A/n: This was originally posted on my Tumblr account and was inspired by umikopineapple's drawing of Toy AU Gray and Juvia. The picture left a mark on me and I just had to write it. You can see her drawing here:

http (colon) (slash) (slash) umiko pineapple.(tumblr) .com (slash) image/107023080424

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

o-o

The first time Gray laid his eyes on her small form, slightly slumped in the middle of the huge glass ball, right beside a miniature red house; he was surprised. Surprised then turned to wonder and curiosity, followed by a strange sense of anger. Anger for what? He didn't know.

He would never have found her, inside this vast room of dusty forgotten stuff, if Erza hadn't ordered him to find something useful, for the upcoming birthday party of their little Asuka. Her mother had baked a delicious strawberry cake, while her father had decorated their living room with colorful balloons and party ribbons.

So her toys also came to an agreement, to make a surprise present for their sweet owner, the moment she came home from school. It was the least they could do, as a thank you gift, for the little girl who had taken good care of them.

His mission was to find something that could be used for the giant Asuka sculpture Erza had in mind; though he still had his doubts on how they could come up with it. They were, after all, just common toys.

But what the brunette didn't expect to find was a girl inside a snow globe.

He wouldn't have noticed the existence of the snow globe, because he was busily rummaging inside other cardboard boxes, if it wasn't for a distant crying sound. Pitiful sobs that got the little toy curious. He searched for its source and found it on top of an old wooden box. Molds had stuck itself on all its side, like a parasite sucking the life out of its prey.

A small glass orb was perched on top of it, carefully hidden from sight; dust gathered around it. Tattered pieces of cloth were also scattered on both sides, which he had used as a form of leverage to heave himself up, careful not to fall halfway through.

After an excruciatingly long climb, Gray dusted himself off and walked closer to the object that caught his attention. He studied the giant orb. Its walls glistened to small rays of light coming from the small window sill at the other end of the musky room, with one of its panes hanging dangerously at an angle, ready to fall off at a touch of a feather.

He removed the hood of his blue jacket covering his head, and walked around it a twice, making sure not to get tangled with all the strewn pieces of cloth laid everywhere. The outside of the glass reflected too much light; it was hard to see what was inside its inner walls.

"What is this thing?" he asked aloud, and peered inside the orb. The brunette squinted his eyes, and he flattened his face on the glass' cold surface. Natsu would have laughed at him, if he ever saw Gray's face distorted in all angles, like a squashed fly on a car's windshield. Knocking a couple of times, he wondered what could be inside the glass globe.

There's something there… No, someone…? Why is it so hard to look inside this fucking glass?!

Gray blinked. His blurry vision focused on a small figure not to far off. "A girl? What's she doing there?"

The said girl wore an old looking gray hat and coat, which didn't seem to warm her enough, for her slim body was shaking. Long curly blue locks flowed down just below her shoulder. Her soft porcelain skin glistened beautifully as snow slowly fell from the glass sky, and floated around her.

Gray was mesmerized by the unknown girl. And when his eyes met her sparkling blue ones, it was as if time had frozen everything in its path.

Juvia had always been alone, trapped inside this giant beautiful glass prison. She was created by her maker to become the most beautiful lady of the snow. A little red house was also crafted for her, which stood in the middle, its roof covered in white snow. At first, she was very happy to be placed on display next to her creator's shop window.

Passersby would always stop at the shop's window and smile as they gazed at her beautifully crafted glass home. Their compliments always made her heart flutter and her cheeks redder. And she was more than happy, when one day, a beautiful woman with long beautiful green hair stopped by at the shop and bought her.

'She's beautiful,' the woman said.

'Yes, she is. She's the most beautiful among all of my creations,' her creator answered. 'Her name is Juvia.'

'Juvia, huh?' She smiled at Juvia. 'She a beautiful name. I would like to take her, please.'

The creator beamed at the woman and guided her towards the cash register. Juvia watched with great wonder at her new owner, and as her beautiful glass orb was wrapped inside an elegant box, her creator's last words was engraved in her mind.

'I hope you always find happiness, Juvia-chan.'

And she did find happiness, if only, for a short while. Her new lady owner always took great care of her, with all the warmth and love she possessed. Her days were always filled with beautiful stories from the green-haired woman.

Juvia thought that these days would always last. But she was wrong. Her misery had arrived in the form a huge cardboard box, held in both her owner's arms; its color like that of a rotten tree bark. Things were placed one by one inside the devil's mouth; her snow globe not an exception.

She didn't know how much time had passed since then. The sun had completely vanished, what surrounded her was the never ending whiteness of snow, and darkness beyond it. She silently cried alone, and allowed sleep to take her away, into the vastness of the clear blue skies her mind could only conjure.

Juvia awoke to the sound of knocking. Her bleary eyes tried to regain its focus as a realization dawn on her.

Juvia's been crying again, she thought miserably. Her tears had been her companion, together with the white cold snow, and dainty red house, which brought less happiness to her isolation. She was a porcelain girl trapped in a caged glass of forgotten time.

