The Sixth Time

by Clarixe

For every time she says, "Juvia loves Gray-sama," he would always answer "I know." For the sixth time, however, she managed to tell him in a totally different way how she felt for the ice mage while both of them were stuck inside an anti-magic room. Gray and Juvia were left with no choice but to settle their relationship with each other and the sexual tension between them.

Author's Note: It has been a while since I typed a pre-fic message like this. I will be celebrating my tenth year as a member of this community and marking the tenth year that I've been writing fiction works as a passion [well, I've been on and off] this August 30.

If one will be able to read my first fiction entitled Gift (I used to be a Card Captor fiction regular) and proceed to each of my works up to the most recent ones, you will be able to clearly notice that a lot of things have changed in my sense of writing – the style, the grammar knowledge, and even the (somehow) complexity of plot and characters.

To mark my tenth year celebration as a fan fiction writer, I am presenting this GRUVIA fiction to you, guys [consider it an early gift, geehee]. This is something new for me as I have never attempted to write and publish a steamy fiction. I'm hoping that you enjoy this one. Long live Gray/Juvia~!

Sixth Time

A Gruvia One-Shot

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"I encounter millions of bodies in my life; of these millions, I may desire some hundreds; but of these hundreds, I love only one."

-Roland Barthes, A Lover's Discourse: Fragments

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"Kuso," Gray Fullbuster cursed as he tried to shake the door open, "it won't open."

The ice mage was stuck inside a storage room of Fairy Tail. Inside the room, several shelves were placed and each shelf contained stocks used for beverage and dining of the Fairy members. The room has a sub-zero temperature. A faint smoke came out of the ice mage's mouth for each time he spoke; however, the coldness in the air did not have an adverse effect on Gray. After all, he is an ice mage.

Sadly, for the water mage who was also with the ice mage inside the storage room, it was not the same case. Although clad in her usual dark blue dress coat with long sleeves and fur as trimmings along the edge of the dress, Juvia's arms were crossed below her chest. The material of her dress definitely cut off the coldness in half yet Juvia was not comfortable with the cold sensation the room brings.

"Oi, Juvia," Gray ordered the water mage who was frozen, literally and figuratively, at the corner of the storage room, "aren't you going to help me?"

His dark blue eyes pierced through the rain woman. Unfortunately, the rain woman was concentrating too much on preserving her body temperature against the harsh sub-zero temperature inside the storage room.

"Juvia wonders if Gray-sama can use magic to destroy the door," Juvia stuttered – her lips were already pale and her cheeks had the faint shade of red. Her Russian hat with a butterfly adornment was considered helpful somehow as it covered her ears perfectly – defending the pair against coldness. Juvia sighed heavily; a faint smoke came out of her mouth. She, then, pressed her lips together and then parted a little.

As she looked at herself against the reflection of the glassed shelves, she could not help but thank fate that she was having a penchant for dress coat and thigh-high brown boots. Her ensemble somehow augmented her lack of tolerance against low temperature. The water mage was no longer thinking of the fact that the only people in the room were her and that certain ice mage that she had been fantasizing on for years.

"That cannot be done, baka," Gray answered back. His voice was a little bit strong than the usual. Ever since the two realized that they were locked inside the room, the ice mage had already mustered different curse words, "this room was designed to repel any form of magic."

"Master Makarov thought that there should be one room that would safeguard not only tangible objects but also members," Mirajane explained to several members of the guild after the entire Fairy Tail building was restored and refurbished, "when time comes that there is an imminent danger."

Erza was curious, "not any form of magic?"

Mirajane nodded, "not even from the inside."

The remaining members – Natsu, Gray, Cana, Levy, Lucy, and Happy – all dropped their jaws in amazement.

"We would also be planning to convert it into a big cooling room," Mirajane added enthusiastically, "so that we can store perishable items there and prevent any form of stealing."

The take-over mage looked sharply at the best drunkard of the guild, Cana Alberona, the card mage, as she mentioned the word stealing. Cana cleared her throat and defensively said, "hey, I only did it once since I ran out of alcoholic beverages at my house."

"Eh?" Lucy asked in a curious tone, "how can one open it, then?"

"Only Master Makarov and I can open the door," Mirajane took out the black necklace that she had been wearing and showed off the pendant of the jewellery – it was an intricate black key with small ruby stones as decorative ornaments.

"Even Juvia's Water Nebula?" The water mage wondered as lifted her arms off air she looked at her bare hands. Her hands were shaking.

"Any form of magic won't do," Gray answered as he made his last strike on the door, "not even brute force would open this."

The ice mage gave up budging the door and sat on the floor. Bending his knees, he leaned his back on the door, "the door, no - the entire room – it was made with the best lacrima; the best material that cannot be easily taken down by simply using brute force."

