Day 4! This one didn't exactly turn out how I wanted but the hazard of doing a one-shot a day is that I didn't have time to re-write it. T-T Ohwell.

This has some major spoilers from the new manga chapters so a fair warning there. XD

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :D

~He was dominant, possessive, and doing all the things she'd dreamed of him doing. However, this wasn't the Gray Fullbuster she'd fallen in love with.~

Day 4 – Demons

The instant Juvia laid eyes on the tall and daunting building, she knew Gray was inside. Something clicked in her heart, something that sinkingly told her that this horrid-looking castle was where he'd disappeared off to.

It was secluded, so far into the forest that she wasn't surprised it'd taken her nearly five months of searching to find. Worn grey stone spiraled upwards into towering pillars, in an elegant and yet unnerving way. Thick and thorny green vines hugged the building and surrounding forest tight, refusing to let go.

It was nearly silent. She'd lost sight of animals about a half mile back and the closer she got to the building, the more lifeless things seemed. The air was so thick and stagnant it almost felt like the building was in its own little universe.

She'd waited for him, Gray, for a long time. He'd been in and out for days. Disappearing for a few and then staying with her for a week, just to disappear for a few more. And then one day he hadn't come back.

He'd been cold and distant. The instant those black markings that he told her were "nothing" showed up on his body, she felt the immediate change. His mind was elsewhere. His thoughts were focused on something she couldn't see, and so when the day came that he didn't come back, it wasn't as much of a surprise as she'd thought it would be.

She waited for him. If he came back and she wasn't home she'd regret it for the rest of her life. She kept the fire in the fireplace going, sending smoke puffs into the air through the chimney in hopes that if he saw it, he'd pay her a visit, even if he didn't stay. Maybe then she could finally find some answers.

She cooked a fresh meal every night, setting out a plate for him in hopes that he'd smell the delicious scent of her cooking wafting through the surrounding woods and come have dinner with her.

She tried to keep up hope, keep her spirits high and continued to go through the daily motions she used to do with him. She trained, but it wasn't the same, and finding a job for one without a guild was even harder than finding one for two.

If there was one emotion she had been sure she'd never feel for Gray, it was bitterness or anger. She truly believed he could've done anything and she wouldn't have been angry at him at all. However, honestly, she'd been wrong.

As the days turned to weeks and then months without a trace of him, her hopefulness turned to depression, and then slowly, without her completely realizing it, resentment.

Who was he to suddenly leave out of the blue without an explanation? She'd done everything for him, the least he could've done was tell her what those unnerving black splotches on his body were, especially once they started to grow and meld together with one another.

She was his partner, in a way. They'd been together with only each other for company for months, and yet he couldn't tell her a word, or even leave a note to let her know he wasn't coming back. She'd wasted months now, waiting for him. That could've been time spent doing many more productive things.

It was then, when her frustration hit a limit, that she decided if he wasn't coming back to her, she would go find him.

It'd been easier said than done.

She'd searched the forest around their little cabin forever. She scoured every inch. Every day she'd broaden the landscape of her search, until finally she found herself in a completely different town, traipsing into a neighboring wood and stomping forward with a newfound determination. It seemed the more she searched, the more purposeful her steps became.

Although, when she'd stumbled and searched through miles upon miles of acreage, she had to admit she let out a large sigh of relief when she saw that building she knew Gray was in. As much determination as she had, she worried she'd never find him.

She didn't know for sure if Gray was inside, but something in her gut told her he was. She knew nothing of this building or the people it held, but without much hesitation, she found herself creeping around the side of the structure.

It was night now, the sun having disappeared behind the horizon within the hour. The building was dark, no light cascading from any of the windows, however a few torches in front and around the sides gave her more than enough light to do a little searching.

She wasn't stupid. She wouldn't go through the front door. She was a lone woman mage, and as strong as she was, she doubted she could take on however many people were inside. If she knew Gray as well as she thought she did, he'd most likely surround himself with other powerful mages. And if that was true, she didn't want to be the lone trespasser who was the target.

She peered in every window she came across. Most were so dark she couldn't see an inch from the glass, but in others she saw outlines of beds, sleeping figures, and other seemingly ordinary sights.

She'd made her way around the entire building, her feet crunching on dead leaves and twigs, before finally spotting a window with even the slightest hint of light inside. She cupped her hands to the glass, peering inside. There was a candle, flickering and threatening to go out at any moment. It illuminated the room inside enough for her to tell it was some sort of small makeshift bedroom. Her eyes scanned the furniture before she stopped, her breath hitching in her throat as she laid eyes on the one thing in the room that looked familiar. Gray's small brown satchel sat on the floor, leaning up against the table which held the candle.

