"Only humans think death is evil. But it is nature. Evil exists only in life. There is much good and evil allotted to each life."

Gajeel stood in the middle of a grand field, his hands deep in his pockets. He hadn't been summoned out there, but for some reason he just decided to come. The grass was nearly waist high and shimmered a bright golden in the dimming light. On one side, the gold seemed to stretch forever while the other side was broken with shaggy hills. He wasn't one to stand around and enjoy scenery, but this place was one that made him stop and look.

"Lyon! That's not fair!" a voice came from the other side of the hills.

"How are you going to defeat Mount Dehliora if you can't win a simple footrace?"

"You tripped me! How is that a simple footrace?"

Two boys suddenly broke the hill. One had hair so silver it looked white, and he tore through the tall grass as fast as he could. The other had dark hair and deep blue eyes. He was shirtless despite the chill of the late fall air and he pushed himself as hard as he could to catch up.

As he ran by, he skidded to a halt.

Briefly, he tilted his head towards Gajeel, locking eyes with him. Then, as if the moment hadn't happened, he turned to run after the other boy once more, calling him names as he tried to catch up.

Gajeel heard faint footsteps approaching from behind him and he slanted his head back cautiously. Juvia came up beside him, brushing back her hair nervously as she did so. Gajeel turned his head back to watch as the two boys crashed into each other, tousling underneath the golden stems as they screamed self-fabricated obscenities at each other.

"The boy can see us," Gajeel said quietly, dipping his hands into his pockets as he looked on.

"Aye," she said at length, "Probably because Gray's soul was revealed that night,"

"Probably," Gajeel brought his hand up to run the back of his hand across his studded brow, "Jose say anything about it?"

"Jose doesn't watch the humans as Jose should,"

They fell silent for a while as night began to fall. The two finally stopped wrestling and lay in a sweaty heap, gasping for breath. On occasion, Gray would glance over to where he and Juvia stood, but he never made mention to the silver-haired boy beside him.

"Grey thinks Juvia is his guardian angel," she finally said, glancing up at Gajeel as she spoke.

"Tch. Guardian angels don't exist," he scoffed.

"How would Gajeel know? Gajeel doesn't know everything!"

"Yeah? Well then why haven't I seen any?"

"Maybe Gajeel hasn't been looking in the right places!"

He rolled his eyes, biting back a retort. After the sun had finally set, the two boys pulled each other out of the dirt and grass and made their way back towards town. The two walked in silence after them, following them to a large building that looked to be an orphanage.

"Gray will be turning sixteen soon," Juvia said as they walked inside, "Then Juvia will need to help Gray find a new home."

Gajeel looked down at her then, his brow furrowing at her words, "You've been watching him?"

"Juvia couldn't just leave him, could she?" she huffed at him, crossing her arms indignantly. She pretended to ignore his inquisitive stare for a while before finally relenting, sighing loudly, "Juvia knows she shouldn't get attached to humans, but Juvia couldn't help herself."

"One day you'll have to escort him," Gajeel said coldly, "It's something that can't be avoided,"

"Juvia knows…" she sighed sadly, looking at the building with longing in her eyes, "But, when Juvia is around Gray, he talks to Juvia. He tells Juvia that she's his angel,"

"Tch," Gajeel rolled his eyes, "I told ya, there's no such thing as angels, Juvia,"

"And Juvia said Gajeel doesn't know everything! And besides Gajeel's ugly face probably scares them away!"

He scoffed at her and crossed his arms. He was sick of this nonsense and turned to leave.

"Gajeel…" her voice was small.

"Eh?" he grunted, turning to look at her over his shoulder. She looked sad and clouds started to grow darker as she stood watching the shadows in the windows. He gritted his teeth as he watched her. She was far too attached.

"Does Gajeel ever get tired of it all?"

"What do you mean?"

"Juvia doesn't like it. She tears families apart every time she is summoned. Juvia has to watch as they cry and she hates it. Juvia is tired… she's tired of being evil,"

Tears trickled down her face as she spoke and a few heavy raindrops fell from the sky. Gajeel cast his eyes to the sky, knowing the reason why the rain was falling was because of Juvia's sadness. He let out a tense sigh and allowed the angry set of his shoulders to loosen.

"Juvia thinks death is a terrible thing," she said quietly, "Juvia brings nothing but misery to the people she sees,"

"Death is neither good nor evil, Juvia," he spoke gruffly to her, making her turn to meet his ruby stare, "It just… is,"