Juvia looked around the room as she tried to figure out other way. Aside from the shelves, the entire room was sealed off – no windows, no trap doors, no secret passageways. The entire room was being illuminated by a single lacrima lamp. Somehow, it was giving off a faint whitish blue light. The water mage gulped down a sob and seriously said, "Juvia wants to say sorry to Gray-sama even though deep inside, she is not feeling sorry at all."

Her eyes twinkled as she ran towards the ice mage and plopped herself beside him. She linked her arms around the ice mage's body. The ice mage, on the other hand, quickly repelled her action by pushing her away from him. Accidentally placing her hands on both her breasts, she squealed with utmost happiness, "Gray-sama groped Juvia~!"

The ice mage quickly removed his hands on her chest and without lifting his arse from the floor, he backwardly moved towards the corner of the room. His eyes were fixed on the water mage, vigilant that the latter would do something crazy again. He felt the heat rushing to his cheeks. Although it was not the first time he had touched her chest, it felt awkwardly embarrassing and uncomfortable.

Juvia, oblivious to Gray's reaction, clasped both her hands and closed her eyes. She was muttering words like Gray-sama, groping, lovely time, affection. Her mind flew to the land of alternate universe wherein the Gray and the Juvia lovingly embraced each other while saying affectionate words.

"Oh, Juvia," Gray muttered as he caressed the bone between her neck and breast, "I've been waiting for this moment."

"Gray-sama," Juvia stuttered shyly as she, avoiding the eyes of the man, looked down. He cupped her chin and lifted her head. His eyes met hers.

"Juvia," was all the ice mage mustered to whisper as their lips came to close contact.

Seeing the water mage in trance, Gray Fullbuster said, "oi, Juvia, what the hell –"

This simply made all the images in the water mage's mind gone. Juvia blinked her eyes and cried in a childish way, "Juvia and Gray-sama in alternate universe!"

"What the hell are you even murmuring about," Gray accused and then muttered in a surrendering tone, "what have I done to be locked up in the room with this woman?"

"Brainless flame!"

"Ice pants!"

It was the usual brawl between the ice mage and the fire dragon slayer and usually it results to joining of other Fairy boys as well, including Gajeel and Elfman.

Levy worriedly asked Mirajane as she watched the commotion, "aren't they going to destroy our guild again?"

"Well, I'll ask them to repair the damaged parts tomorrow," Mirajane said coolly as she placed a cake stand on the counter table, "and if they don't heed me-"

Mirajane gave off a dark aura around her and her calm demeanor disappeared, "they wouldn't want to taste my wrath."

Levy nodded.

"What are they fighting over again?"

Lucy approached the two mages with a silly look on her face. Levy smiled at her and answered, "well, it all started between Natsu and Gray."

Upon hearing the start of the narration, all Lucy did was to sigh heavily. Levy chuckled and continued, "they're fighting over the title of being the best S-class candidate."

"Not again," Lucy irked.

"Boys will always be boys," Mirajane interrupted. She was holding a rounded strawberry cake. The frosting was as white as snow and on the top of the cake were strawberries and fairy-shaped candies. She placed the cake on the cake stand and the other two mages cannot help but admire the dessert.

"Erza specifically requested for this," Mirajane smiled awkwardly, "she specifically asked me to bake this so that after her S-class quest, she'll go here and enjoy eating this cake."

"That is a beautiful cake, Mirajane," Lucy complimented. Levy nodded in agreement as well.

"You may also request something like this for me, Lucy and Levy," Mirajane patted the two on their heads, "this one is a ten-hour labor."

"Sugoi," the two said in unison.

As the two continued to admire the work of the take-over mage, Natsu ran away from the commotion, followed by Gray who was yelling, "don't run away you coward!"

"I'm not running away, you ice moron!" Natsu looked back at Gray as he continued to run away from the ice stripper, "ice stripper, leave something on. We don't want your naked butt!"

Gray looked down and realized that he was already naked – his clothes had scattered around the guild premise.

"Your body is not even good to begin with-" Natsu laughed at the naked ice mage as he went to the direction of the Fairy girls, "you don't have an inkling of what I have, ice stri-"

"Natsu, watch out!" the two girls exclaimed but the fire dragon wasn't able to heed the call of the two. When he looked forward, the fire dragon wasn't able to evade the counter table. He hit the table hard and the cake stand on it wobbled.

"Oh my," Levy muttered with both hands covering her mouth.

To make things worse, Natsu accidentally placed his hands on the countertop, inches away from the cake stand. It made the stand wobble more – resulting to the deconstruction of the dessert. After few wobbling, the cake fell off from the stand. Natsu was dumbfounded and so are the girls.

Gray, on the other hand, stopped midway – realizing how much trouble had their little brawl caused. The other boys of the guild stopped as well. The ice mage looked at the take-over's facial expression. She was looking down but a different aura had been looming over her.

