(Based on the Fairy Tail special chapter: "413 Days")

730 Days

Time flew. Juvia had heard the term many times before, but it had never rung true. When the rain was constant, it seemed as if her days lasted for an eternity a piece. They were so long and dreary in fact that she couldn't even imagine ever saying that "time flew by". She remembered feeling the urge to glare at those who said it. What did they know? They had no idea how long life seemed.

But now… time really did fly.

She bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to smile as she bounced on her toes in anticipation. She had counted every single day, every single hour, every single second that she'd been with Gray. Ever since the day they'd met she'd been counting. Things had changed drastically, but her undying love for him had stayed the same. To her, every day with him was a day to celebrate. She usually tried to keep it to herself –she knew he didn't think such things were worthy of celebration- but sometimes it was just too much to hold in.

She made him things every single day. She passed them off as a team member caring about him, or just her little way of showing her affection, but in a way, they were all little gifts, celebrating one more day together.

She'd made him a scarf on their 413th anniversary since they'd met –days, not years, of course. It'd been the only time she'd gotten up the courage to say that it was an "anniversary" present, and it'd ultimately backfired. Of course, she blamed herself completely for that. She hadn't known it to be the anniversary of Ur's death. So of course she understood that he hadn't wanted to celebrate that day.

However, she did notice the scarf she'd made him sometimes hanging in his closet, or sometimes tucked underneath a jacket he was wearing. He never said a word about it. Never said "thank you" or mentioned that he'd gone back to pick it up that day, but she was fine with that. It almost meant more that he wore it "secretly" without anyone else needing to know that it was from her, made with love, and special.

However, she'd promised herself that she would try to keep her "anniversary" thoughts and presents to herself from that day onward. They weren't dating, unfortunately, and so it wasn't normal to count every single day spent with the other. She knew she was irrevocably in love, and she also knew he wasn't –yet- so she needed to respect that, and keep her… excitement… to herself.

At least, that's what she'd thought until yesterday, when he'd come up to her out of the blue, shoved a job request into her hand and coolly said that he wanted her to accompany him on the job, and that they'd leave in the morning. She'd been so shocked she hadn't been able to force any words out, instead stiffly nodding and watching as he walked out of the guild.

Of course, she'd promptly squealed a squeal that she was positive could be heard around the guild. Mainly because everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her as if she'd lost her mind, but she didn't care.

He actually wanted to go on a job with her. He'd never asked before; this was a first. She could practically feel the hearts in her eyes as she danced in place, thrilled beyond belief that perhaps her feelings were starting to reach him.

She'd been on cloud nine all day, dancing around her room, cleaning and baking a batch of "Gray-sama" cookies that they could eat if they got hungry on the job. Nothing had hit her about exactly what day it was until that night, when suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening to the size of saucers as realization dawned upon her.

It was their 730th day anniversary.

Now, to her it was just as special as any other day. Day 413, day 511, day 726, they were all special and unique in their own way. However, day 730 probably meant something to someone else; someone like Gray. Two years. Two years on the nose since they'd met. It was a huge marker and she couldn't believe she'd missed something so obvious.

Juvia had to take a long and deep breath to keep herself calm. Her heart was pitter-pattering as fast as a butterfly's wings and she knew that if she let it sink in that perhaps this job he wanted to go on was a present for their second year anniversary, she just might faint.

That entire night she found herself not only wide awake, but so excited she had to keep reminding herself to breathe. She tried to think it through logically. She shouldn't freak out; she should just act as if this was a normal job on any normal day. Even if it was a present for her –which she was positive it was- she shouldn't say anything. Gray was the type for quiet gestures. He didn't talk about things like feelings or love, instead opting to show it through his actions.

She gave herself a small nod in the mirror as she got up and got dressed for the morning. She wouldn't ruin this. Giving him that scarf had been too blatant and she'd scared him off. Even if it hadn't been on a day he dreaded, she was positive he would've reacted similarly to her gift. She needed to act like nothing was up, dote on him only as much as she did normally, and enjoy this gift.

