Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, its characters and its plot. The circumstances found in this story are purely fictional.
All rights reserved to Hiro Mashima, original creator.
A Mistletoe Magic
I heard people kiss under it during Christmas. I think it's a tradition or something.
The dying lights in Juvia's brain flickered back to life when another astounding idea hit her. She stretched her neck up to study the green decor hanging above her head. Her shining blue eyes roamed around to look for a certain raven-haired and she spotted him watching Natsu with no interest. She felt her cheeks which were now burning hot thanks to Gray's stripping habit. He wasn't wearing anything aside from the green boxers with the red polka dots. Erza's doing, of course. She averted her attention to the mistletoe again, which took a lot of effort from her, and went through her plans in her head one last time.
She wouldn't call her Halloween escapade a failed attempt. Although she got him jailed for a night, at least she was able to hold his hands, nuzzle against and feast on his gorgeously naked body and spend the night together, although the council guards took turns from making sure they were separated at all times.
So now Juvia was on another mission. Operation: Make Gray-sama kiss Juvia under the mistletoe and eventually Fall in Love with her. It was a long mission name she thought but she didn't mind. The whole idea got her jumping out of excitement.
"Juvia! We'll gonna start the exchange gifts now."
She fixed herself expertly, even straightening up her kimono before joining the big circle. The bluenette mustered up all her courage to sit beside Gray who was still half naked. He acknowledged her with a nod before he turned his attention to the short old man who was about to say something. Juvia, of course, stared at Gray the whole time, not listening to a single word the master said. Lucy thought it wasn't normal anymore that mini hearts swam around her comrade's big blue eyes. She shook her head in disbelief. Juvia was a lost cause.
Erza cleared her throat. She decided it was only normal that she begin the event by giving her present first. When she stepped in and blocked the master, the old man immediately waved her away.
"Before we start this..." The old man searched for the right word as to not offend the barmaid who was eagerly watching him. "...thing"
"I would like to tell you kids HOW MUCH WE PAID FOR THE SHENANIGANS THAT YOU PULLED THIS YEAR!" He heaved out a frustrated sigh.
"Will you at least learn to minimize the damage next year?"
Even if his guild members promised they would, the master didn't put his hope on it. They were Fairy Tail, after all. So he stepped down the stage and gave the floor to Erza who was pretty excited about the whole thing.
She cleared her throat again and tried the lacrima microphone.
"Test mic. Mic test." She even flicked the phone's head to make sure the hall screeched with the blasting static.
"Well, I will start. This gift is for a good friend..."
She had that creepy glint in her eyes when she was about to attack someone with her shiny sword. The others actually felt bad for this 'good friend'. Everybody knew that Erza might just be the strongest candidate for the Ten Wizard Saints but the poor woman didn't have any sense of social protocol.
"Gajeel. Please come up the stage."
The whole crowd fell in a stunned silence. A collective gasp echoed around the hall when the dragon-slayer was cladded in a dark gray cat suit. Now that Pantherlily was standing beside him, they all draw the same conclusion that Gajeel actually looked like his Exceed.
A proud smirk found its way on Erza's face. The woman was oblivious to the flailing Gajeel trying his hardest to get out of the awkward cat suit which he realized was pure elastic. She descended the stage with a proud walk.
Let me see anyone top that. She thought to herself, quietly challenging her own comrades in an inexistent gift-giving competition.
"It's made of indestructible materials so don't even try to rip it off."
The Fairy Queen added when she saw the dragon slayer trying to slice off the suit on him with metal claws. He gave up in the end and with great contempt on his face Gajeel called Levy up the stage. He glared at her while she made her way towards him.
He tossed the heavy box and she wobbled when she caught it in her arms. Levy's cheeks were painted red when she saw what was inside the box. It was the full collection of the erotic novel 'Bared to You'. The solid-script mage couldn't bring herself to look at anyone at that point and when she searched for the metal dragon-slayer he was already mixed in a sea of people, leaving her to deal with the embarrassment. Where did he even hear about it?