"This is not good," Gray muttered. He looked around the room, strategizing his way out. He could sense that the takeover barkeeper would definitely go berserk over the destruction of her wonderful cake. The men would surely taste her wrath. Definitely, once Erza arrived, they will be expecting another round of wrath.

"I worked so hard for that cake, guys," Mirajane muttered. She, then, transformed into her Satan Soul persona. Gray quickly ran towards his heap of clothes and ran for his life.

"Mira-san, no need for you to be angry," Levy tried to persuade the Satan Soul nervously.

"Oh no, Levy, I'm not angry," she answered with a smile, "I am furious."

Without looking back, Gray ran towards the back of the guild pub. He could hear from the distance the screams of the Fairy men.

"Mirajane, I am not sorry!"

"Get a hang of yourself, Gajeel!"

"Nee-san, I think there is no need to be brutal to your only brother!"

"Crap," he muttered. He went straight to the only door behind the pub. It was the storage room – a plain-looking one. He entered the storage room without thinking twice and closed the door behind him. Catching his breath, the ice mage looked around him. He put on all his clothes and ruffled his hair. Then, he went near the pile of sacks and sat on one of them.

"Is Gray-sama hurt?"

Hearing the familiar voice, he looked beside him. He was no longer surprised. Following him everywhere has been one of the water mage's habits. Calling him Gray-sama is also another thing.

"What are you doing here, Juvia?"

"Juvia followed Gray-sama," the water mage smiled like a cat, "is Gray-sama avoiding Mira-san's wrath?"

"Tch, I'm not hiding from Mirajane," he boasted, "I just need some time to put my clothes on. How did you even enter here?"

The ice mage was pretty sure that she was not around during their brawl and during the time he was running away from Mirajane. A small line between his brows appeared as he tried to comprehend how the water mage managed to be in the storage room.

"Juvia saw Gray-sama entering this room so she followed," she answered in a straightforward manner.

Suddenly, the two heard footsteps from the outside. Gray grabbed the water mage's hand and then hid behind one of the shelves at the back.

"Gray-sama, what –" but before the rain woman was able to finish what she was about to say, the ice mage hugged her from behind, keeping his body close to her, and then covered her mouth with his hands.

"Mirajane is really angry."

The sound of the voice is familiar for both mages. Both of them can be sure that the small voice belongs to Levy McGarden.

"Don't join the brawls, next time, Gajeel."

"Can't help it, shrimp," the voice definitely came from Gajeel Redfox – this is something that Juvia was sure of.

"I don't like treating your wounds. You're stingier when I'm treating you."

"Just lock the fucking storage so that we can go home," the iron dragon slayer said, "next time, don't allow that takeover mage push you on closing this building; it's her job, not yours."

"I wouldn't be closing this building if you, guys, did not destroy her cake in the first place," this time, the puny voice seemed to be eliciting a bad aura as well, "there, let's go."

A small sound of click was heard.

Immediately hearing the faint sound of click, Gray removed his hands on the water mage's mouth and ran towards the door.

"Levy, open the door," he exclaimed as he tried to pull the doorknob, "we are still here."

Unfortunately, the faint footsteps faded away, along with the chatter of both the solid script mage and the iron dragon slayer. Juvia, on the other hand, was as solid as a rock and as red as a tomato. She kept muttering, "Gray-sama's fingers touched Juvia's lips," all over again.

"Gray-sama," Juvia snapped out of her usual crazy trance and called the ice mage's name. Her voice was serious.

"I am not in the mood to tolerate your craziness, bitch," Gray snapped at her. From his peripheral vision, he observed the rain woman. Both of their mouths were releasing some kind of smoke due to the cold temperature. He found it simply natural as he can survive a much lower temperature.

"Juvia would just ask if we're stuck here," Juvia shyly said, not making a ruckus out of his snapping at her; her voice tainted with worry. Her eyes roamed around the room with fear in her eyes. She looked at one of the shelves and started picking up random stuff and reading labels.

Somehow, Gray felt the worry of the rain woman and the vision of the rain woman in worry and not in a crazy trance mode. The actions of the water mage, he considered it unnatural and a new perspective. He asked in a stoic appearance, "Juvia what's wrong?"

"Ano," she muttered shyly, her eyes were avoiding his. Avoiding his question, she continued reading the label of a pickled jar, "Gray-sama should not worry about Juvia. Is Gray-sama hungry?"

"I'm not hungry, Juvia," he answered calmly. His eyes targeted the hands of the water mage. Juvia's hands were uncontrollably quivering as both were now holding jars of cherries and sardines. His eyes squinted at the sight of her trembling hands. He stood and approached the water mage, "are you cold, Juvia?"

"Uh," she timidly answered, still avoiding his eyes. To a closer view, Gray noticed the paleness of her hands as well. She remarked as she returned the two jars to their original places and started looking at other jars, "Juvia and Gray-sama should eat something."

"I told you, I am not hungry," he snapped at her again and quickly took her hands.

