Of Flowers and Mixed Up Emotions
-A Fairy Tail fanfic
Flowers can evoke different kinds of emotions—Juvia can attest to that.
A/N: Okay, so I've been updating a lot more lately while waiting for a job-related call. So instead of sulking around, I decided to appease my consciousness by writing fanfictions and listing down possible plots. I think my boredom shows in my fanfics, yes? Like this one, for instance, it just popped in my mind one rainy evening while I'm spacing off. I hope you'll still read this until the end, BTW. I love reviews and feedbacks. So please feel free to write them down.
DISCLAIMER: FT is not mine and will never be.
It was another fine, sunny day at Magnolia. The skies are deep blue and devoid of clouds and the sun was shining bright. Others may not dwell much on this type of weather, after all, the forecast said to expect a sunny weather until the weekend. But for a certain water mage, every sunny day brightens her mood and lifts her spirits.
That's why Fairy Tail's Water mage, Juvia Lockser, was happily strolling around town, basking in the warmth radiated by the sun. She just came from a solo mission, but despite feeling a little tired (from the train trip, not from the mission), she can't resist the welcoming aura of the clear, fine and sunny day. She wandered in different shops, bought another butterfly clip, admired the fountain show in the middle of the town square and when she found a vacant bench, she bought a snow cone (strawberry flavored) from a street vendor and sat down, relaxing and just taking in the view.
As she happily ate her snow cone, a certain Ice mage crossed her mind, which made her stop eating and gaze sadly at the snow cone in her hand. Sure, she and Gray are now in a relationship for almost a year but it seems that Gray was, dare she say, not happy with her. He was still uncomfortable when people call them a couple and much more when they refer to Juvia as his "girlfriend". When they go out on their so-called "dates", their conversations were one-sided, with only Juvia doing the talking. As soon as she realizes this, she will stop talking, thus making their date a silent affair.
Juvia sighed as she continued to gaze at her half-eaten and (almost) melted snow cone. With her mood dampened by her sad thoughts, she stood up from the bench, threw the cone in the bin and started walking back to the direction of the guild when a familiar spiky, black disheveled hair caught her periphery.
When she looked more closely, she realized that it was Gray Fullbuster, Fairy Tail's Ice mage. Her Gray-sama. And he was holding a bouquet of sunflowers—the prettiest Juvia has ever seen.
It was at that moment when Juvia noticed that the shop where Gray came from was a flower shop— The Fleur de Lys—the best one in Magnolia. And it was also at that moment when a chill crept to her as she realized what the situation meant.
Her Gray-sama + a bouquet of flowers = A LOVE RIVAL?!
Her eyes widened and her chest clenched painfully, "Gray-sama seeing another woman?! And to top it off, he will give her a bouquet of flowers?!" she thought.
Upon realizing where her thoughts were leading, she shook her head furiously, "No, Gray-sama will not fall for another woman. He is not that kind of person," she told herself firmly.
But the gnawing feeling inside her continued to make its presence known, so to appease it, she followed Gray a small distance away.
Juvia knew that Gray is not the type to walk around town holding something he considers "feminine and girly", so whatever (or whoever) made him do this must be special and important.
She continued tailing after him when Gray suddenly stopped. Juvia, not wanting to get caught, hid herself in an alley. When she peered from her hiding place, she saw him talking to Cana, who was holding a bottle of liquor in her hand. Because of the distance between them, Juvia cannot make out what they are saying.
Her breath hitched, "Were the flowers for Cana-san?! She told Juvia she was not a love rival!" she whispered furiously.
Her question was answered when Cana merely clapped Gray's shoulder and went inside (in what Juvia could only assume) a pub.
She felt herself relax for a moment, "So they were not for Cana-san after all."
Juvia emerged from the alley and continued following Gray when Erza and Lucy showed up.
She gulped. If it was Lucy, she could take her on and win easily. But Erza, on the other hand, was an entirely different level. So she hid herself again, this time, behind a bench where an elderly couple was lounging.
She bit her lip, "Are the flowers for Erza-san? But she has Jellal-san already! Or perhaps it was love rival after all!" she muttered heatedly, her eyes blazing.