Master Makarov cleared his throat behind her, urging her to move on. Even the master, in his old age, managed to flush about this kind of topic. Levy felt her face burning. With a small voice she proceeded to call on her Secret Santa, wanting no more than to leave the stage, dig a deep hole and stay there forever.
"Lucy-chan, I hope you'll like what I got you."
Lucy barely even reached the stage when the solid script mage ran past her, hugging the books tightly against her chest. She was sure Levy would lock herself in her room for a week or two.
Lisanna showed off her color-changing summer dress courtesy of the celestial mage. She was saving a portion of her rewards to get herself one but always ending up short. She felt both happy and bad that Lucy had to spend so much for it but the latter waved it off.
"Anything for a friend."
The celestial mage was equally happy to finally get her own text-to-speech lacrima. She bugged Natsu the whole year to go on missions and earn enough rewards to buy the gadget but with the present she wanted to give Lisanna for the Secret Santa and her ultra-expensive house rent which she clearly couldn't afford, she found herself in dead waters. But thanks to the good heart of her lovely friend, Levy, reviewing her manuscript has become a lot easier. She could also plug in and listen to the books she never had the time to read. Now, if she could only find shortstack, kiss her and thank her for the very generous gift. Lucy found her, alone at the corner, still praying for the ground to just swallow her.
"Evergreen..."
The self-proclaimed Fairy queen looked anywhere but at the big-built man who was, Mavis help her, blushing, when he handed him her gift. The other members' teasing also didn't help as she felt her face turning into a shade of crimson.
"Just make sure you use it."
Evergreen then turned to the youngest Strauss to thank her for the magic mirror the latter bought her. This year she grew pretty close with the Stauss sisters. Everybody just assumed it was the most normal thing to happen since she and Elfman were an 'item'. Although she went out her way to deny the rumors, nobody bought it.
"Hey! When is my name coming up?"
Natsu poked behind the jealous water-mage who stared longingly at Elfman and Evergreen. If it's meant to be then it's meant to be. The Scarlet's words echoed at the back of her mind again, reminding her of her own misfortune.
"Natsu, relax." Lucy appeased her impatient teammate.
"I bet no one even bought you a gift."
Juvia's attention was pulled back to reality when she heard Gray-sama's voice. She wasn't sure how, though she knew why, but Gray's presence drew her in and she found herself shyly sitting beside her dream man.
"Did Gray-sama buy the best gift?"
Somehow, the water-mage managed to muster courage and asked the guy. Her hopes that the gift was meant for her were shooting up every second.
"Of course!"
"Ngh... My gift is better!" Salamander challenged.
"No way. Mine is way better."
At this point in time, the two young mages were on their heels, bumping their heads against each other, pushing the other to surrender. Juvia took the time to examine the rectangular box, wrapped neatly she noted, sitting on the table where Gray was minutes ago.
The wrapper was light blue and a matching ribbon was placed on top of it. Clearly, not her Gray-sama's work. She almost beat herself for ever doubting her beloved ice-mage. Juvia shook away the irrelevant thoughts and continued to study the box. If only she could see through it then maybe, just maybe. Her spirits awoken when she noticed the small card placed beneath the ribbon. It has a small print on it but she couldn't make out a word from the writing. She inched closer to see better but quickly pulled out when she heard a familiar voice accusing her.
"Oi, Juvia! Are you snooping around my Secret Santa gift?"
Juvia jumped back and almost fell off the floor. She immediately denied Gray's accusation, waving her hands in front of her and shaking her head like a demented person.
"No Gray-sama! Juvia just thought. She thought there was something on the card."
She lowered her gaze, not having the courage to look at him while she lied.
"Juvia just wanted to clean it for Gray-sama." She finished in a small voice.
Gray narrowed his eyes at her, doubting every word. He wasn't mad or anything. He actually found her cute when she preyed the box like it was about to run away. And he noted that adorable eager look on her face. Not that he would ever tell her that. Or anyone else for that matter.