The sudden contact of their skin made the water mage blush furiously. The warmth of his hands negated the coldness of the water mage's. The ice maker repeated his question a while ago, "are you cold?"

The warmth of his hands and the question made the water mage teary-eyed, "Juvia is not used to cold weather. That is why most of the time, she wears thick and long clothes."

"You should have told me," Gray frowned as he had stripped his white long coat and gave it to the water mage, who was dumbfounded with his action, "take this to make yourself warmer."

"But, Gray-sama," Juvia looked at the ice mage with worry. The ice mage was wearing a turtle-necked shirt for his top.

"No need to worry about me, Juvia," he said as took few cans of beer and sat on the pile of sacks again, "I'm used to this kind of temperature."

He watched the water mage as she put on his white coat. Somehow, the ice maker's coat is too big for the frame of the petite water mage. He laughed a little while looking at the water mage. Juvia, on the other hand, frowned at the sight of the laughing ice mage as she did not understand the reason as to why the ice maker was laughing.

"I can't believe that a previous S-class Elemental Four member of Phantom Lord Guild has a weakness for coldness," Gray remarked. The phrase 'a weakness for coldness' made the water mage blush as she thought that he was pertaining to her weakness for the ice mage. The ice maker continued, "well, it makes sense: you are water and coldness freezes water."

"Juvia could use Sierra*," she muttered under her breath, "but she could not find any drain. Juvia does not want Gray-sama to drown."

Gray thought as he opened one of the cans. A fizzing sound escaped from the mouth of the can, "that justified her eyes roaming around the room. She was looking for a drain."

He watched the water mage standing near the shelves and sighed heavily. He chugged half of the can's content.

"Sit here," he motioned the water mage to sit on the pile of sacks as well. Inviting her to sit next to him, he placed his left hand on the sack. The water mage blushed furiously and sat next to the ice mage. The space between each other was too much – his shoulder is too close to hers. She smiled shyly as he gave her a can of beer. He said, "this should make you feel warm."

"Juvia doesn't drink beer," she answered shyly as she innocently held the can of beer.

"We don't want you frozen here, right," he finished off his first can of beer, "it will be difficult for us to thaw you."

He took the can from the hands of the water mage and opened it for her. He handed over the opened can to Juvia, "if you don't like the taste, just think of it as a medicine."

"A medicine?" she looked at the beer with worry on her face. She placed her lips against the rim of the can and took a little sip, "it really doesn't taste good."

The childlike look on her face made the ice mage smile, "you're too-"

He stopped in the middle and remained silent. He suddenly realized that he was about to say you're too cute to the water mage. His stopping made the water mage confused.

"Just drink," Gray insisted as he opened his second can of beer. He was unable to look straight at the face of the water mage. His ears felt warm.

For Gray, the sight of the water mage, drinking beer in her own cute way, was extraordinary as he had never seen her in such calm state. He had already suffered too much on public humiliation with regards to the water mage.

"Gray-sama!"

"Juvia?" he asked in surprise. The water mage had followed him in a quest with Team Natsu.

"Juvia followed Gray-sama," Juvia answered enthusiastically, "Juvia wants to protect Gray-sama!"

She forcibly hugged the naked body of the ice maker from behind and said, "Ahhh, Gray-sama's toned body!"

"Hey, ice shit," Natsu laughed, "you've got yourself a bodyguard? How weak!"

"Stop clinging unto me, Juvia," Gray snapped at the water mage.

A peaceful moment like this was considered rare for the ice maker – no crazy rain woman, no stalking, no public display of humiliation-slash-affection.

Juvia, on the other hand, had a different take on the silence. While savouring the peaceful moment – no contempt from the ice mage, no awful comment from the man she loves – she cannot help but think of what Gray Fullbuster was thinking while finishing off cans of beer in consecutive manner. She could feel the slight warmth inside her body. She thought, "must be the effect of the alcohol."

They remained silent for a while. Gray had already finished his fifteenth can while Juvia had two. The rain woman looked at her third can of beer. Somehow, the warm effect of the bittersweet taste inside her body had increased and it was equally proportional to the throbbing of her head. By the time she reached half of her third can, the coldness started to permeate again inside her body even though she was still wearing the ice mage's coat. Aside from the coldness of the room's temperature, she felt lightheaded. The rain woman noticed that the ice mage was staring at her, "Gray-sama looks funny," and laughed at Gray.

Judging by the redness of the water mage's face, Gray attempted to take the can out of the rain woman's hands as he said, "you already had too much, Juvia," but Juvia refused to let go of the can.

"Juvia still wants to drink," she stupidly smirked at him, "Juvia feels warm with beer."

"Oi, Juvia," Gray awkwardly said, still getting the can from her hands, "you must be awfully drunk."

"Juvia is not."

"You are."

"No."

