N/A: It's fuCKING 3 A.M. But I needed to end this today even if it meant to pull an all night, so here you have. Because of this and my half-sleep state while editing and reviewing for typos, there are going to be a few (lots) of them. Please, please, tell me about them because it's the only way I've to improve the usage of English. Thank you!
Without much ado, enjoy reading! :)
Forum: a square.
Villa: houses for the rich usually outside the city.
Summary: She was a slave who lived under the rain and he was a gladiator who tasted freedom every day, it really wasn't meant to be. But it didn't matter in the end.
Warnings: Slavery, inaccurate historical facts, slow paced romance, plot scattered all over the place and possible OOCness. (LOL, I'm so done with this.) Lots of JuviaxGajeel friendship because there isn't enough about their friendship.
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and its characters are not mine. They belong to Hiro Mashima.
Veni, vidi, vici
The gods had cursed her.
She had always been told that when people had been long enough around her to see the signs. She had heard the same line countless of times and she would hear it again in the future to come.
They would always look down at her, with distasteful sneer in place, and then up to the skies before saying those hurtful words with pitiful eyes she had identified since she wasn't nothing more than a child. They said that she must have done something really sinful to infuriate the gods if she was bearing such a heavy curse.
She wasn't so sure about that.
No god, big or little, would have taken such an interest in a newborn to hex them from the very start. She didn't believe that with just a few days of life she did anything to enrage the almighty beings, and in the strange case she did, she didn't remember it.
She didn't even know if gods were real at all.
The only thing Juvia knew for sure was that the rain always followed her, no matter where.
It could be in the driest and hottest deserts of the south or in the freezing white tundra of the north, the black clouds carrying rain were wherever she went. They would cover the sky with a grey blanket, so dense that it didn't let the light pass, predicting the fall of little water drops, and the inhabitants around would take cover in their warm homes never looking back to see the solitary figure walking down the road.
The pouring water was a part of her life even before she could remember; even before she could talk or walk or feel. And in the end, it became an essential side of her day to day that had isolated her from the shining light of the sun.
The sun. She wished she knew what that was.
She wished she felt the warm of its light in her face and see the world bathed in yellow instead of the grayish colors that had ruled her life.
She wished with her heart; but, after all the prays and cries and tries to accomplish her dream, she still could not feel the sun.
Maybe, Juvia thought with the dripping sound on the background, her own existence was the sin that induced the omnipresent rain.
-x-
Seven was the lucky number. It was the age she had when she was sold.
She remembered that day clearly, forever to be burnt in her memory. It was in the middle of summer, in a city which name she would never know of, and the crowd swarmed the forum located near the center of the place. The majority of them men, with rich tunics and gold hanging around their necks.
A strange day that one, she recalled, where the clouds covered the sky and yet no water fell down to Earth. A rare happening, where a humid clarity flooded her environment for a valuable instant that only occurred only a couple of times each year.
Juvia cherished the scarcer dry days as the starving man welcomed food.
She was with her parents, people whose faces and personalities and even names she would forget with upcoming decades until they were nothing more than shadows of her past when she would sit down and think about all her life.
They had told her she was going to go on an adventure, to see foreign places and live new experiences. But before that, they needed to speak with the one who would bring her such a fabulous dream.
Their voices telling her lies were the only thing she could remember about them.
She had believed them with all the innocence of childhood, like any other children believed their parents. Yet, they never looked back when they left her with a man wearing fancy clothes and an unfriendly scowl.
It was the last Juvia saw of them, their backs walking away from her.
She remembered the fear engulfing her when she realized her parents were not going to come back for her ever again.
The rest was pretty much history.
It was something strange at first. A mix of dread, ignorance and sadness boiling within her.
She had heard about slavery before, how poor they where, how much it cost to regain their freedom, how their life wasn't more than deplorable; but it seemed something so remote when listening to people describing with their typical mightiness the unhappy lives of others, something that she would never see with her own eyes, and much less live one. And there she was now, about to find the end of her independence by the hands of a few words and coins.
She wanted to cry when she was exposed for all the world to see as the new article in sold. She sucked up her tears because she knew that weakness would be followed with punishments.
She wanted to run when numbers started to jump around from the mouth of a hundred strangers. She steeled herself in the spot because she knew death would be the end if she dared to act.
