Hello again, everyone! Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I've been saving this chapter for today as my gift to all of you. Also, please read all of the A/N at the end of this chapter because I need your opinions on something, but we'll get to that later. For now, please enjoy this chapter and thank you all for your support of this story!
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is property of Hiro Mashima. I own nothing.
Fragility and Fantasia
"Hello, you have reached the voicemail of Wendy Marvell. I'm very sorry I could not answer your call. Please leave a message, and I will return the call as soon as possible…" Gray jabbed the End Call icon irately before he could suffer hearing the infernal beep at the end of the spiel for the fifth time. Slamming his phone onto the counter, he slouched over the front desk despairingly as Juvia tentatively patted his shoulder.
"Why won't she pick up the phone?" Gray groaned, directing a half-hearted glare at the cellular device beside his hand as though blaming it for all of life's problems.
Juvia looked partially amused and majorly unsympathetic as she giggled, "Well, after what happened with Romeo, do you really blame her?"
Gray snorted stubbornly and turned his head away from the blunette, "She's still my ride! She took my car, remember?"
"Yes, yes," Juvia agreed lightly before standing up, "If you're that desperate, I'm sure you wouldn't mind me driving you home."
The anesthesiologist's head shot up hopefully, but he stood up more calmly, "Really? No, I couldn't ask that of you…"
Juvia waved off his objections and grabbed his arm, leading him out of the hospital and toward the garage. As the two exited the harsh, sterile environment of the hospital, they slowly began relaxing and interacting more casually. Weaving through the rows of parked cars, the pair's casual chatter echoed uproariously through the slanting levels.
"How far away is your car?" Gray grumbled, glancing over at Juvia exasperatedly as they continued their seemingly endless trek, "You must burn through a ton of calories by just walking to and from the building every day."
The woman's lip curled in amusement, but she just shrugged and lightly swatted her companion's arm. "Don't judge," she chided.
Gray raised his hands in mock surrender as he grinned at her, "Ok, ok, I'm sorry."
Juvia snorted and scanned the nearest row of cars. She smiled as her blue eyes fell upon her hatchback, "We're here. See, it wasn't too bad."
"Depends on your definition of 'too bad,'" Gray joked, walking around to the passenger side of the car.
Juvia scowled at him and got into the driver's seat, "I can always just leave you here, you know." The mere thought of leaving the man alone made her want to cling to him and never let go, but she pushed down the urge. She had an image to maintain.
Gray rolled his eyes, clearly not believing a word the woman said. Juvia pulled out of the garage and was about to head in the direction of their houses when Gray piped up suddenly, "Wait, Juvia."
The cardiologist pressed back down on the brakes before she could turn onto the road and looked over at Gray curiously, "What is it?"
Gray seemed to be battling with himself as he averted his eyes and tapped his fingers on his thigh. Juvia glanced over at him in concern, but otherwise waited patiently for him to answer. Finally, he forced a response through his teeth , "Do you… Do you mind taking me to Fiore Med?"
Juvia immediately caught on to what he was implying and silently nodded her head, maneuvering the car over to the left turn lane. She inspected Gray out of the corner of her eye as they waited for the light to change, but she refrained from commenting on his condition, noting the futility of doing so. They drove on in a resounding silence, each lost in their own thoughts. A few minutes later, Juvia pulled into the visitor lot of Fiore Med, feeling like she had just driven for an eternity and a half. Wanting to break the horrible awkwardness between them somehow, she cleared her throat slightly and muttered, "When would you like me to pick you up?"
Gray stopped with his hand on the door and stared back at her, "What are you talking about?"
"I wouldn't want to intrude," Juvia stated, staring bravely into his severe gaze.
After a moment, Gray's eyes softened infinitesimally, and he scoffed lightly, "Like hell I'll make you drive all the way home then come back. You're coming with me. Besides, I think you deserve to at least see how Ur's doing, considering you basically saved her life."
Juvia's cheeks flushed a little, but she said somewhat resentfully, "Not fast enough, it seems."
"Stop, Juvia," Gray demanded gently, "You saved her right on time. There's no use in regretting anything now."
"I-I…" Juvia stammered, glancing up at the man shyly. Watching his firm gaze meet her own, she closed her mouth and smiled slightly, "Right!"