The tug-of-can started. With both of their hands holding the half-emptied third can of the water mage, the two struggled to get the can away from each other. Gray was frowning as he was sticking to his decision to stop the rain woman from getting further drunk. On the other hand, Juvia's eyes narrowed as she was annoyed to the sudden decision of the ice mage to stop her. The tug-of-can ended up with all of its remaining content spilling on Juvia's face and the chest part of her dress. This gave a shock to both Fairy mages.

Juvia wailed, "Poor beer, poor beer," because she was feeling sorry for the content of the can. Gray looked at her with disappointment. Clearly, the water mage was already under the state of intoxication. Thinking clearly, Gray realized that Juvia's state would cause her to feel colder. He commented, "Juvia, you'll feel colder with your damp dress."

Juvia blushed and initiated, "then why not Gray-sama give his shirt as well?"

This comment made the ice mage drop his jaw. He thought, "is she seducing me?"

Without a second thought, he removed his turtle-neck shirt. It was nothing for Gray Fullbuster as he is already used to stripping in front of everyone. The temperature of the room was also nothing for him. The years of training in snowy area with Ur served as a good exercise for him to withstand the coldness – even below zero degrees. He handed over his shirt to Juvia. Accidentally touching her finger tips, Gray could not decipher the warmth the contact brought to him. He shook his head, trying to shake the idea of being attracted to the water mage.

The water mage stood and took of the ice mage's coat. She removed the brown belt around her waist and started unbuttoning the first of the two columns of buttons on the topmost of her dress coat.

"What the-" were the only words that escaped the ice mage's mouth. He was shocked to see the water mage stripping in front of him.

The water mage removed her dress coat and threw it on the floor as she said, "Gray-sama told Juvia that she will get ill if the damp dress remains with her."

"I didn't tell you to strip in front of me, baka," he protested as the water mage removed her boots yet he secretly enjoyed the view.

"It doesn't matter to Juvia," she smiled innocently. The only garments remaining on her were her undergarments – a lacy blue brassiere with matching blue bikini panties. Her body is considered model-like by many with the right proportion breasts, waist and hips, and the longevity of her legs. She continued, "because it is Gray-sama."

Somehow, hearing what the water mage made the ice maker a little bit flustered. Gray had seen her a lot of times in bikinis but it was the first time for him to see the water mage in her most intimate wear since the latter is considered crazy yet a prim and proper lady by people in general. The ice mage felt heat on his face as he admired the physique and beauty of Juvia.

Juvia put on the turtle-neck shirt given to her by the ice mage. Somehow, the image made the ice mage feel more heat on his face. Like the coat, his shirt was proven too big for the frame of the water mage with it looking like a dress on her and Juvia, wearing only undergarments and his t-shirt was a big turn-on for the ice mage.

Gray, looking away from the water mage, flustered, "oi, Juvia, aren't you much colder with your body more exposed to air?"

the water mage shook her head and giggled, "Juvia feels lightheaded."

"Sleep," he commanded, fighting off his current set of confusing emotion.

The water mage sat on the pile of sacks again and lay down. Her head was resting few inches beside the ice mage. Gray could not help but take a glimpse of the azure beauty. Her current clothes made her look like she came from sex – an after-sex image. He stood and picked up Juvia's clothes which were scattered on the floor. He folded them neatly and placed it in a corner. He also picked up his white coat and placed it on the top of the water mage – a make-shift blanket. He sat again on his original and carefully watched the rain woman while continuing to finish his remaining cans of beers.

He had never felt such attraction to the water mage before as he had already seen her in different bikini outfits during their guild summer or water escapades although he had to consider the fact that he already recognized the potential of the water mage to become a popular fairy alongside Mirajane and Lucy as Juvia had already won the third place of Miss Fairy Tail in just a short period of time as a member, defeating old timers like Cana, Levy, Bisca, and even Erza. He knew how many times the water mage had rejected modelling and feature offers from different magazines, saying the same thing, "Juvia doesn't want such attention, she only wants Gray-sama's."

The ice maker sighed. The rain woman's obsession of stalking and annoying him had gone through a whole new level and each time she would bother to follow him, he guessed that his immunity for such used-to-be-a-bother activities of hers had increased.

Her face was serene – an opposite of her crazy side. Her sleeping face made him smile faintly. Then, she frowned while sleeping as she clutched the hem of the coat. Juvia made a shiver while murmuring, "cold."

"Are you?" he murmured. He could not help but touch her long wavy blue hair. It was soft – as soft as cashmere wool. He stroked her hair gently. She suddenly stopped him by placing her hand on his and murmured with a smile, "Gray-sama's hands – warm."

Her childlike response made him dumbfounded. He was thinking of using his body to serve as a warmer for the water mage but he was thinking of the contact between the two of them.

What would she possibly think? That I'm taking advantage of her?

After fighting with his angel and devil side, he sighed in surrender and commanded, "move over."