An auction, the preying eyes of the gathered people and the booming shout of the man wearing fancy clothes was enough to give the final shoot.
Before she could grasp the future devoid of free will an old man she had never seen was carrying her to the unknown, mumbling about useless slaves and astronomical prices.
And so, her freedom met a closure.
And Juvia was only seven.
-x-
It wouldn't be the first time that something similar happened. She passed from the same procedure of being seen as livestock in front of a multitude again and again and again.
The rain had never let her stay in one place for a long time after all.
No one liked the rain that brought nothing more than hollowness into their lives.
-x-
She was thirteen when she met Master Jose for the first time.
Juvia didn't quite like him.
Master Jose was this kind of man that with all his kind smiles and serene grace emanated something close to discomfort. She could sense some short of hidden message in his words and wicked looks when ranting about his plans.
On one day of autumn he bought her, grinning while getting closer to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at his touch.
"I heard a perpetual rain follows you, little miss," he said with a voice so like the calm day before the storm. Juvia knew a lot about those kinds of days. "You can be a grand add to my staff."
Those words, accompanied with the crooked smile of his, made her shudder. His eyes were sharp and his voice edged. No man would think about something as her depressing weather as grand. No man would like to be deprived of light willingly, much less when they had the option to feel it.
Master Jose wasn't trustworthy because of that and for another handful of reasons, she learned with time.
However, he gave her a roof under she could sleep and healthy food she had never seen and job where she could earn her wages. He didn't ask her anything but to be besides him when necessary.
So Juvia respected him and followed every command she was given even if fear struck each time he smiled at her.
-x-
One of the orders consisted on serving Gajeel. It was then that she discovered Master Jose's affections with the bloody games where life was the bet.
Gajeel was a gladiator on the training, she found out, a boy barely a couple years older than her. He was brought from the wars in the southeast as a prisoner, entirely pierced and wild hair blowing, to end up in the hands of their master. People said he was a complete genius in the matters of the sword and blood spilling.
Juvia thought he was rude.
The gladiator-to-be always spoke between swears, tinted with the heavy accents of his, and never displayed any kind of respect to anyone but his boss; and even then she had the suspicion that it was out of self-preservation than actual respect. He slanted to anyone who crossed his path and crushed the fool ones who faced him. He didn't show any mercy in the arena, always giving away his most powerful attacks without a second thought.
She would be his personal maid, Jose ordered, the one who would attend any of his needs, made sure his high-protein diet was served and healed any wound he received in his training. She would follow him to any place and fulfill any of his commands. Gajeel gave her the most ferocious of his smiles, fans glinting, when listening to their master's word.
Strangely, she wasn't scared by him.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that after two weeks of nonstop threats, name calling and foul mouth, he didn't ordered her anything that was unpleasant to do; not even once. He didn't lay a finger in her when he had all the rights as she messed up the simplest of chores or said things that shouldn't be said. He only scolded at her with cold eyes, resembling the iron he held to hurt.
In the time Juvia spent next to him, she discovered that Gajeel, with all the harsh personality, kept to words instead of jumping into action. He only crossed the boundary of violence when his patience came to an end or Master Jose wished so. A dog that barked but never bit.
It kind of amused her.
Serving him dinner in the solace of his quarters, she asked him about the side of him she had noted. He looked at her with a scowl, eyes squinting in confusion, and huffed in annoyance.
"Because," Gajeel grunted.
A ghost of a smile appeared in her lips.
-x-
Rumors piled up soon enough.
Whispers spread like fire, the staff in the villa and the people in the arena gossiped about the girl who when there, it rained; and when not, the sun shined. They complained behind her back about how clothes would never dry and how difficult to move was when combating, the wet sand slowing their movements. They spoke loud enough to her to hear.
"Don't listen them. They're weaklings, the fuckers," Gajeel said every time he caught a trail of the words. "If they were as strong as they said they're, the assholes should shut the fuck up and adapt to it."
He patted her in the head too when he glimpsed unseeded tears. It was awkward and short and uncomfortable.
It was magnificent. Familiar.
She almost cried at the fact that there was someone who cared about her even with the rain.
