Shooting Love

It was, in times of war, of depression and illness and poverty, that hearts got broken, lives ended, and lost children were left to wander between destruction in search of a last ray of hope.

But sadly, for Juvia, that hope of surviving just a little more meant she'd have to join the military forces.

But even if her heart clenched with fear, and her hands shook with anxiety and she felt like a frozen cube of ice at the mere thought of holding a gun, she was very well aware that it was her duty. If she wanted to save her little brother and her mom -sadly, her dad had already died at the hands of the enemies-, she'd had to enter this, get money, and save her loved ones.

She lived for them.

So she stood, her head held high, in the line of the new recruits. Next to her, her blonde best friend, a fierce gaze in her brown eyes. Juvia knew how much Lucy had lost in this war against Alvarez.

A loud bump echoed in the cement floor of what seemed as a huge gym, Juvia wasn't sure. She looked at the two officials in front of them, who scanned at the one hundred people willing to join the military 'd knew what they were thinking. Maybe all of them had a story similar to hers.

"Welcome," a official of jet black hair said. His voice was firm and deep, charming, if one could say. It forced you to listen. His dark eyes were rough, empty, probably, but that should be common between people who had seen hell -and lived it. "I am Major Gray Fullbuster, who'll be in charge of your training."

Juvia still had to learn more about military ranks, that was for sure, but she knew Major was a pretty high one.

"And he is Captain Natsu Dragneel, who'll also help you." Major Gray added. Juvia thought she saw him shooting a smug smirk to his partner, the pink haired soldier, but once again, Juvia's imagination was very wild.

"Now, we'll ask you to form two lines so we can ask some questions."

They all instantly did as told, one line in front of the Captain and Juvia's one, in front of the Major. Lucy ended up in the other one, but if someone would fight until the very end of the world to get what they wanted, Lucy was the best for it. Juvia knew she'd be okay.

She better worried about herself.

The line moved slowly as the Major quickly made a few questions to each recruit. Juvia repeated her own presentation in her mind countless times, as she always did in school when she had to stand in front of everyone. How ironic, thinking about school, that seemed as so long ago, when she was about to join the army.

She was only 19.

And without noticing, she found herself finally in front of the handsome Major, who looked beyond annoyed as he moved his hand in front of her eyes to bring her back to Earth.

"Hey." he said.

Juvia instantly blushed under his hard gaze. What a nice way to look serious. Now she won't make it.

"Ah… H-Hello, sir!" she squeaked, blushing even more as her future comrades laughed at her.

Major Fullbuster rolled his eyes. "Shut up, you stupid ones."

Juvia's eyes widened. He… defended her? What was all that about? If only a second ago he looked ready to yell at her for being so stupid.

"Name?" he asked, looking at the papers he was holding.

His hands were big and rough and so distracting.

"Juvia Lockser, sir." she managed to say, trying her best to talk in her serious voice. But he seemed to notice it sounded a bit odd, but she tried not to squirm under his sharp stare.

"There's no need to call me sir," he said, if only a bit more gentle now. Then his eyes roamed over her face, as if he was analyzing every last freckle of it. "Where do you come from?"

"Hargeon." she answered.

"Motive for joining the army?"

"My dad… died in the war, so I have to take care of my mom and my little brother." Juvia said, that pain in her chest that always appeared whenever she recalled the memory of the man that raised and loved her with all his might.

A flash of understanding crossed his dark eyes, and he nodded. "Good. Your uniform will be given to you tomorrow at first hour. Room K-107. Train starts tomorrow, too."

Juvia nodded and disappeared towards the dorms, Lucy at her side, and she wondered what did that soldier see in battle to have such a sad expression.

Who could have say that the military training was this hard?

Juvia's breath was heavy after two minutes of straight running. Her body was covered in sweat, which should have been gross, but one sight at the other overweight men was enough to tell her she didn't look that bad. Not that it mattered, anyways.

Her long legs burned, and under the hot sun, she felt thirsty. She couldn't make it. She was sure of it.

"C'mon, c'mon!" a new voice said behind her. It was torn between encouraging and mocking, as if he was laughing at them for their weakness. Unsurprisingly, Major Fullbuster appeared at her side, a spark of amusement shining in his eyes. "Tired yet?" he asked her.

Juvia was too tired to reply. She just kept running.

"You're doing it wrong," he pointed out, and with his big and calloused hand, he grabbed her elbow. "Move your arms like this, that way you'll be faster."

Juvia nodded and did as told.

"Your breathing is too erratic," he said. "Do it like this,"

And with patience, he showed her how to properly breath. Who could have know that there was a rule to breath too? Exercise was more complicated than she thought.

"Good," he smirked at her. "You're a fast learner."

She thanked for already being red.

Okay, so she admitted that he was extremely good looking, with a strong jaw and small, deep eyes. Besides, his voice was very well defined due to all the hard training. And he seemed to be a good person too. But Juvia shouldn't… she didn't join the army for that kind of stuff. She wanted to fight for her country, her family, her loved ones.

