Disclaimer: Fairy Tail does not belong to me but to Hiro Mashima

Juvia and avoidance

The next day, Gray came to the guild like usual. He was alone at the time. His team-mates were not present. Natsu had gone on mission with Lucy, Wendy, and the two exceeds while Erza was going on a solo mission. He looked around the guild and spotted Juvia in front of the request board. Since he had no one to talk to, might as well chat with her. His heart skipped a beat. Oh great! Now he started to get nervous around her, thanks to his conversations with Erza and Cana. "Calm down Gray, you just want to talk to her" he told himself in his mind.

Gray walked towards Juvia. She seemed to be thinking hard about what job she should take. She's frowning at a request about searching for a kidnapped child, deciding whether to go or not. She didn't realize Gray was walking towards her.

"Juvia" Gray greeted her, putting his hand on her shoulder, startling her.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia exclaimed, surprised. She said it so loud that even Gray backed away a bit.

"Wow, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Um... no it's... Juvia just... never expected Gray-sama... Never mind." She turned her head back to the request board.

Now, that was not what Gray expected. He expected her to greet him back with a smile, blush on her cheeks like usual, or maybe even swoon or hug him. She did none of it. It's almost like she didn't want to talk to him.

"What're you looking at?" he said, looking over her shoulder at the request she was reading.

"It's a request for searching an abducted child. Juvia wants to go for this mission."

"Want me to go with you? Maybe I could be of some help. After all, Natsu and others aren't here right now so I don't have anything to do" he offered.

Juvia looked shocked for a while. She looked away. "Of course Juvia wants it but... Oh idiot! Gray-sama is just being friendly. It's not like Gray-sama wants to spend time with Juvia. After all he already has Erza-san. Erza-san is on a solo mission right now. Could it mean that Juvia is just a substitute?" "Juvia... um... uh..." Juvia cleared her throat. Her face turned stoic and the tone of her voice was all business-like.

"Thank you for your offer Gray-sama. But I am capable of doing this mission by myself. I appreciate your offer. Now, if you excuse me, I want to tell Mira-san about this mission." She snatched the request from the board and walked to the bar.

To say that Gray was shocked was understatement. He was totally flabbergasted. Why was Juvia acting all formal all of a sudden? And moreover... "Did she just talk in first person?"

~~~0~~~

Juvia had been avoiding Gray these past few days and it made Gray confused, a little lonely, and somewhat sad. Juvia had come to conclusion that the only way for her to move on was to stay away from Gray... and from Erza too. It's a bit hard for the later, because they both live under the same roof. Juvia was walking home from the guild when she finally encountered Erza after a few days she'd gone on her solo mission.

"Juvia!" Juvia turned to see Erza walking up to her, her mountain of luggages behind her like usual.

"Erza-san, long time no see."

"Yeah. The mission was quiet hard. It was an s-class after all."

"I see."

"Are you heading to Fairy Hills too?"

"Yes."

"Then let's walk together." Juvia was hesitant but she had no reason to refuse. The two walked together side by side in an uncomfortable silence. For Juvia at least. Erza seemed fine with it. But soon, Erza noticed something wrong with Juvia. She was just too quiet. She attempted to start light conversations.

"By the way, how's the guild when I'm away? I hope they didn't cause any damage to the building. Those guys love to fight everyday after all, especially Natsu and Gray. Did something happen?"

"Oh no, it's fine. While you're away, the guild fights were mostly stopped by Master and Mira-san."

"I see. Oh yes, I have some sweets I got as a reward from the mission. You want some?"

"Thank you Erza-san but Juvia will pass."

"How's the book that I lent you? Was it good?"

"I haven't finished reading it but so far, it's interesting."

"Oh really? That's good." And that's the end of their conversation.

Now Erza was sure that there was something wrong with Juvia. She was usually more talkative than this. Erza was tempted to ask about Gray but decided against it. "They have to manage their relationship on their own. If they have problem they have to solve it themselves. It's better for me not to get involved."

They arrived in Fairy Hills. Erza was about to go to her room when Juvia called her.

"What is it Juvia?" Juvia faced her with a serious face and took hold of both of her hands with her own.

"Honestly, Juvia doesn't know what to say. Juvia wants Gray-sama to be happy, and Juvia wants Erza-san to be happy too. Because as much as Juvia loves and respects Gray-sama, Juvia also respects and loves Erza-san. Juvia thinks Erza-san is a nice, kind, strong, and beautiful person. Juvia will always support Erza-san so Juvia wants to ask you something... Please make Gray-sama happy."

With that, Juvia let go of her hands and ran to her room before she could say anything. Erza stood like a statue in the hallway and the only thing that came out from her mouth was "Huh?"