However, it didn't help with the problem hovering above her head. It hurt to know people were right, a stab in her chest with each reminder. And she would cry alongside the sky every night.
-x-
One day, healing Gajeel's new injuries from his training, Juvia concluded she would never see the light of the sun.
She needed to accept that even though sadness consumed her. She had a friend –her only friend– at least.
It was a pity that she wasn't able to do that: forget the desire to feel the light.
-x-
Juvia had never been at the gladiators' games until Gajeel's debut. People of all social standings gathered in the amphitheater, cheery grins in their faces and happiness flashing in their eyes, to watch two people massacring each other for the shake to see another day.
There must have been something wrong with all the euphoria the sport brought out, or something wrong with her, because she couldn't stand the possibility of losing Gajeel just because he was no strong enough, or fast enough, or lucky enough. She didn't understand how people could enjoy the spectacle in front of them when the fighters had family and friends and dreams they wanted to see one more time, and yet they were forced to battle until one surrounded or died. They did, though, and that was it.
Nevertheless, she was so very glad that Gajeel came on top of all his opponents. Although she wasn't so glad about him killing some of them; even if it was a necessity because of the will of the viewers and their screams for blood.
Juvia didn't have the strength to witness the blade cutting across the necks. Much less to view the impassible face of her friend.
At least the rain washed the red away, not leaving a trace behind. The weather helped Gajeel as well, for he was used to fight under the constant showers. It was the only time Juvia felt grateful for it.
Attending her friend in the dungeons after the games, Master Jose came, the biggest grin showing. He praised and applauded Gajeel's performance while Gajeel cringed at every mention of it, uselessly hiding his distaste.
Juvia knew that even with the gladiator's impassible face, his feelings ran deeper than imagined.
They were interrupted midway by a really short man, affable wrinkles marking his old face, and two younger men and woman following close behind. They were the strangest bunch she had ever faced, pink and red and black together, bickering and mocking each other in hushed tones and the master shushing them like a father chastised his children.
"I see you have a promising one there, old friend," the older spoke with courtesy. The boys behind him, of her age she noted, snorted and puffed their chest up in arrogance. The woman sighed.
"And I see you have a good harvest for the upcoming years, Makarov," Jose answered jauntily.
The other chuckled, a compelled laugh, and displayed the proudest of smiles. "Erza is already in the highest ranks, a force to reckon," Makarov explained while the woman, Erza, vowed politely. "Gray and Natsu, on the other hand, need another year of training, yes."
The one with the pink hair, Natsu or Gray she didn't know, chocked indignantly, complains starting to pour from his mouth. His voice raised an octave trying to explain how ready he was to go to the arena and that he could beat up anyone with his own fists. The red haired beauty threatened him to shut up, a short sword at hand, and the other one rolled his eyes as if it was a common spectacle by then.
All the while, their master restrained himself to a tired sigh, sorry eyes directed to his friend, before deciding to interfere in the argument in order to bring peace once again. Master Jose frowned with a sneer visible to everyone as the dispute between the other three grew to another level.
She couldn't but think about how if Gajeel or she did something similar to what they were seeing in public, Jose wouldn't doubt on punishing them with pain.
"Tsk, weird people," Gajeel muttered between clenched teeth, displeasure noticeable.
Juvia agreed silently.
-x-
They never killed, she had heard from other people after a month into that world. They always made sure to win, whoever their adversaries was, and they were the most rambunctious group, quarreling with each other and continuously destroying the propriety of the master they had sworn loyalty to. They were strong and reliable.
They were free.
Makarov bought to liberate, children that came as slaves from the perpetual wars of the empire. Children that had lost family and home and their own past. He would feed and settle them, show them that they had a future to see.
He released them of the chains of slavery and in exchange, in their freedom, they repaired him with their services as gladiators, as maids, as anything they could do for him.
When Juvia caught the new information she stood for an eternity not understanding why.
-x-
After two years, the announcement was made one week before the games started. Gajeel was battling the new incorporation of Makarov: Natsu.
Master Jose told Gajeel not to have any kind of mercy. She shuddered in fear.
-x-
In her sixteen years of existence Juvia had never run like she did then.
It was raining as always and her feet smashed against the stony floor of the colosseum, sounds of splash echoing and her ragged tunic hindering the race. The clouds gathered further, thicker, flooding the earth with waters that only predicted catastrophes.
