Juvia woke up, immediately cheerful. She jumped up from bed and looked down at her clothing, confused as to why she was still in her party dress. However, she brushed it off and went to her window so she could look outside, only to find it dark and gloomy. The streets were covered in water, yet the sun was nowhere to be seen. Although she wondered about the sun's absence, her thoughts became clouded with a certain ice mage.

Kya! Today is Christmas Day! Juvia can't wait to give her love present to Gray-sama, and then we can have 33 babies and...

"I'm not going to kiss you! Not even a little peck on your hand! I never want to kiss you! In fact, I never ever want to see you again! I hate you! So just leave me alone!"

It all came back to her. The party where she became slightly tipsy, making her lead her beloved to the mistletoe. His rejection that tore her heart apart. Her tears that caused the sky to rain as she ran back to her apartment. Suddenly, Juvia's knees became weak and she fell to the ground, curling up into a tiny ball and gripping the part of her dress over her heart, trying to stop the pain that she was feeling.

There was no stopping the tears that came out of her eyes, nor could she stop the sky from meeting her heart's demands. The rain began pouring again, creating noises against her roof. She began to cry even more, knowing that her cursed rain came back.

Stupid, stupid Juvia. Juvia is going to flood all of Magnolia with her rain. Once the Rain Woman, always the Rain Woman. No one will care for Juvia anymore. Who is she kidding, no one ever cared for Juvia in the first place. No one could ever care for a person who causes everyone misery and gloominess wherever she goes. Juvia will be alone, just like she used to be. Just like she always had been.

Little Juvia, no more than seven years old, walked around the orphanage hallways, trying to find a partner. The orphanage was going to have a field trip, and Juvia was determined to find a buddy. Since every kid had to have a buddy to go on a field trip, Juvia had never gone to one since no one wanted to be her buddy. This time, she was determined to get a buddy and go on this field trip. Seeing an open room with her peers in it, she was about to enter when she heard the group of kids mention her.

"I wish Juvia wasn't coming with us. When she's around, it's always rainy and depressing."

Juvia felt her heart shatter. She did not notice she was crying until a tear fell onto her hand, slipping down onto the wooden floor. When she realized she was crying, she bolted down the hallway, not slowing down until she reached her bedroom. Immediately, she fell on top of her bed, letting the pillow absorb her tears. She sobbed for what seemed to be hours until a soft knock was heard on her door.

"Juvia, we're about to leave. Are you coming or not?" the orphanage lady called out.

"B-but Miss Stephanie, I don't have a buddy to go with," Juvia replied, picking her head just high enough off of her bed to be understood.

"Well, I'm sure we can find someone, but you need to go find someone right now if you wish to go," the woman replied.

Stiffly, Juvia climbed off of her bed and trudged to the door. Opening the door, Juvia walked out of her room and looked at all the other rooms in the hallway. most people had to share a room with a few others, but everyone had complained so much about the rain that Juvia was forced to go into the smallest room. It became her prison. Trudging along, Juvia walked to the lobby where her so-called "friends" were. Shyly, Juvia approached her former roommate at tapped her on the shoulder. "Um, Delilah? I was wondering, would you be my partner for the trip?" Juvia timidly asked, nervously twiddling her thumbs.

Not even turning around, Delilah replied, "Why would I? There's a reason you have that room all to yourself and I sleep in a room with twenty other girls instead of just you. I don't want your freaky-ness to rub off and infect me."

A chorus of "ew" erupted from the group of girls Delilah was with. "Yeah, she'll infect us all!"

"It's no wonder her parents abandoned her! Who would ever want someone like her?"

"Just leave me alone, water freak," Delilah spat at Juvia, sneering at her before sauntering away. Juvia went up to each and every person, but they all seemed to have a buddy. Even the other kids who were treated like outcasts shunned her and told her to get lost. Dejected, Juvia went up to Miss Stephanie with tears in her eyes. "Miss Stephanie?" Juvia meekly spoke, "I couldn't find a partner."

"Does anyone not have a partner? Juvia still needs one!" the woman yelled, looking around the room.

Every kid looked at Juvia and Miss Stephanie, but none raised their hand. The few kids who were standing alone scooted beside each other and whispered together, becoming partners so that there was no one who could be Juvia's buddy.

"Oh…" Miss Stephanie trailed off. "Perhaps there is a pair that would volunteer to be a group of three with Juvia?"

Again, no one raised their hand or offered to be with Juvia. Miss Stephanie looked around, unsure of what to do next. "Well... maybe I could be your buddy for today. I normally try to not show favorites, but I will make an exception for today."

