Chapter 3

Lucy started walking around Magnolia, looking through the windows of stores and strolling along the gravel paths and bridges. She had been looking for over an hour when her frustration exploded and she screamed, "Gray Fullbuster, where the hell are you?" She continued walking, trying to calm her heavy steps. 'If only Juvia were here. She would know where to look for him,' she thought to herself. Lucy leaned against a store wall and slid to the ground. Then it occurred to her, Juvia had told her once that Gray loves being in high places. Lucy knew where he was. She ran to the tallest building in the town; Fairy Tail.

She ran through the wooden doors, passed the gloomy members, up the carpeted stairs, and up the narrow wooden stairs to the attic. The attic held all of the guild's unused books and there were a lot of them. All of the books were on shelves of aspen wood and neatly organized. The attic had a sky roof which made it feel rather homely and bright. Lucy found that the smallest bookcase was off center and as she got closer to it, she saw that it was covering a hole in the wall. She was barely strong enough to move it a few inches, just enough for her to squeeze herself behind it. The hole was larger than she expected, scarcely covered by tan wallpaper. She pushed herself through the hole and carefully stepped onto the shingles of the roof. As she got her footing, she saw the shirtless Gray sitting on the edge of the roof looking at the ocean while his legs dangled calmly. "Gray!" Lucy called to him, "I found you!" He turned to see her smile beaming at him.

She walked up to him and sat beside him on the edge of the roof, her legs swinging in time with his. They were silent for a few moments then Lucy said sincerely, "How are you doing Gray?" He looked at her knee and replied, "Okay." Lucy could feel the uncomfortable air between them. She knew he wasn't one for sharing his emotions but they were friends, she wanted to be there for him. Lucy said, "Well, how are you dealing with the thing?" "The thing?" he replied. She said frankly, "Juvia's death." At the mention of Juvia's name, he got uneasy and bolted up to his feet. He had turned away from Lucy but she could see his shoulders trembling slightly. She got to her feet, yet not as gracefully as Gray, lost her footing and slipped. She gasped in panic and was falling for no more than a millisecond when Gray quickly reached out and grabbed her by the hand. She saw the last of his tears streak his face as he pulled her close to his bare chest.

He held her tight for a minute as Lucy calmed her pounding heart. As she got loose from his arms, he still held on to her right wrist with his left hand. She looked at their hands but quickly looked to his face when she heard him sniffle slightly. He was crying. Not even trying to cover his face from her as the tears fell from his eyes as his eyebrows furrowed. Lucy put her free hand on his chest, over his heart. She looked up at him with concern in her eyes and was met by his painful eyes. She broke the silence of tears with, "Gray…I…" He cut off her stuttering as he said, "I didn't love her. I never loved her. But now that she's gone, I wish I could have given her a chance. I hate the thought of never seeing her again, even if she was annoying most of the time." Lucy waited for him to finish and gently said, "Is that all you wanted to say?" Gray shyly nodded as the tears kept coming even though he tried desperately to stop them. Lucy continued, "What are you talking about? She was only annoying to you because she loved you and you didn't love her. And why would you give her a chance if you never loved her at all? That's low of you."

She tore from his pained gaze and took her wrist from his grasp. Lucy walked two feet from him and stopped, waiting for the words to sink into his head, "Gray, it's always lonely when someone leaves. It's even lonelier when someone dies. Yet, I know that Juvia would want you to live an amazing life, even if she's gone. She'll always be looking down on you, I'm sure of it." She came close to him and wrapped her arms around his toned torso. "We're all dealing with this loss," she said, "I'm here for you when you need me. We're friends." 'Friends,' he thought, 'nothing more.' He accepted and returned the embrace. He never wanted to let go of her, her touch was so comforting to him.

She slowly pulled away from him, making him opened his closed eyes. She said, "Let's go downstairs. Everyone's worried about you and wondering where you are." As he nodded his head in agreement, they made their way up the roof, towards the hole in the wall. Lucy moved the wallpaper aside and ducked her head in first as Gray followed. While she went through, he turned his head to look at the ocean. As he looked away, to the hole, he could have sworn that he saw Juvia sitting where they had been a few minutes ago in the corner of his eye.

Please review, I would greatly appreciate it!

I am getting my license in two days. Just thought I'd let you know.

Thanks for reading!

~Kanjiru