Chapter 7 - Bluebells

Blue calla lilies. Lyon wrinkles his nose. Too artificial—just white lilies dyed blue.

Blue tulips. Too delicate and high maintenance. Doesn't suit Juvia.

Blue roses. A bit too passionate for a friendly gift. He'd better save those for an actual date.

Bluebells. Quirky, hardy, and beautiful. The flippant curve of the petals reminds him of Juvia's curled hair when they first met. Perfect.

As if pleased by his internal compliments, the bundle of bluebells sway back and forth in a peculiar dance, their leaves and petals moving in unison. Several customers at the small flower shop stop to gawk, but Lyon merely grins as he turns to his team mate.

"Good choice," Sherry praises. Like an orchestra conductor, she sways one hand back and forth to the rhythm of the dancing blossoms. "But I wonder if your love is strong enough? You only took half an hour to pick a flower."

Lyon chuckles. "Really? Perhaps I should deliberate a little longer then."

The doll magic user huffs and props her hands on her hips, effectively ending her spell. "I was joking! I have a date with my Ren-ren to get to. So you better be done now, 'cause I'm not staying much longer."

The silver haired man carefully picks a small bunch of bluebells from their display bucket. "Go on and enjoy your date, Sherry. Thanks for helping me with this."

The mild look of annoyance vanishes from his helper's face, replaced with a pleased smile. "You're welcome. I'm sure Juvia will be thrilled by your gift of love."

"I hope so." To the untrained eye, Lyon's expression remains casually relaxed. But Sherry has known him for more than seven years—she catches the nearly imperceptible tension of his jaw that gives away his worry.

"What's wrong?"

A sigh. Having close friends is both a blessing and a curse. There is no hiding anything from them. "Juvia's in love with Gray," Lyon admits. The water mage's very open mannerism makes this fact undeniably obvious.

"Oh." An awkward silence saturates the air as Sherry fiddles with her long magenta hair, trying to find something encouraging to say. The irony of the situation doesn't escape her; once upon a time she held one-sided love for Lyon, and now it is his turn to feel the ache of unrequited affection.

"You'd better hurry to Ren, I don't want him hunting me down again." Lyon says helpfully, giving her an out.

"Right! Oh look at the time, I'm going to be late. Ren, my love, I'm coming!" With a flourish, she opens the door of the flower shop and takes a step out before jerking to a stop. Although Lyon has given her a way out of the conversation, there is something she should to say.

"Lyon…" Her back faces him, but she knows he can hear her regardless. "A woman can only love a man so much until she realizes there's a better man than him."

Sherry's characteristic airiness is conspicuously absent, and Lyon isn't sure if she is talking about herself or Juvia. Perhaps both.

"Love is a battle!" Sherry reverts to her usual self, blue eyes alight with passion as she looks over her shoulder at him. "Fight with the strength of all your love and prove you're the better man for her. If you do, your feelings will reach her for sure."

Trust me, I know from experience. Lyon catches her unsaid words.

"I'll be rooting for you~" she sing songs, and then she is gone in a flurry of petals.

"Hey, be careful with my flowers!" The shop keep yells after her.

Lyon watches the empty doorway for a second, then shakes his head and looks for the cash register.

Thank you, Sherry.


The sun has only just gone down, but a party is already in full swing at the Honey Bone Lodge. At least half of Fairy Tail is sloshed already, red faced and fumbling with drunken jubilance.

Gray grumbles and rubs his sore behind. He had been wrong—very wrong—about Erza calming down after his escape strategy. Not only did she give him an earful, she also spanked him with the flat of her sword. Repeatedly. Apparently using strawberry cake as a diversion is crossing the line in her book.

"Gray-" A noticeable pause accentuates a certain missing suffix. "Are you alright?" Juvia drifts toward him, worry etched on her face. She has changed back into her usual navy blue dress coat and hat.

"I'm still in one piece." He tries not to react to just how unnatural his name sounds on her lips.

The worried lines of her face soften and she abruptly extends her arms toward his face, holding a fluffy white pillow in her grasp. "Juvia is sorry she was unable to stop Erza. She brought this for you to sit on so maybe it won't hurt so much…"

Gray can only see the upper half of her face over the top of the pillow being shoved toward him. Even so, the sincere kindness radiating from her eyes is obvious. Accepting the puffy object, he places it on a wooden bench before sitting down. Ah, that really is quite comfortable.

Juvia smiles at his expression of relief and he finds himself unthinkingly reaching to pat her head. Belatedly, he realizes her hat is in the way and readjusts his aim toward her shoulder. Except she lowers herself to sit next to him at the same time, and he ends up cupping her cheek in a surprisingly intimate gesture. Several beats pass as they stare at each other in flustered astonishment.

