'Is she back yet?'
The question rung in his ears constantly, his eyes glued to the front door of Fairy Tail from where he sat at one of the tables, a beer in hand and quite a few people whispering around him. Why is he here, they were asking themselves. Why would one of Lamia scale's agents be in their own agency, disguised as a bar by their master. Others kept to themselves, not knowing about the secrets that were strewn behind the walls of the place, or having any knowledge of the fact that many of the bar's current patrons were involved in the behind the scenes operations. Some, such as the man with long, jet-black hair and piercings, were completely inconspicuous but he had to wonder, why did no one question the twelve year old girl sitting at one of the tables with another blue-haired girl and a going boy.
Lyon Vastia sighed, taking another swig of his drink as he caught a raven-haired boy watching him in his peripheral vision. Swinging around on the bench. Lyon smirked. "Enjoying the view, Gray?"
The man he was talking to scoffed, and shook his hair before returning the smirk. "Why would I enjoy staring at you, asshole?" he asked, returning the smirk. "You look like you're about to die from the heat?"
"At least I'm not sitting there naked."
Shaking his head, Lyon turned his attention back to the door and sighed. He knew that he shouldn't have been worrying, that the girl he was waiting for was bound to be okay, but he didn't want to risk her returning injured at all, and him not bring there to help her. If anything were to happen to her... He didn't even want to know what he would do.
"She'll be back soon. Don't fuss so much," came a soft voice from behind him, and Lyon turned to see Mirajane, one of Fairy Tail's two barmaids, standing behind him with a refill for his now-empty beer.
"I'm trying," he said, "I just... Wouldn't be able to forgive anyone if she got hurt."
Smiling softly, Mirajane nodded. Months before, Mira had been through a similar situation where Laxus had been sent on an extremely dangerous scouting mission. The white-haired woman had been wracked with worry after the blonde hadn't returned when he was supposed to, and Lyon had been visiting for those few days, and had seen the woman's mood change from miserable to enraged in an instant.
"I understand."
Lyon nodded. "Thank you," he said quietly, handing Mira his old glass as she placed the new one down on the table. Mirajane nodded, before walking back to the bar.
Looking around, the male noticed that those not associated with the company were beginning to file out of the building and a few minutes later, only those who were associated were still there.
"Any news on Juvia's whereabouts?"
The sound of the drunk brunette behind him caused Lyon to turn his attention to Erza, who was standing at the door, shaking her head.
"Not yet, I'm afraid."
A collective sigh echoed around the room, which Lyon joined in, and the small man sitting on the counter clapped his hands twice, gaining everyone's attention. "Now now," he said, "She and Lucy will be back soon."
The two girls' had been sent on a mission to collect some old documents from the agency that Juvia had once worked for, Phantom Lord, before Fairy Tail had thwarted some plans of theirs to steal some of Fairy Tail's documents. Juvia and Gajeel too had been involved in the operation, and had continued on to join Fairy Tail, both becoming valuable members of the team.
"Those papers... What were they?" Gajeel's gruff voice asked, and Makarov sighed.
"Jose... has been planning another attempt at attacking us. The girls mission is to recover their plans."
Makarov's words didn't really give Lyon any reassurance at all, knowing how dangerous Jose could be. "Juvia..." he muttered to himself. His thoughts stayed on the blue-haired woman, her face visible in his mind. He loved her, and wasn't afraid to yell it out to the world, but she had never heard him say it.
"Please be okay."
Beneath the shadows of one of Magnolia's tall, concrete blocks stood two girls, both soaking wet and panting. One was blonde, had brown eyes, and was bent over with her hands resting on her knees as she mentally cursed herself for wearing heels, while the other had wavy, shoulder-length cerulean hair and deep blue eyes, and was protecting a faded, brown leather satchel from getting too much of the rain. She too was tired, but was able to cope with it better than the blonde.
She smiled lightly. "Lucy, we cannot stop for too long."
The blonde girl nodded, and stood up straight. "I know. Are you okay with the satchel, Juvia?"
"Juvia is fine."
Lucy nodded, and started back into a run, the blue-haired woman following closely behind, her clothed arms wrapped around the bag. Juvia looked back and nodded for it seemed that they had lost any pursuers, but continued running just to be safe.
She watched as Lucy continued her run despite having heels on her feet (which was a little stupid considering it was raining, they were running, and she would complain if they got ruined. Slowing down a little, the stares from passersby continued to pierce the pair, who had paused for just a moment outside of a karaoke bar situated beneath another tower block. "Lucy, we really should continue... but shall we walk?"
The blonde woman nodded. "Sounds good!"
Walking at a much more natural pace, Lucy sighed and sifted her fingers through her soaking wet hair and shook her head. "Why did we agree to this?" she grumbled under her breath and Juvia laughed quietly. "Well Lucy and Juvia were asked because we could get in easily, and the bluenette could pretend that she gave up and returned- with you," she said. It had been a complete gamble sending that specific pair along, as Makarov wasn't entirely sure Jose would believe Juvia's story but in the end the gamble had paid off. Jose had accepted their lies and they had soon made off with what they needed, despite having to stay an extra day in Jose's clutches to be safe. Thankfully, Lucy had been given a bed in Juvia's old room, so looking for the blonde hadn't been necessary.
Turning another corner, Lucy let out a laugh. "Looks like someone has missed you."
Sure enough, a smile lit up the woman's face as he spotted the silver car outside of Fairy Tail, immediately signalling her as to who was inside. The pair continued walking, and Lucy smiled as Juvia picked up her pace. The two stopped outside of the bar, before Lucy pushed open the door.
"We're back!"
At the sound of the door opening, Lyon's eyes snapped straight to the wood, and he visibly relaxed as the two women walked in, his gaze meeting that of the blue-haired woman as she smiled up at him. Resisting the urge to run straight to her, he simply stood up, watching as Lucy took the satchel and handed it to Makarov.
"Unfortunately," Lucy breathed out a sigh, "We do not have the original copy, only a duplicate we made."
Seeing Makarov raise an eyebrow, Juvia stepped forwards. "The originals have been lost in a mysterious fire that started some three minutes after Juvia and Lucy left," she laughed.
Makarov shook his head but smiled. "Well done."
Lucy stayed beside the master to tell him what happened, and Juvia just looked at the white-haired man, who smiled, relieved that she was finally back with him. Just looking at her, Lyon realised just how much he had missed her in the week or so she had been away.
"Lyon," Juvia smiled as he approached her, and he let out a laugh before he pulled her close, we head resting on his shoulder as she returned the embrace happily, closing her eyes lightly as he lay his head atop her shoulder.
"Welcome back, Juvia."