p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"strongspan style="text-decoration: underline;"CHAPTER 2/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"It was once again a rowdy day at the guild. It was just like any other day but at the same time, something was amiss. There was an air of discomfort hanging around that seemed to make everyone feel highly unsettled./p
p class="MsoNormal"People attempted to go about normally, do their daily chores and whatever other business they had at the guild but nobody could deny that something was wrong./p
p class="MsoNormal"Every person present, whether they were eating, drinking or simply dosing in one of the chairs, found their eyes drifting towards the blunett sitting on a bar stool nursing a coffee cup in her hands./p
p class="MsoNormal"The aura radiating from her was peculiar to say the least. She seemed a little too quiet and reserved for comfort. And the only person who had an inkling about what might be wrong with her was the blonde standing at the opposite end of the hall currently extremely preoccupied with her own thoughts./p
p class="MsoNormal"'What do you think's up with her?' asked Cana in a slurred tone, drunkenly leaning on a pillar for support, a hand placed protectively on the barrel on her left. Her eyes were fixed on the water mage./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Yeah!' exclaimed Levy with a frown marring her small face. 'She's even stopped stalking Gray!'/p
p class="MsoNormal"Lisanna shook her head sadly and sighed 'And she won't even tell us why. It's really beginning to bother me.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"The petite bookworm looked thoughtfully at the only person present in the group who hadn't said a word./p
p class="MsoNormal"'What do you think Lu-chan?'/p
p class="MsoNormal"Lucy who was engrossed in her own thoughts had completely missed the whole conversation. She was promptly brought back to reality by a rude poke in the ribs./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Hey!' She cried out as she massaged the spot where she had just been jabbed and looked accusingly at the offender namely Cana./p
p class="MsoNormal"The brunette shrugged. 'Levy asked you something.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"Lucy looked around feeling lost because she frankly had no idea what was being asked of her. Luckily, the solid script mage at her side, being exceptionally insightful, figured out her helplessness before anybody else./p
p class="MsoNormal"'I asked you if you knew what was wrong with Juvia.' She repeated herself with a smile./p
p class="MsoNormal"Lucy shook her head when she finally managed to get a hold of the question. 'Nope. She hasn't told me anything yet.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"The others present all let out a collective sigh and commenced talking about something else./p
p class="MsoNormal"The blonde on the other hand remained mute. She had too much on her mind to take part in any sort of exchange as of now./p
p class="MsoNormal"What she'd just said concerning the blunett was far from a lie. Indeed Juvia had told her nothing. But that didn't necessarily have to mean that she knew nothing./p
p class="MsoNormal"One month prior to this day, the incident had taken place. Nobody really liked talking about it because Gray had, without a doubt, almost lost his life on the mission. Everybody was well aware of the fact that Juvia was affected by the incident but nobody but Lucy really knew to what degree./p
p class="MsoNormal"The water mages face when it had all occurred was still etched in her mind. She shivered violently as she tried imagining herself in Juvia's shoes at that particular moment. The celestial mage without a doubt wanted to help her friend through this trying period but it was as if the blunett had built a wall around herself./p
p class="MsoNormal"The first thing that Lucy had done when they had finally returned to the guild after that fateful mission was to stretch out a helping hand to provide support to her nakama. But all her attention was for naught. Juvia seemed too distant. Every time she tried getting closer to her, the young woman would discretely but yet obstinately drift away. So of course after a while Lucy had to let it go. She gave up trying to push her way into Juvia's life but that definitely didn't stop her from keeping an eye on her. And her observations only made it clearer to her day by day./p
p class="MsoNormal"There was something abnormally wrong with Juvia./p
p class="MsoNormal"And it was something that however hard she tried, she could just not figure out. But one thing was clear. It had something to do with a certain raven haired ice mage./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"-X-/p
p class="MsoNormal"Juvia shivered violently as she made her way towards Fairy Hills. Winter used to be her favourite season but lately it only managed to put her in a really foul temper./p
p class="MsoNormal"But that wasn't the only reason for her black mood as of late./p
p class="MsoNormal"Her mind slowly, like every other day, began to drift back to that one thing that she had now grown to hate./p
p class="MsoNormal"Loving Gray-sama./p
