Another Year, Another Chance
Chapter 3
by Contrail
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima, and is being used without permission. No profit is being made from this story.
It was fairly early the next morning that Juvia got dressed and walked over to the inn where Fairy Tail's team was staying. Gray had offered to walk with her to the Games last night, so she was meeting him there. She'd taken a bit more care with her appearance than she usually did that morning, and while she told herself that it was because she'd be attending such a large event, she'd be lying if she said that was the only reason.
Gray was standing outside of the inn when she got there, and her heart beat a little faster at the way he smiled when he saw her. "Good morning, Gray-sama," she greeted him, returning his smile with a shy one of her own.
"Morning." Gesturing towards the street, he asked, "Shall we get going?"
With a nod, she fell into step beside him as they started towards the arena. Walking next to him was both familiar and strange, something they'd done many times before yet something they hadn't done in years. Wanting to fill the silence between them, she asked, "Has the rest of the team headed to the arena already?"
Shaking his head, he replied, "Nah, they're still getting ready. Figured we'd leave early so we didn't have to rush."
That made her smile a little. Eyeing the man next to her again, she remarked, "You're not wearing team uniforms this year."
"Yeah, well, not everyone had the same outfit from the last time, so it's not like we could just reuse them, and Laxus didn't feel like having new ones made." He shrugged. The outfit he was wearing wasn't much different from ones she'd seen him wear countless times before, a knee-length white coat and somewhat baggy black pants, but he'd always managed to look good in whatever clothes he was (or wasn't) wearing.
"Juvia thinks Gray-sama looks very handsome anyway," she commented, smiling a little when she spotted a tinge of pink on his cheeks from the compliment.
"Um, yeah, well… You dress a lot lighter now, don't you?"
She couldn't keep her smile from turning sad. "Juvia doesn't have much choice anymore, if she doesn't want to bake in this heat."
An awkward silence enveloped them, neither of them sure how to address the loss of her magic. Shifting her attention to their surroundings, she noticed that even at this fairly early hour foot traffic was increasing as they got closer to where the Grand Magic Games would be held. In among the groups of people walking past them, Juvia spotted a familiar looking head of spiky silver hair. Tugging gently on Gray's sleeve, she pointed and asked, "Isn't that Lyon-sama?"
"Looks like it," he replied, looking as if he was debating whether or not to try to get Lyon's attention. That decision was soon taken out of his hands when Lyon spotted them on his own and began to make his way over to them. And he wasn't alone - with him was a familiar young woman with pink hair spilling out from beneath her hood.
"Ready to taste defeat this year, Gray?" he asked with a smirk before his gaze fell on her. His eyes widening as he stepped toward her, he asked, "Is that really you, Juvia-chan?" At her confirming nod, he gave her a wide, relieved smile as he took her hands in his. "We all worried when you disappeared so suddenly and so long. It's so wonderful to see you safe and sound."
"Give her some room to breathe." Meredy nudged Lyon in the side as he gave her a small frown but let go of Juvia's hands and took a step back. "Seriously, though, it's great to meet up with you again after so long," she told Juvia with a broad smile.
"Juvia is happy to see you both." The smile that seeing them again brought to her face soon dimmed, however. "She is sorry that everyone was concerned about her, though. She never meant to make people worry."
Meredy easily waved her apology off. "I'm sure you had your reasons, and we can make up for lost time now, right? Just don't drop off the face of Earthland again!"
She winked at Juvia, and Juvia couldn't help smiling in return. "Juvia would like that." Her brow furrowed as a thought occurred to her. "But why are Meredy and Lyon-sama here together? Juvia didn't think they knew each other that well."
"Well, once Crime Sorciere was pardoned after the war, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do," Meredy replied with a shrug. "After wandering around for a while, I ran into Lyon during one of his missions and helped him out."
"Once I completed the mission," Lyon continued with a smile, looking over at Meredy, "we got to talking and I somehow managed to convince this beauteous creature beside me to join Lamia Scale."
"Stop being such a dork." Meredy rolled her eyes and elbowed Lyon again, but Juvia could see the pink flush that rose to her cheeks at the compliment.
"Will you be on the Lamia Scale team for the games, then?" Juvia asked.
