A/N: Ice here! I don't actually ship Lyon and Juvia, but The NEW Fairy Tail Writing Challenges have demanded that I write them together, so be it! I really struggled with the word count requirement, so I'm not totally happy with the end result. Still, I hope I can at least pass onto the next round!
Drip, drip, drop.
Lyon mouths the words as he gazes out the window, watching the raindrops stick to the panes, tauntingly beautiful in their opaque tints of blue, before they slip away. He is unable to gather that beauty in his fingers, to cup it in his palm; he is always on the other side, looking through from the sidelines.
Drip, drip…
His heart nearly drops in his chest when he suddenly spots her, standing in the downpour. Just as quickly as it lurched into his stomach, it soars up again just at a glance of her. Wiping the condensation on the glass with an almost awed stroke, he peers closer through the window, wanting to confirm his hopes.
Sure enough, it's her. Unperturbed by the rain, Juvia Luxor gazes at the sky, her dark eyes unfathomable and her tauntingly beautiful hair sticking to her pale skin. He presses a hand against the glass, and wonders if he should join her.
Lyon does not have to wait for long- the girl spots him despite the foggy windows, and gives a gentle smile that causes his heart to leap in his chest once more and suddenly thrum past all reasonable speed.
Not caring if he gets his clothes wet nor bothering to put on more appropriate shoes, Lyon exits the building and steps outside, the cooling rain pattering against his skin. He has never thought to leave any building before in a downpour like this, but he finds that is somehow gratifying. Juvia is merely a few feet away- his pulse quickens, and his feet follow suit. He quickly covers the distance between them.
She offers that beautiful-beyond-reason smile again, and he thinks that he might faint dead away. It's more than her beauty, he reasons- it's the character behind the smile, her soul shining in every gesture she makes no matter the weather.
He clears his throat. "Are you taking a walk?"
Her large eyes flit to the sky once more, and her lips press together thinly. "Juvia merely wanted to be closer to the rain."
He nods, understanding. "May I accompany you?" Be a gentleman, he reminds himself. Lyon bows a bit, and he is elated to hear Juvia laugh lightly. Her laugh is tinkling, like the soft trickling of a creek. His entire body loosens when he is around her.
"Juvia would enjoy the company," she murmurs. Together, they slowly move down the cobbled streets, away from the inn. She is so close to him that he can almost feel her body heat even through their clothes- already drenched in water despite their short time together- and it makes him even more nervous. He wants to take her hand, to guide her into the night and tell her that he will be hers forever, but she's different, and he knows he cannot approach her like he can with any other girl.
Especially, he thinks bitterly, when she is already attached to another man.
Today, however, she is different. She is not her bubbly self, and she is not the bright, Juvia Luxor that she had been when they first met. Something is off, and although it seems a ridiculous thought to him, he wonders if the rain is so heavy because she is unhappy.
His curiosity wages war with his inner gentleman that knows better than to press an upset woman- in the end, he suddenly steps in front of her, facing her determinedly. Juvia stops, her previously downcast eyes flickering up in surprise. He's glad that the streets are empty tonight- he wouldn't want her feeling any more uncomfortable than necessary.
"You know," he begins awkwardly, and then allows his characteristic confidence to overtake his uncertainty. "I may not be one of your treasured friends yet, and we have yet to build memories together, but I am a man you can trust. If there is something pressing on your mind, I can assure you that I wouldn't tell a single soul." He steps closer to her, taking in her gorgeous, widened eyes. "I would do anything to see that smile of yours again."
Juvia flushes a becoming red that fans across her face, and Lyon is relieved to see that hint of the regular Juvia, the happy Juvia, the one he fell in love with in the first place. She opens her mouth wordlessly; closes it, opens it again, and then bites down on her lower lip, unsure. Lyon waits patiently, just as a gentleman would. When she finally speaks, Lyon's fingers have gone numb from the cold of the night.
"Is Juvia not suited for Gray-sama, after all…?"
His heart skips a beat.
Drip, drip, drop.
When he doesn't reply, she continues, forlorn, "Juvia attends to him every day, waits for him. Juvia… Juvia loves him." At this, Lyon feels a sharp pang in his chest, her voice only confirming what he already knew, and yet inflicting pain regardless. "Juvia just wishes she knew how much longer she has to wait." Her voice breaks miserably, and Lyon has to stifle the urge to wrap his arms around her and take her into his chest, because it wouldn't be right to embrace the woman he loves when she is crying over the man she loves.
But oh, how he wants to.
This is it, he thinks to himself. This is a golden opportunity, a chance for him to tell her what he so desperately needs to say, to make his move and change her heart when it is wavering.
I am the one who you are suited for, who you belong with.
I would take care of you; I would see to it that you never cried again.
I want to love you with everything I have.
I want protect your smile.
Lyon opens his mouth. And then:
"It's up to you," he says quietly.
She gives a start. She has experienced his advances and so his words seem to shock her, but he presses on.
"It's not a matter of whether or not you think you're 'suited' for someone," he insists. "If you love someone, it doesn't matter if he's your complete opposite or your mirror image. If you truly love someone…" Lyon's fists clench. "You will do everything you can to get them to see it and to protect their happiness. It doesn't matter if they don't reciprocate it."
His gaze is piercing, tone confident. "If it's true love… it's only a matter of time."
Juvia's eyes widen, her face still a slight pink hue. Lyon gulps and wonders if he has said right thing. If he had voiced what he so desperately wanted to- needed to- then would she already be in his arms?
Much to his surprise, the rain seems to lessen, even if only a bit.
She begins to walk again, stepping lightly past him with the slightest smile on her face. Lyon takes this as a good sign and trails after her, wondering if it would be odd to take her into his arms and kiss her senseless until she melted away and professed undying love for him or if he should just leave her be.
He doesn't have the guts though, really, and it wasn't as if his first idea was really plausible. The moment he decides this is the moment that Juvia speaks again, and this time her voice is almost beseeching.
"What do you suppose... is true love?"
This is a question he does not have to struggle nearly as hard with. All he has to do is look at her, into those mesmerizing eyes of hers.
"True love is… the desire to protect another's true happiness, to put that person above all else. It's kindness, patience, and forgiveness, all for that one person's sake."
His eyes are drilling right into hers now.
"It's staying with her," he intones lowly, "even when she is chasing after someone else, because you know that one day she'll have to see that you are genuine, and one day, you won't have to wait any more."
There is a heavy silence for a moment- Lyon dismissively notes, in the back of his mind, that the rain seems to have stopped completely. Juvia blushes again, fiddling with her fingers, her wet hair framing her face and making her even more adorable.
"Thank you," she says quietly, and her smile is real this time. They don't say anything else for the rest of the night as they wander around the city. In the previous deluge, no soul had bothered to go outside, and it seems to Lyon as if it's just the two of them in their own little world, complete with starry lamps and a lit sky. Comfortable, despite the silence.
He delivers her- ever the gentleman, of course- back to her own inn just after midnight, and offers her a parting smile that she graciously returns, and grudgingly turns away from her bright face.
"Wait," she calls out. Lyon turns.
Her eyes are sparkling with happiness, her skin glimmering under the light of the streetlamps. Her lips are full and pert, and her smile is so beautiful that it takes his breath away.
"Juvia wants to thank you for keeping her company tonight," she says almost shyly, and then right before closing the door, she suddenly blushes and adds, "Lyon-sama," before gently clicking the door shut.
That night, he sleeps with the windows open despite the drizzling rain that soaks into his room.
He doesn't have to keep them closed anymore; he is finally on the other side.
Drip, drip, drop.