"Now let's go see Ur, shall we?" Gray bumped the blunette's shoulder lightly and led the way toward the building briskly. To any outsider, the man's stride would seem very purposeful and stiff, but to Juvia or any of the hospital staff accustomed to seeing Gray in the past week, his steps revealed so much more. There was a spring in it that had been absent even before the accident, and those who acknowledged it could only stare in wonder at the miracle before their very eyes.
Doranbolt was all over Juvia the instant she set foot in the hospital. Well, it was more like he politely said hello and gave her a quick handshake before leaving a moment later. But from Gray's perspective, he was all over her. Gray tried his best to ignore the man's "advances" (God forbid Juvia mistake any rise out of him for jealousy), yet that gnawing feeling of protectiveness and something unidentifiable refused to go away. When Doranbolt's hand accidentally brushed against Juvia's arm as he explained Ur's condition, Gray's last nerve snapped, and he steered the blunette away with a curt, "I can take it from here, Doranbolt." He maneuvered Juvia away from the other doctor, leaving him standing awkwardly in the lobby.
"Gray, what's wrong?" Juvia asked in concern once they stopped outside of Ur's room, noting how strange Gray was acting, "If you don't want me to go in, I'm fine staying out here while you visit your mom."
Gray's eyes widened and he quickly blurted out, "No! That's not what I meant. I was just…" He couldn't quite figure out how to phrase his next sentence without sounding weird, so he clamped his mouth shut and forced a tight smile. "I'm fine," he reassured Juvia, noting the look of concern on her face, "Really, I am. Now let's go."
He plastered on a cheerful expression and pushed open the door to his mother's room. The fake smile slid off the moment he stepped inside. As he held the door open for Juvia, he noted sadly that Ur's condition had not changed at all since he last saw her the day before. She was just as pale, just as unresponsive. Gray's heart clenched every time he saw his mother, the strongest person in the world, looking so fragile.
Juvia too examined Ur solemnly, taking note of the older woman's palor and slightly sunken cheeks. All Juvia could do was pray that Ur would pull out of this coma soon. She couldn't bear to watch Gray witness his mother's excruciating deterioration. It was already hard on her; Juvia couldn't imagine what it must be like on Gray. The two doctors stood side-by-side, frozen in their own little worlds for a moment, completely lost in thought.
After a minute, Gray snapped back to the present and cleared his throat tiredly, "I-I'm sorry, Juvia, I just got a little…"
Juvia mustered up a reassuring smile despite the atmosphere and laid her hand gently on the man's shoulder, "You didn't do anything wrong. I understand."
Gray lifted his own hand and rested it over Juvia's before he removed her hand from his shoulder to hold it more naturally. Under normal circumstances, Juvia would probably have fainted, but this was not the time and definitely not the place to do so. Instead, she simply squeezed Gray's hand comfortingly and guided him over to Ur's bedside. Gray, noticing that there was only one chair as they made their way over, directed Juvia to sit in it. She looked up at him a little stubbornly and jerked her head toward the chair, silently ordering Gray to take it instead. Gray flailed his hand a little and shook his head before he stopped and looked at Juvia. She stared right back amusedly. They held each other's gaze for a couple of seconds before they started laughing.
"Look at us, arguing over a chair," Juvia giggled, kicking the said piece of furniture lightly.
"That was interesting," Gray chuckled as he glanced around the room. He spotted another chair and mentally slapped himself, "And look, there was another chair right there the whole time." He walked over and pulled it up next to the other chair and motioned for Juvia to take a seat. This time, she did so with only a slight roll of her eyes at the man's gentlemanly behavior. Gray sat down in the other chair, before the sombre mood fell over them once more.
Suddenly, Gray sat forward and clasped his mother's hand with his free hand as he opened his mouth hesitantly, looking at Juvia as though asking for permission. At her nod, he cleared his throat and began speaking, "H-hey, Mom. It's Gray. Sorry I came late today. I went back to work, and it was insane..."
He paused for a moment, glancing over at Juvia, who had tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as she witnessed the touching moment, "I, uh, brought a friend with me today. You remember Juvia Lockser, right? Well, she has been a huge help for both of us. She's the one who… saved your life," Gray's voice cracked a little, but he sucked in a shaky breath and continued, "She's also been invaluable to me as a friend. Juvia looked after Wendy when I was too out of it to take care of her. She was also the one to knock some sense into me and to force me to get my act together. I really couldn't thank her enough." He wiped a few tears from his eyes and looked over at Juvia. She had rivulets of tears running down her cheeks as she pulled him into a tight hug.
