Author's Note: What's up guys! Got an exam on Wednesday, paper on Friday, another paper next week, plans this upcoming weekend… yeah! Uni life! Hehe aside from that, oh man, your guys's responses were so SO nice oh my goodness ;u; Thank you so so much! Feedback really drives writers man, you guys have no idea. Thank you for not only reading, but telling me what you think :) I hope this next part will be satisfying ;u; Thank you mirajens for helping me sort this out ;u; Take care!
Oltremare
Summary: [AU] He only meant to make her cry, not fall in love with her. [Gruvia]
ii – ascolta
"Where is Gray-sama taking Juvia?" the mermaid asked, trailing behind him.
"I told you, you'll see," Gray replied, kicking his fin faster. The girl frowned at his accelerated speed, straining to keep up with him.
"Gray-sama is swimming too fast!" she whined, losing visual of him as a stream of bubbles shot in front of her. "Aah!"
"We're playing a game," she heard him say, her eyes glancing around to locate him. "The humans play it all the time."
"Eh?" she blinked, only to scream once more when another geyser shot in front of her. "Gray-sama!"
"What's the matter?" he taunted, coming into view as the bubbles dissipated. Her fearful eyes met his as he smirked at her, crossing his arms before his chest and floating leisurely on the opposite side of the underwater geyser.
"J-Juvia doesn't like this place," she pouted, wrapping her arms around her trembling body and glancing around herself. "Sh-She's afraid—"
"What, of a little hot water?" She looked back at him, only to shriek at another burst of heat. Gray snickered at the sound. "Fine. Swim over here and we'll leave."
Her lower lip quivered, eyes watering as she glanced down to the geyser. Spotting her glossy eyes, his pupils narrowed to slits, his smirk growing wider on his features.
Good, just as he expected. She'd start crying any second now, whether from fear or getting accidentally burnt. Either way, he'd have what he needed, and she'd be of no further use to him. Who knew it'd be so simple.
He knew he couldn't touch her to make her cry—that'd only scare her away. No quick bite, no slash with his claws, nothing; but if she accidentally got hurt, well, that wouldn't be his fault, so she'd have no reason to stay away. He'd get his tear, and a tasty dinner too.
This silly fish girl, so oblivious and naïve, foolishly following him into a dangerous area just on his say-so. She brought it on herself.
Hearing the subtle rumble in the geyser, Gray flashed his eyes down before returning to her face.
"Come on, fish girl," he pressed. "You wanna leave, don't ya? Get over here already."
Juvia trembled, holding herself tighter and cowering away. "J-Juvia…"
"Better go now, before it erupts again."
The girl shut her eyes, ducking her head.
"Don't be so scared. It's easy, see?"
Her eyes opened once more, flickering upwards to see him leisurely swimming back and forth over surrounding geysers around him. He returned to his original spot, curling his tail and crossing his arms once more.
"There," he said, glancing down before meeting her eyes. "Ready?"
Juvia quivered, inching forward. "G-Gray-sama will be on the other side?"
He shrugged. "I ain't goin' anywhere." He could see the heat beginning to build up, making his mouth quirk in a grin. "On my count, got it? One… two—"
She burst forward, dashing through the water, but the geyser exploded just then, singeing the end of her tail. She collided into his chest, sending him back a few feet, but the ear-splitting scream she let out was like music to his ears.
As the geyser died down, her body shook against his, small whimpers spilling from her lips as her hand brushed against her tail. Smoke rose from the tip of her gold fin, making her cringe before turning towards his chest.
"You okay?" Gray asked, though the girl was oblivious to the emptiness in his tone. His hand against her chin coaxed her face up, bringing her eyes to his gaze as he studied them closely. "Does it hurt?"
She nodded silently, lowering her face.
"No—look at me," he ordered, tipping her face up once more. She stared at him, a pink blush spreading across her cheeks as he leaned closer and flickered his gaze from one eye to the next.