Her sullen musing had been disrupted, by the sound of three short curious knocks, tapping against the hard glass dome. She sat up slowly and pulled her legs closer to her chest. She was afraid. This wasn't the first time she'd heard these disturbing sounds before.

Once, her curiosity had almost given her a heart attack, when stood closer to it's inner walls, and a huge dirty black rat emerged at of nowhere. It screeched with great intensity; she was sure her globe would shatter. The rodent had tried to break into the glass with its razor sharp claws, but eventually gave up, and sauntered away into the dark crevices of the attic.

After that, she stayed in the middle of her snow globe.

It had given her countless nightmares and she would always awake screaming at night. And as she watched a dark silhouette slowly form, fear gripped her heart, like a snake poised to strike at its shaking prey.

But the dark figure's form had molded into something familiar, she thought she would never see again.

'Is that… a face?'

Juvia thought in surprise. Her blue eyes widened as it locked on with a pair of dark eyes, also staring at her with astonishment. She slowly stood up and cautiously walked towards the unknown being.

"Who-?" she called out gently. "Who is it?"

Short knocking sounds were the answers she received. And as she stood only inches away from the glass barrier, Juvia met the toy that changed her life forever. "Who are you?"

Gray could feel his jaw drop. He'd seen a lot of pretty toys before, like Lucy, with her sun-kissed blonde hair, that even Barbie would be envious of. Or Erza - in her different battle armors. Not to mention Mirajane, who was the most popular toy manufactured on the planet. It wasn't only little girls who bought the limited edition Mirajane dolls, but also, pervy old men and their weird wanton thoughts.

"I- Uhm…" he answered dumbly. His little toy brain seemed to have malfunctioned and was unable to process a coherent answer. There was just something ethereal about the porcelain girl inside the glass orb, that tugged at something foreign, deep within him. What it was, he just couldn't put his finger on.

And as if she sensed Gray's discomfort, she smiled at him and laughed. A soft tinkling sound that were like soft music to his ears. He grinned back.

"Hi, name's Gray Fullbuster."

The girl's cheeks reddened and looked away shyly. Her lips moved inaudibly and Gray had to press his ear closer to hear what she was saying.

"What? Can't hear ya," he said.

"J-juvia," she answered, and twiddled her fingers together, a habit she had taken when she was nervous. "Juvia Lockser."

"So, what are you doin' here by yourself?" He placed his hands inside his jacket's front pocket, only to notice that he was now half-naked. "Damn it. Where did my blue jacket go?"

Juvia's already flushed face turned another shade of red, as she stared at the toy's wonderfully carved pectorals, and remembered to cover her eyes. "J-juvia h-had been here for a very long time now. She had been…"

Not minding the girl's reaction, Gray searched for his missing jacket and found it lying a couple of feet away from him. "Had been what?" he asked while dressing himself.

She shook her head and sadly smiled at him instead. "Nothing. This is the first time Juvia had seen someone up here in a very long time. What led you here, Gray-sama?"

"Gray-sama?" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well… I was suppose to find something useful here for the party downstairs. But I got distracted, somehow."

"Party?"

"Yeah, it's our owner's birthday today, you see."

Juvia felt her heart break once more. "Oh. I see."

Noticing the girl's melancholy expression, Gray shifted topics. "So…" he started awkwardly, again. "You've never been out of this giant glass thing?"

He tapped the glass with his fingers a few times. Juvia nodded in affirmation.

"So, you've never set foot outside before? Like seen the outside world?"

"Juvia had always been inside the snow globe. But she had seen the outside world before when she was still on display at her creator's shop window," she explained.

"Oh. That sucks."

She giggled and shook her head. "Juvia doesn't think so. To be honest, Juvia is very grateful that she was given such a beautiful home to stay."

Gray took a good look at the interior of the giant glass orb. True enough, it was beautifully designed, but it somehow felt… lonely. There was no one inside it besides the blue-haired porcelain girl.

"Yeah, I guess it's beautiful," he agreed. "But don't you feel lonely inside there? All by yourself?"

He carefully watched as series of emotions played on her beautiful face. Juvia's lower lip trembled. She clenched her hands into tiny fists, and softly answered.

"Juvia's used to it now."

The brunette was at a complete loss of words. He saw the sadness that glistened at the corners of her blue eyes. He knew that type of sadness because he had once felt it before. He, too, had been abandoned.

He opened his mouth but was interrupted by Erza's booming voice.

"Gray! Have you found anything useful there yet?" her voice bellowed from outside the door. The redhead's voice was enough to send fear running up and down his spine.

"Ah, crap! I gotta go!" Gray hurriedly ran towards the edge of the box, and climbed back down, but not before looking back at the girl inside the snow globe.

"I promise to see you again soon. Nice to meet ya, Juvia!" he said, grinning, and waved his hand.

"Ah… Yes!" Juvia exclaimed and waved back. She watched the dark-haired toy ran out of the attic room and felt her heart skipped a beat.

"It was nice to meet you too, Gray," she whispered, smiling.

A/n: I hoped you enjoyed reading it. Review please! :D