She ran as fast as she could, screams of clemency hitching in her throat and her eyes watered with desperation. Gajeel, her friend, her only friend, was going to die.
She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't lose him. She needed to stop the battle, she needed to save Gajeel, she needed to arrive to the gates that lead to the arena. Juvia needed to...
And then, everything came to a halt. Cold muscular arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her from the floor and pausing her body in the air.
"Where are you goin'?!"A rough voice exclaimed next to her ear.
Juvia looked at the gates in front of her, so near and so far, and saw how the two gladiators behind them crossed weapons once again. She watched as Gajeel stumbled backwards with an injured left leg and shaken breath, wild hair wet and dyed in crimson. The pink haired opponent stepped forward with his scimitar raised.
The viewers screamed in joy seeking his head.
A wail came out of her lips as she began to trash in her captors arms. Juvia kicked and buried her nails in his flesh, attempting with all her strength to break from his grip, while the stranger huffed in effort. An accurate jab in his thorax made the trick.
She fell to the floor with a thump to get back into her bruised legs in seconds. She spun around, hands pressed in fist, and faced the unnamed man. He had a hand in his chest to lessen the pain and eyes twisting in annoyance.
"What the hell, woman!" He yelled spitting the words.
She gaped watching the man, with his raven hair and squinting eyes, scars standing out in his toned body. He was one of Makarov's boys, she remembered. The name... what was the name? Gray, maybe.
But he was recovering quickly, straightening his position and coming closer to her with an extended hand. And then, she kicked him as hard as she could.
Gray gasped in surprise at the unexpected attack. Juvia launched into another race to reach the iron gates. She breathed unevenly, almost tripping over, and focused on the task to go help Gajeel, leaving the other behind her.
She was unable to do anything at the end, though, because in an instant calloused hands took possession of hers and pinned her down.
"You're gonna get killed there, crazy girl," he growled with the iciest of tones. She whimpered in despair, desperately trying to free herself from his hold.
"Gajeel–" she chocked, "Gajeel– die!"
He did something between a sigh and a huff and with a gentler grip, steadied her up. He still maintained her in the spot with his powerful arms. He locked eyes with her and calmly explained to her.
"We never kill, crazy woman," he said in a voice that could resemble something akin to tenderness or pity. "Look."
And she looked. Juvia saw Gajeel kneeling in the sand and heard the shouts of people for his dead. She saw Natsu, weapon in hand, approaching his opponent. She jerked before watching how, instead of following the reclaims of the spectators as was common, the pink haired man helped Gajeel to stand in his feet.
Juvia watched as Gajeel with his typical bad temper shook the assistance off and started to go to the exit of the colosseum with head high. She drifted from the view to the man next to her, who had a questioning look, before returning her sight to Gajeel.
She hiccupped. And her friend, her family, was safe.
"See?" She looked up at the man still holding her. He smiled down cockily.
The stormy rains became a silent drizzle.
-x-
Master Jose's fury was something to behold. He barely contained it when facing his friend and his gladiators after the match. Gajeel was torn between shame and rage in front of the arrogant smirk of the pink haired boy.
Juvia didn't raise her head during the conversation. Too embarrassed to confront the dark eyes of the other one.
-x-
She watched as he exited the bathhouse. She was waiting outside for Gajeel who was still inside.
It was a chilly afternoon two month after she had seen him last. His unruly midnight hair and cold eyes hadn't change since. He, Gray Juvia remembered again, was heading to the opposite direction she was.
It took her eight steps to reach him, all the way a war of tug playing in her mind. Juvia hadn't planned to encounter him there or in any other place, she hadn't planned to speak to him ever again, she hadn't even planned to do what she was going to do.
Still, she did, and she called him by his name.
Gray stopped in his tracks.
It was when he turned around that uncertainty took over.
Juvia breathed deeply from one step of distance, unclear words obstructed in her throat and rain falling from the skies. There was a whole second of unconformable instant until recognition flashed in his eyes and his mouth popped open.
She beat him to pronounce the first sentence.
"Ah– Juvia's sorry," she almost stammered. He looked baffled at her sudden confession. "Juvia is thankful you stopped her from doing something stupid. She was worried because Gajeel was– was– But Juvia is sorry for the kick, she shouldn't have done that."
