A Funny Thing Happened Outside Crocus
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail characters belong to Hiro Mashima. I own naught but this plot bunny. If I owned the characters, Gruvia would have been canon a long time ago.
Rated T for guild members' potty mouths.
"She ain't here, asshole." Gajeel growled at the light-haired Ice Make mage.
"When will my darling be back?"
"She ain't your darling." He spat out the word. "She ain't interested in you. Leave her alone."
"Who are you to tell me whether or not Juvia-san is my one true love?"
"I'm the best friend, that's who." Gajeel stood up from the bar stool, towering over the other mage. "And I'm telling you, Juvia doesn't like you and you're not good enough for her anyway. So get the fuck out and stop comin' after her."
"Juvia and I are meant for each other. We're going to-" Gajeel's arm turned into an iron pillar.
"Gajeel…" Levy winced. "Don't…"
"Ice Make Cannon!" Before Gajeel could attack, a huge blast of ice came flying across the room, knocking the unsuspecting mage out the door. "Leave. Juvia. Alone."
Gajeel snickered. He always got a kick out of the strippers fighting over her. It really was a pointless fight, but he found it funny anyway. Technically speaking he preferred Gray over Lyon for Juvia, but only slightly.
"Gray." Lyon glared at him.
"Lyon. Juvia doesn't like you. She already has someone."
"Who?"
"None of your goddamn business."
The two Ice Make mages stared each other down, clothing mysteriously disappearing the whole time.
"Lyon, shouldn't you be getting back to your guild's lodgings?" Makarov suddenly piped up.
Lyon ended his stare down with Gray to look at the Fairy Tail guild master. "Uh…yes sir…I suppose you're right. Perhaps I'll see Juvia tomorrow." He hurried from the inn.
Gray scowled. "Gramps, you shoulda let me kick his ass."
"Save it for the games, Gray. We really shouldn't be fighting outside the arena." Makarov threw a sidelong glare at Natsu for his behavior toward Sabertooth. Not that he wouldn't have done the same given the circumstances but major battling outside of the games was forbidden. After all, what would be the point in the games if all the fighting just took place at night between official matches?
"I know Master. But it really bugs me how much Lyon comes over here to hit on Juvia."
"Maybe it would stop if you hurried up and admitted you like her too." Gajeel growled as he gnawed on a piece of iron.
Gray turned bright red. "What?"
"You wouldn't put up with her stalking you if you didn't like it."
"Gajeel's right." Lucy looked up from her book. "We all know you like her. I think even Natsu knows you like her. If you just made it official with her, Lyon might stop. Or…ease up anyway."
"I…uh…" Gray felt his heart pounding like it never had before. It was bad enough when Erza confronted him about his feelings. Having everyone gang up on him like this? Especially Gajeel. He was her best friend, something Gray had never quite understood, and he was concerned about her feelings.
"You break her heart, I break you." Coming from Gajeel, it was no idle threat.
"So Lyon's not good enough for her but I am?"
"I wouldn't really say you are either. But you're closer."
That was probably closest to a compliment Gray was ever going to get from Gajeel. "Where is she now? Is she really not here or did you just tell Lyon she wasn't here?"
"She said she was going to go find a place to practice some new spells." Levy offered.
"Where would she go to do that?" Gray was thinking over all the places she could be but he wasn't able to narrow it down enough.
"Some place with a lot of water. It helps her save her magic."
"Okay…I'll be back later."
Gray ran out of the inn. Gajeel snorted. "Idiot."
"I'm surprised you told him." Levy rubbed Panther Lily's head as she finished her drink.
"Juvia never smiled before she met him. So as long as she's happy, Stripper Boy gets to live."
Lucy smiled. "That's surprisingly sweet of you, Gajeel." Okay, so threatening Gray wasn't sweet per say, but it was cute to see him so protective of her.
He scowled. "Yeah well…don't expect me to admit it in public, Bunny Girl."
Lucy made a face. Levy smiled. "You are Juvia really are good friends. Kind of surprising. I didn't think iron and water mixed."
He rolled his eyes. "Don't read into our magic too much, Bookworm."
"Hey. Hey Gajeel." The dragon slayer groaned as Happy suddenly flew up near him. "Do you llllllllllllllllike Juvia? I bet you lllllllllllllllllike her."
"Shut it, cat. Juvia and I aren't like that. I respect her. I wouldn't be friends with someone I didn't respect."
"Are we friends, Gajeel?"
Lucy held in a snicker as Gajeel suddenly developed a slight blush at Levy's question. Before he could answer, Happy appeared again.
"Oh, I get it. Gajeellllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllikes Llllllllllllllllev-"
"CAT!" Gajeel grabbed the small blue cat and chucked him out the nearest open window.
"What the hell, you bastard?" Natsu suddenly roared as Happy disappeared out the window. "I'll kill you!"
As a new brawl ensued between the dragon slayers, Levy and Lucy quickly made their escape with Lily in tow. "Lucy, what just happened?"
"I'm not sure." She glanced back toward the bar. "Sure was interesting though."
Gray made his way just outside of Crocus, where he knew there was a lake Juvia could be at. It wasn't huge but it was a good amount of water she could use for practice. As he got closer, he could hear a lot of violent splashing along with a woman's voice. He couldn't understand quite what she was saying at this distance but he knew it was Juvia.
He didn't want to approach too suddenly. After all, he'd been on the receiving end of her magic before. It wasn't a place he wanted to be again.
"Water Cannon!" Now that was something he'd never seen her do. She launched herself into the air, courtesy of the water pushing her skyward. "Water Cane!" She pulled up the water around her arms then she spun, whipping the water around herself as she fell. Gray figured at the speed she was going, little would be able to get past the wall of pressurized water and attempting to attack her directly would end up being knocked out.
She landed with a tremendous splash, practically emptying the lake. He thought to run for a moment, not really wanting to get drenched, but before the water hit the ground, she brought it all back into the lake.
Her hands rose above her head. "Water Blades!" Another move he'd never seen her do. As her arms came down, four massive blades of water rose from the lake. She then jerked her hands back up, the blades coming up, seemingly at random but he had a feeling she was in total control of where the blades came up.
Once the water calmed down, Juvia took a deep breath. That was probably enough for now. She's rest for a bit then head back to the inn.
"That was pretty impressive."
She spun around, shocked anyone else was out. "G-G-Gray-sama!"
He rolled his eyes at the honorific. He really needed to get her to stop that. "How long have you been out here?"
"A while. Juvia had to get out of Crocus for a bit."
"Why? Something wrong?"
"Lyon-san wanted Juvia to go to dinner with him. And lunch before that. And breakfast earlier…dinner the day before…"
He clenched his fists. "That idiot…"
"Juvia turns him down every time but he keeps coming for Juvia. Juvia doesn't like Lyon-san like that though!" She looked up at him, mildly panicked. "Juvia would never be unfaithful to Gray-sama!"
He relaxed slightly. It wasn't like he didn't know she wasn't interested in Lyon but it was nice to be reassured he wasn't swaying her. "I know." He held his hands out to her to help her out of the lake.
Tired as she was, she appreciated the help. And any chance to touch Gray was worth it. "T…thank you Gray-sama."
"You don't have to call me that."
"Juvia has gotten used to it."
"Still…I think it's a little much…"
"Juvia will try then…" She looked over at him shyly. "What brings Gray-sa…Gray out here?"
"I was wondering where you were…Gajeel said you were out practicing near water…"
"G-Gajeel-kun told you?"
"Was he not supposed to?"
"No…" She turned away again, smiling. She'd have to thank him later for putting aside his dislike of Gray for her.
"So…those were some pretty impressive new spells."
"Th-thank you. Juvia wants to represent Fairy Tail well."
"You will." He looked toward the lake. "So…"
Juvia clasped her hands behind her back. "Yes?"
Gray blushed. He really didn't know what to say. He'd never been any good at expressing his feelings. "Um…where'd you come up with the design for those water blades?"
"Oh, Juvia borrowed a book about weapons from Levy-san. Juvia liked certain parts of many so she made them into one design."
"It's really nice."
"Thank you."
"You know you're not allowed to join Lamia Scale right?" He blushed as he looked up at the sky. "Whether Fairy Tail wins or loses, you're not joining his guild. It was a stupid bet and I never agreed to it but Lyon won't let it go."
Juvia smiled and looked down. "Gray-sama isn't in Lamia Scale so Juvia has no interest in them. Juvia respects Lyon-san as a mage but she doesn't like him much as a person."
He blinked. "What's wrong with him?"
"He is pushy and doesn't listen to Juvia." She shuffled a bit by the edge of the lake. "Juvia humored him a couple days ago and went to lunch with him." She looked up, suddenly panicked. "B-But Juvia doesn't like Lyon-san. Juvia did it so she could be unpleasant and maybe get Lyon-san to go away. Juvia doesn't like-"
"It's fine Juvia. I know you don't have feelings for him."
Her panic died down a little. "He wouldn't let Juvia have a say in where he took Juvia. Then he ordered food for Juvia. He ordered fish. Juvia doesn't like fish but he wouldn't listen. And…well…"
"What?"
"N-never mind…"
"You can tell me."
"It's not that important."
He smirked. "If it's another reason I'm better than Lyon, sure it is."
"Ah…well…that is to say…some time ago, Lucy-san told Juvia about Galuna Island.
Gray winced as he ran a hand through his hair. Not one of his finer moments, in his opinion. "Oh God…not one of my finer moments…"
"Juvia was impressed. Lyon-san could have killed a lot of people just for his own revenge. It didn't seem like he cared that much about Sherri-san and the others' feelings. And it undid everything Ur-sama did to save Gray and Lyon. But Gray, against the rules of his own guild, stayed to protect the people of Galuna. He was willing to sacrifice himself to protect everyone from Deliora."
He felt himself blushing. What the hell had he ever done to warrant someone thinking so highly of him?
"That's why Gray-sama is a Fairy Tail mage. That's why he was able to show Juvia the sun. Lyon-san would never have been able to do that."
The more she talked, the more he blushed. Also, the more he realized he was an idiot for not completely seeing her feelings earlier. She adored him. He glanced down at her. She was looking down slightly, blushing. She was too cute for words. It was no wonder Lyon fell in love with her the moment he saw her. If they had met any other way, he might have done so too.
But then again, if he had met her any other way, his feelings for her would be as shallow as Lyon's. Lyon seemed to think of her as just another pretty face. He didn't understand anything about how far Juvia had come from what she used to be. If he'd known her when it always rained, would he still feel the same way? Gray had seen her turn from the darkness of Phantom and flourish in Fairy Tail.
"Juvia is talking too much. Juvia apologizes…"
"I don't mind…"
"Umm…was there a reason Gray was looking for Juvia? That conversation never exactly went anywhere…"
"Well…I…ummm…" He cursed himself for his inability to speak in her presence lately. It shouldn't be this hard to talk to Juvia. On the other hand, he supposed, before this night, he never fully acknowledged his feelings or hers. "That is to say…"
"Yes, Gray?"
"Oh hell." He muttered and before Juvia could ask what was wrong, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
Her eyes widened and every thought in her head exploded. Gray was kissing her? How did this happen? Had his arms not been holding her tightly, she would have keeled over by now.
It was now or never. "I hope you realize…I don't like Lucy. Or Lisanna. Or Lyon." He shuddered at the thought. "I love you Juvia." Now it was just a matter of seconds before she passed out.
She swallowed hard, still feeling his lips on hers. He said it. He said he loved her. The object of her affection for the last year returned her feelings. "Juvia loves Gray-sama!" She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him enthusiastically.
This surprised Gray. He was sure she'd pass out and he'd have to carry her back to Honeybone. Her unexpected jump caused him to lose his balance and they both fell over. The moment he heard the apology forming on her lips, he silenced her with another kiss. She ran her fingers through his hair, showering his face with kisses.
He flipped her over onto her back and kissed her firmly. Juvia was in heaven. Just being near Gray was nice. Him being on top of her, kissing her, admitting he loved her…well, there were no words for that. She wholeheartedly returned his kisses, no long nervous about his feelings for her.
She gasped as his hand suddenly dropped lower, brushing her thigh where her skirt opened, exposing her guild mark. "G-Gray-sama…" It was then she realized his coat and shirt were gone. She never did understand his ability to spontaneously strip, but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy it.
"Don't call me Gray-sama. My girlfriend doesn't need to be so formal." He grinned down at her.
She grinned back before she grabbed his head with her left hand and pulled him back to her. He didn't even mind when he felt her right hand reaching for his belt. He was on the verge of doing that himself without realizing anyway. Just as she loosened the belt, they jerked apart, feeling a strong magical presence.
Juvia! Gray! Where are you guys?
"Fuck…" Gray growled as he finally rolled off Juvia and fixed his belt. "What the hell do you want, Warren?"
Erza wants to know where you and Juvia are. Are you with her?
"Juvia is right here." She sighed. Leave it to their guild mates to make the greatest moment of her life come to a screeching halt.
Where are you two? It's getting late. You need to come back to the inn. We have more matches in the morning. Erza's voice boomed through Warren's telepathy.
"Yes, Erza…" They both muttered. "We'll be back in a few minutes." Gray stood up and offered a hand to Juvia.
Alright. Two young people in love shouldn't be out alone at night anyway. You might damage Juvia's reputation, Gray.
Gray rolled his eyes. Juvia was the one who grabbed his belt first. Not that either of them would ever tell Erza that. But it was getting late and there would be more competitions in the morning.
"Well, Juvia supposes she and Gray should be getting back…"
"Yeah. Guess so." He smoothed his hair back. "Oh one thing."
"Yes?" He reached into the collar of his shirt and pulled out his cross. When he unhooked it, Juvia gasped. "Juvia couldn't!"
"I insist." He slipped the necklace on her, smiling as it rested on her chest. "I think it looks better on you anyway."
She blushed madly. "Gray-sama's necklace…Juvia doesn't know what to say…Gray doesn't know what this means to Juvia…"
He sighed at the honorific again. At least she wasn't using it all the time, he supposed. He held his hand out to her. "We better get back before we get another call from Erza." She nodded and took his hand. Leaning on him slightly, Juvia thoroughly enjoyed the walk back to town.
Most of the guild was still downstairs when they got back to Honeybone. No one missed the two water-based mages holding hands. Gajeel rolled his eyes at the two of them. "Juvia, you better not develop any kind of stripping habits like your boy toy over there."
"Fuck you." Gray scowled.
Juvia shook her head. "Juvia will leave all the stripping to Gray."
"Good. I think." Gajeel went back to the piece of sheet metal he was snacking on.
Erza smiled as they sat at a table with the rest of Team Natsu. "I see you finally made things clear."
"Yeah." Gray shifted his arm to Juvia's shoulders and tugged her closer. She happily curled up to him. "It's just a matter of making it clear to a certain someone else that Juvia is not leaving Fairy Tail anytime soon or ever."
"Juvia will attempt to let him down nicely. Juvia kind of doubts it will work…" She frowned slightly.
Gray shrugged. "Me too. But he'll get over it."
Lucy smiled at Juvia. "I'm really happy for you Juvia. I hope you won't see me as a love rival anymore. Gray clearly likes you."
"Thank you Lucy-san. Yes, Juvia knows Gray will not stray from her." She nestled against him, her excitement over today's events dying down, making her feel sleepy.
Mira suddenly put down a tray of mugs on Team Natsu's table. "A toast to the new guild couple!" Gray and Juvia blushed slightly. Everyone picked up a mug. "I hope Asuka will have a playmate soon!" The couple in question turned bright red. Suddenly awake, Juvia sat bolt upright.
"Mira-san!" She squealed. "Juvia doesn't want to think about children right now!
Erza spat out her drink. "No babies until Gray and Juvia are properly married! We have to arrange it as soon as possible! Gray won't be able to keep his hands off Juvia for long."
"Married? Erza, we just became a couple like…less than an hour ago!" Gray stood up, so red he was practically glowing. "We're not getting married right now!"
Gajeel was laughing so hard, he could barely keep himself on his own chair. Levy was scolding him for being insensitive. The rest of the guild was having a good laugh at the couple's expense as well, just not as much as Gajeel was at the moment.
"Juvia is tired! Juvia is going to bed!" Ignoring the drinks, Juvia scurried up the stairs to the bedrooms.
Gray scowled at Mira and Erza. "I hate you both. I'm going to bed." He stormed off toward the stairs. "Not Juvia's bed!" He added as he could just feel Erza's mouth open. Gajeel was laughing so hard he was practically crying.
Gray sighed as he reached the hall of rooms they were using in the inn. He knocked lightly on the door of the room Juvia was sharing with Levy. "Juvia?"
"Y-Yes, Gray-sama?"
He groaned inwardly. Back to being worshipped. "I wanted to say good night."
She opened up the door. She'd already changed into a cute little blue nightgown and her hair was loosely braided for the night. She was still wearing the necklace he gave her. Okay, maybe Erza did have a point. It would be hard to keep his hands off her. "Juvia didn't mean to run off like that. Juvia just got nervous."
"I know…Erza and Mira are…yeah…" He sighed then looked at her. "Anyway…Good night Juvia." He was about to lean in to kiss her when he noticed something in her hand. "What's that?"
She blushed realizing she was still holding her Gray doll. "N-Nothing." She almost tossed it back into the room but he snagged it from her first. "Umm…Juvia just…"
"Is this…me?" Yes. The doll was definitely him. It even had a tiny replica of his necklace. "You made a doll of me?"
Juvia winced. He was never supposed to know about the doll. "Juvia likes to make dolls. Th-there are other guild members too."
"Is there one of you?"
"Er…Juvia never felt a need to make one of herself."
He looked at the doll again. "You'll have to soon."
"Juvia will?"
"Uh huh. He'll get lonely when we start sleeping in the same bed."
"Th-the same bed?"
"Yep. You've got some time. Not like I'm gonna rush you into anything. Just sayin'." He handed the doll back to her and leaned in to kiss her. "Good night Juvia."
"Good night Gray." She kissed him back, enthusiastically.
He slowly backed away, knowing he had to get to his room before the others started coming upstairs. "See you in the morning."
Juvia nodded and shut her door again. Gray smiled as he started walking across the hall. When he reached for the handle, the happiest squeal he'd ever heard came from the other side of Juvia's door. His smile widened. He liked to hear her happy. And he was glad she hadn't fainted once.
Lemme know what you think!
Shadow Hawk