p class="MsoNormal"She violently shook her head in a desperate attempt to clear her mind of such thoughts but her actions only managed to spoil her hair./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Argh!' she cried out as she tried to set her dishevelled hair back into place. But soon she realized it was futile. Her gloved fingers only made the matter worse. She gave up and continued trudging down the road./p
p class="MsoNormal"Her breath came out as short puffs of fog as she made her way back to her dwellings. It was cold but she somehow didn't feel it./p
p class="MsoNormal"Her hands were numb but she felt no urgency to warm them. Strange./p
p class="MsoNormal"It didn't take long to reach her home. As soon as she was inside, she collapsed onto her bed and buried her face into the pillow./p
p class="MsoNormal"For how long she remained in that position she did not know, but when she turned her head to look out of the window, it had just started snowing./p
p class="MsoNormal"She rose gently from the bed and walked towards it. She pressed her palms against the glass not even flinching at the acute coldness. Instead, she revelled in it. It bit into her skin but she did not mind. Far from it. She wanted it. She begged for it. Her warm breath fogged up the glass as she bent forward resting her forehead against the frigid surface. Her hand wiped across the surface to clear it up./p
p class="MsoNormal"The snow outside fell in delicate swirls dancing a waltz for her eyes alone. Every so often a snow flake would come and rest on her window pane and before long it retained none of its former wood like appearance. And the quiet. That was something else entirely. It was beautiful, magical and ethereal even, holding within it delicate melancholic strains that reverberated within her silent heart making it soar and plummet with every note./p
p class="MsoNormal"And all of a sudden she was reminded of why she had always loved winter./p
p class="MsoNormal"She sighed and moved away from the window. Thinking of such things were going to get her nowhere./p
p class="MsoNormal"Her Gray-sama had returned to the guild from the hospital sometime back and it was all too fresh to forget. Dwelling on things like ice and snow only made the thoughts worse./p
p class="MsoNormal"As she sat on her bed and stared at the opposite wall, the emptiness inside her grew slowly, steadily. It devoured her until there was nothing left. And before she knew it, tears started running down her cheeks. Despite herself, she started laughing. The tears came faster but so did her insane chuckles. It had become a routine. Go to the guild. Pick up a mission. Finish it. Come back home. Cry. And above all, live with the pain./p
p class="MsoNormal"But what could she possibly do?/p
p class="MsoNormal"It was all for Gray-sama. What she wanted was of no priority./p
p class="MsoNormal"So then why in Mavis' name did it hurt so much?/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"-X-/p
p class="MsoNormal"His muscles flexed as he proceeded with his remedial work outs. Gray Fullbuster looked down at his body and grimaced. The grotesque gash down his chest was far from healed and the tiny scars strewn across his body still showed no signs of fading even though he'd been taking the medication that Porlyusica had prescribed for him. The sweat trickling down his skin stung sharply as it slid over his injuries but he didn't really notice the pain./p
p class="MsoNormal"His mind kept wondering back to a certain blue haired mage. He didn't understand what was going on anymore. It was as if everything had turned a one eighty degrees in the matter of a day./p
p class="MsoNormal"Juvia, the ever cheerful blunett who had always been there for him had seemingly disappeared from his life./p
p class="MsoNormal"Gray punched the wall to his right and let out a strangled cry as all his pent up frustration boiled over./p
p class="MsoNormal"At first, when he came back to his senses in the guild's infirmary, the person at his side had been unsurprisingly, Wendy. As soon as she saw him awake she squealed and started running some rapid tests while constantly babbling about something which at that time Gray couldn't quite fathom with his muddled head. After what seemed like ages, she looked satisfied with the results and told him to wait as she ran out of the room to fetch the others./p
p class="MsoNormal"Soon enough there were hordes of people crowding around him with Lucy, Natsu and Erza doing most of the questioning. But as people surrounded him, he couldn't help but feel someone was missing. As he looked around, it suddenly dawned upon him./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Where's Juvia?'/p
p class="MsoNormal"All of a sudden the whole room fell quiet and almost immediately loud chatter broke out inquiring about the said water mages location./p
p class="MsoNormal"'That's strange. I saw Juvia standing by the request board while I was coming here. Why didn't she tag along?' Erza asked with a frown./p
p class="MsoNormal"It was as if someone had plugged his ears after that. Juvia wasn't here. Why? Had something happened?/p
p class="MsoNormal"A strange feeling, a mix of hurt and worry, welled up inside of him./p