But before she could reply, he was already running ahead of her.

Around two months after she joined, the most dreadful part of the training came.

They had to learn to use guns, deadly weapons.

And even after all, Juvia found herself still afraid of taking someone else's life. Who gave her the right, anyways? She was not better than anyone -they all were the same.

The mere thought of holding something like that made her want to throw up -but if she did, she'd have to leave for sure. She wasn't in a position where she could allow that.

And so she mustered up all the courage she had in every fiber of her body -and she grabbed the gun.

It felt cold, almost heartless, against the touch of her fingertips. Something so tiny could be so lethal. It was… frightening. But she knew for sure that the enemies would not doubt on killing her with that.

"Alright," Captain Dragneel said. It was weird that he started talking -as Juvia had noticed, the Captain had taken a liking to her friend. "You only have to aim for the bull's-eye and shoot. I guess all of you have an idea of how to do it. Just press the trigger,"

He made it sound so easy… just what hell had that man lived through?

With shaking arms, Juvia took a deep breath and tried to aim. It did not seem difficult, but her whole body just refused to do it.

"You look tense," Major Fullbuster suddenly appeared at her side.

He was doing that a lot for the past few days. Not that Juvia complained, his company felt… refreshing, between everyone else there. He gave off confidence, as if you could trust your life to him because you knew he'd do his best to protect it.

"Isn't it obvious?" Juvia asked, her voice fragile as she stared at the object in her hands. "Everyone would be."

"Not everyone," he said, eyeing the rest of the recruits.

With fear, Juvia followed his gaze. And with horror she realized he was honest. Some of them held the weapon with bored eyes, as if they didn't care they were going to kill with them. Other shoot with no hesitation, as if they didn't feel fear.

And that was even more frightening.

"How…"

"Don't mind them," he waved his hand, even though his eyes fixed on her worryingly. "Those who look brave will shatter in battlefield. Fear is what will keep you alive."

"Are you… afraid?" Juvia asked shyly.

"When we go there?" he asked, leaning in the wall and running a hand through his jet hair. "Obviously."

Juvia's lips opened a bit in surprise, even if herself didn't know what was the surprise. The fact that someone so calm and serious used fear as a fuel on battle? It made sense, after you thought about it, but it didn't at the same time -at least, for her.

The Major sighed at her side, "Well, there's nothing to do about it now. Better teach you how to hold that gun, or else you'll shoot both of us."

And with a smirk he approached her. Juvia blushed at it. How could one expression have so many effects on her?

He carefully put his big hand over hers, softly, and he whispered, "Like this."

Why was he whispering?

He held her arms up, curved her fingers around the trigger, and suddenly her shaking stopped.

"Open both of your eyes, or else your aim will not be right." And so she did.

But…

"Are you ready?"

No.

She pressed the trigger.

A part of her mind was thankful he was still holding her, or otherwise, she'd have fallen over her butt on the ground. But the other part froze, because she'd just shot a bullet.

It hit far away from the bull's-eye, but she didn't care.

Blinking back tears that came after the hit of realization, she lowered her arms. She bit her lips, her whole body trembling. How fool had she been, thinking she was ready to do anything to join. She apologized to her family. She had failed them.

"Hey, you're okay?" the man asked.

She shook her head. Maybe her fear was so big it couldn't fuel her, as he said.

She heard him sigh, and the next thing she knew, he was taking the gun out of her hand, slowly and carefully taking each finger as he did. "Some people just aren't born for this,"

Juvia tried to held more tears, but she could feel as some of them streamed down her face.

"I'll not give up," she whispered.

"Uh?" he asked.

Taking a deep breath, she repeated, "I'll not give up." This time, her voice was more firm.

His droopy eyes widened in shock, but then a small smile appeared in the corner of his lips. "Hm, that's good. I like your spirit,"

Something about his words made her feel better.

"But for now," he continued, "you need to rest. C'mon, I'll escort you to your room."

"Ah, I don't want to be a bother-"

"It's no bother," he smiled. "Partners need to take care of each other, right?"

She questioned his meaning of partners, because if she did remember well, he was a lot of ranks above her and what was happening, as he held her hand walked her to her room, should be impossible. But then again, he always seemed to break the rules once in awhile to talk to her during training.

Juvia blushed as everyone's stares fixed on them curiously. Her eyes lingered on his big, cold hand. He had pretty hands. And one of those were grabbing hers firmly now.

He didn't talk much during their little journey. And no one said nothing to them, either. But Juvia kept trying to start a conversation, or else she would combust right there.

Because yes, maybe she really, really liked him and since the moment she woke up everyday she looked forwards that moment of the day where he'd approach her and start a small talk with her and his eyes would look really bright for once as he stared to hers all the time, and she'd melt.

And they were in front of her door.

"Ah… um…" she stuttered. It was so embarrassing, she still wasn't used to being alone with a male. "Thanks for… accompanying me."