"That's okay. I didn't want to go anyway. I hope you all have fun," Juvia spoke, giving a strained smile and weakly walking back to her prison cell called a bedroom.

Juvia listened as all the children began playing together until Miss Stephanie was ready. Then the whistle blew and Juvia knew that all the other kids were getting into lines. She saw them march outside in the rain with umbrellas and rain clothing until they passed the side of the building and she could no longer watch them. When she heard the bus roar to life, she looked out the window once more and saw a yellow blur taking off down the road to go to the new skating rink in town. After she was sure that no one else was at the building, Juvia allowed herself to sob as loud as she could. That day, the town saw the worst flood they had ever seen.

It was a rainy day, just as every day had been ever since Juvia had arrived at the orphanage. A slightly older Juvia was outside with the rest of the children. They were supposed to be playing outside, but no one was that excited about being drenched. "Why do we have to do this?" one child complained, tugging at Miss Stephanie's skirt.

"Yeah, why do we have to be outside while it's raining?"

"I hate rain!"

"We're soaked," another whined.

"Children, we have not played outside in years because of the rain. Some of you don't even remember what it's like to play outside in the sun! Because of this, I have decided to force you all outside and face the consequences of a few runny noses and some wet clothes," Miss Stephanie announced, putting her hands on her hips.

"We would want to play outside if it was sunny..." a little girl said.

"Yeah! If Juvia wasn't around to cause all the rain we'd be happy!"

"Why don't we just get rid of her?!"

"Enough! We will not be getting rid of anyone! You will all shut up about this!" Miss Stephanie yelled, her face red with anger.

"Miss Stephanie?" a little boy asked.

"What?!"

"I have a poo-poo in my pants."

"Fantastic," she muttered, pinching her nose. "Everyone, I am going inside to deal with an issue. While I am gone, behave yourselves or there will be consequences. Am I clear?!"

Silence.

"I said, am I clear?!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Once Miss Stephanie and the little boy went inside, all the kids glared at Juvia. During the commotion, she had gone to the edge of the property line that the orphanage and a forest shared. She was standing in front of a few trees, hoping to blend in and disappear from sight. Sadly, fate did not favor her on this day. The kids approached Juvia with a dark gleam in their eyes. A boy eyed the little doll Juvia was clutching at her chest. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed it before throwing it on the ground.

"What's this?" he sneered, stepping on the doll and mushing it around the mud with his shoes. The other children laughed and pointed at Juvia and her "stupid" doll. "You wanna stop the rain? How about you just go away!"

Sobbing, Juvia ran to her room and slammed the door behind herself, not even acknowledging Miss Stephanie's surprised shout when she came into the building. Frantically, she rummaged around through her few items before finding her sewing stuff. Juvia began making doll after doll as she continued to sob. All the while, she wished for the rain to stop and the sun to come out. She hoped that if those two things would happen, then she would be accepted and loved.

All of the comments affected her. Even the comments people were sure they had whispered.

"Man, how depressing!"
"This rain is so depressing."
"It gets more depressing when it rains."
"This is really depressing."
"It's terrible when it rains. How depressing."

Juvia's one and only boyfriend broke up with her because of the rain. She thought he loved her, but apparently not.

"Why is it always raining? I can't go fishing or camping with you around, can I?" he complained, a whine evident in his voice. Although he was an impatient jerk, he was the only person willing to even acknowledge Juvia's existence. Besides, she believed that she was supposed to praise him and give him everything while he gave her nothing in return. That was how she thought relationships worked.

"Juvia is sorry. But even Juvia can't do anything about it." She really meant her apology.

"It's so depressing, it's unbearable. Perhaps we should break up."

Juvia has always been the rain woman, despite her trying to stop it. The rain is connected to her emotions and she cannot control what she feels. Juvia heard so many comments about how depressing her rain is, she decided to quit denying the claims and become what everyone already thought of her. Depressing. And who would accept a depressing rain woman like her?

Not even Phantom Lord, Juvia's own guild, accepted her. Some feared her because of her elemental powers, others admired her and wishes to be like her, but no one ever accepted her or cared for her. Not even Master Jose accepted her. All he wanted was to have her powers under his control. in his eyes, Juvia was just his puppet and nothing more. The fearsome "Black Steel" Gajeel was the closest thing she had to a friend, but they weren't really friends. He was the only one who would put up with her rain for long, despite the fact that his iron qualities and her water powers would often leave him slightly rusted after they spent time together. She was the only one who did not fear him, so she was the only one he could feel normal around. She treated him like what they both really were, even when others did not see them that way. Human.