Juvia was just thankful that Gray's attention was diverted for the moment. She could finally breathe when she remembered the other quest she planned just today. The mistletoe. She gazed at the decor longingly before turning quickly to the stage when the hall buzzed with excitement. She found herself staring at a very red green-haired mage and an innocently smiling Mira. Freed couldn't even look at the barmaid as he took the present in her hands.
"Merry Christmas, Freed."
Mira's innocent voice was lace with a sweetness that rivaled Erza's favorite pastry. She left a rather flushed Freed on the stage who didn't know how to act next.
Master Makarov helped out the poor guy by telling him to call on stage his Secret Santa.
"Ah...yes. Well..." His eyes lit up when the name rolled off his tongue.
Laxus hesitantly walked up the stage and towards him. He didn't know what he did in his past life to have Freed latch on him like a love-crazed Juvia. Which she didn't take offense on when he mentioned it one time Freed and Juvia teamed up to annoy the hell out of him.
Freed's eyes glistened when he handed the lightning dragon-slayer the box he stayed up all night to wrap. He was a hundred percent sure Laxus was gonna love the item he picked.
Much to his surprise, his comrade got him a photo slide lacrima that contained some memorable moments he and the Thunder God Tribe shared on and off missions. The photos played out a short moment of the events before rolling to the next one. Laxus was honestly touched. But he was never gonna tell anyone about that. He didn't want others to call him a softie especially that bastard, Salamander.
"Jealous?"
Cana, who reeked with alcohol, came up behind Mira who was watching the whole scene on stage with, honestly, slight interest.
"What?"
The drunken card-mage placed her hands on Mira's shoulders for support and, of course, reassurance. Only to taunt her even more.
"Told you to show him the goods."
The sorcerer weekly's resident mode shrank in embarrassment. Her mind flew to the time she stepped out the guild's bathhouse and saw the Thunder God Tribe leader passing through the hallway only to get her towel stuck between the doors and, well, expose herself to him. Cana felt her friend's shoulders tense up under her palms.
"Geez. It's easier than you think."
She said thinking that the sudden stiffness of Mira's body was because she was shy to do the deed. What would Cana think once she found out that Mirajane Strauss has already showed Freed Justine the goods? The green-haired twenty years old couldn't look at her straight from then.
"Well, that's my cue."
She patted the barmaid's shoulders before she wobbled towards the stage.
Juvia was growing both worried and impatient. He threw another pining glance at the mistletoe hanging leisurely at the entrance.
How long will Juvia wait to get her kiss? She longingly thought.
"Did you say something?"
Juvia almost fell off her chair when the man of her dreams probably overheard her. But right before she could defend herself and create another lie to Gray's face, the raven-haired boy was called upon the stage. She sighed in relief. Her eyes were trained on the man as he walked calmly towards the drunken card mage.
She hated herself on how easy it was to lie to Gray. Truly, Juvia needed punishment. She deserved a good spanking. Her heart leaped when her imagination painted her a shirtless Gray and herself lied across the man's lap on her stomach. Her imagination disappeared in a thin smoke when she heard Gray's scandalized shriek.
"Hope you like it!"
Gray wasn't sure but he felt a nosebleed coming on. The guild hall was blasted by boisterous laughter. He thought maybe it's how his jaws dropped the floor when Cana ripped the cover off the tall box.
"What is that?!" He dumbly asked. Of course he knew what exactly it was.
"It's a life-size Juvia...in a string bikini."
Gray felt the urge to wrap the 'thing' back all up. Although, he really couldn't take his eyes off of it. He should have known when his drunken comrade called him on the stage that nothing not embarrassing was gonna happen. She was Cana after all, one of Juvia's most loyal advocates.
"I wanted to wrap Juvia for you but Erza said I can't do that so here. Enjoy!"
She shoved the cardboard to him before the card-mage left the very stupefied Gray in the center, not knowing at all what to do with the cardboard Juvia. He quickly blocked the obscene thing with his equally scandalous naked body when he noticed that cardboard Juvia wasn't wearing the top portion of the bikini. She was covering her br...chest area with her hands. Seriously, this Juvia didn't leave anything for the imagination. Upon realizing it, he quickly packed up the life-size cardboard, hiding it from anyone. He could only imagine Macao's and Wakaba's eyes pop out of their sockets. The more alarming thought was that bastard Natsu might have had a good look at it too.
