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Chapter2. She knew that his actions speaks louder than his words
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x.
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She was looking unconsciously at the skies above, he noted. She wore her dreamy expression once again, sighing every now and then.
She was seated on one of the lounge chair at the guild's pool backyard, she looks so out of place because she wore her usual dark blue attire, and furred hat. Others who are going there wore their swim suits.
He sighed and continued to watch her from the inside of the guild, through the large arched windows.
Juvia raised a palm in the air, tracing the clouds with her index finger. Her lids were becoming heavy and she felt like closing them for a moment.
Gray only watch her with calculating eyes, not removing his stern gaze away from her.
She laid back on the inclined chair, smiling at the sun.
He was not sure if he would still let her out there. She was not that used with the sun, she might hurt her skin if she stayed there for too long.
He glanced around before standing up from his seat, he walked towards the door leading to the backyard when a small tug suddenly stole his attention.
He saw Lucy smiling up at him.
Some of their guild members passed in front of them and went out to the pool, leaving the large doors opened.
Juvia felt the heat radiating from her skin. The back of her hand wiped her sweat covered forehead.
Foggy blue eyes traveled around and she spotted Gray standing near the door. She sat up straight and was about to call him when she noticed that he's been talking to someone. She tilted her head a bit slightly to the side and saw Lucy.
She exhaled deeply, her chest falling down. The gnawing bitterness was growing inside of her when she saw Gray laugh at something the blonde had told him.
She brought one hand to her chest and her heart began to hurt. She was never confident of Gray's feelings towards her.
From her point of view, she can see the love of her life slipping through her fingers.
He even told her one time that she doesn't have to be jealous. He doesn't hold any interest towards his female guildmates; and he forgot to quote: …except you.
So with a heavy heart, she watch them interact.
Gray's eyes suddenly averted towards her and she gasped.
She was caught!
Juvia immediately covered up with a force smile, hiding her emotions as best as she could. She promised Gray not to get jealous to anyone, especially to their family.
"I was about to call you to go back inside, the sun is getting hotter." He jogged towards her, smirking slightly.
She shrugged her shoulders, smiling. "Juvia is surprised to still see you with clothes."
He smiled down at her but when you look clearly, hers faltered. She looked down on her lap, trying to hide from his vision.
"What's wrong?" he kneeled in front of her.
She shook her head, looking up at him once again as she forced another cheery smile.
His fingers traced the lock of blue hair shielding her face from him, he tucked it behind her ear and Juvia was aware how red her face.
Gray flicked her forehead before straightening up on his full height, towering her small form. "Let's go back inside."
He offered his hand to her and she gladly accepted it.
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xi.
"It's so beautiful here!" she run towards the shore line, her long, blue hair waving at him.
He scowled. "Don't get too close over there you might-"
"Ow!-"
"-trip."
"J-juvia's fine!" she quickly recovered, dusting the sand from her hair and yellow sun dress.
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xii.
"Let's enjoy today~!" Mirajane clapped her hands as her siblings handed out drinks to everyone at the beach.
"You're amazing Mira! You brought beers!" Macao shouted at the corner as he received his tall mug of beer from Lisanna.
"So noisy." Gray muttered as he applied some sunscreen lotion on his arms.
"It's fun Gray-sama! Don't be such a killjoy!" Juvia playfully hit his back, she grabbed the lotion from his hands and squeezed some on her palm. She gently placed her hands on his back and the cooling gel surprised Gray.
"You better be protected while playing at the beach, Gary-sama…" she hummed as she applied the lotion on his broad back, pressing the pads of her fingers on his skin as well. She massaged the sticky substance on his back until it dried.
"Thank you." He said.
She smoothened the ends of their blanket at the sand and placed their bags on the side.
"I didn't know that Lucy's family owned a resort." The ice mage craned his neck to the side. " This is a nice get away."
She hummed, preparing her Gray-sama's towel at the end of the blanket.