Lyon is the one who answered her question with a nod. "She's going to help make our team a force to be reckoned with. Particularly with Fairy Tail lacking some of its heavy hitters, eh Gray?"
Gray, who'd mostly been casually listening to their conversation with his hands in his pockets, frowned at this statement. "We've still got plenty of power to handle the likes of your guild."
"I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?" Lyon replied with another smirk. "Anyway, Meredy and I should get going so we can prepare for the games to start."
"How about we meet up with you again to catch up more? Maybe tonight?" Meredy asked eagerly.
Blushing a bit, Juvia shook her head regretfully. "Juvia already has plans for tonight with Gray-sama." Her eyes lighting up as a thought occurred to her, she continued, "Maybe Juvia and Gray-sama could meet up with the two of you for dinner tomorrow?"
Gray raised an eyebrow at her, expression somewhat amused. "You'r volunteering me for things now?" Juvia opened her mouth to apologize but closed it when he shook his head. "It's fine, I can put up with Lyon for one dinner if you want."
"We accept your invitation," Lyon said as Meredy responded with an excited nod. And then they were off with a nod and a "See you later!" from Meredy, allowing Gray and Juvia to resume their own walk towards the arena.
The crowds of people in the streets continued to get thicker as they got closer to the stadium. Entering the plaza in front of it, they could see people starting to form lines to get in. As they moved to join one of the lines, a young woman hurried up to them and shoved a notepad into Juvia's face.
"Hi, I'm Stacey Lemon from Sorcerer Weekly. It's been years since you've appeared at any public events like this, Miss Lockser. Can I get you to answer a few questions and shed some light on the sudden retirement of Fairy Tail's famous water mage?"
Reeling from this sudden onslaught of questions, Juvia stuttered out, "Um, uh, well…"
Scowling at the reporter, Gray wrapped a protective arm around Juvia's shoulders and started steering her away. "Back off. She's just here to watch the Games, she doesn't need you people grilling her about the past."
Juvia shot Gray a grateful look as they quickly put some distance between them and the reporter, who at least had the good sense not to follow them. Once they had taken their place in the short line at the entrance for participating guilds, Gray stopped and looked down at her. "Are you okay?"
She nodded, smiling at little at this show of concern. "Juvia was just taken off guard - she'd forgotten how nosy people can be about the lives of well-known mages, and wasn't expecting something like that."
Gray snorted. "I wish people like that would mind their own business."
"Still, Juvia didn't think that people would know that she was back in contact with Fairy Tail yet."
He shrugged. "That reporter probably just spotted you with me and recognized you from past appearances."
They reached the front of the line, and after Juvia displayed her Fairy Tail mark (which had never faded over the years, despite everything) they were allowed through. The guilds had assigned seating sections close to the floor of the arena, and a few people had already started to gather in Fairy Tail's section.
"Well, this is where I've gotta go - the teams are gathering separately for whatever preliminary competition they're holding this year," Gray told her once they reached the stairs leading up to the seats, taking her hand in his.
She nodded, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "Juvia will be cheering you all on."
"I'll make sure not to disappoint you."
They stood there for a moment, just looking at each other, neither of them wanting Gray to go just yet. A thought occurred to her, and after a moment's hesitation she rose up onto her toes and shyly pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. "For good luck," she told him, spotting the way his cheeks turned pink as she looked away.
"Um, yeah, thanks." Clearing his throat, he gave her hand another squeeze before letting go. "I'll see you again after the games are over for the day." With that, he turned to go, and she watched him leave, glancing back at her briefly right before he moved out of sight.
Juvia could feel butterflies fluttering in her stomach as she made her way up the steps to the stadium seats. It had been so long since she'd felt that way. Did she dare hope that she and Gray could actually…? But wondering what the future might hold wouldn't get her anywhere, so as she stepped up to the railing that overlooked the arena floor, placing herself next to Lisanna and Elfman, she tried to shake off her thoughts and focus only on the upcoming contests.
People continued to file into the stands until they were full almost to overflowing by the time the announcers called the games to order. The crowd hushed as the details of the preliminary round was announced - a scavenger hunt, where the first six teams to retrieve five items from an individualized list given to each guild would be the ones to compete in the rest of the games. Of course, to make it interesting some of the items appeared on more than one list, meaning that the teams might have to fight for them.