"Thank you, but you really didn't have to say all of that," she sniffed into his shirt, "You make me sound like such a hero when I'm really not."
Gray let out a watery laugh and released the blunette's hand so he could return the hug, "I don't think I make you sound like a big enough hero."
Juvia snorted half-heartedly and released the man from her embrace. Sitting back up in her seat, she inspected Ur, seeing no physical change whatsoever. But somehow, Juvia felt like the woman had heard them. The atmosphere in the room seemed a bit lighter, and Ur almost looked a little happier, if that were possible.
Gray and Juvia sat in silence for a while longer before the nurse came in to put in a new bag of IV fluids. As the nurse came in, the pair stood up to let her have easier access to the IV pole. Glancing at his watch, Gray sighed and said, "We better get going. I don't want to hold you up any longer."
"No, no, it's fine. I don't have anything I need to do anyway. If you want to stay longer, that's fine by me," Juvia said quickly, waving away Gray's suggestion.
"I would like to, but I actually have to go. It's not just for your sake," he chuckled, tugging Juvia toward the door, "Thanks, Nurse. See you later, Mom."
"Bye, have a nice day…" Juvia said shyly to both Ur and the nurse as she followed Gray out.
As the two walked back to the parking lot, Juvia noticed that Gray had yet to let go of her hand. She blushed slightly and asked, "Um, Gray? How long are you going to hold my hand?"
Gray snickered like she had just cracked the funniest inside joke and replied jokingly, "Forever!"
The response jogged something in Juvia's memory. She stopped on her tracks, blushing a bright red as a flashback from their high school days popped into her mind. She and Gray had gotten into a stupid competition with Lyon and this other girl Chelia at the local fair. After she and Gray managed to scrape the final win, Juvia had clung onto Gray's hand and refused to let go, resulting in the exchange they were currently having. Just thinking about her Gray-obsessed teenaged self made Juvia want to run and hide, but she shook the embarrassment off and smiled, going along with Gray. "So scary!" she quoted high school Gray, glancing at the man out of the corner of her eyes. He was grinning too and gripped Juvia's hand a little tighter.
Juvia smiled brightly as she watched Gray laughing. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen him so happy since Ur's hospitalization. It made her feel special in a way to know she played a role in his rare moment of happiness.
A few days later, the night of the Fantasia festival arrived. Juvia could hardly contain her excitement as she gawked at the grand display of decorations and vendor stands as she and Gray explored before the parade. The whole time, Juvia had hardly loosened her vice grip on the man's arm, dragging him to this food stand or that scarf vendor. Gray raised no objection, despite his obvious reluctance to being dragged along at the enthusiastic woman's every whim.
"I've never seen so many people in one place! There must be at least twice as many people here than there were two years ago," Juvia gushed, eyes skimming the sea of people surrounding them.
Gray grunted noncommittally, "I wouldn't say twice as many, but yeah. The festival has gained fame over the last two years, what with it being a charity for the hospital and all that."
"I think it's a wonderful thing for the hospital to do," Juvia said, "It's such a creative way to get funds."
Gray nodded and smiled at the cardiologist's awe. "Yeah, it's pretty cool," he agreed before looking down at his outfit, "I just wish the staff didn't have to wear these stupid stickers." He pointed to the label on his shirt's breast pocket annoyedly. It wasn't obtrusive, but it made him a little self conscious, as everybody's eyes were automatically drawn to the dark Fairy Tail logo stamped to his chest.
Juvia giggled, knowing why he disliked it so much, "If we show them to the vendors, we get discounts, so it's worth it. Besides, they never said it has to be in plain sight." She pointed to the slit in her dress, or rather the blue symbol posted on her leg. Gray glanced down before realizing how inappropriate that action would seem to bystanders and blushed, immediately looking away. "Plus, Cana let us choose what color we wanted for them too," Juvia continued, oblivious to Gray's embarrassment. "I should have known you would pick black," she joked, pointing to his shirt.
Gray scowled and said defensively, "It's navy!"
"Big difference," someone snorted from behind him. Gray whirled around to see Cana holding a bottle of booze. "You two, stop dawdling! We'll be on in less than an hour!" she scolded as she got closer.