"It's no problem," he smirked. "Are you feeling better now?"

She was feeling as she was in heaven, but of course she'd not say that. Probably.

"Yes, thank you, Major Full-"

"You can call me Gray," he cut her off.

Neither of them expected it, as they both stood there blushing and avoiding each other's eyes.

"O-Okay… Gray," his name sounded good in her lips.

"Umm, well, I'll leave now," Gray said, scratching the back of his neck and biting his lip.

"Okay…" she said, her voice low.

He then smiled at her and shockingly, he ruffled her hair. "I hope you feel better,"

Not trusting her voice, she only nodded.

He started to walk, hesitantly back to where they were before. Juvia sighed, ready to open the door to her shared dorm, when suddenly her wrist was grabbed and she was turned around.

And Major Gray Fullbuster kissed her.

She stared, dumbfounded, at their connected lips, because there was no way it was happening -but it was.

His lips were also cold, with an intoxicant scent of mint. She closed her eyes and gave in, because oh how many times had she daydreamed of it now? What had seemed impossible was now becoming real.

She threw her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, feeling his tongue move against her lips. She gladly let him in.

His hand found their way to her tiny waist, and he held her firmly, as if he knew how weak her knees were in that moment.

Feeling brave, Juvia bit his lip, successfully earning a deep groan from him. She smirked.

Needless to say, that wasn't the last thing they did.

"Alvarez is attacking Magnolia!" a soldier shouted.

The commotion was already big, with everyone running here and there, shouting, passing each other guns and grenades and smoke bombs. Alvarez had been attacking relentlessly for about three weeks now.

"Juvia, you're okay?" Lucy asked at her side. What was before a beautiful lady had now scar covered hands, with bruises and muscles in her whole body. But in her eyes shone determination and love.

"Yes, I am," Juvia lied. She was frightened.

"You're shaking," Lucy pointed out, worried.

"Must be your imagination." Juvia avoided. She didn't want to worry her best friend when they were going to fight again.

"Ju-"

"Squad 58, with me! Our mission is to free the base of Squad 27!" Gray roared.

"That's my squad," Juvia murmured. "I need to go."

Lucy squeezed her shoulder, "Juvia."

"Yes?"

"Take care. And don't you dare die, okay? I'll be waiting for you!" Lucy smiled the brightest of smiles. She was so strong, smiling at times like these. Was this her own strength fueled with the love of Captain Dragneel? Probably.

But she wasn't the one to grow up in these last months. Juvia took a deep breath and smiled back, "Same to you. See you later, Lucy!"

Juvia ran off to find her squad.

"It's impossible," one of her partners lamented.

He had a point. The base was completely besieged by the enemy, all of them with their guns ready to shoot. Her squad was hiding in a hole made in the ground by the explosion of a grenade, but it was effective.

"Major! What are we going to do?" another on cried. Their little group of five were in despair.

"It's okay, guys," Juvia smiled reassuringly, "we're going to make it!"

"How do you know?" the other replied. "Why are you even smiling now?"

Juvia's smile hesitated. Why was she?

"Enough," Gray interfered. He was analyzing the enemy, his eyes narrowed. "We need to call for reinforcement."

"We found them! Here, in the hole!"

Juvia froze. Everyone did.

The enemy had spotted them.

"Shit, shit, shit," she heard Gray murmur. He lifted his gun, ready to shot. "Guys, be ready!"

But there was no hope, and all of them knew it. Juvia stood at his side and lifted her own gun. She still hated it with all her might, and she always tried not to shot in lethal places, but now… she had to protect him.

She had to protect her loved ones, after all.

"Juvia…" he said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry!" Juvia smiled at him, her sweetest smile. "It's not your fault."

He seemed troubled, but he eventually sighed. His hand found hers and intertwined their fingers together. Juvia tried to block the sound of the sobs of their partners. She couldn't do anything else, really.

War was cruel, destroying the last ray of hope even of the most optimistic person. It played with your mind and emotions until you were given the last straw that finished with your life.

"I love you, Juvia."

She smiled bigger, her eyes watering up. She was glad she could hear those words one last time, even if it was the first coming from him.

"I love you too, Gray."

The enemy appeared above them, laughing at them.

The gunfire started. Soldiers of both sides died. It was cruel, so cruel.

But Juvia died even before a bullet hit her, as she saw a hole opening in the chest of the person she'd loved the most. Gray's eyes found her, but they were so empty it hurt, and his lips curved into the tiniest smile.

And he fell.

"Gray!" she cried, dropping her gun and holding his body. At least, she had hoped they both died at the same time so she didn't have to see what she was seeing now. Tears dripped from her eyes, as she saw the pale, lifeless face of him.

They didn't even fulfilled their mission.

Pain shot through her spine, a pain that she'd never felt before. But she knew very well what it was. Her time had come, too. At least she wasn't separated from Gray that long, even if her last moments-

Word Count= 3130. Hope you liked it! Reviews are highly appreciated c: