I just reread the first chapter and I discovered a lot of typo errors. Haha! Ul would sometimes be Ul, and there were other shameful mistakes I've found. Anyway, I hope this fic become a successful one. This is my very first FT fic, so I'm not really expecting that much.

By the way, I changed my mind. I don't know if this will be a Gruvia fic or a Lyvia fic since I'm a total sucker for both of them. I've already planned the story but I think I'll mess it up a little bit. "wink* Ring Ring Banana Ring!


(TT_TT)

. . .

.

Natsu didn't really know how long his friend had been staring at his drink. He and Lucy went out to train when they saw him spacing out like that, and to their surprise, he was still in the same position the time they got back. It actually made them worried. Just look at him! He hadn't even taken off his shirt! It was so… un-Grayish.

Lucy met her friend's glances to confirm if they were thinking of the same thing.

Yep! They think alike!

Gray was never this quiet.

"Natsu, what did you do this time?" She gave him a pointed look. "I called him a stripper?" He shrugged his shoulder as a response, successfully earning him a huge lump behind his head.

"That's obviously not the reason!"

"Then... I don't know!" Lucy raised her fist the second time, and that was enough reason for Natsu to ran around the guild, avoiding another beating from the blonde. Brown orbs landed back on the brooding man by the bar table. Even Lisanna had been looking at him with worry, yet she hadn't uttered a word. Maybe it was better not to bother him, since a not stripping Gray was one of the last things she knew how to handle, and that nakama of theirs was not as open as their favorite pink head, proving things to be much more difficult.

She saw him sigh for the 27th time.

Lucy was counting alright.

Just what was his problem?

They were used to him being gloomy every after mission; nonetheless, he would always find a way to hide it in front of everybody. Now, though, he's not even making any effort to look normal. She could literally see the dark aura emanating from his body, and to be honest, it was causing them to sweat drop. The aura was so dark that Natsu went out to go fishing with Happy instead of pestering Gray.

She was about to approach the ice mage when Mira came into the picture. Her slender, candle-like fingers tapped his shoulder. He tilted his head to the side, acknowledging her presence. The beautiful, young lady sat next to him. She remained silent for awhile until he sighed for the twentieth… wait… he already lost count. "Wanna talk about it?" A soft smile formed on her pink lips.

Gray glared at the glass in his vice-like grip, feeling as though sending daggers at it would answer all the questions in his head.

"I just…" Mira frowned in confusion. "You just?" She urged him to continue.

Another deep breath was taken.

"I want to go on a mission."

Mira flinched from her spot, appearing like an offended young woman beside him.

"But you just got back!" Something seemed to have dawned upon her the moment he saw her eyes widen. "Wait a minute… does this have anything to do with the girl you've been searching for?"

Oh, he totally forgot he had told Mira. The girl wouldn't just leave him be during his first "brooding" in the guild after failing to find her for the eleventh time; thus, he ended up spitting the truth in a flash. The interrogators should really hire her, perhaps they'll have lesser crime rate in the area.

Women. They were the worst enemy. No matter how much you hide it, they'll find a way drag out your dirtiest secret.

"The more I fail, the more the times I assume that she's dead."

"She's not." He raised a questioning brow at her while she smiled in response. "Trust Cana's 'instincts'." She winked at him, and that was enough to make him laugh a little.

Mira stood up and headed towards the bulletin, eyes scanning several pieces of mission papers on the board. After grasping the one which had been buried through time, she went back to her seat, handing the item over to him.

The edges were torn and some words were almost unrecognizable, but it didn't stop him from reading the offered task.

Spy on the Phantom Lord Guild's Element Four. Reward: 200,000 jewels.

Spy on a guild? Won't it look like we're asking for a war?

"I don't think this mission will be good for me." He place the paper back in her hands, only to have it shoved back at his face.

"Come on! You need a break! It's just a spying mission, so as long as you don't get caught, you'll be fine." Gray stared at it for a few seconds before grabbing it with great hesitation.

He thought it was a coincidence when the loudest sound of thunder roared the second his fingers brushed against it. Little did he know that the guild he was going to investigate on had sent their own spies as well, and the intruders were dangerously nearing the place he now called home.

. . .

.

Dark clouds filled the sky, covering the light of the sun for long years. The rain continued pouring down in a mad way as the wind slammed against everything solid. Nothing changed, she took note. People still kept on saying that she was cursed, and she was getting used to it… used to the pain the words deliver. Ul cursed Juvia because she was a disappointment. Juvia was not strong enough to defeat Deliora. Ul died because of her weakness.

The rain poured harder than before.

"What's wrong with you?" Totomaru frowned at her. He couldn't say he hated her rain directly since it was eating up his sunny day. Of course, having the element fire, he wanted things to be burning. Instead, he was in a cold place, soaked in the middle of the rain with his fire being extinguished. Damn, they will never be compatible comrades.

Juvia smirked knowingly. "What's right about you?"

Not to mention, they were not in best terms.

"Everything, you gloomy woman," he retorted.

She rolled her eyes at him. The guy was obviously a complete jerk. Aria and Sol watched the their exchange from behind, meeting each other's glances occasionally. If they didn't know any better, they might have thought they were one another's nemesis, but they weren't. Both of them just didn't find the other's presence in their own liking.

After a long silence, Juvia spoke out of the blue, and the content of her words had caught everyone's attention, especially the person who she was talking to.

"You know what? I really like your hair." She lovingly smiled at the fire mage, causing a tint blush to spread on his cheeks. He was alarmed alright! It was the first time she had complimented him in his entire existence in the Phantom Lord Guild. The other members also started to get confuse of the unfolding event as they stared at the people in front of them.

"H-Huh?" He looked at her disbelievingly, and it only made her smile widen more.

"I really like your hair," she repeated. "It's so cool that I wish…" She trailed off, and it made their anticipation rise to a higher degree.

They waited for her to continue, but when the word slipped right out of her mouth, Aria and Sol couldn't help their reactions.

"I wish you're just a hair."

Laughter echoed, not only in the vicinity, but also in the ears of the flame manipulator.

"TEME!"

Their team went wild again.

The piece of paper left forgotten on the floor with the mission's content written on it.

Kidnap Lucy Heartfilia.

.

. . .

(TT_TT)


Please review! I'm sorry if this chapter is pretty short. I'm having trouble with my time management. There are so many things I have to do, so I am afraid that I'll be updating in a slow pace, especially with me trying to update my other stories as well, stories I started when I was pretty much an amateur in writing- and I still am. LOL!

Next Chapter Preview! Two old sweethearts meet again, but not as friends, but as enemies who will fight for the sake of their own.

"You remind me of someone."

Blue eyes pierced through his darker ones.

"I always remind people of someone. Rain always remind people of someone."

"No. It's not the rain... it's your appearance."

"Why? Am I ugly?"

"T-THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

She waited for him to elaborate, and so he did.

"You remind me of a certain ice mage. You're a water mage though."

She stared at him.

Juvia stared at him.

She knew, and she wasn't going to say the truth any time soon.

Of course, fate had other plans.