AN: Chapter 2 is up! Thanks everyone for the favourites and follows, it's inspiring to know some people like my work. :3

So far, I've got no schedule for this, but I should be updating at least once a week.

I've been thinking about the ship name. Since there weren't any official ones due to Lucy and Juvia being a rare ship, I just adopted 'Luvia', but I was thinking about what all of you thought. Do you prefer 'Jucy'? 'LuJu'? Or another? If one's considerably popular, I'll change it to that in the summary.

Also, I'm sorry for making Juvia say peasant. It's a phase I'm going through.

As always, any favourites, follows and reviews are much appreciated! Enjoy!

"Well, now that that's finished, let's get our money and get out of here!" Cinda said, walking past Juvia and Lucy towards the centre of town. Juvia held her tongue, not wanting to anger Gray. What was his deal with her, anyway?

She turned around, facing Juvia with a smirk. "I bet ya can't do anything like that, huh?"

So she was going to provoke Juvia? Then Juvia had no reason to hold back. She glared daggers into her, before speaking. "Juvia can do far better than you!" She asserted.

"Oh really? Want to bet?"

"Yes, Juvia will not lose to a lowly peasant such as yourself."

"Let's bet on Gray's love."

What? Juvia couldn't bet on something as valuable as that. She glanced over to the ice mage. She couldn't do it, could she? She was stronger than Cinda, surely, so what did she have to worry about? And if she won, Cinda would back off, leaving Gray all alone for Juvia. It would eliminate her competition.

"I accept! Juvia cannot lose when Gray-sama's love is on the line!"

"Wait." Gray stuttered. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"No!" Both women exclaimed in union. Gray shrunk back.

Lucy stepped in between the two water mages, placing her palms out in front of each of their chests. "Are you sure you want to fight?" She asked, clearly not wanting things to escalate.

"Yes!" Both women cried.

Lucy laughed nervously. "Well, don't you think we should at least collect the money and get to somewhere more open?"

"No!"

"Move aside, Lucy." Juvia said. "This is a matter between love rivals. You cannot interfere, lest I relabel you a love rival."

Lucy sighed then; knowing it was pointless to stop the fight, and likely not wanting to put herself back on Juvia's bad side. She stepped back, walking until she was a fair distance away, next to Gray.

It was time to show Cinda that Juvia was the strongest water mage in all of Fiore. It was time to show this dragon slayer that Juvia was not a dragon – she would not be slayed. It was time to truly amaze Gray.

"Come at me, bro!" Cinda screamed.

"Water Lock!" Juvia shouted, as a sphere of water immediately encased the dragon slayer. There was only one wizard strong enough to escape this, and that was only possible because it was the exceptional Gray Fullbuster. Of course, Juvia had never truly fought against another water mage, spare for a brief encounter with Aquarius during the grand magic games. Juvia had to be wary and find out what would work against her foe of the same element.

Juvia remembered one of Cinda's primary powers as a dragon slayer a little too late. Cinda's jaw shot open, as she visibly inhaled all of the water in the sphere, drinking it all until she appeared to be floating in mid-air. She dropped to the floor, landing firmly on both of her feet and a hand in the middle for balance. Her head shot up, her emerald green eyes glaring at Juvia with such intensity. Without moving them at all, she brought up her free hand and wiped her mouth.

"Thanks for the drink, Juvy! Your water's pretty good!"

Dragon Slayer or not, she couldn't drink the water if it were nowhere near her mouth. Juvia decided that she would have to only attack anywhere over than her head. The possibility that like Juvia, Cinda may possess a water body came into Juvia's mind. If that was the case, Juvia wasn't sure how she could possibly win.

"Water Dragon's dagger fist!" Cinda called as she ran to Juvia with great speed. She leapt off the ground as she neared Juvia, the water surrounding her fist about to hit her face – but it didn't. It passed through Juvia's water body, and for a second a look of surprise appeared on Cinda's face.

From the look of surprise, Juvia concluded that she didn't have the water body. It was a hasty conclusion, but Juvia didn't have time to think in depth about it. She turned around quickly as Cinda landed on the other side. The dragon slayer looked back, grinning wildly. She had that crazy challenging look in her eyes.

"That's not a good spell to have." She laughed, before lunging towards Juvia. Juvia knew what Cinda was going to do. Juvia shot straight forward, running through Cinda to catch her off guard and escape. Close combat would be dangerous with this dragon slayer. If Juvia's body was made out of water, Cinda was only going to eat her as soon as she got close.