Once the event started, a large number of lacrima displays popped up in the middle of the arena, showing each guild as they ran around Crocus following the clues they'd been given. As she and the rest of the guild eagerly watched the Fairy Tail team hunt down their objects, it was clear that Lucy's intellect was of great help in quickly figuring out the clues. Standing there cheering with the rest of the guild, even though the team couldn't hear them, Juvia felt more at home than she had in a long time.
In the end, Sabertooth managed to secure first place in the preliminaries, though Fairy Tail managed a close second. Lamia Scale came in third, Blue Pegasus was fourth, Mermaid Tail took fifth place, and Quattro Cerberus managed to get the sixth and final spot. After the preliminaries finished, the announcers told the audience that there would be an hour rest break before the actual events started.
After the break, the teams were called into the stadium one at a time to the cheers of the crowd. Juvia cheered hardest when Fairy Tail's team entered, of course, and she was happy that their reception was much better than it had been the last time they'd participated. As the team began to make its way to their box, situated a little ways below where the main bulk of the guild was sitting, Gray's eyes scanned over the cheering guild members. His eyes met Juvia's, and he smiled, causing her heart to skip a beat as she smiled back. Still smiling, he followed the rest of the team into the box.
Juvia also cheered for the next team to come in, since she was friendly with some of their members, nor was she the only Fairy Tail member to do so. Wendy, who'd stayed with Lamia Scale while Fairy Tail was disbanded, was clearly happy to see them, though Chelia, her closest friend from that guild, still hadn't gotten her magic back to a level where she could join competitions like this. Meredy spotted Juvia in the stands and waved, prompting her to wave back to her, and Lyon as well when he joined in.
Once all of the teams had been introduced, it was time for the first themed event of the Games to start. Given only the title - 'Obscurity' - to go on, Gajeel was selected from Fairy Tail's team. From Sabertooth Rogue chose to participate, perhaps still interested in testing his strength against Gajeel's. Toby from Lamia Scale volunteered, Hibiki was chosen for Blue Pegasus, Araña was the contestant from Mermaid Heel, and Rocker of Quattro Cerberus rounded out the group.
As the chosen competitors made their way down to the area floor, Juvia couldn't resist the urge to shout "You can do it, Gajeel-kun!" Glancing back over his shoulder at her, he smirked before finishing walking to whether the others had gathered.
"The rules of this challenge are simple," the announcer declared as a number of buildings began springing into existence in the middle of the arena. "The six of you will be spread out to random locations inside of here. Your job will be to hunt down the other mages. If you land an attack on another contestant, you will gain a point and they will lose a point and be moved to another location. Of course, it would be too simple if it was easy to find everyone, so…"
In the maze of buildings that had been constructed some of the areas began to change - growing dark or becoming shrouded in smoke or drenched by miniature rain clouds. "You'll need to use these hazards to your advantage to win this game. But of course simply holing up in one of them won't get you any points! And without further ado, let the game begin!"
The six mages gathered there were immediately scattered to separate locations within the constructed course, lacrima screens showing their surroundings to the audience. Having enhanced senses would definitely give both Gajeel and Rogue an advantage in this game. In some ways, it reminded Juvia of the first event she'd participated in when she'd been in these games, though how they'd made it difficult to find the other mages was a bit different from the clones that had been used then.
Neither Toby nor Rocker did well at the challenge - Rocker's magic didn't lend itself to stealth and Toby was easily tricked. In fact, Toby was the only mage that Rocker was able to tag. Araña did a bit better with her Thread magic but it was better for laying traps than tracking people down, so it was too limited by how many mages passed her way. Hibiki did surprisingly well, his archive magic helping him analyze his surroundings and find the other mages.
But the two who fared best were Gajeel and Rogue, due to their keen senses and skill at combat. And their ability to move through the shadows helped them get around. The two of them were tied for points through most of the game. Near the end, the two of them ran into each other in between a patch of shadow and an area soaked with rain. Knowing that Rogue had more experience in the shadows, Gajeel withdrew into the rainy area, making Juvia smile to herself. Rain tended to baffle the acute senses of smell and hearing that dragon slayers had, but Gajeel had had a lot of practice in dealing with that due to the times they worked together back in Phantom Lord. Sure enough, when Rogue foolishly followed Gajeel into the rain, Gajeel got the upper hand and took him out. The point he gained from that plus the time it took for Rogue to be put back into the game allowed Gajeel to pull ahead and take first place.