"Aren't you going to swim?" he asked, stretching his arms, his eyes were carefully observing his surroundings, aware that Natsu might attack him at any moment.
She yawned.
"Natsu might be hiding somewhere." He whispered, grinning from ear to ear. "I can't wait to freeze his flaming ass, ha!"
He continued to warm up and noticed that Juvia hasn't answered his question. He glanced down on her and saw her eyes squinting.
"What's the problem?" he placed his palm on top of her forehead.
She quickly flinched back at the surprise touch of his palms on her forehead.
"J-juvia's fine! D-don't worry."
"I can stay here with you if you want," he offered, looking at her worriedly.
"No…" she sighed. "Juvia's fine, Gray-sama, you go ahead and hunt Natsu-san, you need to win." she cheered him with low sprits and Gray raised his brow at her.
"You sure?"
She offered him a reassuring smile.
His frown softened and he nodded.
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xiii.
"Juvia!" Cana's voice boomed around the area, Juvia jerked from her seat upon hearing her name being called at a distance.
"C-cana-san!" she smiled, straightening her back.
"Let's go swim swim swim!" she pointed at the beach, Juvia followed her finger and saw that almost all of their guild mates were playing at the water.
"Come on, it's your element! It's play time!" the woman tossed the bottle of beer from her hands somewhere. Along the way, Juvia heard a small cry from the distance, perhaps she hit Wakaba on the head.
"Juvia will join later. The lotion's hasn't dried up yet."
"With lotion or not, let's goooo!" Cana threw her arms around the water mage, and lifted her up. The brunette tugged free the knot of Juvia's dress and it fell on her feet.
"C-cana-san!" she covered herself while the drunken lady laughed aloud.
"Juvia you're too shy! Come on, its time to be exposed!" the card mage wrapped her arms around Juvia's middle and with brute strength, she lifted Juvia in the air.
The water mage screamed as Cana run towards the waters. With one deep grunt, Cana lifted her up even more before throwing her in the water.
Water splashed around her, and when the water mage struggled to stand on her feet, her face was covered with her own hair. Every laughed around her.
A smile appeared on her lips when she raised both of her arms, both of it were already in her water form, ready to take her opponent down.
She was about to playfully throw Cana in the water as well when she felt herself being lifted again. She was shocked to her core, knowing that it's not her doing anymore.
Her whole body, except her arms were in her water form. The solid parts of her body, especially her stomach, which was once again, being wrapped around by arms. By thick arms.
She turned her head around and saw pink.
"Kyaah~!"
Gray shook his head, feeling some water entering his ears.
He cursed in the air. He knew that Gajeel was targeting him this time, he should be on guard at all time.
A familiar scream caught his attention. Whipping his head, he twisted his whole body that was covered by water from waist up. His black eyes widened when he saw Natsu holding Juvia by the waist, lifting her up in the air.
He could see the bastard's cheek being pressed on Juvia's side, a smug grin on his face.
Juvia's face pinked, bringing both of her hands on her face to cover it. Gray was left but to stare at them, he couldn't take his eyes off the picture and suddenly, he had the urge to freeze the whole area.
His inferiority rose up, his eyes became daggers as he saw Natsu flipped Juvia in the air and they both landed on the water, Juvia's back landing on the fire dragon slayer's chest.
"Enough!" shouted the ice mage as he made his way towards the two. Juvia had her eyes wide in confusion, her lips trembling in cold.
"Ice pop!" Natsu raised a fist in front of him. "I'll burn the whole place if you don't drop yer magic!"
Lucy quickly grabbed Natsu, her small hands grasping his arms. "Calm down!" she shouted at them. She grabbed Natsu's pink hair and brought his head down to her level, she smacked it continuously, smiling apologetically at Gray.
"Gray calm down, will you?" Erza appeared behind him. "It's not the right time to act like this." She warned, passing a hand on his shoulder.
He nodded and let his magic slip away. His black eyes narrowed towards Juvia, the water mage staring at dazedly.