Most likely he'd say something eventually if she didn't bring it up.

And so, with her heart in her throat and her eyes sparkling with excitement, she practically danced to the guild to wait for him. She was early, of course, by a few hours to be exact and not even Makarov or Mira were there to greet her and open up the guild.

No matter, she decided to wait outside. Gray was punctual; maybe he'd come early too.

Her excitement never wavered as the minutes ticked on into hours. The guild opened and her fellow members began to file in for the morning, yawning, their stomachs growling, and each giving her a friendly 'good morning'. A couple, Lucy and Levy to be specific, had asked if she wanted to come in and sit down to wait for Gray, or at least chat a little.

She'd declined, ultimately deciding that she wanted to be the first to see him for their special day. And so she waited, and waited, until she saw the blurry outline of Gray's figure cresting the hill, hands in pockets as he trudged toward the guild.

She felt as if her heart would burst, a small squeak hissing from her mouth before she forcefully clamped her jaw shut. She couldn't contain her anticipation, but she'd be damned if she wouldn't try her best to do so anyway. She would not ruin this; she would not make him uncomfortable.

He gave her a little nod of recognition as he made it to her, looking slightly tired yet also ready-to-go, his bag slung over his shoulder.

She took a deep breath, positive her eyes showed all the excitement and love she held for him all at once. She pulled out two of the cookies she'd baked, offering him one. "Have you eaten?" Her words were shaky and completely gave away her nervous excitement, although he didn't seem to notice.

"No, I haven't. Thanks." He took the cookie, apparently either not noticing that it bore his own face or not bothered by it. He took a bite, beginning to walk in the direction of the train station and nodded his head for her to follow.

As she took a bite of her own cookie she managed to suppress her own urge to high-five herself. She always gave him food or some sort of something extra if they were ever going anywhere together. She managed to keep it together and normal enough that he hadn't caught on, and was still willing to go with her.

She had to walk fast to keep up with his pace, and reminded herself yet again just to enjoy the job. This was a rare occurrence, and even if it was his little way of giving her a gift, she needed to not loose herself in the excitement. That, and scare him off and cause him to regret it; that was the absolute last thing she wanted to do.

"So you looked at the request?" he asked, his mouth full as he brushed the last crumbs of the cookie off of his hands.

She blinked, trying her best to reign in her mind enough to have a coherent conversation with him. "Y-Yes, Juvia did. It sounds interesting." She'd only skimmed it but from what she remembered, the gist of the job was that a man who was known far and wide for his prowess in making magical items –specializing in fountains that granted wishes- had been possessed by some sort of demon. Not only could he now not make his items, but the request had said that he was causing "misfortune" to fall upon the town he resided in. She wasn't sure what kind of "misfortune" they meant, but it sounded interesting enough. Although, even if Gray had picked the most boring job on the face of the planet she was positive she would've found it interesting somehow.

Gray nodded. "There was some mention of the grand fountain he built for the town being the means by which he's been terrorizing them, since he has complete control over it. Y'know, I thought this might be suited to you since you're so skilled with water." He shrugged. "Of all the people in the guild, I thought you'd be the one that could help out the most, anyway."

Juvia wavered, her heart suddenly feeling as if it were being squeezed. While the mention that she was the one he thought could help him most made her want to blush and also made her feel extremely needed, the way he'd said it made it sound… This wasn't what she'd originally thought it to be.

He wanted to go on this job with her because she would be the most suited to its task. He would've taken someone else had it been a little different. She was just the first choice because it involved water. He needed help on a job, and she'd happened to be his choice this time… and it just so happened that coincidentally it fell on the date of their second anniversary. There was nothing planned about it; he hadn't done it on purpose and he probably didn't even realize that this marked their 730th day together.