Her eyes were watery, a thin sheen glossing over them, but—
"Why aren't you crying?" he asked bluntly, pressing his thumb to the corner of her eye. "Doesn't it hurt?"
"Y-Yes…?" she mumbled, wincing when he lifted her tail. "Don't—!"
She smacked his hand away, but quickly recoiled, retreating her hands to her chest and ducking her chin.
"Sorry! Sorry…"
Gray furrowed his brows, perplexed. He didn't understand—she was in physical pain, but wasn't crying. Her eyes were watering, and she whimpered at first, but now she wasn't making a sound, not even sniffling. Even earlier, when she was terrified, she was… emotional, but quiet. Like how she was now. Emotional and quiet.
So consumed in his thoughts, he didn't notice the close proximity between them until she shyly touched her forehead to his chest. He grew rigid at the contact, glancing down with narrowed eyes, but she cut him off before he could speak.
"Thank you… for catching Juvia."
He paused, raising a brow. Thanking him? When he was the reason she got hurt in the first place?
This girl… she didn't cry to physical pain, or fear—she just took it silently. So if those didn't work…
Slowly, his arms rose, circling around her waist. It was an awkward gesture, foreign to him, but she seemed to relax against his embrace, nestling a little closer.
Her mermaid tail swayed gently in content, coaxing a smirk on his lips. So easy to manipulate. Seemed there'd be another way to get what he wanted, after all.
"Oh? Awake bright and early once again?"
Gray came to an abrupt halt, scowling at the silver-haired shark obstructing his path. "Lyon. Outta my way."
"You seem different," Lyon noted. "For one thing, you're getting up at a decent hour—"
"—Fuck off—"
"—and you don't reek of blood anymore. Is it wrong that I'm concerned about my little brother's affairs?"
"We're not brothers," Gray scowled.
Lyon feigned a look of hurt. "Maybe not by blood," he replied, "but certainly, you haven't forgotten—"
"I haven't."
The silver-haired shark tilted his head, meeting Gray's hardened stare. "Is that so? Because you seem distracted lately, distracted by a pretty little tail."
Gray clenched his jaw, growling quietly under his breath. "You've been following me?"
Lyon shrugged nonchalantly. "I was curious where you were rushing off to every morning. I'd say you were selfish for keeping such a tasty meal to yourself, but…" He turned his head, giving Gray a side-glance, "you haven't tried to kill her, not once."
"Not yet."
"'Yet'?" said Lyon. "Tell me, what are you waiting for? You've never toyed with your food for so long, and she looks delicious—"
"No one touches her," Gray snarled, baring his teeth.
"Oh?" Lyon said, raising a mocking brow. "So touchy? Why, is she becoming more than a tasty meal to you?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Gray snapped, furrowing his brow in a glare. "If you drink a mermaid's tear, you can live up to three-hundred years. I'm already twenty, so I've got ten more good years at most, and I refuse to die until I kill the human who killed Ur."
"And you think playing humans with her will get her tear?" Lyon replied dryly. "A simple bite would suffice. It typically does."
"Not with this one," Gray retorted. "She doesn't cry under pain. Just freezes there, silent. She needs something different."
"So what is it you have in mind?" Lyon asked.
"Do what I do best," Gray replied. "Break her heart. Then you can eat her for all I care. I just need her to cry."
"There's more than just tears of anguish, Gray," another voice entered. He turned towards the source, finding Erza swimming towards him before folding her arms across her chest. "You don't need to break the girl's heart."
"Yeah?" he countered. "Then what other method do you suggest?"
"So cold," Lyon mocked, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head.
"Tears of happiness," Erza replied simply. "Crying is not only for times of sadness."
Gray stared at her, his eyebrows furrowing before his mouth twisted in a frown. "The difference doesn't matter—she's just a naïve fish-girl. She's mine until I make her cry, then I'm gonna eat her, simple as that." He gave a low growl, baring his sharp teeth. "You tell everyone else to fuck off, or I'll kill 'em too."
