This was the end.
It had to be the end, because Juvia felt like her entire world had shattered. As she watched him get pierced by those lasers, she wondered if Meredy had secretly cast her Sensory Link spell on the two of them again since she swore she could feel them herself. She couldn't decide whether time was moving slowly or quickly; he seemed to fall back lifeless as if in slow motion, but she didn't want to admit that the shock had made her freeze and unable to help him.
All she could really do was scream and cry, her anguished shriek echoing throughout Crocus but hardly heard through the chaos. Only a couple people paused at its sound, in particular the dragon slayers and several nearby Fairy Tail members.
"Was that Juvia?" Levi asked, summoning up more words to fight back some of Motherglare's spawn.
Beside her Gajeel frowned as he knocked away another one of the small dragons; it did sound like Juvia, and from the sounds of it something bad had happened. As much as he would've liked to go see what had her screaming like that however, they were in the middle of a warzone and he was an integral part of ensuring they won with the maximum amount of survivors. Unless an actual dragon was there (which judging from the scent he was following, wasn't the case), he couldn't deviate. Still, that didn't stop him from having a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"C'mon shorty," he grunted, not answering Levi's question. "I smell a dragon over this way."
Back over with the fallen Gray, Meredy and Lyon stood speechless. Had they really just seen Gray die? The sound of more lasers charging snapped Lyon out of his stupor, quickly moving to freeze the enemies. "Juvia-chan, Meredy, we will have time to worry about him later! For now we need to fight to make sure we don't share the same fate!" he shouted, effectively getting Meredy's attention and reluctantly into battle mode. Juvia, however, remained staring at Gray's bleeding body, sobbing hysterically. "Juvia-chan!"
"It's no use," Meredy interrupted him solemnly, unleashing a flurry of her Maguilty Sodom blades upon several mini-dragons. "I understand better than anyone what her feelings towards Gray are. Seeing your most precious person dying before your eyes isn't something you can recover from so quickly."
Furrowing his brow he looked from her to Juvia, who had started to crawl across the rubble to Gray, her sobs quieter but persisting. In between he could hear her repeat Gray's name over and over, minus the honorific he had wanted to believe was a sign the feelings she had towards his brother weren't serious. Now there was no denying that he was in fact runner up in her heart. Shaking his head, he turned to focus on the battle instead. Second fiddle or not, he wasn't about to let Gray's sacrifice be in vain.
Lost in her broken heart, Juvia dragged herself over to Gray's side. It wasn't fair, she thought. Those beams had been meant for her. She could have even survived thanks to her water body. It was her fault for being distracted so easily. Why did he have to pay the price?
"Gray..." she whispered, sniffling. "Gray, please...please wake up. Please tell Juvia that this is just a terrible dream. We- We are Fairy Tail mages, and something like this should not stop you. Did...Did you not once tell Juvia that you would live alongside your friends?"
Nothing, not even a twitch; just blood and stillness. This wasn't the Gray she loved and admired; the Gray she adored was full of vitality and determination, shrugging off even the most serious of wounds in order to defeat his opponents and help his friends.
In the sky, dark clouds rolled in. No one really noticed until the first drops began to fall, which caused several people to look up.
"Great, just what we needed," Sting muttered as he punched at the dragon he'd been paired up against. Behind him, facing off against his own opponent, Rogue narrowed his eyes. Something seemed off about this sudden change in weather.
"Rain...?" murmured Lucy, pausing in her running. "All of a sudden? Wait...is it Juvia?"
A tiny 'plink' against his iron skin caught Gajeel's attention. "Huh?" A glance to the sky told him all he needed to know. Gritting his teeth, he let loose a dragon breath. "Damn rain woman, what the hell happened?" he growled to himself.
A downpour opened up over Crocus, washing the city clean of dust and debris while simultaneously making visibility difficult and footing less solid. Everyone fought on anyway, ignorant as to the storm's cause and the meaning behind it. Juvia remained kneeled beside Gray, unaware of the rain as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Please, Gray...Sit up and tell Juvia how weird she is again...Anything..."
Tentatively she took his hand, ignoring how it felt cold (and not the familiar kind she'd come to associate with him normally thanks to his magic), clasping it between both of hers.
"The rain inside Juvia's heart is returning, Gray. Please, I beg you, come back and return the blue sky to her..." she whispered, touching his knuckles to her forehead as if in prayer.
From the corner of her eye, a glint of light from Meredy's magic flickered across something besides blood. Briefly distracted, Juvia glanced to see that the necklace with the sword pendant she often saw Gray wear had remained intact around his neck. Something had survived in the attack. Carefully she picked up the pendant, turning it in her hands and wiping it clean. The dull silver certainly brought its owner to mind. She swallowed thickly, feeling a hint of bitterness that through all that, this was the only thing to truly stay unharmed.
A crash from nearby made her head snap up. That's right, they were still in the middle of a battle! Her friends, comrades and many others were in mortal danger. As much as it hurt, this was not the time to grieve...even if the one being grieved for was the man she loved. Sniffing a couple more times, she gently unclasped the necklace from Gray's neck, wiped her face, and stood. This way she could have a small part of him with her at all times, and if she ended up sharing his same fate elsewhere in the city, in her mind she would not be far from him. Giving it one last glance, she placed it around her neck, with the pendant tucked between her breasts. Safe and close to her heart.
A deep breath steadied her, and she strode forward to help Lyon and Meredy.
((A/N: Wow, first thing submitted in a long while, hahaha. Poor Juvia, I really want to give her a big hug, and I hope with all my heart Mashima has something up his sleeve. I do plan on writing more of this plotline, but I have a terrible habit of not finishing things (hence why I haven't submitted anything in so long) so I'm going to leave it off here for now. No real additional comments to make currently. *kinda stuck for commentary at the moment*))