Juvia jumped back away from Cinda, knowing that she needed to target the dragon slayer from afar. "Water Slicer!" She exclaimed as she swung her hands, small sharp blades of water appearing instantaneously, zooming towards Cinda's legs. If Cinda didn't have the water body, all of her attacks would work. Maybe 'work' wasn't the right term, as they could certainly hit her, but being of the same element, many of her attacks weren't likely to do any damage. Her water slicer didn't depend on the element of water, though. It was the size, density and speed that caused the pressure to slice through her victim.

Before it hit her, Cinda slammed her hands down into the ground in front of her, as water shot from the ground in a quick upwards stream. Juvia's blades hit the blunt force of the water, falling to the ground and quickly dissipating. The water ceased its eruption, and Cinda raised both of her arms into the air. She brought down the huge masses of water, throwing them at Juvia with all her might.

No problem, Juvia thought. She let the water rush over her, but suddenly Cinda had disappeared. "Water dragon's teleportation!" She yelled as she came rushing down onto Juvia from behind. Teleportation would allow Cinda to get close whenever she wanted, meaning Juvia was in constant danger of being consumed. This was quite disadvantageous for Juvia.

Juvia rotated forward in the water, before shooting her foot backwards and delivering a swift kick to Cinda's torso. She pushed off her, swimming away to leave the water. Juvia and Cinda seemed to be inside a large water sphere, much like the one Juvia had fought in during the magic games. Juvia couldn't trust this water. It was all Cinda's water, and therefore under her direct control – she would have to leave the water to continue the battle.

The rain woman reached the edge of the sphere, her arms and head leaving the prison of water. As she continued to swim out, she felt a grip around her ankle, forcing her lower half to stay inside. Juvia turned quickly to see her foe grabbing onto her and pulling back with all her might, as she shoved her face into Juvia's foot. She briefly considered that maybe this woman had a foot fetish, but quickly brushed it off as she realised her true intentions.

"Water slicer!" Juvia knew a kick to the face would only give the dragon slayer what she wanted, regardless of which of the two it was. Cinda was forced back, using the water in the sphere to protect herself from the attack. Juvia slid out; finally free from the enemy's water and now back on her own two feet.

Juvia was running out of options. A direct hit with water slicer would be effective, but she could block that with water of her own. She needed something with a much higher penetrating power, she needed… Juvia had never made up a spell in the middle of a battle before. But she knew how. She knew how she could theoretically break through the barrier.

"Water needle!" She shot from each of her hands a tiny, but highly dense droplet of water. It was but a pinprick, a speck of dust, flying towards the dragon slayer with immense speed. Cinda noticed it. But that didn't matter.

"Water Dragon's wall!" Cinda attempted to counter, using the same wall of water she had created earlier. Juvia knew this time she could not simply block her attack. The water droplet pierced the wall, and Juvia could only guess what happened behind. The wall disappeared a few seconds later, and Cinda rubbed her tummy, making an 'mmm' sound. "Thanks for the snack, Juvy!"

Juvia clenched her fists. She was mocking her, how dare she! Juvia's attempt had failed, but she couldn't stop now. She would have to catch the dragon slayer by surprise. She asked herself a simple question that would determine the outcome of this battle: Whose water was faster?

"Water cane!" Water shot from Juvia, wrapping around Cinda's wrists and tying them together behind her back, another strip of water whipping the dragon slayer's back. Success!

"Water teleportation!" Damn it! Juvia needed to think tactically, and find out the conditions that needed to be met to do certain magic, and all of her weaknesses… Juvia felt her chest being sucked out through her back. Was it too late? A spark of realisation shot through her. Where was she stood? She was stood in an extremely shallow pool of water, the remnants of the large sphere created beforehand. It was Cinda's water. It was then also extremely likely that Cinda had also been stood in this water.

The whole ground was covered in it, the leftovers of the giant sphere. Yes, Juvia had figured it out, albeit too late. Cinda could teleport to any other source of her water under the conditions she was touching her water herself. Juvia knew better now, but even as she fought, she found the attempt futile. Her whole body weakened, and she was completely frozen in place.