Then silence came as she squirmed under his unyielding gaze. He was frowning, she could feel, and it made her more uneasy than she already was. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to apologize instead of letting things as they were.
She was ready to leave when he snorted.
"It was a good kick."
-x-
He was like the arctic nights, she discovered.
Not in the sense of harshness and coldness, as was Gajeel's case; he was of endless lonely days under the tempest and the silence of the ethereal white landscapes. But then, he would be ticked off and the avalanche of anger came down onto whoever that had dared to push the limits. Other times, it would be like the north lights were illuminated and he would smile with his friends as if there wasn't a tomorrow.
That kind of personality translated to his fighting. Always patient until he found the weakness and, suddenly, snapping with all the force of his lance. It was different from the common charge to death she had seen in Gajeel.
He was different and similar in all the strangest ways.
She made a point of smiling at him every time they crossed paths. He did save her after all.
-x-
"Here again?"
Juvia looked at her side to find the raven haired man once again. She smiled bashfully at him, hands playing with the hem of her tunic, and he arched an eyebrow inquisitively. She changed sight to the clashing of swords before her.
"Gajeel won't be happy until he's won Natsu," she said with a mixture of familiar fondness and a sigh.
Because if there was something Juvia knew about Gajeel was that he didn't take a defeat kindly. He would challenge his new adversary until he had beaten Natsu up once for all, and if it meant to go to the other's residence once every week so Gajeel could fight him, he would do it.
"We're gonna see you both a lot around here then," Gray said watching the two men still fighting tirelessly. "They always end in a tie."
She hummed in agreement as she saw the two opponents slipping in the muddy earth thanks to her rain.
"Juvia doesn't mind, though. It's lively in this villa." That was an understatement, she had never seen people who were as happy as them, always welcoming them as if they were old friends. It had been unnerving at first, such a big contrast with the disproving glance she was accustomed with. They were extravagant too.
There was Cana, a brunette, who invited Juvia to a drink as soon as she introduced herself; Lucy and Levy seemed really cheerful people with a passion for culture; Laxus, Makarov's son, and his friend made an unlikely group and the three white haired siblings were the most affable ones.
Makarov himself invited Gajeel and Juvia as if they were his own children, receiving them in his home with a treatment that went beyond hospitality.
They were strange. But they were friendly as well, and she liked it.
"Juvia hopes we aren't bothering you."
"Nah. It's good to have Natsu distracted once in a while," Gray grinned mockingly. "It's like having a break from his stupidity."
She giggled quietly. He sat next to her.
-x-
Master Jose wasn't pleased with the new routine. He frowned upon their little escapades and vocalized his disagreement vehemently every time. He didn't forbid them, though, still letting them the little freedom they had, as long as Gajeel followed the strict regiment without a miss and Juvia fulfilled all her chores.
However, he did ask about the villa and his gardens, about Makarov's boys and their abilities, about anything else he came up with. They would answer warily.
One day, Gajeel confessed to her his suspicions about their master's behavior. It was too unusual, he told her, how their master was so opposed to the idea and yet so curious about it. It was strange that their master didn't ban them from visiting his enemies' house. Gajeel glowered and she agreed with a nod.
There was silence after that, each one going to the respective rooms.
Juvia spent that night awake, mind busy finding answers to questions and heart worried with possibilities.
They didn't speak about the topic ever again; there wasn't nothing but death for those who went against the will of the man who held their freedom in his hands.
-x-
Time went really fast when she had something to live for.
Maybe the overwhelming sensation to know that now Juvia didn't have only one friend had something to do with it. She smiled fondly. Now she could laugh with Gajeel and Cana and Lissana and other people who were as marvelous as them. And Gray. They seemed glad that she was there.
They were her friends, she hoped.
A little part of her, the one that had been fed with years of disappointments, wondered if they would leave her alone when they found out her curse.
Everyone except Gajeel had done so, why would they be any different?
After that she wasn't smiling anymore and time started to go slow again.
In the end, the sun never shined for her.
-x-
The rain came faster than she thought. It was too soon for her liking; but then again, any moment would have been too soon.
