Chapter 2

"Wa…wa…ter…" Juvia still feels weak. She feels someone gently lift her head up and bring a glass to her lips. She tries to take a huge gulp of water.

"Easy now. Don't drink too much at once." She hears a voice tell her. She is given a few more sips. The hand gently lowers her head on to the pillow.

She hears footsteps moving away from her and out the door. 'But Juvia wants you to stay.'


After giving Juvia some water, Gray rushes out of the makeshift infirmary to the nearly rebuilt guild hall. "I think Juvia is waking up," he announces.

Everyone present stands up in surprise. Partly, because Juvia is waking up and partly, because Gray moved away from Juvia's bed.

Erza, the new guild master, says, "Someone go get Polyusica-san."

"I'll go." Gray says immediately.

Erza is shocked. "You should be here with Juvia."

"No, I want to go."

"Gray…"

"Don't stop me Erza!" His voice crumbles a little, "I can't see her put herself through something like that again."

"It's not like you can stop her." Lucy interjects. "That girl is madly in love with you. She'll do anything for you."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of. I don't want her to hurt herself for my sake anymore. I've decided to end it."

"What do you mean by that?" Cana asks with an edge in voice.

"I'm going to tell her I don't love her and end it once and for all. I can't go through another person dying for me." He says painfully.

"Good luck convincing her." Gajeel says sarcastically.

"You all are going to help me. Don't tell her that I was by her side all these days. Don't tell her anything."

Everyone falls silent. They are pondering on his words and can't find the right words to say to him to change his mind.

After a long pause, Natsu says, "Well that's just BS, Ice Cone."

"Whatever it seems like, I don't care. This is the best way to keep her safe and… alive." He chokes on the last word.

Natsu tries to say something else but Erza stops him. "Gray, go, get Polyusica-san."

Gray runs out of the guild.

"Erza! Why did you stop me?" Natsu asks angrily.

"He has to find his own way. He'll realize soon enough that what he wants to do is stupid." Erza smirks. She turns around to go to Juvia.


The water mage opens her eyes slowly just as Erza walks into the room.

"How are you feeling now?" The new guild master smiles at her kindly.

Juvia looks at her with confusion etched on her face.

"What's the matter?" Erza asks in worry.

"Gr-Gray-sama was here?!"

"No he was not." Erza says in a dead-pan voice.

"Erza-san, don't lie. Juvia heard his voice."

Before Erza could say anything further, some of the other members of the guild walked in.

"How do you feel, Juvia?" Lucy asks.

"You shouldn't move too much until Polyusica-san checks on you." Levy says with concern.

"Ameonna, way to get everyone worried!" Gajeel comments.

"Do you want some fish?" Happy asks offering her a raw fish.

"Damn that Ice Princess!" Natsu mutters but Juvia hears him.

Juvia smiles at everyone there. "Thank you for taking care of Juvia when she was hurt. Juvia is sorry for worrying all of you."

"You are nakama after all, we'd all be worried." Cana says.

Juvia spends time talking with the rest of the members until Polyusica appears in the doorway. "Everybody out," she orders.

Begrudgingly, everyone files out of the room. Polyusica checks her vitals. "You do realize, you could have died, right?"

Juvia looks down and nods.

The old lady sighs in irritation, "I should have known that every member of Fairy Tail goes all the way, not thinking about the consequences. Do you know how many people I've had to heal in these past few weeks?"

"Juvia just got up."

She ignores her, "You seem to be doing well. There's no danger. But it would be better if you didn't take up jobs for a while."

"Thank you, Polyusica-san."

She just 'hmphs' in irritation. "If you tried that spell again, nothing can save you."

"Juvia knows. Juvia wasn't supposed to survive this time either. Thanks to Carla's premonition and Wendy's healing power, Juvia was revived. If Juvia had to do it all over again she'd do it again to save Gray-sama."

"Humans irritate me so much." She grumbles.

"Polyusica-san is also human." Juvia mumbles.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"Well, you can leave as soon as change clothes." She places a bag of clothes on the bedside table and leaves the room.

For the first time, Juvia pays attention to what she is wearing. She's in a white tank top and dark blue shorts. Her body was covered in minor cuts and scratches. Her eyes widen, 'Hmmm… who changed Juvia's clothes?'

Juvia changes her clothes and goes to the guild hall, everyone cheers for her when they see her and they have a mini party. Though she smiles cheerfully at everyone, her eyes are looking only for the object of her affection. The ice wizard is mysteriously absent from the guild and Juvia has a feeling that everybody is trying to hide something from her.


The next day, Gray walks into the guild hoping he doesn't run into Juvia. 'I hope she is resting in her dorm room and doesn't come to the guild today, after all, Polyusica-san asked her take it easy for a while.' He spots her at a table looking at him expectantly. 'Nevermind.'

He appraises her as he walks over to her, 'She is looking good, there's colour on her cheeks and sparks in her eyes. She has healed well.' "Hi Juvia."

"Good Morning, Gray-sama."

"Ya, good morning." He is surprised by her cheerfulness, "How do you feel now?"

"Juvia is fine, thank you for asking."

"Good to know. Well, see you around. I'm going to job now. We've just started taking jobs again."

Juvia looks at him in shock, "Does Gray-sama not want to say anything else to Juvia?"

By now the entire guild quieted down to watch the interaction between them. To not make it seem obvious, they continue to do what they were doing but keep watching them from the corner of their eyes.

"What else is there to say?"

"Gray-sama promised that he would give Juvia an answer once The Spriggan 12 were dealt with."

"Do I really have to spell it out for you Juvia?" He asks her coldly. "I was never interested in you and I never will be." He looks down at the table as he says it.

Juvia, ever the optimist, says, "Then maybe Gray-sama should tell her the same while looking right at her."

"Whatever. I've said what I've wanted to say. Maybe you should stop bothering me now." He raises his voice a little.

"Gray-sama, what's really going on? Why are you being…" she gestures at his body, "like this?"

"I'm always like this. And what is with the 'sama'? Stop it already. It is annoying."

Juvia gets more and more confused by the second. 'Before Fairy Tail was attacked, when Gray-sama said he'd give Juvia an answer. Juvia assumed it was going to be good news. Because he didn't sound like he was going to break Juvia's heart. Or maybe, Juvia didn't want to see any other outcome. This, right now, Juvia did not see this coming. But for some reason, a small voice in Juvia's head is asking her to not believe it.'

Gray waits for her to say something or react in anyway. He knew he had to do it someday. The only problem was is his own throbbing heart. 'Treacherous Organ!'

Much to everyone's surprise, Juvia just gets up and walks out of the guild hall without uttering another word.

Gray's jaw drops. 'What just happened here?"


Hello everyone! what do you think about this chapter? Well, I hope you all like it! Thank you for reading!

Enjoy! Neepa :-)