"Gray you forgot to give your present."
The ice mage carried the gift back up the stage and placed it securely by his side. He ignored Macao's comment about being overprotective of cardboard Juvia.
"Hey stripper! Get yourself a belt you moron!"
Gajeel tossed his discarded pants back to him and he cursed under his breath when he put it back on. He held the box Juvia was gawking at earlier and threw a glance at her direction when he remembered how she spied on the poor innocent gift. The bluenette was nervously toying with her fingers. A smile crept up his lips as he imagined her reaction once he dropped the big disappointment at her.
"Wendy, come up." He ordered the young dragon slayer without taking his eyes off the horrified water-mage.
Gray didn't want to miss how life drained out of her face when she heard another girl's name. Before, the ice-mage could only care less about Juvia's overreactions but he began to find it a tad funny. Sometimes, he anticipated it. Kind of expecting it actually.
"Here you go, Wendy."
The sky dragon-slayer was blushing a shade of red when she took the present from Gray's bigger hands. Her heart skipped a beat, out of fear, when Juvia accused her of being her new love rival. Gray walked past the poor young girl with a chuckle.
Juvia could only weep. Clearly, it wasn't meant to be. If the shattering she heard wasn't from any broken glass, then she was hearing her heart getting crashed. Her shoulders sagged as she concluded nothing seemed to go right these past few days.
"You don't like my present, Juvia-san?"
A meek young voice came from behind her. Juvia quickly consoled the saddened dragon-slayer.
"No. Juvia loves Wendy-san's gift."
She gave her an assuring smile before she expertly placed the blue butterfly clip on her matching blue locks. The wings flapped as she moved and a silvery dust came out of it.
"It's really beautiful. And it looks beautiful on Juvia."
She held Wendy's smaller hands in her.
"Thank you, Wendy-san."
The sad look on the young girl's face was quickly replaced by a satisfied smile. She sensed the sincerity on Juvia's gratefulness. The water mage was so considerate about other people's feelings that she was willing to set aside the turmoil that bothered her.
"Okay. Now, where's my Christmas present?"
"Natsu-san, how did you know?"
Juvia spun to see the fire-dragon slayer spread his arms towards her.
"Cana told me." He answered casually, confused a little at Juvia's furrowed brows.
"Cana-san! You promised Juvia!"
The water-mage boiled from her friend's betrayal but the woman just shrugged her shoulders like it wasn't a big deal.
"Well?"
"Ano..." She started nervously. "Ju-juvia hopes...Natsu-san... Natsu-san will like the present."
She handed him two small figurines. It was Natsu and a red dragon. The two dolls breathed real fire on cue. Juvia was babbling about how much Natsu missed his dragon father and how she thought the dragon figurine at least resembled Igneel. He couldn't take his eyes off the two mini dolls. The bluenette grew nervous when she didn't hear him speak. For a moment, Natsu was speechless. She was right; he missed his dad so much. He was suddenly enveloped with sadness and longing.
"Natsu-san..." Juvia lightly shook his shoulders and he turned to her with a gentle smile.
"Thank you."
Juvia suddenly felt a warm feeling spread across her chest. She never saw him look at her that way. Well, that's because she never looked at anyone else but Gray. She noticed the warmth in his eyes even if it was clouded by loneliness and yearning. It was hard to look away and so the two just stared at each other and that moment stretched on for what seemed like forever.
Makarov cleared his throat louder on purpose to get the two's attention. Juvia finally realized what she was doing and quickly looked away.
"Ah yes. Sure. WellIHopeYouLikeIt." she said in one breath while she made her way towards the stairs. She was in such a hurry as if a crazy dog was after her.
When she was in a safe distance from the fire dragon-slayer, she tried to calm herself down. She steadied her breathing and tried to normalize her erratic heartbeat. Only to have it racing a thousand miles when Gray came up behind her and surprised her, not on purpose of course.