p class="MsoNormal"The rest of the day passed in a blur./p
p class="MsoNormal"After that he didn't really keep track of much. Almost immediately after he could stand, he was rushed to Porlyusica who began some weird treatment while screaming throughout the whole three days that he spent with her about how much she hated having him there. The incredibly boring time that he spent with the healer was often punctuated with pleasant visits from people. Even Lyon came to visit him all the way from Lamia Scale./p
p class="MsoNormal"But Juvia didn't turn up even once./p
p class="MsoNormal"It didn't take him long to make up his mind that the first thing that he would do when he went back to the guild was to talk to her./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"-X-/p
p class="MsoNormal"When finally he was granted permission to return to the guild, the anticipation of seeing Juvia was queerly immense. But when he got to Fairy Tail, he was informed by a certain pink haired man stuffing his face with food that the blunett was out on a job./p
p class="MsoNormal"He didn't really mind at that time. Surely she'd come back. He could always talk to her then./p
p class="MsoNormal"But soon enough a week passed by without even a glimpse of her. Gray could feel himself fretting. His mind kept imagining Juvia dead, kidnapped or other incidents whose likes of which give people nightmares./p
p class="MsoNormal"Before long he found himself at the bar asking Mira about her./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Oh she was here a day ago! Didn't you see her Gray?'/p
p class="MsoNormal"The ice mage blinked blankly at the woman./p
p class="MsoNormal"'No I didn't as a matter of fact.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mira's brow puckered as she tapped her chin with a finger. 'I think I know the reason behind that. She's not been herself lately. I believe she's working too much. I haven't seen her take a single break in the past two weeks. She doesn't even pause between jobs! Do you know why she's doing this?'/p
p class="MsoNormal"He shook his head. Juvia working constantly without even a break between jobs? From his knowledge, the only time people did that was when they were short of money which was never the case when it came to Juvia. She had a lot of money saved up from her time in Phantom Lord so she hardly went out on jobs out of sheer necessity. It wasn't like her to act like a workaholic./p
p class="MsoNormal"Baffled, Gray headed back to his stool at a nearby table./p
p class="MsoNormal"It wasn't until four days later that he finally saw her./p
p class="MsoNormal"Immediately he dashed over to her side not caring if people found his behaviour strange./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Juvia!' He cried out./p
p class="MsoNormal"The water mage showed no signs of hearing him./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Juvia!' Gray called out to her again. He reached forward, grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. Her eyes remained glued to the floor./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Juvia? Are you alright?' He found himself inquiring while peering down at her expressionless face./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Juvia is fine.' Her voice sounded strangled./p
p class="MsoNormal"The ice mage gulped. There was something unmistakably wrong here. This wasn't like her at all./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Um okay then. I was wondering,' began Gray, 'do you want to go-' He was interrupted by a sudden movement. The blunett was now standing straighter than usual with her gaze fixed on something behind him./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Juvia must go now.' She said in a firm voice and started walking away without even waiting for his response./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Wait!' He cried out. He was vaguely aware of the guild falling silent as he ran after her. But by the time he made it out of the guild, she'd disappeared./p
p class="MsoNormal"And that was when the cat and mouse chase started. On several occasions after that he tried talking to her, approaching her or even following her but never once did she respond to his efforts. It was as if someone had taken away the resident water mage and replaced her with a fake./p
p class="MsoNormal"Before long he started to feel the same way he did when Ul died. Maybe the same intensity was missing but the general outline of the feeling was identical. It was as if someone had removed a chunk of his happiness and thrown it in the bin. He knew all his friends were worried about him but he couldn't help feeling this way. But what shocked him the must was how he was reacting to the situation. Until now he hadn't even known how important she really was to him. It pained him to even think of how Juvia had suffered all this time because of him ignoring her. Even though he'd never really giver her much attention, she'd always been there for him. He felt like such an asshole./p
p class="MsoNormal"Gray sat down on the stool next to his bed and buried his face in his hands./p