"Gray-sama!" a sweet voice called, catching him by alarm. "Juvia found a new spot! Gray-sama!"
Gray whipped his gaze towards her, eyes widening upon finding Juvia swimming eagerly towards him.
"Gray-sama—!"
"Quiet!" he hissed, meeting her halfway and slapping a hand over her mouth. "What are you doing here? I told you never to come here!"
Juvia blinked before shifting out of his grasp, lifting her face from his hand. "Juvia knows, but Gray-sama! Juvia is so excited—!"
"Idiot!" he snapped, making her flinch at his reprimanding tone. "Don't you know where you are? This is a shark lair, everyone here wants to tear you apart! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
Fear flashed across her eyes as she timidly leaned away. "I-I…"
"Calm down, Gray," Erza said, placing a pacifying hand on his shoulder. "She's safe here, don't worry."
"I ain't worried!" Gray snapped, whirling around while Juvia ducked behind his back. Erza ignored him, peering over his shoulder to the shy mermaid hiding behind him.
"She's cute," she remarked, a kind smile crossing her lips.
Juvia blinked, tentatively meeting her gaze while Gray scoffed. "Shut up."
"She is cute," Lyon added, swimming lazily around Gray as Juvia's eyes warily followed him. "I wonder… is she just as tasty too?" He snapped his jaw, making the girl cower away while Gray growled through clenched teeth.
"Asshole!" Gray snarled, pushing Juvia behind him and turning around. "What did I just say? You tryna die early?!"
"Such pretty words for your pretty mermaid," Lyon retorted, raising his nose in the air. "But we both know how empty they are."
Gray sneered, cracking his knuckles. "We ain't kids anymore, ya bastard."
"Yet you've hardly grown," Lyon replied flatly.
Gray's pupils slit as he raised his claws. "We'll see about that."
"Try not to bore me, will you?"
"You fucking—"
"Gray. Lyon," Erza's cut in sternly, coming between them. "Not now."
She shot them both strict looks, particularly lingering on Gray. He paused before scoffing, whipping his head away as his dark pupils dilated to normal.
"Hmph. Whatever."
He took Juvia's wrist, snapping her out of her petrified gaze as he swam towards open waters. Flipping Lyon off behind him, the silver-haired shark merely arched a brow, raising his nose and letting him off.
Once a sufficient, distance away, Gray threw Juvia in front of him, releasing her wrist. "Idiot!" he scolded, curling his lip in a sneer. "Don't go doing that again, you hear me?"
The girl ducked her head and massaged her wrist, slightly reddened under his firm grasp. "S-Sorry, Juvia's so… she didn't mean to…"
Gray studied her rueful form before heaving a sigh, ridding the anger from his eyes. "It could've been much worse, got that? You're lucky it was just Erza and that bastard Lyon. Erza doesn't eat your kind, anyway—"
"Sorry…"
He glanced at her, finding her gaze lowered to the ocean floor. Passing a hand through his bangs, he scratched his hair before exhaling a breath. "Yeah, well, what were you thinking, anyway?"
The girl frowned, holding her hands before herself. "Juvia… was just… excited…"
"Over your new spot?"
"Yes… and…" Her eyes shyly raised to his, a bashful blush coloring her cheeks, "to see… Gray-sama again…"
Gray stared at her, feeling an unfamiliar clench in his stomach. It had been as Lyon said—he had been getting up early the past week to meet her out in the waters, where she'd drag him on some treasure collecting adventure. It'd been all part of his plan to get her to fall for him, but he couldn't deny that he sometimes looked forward to meeting her. Some of the things they found were pretty cool, and she wasn't the worst company—
He roughly shook his head, refusing to dwell on his thoughts. "So," he muttered, clearing his throat, "we gonna see this new spot or what?"
Juvia's face sprung up then, a cheery smile spreading across her features. "R-Right!" she chirped, turning around and dashing away.
She left eager bubbles in her wake, eliciting a half-chuckle from Gray as he followed behind her.
The way she looked at treasure was interesting.