Gray sharply pulls his hand away as if burned by the heat spreading through Juvia's face. "That was an accident! I didn't mean to—you know. Uh, yeah." He finishes lamely, averting his gaze in the opposite direction.

Thankfully everyone else was too busy partying to notice his faux pas. He gulps and focuses on watching his guild's antics in an attempt to calm his rattled heart and forget the softness of Juvia's cheek and the tickling of silky tresses on the back of his hand. But although he isn't looking at her, somehow he is intensely aware that Juvia is right there next to him. It's like all his nerve endings are firing at once, leaving him so hyper sensitive that he can feel her there even though neither of them are touching.

Across the room, Natsu has picked Lucy up like a bride and is spinning around in circles to the music of the hotel's radio lacrima. Blonde hair streaming behind her, the celestial mage's lively laughter fills the room. Her left leg is in a cast and her forehead is still bandaged, but she looks otherwise happy and healthy. Gray smiles sincerely, grateful for her recovery.

A familiar feeling of jealousy seeps into Juvia when she sees the way he smiles at Lucy. Taking a deep breath, she tries to will the feeling away. Let go. Just let go.

As the tempo of the music increases, Natsu spins faster until he and Lucy are little more than a blur to onlookers. Too soon, he wobbles to a stop. Looking up in confusion, horror replaces Lucy's grin when she notices the dragon slayer's green complexion. He's motion sick?!

"N-Natsu! Put me down! Don't you dare throw up on—"

"BLUARG!"

Gray finds himself impressed by the swiftness with which Lucy hobbles after an escaping Natsu and, once she catches up to him, the ferocity with which she beats him with her crutch. Any lingering worry he had for her well-being is gone now, although the same cannot be said for Natsu. He'll miss his rival. May he rest in peace.

A firm knock on the door can barely be heard over Natsu's cries for mercy.

Wendy's sharp ears catch the sound regardless. "I'll get it!" She tugs the sturdy door open with moderate difficulty, revealing a familiar Lamia Scale member.

"Ah, Lyon-san!" She isn't sure who she was expecting, but it hadn't been him.

"Hello, Wendy-chan. That was a good fight you had with Chelia yesterday." He says kindly.

"Really? Thank you!" The young girl beams, proud to be praised. "What can I help you with?"

"I'm here to see Juvia."

"Okay!" She turns toward the raging party and calls, "Juvia-san!" Her soft voice gets drowned out by the commotion.

Cana, who is sitting close to the door, puts down her barrel of alcohol momentarily. "Oh Juviaaaa! -hic- Lover-boy's here to see youuuuu!" She hollers over the ruckus, voice echoing through the hotel bar. A brief silence ensues when every room occupant stops to stare at the entryway.

Lyon fidgets, but Cana winks saucily at him. "You're welcomeee," she slurs before lifting her barrel once more.

Juvia springs from her seat and rushes to Lyon's side, dismaying Gray with her apparent eagerness.

"Good evening," she greets him with a shy smile. The guild feigns disinterest as they return to their previous activities, but their subdued energy reveals the fact that they are still watching from the corner of their eyes.

"Good evening." Lyon mimics, pulling out a small bouquet of bluebells from behind his back. "For the fairest maiden." He half bows and offers the flowers to the wide-eyed woman.

"F-for Juvia?" She asks, glancing around as if disbelieving the gift could possibly be for her.

"Of course." Gently taking one of her hands, Lyon lays the bluebells on her palm. "I was worried about you after what happened today so I wanted to check up on you. Are you doing alright?"

"Yes." Despite the flush tinting her cheeks, Juvia meets his eyes smiling warmly. "These are Juvia's favorite flowers. Thank you, Lyon-sama. For everything."

Lyon's heart skips a few beats before fluttering like an excited butterfly. The sincerity of her expression takes his breath away, and he can only nod dumbly when she asks him to wait while she puts the flowers in her room. It is not until after she ascends the lobby staircase that Lyon realizes what she just called him.

Instinctively he looks for Gray, the only other person Juvia calls similarly. He is surprised when his fellow pupil meets his gaze head on, dark eyes blazing with vehemence. Interesting.

The sound of someone clearing his throat brings Lyon's gaze down to Fairy Tail's diminutive guild master.

"Master Makarov." He inclines his head respectfully.

"Hello there Lyon," the old man greets, wearing a toothy grin. "Would I be correct in assuming you helped bring Juvia back to us earlier today?"

"Ah, well she went back on her own. All I did was give her a little support," he replies sheepishly.

"Nonetheless, I'm sure that support meant the world to her. Thank you for taking care of one of our own. You're welcome at Fairy Tail any time. Come on in, join the party!" Makarov teeters slightly from the alcohol in his system and Lyon grabs his shoulder to steady him while the elder leads him toward the heart of the festivity.