p class="MsoNormal"Why was it always that when he finally understood the importance of something that he had to go lose it?/p
p class="MsoNormal"It was once again a rowdy day at the guild. It was just like any other day but at the same time, something was amiss. There was an air of discomfort hanging around that seemed to make everyone feel highly unsettled./p
p class="MsoNormal"People attempted to go about normally, do their daily chores and whatever other business they had at the guild but nobody could deny that something was wrong./p
p class="MsoNormal"Every person present, whether they were eating, drinking or simply dosing in one of the chairs, found their eyes drifting towards the blunett sitting on a bar stool nursing a coffee cup in her hands./p
p class="MsoNormal"The aura radiating from her was peculiar to say the least. She seemed a little too quiet and reserved for comfort. And the only person who had an inkling about what might be wrong with her was the blonde standing at the opposite end of the hall currently extremely preoccupied with her own thoughts./p
p class="MsoNormal"'What do you think's up with her?' asked Cana in a slurred tone, drunkenly leaning on a pillar for support, a hand placed protectively on the barrel on her left. Her eyes were fixed on the water mage./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Yeah!' exclaimed Levy with a frown marring her small face. 'She's even stopped stalking Gray!'/p
p class="MsoNormal"Lisanna shook her head sadly and sighed 'And she won't even tell us why. It's really beginning to bother me.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"The petite bookworm looked thoughtfully at the only person present in the group who hadn't said a word./p
p class="MsoNormal"'What do you think Lu-chan?'/p
p class="MsoNormal"Lucy who was engrossed in her own thoughts had completely missed the whole conversation. She was promptly brought back to reality by a rude poke in the ribs./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Hey!' She cried out as she massaged the spot where she had just been jabbed and looked accusingly at the offender namely Cana./p
p class="MsoNormal"The brunette shrugged. 'Levy asked you something.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"Lucy looked around feeling lost because she frankly had no idea what was being asked of her. Luckily, the solid script mage at her side, being exceptionally insightful, figured out her helplessness before anybody else./p
p class="MsoNormal"'I asked you if you knew what was wrong with Juvia.' She repeated herself with a smile./p
p class="MsoNormal"Lucy shook her head when she finally managed to get a hold of the question. 'Nope. She hasn't told me anything yet.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"The others present all let out a collective sigh and commenced talking about something else./p
p class="MsoNormal"The blonde on the other hand remained mute. She had too much on her mind to take part in any sort of exchange as of now./p
p class="MsoNormal"What she'd just said concerning the blunett was far from a lie. Indeed Juvia had told her nothing. But that didn't necessarily have to mean that she knew nothing./p
p class="MsoNormal"One month prior to this day, the incident had taken place. Nobody really liked talking about it because Gray had, without a doubt, almost lost his life on the mission. Everybody was well aware of the fact that Juvia was affected by the incident but nobody but Lucy really knew to what degree./p
p class="MsoNormal"The water mages face when it had all occurred was still etched in her mind. She shivered violently as she tried imagining herself in Juvia's shoes at that particular moment. The celestial mage without a doubt wanted to help her friend through this trying period but it was as if the blunett had built a wall around herself./p
p class="MsoNormal"The first thing that Lucy had done when they had finally returned to the guild after that fateful mission was to stretch out a helping hand to provide support to her nakama. But all her attention was for naught. Juvia seemed too distant. Every time she tried getting closer to her, the young woman would discretely but yet obstinately drift away. So of course after a while Lucy had to let it go. She gave up trying to push her way into Juvia's life but that definitely didn't stop her from keeping an eye on her. And her observations only made it clearer to her day by day./p
p class="MsoNormal"There was something abnormally wrong with Juvia./p
p class="MsoNormal"And it was something that however hard she tried, she could just not figure out. But one thing was clear. It had something to do with a certain raven haired ice mage./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"-X-/p
p class="MsoNormal"Juvia shivered violently as she made her way towards Fairy Hills. Winter used to be her favourite season but lately it only managed to put her in a really foul temper./p
p class="MsoNormal"But that wasn't the only reason for her black mood as of late./p
p class="MsoNormal"Her mind slowly, like every other day, began to drift back to that one thing that she had now grown to hate./p
p class="MsoNormal"Loving Gray-sama./p