Try as she might to strain her hearing, she could only make out a few words from Erza, like, "Oh really?" "finally" and "because you're an idiot!" (the last one came from Lucy).
Juvia's head was swimming with confusion, "What are they talking about? Are they saying that 'Oh really, Gray you found a better girl? Finally!' or maybe, 'You wasted almost a year of your life with Juvia because you're an idiot!' she thought, suddenly horrified.
She was broken out of her musings when Gray bid Erza and Lucy farewell, still cradling the flowers in his arms. She blinked and hastily scrambled to her feet.
She still continued to follow Gray, despite her brain and heart going in turmoil. She tried thinking of any other reasons as to why Gray could've bought those flowers. Is it Ur's death anniversary? No, it was last month. Gray went to Galuna Island that time. Is it his parents' death anniversary? No, that will be next year. Is someone from the guild celebrating their birthday? No, Gray is not the type to give flowers as a present, especially if it's a man. Perhaps it's Alzack and Bisca's wedding anniversary? No, they celebrated it two months ago, along with Asuka's birthday.
Such was the internal battle going on inside the water mage that she did not immediately notice that Gray was stopped by another person, who turned out to be Lamia Scale's Ice mage, Lyon. Not wanting to get caught, she immediately hid herself behind the red mailbox and observed the two ice mages talking with each other.
To Juvia's horror, Gray handed the flowers to Lyon, who took it and looked at it critically.
A lot of horrible (and naughty) thoughts suddenly assaulted her consciousness, "Lyon-sama…is Juvia's…love rival?!" her mind screamed.
She continued to watch them with wide eyes as Lyon spoke to Gray, who blushed ("Gray-sama is blushing!" Juvia thought frantically) and lashed out. Lyon merely laughed, patted Gray on his shoulder and gave the flowers back to Gray.
Juvia was stunned for a moment before she let out a sigh of relief, "So it's not Lyon-sama either. Wait! Of course it's not Lyon-sama! It will never be Lyon-sama! What were you thinking, Juvia?!" she scolded herself.
When she saw Gray walking ahead, she straightened her dress and followed him. They met no one else from the guild again, so their walk was smooth and with no interruptions. Juvia stopped on her tracks and hid behind a lamppost when Gray stopped, to which she assumed his destination.
To say Juvia was surprised to see him standing in front of Fairy Tail would be an understatement. She was stunned. She thought his destination would be a restaurant of some sort.
Suddenly remembering the reason why she followed him in the first place, she decided to make her presence known. After all, the best way to deal with the problem is to confront it face to face. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out behind the lamppost and made her way towards the guild.
"G-Gray-sama?" she said tentatively.
Gray turned around quickly. Judging by his shocked expression, he was not expecting to see her there.
"Uh, J-Juvia!" he stuttered, while trying to hide the flowers behind his back, "I, uh, didn't know you're here already. Mira said that you'll be back tonight at least."
Her eyes narrowed at his futile attempt to hide the flowers. She was about to make an angry comeback, but instead, she just sighed, "Gray-sama, Juvia has seen them already. No point in hiding them," she said tiredly.
Gray released a deep breath, his shoulders sagging and face relaxing to a grin, "So, what do you think?" he asked carefully.
Juvia crossed her arms and eyed him, "About what?" she asked sharply.
Gray's eyebrows furrowed at her tone, "About these flowers. Are they, like, okay?" he insisted.
She looked at them with a sad expression before shrugging her shoulders, "They're beautiful, Juvia guessed. Any woman would be happy to receive such pretty flowers, especially if they came from Gray-sama," she mumbled.
Gray smiled slightly before stepping closer to her, "I thought so. The woman at the flower shop said that sunflowers brighten anything and anyone. They make people smile, so here," he said, giving Juvia the bouquet, "these are for you."
Juvia's eyes widened, her heart started beating erratically. She looked at the flowers first before looking at Gray, "These…flowers…are for Juvia?" she asked disbelievingly, not quite sure if she actually heard it right.