The water mage did what she was told and Gray lay down beside her with his coat serving as a blanket over the two of them. He hugged her tightly and the response from the water mage was, "warm – Juvia does not feel cold anymore."

The immediate closeness between their bodies made the ice mage regret his decision. He repeatedly muttered under his breath, justifying himself for such a crude action, "this is just a normal idea for survival in such a cold environment."

However, the chant was proven to be useless as the closeness between the two of them had managed to breach his tall wall of solidarity.

He could sense everything about her. He could smell her – the faint aroma of lavender and ocean along with the reeking smell of alcohol from her breath. He could see her face up close – the closest that he ever had with another human: her full lips, the long lashes and the faint blush on both cheeks.

His right hand was on her nape and he could feel the softness of her porcelain skin and he brushed his hand all over her back. This made the water mage nudge slightly.

"What the fuck are you thinking, Gray," he thought to himself, "taking advantage of a drunk woman is not a good thing, let alone a drunk guild mate."

Yet, the combination of all the things he had sensed from the water mage made him want more of her. The sheer thought of having only a shirt between a man and a woman's naked body was a fantasy for every man – whether he is a mage or not.

"Juvia," he whispered to her – his face an inch away from hers. Remaining her eyes closed, Juvia answered with, "mmm?"

"Sleeping?"

"Not quite," she sleepily whispered back, "with such closeness with Gray-sama, Juvia will not be able to sleep."

The water mage opened her eyes and looked straight into the ice mage's. The dark blue eyes met another pair of dark blue. A pregnant pause occurred. The two were unable to move or speak, as they fear that it would destroy everything – their closeness, their intimacy, their moment.

Juvia swallowed and broke the silence, "This is the closest that Juvia had with Gray-sama and she fears that it will be the last."

It was her most honest and serious confession. She would often profess her liking towards the ice mage in a public manner yet this kind of honesty was not her usual preference of confession.

She did not break the eye contact. She was trying to decipher what was on the ice mage's mind. Ever since the beginning, she had always been unable to decode how Gray's mind works: for a minute, he was overly warm and inviting and then after a second, he would be stoic or much worse, annoyed.

Her seriousness was something that surprised the ice mage. It was an unusual side of the water mage, "with your staring at me like that, I am currently fighting off the urge to kiss you."

He avoided her eyes as he also uttered his most honest confession. He already made a pledge to himself to never invest too much emotion on a person yet here he was, about to break the pledge that he had made before. Fear was also sinking into him – the fear of investing too much on her and then her leaving him – just like Ur, who he considers as the closest woman he ever had and the one he considers his teacher-cum-mother.

"Then, Gray-sama should just kiss Juvia," she said in a monotonous voice, her eyes intently looking at his face.

"I shouldn't-"

Before he was able to finish his utterance, Juvia placed her hands on his cheeks and fully kissed him on his lips. The water mage's action made his eyes widened with shock. Their lips touched and the reaction between their lips touching created an electricity jolt that was sent to his spine. Her lips parted a little and the ice mage considered it as an invitation to further explore the water mage's mouth with his tongue.

"Juvia," he muttered in between their kisses, "should we be doing this?"

"Juvia doesn't know. Should we, Gray-sama?" She threw the question back to him.

He remained silent. He shifted position and placed himself on top of the water mage. He looked straight into her eyes. The water mage smiled and placed her hands on his cheeks, caressing the skin of the ice mage.

"You are my nakama," Gray reasoned out.

"Juvia doesn't get it," the water mage answered back, "what does being Gray-sama's nakama have something to do with this?"

"I just don't want to hurt people," Gray muttered. His hands curled into fist-like, "I don't want people leaving me."

It was his most honest confession – something that a Gray Fullbuster would never mention to anyone. It was his fear hidden underneath the indifference that he usually shows to people who attempt to get close to him.

"Juvia will not leave Gray-sama," she whispered softly, "ever."

She initiated the kiss. It was more passionate than before. Gray lowered himself to her, making the kiss deeper. As their tongues touched, Juvia could feel the hands of the man going all over her body – her neck, her shoulder, her arms. She could sense the aftertaste of the beer from the ice mage's mouth.

Gray gave her a quick peck on the lips and transferred his mouth to her neck. He started nipping and biting her skin. This made the woman moan. The mere touch of his lips on her neck gave her a shiver. He suddenly shifted his hand from her shoulder to her thigh. The mere sensation of his running of fingers on her leg while kissing her on the neck made the water mage bite her lower lip with pleasure.

"Juvia," he hungrily said, moving his hand under the turtle-neck shirt of the woman. The warmth of her skin made him blush as he ran his fingers on her stomach up to her brassiere, "take it off."

Juvia immediately obeyed the ice mage. She lifted her upper body and immediately removed the clasp of the brassiere at the back. The ice mage greedily cupped one of her breasts and gave a small moan. The exposure of her chest to the touches of the man made the water mage's mind almost blank.