Before long, Juvia was facing the inquisitive gaze of the black haired man in the usual rainy day of winter. He was across the table, shoulders relaxed and lazy eyes, drumming his hand against the wood of the furniture. She looked the gash around his torso.
It was ugly with stains of reds, surrounding him in its yellowish dirt. She flinched at the memory and squirmed with the inevitable consequences. Juvia really shouldn't have gone to the match when she knew very well that the rain only impeded for the worse in a game that live was on stake.
But she had wished. Sadly, her wishes were rarely granted.
An injured Gray was the obvious result, by a slip on the wet sand and a timely swing of the axe, and she ended up crying and spilling the secret she yearned that had remained hidden. It was a matter of time before he confronted her.
"So," he said drawling the words. "What did y'mean it was your fault?"
It was futile to escape now. She had known him long enough to understand that he wasn't leaving her without explanation. So Juvia began to talk with quivering fear and the sadness of what she knew was going to be as her whole body trembled in fear.
It wasn't a long story, nor did something that needed much explanation when the evidence could be seen outside, but for every second she spoke the time seem to stop. She tried to not to look at him directly.
When silence came, she noticed her eyes starting to water and the world blurring. Her chest hurt and her heart bumped in an alarming rate while she folded her hands ready to leave at his words.
He didn't do the expected, though. He never did.
"That's it?"
She snapped her head up, focusing on him for the first time through the conversation, and discovered his angled factions relaxed nonchalantly. Her face contorted in all pain that has bottle up along the endless years below the rain. Slowly, very slowly, a smirk appeared in his parched lips.
Hope roared within her soul.
"I'm from the North, I think I'm pretty much used to this weather, Juvia," he leaned on the table, the kindest of smiles forming. "It's only water. We can live with it."
Juvia gaped, tears prickling in the corner of her eyes, disbelief showing. Gray locked gazes, amusement sparkling in them, and his smile grew a bit more for her.
He had understood.
"The sun is overrated anyway."
Five seconds were enough to cross the distance between him and her and hug him with all the strength she had.
-x-
"You seem happy, woman."
Juvia stopped in her tracks, shifting her gaze to Gajeel who had a contemplative expression and a frown in thought. She opened her mouth to answer with another question when her friend's lips formed a knowing smirk, and in a surprise, it hit her that Juvia was actually happy.
"Because Juvia is."
-x-
It was one day, when Gray grinned at her with one side of his mouth, that her heart skipped a beat.
-x-
On one of the training sessions of Gajeel and Natsu he blurted out something that had been happening for a time, taking her out of guard. Yet, it was expected.
"You've been an awful amount of time around me," he said with the flat tone of his raspy voice.
He looked at her with an impassible expression, masking his thoughts to the world and to her, as if it was the most common situation to live.
Juvia took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down the blush she knew was forming in her warm cheeks. She thought she had been subtle enough to not be discovered by anyone, especially Gray. Hands shaking, she played with her fingers before asking nervously.
"Does Gray want Juvia to stop?"
Silence came after that, one made of discomfort and restlessness. She watched him as the tiniest of wrinkles appeared in his forehead although his face didn't quiver further. He opened his mouth and she cowered slightly behind her azure hair.
"No," he said with eyes that told more than any word. "I guess no."
-x-
The peaceful days didn't last. Whispers of divisions within the Romans and silent factions that wanted to reach power began to move from mouth to mouth. The drums of war started to resonate in the horizon, reaching the ears of the careless inhabitants.
They were still far, but the threat of their presence hung above their heads.
-x-
Anxiousness settled in the hearts of everyone who came to know about the recent disturbances that had surrounded their lives for a while. Even the usually cheery home of Makarov was under the fog of distress.
Behind the daily brawls and talks, behind the teasing and laughter, the shadow of the upcoming disaster transferred into worried conversation on the far corners of the house. Their own Master wore frowns of concerns and his children saddened at what they meant.
Still, they held their heads high and didn't let the darkness enter their home.
Perhaps that was the reason Juvia felt safer there than in Master Jose's home.
Meanwhile, dark clouds of storms gathered in the sky.
-x-
Master Jose entered his own house with angry graciousness. His face was contorted in fury and his teeth seethed under the constant aggressive mutters of Jose. He waltzed through the room swinging his robes behind him.
