When he was finally strong enough to be released by Porlyusica, Juvia refused to let him go home alone. Not only had she, both of them, actually, become accustomed to living with him for months, she didn't dare lose an eye on him for another millisecond. Now that Gray had accepted his feelings for her and was planning on acting upon them, he wasn't complaining about the living arrangements.
In fact, he yearned to be closer to her at all times. He wanted to sneak up behind her while she cooked and he wanted to hold her close during her sleep. This time, it wasn't him who opposed of sharing the same bed, it was her who was afraid of imposing on his space. She understood that he did not leave because of what she did, she had much more faith in him than that, but she did not want to risk doing anything that upset him, especially in his fragile state. He didn't force himself on her either for it seemed like she would need some time before completely trusting him again. As much as that hurt him, he didn't have any excuse to make her think otherwise. It was true.
Gray refused to believe he was fragile. He was never frail or helpless after Deliora. Yet, he had to admit, Juvia had the power to turn his legs into jelly with an innocent smile and a simple touch on his forearm.
Since he got out of the hospital, they had been staying together at his house. Juvia wanted to at first have him at her place, but boys were not allowed at Fairy Hills. They still shared a room as they had done before. He was grateful to have at least this much, despite the abundance of plush dolls in his image that served as pillows, slippers, and more articles that were much too inappropriate for him to even go near. Even though it made him happy that she was just as crazy about him, quite possibly more so, as he was about her, cuddling himself was far from what he imagined he'd be doing when they reunited.
She always fell asleep before he did. This wasn't anything new either. However, this gave him the chance to explore the canvas of her body, something he forced himself to not do before. He never did anything to overstep boundaries. Instead, his fingers would sweep over her cheekbones, trace her jaw, thread through her hair, interlace with her hands. He desired more of her, of course, as any man would, but he would not take advantage of her.
It did not bother him that he would have to wait to have more of her, he would wait for as long as she needed him to. She would be all that more precious to him when she was his. Besides, this was the least he could do after all the time and effort she invested into him with seemingly no progress.
Her past, her thoughts, her emotions, her body was the holy grail he needed to map out and work to achieve. And as precious as the prize is, he could not rush the process. Especially since she was no object that he could just claim.
His determination was an unending flame that melted the icy heart that previously believed no one was worthy enough to enter. It was funny how he always longed for the cold of ice and yet, his body was constantly ablaze with passion and warmth. Now that he had a purpose and he had caught sight of the holy grail, his heart was on fire.
A fire so big and hot, even Natsu would drive himself crazy trying to contain it.