"What was that about?" It sounded more of a rhetorical question. One Gray didn't actually want to know the answer to.
Juvia placed a hand over her chest, heaving short breaths from the horror stint her Gray-sama just pulled on her.
"Gray-sama scared Juvia." She managed to say between pants.
Gray self-consciously scratched the back of his head and apologized with a not-so-sorry smile on his lips. The breathless bluenette evened her breathing before she turned to him. She fixed her eyes on him taking in his features all at once. His hair was disheveled, as usual, and his face was calm and unguarded. Juvia always loved it when they're casual like this, when her Gray-sama was comfortable like this. She shook her head, dismissing her earlier thoughts about Natsu's warmth and wrapped her mind around one thing and one thing alone – her long named mission for tonight. This would be the perfect time since they had both given and received their presents for the Secret Santa.
Juvia snaked her hands around his toned arms and dragged him towards the guild's entrance. She ignored her tearing guild-mates who were running out-of-breath, holding their bellies and laughing like maniacs at the scene up the stage. The fire dragon slayer broke into a guffaw, along with the rest of the guild, when the monstrous Scarlet gave in on the coaxing and tried the gift on. Juvia felt the weight she was now hauling became heavier. That was because Gray actually wanted to watch Erza boil up in embarrassment at the gigantic swan headdress Natsu got her for this Christmas. Apparently, it was a match to the swan dress he got her too.
"Hey Juvia what's the rush?"
The rush was that the clock's about to strike twelve and Juvia needs the kiss. She thought. But she wasn't going to say that out loud. She didn't wanna scare the ice-mage, after all.
"Juvia has something to give Gray-sama."
Gray slowed them both down until they eventually stopped. She glanced at the entrance which was so near yet so far from her reach.
"You can give it to me later. Besides…"
Natsu cut Gray-off with one of his famous methods.
"Oi, ice princess! Told you my gift was better."
He gestured his hands towards the crowd, whose laughter hasn't died down a bit, like they were living proof of his victory.
"Oh yeah flame-brain? I bet they're just laughing because you're a moron."
"They're laughing because it was way funnier than your stupid winged sandals, ice-princess!"
"You wanna go at it, slanty eyes?"
"Anytime droopy eyes!"
No. Juvia was not having it. She missed her Halloween chance for goodness sake and she wasn't missing this one. She put a good grip on Gray-sama's wrist and hauled his ass under the freaking mistletoe. Juvia shoved Mira and Freed, who were awkwardly standing beside each other, away from their spot.
Mustering up her courage at the very last minute, she shut her eyes close, pursed her lips, pulled the stubborn boy's head down and laid a quick peck on his cheeks. When she opened her eyes, however, it wasn't the familiar raven-hair that welcomed her but the color of the cherry blossom she enjoyed in springs.
Juvia gasped. "Yo-you?! How?"
A confused Natsu stared at Juvia's scandalized blue eyes. Her jaw dropped once the fact that he kissed the wrong man finally registered to her. She covered her still warm lips with both her hands, shielding herself from the possibility that what just happened might happen again.
"Juvia kissed Natsu!"
Stating the obvious, Happy flew over and around the pair just like an angel blessing their union.
The guild's merriment died down much quickly. The gleeful atmosphere morphed into confusion and sympathy. Their studying eyes bounced from the pair under the mistletoe and a certain raven-haired who looked equally as stunned as Juvia. Silence filled the guild hall until Gray broke the ice.
"Hey slanty eyes! You wanna go at it?"
Natsu recovered from his enchanted trance when he heard the ice-mage threw him a challenge.
"Sure, droopy eyes!"
He didn't waste time and launched at the naked ice-mage. They rolled around the floor throwing punches, chairs and tables at each other. The guild fell back on its usual course and the other members, falling back on their usual fashion, joined in and entangled themselves in a senseless web of a mess. With that, Erza could finally let out the breath she was holding in.
"Hey."
Gray abandoned the ruckus he started and went up to Juvia who was still all shaken up. She was looking at him but she wasn't exactly looking at him. Not until he snapped his fingers in front of her that he got her full attention.