Gray, then, lifted the shirt up, exposing her breasts. He looked at her chest, heaving heavily. Juvia was blushing furiously, "uh, Gray-sama," yet her voice trailed off.

"Oi, Juvia," he, having fears that the rain woman would panic and turn into water like she always does, worriedly said, "don't go turning into water right now."

"Juvia might do that-"

"Shh," he placed a finger on her lips, "don't."

"Demo-"

"Just relax," he whispered directly to her ears and gave it a quick nip as he started fondling her chest. This made the rain woman muttered, "Gray-sama," with so much eagerness.

From her ears, Gray made a trail of kisses from her ear, then to her neck, down to her collarbone and then to her breast. He engulfed her with kisses, gently nipping the tip of her breast. This made Juvia moan wildly.

"Juvia loves Gray-sama," she said in a hoarse manner as Gray continued flicking his tongue all over her breast while fondling the other one using his hands.

"I know," he answered.

The ice mage shifted his tongue on the other mound and repeated the process done to the previous one. Juvia moaned, "Juvia loves Gray-sama."

"I know," he answered back again. He shifted his tongue towards the center of her chest and then made another trail of wet kisses from the middle towards her navel.

"Gray-sama."

It was as if she was in agony. Her voice seemed needy and desperate. He, then, lifted his face and looked into her eyes again. It was a set of perfect dark blue eyes and he could see his reflection on it.

"Gray-sama?"

"Do you really want to do it?"

The water mage nodded in agreement. Her eyes pierced through him and it made him want to have more of her. He kissed her fiercely, this time, pressing his body closer to her. Juvia could feel every inch of his body, even his hardness.

"Juvia loves Gray-sama."

"I know," he answered again as he shifted his gaze towards her underwear. With a swift movement from his fingers, he easily removed the undergarment. He kissed her again passionately and made a slight touch of her sex. It was wet and warm and it awakened something within him, "Gray-sama."

The patterns the ice mage was making with his two fingers were now indistinguishable to the rain woman. Her mind was going insane as the ice mage kissed her fervently on neck. Something inside her escalated further and further. She grabbed the nape of his neck and dug her fingernails on his skin.

He stroked her inner sex with a finger and this made her moan loudly. The sounds she were making – the moaning, the gasping, the calling of his name – made him want to do more things to her. His vision of her heaving heavily and in a faster rate – it was astounding.

"Gray-sama," she called out his name and each time he would move his fingers in a thrusting manner, the loudness of her voice increased, "Gray-sama, Gray-sama, Gray-sama, Gray-sama."

She could feel something inside her was about to explode and before the explosion, the ice mage suddenly stopped. This made the water mage somehow disappointed.

"I need you, Juvia," he desperately said, with strain in his voice. He swiftly removed his pants and boxers. The view of his ready package made the water mage swallow as she wondered whether it would really fit inside her, "I need you Juvia."

"Juvia knows," she giggled, mocking him. He frowned at her when he deciphered her joke. This made the awkwardness between the two of them disappear.

While kissing her neck, Gray said, "No turning back, huh?"

The water mage nodded. With a swift movement, he was already inside her. She could feel every inch of him inside her. His thick and long member throbbing inside her was a wonderful feeling. Any sudden movement would want to make her explode. She let out a deep moan, "Juvia feels something different."

He only let out a "mmm" sound, taking it all in. She was tight to begin with and her inside was warmer. The mere thought of putting it inside her gave him an internal nose bleed.

"It is like Juvia has a bomb and it is ticking in a crazy way," she shyly said, "if you move, Juvia might explode."

The thought of her coming for him was mind-blowing for the ice mage. He caressed her cheek and said, "not yet, Juvia, not yet."

He stayed in the same position for a minute before he slowly moved in and out of her and this made the water mage squeal with euphoria. It was as if she was being taken into another dimension. Her mind went blank as the ice mage started thrusting into her. His movements were slow yet deep. She could feel him, touching the brim of her womb. His thickness wrapped tightly inside her. She squealed, "Juvia loves Gray-sama."

"I know," he replied, his face buried in her soft wavy blue curls. She smells like lavender and it brought him to an escalating feeling. Her legs were wrapped around his waist for support. For every time he pounded inside her, she would let out an "ah" sound.

His movements gradually became fast yet still deep and the moans of the rain woman increased both in speed and loudness as well. Her voice was synced in to the rhythm of his thrust. He could feel every inch of her. The sound of his body hitting on her bottom added to the excitement and desire of the ice mage.

"I love you, Gray." she said in a desperate tone in her voice. She would always profess her love to him in the Juvia manner.

"Juvia loves Gray-sama."

