Additional Disclaimer: I don't own the song. Please don't sue me! =)
Harmony
An Entry for Gruvia Week
Day Four: Teamwork
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Gray groaned for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. He tried to press the keys of the piano right but he just doesn't get it.
Stupid Gajeel who challenged every male to make a song.
Come to think of it, why did everybody agree when clearly, most of them have no knowledge in music?
He didn't even know why he chose the piano to play a song with. All of them were going to strum their guitars and Gray was stuck here, in the music room in their guild (which he didn't know about until last week), desperately trying to play the unfinished melody.
"Those tunes you're making… They're nice, Gray-sama." A feminine voice filled the room.
Gray turned around and saw the owner of the voice. "Juvia?"
The woman smiled at him. "Hi. Juvia just got from a mission and heard about Gajeel-kun's idea."
Well, this was embarrassing. It was just his luck that Juvia had to witness him in a situation he's not so proud about.
"I… I can't finish this."
His cheeks were burning. He never was one to give up but he really can't finish this.
Juvia looked at him and raised her eyebrows. She smirked at him, a move she rarely did.
"If you're going to give up easily, Juvia presumes you're not my Gray-sama of Fairy Tail."
He smiled. She was right.
And so he tried again.
"May I help you? I can play the piano." Without waiting for his confirmation, she sat down beside him and looked at the unfinished composition in front of them.
She started hitting the keys.
Juvia was very familiar with the instrument. As a child with no one to play with, she often locked herself up in her room making teru teru bozu dolls or just played the piano by herself.
Her hands were graceful as she touched the keys, playing the notes that Gray had struggled to make.
"It's cute." She giggled. It can be seen from Juvia's face that she was enjoying what they were doing.
"Let me help you finish this." With pleading eyes, she turned to Gray who was looking at her too, and then shook his head.
"That will be cheating." He snatched the piece of paper away from her hand and scribbled some more.
"Please Gray-sama? Juvia won't tell Gajeel-kun about it! And besides Juvia plays the piano better than you." The water mage leaned her head on his shoulders while teasing him.
The young man glared at her and began to think. It's true that she played the piano really well. He had known that when Juvia performed with Gajeel one night during Levy's birthday at the guild. Oh damn, she was good.
Truth be told, he never denied her help. When they work together, the results were pretty much above their expectations. Gray worked well with everybody, but Juvia, in his opinion, was one of the best partners he's ever had. And hopefully, they could work this song out too.
"Fine," He would accomplish nothing without her help anyway. "But sing with me during the performance night." Looking away, he tried hard to hide his shame from the girl that was clearly making fun of his miserable situation right now.
"Juvia would love that, Gray-sama! We'll make a love song!" Needless to say, hearts flew all over the room.
"That is not what I intend to write!"
After playing with tunes and lots and lots of papers wasted because of so much scribbled words, Gray and Juvia finally, after two days, finished their song. They were both satisfied with the results, much like how they were always pleased with the battle strategies they came up with everytime they went on a mission together.
The song they made sounded good. If Gray hadn't accepted her help, like he usually did, he was sure he was so screwed that everybody would be laughing about it and he'd never hear the end of it.
After their final practice before the performance (Gajeel arranged everything to make sure that the competition was going to happen), Gray stood behind Juvia while she was in front of the piano, playing the melody they made together. He placed his hands over her shoulders and the Fairy turned to faced him.
"Thanks. I guess I owe you something."
"A date outside the guild would do." Turning her body to face the piano again, Juvia played the song they were going to sing, acting nonchalantly about what she said.
However, Gray flushed like there was no tomorrow. "Hey, woman! That's going too fast for two people who just wrote a song! "
Juvia giggled heartily and the two mages both noticed that the door was opened quickly by a guy, whom they believe was Gajeel.
"Oi, Stripper, can't do it without help from Rain Woman?" The dragon slayer mocked the ice mage as Gray rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, rustyboy, I saw Levy scribbling some lyrics while you two were sitting together."
This caught Gajeel off guard. "That's because Juvia picked you rather than helping me out."
Gray smirked as he looked at Juvia. "Really?!"
"You seem to have a hard time with your composition. And besides, Levy-san's better with words than Gajeel-kun is." She was blushing really hard right now.
Gray laughed loudly. He remembered his 'shoo bee doo bap' lyrics.
Yes, Gajeel wasn't exactly the lyrical type. And the two idiots were making fun of him.
"The performance will start in a few minutes. You're up first. And fuck you for making fun of me." He slammed the door and it was a miracle that it wasn't broken.
Gray shook his head before offering Juvia his hand. "Let's go."
She took his hand and tilted her head. "Gray-sama, about the date…"
"Couldn't you think of something else to do?!"
All the lights were off except the ones on the stage. Everyone's eyes were fixated there, waiting for the first performer to sing their song.
Suddenly, the sound of the piano filled the room. Everyone clapped their hands with the start of the show and were thrilled to watch it all throughout the end.
The sound of a sweet voice of the girl rang their ears.
We were strangers
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming
What we'd have to go through
Now here we are
And I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you
The water mage continued to play the piano and it was at that time that Gray showed himself from the shadows. He began to sing his part.
No one told me
I was going to find you
Unexpected
What you did to my heart
When I lost hope
You were there to remind me
This is the start…
Through the last part of his solo, Gray sat next to Juvia and started to play the piano with her.
And...
Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
They continued to sing their parts while still playing the instrument, lost in the feeling of music.
We were strangers
On a crazy adventure
Never dreaming
How our dreams would come true
Now here we stand
Unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you
And...
Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
Gray and Juvia sang their hearts out and they didn't notice their guild mates clapping their hands in time with the melody.
I knew there was somebody somewhere
Like me alone in the dark
Now I know my dream will live on
I've been waiting so long
Nothing's gonna tear us apart
And...
Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
Everyone was cheering for the two mages at the stage. They smiled at each other, once again proving that their efforts, when combined, could create something beautiful like the song they just made.
As they made their exit through the back stage, with Juvia giggling and Gray smirking, the girl tapped his shoulder and asked her something.
"Gray-sama! You promised a date with me!"
"I didn't agree on anything like that!"
"But Gray-sama still owes me something…"
"Fine. Let's eat Caramade Franks tomorrow."
Hi! I got caught up with things again. There's so many companies calling me and asking me for an exam and interview and I'm just like, "But it's Gruvia week!" And then I realized I'm the one looking for a job so I shouldn't be complaining. I'm lucky that they're calling.
Well, this was the one I came up with for the teamwork prompt. I tried a lot of plots, but it didn't turn out well.
Anyway, thank you for reading! The song I used for this fic is called At the Beginning, by Donna Lewis and Richard Marx from the animated movie Anastasia. Check it out if you feel like it!
Special thanks to underwaterlights, Darkhope, Yumeko nee, Sarapyon, PrincessChii, Cat Goliath, Bored Konoha Kunoichi and YamixTeaLover for reviewing the last chapter.
And of course, all of you who are silently reading this story. Thank you! You always make my day!
Until tomorrow. =)