"Gray-sama!"
"Listen. So there's this... You know since it's Christmas and all..."
Gray turned slightly to hide the growing blush on his warm cheeks. What he didn't know was that Juvia was having a hard time concentrating on the words coming out of his beautiful mouth. She couldn't fully comprehend how she got her beloved to finally stand under the décor after failing many times. She glanced at the mistletoe above Gray's head. Mistletoe! Her big blue eyes shone with hope when she remembered her mission. She didn't care about anything anymore. The only important thing was Gray was where she wanted him to be and that she was finally going to get the kiss. Oh! The kiss.
"Will you take off that weird look on your face?"
Juvia quickly pulled her sneaky hands, which were snaked around Gray's arms, and ran back to the table where she secured her present for the ice-mage. She maneuvered the maze-like way back to him, sometimes bumping against disarranged tables and chairs. She wanted to give him the present first and maybe he'd be moved by the gesture, kiss her on his own accord and declare his eternal love. Somewhere along the lines 'you are the perfect girl' and 'you know me better than myself so marry me'. That's how she imagined it and that's how exactly it was gonna happen because you know in Juvia's lalaland nothing ever went wrong.
"Here Gray-sama! This is Juvia's present."
She held both her hands up to him and offered the prettily wrapped box to his face. Suddenly, she felt a cold metal band slapped on her tiny wrist. When she checked on it, she saw a shiny silver chain bracelet hanging on her wrist.
"The lady said it's a travel bracelet." Gray felt the need to explain when Juvia just stood still and stared blankly at the chain.
"A travel bracelet?"
He kind of sighed in relief when the little stunned thing spoke. He scratched the back of his head as he always did when he was uncomfortable or feeling slightly warmed up inside.
"Yes. Look. You can add pendants on it."
He slip out something from his pocket and easily attached the thing on Juvia's new chain bracelet. It was the crystal blue snowflake he bought from Serissa (Christmas Rose).
"You can get pendant souvenirs from the places you've gone to and add it on the bracelet. Like when we go together on missions or something. I see you always buy stuff."
Gray grew worried again when Juvia gone speechless again. Apparently, the ice-mage's unexpected gestures turned her dumb. She was overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions that it was hard to speak at that point. But Gray interpreted her silence as something else.
"But if you don't like it then I can just get you something else."
Gray was about to take the bracelet back but Juvia immediately took it away from him. She even put a protective hand over her wrist to show him how much she valued it.
"No! Juvia loves it. Juvia loves everything that came from Gray-sama."
She more than loved it. She worshipped it. Not because it was the first time Gray got her anything but because she was sure he put a lot of thought on it. The snowflake pendant. The snowflake pendant was from the latest mission they went to together, just the two of them.
Juvia flashed him a thankful and gentle smile that always warmed him up.
"Cool. So, later."
He was about to leave when Juvia stopped him in his place. He remembered about the tradition Mira was babbling on about the mistletoe. She did, even with the wrong man, tried to accomplish it. So when the water-mage grabbed his hand to stop him his heart raced.
"Gray-sama. You haven't received Juvia's present yet."
Knowing Juvia, she would think that a romantic kiss under the traditional mistletoe was the best gift she could offer. Bullets of cold sweat started to form on his forehead. He was growing anxious and a little excited by the minute.
"Juvia... Yo-you don't really need to-to ahmmm...get me anything." He stuttered.
"But Juvia already got Gray-sama a gift. Here!"
She shoved the box to him and he cautiously unwrapped it, suspicious on what her creative little mind had for him. He was expecting a bobble-head Juvia doll in a wedding gown or a plushie baby that looked like a cross of him and Juvia. But what lied inside the box was a thousand times better than anything he imagined. It was a Juvia and Gray mini figurines inside a round crystal casing. Their eyes were comically big and their heads were out of proportion to their bodies in a cute way. They were just standing beside each other in their normal clothing.
"Here, you turn it upside down and it snows!"