When Phantom Lord declared war on Fairy Tail, Juvia had assumed that it would just be another easy battle against a measly, unprepared guild. She was given the task of kidnapping a girl. Lucy Heartfilia. A beautiful, kind, strong woman that any man would desire for himself. She ended up being rescued by a fire dragon slayer, the great Salamander, only for Gajeel to kidnap her and continue the cycle. Phantom Lord's guildhall had turned into a weapon of mass destruction, but even José was surprised when an attack team from Fairy Tail got on the machine and began picking off their members. Juvia was sent out to get rid of them, only to meet him.

Gray Fullbuster. The ice mage of Fairy Tail. He was the first person who could ever freeze her water, and the first to melt her cold heart with his warmth. Even after she kidnapped his beloved Lucy, he still fought her with honor and dignity, something none of the other men that Juvia had met did. Even when he best her in battle, he didn't just let her fall and die. He grabbed her hand and saved her from death. He saved her from herself. He made her feel warm inside her chest and he gave her hope that life could actually get better. She knew right then that he would be the type of person to protect his family, his children, his wife at all costs.

From the moment she laid her eyes on him, she knew she was in love. He was kind and handsome, but that was not what made her love him. His expression when they met was concern for his nakama, his family, and a fierce threat in his eyes that promised demise for anyone who tried to get in his way or hurt his family. He was awkward and adorable. When they battled, he had frozen her and his hand was on her breast. She expected him to have done it on purpose. Many men had wanted her for her body and had made grabs at her, so she was used to that attention. Sexual offers were the only attention that she ever got from men. However, he was bashful and embarrassed for grasping her there, and apologized profusely for it. He even let her out of his ice, a move that could have cost him the battle.

Who could blame her for falling in love with him? When Phantom Lord disbanded, Juvia was lost and she wondered what on Earth Land she would do now. Her mind immediately went to him, but Fairy Tail would never accept her, right? Yet when she approached the guild master about her and Gajeel joining the guild, he was so kind and forgiving that Juvia wondered, is this what a father is like? Many people were wary of Gajeel and Juvia, yet many people welcomed them in. Juvia took to calling Lucy her "Love Rival" but Juvia knew that if Gray-sama picked Lucy over her, she would not get in the way of the happiness of her beloved and her kind friend.

Looking back on it, Juvia scoffed at her past self's thoughts.

Yes, but Juvia never really thought that the day he picks Lucy-san over Juvia would actually come. Juvia hoped that he would pick Juvia, but his words say otherwise.

Why can't you be more normal, like Lucy?"

Why did he pick now to be rude to Juvia? He was so kind to Juvia and accepted her, never once saying something about her rain. He was perfect and-

"Geez, this rain is so depressing."

Oh. Juvia had forgotten that he had said that to Juvia.

Even if he didn't know about Juvia's rain, it had stung her, just like every other comment had. He had always brushed off her advances and would never give her a clear answer. He acted like he was uninterested, but then got angry if another guy started flirting with her. He was bipolar. Rude one minute, sweet the next. He had called her creepy and was put off by any attempt she made at showing her love to him.

Looking back on it, Juvia supposes that she had just gotten used to constantly being hurt by someone, only to forgive them immediately and then cling to them some more. Gajeel-kun had been like that during their time as Phantom Lord mages, so Juvia just thought that was how friends acted towards each other. Fairy Tail taught Juvia the truth.

Despite all of the hurt he caused her, it was the other moments that kept her coming back to him. The moments when he wasn't hurting her. The moments when he was a sweet, kind, and caring person. Juvia hoped that his good side loved her and that that day was just a bad day for him. She wanted to blame what he said Christmas Eve on him being drunk. She wanted to believe that she could walk back to the guild and he would apologize for what he said and tell her that it was the alcohol talking. Then he would whisk Juvia off her feet and suggest that they have thirty kids after they got married as everyone looked back on them in happiness and cheered them on.

In the end, Juvia knew that wouldn't happen. She knew that his words were not the alcohol speaking, but a moment when the alcohol gave him enough courage to say what he had been feeling all along. She knew that deep down inside, he truly felt that way about her. He truly wished that she would be more like Lucy-san. He truly thought all those things about her. He would never love or even care for her, and that was the truth, no matter how harsh it may be.

Juvia supposes, that lies are not nearly as hurtful as the truth. That the truth is truly what hurts the most.

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