Every servant stopped in the midst of their chores, not daring to move or to speak, expecting the signal or the exit of their master to return to work with apparent calmness.
The Council had to go wrong if the state of the man was the one in front of them. But then, he turned around, barking at them with the habitual striking voice, and he smiled the biggest of smiles before entering his room.
The dark pools of Master Jose were shining with euphoria behind the surface of madness and everyone in the room got the message behind it.
War was knocking at their door, banging it with all the force, and Juvia suspected that Gajeel and she were going to be in the wrong side of it.
-x-
Gajeel and Juvia didn't go to Makarov's villa anymore. It was an unanimous decision to avoid it.
They feared the moment they needed to explain the crossroad of their fates, although a part of them said that they already knew. And that, even conscious of their opposite sides in the war, they would still accept them in their little group.
But their kindness didn't matter in the end, because it would complicate things too much. Not for Juvia and Gajeel, but for them, and they appreciated those weird people enough not to interfere in the problems that went beyond their power.
Because Makarov wasn't their master and Jose was.
It was the sensible option.
However, Juvia didn't count on their stubbornness.
She was in the market buying supplies when Gray tackled her. He gripped her arm and pushed to the corned between two buildings. He was angry, frustrated and lost if she had read his expression well enough.
He huffed, eyes hard as steel, trying to find answers to questions he hadn't mouthed in her face twisted by apprehension. Seconds and minutes passed by while no one muttered a sound, too engrossed searching for solutions that couldn't be found there. In the end, she was the first who inquired.
"How did you find Juvia?"
"I followed the rain," he answered and quickly added his own question. "Why are you and Gajeel running away from us? Natsu has come complaining 'bout Gajeel not wanting to speak with him."
She didn't reply, choosing quietness instead. He stepped back removing his arms from hers. Juvia yearned for the contact again.
"You've been avoiding me too," he whispered.
She watched the crestfallen sentiment splattered on him, an exact replica of her own. They were equally afraid of what was going to be, ignorant of their futures and grasping the last strands of their hopes before they clashed with the reality it would be.
She nipped her lower lip, drawing blood from it, and tears flooded her eyes. Unsaid words appeared in her mind but never found their way out. Nevertheless, when he looked at her again, something in her must have transmitted what she wanted to, because next his expression changed to one of understatement and decision.
Gray held her hands between his. In a short moment of clarity, she noticed how his hands were big and cold and with calluses all over it. Yet, they were warm and comforting.
"Everything'll be fine," he said looking down at her with a stern voice. He sputtered the words in a way that made her believe him.
But only partially.
Juvia wished she could fully believe him.
-x-
The starry night of summer brought screams of fear with it.
Battles exploded in all the city interrupting the peace that had ruled the night. Fire raged the once beautiful buildings and the metallic sounds of weapons and armors reverberated through the streets. Soldiers and gladiators and mercenaries plundered the city, combats between different factions commenced and the civilians ran for their lives.
Juvia watched as the spectacle of war unfolded before her disbelieving eyes, Gajeel next to her growls of displeasure echoing. She was glad that he was there and not in the other side where yells of panic could be heard.
Jose was in front of them, but behind enough no to expose himself. He was laughing in mirth, madness breaking through his words of power and glory. He proclaimed his superiority to the winds while the innocents pleaded for their pardon.
Songs of war resonated near them.
And then and there, Juvia hated and feared that man with a passion she couldn't even describe.
That night the sky cried as never before, washing away the dirt, the ashes and the redness from the world.
-x-
In the short instants a false sense of peace took over, her thoughts traveled back to Gray and the others.
Juvia imagined them with their confident smiles and friendly words, with the craziness and the loudness they were characterized with, and a spark of hope lighted in her core. She remembered the promise Gray had vowed to her, his tender hands on her, and it was like everything was going to be okay.
She only needed to pray for their safety and her own's.
But soon Gajeel would appear, deep wounds in his body and hollow eyes to see, and her dreams flow away. She would go next to his side, medicine and herbs at hand, and start to give another chance for tomorrow.
Those tiny clearings of solace between the massacre and the slaughter were the only moments she let herself hope.
Then, the fights started again and the recess was over.