She took the snow globe from him and did what she just said. Small pecks of white dust dropped at the bottom of the crystal casing and when she turned it back up the pecks dropped slowly mimicking the snow falling during December. It was kind of magical actually, only it was the water inside the globe that created the illusion.
"Why is Lyon in there?!"
Gray looked at the Lyon-doll standing outside the mini house with disgust. But his look turned gentle when he saw the other familiar figurines beside it.
"Because this is Gray-sama's family. That's Gray-sama's master Ur and Ultear. Then father, er... Your father, Silver-san and your mother, Mika-san."
He felt a familiar sadness tugged in his hurt when he remembered the people he lost. But unlike before, it didn't hurt that much. And unlike before, he smiled at the memory, not of the losing part but the good part. Gray finally learned how to appreciate the good part and not blame himself anymore. His lips curved into a gentle smile after he mouthed thank you to Juvia.
"And those are our children!"
Juvia pointed at the mini Grays and mini Juvias scattered around the bigger figures in the middle. Gray might have freaked out a little bit and he might have screamed a little too. He should have known, nothing about the girl was ordinary or normal.
"Hihihi. Love Rival must be jealous."
To say Juvia showed off her new bracelet was an understatement. Juvia Lockser rubbed the fact to all her friends' faces, especially to her well-known love rival, Lucy.
"You should really stop calling me love rival."
Lucy couldn't remember anymore how many times the bluenette bragged to her about the charm. But she had to admit, she had to give it to Gray for a really thoughtful and sweet present.
"It's really beautiful Juvia."
Lucy mouthed a relieved thank you to Lisanna who purposely interrupted the two and diverted Juvia's attention away from the poor celestial mage.
"Juvia thinks so too!"
"So Juvia, how's your plan working?"
Juvia stiffed when she remembered about tonight's mission. She was so preoccupied about her new bracelet that she unintentionally abandoned her plans.
"Oh no, Juvia forgot!"
She roamed her eyes around to search for her favorite raven hair but to no success. She asked the other members, who were too drank to even say any comprehensible words, about the ice-mage's whereabouts. Even Erza, who told herself she had to find the man before Juvia did because that's the kind of girl she was, helped her with the search. Only to be gently dismissed by Juvia when the Requip mage literally shook the answers out of her guild mates, terrorizing their poor comrades.
"Why? Are you finally giving him the sexy times I told you for Christmas?"
Juvia flapped her hands in denial but Cana wouldn't have it.
"C'mon, take off some of those clothing. Guys don't like clothes getting in the way."
She started ripping the fur coat off the young bluenette who just turned into a tomato in pure embarrassment. Juvia slapped the card-mage's hands away but the latter had a really good grip for a really drank woman.
"Cana."
The card-mage turned to where the voice came from. It was Gildarts.
"Merry Christmas, Cana-chan."
Gildarts pulled her daughter against him before she had the chance to run away, which she totally was, and enveloped her in a tight embrace. Cana hid her embarrassment and buried her face against the man's chest since she was not used to this fatherly gesture.
Juvia used this chance to escape and continued to search for her beloved.
"Juvia-san, if you're looking for Gray-san I saw him leave earlier."
"Is that so?"
Wendy felt bad to be the bearer of bad news. She felt even worse when Juvia's mood dampened and sadness and defeat showed in her eyes. Once again, Juvia failed. But her down-cast feeling didn't last long when her fingers brushed the metal chain on her wrists and in a snap her spirits were lifted.
"Oh well. There's still New Year's Eve. "
Juvia left the dumbfounded sky dragon slayer scratching her head while she skipped and hummed all the way back to Fairy Hills.
"I will definitely get that kiss!"
Author's Corner
I'm sorry I should have divided the chapter to two but I didn't really expect it would be this long. And I've decided to add some fan service in there for my adorable readers. I hope you guys appreciate it. Merry Christmas everyone and drop me some love and reviews! Love you guys.
And fyi, I totally like Jutsu so back-off! Hahaha. I really like the idea of Natsu and Juvia kind of having feelings for each other so Gray will be pushed somehow.