There was a short thirty minute break between the end of the event and the start of the individual matches. The first two matches were fairly uneventful, pitting Lamia Scale against Quattro Cerberus and Blue Pegasus against Mermaid Heel, with Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus emerging the victors. The third and last match was another story, however.
"The final match up for today will be Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail and Minerva Orland of Sabertooth!" A sudden hush followed this announcement, as many remembered what had happened between those two the last time they'd faced one another in these games. The audience began murmuring among themselves, wondering if history would repeat, if Lucy might have grown stronger, or if Minerva had learned restraint. Juvia gripped the railing with her hands. She was aware that Minerva had apologized for her previous behavior, and she knew that Lucy had improved over the years, but she never wanted to feel as helpless as she had when they were watching Minerva torture Lucy back then. And there was even less she could do about it now if something like that happened again.
Lucy and Minerva faced off against each other in the arena, Lucy looking serious and determined while Minerva looked calm and relaxed. Immediately after the announcer called for the fight to start, Minerva lifted her head and loudly declared, "I forfeit the match."
The crowd fell into a shocked silence, and Lucy stood in a battle ready stance, frowning, as Minerva approached her. She stopped when she reached Lucy. "We're even now. But don't expect me to go easy on you if we face each other again."
Her expression clearing, Lucy smiled and nodded at Minerva. "You got it."
Returning Lucy's smile with a brief, barely there smile of her own, Minerva walked confidently out of the arena, leaving a babble of confused voices in her wake. Juvia relaxed and smiled herself. She was happy to see Minerva making up for what she'd done to Lucy in her own way.
With the games done for the day, Juvia made her way home to her apartment to change and get ready to spend the evening with Gray. She dithered over choosing an outfit, her indecision not helped by her not being sure if this was supposed to be an actual date or if Gray just wanted to spend more time catching up with her. Eventually she settled on pairing a nice white blouse with lace details with a plainer dark blue skirt, white ankle socks, and dark blue Mary Janes. She kept her makeup light and her hair loose, topping her outfit off with a dark blue sun hat with a white ribbon.
She jumped a little when there was knocking at her door. Answering it, she found Gray on the other side, hands stuffed casually in the pockets of the nice slacks he was wearing. The dress shirt he was wearing was nicer than he usually wore as well. He smiled when he saw her. "You look good tonight."
Juvia felt her cheeks go pink. "Thank you. Gray-sama looks even more handsome than he did earlier."
They both just stood there for a few moments before Gray motioned down the hall. "Lead on, since you're the one who knows where we're going."
Juvia nodded and closed the door behind her before making her way down the hall. Gray fell into step beside her, and an awkward silence grew between them as they walked. She wasn't sure what to talk to him about, and she had a feeling he didn't either. Still, it was rather disheartening. Had it truly been so long since they last spent time together that they couldn't feel comfortable with each other anymore?
The silence was finally broken when they reached the first place Juvia wanted to show him. As she slowed to a stop in the middle of one of the bridges that crossed over the city's canals, Gray raised an eyebrow at her. "Um, Juvia realizes that this bridge doesn't really look like anything special, but… Juvia likes to come here to think or just to watch the water flow. She may not be able to control it anymore, but she still finds being around water soothing."
Gray frowned, opened his mouth, then closed it again. She watched him quietly, wondering what he wanted to say. It seemed he eventually decided to just say what was on his mind, though. "You still miss your magic, don't you?" he stated more than asked.
"Of course Juvia does, just as she would miss her arms if she lost them. But she has accepted that it is gone, and she has adapted." Her words were accompanied with a melancholy smile.
"…Does it hurt, being around people who can use magic?" he asked, voice softening and lips folding into a small worried frown.
"A bit," she admitted, looking down into the water instead of at him, "though watching the games and seeing all of you again has felt more nostalgic than anything else. Juvia isn't sure how she'll feel if she spends more time around them, though. She hasn't really tried to since… She wants to spend more time with you and the others, but not if it ends up turning her bitter and jealous. That's part of the reason Juvia doesn't want to commit to going back to Magnolia yet."