She was so genuinely captivated, her eyes wide and her lips formed in a small 'o' as she held various objects close to her face. Sometimes she turned to him, asking him what this foreign item was, waiting expectantly as though he had all the answers in the world. It was… amusing, the way she looked up to him. Just because he answered her a questions a few times before, he suddenly became an expert, increasing her already strange admiration for him.
Strange fish girl. Strange… but entertaining, in a way he didn't expect.
He normally found entertainment in the cower of his food. The fear in their eyes and the tremble their bodies, freezing them to the spot. The way the ocean tinted red with their blood—such a delicious smell and sight—and the thrill of the chase, coupled with the satisfaction of winning… that was entertainment.
But this girl… this innocent fish girl was just as entertaining. The way she crashed into his side every morning, always awake and cheery in the hours when the sun hadn't even risen over the horizon yet. The way her eyes lit up when she found something new, holding it carefully and cradling it close. Sometimes she'd keep a firm grip on his hand and lead him along from one excavation site to another, making sure he didn't fall asleep like the few times he had dozed off on a rock while she found something thrilling.
But the way her hand fit in his, or the amusement he found when her voice peaked from excitement; the eagerness in her face and the way her eyes sparkled when her gaze fell on him—all of it was… something, but he wasn't sure what.
Either way, she was growing fond of him, he could tell. But damn it—he wasn't supposed to be growing fond of her too.
"Juvia read about it once."
Gray swerved through the water, narrowly dodging a jagged boulder.
"From a bottle floating on the sea."
He slashed through the seaweed tangling in his way, clearing a path.
"Juvia knows Gray-sama told Juvia to stay away from the surface unless he's with her, but…"
One trench leading to another, then another. The tunnels seemed never ending.
"Juvia was curious!"
His eyes scanned his surroundings. Darkness. The caves were thick, not allowing a flicker of light to filter inside.
"Inside was a message from a sailor about a discovery on human land. He talked about trees, and something called co-co-nuts… he said the juice was very sweet. Oh, and a water-fall! Can Gray-sama believe it?! Falling water! How exciting!"
There were other creatures here, thick with bulbous eyes, watching him warily as he swam by. He glared back at them, baring his teeth. They made no move to challenge him.
"Ah… but it makes Juvia sad."
He made a sharp turn, rounding a corner.
"Juvia will never be able to see this place, or any other places."
A speck of light caught his attention, glimmering from above. His mouth lifted in a smirk. Finally.
"J-Juvia isn't sulking! She just… Juvia has no legs. How can she see human sights with no legs?"
He swam upward, kicking his fin faster, swishing his tail through the current.
"It's alright… just hearing them is enough. It has to be."
Breaking through the surface of the water, he tossed his hair out of his eyes, glancing around him. A satisfied smirk crossed his lips.
"Just hold on tight, got it?"
"Eh? Gray-sa—aah!"
Gray suddenly dashed forward, pulling her along with his hand on hers. Juvia squeaked at the sudden velocity, a pink blush spreading across her cheeks at the firm grip on her fingers. She squeezed his hand, keeping her grasp as he instructed, but she struggled slightly behind his great speed, lifting her gaze to the back of his head.
"Gray-sama?" she called, confusion laced in her tone.
"Make sure you don't let go," he said, meeting her eyes for a moment before pulling her into an underwater cave.
Darkness instantly deprived her vision, obscuring her senses. "Gray-sama?!" she cried worriedly, glancing blindly around herself.
He squeezed her hand, leading her through the foreign waters. "You still with me?"
She blinked several times, squinting her eyes. "Juvia… can't see…"
"I can. Don't worry."
"Where are we going?"
"Wait and see."
There were some taps along the walls, scrapes of claws and swishes of fins. She heard a growl pass Gray's lips before he pulled her slightly closer.
"Gray-sama…" she whispered, fear trembling in her voice. She could feel menacing eyes boring into her back, watching their every move. "Juvia… is scared…"
"Just trust me," he said. "You trust me, right?"