~~~0~~~

Erza walked to the guild the next morning to find Gray slumped on one of the tables, looking depressed. Juvia had been avoiding him for a few days and he didn't know why! All this time he ignored her attempt to get close to him. Now he knew how it feels when he's the one being ignored.

"Gray," Erza tapped the ice mage's shoulder. "Juvia's acting weird. Go talk to her."

"I've been trying to talk to her these past two weeks. She keeps avoiding me."

Now Erza was shocked. "Juvia avoidsyou?"

"Yeah she does. Every time I try to talk to her, she always finds excuses and goes away."

"So, it's not just me after all." "Hey Gray, did you say something that might upset her?"

"I don't know. I can't remember. Maybe she just hates me."

"I don't think she hates you. Yesterday, when we came home together, she told me that she wanted you to be happy and even asked me to make you happy."

"Huh?! What's that mean?"

"I have no idea."

"Wait, if she doesn't hate or mad at me, then why does she avoid me?"

"She avoids me too."

"Huh?"

"I tried to talk to her last night and this morning but she avoided me. Last night, she said she was tired and went to bed early. This morning she said she promised to go with Levy to the town's library."

Gray became quiet and looked down. Erza felt sorry for her friend and near-brother. She sat across from him and patted his head.

"Stop that. I'm not a kid anymore" Gray grumbled. Erza chuckled.

"You really should talk to her."

"How can I if she keeps avoiding me?"

"We'll find a way. Don't worry. And this time, you really should confess to her."

~~~0~~~

Unknown to them, the water mage they were talking about sat a few tables away with Cana, watching their every move. They didn't seem to notice her entering the guild. Cana looked at the girl sympathetically. She just patted her shoulder, not knowing what she should do to make Juvia feel better.

"Come on Juvia, cheer up!" Juvia didn't budge. "Want some booze?" She just shook her head.

Cana sighed. "Juvia, you said if it makes Gray happy to be with Erza then it will make you happy too. Then why are you acting like this?"

"It's not the fact that Gray-sama is with Erza-san. It's more of a fact that they keep it a secret."

"Huh? Care to elaborate?" Juvia sighed.

"It would be better for them to just openly tell everyone about their relationship and act like a couple all the time. This secret relationship thing make Juvia feel pathetic. Juvia is close to both Gray-sama and Erza-san. Gray-sama and Erza-san are always there for Juvia and Juvia loves them. If they are happy together then Juvia is happy. But why didn't they tell Juvia about their feelings for each other? Why did they keep it a secret? Are they protecting Juvia? It makes Juvia feel even more pathetic because they hide their relationship just because they don't want to hurt Juvia. Juvia don't need their pity. Juvia wishes they will just admit openly that they are in a relationship."

Cana frowned. It's true that Gray and Erza still didn't say anything about it. But why? After all, Gray had confided in her before. Then why not just get on with it and make it official? The rest of Team Natsu and the others at the guild had come to desicion. If Gray and Erza wanted to keep their relationship a secret then they wouldn't push them to tell the truth. They would wait until they were ready to tell them. This was Erza's relationship they were talking about after all. There's no good to come if you pushed Erza to tell something she didn't want to tell. That's why none of them ever confronted the ice mage and the female knight about it. Though they still looked at Gray and Erza whenever they're together with meaningful stares. And the fact (or rather the speculation) that Gray's a masochist was still imprinted in their mind. Because of that, Natsu, Gajeel and Elfman had stopped challenging Gray to a fight and pretty much everyone gave him weird stares. Not that he noticed. He was too focused on his problem with Juvia.

Cana sighed again for the umpteenth time. "What will happen next?"

And that is the third chapter. Personally, I'm not very satisfied with this chapter. I kept thinking what I should change or add but I ran out of idea. I just hope it's satisfied you. The fourth chapter will be the last