes lighting up, she hugged his neck and gave his a small peck on the cheek, "Arigato Gray-sama."

Her leg brushed against his as she walked away. He held his hand to his cheek. It was very out of character for her not to be delighted that he complimented her buns. Did she finally loose interest? He hoped not. She seemed very calm. He kind of liked that.

But now she was gone. Or that's what he thought. As he was about to stab Poseidon's neck with his serrated spear edge, Poseidon's curse began to twitch. It began to shake. It began to expand. It lunged towards Gray and Poseidon, it's mouth wide open ready to devour. But instead of aiming at Gray, it aimed at its master, swallowing him whole in one single bite. Poseidon didn't even have the chance to scream. It was all a blur, it just happened too fast.

Gray glared at the creature, it began to disassemble itself: it began to shed it's scales, each heavy plaque dissolving when it touched the surface, its face began to melt, blood gauging from its eyes, its leathery skin peeling away. The remaining skeleton exploded, water bursting outwards instead of the usual calcium carbonate. He saw a body falling from the clear blue sky. He saw her body. He rushed towards her, as she plummeted downwards. She landed roughly, tumbling on the sand, her damp body attracting the small grains on her. Juvia managed to shakily stand up. She stood up long enough to wave and stumble towards Gray.

He scurried, desperate to get to her, he didn't care, he had to hold her, he needed to know she was really there. She was so close. A meter away. Arms length away. Inches away. In his arms. He gripped her tightly not wanting to let go. He leaned down to her, and kissed her. He kissed her with all the built up lust he had for her, all the built up regret of pushing her away, ignoring her. When he broke away, he looked down at her with a bright smile and tender eyes. She smiled back and then gasped clutching her side.

"G-Gr-Gray..."

He diverted his gaze downward to he waist. She was bleeding. A shattered piece of that creature's scale was implanted there, steam rising from it. Shit. Poison. He forgot all about it, the scales had poison and she got impaled by one.

She smiled at him once more. Then she felt limp.

Horror stroke him. He laid her down gently. He was not going to let her die. He ripped two strips of fabric from her skirt and rinsed them of sand in the sea. When he returned, he gingerly took her shirt off, exposing her wound. He took the scale out and dabbed the fabric gently around the area, to stop it from getting infected and hopefully taking the poison out. He had done it to himself before, it may have a different effect on her but it was worth a try, he iced her side: to stop the bleeding. It successfully worked and she gained consciousness.

"Juvia!"

"Gray..." she sleepily mumbled.

"I'm so glad you're back." He warmly beamed.

"I'm not staying long..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I only came back to say goodbye."

"Don't talk like that!" he scolded her, his brows furrowing, "You ain't going anywhere!"

"All that matters is that Gray-sama is safe." She stated, a hand reaching for his face.

He pushed her hand away from his cheek, holding it in his own, "You are staying right here," he lead her hand towards his heart, "with me."

Warm tears cascaded down her pale face, "Gomenasai..." she began to close her eyes,

"Juvia!" he forced back his tears, but it was difficult, and it wasn't long before he began to cry.

He kissed her, feeling her breath on him. She was still there. She was still with him. She was alive. Fate would be cruel to not let him have that. She weakly kissed back, putting all her remaining energy into it. Their tears mingled together, intertwined with each other, tangled in each others' pain and sorrow. He felt her salty tears on his tongue, such a feeble sensation.

She pulled away, clutching his shirt as the pain in her side was torture.

Gray was choking on his words, "I love you."

Her eyes began to fully close, she flashed him a smile, a smile he would very much miss.

"I know," she sighed "Goodbye, Gray my one and only love."

She took her last breath; inhaling and exhaling, her eyes completely shut.

He traced his thumb over her lips. Nothing.

"Juvia!" he roared, sobbing into her chest. Pulling her closer and closer into him.

For the first time, he felt absolutely cold. No scarf could warm him, no smile would make his stomach flutter with butterflies, no presence of another could replace the void in his heart.

This must be absolute pain. This must be heartbreak. This must be loneliness.