She'd been right.

Her heart thudded wildly in her chest as she contemplated what to do. Gray wasn't in the room, but that meant most likely he was either somewhere else inside the building, or would come back to his room eventually, if for no other reason than to retrieve his stuff.

She had no idea what she was getting herself into, but the thought of being this close to finding Gray, her fingers literally pressed against the room where he'd been, after months of not seeing him at all, seemingly forced her feet to move and carry her around back. She'd spotted a back door there. She figured that'd be her best bet for getting inside.

Without hesitation when she found the door, she yanked on its handle. It came open easily, albeit not without a painful-sounding groan. She hoped it wasn't loud enough to wake anyone. The door was nearly in shambles; she wasn't surprised it wasn't locked, although she was surprised they kept a door this shabby. Although, then again she didn't know who or what was inside so she shouldn't judge just yet.

It crossed her mind that she wasn't entirely sure what she would do if or when she found Gray. What was her goal? She wanted him back. How she would do that was another story. Once she ran into him, what would she say? How would he take it? What if he-

She stopped in her tracks, her vision blurring for a moment as her head felt light with the feeling only Gray Fullbuster could elicit.

He'd turned a corner and now they were facing one another, his figure pausing down the hallway as he stared back.

He looked surprised for only a split second, his features quickly rebuilding themselves back into the stoic and stern expression that seemed to be permanent since the black markings showed themselves. His hair was different, longer and slicked backwards, making him look a little dangerous. His clothes were clean and ironed, yet they didn't feel like him. But most worryingly were those black marks. They'd grown considerably, taking over nearly an entire half of his body as far as she could see, snaking up his neck and over one of his eyes. He didn't even look like himself anymore.

And although the Gray in front of her was a far cry from the Gray she loved, her heart still beat furiously and her knees still wanted to buckle. The harsh and angry thoughts and feelings she'd had towards him as she'd searched slowly melted away as she laid eyes upon the man she loved. Surely he had some sort of reason for leaving her. Something that would make her feel silly for doubting him.

She wanted to walk forward, to hug him or to engage him in some sort of conversation, but now, her legs refused to move. Luckily for her, it appeared Gray had an agenda as he quickly closed the gap between them. He swiveled around behind her before she could say a word, and a hand roughly clasped her mouth shut, squeezing hard enough to make her jaw begin to ache.

She squeaked in surprise, her hand automatically shooting to his, trying to pry it off of her. The feeling. This aura around Gray wasn't one she'd felt before. It felt dangerous and scary and for a brief moment the thought that perhaps he'd harm her crossed her mind.

She felt cool breath on the back of her ear as he whispered to her. "Keep quiet, you hear?" he hissed.

Her eyes widened as the sound of his voice once again hit her ears after so long. It sent unwanted and yet pleasant shivers down her spine. She weakly nodded against his hand.

An arm snaked around her stomach and clamped her to him, her back hitting a muscled chest. He carted her then, without care, down the hallway. She was hauled, her feet flailing as she tried to walk at his pace, instead tripping over herself, the only thing keeping her from falling being his arm tightly wrapped around her. It was hard to walk while being glued to him. His grip was so much tighter than she'd felt before. Her ribs were beginning to hurt from the pressure and something told her that in his mind, he was barely touching her.

The shudders shooting down her spine from his touch slowly morphed into shudders of dread. She could feel the difference in him, and her silent wonderings of whether or not he'd harm here turned into thoughts of why he wouldn't. He seemed angry she'd come, even though she couldn't see his face.

Roughly they made it down the hallway, he shouldered through a door, letting go of her waist long enough to turn the handle, and he shoved her inside, closing the door quietly behind him.

She stumbled as he let her go, tripping and catching herself on the table that held a candle. The same candle she'd seen before. They were in his room.

Many times she'd daydreamed about him carting her into his room, but never had it been like this.

In the dark atmosphere and the cold way he'd spoken and handled her, she suddenly felt as if perhaps she should've never seeked him out. He'd never touched her with as much strength as he just had. It was uncaring, violent.

She turned to look at him, and her heart sank.

His arms were crossed as he looked her up and down.

This wasn't Gray.

His eyes were depths of abyss. Nothing was in his expression or his eyes, nothing at all. It wasn't even Gray when he was angry. It ceased to be the man she loved at all. It was someone else, some imposter who felt and sounded nothing like Gray, and yet had taken his body and looked just like him.

It made her gut clench in disgust and anger. It seemed like someone else was inside of Gray, but she knew the truth. Something else had happened to him. It was still Gray Fullbuster, he'd just changed so much she didn't recognize him anymore. He felt like someone else entirely and it made her sick.