Juvia knew what was happening, but it was all too quick for her to do anything. Cinda was drinking Juvia's body away, slurping on her like lemonade. Juvia felt violated. Even as she began to feel completely empty, Juvia remained fighting. She couldn't compete properly anymore, and her head had grown fuzzy. Instead she fought the battle of staying awake. Juvia kept her eyes open, staring at where Cinda had been stood only seconds before Juvia's defeat. Juvia remained conscious for a few more seconds, until finally Cinda drank her head and everything turned black.

Juvia woke up feeling horrible with the knowledge that she had lost. Not only had she proven herself to be worse than this new mage, but she had also bet Gray's love on this fight. She had lost Gray's love. She found her eyes darting up to the ice mage.

"Gray-sama…"

"You fought well, Juvia." Gray told her. "Especially seeing as Cinda had the advantage of being a dragon slayer."

Juvia wanted to feel happy that Gray was complimenting her. But… Cinda was better. Cinda had won Gray's love.

"Gray-sama didn't agree on the bet." Juvia said suddenly. "It's unfair to-"

Gray-sama raised his hand, and Juvia was silenced immediately. "A bet's a bet." He said. "And Cinda won."

Did Gray like Cinda? Juvia had noticed the subtle signals, but the two of them had only just met. They giggled together. He was probably joking, he didn't love Cinda. You couldn't love someone you'd only known for… Juvia's thoughts trailed off. Yes, you could. After all, it had only taken a matter of seconds for Juvia to fall in love with Gray.

"I'd like to fight you again sometime, Juvy." Cinda said from above her. Juvia picked herself up off the floor, brushing the dust off of her body. After realising she had just been inside Cinda's mouth, Juvia felt even more violated than she had beforehand. She would need a nice long bath once she got home.

"Juvia… will consider it." She muttered as she turned and began walking away from the group. Juvia was humiliated at the situation. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and… She was wrong all along. Lucy Heartfilia was never a threat to Juvia Lockser. She wasn't her rival in love. But this water mage, this dragon slayer – She was Juvia's eternal rival in love. Her true rival in love. Juvia would not lose.

As Juvia boarded the carriage with the others, again, Gray sat next to Cinda, holding her shoulder and patting her back. Juvia… Juvia loved Gray, even more than she loved being herself. She wished she could be Cinda for just a moment, so she could feel the warm hand of the ice mage on her back. She was brought out of her fantasies as she felt a small clasp on the back of her shoulder. She turned to see the celestial spirit mage smiling softly at her.

"I think we need a bit of girl time." She said. "What do you say just you and me go on a mission tomorrow? You know, something fun and easy. What do you say?"

Juvia thought about it. It would be nice, but… The thought of staying at home curled up alone in the bath all day seemed somewhat appealing. She wasn't sure if she could face the outside world.

"Juvia declines." She eventually decided with a straight face. Perhaps another day. Lucy was a good friend after all. In addition she wasn't her rival in love anymore, so perhaps now the two could finally develop their friendship that would no longer be restricted by their mutual interest in Gray.

After Juvia arrived back home at Fairy Hills, she did exactly what she had planned. She ran herself a hot steamy bath, before climbing in and curling up into a ball. She just laid there with no expression on her face, every thought in Juvia's mind slowing to a halt. Water was always the best therapy for Juvia. It had a calm, soothing effect that just seemed to make everything okay.

There was still a chance, she reasoned. Cinda was a better water mage than Juvia, but Juvia was the most beautiful, right? What if Fairy Tail held a beauty contest, and Gray could see that Juvia was the prettiest? As Juvia's thoughts calmed down, she thought of the many more alternative ways she could win Gray's heart.

Juvia climbed out of the bath, now refreshed and calm, the feeling of love for Gray buzzing in her heart. Cinda was just passing through after all, she wasn't sticking around. The dragon slayer was only temporary.

Juvia walked calmly to the Fairy Tail guildhall. She was going to find Lucy – After thinking about it and calming down, the idea of going on a mission with Lucy seemed quite alluring, and Juvia actually found herself excited over the matter.

As she opened the doors and stepped inside, Juvia found one of her nightmares was being turned to reality. Juvia's calm face grew tired, and drooped down into a frown as she watched the sight before her. Mirajane stamped Cinda's neck with a light blue stamp, leaving the mark of Fairy Tail on this new member. Gray stood next to her, passively stripping whilst Mirajane and Cinda cheered. So Cinda had joined the guild. So Cinda would be staying. The dragon slayer was permanent. No matter. Juvia was permanent, too.