She saw Gray nod out of the corner of her eye. "It can't be an easy position to be in. Hopefully being around us will bring you more joy than sorrow."
"Juvia hopes so, too. After all, where else will she find a crazy enough bunch of people to put up with her own strangeness?" She finally turned towards Gray, a smile tugging at her lips.
Gray smiled back at her. "If it's craziness you want, you won't find a better place than Fairy Tail."
Speaking of craziness… "Um, Gray-sama, your shirt…" She blushed as she turned away. Gray's physique certainly hadn't deteriorated in the time they'd been apart, aside from a couple of new scars - if anything, he was even taller and more muscular than he'd been before.
"Ack…! Sorry!" She heard cloth rustle as Gray retrieved his shirt and put it back on. Gray gave her a lopsided smile as he finished fastening the last buttons when she turned back to him. "So what's the next stop on our little tour?"
"Well…" she began as she lead the way forward, "Juvia thought she'd show you where she works." The tailoring shop was closed by the time they got there, but Gray got to see the quaintly decorated outside of it at least. Conversation was flowing more easily between them as they visited a coffee shop Juvia was fond of and a small hidden away park. Maybe successfully talking about something as difficult as the loss of her magic had shown them that they could relax, they didn't have to be so careful around each other.
The next stop was Juvia's favorite restaurant, which Gray readily agreed to have dinner at. The dishes offered were fairly typical fare, but the atmosphere was warm and welcoming. As they were being seated the waitress, who was somewhat familiar with Juvia from her repeated visits, gave her a wink and a discreet thumbs up. Juvia's cheeks warmed a bit in response. She'd never come here with someone else before, so she could only imagine what the waitress must be thinking.
Her attention returned to Gray when he asked her what dishes on the menu she thought were good. Once they'd placed their orders, Gray started telling her about one of his more recent solo jobs. Listening to the story did make her heart ache a bit, knowing that she'd never join him on one of these jobs or even do one herself again. But she enjoyed how happy Gray looked while telling it, an easy smile on his lips and his posture relaxed.
He was just finishing up his story when their food arrived, and they spent a few quiet minutes digging in. Juvia looked up from her food, startled, when Gray asked, "So, got any stories about what you've been up to?"
She looked down, pushing the food on her plate around a bit. "Juvia hasn't been doing anything as interesting as Gray-sama has…"
"No stories about annoying neighbors?" he persisted. "No troublesome customers?"
Juvia took a moment to think. "Um, well, there was this one time…" she started. As she told the story of a customer who kept asking for further alterations and additions to her dress, she expected that Gray would quickly become bored, but he seemed content to watch and listen to her talk.
By the end of her tale, he was shaking his head, looking slightly amused. "She just didn't know when to quit, did she?"
"No, she didn't," Juvia agreed. "To be honest, the end product ended up quite hideous - way too busy with different trims and ornamentation." After taking a sip of her drink, she continued, "Thank you for listening to Juvia, she knows hearing about things like making dresses is probably dull for you."
Gray shook his head at her. "I want to hear about it because it's part of your life." She blushed as he reached across the table to rest his hand on hers. "'Sides, it's not like I've never had to deal with difficult clients."
She nodded, knowing the truth of that statement. They spent the rest of their dinner and the walk back to Juvia's apartment trading stories, Gray making sure she shared about her life as mush as he did his.
Once they reached her building, Juvia stopped and faced Gray. Looking down a bit shyly, she told him, "Juvia had a lot of fun tonight. Thank you for spending it with her."
Gray smiled. "I had a good time tonight, too." After a brief pause, he continued, "I'll walk with you to the games again in the morning. We have that dinner with Meredy and Lyon afterwards," he scowled a little here, "but would you like to spend the next evening with me? I'll do the planning this time."
She couldn't keep from beaming at him. "Juvia would like that very much."
His own smile widened. "Great. I'll see you in the morning, then." He hesitated for a moment, then turned and left. She watched him disappear from sight, heart beating rapidly in her chest, before heading up stairs to her own apartment. She couldn't keep a giddy smile from her lips as she got ready for bed, nor keep her thoughts from filling with hopeful possibilities.
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