Suddenly all of the anger and resentment that she'd had before bubbled back to the surface. And as he muttered a harsh, "What are you doing here?" she couldn't handle it anymore.

All of the tensions and unspoken words she'd hoped to tell him, all of the frustrations in waiting for him and the confusion she'd suffered, all of the disbelief and disappointment in him fueled her as she stepped forward with purpose, raising a hand and with all the strength she could muster, slapped him clean across the face, the clap echoing loudly in the dark room.

As her hand fell to her side in a fist, everything seemed to come crashing down around her. This was horrible. Her life, him, everything wasn't how she'd imagined it to be. She loved him and while he'd always been distant, this was a new thing entirely. She was grieving the loss of the man she loved, not only because he'd left her alone in their house, but because he'd let himself be overcome with what she could only guess to be a strong emotion such as anger or revenge. That was the only logical explanation she had for the sudden complete change in him. She was truly afraid the Gray Fullbuster she knew was gone for good, and it scared her.

Tears pricked to her eyes then, half in anger and half because of what she'd just done. She'd just hit him. Never in a million years had she ever thought she'd lay a hand on him in a negative light. Him leaving her had pushed her to all sorts of breaking points and although she didn't recognize him anymore, she realized if she could hit him, in pure anger, perhaps she didn't recognize herself anymore either. It only forced the tears out faster.

His fingers reached up to his cheek, gently touching the place she'd hit as he turned his head back to her, his eyes piercing.

For an instant, through blurred and teary vision she thought she saw a glimmer of the Gray she used to know in his face, but with a blink as she cleared the tears, it was gone, replaced instead by an intense look in his eyes that she couldn't place, but one that made her want to run nonetheless. Her entire body tensed in anticipation and self-defense.

She hadn't placed the look in his eyes until he'd moved forward, grabbing her face with one hand and her hip with the other, swiveling her around and shoving her against the wall, his own body soon to follow as he crushed himself to her, his lips colliding with hers with a sense of urgency.

In all of her dreams, whether while she was sleeping or when she'd let her imagination run wild, if he'd kissed her, it'd been magical. She'd run her hands through his hair and pull him closer, and he'd whisper her name as he moved his lips to her neck.

This wasn't like any of her dreams.

She froze, her entire body going rigid and her jaw straining shut as he continued, his lips just as soft and cool as she'd imagined, and yet feeling nothing like she'd hoped. It'd been her dream to have him kiss her, and yet this was nothing worthy of being called wonderful. It was rough, uncaring, lustful, as he yanked at her hair from its roots and ran his tongue along her bottom lip.

Kissing Gray was enough to make her head spin, but this was some other man kissing her.

She stayed still for the entirety of the kiss, until he'd apparently had his fill and let her mouth free, placing his head beside hers, his forehead against the wall and his lips at her ear. He was breathing hard, short cold puffs of air hitting her neck as she tried her best to remain composed. She suddenly wanted out. She wanted this man gone and the Gray she knew and loved back. She wanted to go back to their cabin and for him to come home and ask what was for dinner. She just wanted it to be normal again.

He breathed on her quietly for a bit before speaking words that set her body completely rigid again. "You're going to be the death of me."

The voice was warmer, something akin to what he'd used to sound like and her heart jumped in hope.

"I care. You know I do." He let out a deep sigh and the next words were just as empty and lifeless as they had been before, any remnant of the Gray she knew melting away. "You're going to go back to that cabin and you're going to forget everything that happened here."

"Wha-"

He cut her off as he once again clasped a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. "You're going to go back and forget. I came and went for a while and then one day I didn't come back. You've waited for me ever since and you'll wait for me for as long as it takes."

She strained against his hand, trying to voice her opposition and confusion. She knew he was about to do something she wouldn't approve of, although she didn't know what.

He sighed, pressing his hand harder against her and continuing to muffle her words. "I'm doing this because I care."

And with those last words she felt something hard crack against her head, her eyes rolling back in her head as everything around her faded, slowly going black.

She would wake up in the cabin the next morning, a headache plaguing her mind and no memories of the past few days, instead replaced by an eerie and yet overwhelming feeling that she needed to sit and wait for him… no matter how long it took.

So there it was! I hope you enjoyed!

Maybe it's just me but I don't believe Juvia would just blindly wait for him forever. She's loyal but she's a strong girl and I feel as if she'd go looking for him after a while.

So this was just a little headcanon I had that she actually did in fact look for him, and find him, but she has a little bit of amnesia going on and won't remember it.

Maybe I'm crazy. XD Anyway, thank you so much for the absolutely lovely reviews and whatnot! They are just so fantastic! :D

~Foxtail-chan