From his seat on the side of the room, Gray gnashes his teeth. Lyon's little flower display earlier really rubbed him the wrong way. He doesn't want to acknowledge that the dynamic between Lyon and Juvia has changed. Just yesterday Juvia would get flustered from Lyon's advances, unsure of what to make of them. But now... though there is still an air of uncertainty, Juvia seems to be more receptive, maybe even appreciative. Makarov's acceptance of Lyon certainly doesn't help matters any. Gray's stomach roils when he recalls the way Juvia smiled so fondly for his childhood rival.

I'm jealous. Gray finally admits to himself. God, this stinks. Is this what Juvia's had to deal with all this time?

The woman in question prances back down the staircase, a dark bundle in her arms. "Juvia was going to wash this tonight, but Lyon-sama came unexpectedly so…"

"Don't worry about that, Juvia-sama." Lyon takes his cloak from her and drapes it around his shoulders. He catches the refreshing fragrance of morning dew, and is secretly glad Juvia didn't have time to wash her scent off.

"Eh?!" Juvia squeals. "Not Juvia-sama. Just Juvia!"

"Oh? Then just Lyon is fine," he retaliates with a smirk. He's honored that Juvia thinks highly of him, but he wants her to see him as an equal, not raise him on a pedestal. His fingers fumble to fasten his cloak under his chin without the aid of a mirror.

Dainty hands join to help him. "But… Juvia feels odd saying your name without honorific."

Juvia moves to withdraw her hands after clasping his cloak, but Lyon catches them and holds them against his chest. He wonders if she can feel the beating of his heart. "Well, if you must add a suffix then I suppose Lyon-koi (1) will do," he flirts.

The water mage's light blush turns five shades darker. Her lips part as if to say something, but nothing but incoherent squeaks come out.

Lyon laughs quietly at her predicament. "I'm kidding, Juvia. You can call me whatever you wish. But, it would make me happiest if you could call me Lyon."

"Okay… Lyon." She surrenders shyly, the blush fading back to a rosy pink.

She says his name so sweetly, her expression so endearing, that Lyon can't help himself anymore. Leaning forward, he parts her bangs and plants a tender kiss on her overly-affectionate-Erza-induced bruise.

The loud crack of splintering wood interrupts the moment as a sudden cold front permeates the room. Lyon knows what—or rather, who— is coming. Pulling Juvia securely against him, he turns to see one absolutely livid Fullbuster stalking towards them.

"Lyon," Gray seethes, fury emanating from every pore of his body. If looks could kill, Lyon would have died many times over.

"Gray," Lyon answers curtly, pretending not to notice how much his fellow ice mage wants to take him out.

"What do you think you're doing?" A threatening hiss.

"Hugging. Flirting." A blunt remark.

The temperature chills another ten degrees. "Juvia isn't someone you can play with!" Gray snarls.

"I'm not playing." Lyon's expression turns serious, bristling at the insinuation.

The two ice mages lock eyes, neither willing to back down as the room temperature plummets lower and lower. The heat of their stare is a harsh contrast to the coldness of their magic.

"Oh heeeeeell no!" Cana exclaims. Her precious beer is frozen inside the barrel.

Feeling Juvia shiver against him, Lyon immediately cuts the flow of magic exiting his body. "This isn't the time or place to fight." He gazes pointedly toward Juvia, who looks thoroughly lost and mildly frightened as her eyes dart back and forth between the feuding mages.

Gray follows his gaze and closes his eyes. It takes every ounce of will power to reel in his magical energy. When he is done, his voice comes out incredibly strained.

"Juvia, we need to talk."


A/N:

(1) Koi: refers to a lover, usually a boyfriend/girlfriend or young married couple.

Source: My Japanese friend. The same one who broke my heart when she told me Gray's famous line about Juvia (Don't go taking what's mine!) is actually a mistranslation. Apparently he says "Don't go taking away our guild mate" in the Japanese manga. D:

Credits to my lovely reviewer, Phylaphy, for Sherry's line "A woman can only love a man so much until she realizes there's a better man than him." I thought it summed up Juvia's potential feelings very well.

A guest reviewer also corrected me on the last chapter. Apparently Juvia's been saying Lyon-sama since manga chapter 265. Woops. For the sake of this story I'm going to have to pretend that didn't happen! Please excuse my inaccuracy.

An important question: I've noticed that most stories either stick to one point of view, or have a clear indicator for when they change point of views. On the other hand, I tend to switch back and forth between characters and don't provide clear markers such as page breaks or "Sangami's POV." Do I ever confuse you with my writing style, or is it okay so far?

After reading your reviews, I have decided to update biweekly rather than monthly. Thanks for the support everyone! ^-^