She looked forward in the darkness, gripping his hand tighter. "Yes…"
He chuckled, returning his gaze ahead of him. "Good. Look ahead."
The mermaid blinked, peering over his shoulder. A beam of light streamed from above, peeking her curiosity.
"Eh? What is—"
"Hold on."
With powerful kicks of his tail, Gray swam upwards, pulling Juvia up with him. Bubbles filtered her sight as she held a hand above her eyes, shielding herself from the blinding light. She heard the crash of water as they burst through the surface, lowering her hand lowering while droplets of water sprinkled around her.
Her eyes fluttered open, vision coming into focus, and she gasped.
The rush of the waterfall flowing into the river roared in her ears. The sight itself was magnificent, the height of the waterfall seeming to run for miles and miles, disappearing in the clouds of the sky above. Sharp boulders coated in a thin green moss bordered the cascade, contrasting the brilliant cerulean stream as the water flooded below.
Juvia stared with wide eyes, water droplets sliding down her cheeks and hair while her lips parted in awe.
"Falling… water…"
"Well?" Gray asked, releasing her wrist and raising a cocky brow. "Whad'ya think?"
Juvia turned slowly towards him, tearing her eyes away from the waterfall. "Gray-sama… found this for Juvia?"
"You said you wanted to see one, right?" He swam forward, placing his hand under the rushing water. "S'not that exciting, just like a bunch of raindrops falling in one place—"
"Gray-sama!"
Her body tackled into his, arms locked around his neck and blue tail flipping up and down. They both fell through the waterfall, drenched in the stream as Juvia leaned back and smiled bashfully.
"N-No one's ever done this for Juvia… Juvia is so happy!"
She crushed him in another embrace, making him flinch under her tight hold.
"Yeah, well," he mumbled, whisking his head away, "you didn't need human legs to see this, see? We're not as limited as you think."
Juvia loosened her arms, swimming back. "Thank you, Gray-sama! It's so pretty!"
She giggled merrily, diving back in the water before jumping through the waterfall. She squeaked at the touch of the water, springing up from the river and settling beneath the cascade. The stream washed over her form, drowning out her laughter as the water seeped through her fingers. Her hair clung to her cheeks, bangs matted to her forehead while rivulets of water trickled down her chin and neck. Gray found his eyes absentmindedly following their path before quickly glancing away.
"Falling water…" the girl giggled, closing her eyes with a smile. "Juvia never thought she'd get to see it!"
"That's not all," Gray said, making her flinch at the sudden voice by her ear. Her cheeks flushed dark at their close proximity as he leaned back, settling his hands on her shoulders.
"E-E-Eh?" the mermaid stammered, feeling a chill from the touch of his claws on her skin. The corner of his mouth lifted in a grin, his bangs falling over one eye as he tilted his head. She stared silently at him, breath hitched in anticipation as he pushed her back through the rushing waterfall, only to turn her around.
Her brow furrowed in confusion, eyes rising from the stillness of the river before widening in surprise.
"Aah!" she screamed, shooting forward and slipping from his grasp. She reached the shore of the riverbank, folding her arms against the soil and flopping her tail happily in and out of the water. "Trees!"
Gray chuckled at her childish antics, watching her tilt her head back to take in the entire sight of the tall trees.
"They're so big!" she gasped, eyes widening in awe. "Gray-sama! Do you see? They're bigger than Gray-sama and Juvia combined!" She squealed in delight, lifting herself as far as she could out of the water. "So… huge! And green! Gray-sama, do you see them?! All together—it's a forest!"
"I see 'em, I see 'em," he mumbled, falling into place beside her.
Juvia drew a deep breath, exhaling in content. "The air is so fresh… and the colors are so bright!" The girl sighed dreamily, looking to the branches and leaves with fondness and wonderment. "It's all so… beautiful…"
Gray studied her face, eyeing the gentle smile curving her lips and the thick lashes framing her soft blue eyes.
"…Yeah," he muttered quietly. "It is."