She tried to stay positive but felt her shoulders slump as her hopes were crushed. "Th-thanks… Juvia will try her best." She knew her voice sounded downtrodden and uncharacteristically melancholy but she hoped he wouldn't notice. He usually didn't seem to notice a thing whenever she wasn't acting normally.

She saw his nod out of the corner of her eye and tried her best not to slouch further. Still, this was a job with Gray. She'd get to spend some time alone with him and they'd get to work alongside one another. She should be honored that she was chosen, even if it was just because of her element. He could've chosen anyone, but he chose her. That's what she needed to focus on.

Her own consolations weren't worth much and her heart still sat heavily in her chest. If only she stopped getting her hopes up so high, moments like these wouldn't come.

"You didn't bring very much stuff," Gray pointed out. "D'you not think this'll take long?"

"O-oh." In all honesty she'd just barely remembered to bring her own bag. She had a change of clothes and the cookies inside, but rather than that it was empty. She'd been so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she hadn't considered the chance that this job could take a while, and she'd need to bring more. "Juvia doesn't know. She doesn't think that it will, though."

They were then plunged back into what she considered to be a rather awkward silence, but she figured he didn't think the same.

"Train tickets have gone up a few jewels. You still have enough to buy one?"

Juvia's eyebrows pinched as she stared down at the cobblestone street, disappearing beneath her feet as she walked. Usually Gray made no attempt to continue conversation; she was always the one to come up with every question under the sun to keep him talking. Was this his version of small talk? Maybe he noticed that she was a little down and that it'd made their silence awkward… No, that was getting her hopes up again and she really should stop doing that.

"Yeah, there should still be enough."

There was a slightly displeased sound from the back of his throat before he cleared it and grumbled something to himself that sounded to her a lot like "I wasn't going to do this yet". There was a slight rustling as he mumbled angrily to himself, fishing around in his bag. Maybe he'd just realized he hadn't brought enough money-

"Here." She flinched as something white was nearly shoved into her face, finally taking her eyes off of the stone beneath her to figure out what it was.

Her heart hurtled back into her throat. A small and delicate-looking white daisy was pinched between his thumb and index finger. It looked extremely squashed, as if he'd either sat on it or set something heavy on top of it on accident. He wiggled it impatiently and she shot forward to take it from his hand.

He cleared his throat again. "Don't say I never give you anything. And… y'know, c-congrats on knowing each other for so long… or whatever." With that he sped up drastically, power-walking ahead of her as if he were trying to run away from what he'd just said.

She stared with wide eyes down at the flower. Wait… so this meant that he did remember what day it was and he was thinking about their anniversary when he'd invited her on this job? Or maybe it'd been a coincidence that the dates overlapped… But it didn't matter. What mattered was that he'd remembered, he'd actually remembered, and he'd cared enough not only to get her a gift –even if it did look like it'd been a little last minute- but he also apparently noticed she was feeling downtrodden and had given it to her to cheer her up.

Her hands shook with excitement as she cradled the flower in her palms carefully. He remembered… and he cared… and it was what she'd thought this job to be after all. It seemed her entire body was going to burst with excitement and again she forced herself not to make too big of a deal out of it, lest he not do anything like this again. But she simply couldn't hold it all in, the happiness he bestowed upon her bubbling up into her throat as she dashed forward to catch him. "Gray-sama!" And she was positive that in calling after him like that, all of her thanks and all of her happiness was conveyed in her tone.

And by the smile he tried to hide, she knew he'd understood.

The Sinnoh League Challenge - Route 201 part 4 - write about a character thinking about an impending conversation - the conversation is expected to be happy

That little special chapter by Mashima where Juvia gave Gray the scarf has to be one of my favorite little shippy moments for them. Gray giving Juvia gifts is one of my favorite events for these two.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what you thought of it! I feel as if Gruvia is a little underrepresented at the moment. Gotta keep up that love! XD

~Foxtail-chan