The days passed and Juvia began to get out of bed and walk around. She waited loyally for Gray to return, but the months passed without so much as a letter. She often sat staring out the Hall door and didn't talk much, but Levy and Gajeel made sure she didn't spend all day that way.

It seemed like no time before she was back in the infirmary, but this time with tired limbs and a little blue-blanketed bundle held close to her chest.

The baby had been fine after all, even a little big. He was a chubby little boy with round cheeks and tufts of black hair. His eyes, they later found, were the only thing that he'd gotten from his mother. The little one looked just like Gray, and Juvia couldn't have been happier to finally have him close.

"Juvia, you're gonna smother the kid," Gajeel said from his spot leaning up against the wall.

"Well, Storm is Mommy's little drop of sun and she will love Storm senseless," she said, eyes on the sleeping infant and fingers running over his tiny fingers.

Gajeel sighed. "The kid's gonna be freakin' traumatized with nicknames like that. He's a man, for God's sake."

Levy pouted towards Gajeel and shook her head. "No, Gajeel. He's just a little baby and he's so cute!"

Juvia smiled, looking up at Levy. "Did you wanna hold Storm, Levy-san?"

She smiled, nodding excitedly. She carefully took him in her arms and smiled down at the little bundle. The little boy was a heavy sleeper, but Levy worried she'd wake him if she moved too fast. She pressed a kiss to his little forehead and smiled, turning to look at Gajeel.

"Gajeel, isn't he adorable? I might just want one of these soon," she said, turning back to look at the boy.

Gajeel raised his eyebrows. "Whoa. Whoa. I don't know, bookworm. Those little things are a handful and don't you have enough just being a god-mom for now?"

Levy sighed. "I guess..."

Juvia giggled, shaking her head. "Gajeel-kun, babies are ... Fun."

"Fun. Yeah, fun." Gajeel mumbled, looking at his shoes.

"Juvia, I meant to ask. Why did you name him Storm?" Levy asked, fixing the blanket around the baby's little arms.

Juvia smiled shyly. "Juvia thought about Juvia's water and Gray-sama's ice and then Juvia thought of what the word storm meant to Juvia. It's always calm before a storm, you know, happy? Then after the storm, it's calm too. Juvia thought that Storm was like that. Juvia was happy with Gray-sama before Storm came along, and now, Juvia's doesn't have to miss Gray-sama all day, because Juvia has little Storm."

Levy smiled. "That's... Really sweet, Juvia."

She smiled back, then a yawn had her quiet for a moment.

Levy looked at her and stood, holding the baby close. "Well, you two should get some sleep."

Juvia nodded. "Juvia would love sleep."

Levy carefully put the baby into the little plastic crib beside Juvia's hospital bed and made sure he was covered with the blankets before moving to give Juvia a close hug. "Just call us if you need us, okay, Ju-chan?"

Juvia nodded with a smile. "Thank you both."

Gajeel gave her a quick hug and looked at the baby for a minute. "Juvia, try not to think about the whole thing for now. He needs you more than you need to worry."

Juvia nodded, looking at the sleeping baby. "Juvia knows, Gajeel-kun. Juvia does not need to worry for Gray-sama anyway."

Gajeel gave her an uneasy smile and left with Levy.

Juvia moved to lay on her side so she could watch her baby's little chest fall and rise with every breath. She gave him a gentle smile and closed her eyes. "Gray-sama will be back soon, Storm."


Gray's still missing, but life goes on. It looks like Juvia will have to find some way to handle it all without him for now.

Stay tuned for more ^^

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-J