p class="MsoNormal"She violently shook her head in a desperate attempt to clear her mind of such thoughts but her actions only managed to spoil her hair./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Argh!' she cried out as she tried to set her dishevelled hair back into place. But soon she realized it was futile. Her gloved fingers only made the matter worse. She gave up and continued trudging down the road./p
p class="MsoNormal"Her breath came out as short puffs of fog as she made her way back to her dwellings. It was cold but she somehow didn't feel it./p
p class="MsoNormal"Her hands were numb but she felt no urgency to warm them. Strange./p
p class="MsoNormal"It didn't take long to reach her home. As soon as she was inside, she collapsed onto her bed and buried her face into the pillow./p
p class="MsoNormal"For how long she remained in that position she did not know, but when she turned her head to look out of the window, it had just started snowing./p
p class="MsoNormal"She rose gently from the bed and walked towards it. She pressed her palms against the glass not even flinching at the acute coldness. Instead, she revelled in it. It bit into her skin but she did not mind. Far from it. She wanted it. She begged for it. Her warm breath fogged up the glass as she bent forward resting her forehead against the frigid surface. Her hand wiped across the surface to clear it up./p
p class="MsoNormal"The snow outside fell in delicate swirls dancing a waltz for her eyes alone. Every so often a snow flake would come and rest on her window pane and before long it retained none of its former wood like appearance. And the quiet. That was something else entirely. It was beautiful, magical and ethereal even, holding within it delicate melancholic strains that reverberated within her silent heart making it soar and plummet with every note./p
p class="MsoNormal"And all of a sudden she was reminded of why she had always loved winter./p
p class="MsoNormal"She sighed and moved away from the window. Thinking of such things were going to get her nowhere./p
p class="MsoNormal"Her Gray-sama had returned to the guild from the hospital sometime back and it was all too fresh to forget. Dwelling on things like ice and snow only made the thoughts worse./p
p class="MsoNormal"As she sat on her bed and stared at the opposite wall, the emptiness inside her grew slowly, steadily. It devoured her until there was nothing left. And before she knew it, tears started running down her cheeks. Despite herself, she started laughing. The tears came faster but so did her insane chuckles. It had become a routine. Go to the guild. Pick up a mission. Finish it. Come back home. Cry. And above all, live with the pain./p
p class="MsoNormal"But what could she possibly do?/p
p class="MsoNormal"It was all for Gray-sama. What she wanted was of no priority./p
p class="MsoNormal"So then why in Mavis' name did it hurt so much?/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"-X-/p
p class="MsoNormal"His muscles flexed as he proceeded with his remedial work outs. Gray Fullbuster looked down at his body and grimaced. The grotesque gash down his chest was far from healed and the tiny scars strewn across his body still showed no signs of fading even though he'd been taking the medication that Porlyusica had prescribed for him. The sweat trickling down his skin stung sharply as it slid over his injuries but he didn't really notice the pain./p
p class="MsoNormal"His mind kept wondering back to a certain blue haired mage. He didn't understand what was going on anymore. It was as if everything had turned a one eighty degrees in the matter of a day./p
p class="MsoNormal"Juvia, the ever cheerful blunett who had always been there for him had seemingly disappeared from his life./p
p class="MsoNormal"Gray punched the wall to his right and let out a strangled cry as all his pent up frustration boiled over./p
p class="MsoNormal"At first, when he came back to his senses in the guild's infirmary, the person at his side had been unsurprisingly, Wendy. As soon as she saw him awake she squealed and started running some rapid tests while constantly babbling about something which at that time Gray couldn't quite fathom with his muddled head. After what seemed like ages, she looked satisfied with the results and told him to wait as she ran out of the room to fetch the others./p
p class="MsoNormal"Soon enough there were hordes of people crowding around him with Lucy, Natsu and Erza doing most of the questioning. But as people surrounded him, he couldn't help but feel someone was missing. As he looked around, it suddenly dawned upon him./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Where's Juvia?'/p
p class="MsoNormal"All of a sudden the whole room fell quiet and almost immediately loud chatter broke out inquiring about the said water mages location./p
p class="MsoNormal"'That's strange. I saw Juvia standing by the request board while I was coming here. Why didn't she tag along?' Erza asked with a frown./p
p class="MsoNormal"It was as if someone had plugged his ears after that. Juvia wasn't here. Why? Had something happened?/p
p class="MsoNormal"A strange feeling, a mix of hurt and worry, welled up inside of him./p