-x-
Juvia could find consolation in her dreams, where her world was made of Gajeel patting her head, the shouts of Natsu and Lucy, the drunken laugh of Cana, the gentle words of Makarov and many other nice memories she had collected through the year. Where she could see Gray's smiles under the sun.
It only made waking up harder to the screams and blood and death.
-x-
It took three weeks and half to end the Civil War.
They were barricading in their villa when intruders surpassed the defenses once by one.
It was fast and unerring and without blood. Only a handful of men stood with blades in hand and the angry howls of Master Jose was the only sound in the midst of the clashing swords. She saw spots of pink and red time to time, taking down the few ones who resisted the last moments of the battle.
Gajeel and Juvia remained in the back, weapons dropped on the floor, watching once their master's last slices of glory fleeing from his hands.
And in less than an hour, Jose was brought to his knees, stripped from power, possessions and dignity.
Makarov, with his short height and kind smile gone, step in front of him, his children flanking behind. He only said six words.
"Surrender, old friend." There was sorrow in his voice. Sorrow of losing a friend and destining him lions' jaws. Of not seeing the man who could hurt his own kind. "You have lost."
-x-
Juvia faced the Council few days later. They were scarce and damaged after the war, but conveyed the sense of regality and rightness she had always imaged them to have. She stood in the middle, chained and subdued, to be judged for the crime of disloyalty to the empire.
Gajeel was next in the row.
She breathed the remaining stinky scents of death; it would be a while before everything came back to normality. She lifted her head to her right to meet up with reassuring smiles and bumps ups. Parched up and merry, her friends held up firm through the tedium of the procedure.
Juvia found Gray in the multitude, arms crossed in his chest, looking straight at her. He nodded giving her confidence to confront whatever that came. She smiled in thanks.
In the tribune, the elders still continued with the discussion of her verdict.
"I refuse," said Makarov with a booming voice cutting dozens of other conversations. "I will take them under my tutelage and that's it."
Silence fell over the men, astonished over the unexpected demand. A snicker sounded in the silent room before people processed the word and yells of indignation swarmed the stance.
"You can't–!" began to say one of the oldest in the far left seat.
"They were slaves under the orders of a madman," Makarov glowered at him and the he directed his speech to the rest. "If any of you expect them to rise against the man who fed and settle them, even as evil as he was, when the outcome very well could be their end, you are a bunch of fools."
Silence came once again, sighs of relieve were heard and expectation felt in the air.
No one said a thing.
-x-
"Told'ya everything'd be okay."
They were at the party that had been going for hours. Drinks passed from one to another and the scandal made of happiness resonated between the marble walls of her new residence at Makarov's wishes. She had lost sight of Gajeel some time ago and many of other people were dancing at the beat of the music.
Gray appeared next to her with a pitcher of wine, more relaxed than she had ever seen him. He was flushed with alcohol and hair wild with all the feast. He watched her as Juvia smoothed her new tunic.
"You said that," she answered, a blush visible in her cheeks.
He snorted, casting a glance to the people surrounding them, and sat next to her in the bench. Leaving the mug aside, he continued with a lazy, cozy tone.
"I was right, wasn't I."
She nodded and leaned to his side, searching for warmness. He watched her with an inquisitive look.
Juvia smiled truthfully when she locked eyes with him, shaking from emotions, and he smiled in return. Sitting next to her as in the old days, Gray said a sentence she had never heard.
"Well, welcome home." He held her hand, interviewing fingers, and the implications and possibilities and meanings of those simple words sank in her heart.
And for the first time in her life, she cried out of happiness.
Juvia replied with a whisper: "Yes, home."
And outside, the sun rose above them.
-x-
The end
N/A: I don't know what to think about this work, because I like and dislike it at the same level. It's strange to write in Juvia's POV, it seem like I'm writing in 1st perspective instead of 3rd, so it has been something new to try. Then again, I think this fic should have been a multiple chapter one, it has too much things going on for a one-shot. But since I'm really bad with plots and keeping continuity I just went along with whatever I wanted. Not proud of the end, though, a bit rushed. Actually, everything is kind of rushed.
If there are part you don't understand, ask me. I had to cut a lot of things, some with explanations about Gray's past and so on, because they dragged the story and didn't exactly flow with the rest. Yeah, I know, sometimes I'm useless at this.
Thank you for reading!