It was the usual clause usually accompanied with an action someone would consider ridiculous and highly humiliating for both of them. However, at that moment, it was different. It was a plain confession of feeling. There was no accompaniment of something ridiculous to begin with. At the same time, the tone of her voice was serious and longing. What made him feel more surprised was the fact that the water mage used a first person word, I, and it was something that she had never done before. It was always Juvia and her third person reference to herself. She called out her name it was like an angel called him. There was no honorific involved. It was a plain Gray. Gray.

It was all sincere and Gray could not help but tug her closer to him. He held her head close to him and answered, "I love you too."

With his answer, Juvia let out a moan in deep ecstasy. She felt everything inside her throbbing. Her trance brought him to the edge as well. He said, "Juvia, I'm about to-"

And with one last thrust forward inside her throbbing sex, he joined her in pure lustful euphoria.

Gray dropped beside Juvia. Both of them were breathing heavily and naked. They were still in the state of amazement – it was something that they had never anticipated to be doing with each other in reality.

He asked, "still feeling cold?"

Juvia shook her head. She was raking her mind for anything to say but she found it useless. She was still under the charm of the ice maker.

"I don't know, but," Gray initiated the conversation. His droopy eyes were staring at the ceiling, "we could grab something to bite once we got out of here."

Juvia looked at him and asked, "is Gray-sama asking Juvia on a date?"

He sighed. She was back to her usual third person reference. Juvia sat and returned the clasp of her brassiere in place. She looked for her underwear under the pile of clothes on the floor.

"Juvia cannot seem to find her panties," she ransacked the pile of clothes and found her undies underneath the pile of the ice mage's clothes.

"Are you always like that?"

Juvia looked at him with confusion, "nani?"

"Using third person to refer to yourself," he mentioned as he recalled the moment she said I love you, Gray to him.

"Juvia thinks so," she chirped as she put on her undies and returned beside the ice mage. She wrapped her arm around him and said with the evil twinkling of her eyes, "Gray-sama is Juvia's."

She was back to her crazy Juvia, muttering "beat this, love rivals."

"Juvia," he called and it made the water mage stop with the mumblings, "you did not answer my question."

He could feel the warmth on his cheeks.

"Juvia would love to," she answered instantly, "as this marked that Gray-sama is already Juvia's."

He let out another sigh as he internally reassessed everything that happened.

His tolerance for Juvia's crazy behaviour had surely increased as it was not already a bother for him to be subjected to the ridiculously crazy thinking of the woman. Aside from that, he had seen something different to the water mage, something that she had never shown to anyone but him. And he wanted to preserve it. Selfish as it may look for the other but he only wanted him to be the only one who can see it – a different Juvia. He wanted to preserve their closeness.

He muttered to himself, "I should be the only one to hear you using that."

He was referring to the moment she said I love you, Gray.

"What is Gray-sama mumbling about?"

"Nothing," he immediately replied, shaking his head.

A sudden click was heard from the door and it swung openly. Mirajane was looking outside the door while saying, "well, we still have some applesauce left here in the-"

She turned her head to see both the water mage and the ice mage in their after-sex look – Gray was entirely naked while Juvia was wearing Gray's turtle-neck shirt.

Mirajane was surprised with the scenario and smiled, "oh, you two."

Gray immediately grabbed his clothes and panickly put them on. Juvia, on the other hand, blushed furiously as she cannot look straight into the eyes of the take-over mage.

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," Mirajane giggled as she approached one of the shelves and grabbed a jar of applesauce.

"Ne, Mira, can we also have some-"

It was Natsu's voice. As the fire dragon slayer entered the room as well, he was surprised to see the two as well.

"What the-," he said with a grin plastered on his face, "Might as well call you a pervert, ice brain."

"I guess, your secret will no longer be a secret, anymore," Mirajane laughed.

##############

"Damn that, ice stripper," Gajeel growled, "we locked him up inside the anti-magic room just to make him sorry for leaving us with Mirajane, and then for us to find out that the dumbass got lucky with Juvia."

"Why," Natsu grinned, "are you wishing that it could have been you and Levy?"

The iron dragon slayer blushed furiously and punched the fire dragon slayer.

"You wish, Gajeel," Levy, amazed by the story told by the fire dragon slayer, smirked as she closed the book she was reading.

"Who needs an excuse like that?" Gajeel snapped at the solid script mage, "if I want it, I'll do it. No excuses."

He took the hands of the surprised solid script mage and dragged her away from the guild, leaving the latter's book on the table. Levy yelled, "Gajeel, my book!"

FIN

##############

Note: Sierra is one of her water moves wherein she could turn her water state in a hot or boiling temperature.

Author's Note: It was so difficult to write such lemony fic and I salute all those lemon writers! *hands down* This is the longest one-shot fic that I've ever published so sorry for all those lingering moments. More GRUVIA moments for us!

Edited: 8/27/13 - A correction on the point of view "i might explode" to "Juvia might explode" and the square bracket on author's note (Obssessive-Compulsive Disorder, lol)