p class="MsoNormal"The rest of the day passed in a blur./p
p class="MsoNormal"After that he didn't really keep track of much. Almost immediately after he could stand, he was rushed to Porlyusica who began some weird treatment while screaming throughout the whole three days that he spent with her about how much she hated having him there. The incredibly boring time that he spent with the healer was often punctuated with pleasant visits from people. Even Lyon came to visit him all the way from Lamia Scale./p
p class="MsoNormal"But Juvia didn't turn up even once./p
p class="MsoNormal"It didn't take him long to make up his mind that the first thing that he would do when he went back to the guild was to talk to her./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"-X-/p
p class="MsoNormal"When finally he was granted permission to return to the guild, the anticipation of seeing Juvia was queerly immense. But when he got to Fairy Tail, he was informed by a certain pink haired man stuffing his face with food that the blunett was out on a job./p
p class="MsoNormal"He didn't really mind at that time. Surely she'd come back. He could always talk to her then./p
p class="MsoNormal"But soon enough a week passed by without even a glimpse of her. Gray could feel himself fretting. His mind kept imagining Juvia dead, kidnapped or other incidents whose likes of which give people nightmares./p
p class="MsoNormal"Before long he found himself at the bar asking Mira about her./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Oh she was here a day ago! Didn't you see her Gray?'/p
p class="MsoNormal"The ice mage blinked blankly at the woman./p
p class="MsoNormal"'No I didn't as a matter of fact.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mira's brow puckered as she tapped her chin with a finger. 'I think I know the reason behind that. She's not been herself lately. I believe she's working too much. I haven't seen her take a single break in the past two weeks. She doesn't even pause between jobs! Do you know why she's doing this?'/p
p class="MsoNormal"He shook his head. Juvia working constantly without even a break between jobs? From his knowledge, the only time people did that was when they were short of money which was never the case when it came to Juvia. She had a lot of money saved up from her time in Phantom Lord so she hardly went out on jobs out of sheer necessity. It wasn't like her to act like a workaholic./p
p class="MsoNormal"Baffled, Gray headed back to his stool at a nearby table./p
p class="MsoNormal"It wasn't until four days later that he finally saw her./p
p class="MsoNormal"Immediately he dashed over to her side not caring if people found his behaviour strange./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Juvia!' He cried out./p
p class="MsoNormal"The water mage showed no signs of hearing him./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Juvia!' Gray called out to her again. He reached forward, grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. Her eyes remained glued to the floor./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Juvia? Are you alright?' He found himself inquiring while peering down at her expressionless face./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Juvia is fine.' Her voice sounded strangled./p
p class="MsoNormal"The ice mage gulped. There was something unmistakably wrong here. This wasn't like her at all./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Um okay then. I was wondering,' began Gray, 'do you want to go-' He was interrupted by a sudden movement. The blunett was now standing straighter than usual with her gaze fixed on something behind him./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Juvia must go now.' She said in a firm voice and started walking away without even waiting for his response./p
p class="MsoNormal"'Wait!' He cried out. He was vaguely aware of the guild falling silent as he ran after her. But by the time he made it out of the guild, she'd disappeared./p
p class="MsoNormal"And that was when the cat and mouse chase started. On several occasions after that he tried talking to her, approaching her or even following her but never once did she respond to his efforts. It was as if someone had taken away the resident water mage and replaced her with a fake./p
p class="MsoNormal"Before long he started to feel the same way he did when Ul died. Maybe the same intensity was missing but the general outline of the feeling was identical. It was as if someone had removed a chunk of his happiness and thrown it in the bin. He knew all his friends were worried about him but he couldn't help feeling this way. But what shocked him the must was how he was reacting to the situation. Until now he hadn't even known how important she really was to him. It pained him to even think of how Juvia had suffered all this time because of him ignoring her. Even though he'd never really giver her much attention, she'd always been there for him. He felt like such an asshole./p
p class="MsoNormal"Gray sat down on the stool next to his bed and buried his face in his hands./p
p class="MsoNormal"Why was it always that when he finally understood the importance of something that he had to go lose it?/p