He encircled his hand around her wrist and hoisted her up. Her knees buckled forward, however, Gray was quick to assist her. He placed both his hands on her shoulder, and steadied her.
"T-thank you."
The lively atmosphere instantly drop when Gray tugged Juvia to come with him. He immediately grabbed their bags upon passing them, the large umbrella being knocked to the side.
The water mage remained silent when they returned to their hotel room. He let Gray to drag her around until he finally settled on the large bed shared by them. He then tossed her on the mattress a little hard.
"What the fuck is he thinking?!" he said in frustration, sitting at the edge of the bed. "That flame retard is being insensitive. He should know his boundaries!" he turned to look at Juvia who was staring back at him with wide eyes, her mouth slightly opened.
He was surprised at the image she was presenting to him, it was new. She's half-naked on the bed, hair still wet from the previous happening.
She's a hot water mage, he thinks.
He quickly looked away and grabbed the thick blanket on his side, he tossed it to the water mage, covering her in the process.
"Gray-sama?" she called to him softly. He could feel her crawling at the bed towards were he sat. Gently, he felt soft arms encircling his shoulders.
He turned his head again and was greeted at how close their faces are.
She smiled up at him, their noses bumping into each other.
"I love you…" she breathed before leaning her lips on his.
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xiv.
She slowly moved her face to the side and kissed his temple. "Gray-sama…" she breathed.
He closed his eyes firmly, bringing his hand to her head. He stroked her blue hair gently.
"Sorry." He mumbled when she told him to face her. She smiled lovingly at the ice mage before hugging him, wrapping her thin arms around his waist.
She nodded, staring up at him. Her smile faltered quickly, replaced by a frown. "But Gray-sama's being unfair too."
He stared at her from the corner of his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"The other day, Juvia saw you talking with Lucy-san." She paused, grazing her front teeth over her lip, hesitating. "You looked happy talking to her."
He arched a brow, a scowl forming on his face. "We talked about this already, am I correct?" he warned her, leaning his back while he placed the heel of his palm on the white sheets behind him.
"B-but-" she pouted, tears forming on her eyes. "Juvia can't help it!" her hold on him tightened for a second before she quickly pulled away and brought her knees up to her chest, hugging it instead. She dropped her head on it and sighed.
"I-if only Gray-sama knew how Juvia feels everytime…"
He sighed.
He passed a hand over his black mane, drawing his brows deeply together. He thought of something nice to tell her about that topic but he couldn't find any.
A few heartbeat passed,
"Sorry…" she lifted her head up to him, smiling weakly. "Juvia let her selfishness get in the line again. Juvia promises not to act like this again."
He worriedly look at her. Damn, how he could stay silent at the moment?
Gray cleared his throat. Juvia looked at him, casting him a sad smile.
"Lucy only talked to me about bringing you in the beach. She saw you the other day at the pool back in the guild and thought that you might be missing the beach."
Her eyes widened.
"I quickly agreed and she thought of bringing the whole guild as well. She wants everybody to wind up, especially you."
Her cheeks flushed brightly, gasping. "E-eh?"
"See? No harm intended." He smirked.
She bobbed her head up and down, a shy smile gracing her lips. "J-juvia didn't think to that extent." She apologized once again.
Maybe… she should really stop imagining things like that.
"It's hard for Gray-sama to talk with things like that, right?"
"You know I hate explaining."
She giggled, smiling happily at him. "Juvia is happy that you chose to open it to her, we can avoid misunderstandings like that if we talk about it."
She knew that his actions speaks louder than his words.
"But Juvia will not force Gray-sama. You're free to talk to her about the smallest things or even the silliest things you have in mind." She grinned. "Juvia might also be a help to strategize your prank towards Natsu-san."
He nodded, amused by her words. "Sounds fun."
AN. Did you enjoy it? Thank you for reading, yeyy! Leave your thoughts and review!