Gray looked at her in confusion, "Who do you think they are for? You're… I mean, we… you," he cursed before taking a deep breath and saying, "We're…together. And you…you're my…girlfriend. So…"
She just stared at him, noticing how he averted his eyes from hers and how his cheeks flushed at the mention of the word 'girlfriend', "Juvia thought…that Gray-sama will give them to someone else," she muttered while looking at the ground, "She thought that Gray-sama was not happy with Juvia anymore, that's why…that's why when Juvia saw you earlier at the town, she followed you."
Gray raised his eyebrows, "You followed me?" he asked, surprised.
Juvia nodded vigorously, "Juvia didn't mean to! Juvia knows Gray-sama will always be faithful to her, but she can't help feeling that Gray-sama wanted to see another woman because whenever Juvia looks at Gray-sama, he looks unhappy. And then, she followed you around town and saw that you met Cana-san, Erza-san, Lucy and even Lyon-sama. She thought all of them were love rivals, especially Lyon-sama, but you never gave them the flowers so…" she said, while flailing her arms.
She took a deep breath, her head bowing before she murmured, "Juvia's sorry. She didn't mean to make Gray-sama feel mistrusted."
Only silence met her confession. Her eyes suddenly prickled with tears before she heard Gray sigh. He brought his free hand under her chin and gently lifted her face to meet his. She expected him to be livid, but instead she was met with a soft and somewhat guilty gaze.
He studied her face for a moment before dropping his hand from her chin, "I told the lady at the shop that my girlfriend looked so down these past days and she recommended me to give you these. When Cana saw me, she said that it was about time I noticed your behavior, because apparently, the guild noticed before me. Erza said the same thing and Lucy even called me an 'idiot'. And then Lyon showed up. When I told him that these are for you, he demanded to check on them, see if they passed 'his' standards", Gray rolled his eyes, "I didn't want him to annoy me more than he does already so I gave in and let him inspect these," he finished.
Juvia couldn't believe it. All this time she thought that Gray was seeing a love rival—he was actually being encouraged by them.
She felt horrible. Bowing her head again, she said in a teary voice, "Juvia's really sorry."
"Juvia" Gray said gently, "Look at me." After a while, she relented and saw Gray looking at her with a soft expression, "I should be the one apologizing. After all this time we're together, I never made you feel loved. Hell, I'm actually getting the chills when people call us a couple. But Juvia, listen to me very carefully okay? That doesn't mean I'm not happy with you. You know me, I'm not the one to speak about my emotions freely, nor show my feelings in front of others. It actually took you nearly dying from some poison for me to finally admit that I feel the same for you. I'm…trying to overcome this, Juvia, and I'm sorry if I made you unhappy in any way. You've been really sad these past weeks and I just wanted to see you smile again. So even though people will laugh at me for carrying a bouquet of flowers, I don't give a damn, as long as you're happy," he said while smiling sheepishly and scratching the back of his head.
She was speechless for a moment before she suddenly wrapped her arms around Gray. He stiffened slightly before relaxing and returning her embrace.
"Juvia's really sorry. She thought that Gray-sama looks unhappy because of Juvia. She never thought that he was actually struggling for her," she sniffed, and then lifted her head from his chest to stare at Gray's eyes.
Gray brought his thumb to her face and wiped the tears threatening to escape from her eyes, "It's alright. No need to apologize. I understand," he said sincerely.
She stepped away from Gray before taking out her handkerchief and wiping her tears. When she was done, she looked at Gray, who smiled at her and extended his hand which was holding the flowers.
"I believe these belong to you," he said.
She took the flowers gratefully and cradled them in her arms before giving Gray the brightest and the most beautiful smile he deserved to see.
-owari-
Argh! The ending sucks REAL BAD, I know. And please do forgive me if Gray is a little OOC. Such is our adorable tsundere. Anyways, what do you guys think about the speculations that the Gruvia reunion will be on Chapter 413? Do you think it's possible? Isn't it a bit soon, considering that the fight between Mard Geer and Natsu and Gray is still not over? (Damn you, Mashima). Well we can only hope right?
Please do leave a review at the box below. Thank you for reading!