"Less than an hour!" Juvia shrieked, whipping out her phone to check the time. To her horror, she noticed that Cana was right, "Gray, let's go!"
"What's the rush? Slow down, Juvia!" he exclaimed as he was dragged forward roughly.
"No, speed up, Juvia!" Cana cackled gleefully, plopping down onto a wooden crate to take a swig from her bottle. Gray threw the infuriating woman a scathing glare as he sprinted to keep up with the blue-haired cardiologist.
The pair made it to the warehouse with all the floats and costumes in record time and began scanning the hundreds of clothing racks for their outfits. "What did Cana say we were again?" Gray yelled, looking over at Juvia who was searching in the other side of the room.
She poked her head up from behind a lizard suit and shouted back, "We're supposed to be the king and queen of an ice castle! I think our costumes are around here somewhere!"
"How are you so sure?"
Juvia lifted a little placard and replied, "Because these outfits have labels on them."
Gray walked over to Juvia and stared uncertainly at the lizard suit, "Who was unfortunate enough to get stuck in this thing?"
Juvia looked down at the card she was holding and burst out laughing, "M-Mirajane!"
Gray scoffed, patted the reddish-purple monstrosity, and said, "Somehow, I can see it. But where's our stuff?"
Juvia shrugged and looked at the labels again, "I think they're in alphabetical order."
"We'll go with that," Gray nodded, and the two took off in search of their own costumes.
A minute later, both were staring in disbelief at what they had to wear. "What is this?" the anesthesiologist exclaimed, holding up his blue, ornately embroidered suit-and-cape combo. He stared over at Juvia's stuff and paled even more, "What the heck is that?"
Juvia stared dumbfoundedly at the dress, not quite absorbing her whole outfit. It definitely looked fit for a queen with its fancy decorations and layers and layers of fabric. Holding up a strange accessory that rather resembled a dog cone, she asked Gray confusedly, "What is this for?"
"Like I would know!" he said, "Shouldn't you know how to put it on?"
"Not at all," Juvia said, staring at her ensemble bleakly.
Just as she was about to panic, the door to the storage room opened, and Mira walked in. She saw the pair in the corner and beamed, "Oh, good. You're here! Do you need any help getting that on? We're pretty tight on time."
Juvia nodded numbly, and Mira ushered her to the changing room, leaving Gray alone in the large room. He looked back at his own costume and felt a little better, seeing that he knew how to put on every part of it. Making his way to the men's room, he wondered what sort of torture Mira was putting Juvia through at the moment.
"Ow, Mira!" Juvia cried in pain as the older woman roughly yanked a brush through a knot in the cardiologist's hair.
"Oh hush, it's like ripping off a bandaid. Better get it over quickly than do it slowly and painfully," Mira smiled, not flinching in the slightest as she practically tore out another bunch of Juvia's hair. The blunette yelped and shot to her feet. Well, she rocked to her feet the best she could with her costume's large, ballooning skirt restricting her motion.
"You're a demon!" Juvia hissed, rubbing her sore scalp pointedly, "This is called ripping off hair, not a bandaid!"
"Thank you!" Mira smiled, obviously not paying attention to Juvia's protests as she grabbed the now-heated hair straightener and waved it around menacingly, "Now come back here. There is one last thing I need to do!" The blue-haired woman took one look at the weapon in Mira's hand and shivered. Picking up her ankle-killer heels and white gloves, Juvia hightailed it out of the room with a fearful "No, thank you!"
Mira blinked owlishly at the trail of dust where Juvia stood a moment before and glanced over at Lisanna, who was curling Lucy's hair, "What did I do?"
As Juvia ran down the hall back to the warehouse, the door to the men's room suddenly opened, and Gray stepped out plucking at the collar of his stiff suit. "Watch out!" Juvia shrieked, trying and failing to stop herself before she crashed into him.
Gray looked up, and his eyes widened in surprise as Juvia knocked the breath out of him, quite literally. She collided with his chest, bowling both of them down to the ground. Groaning, she clambered off of him and looked down in concern. Gray was flat on his back, winded from the fall as he gasped for air. "Oh my, Gray are you okay?" Juvia asked frantically, watching him struggle to breathe, "I'm sorry. I didn't break anything, did I?"
Gray held up a finger, still wheezing for breath. As he slowly got some air into his lungs, he choked out, "I'm… fine. Just a little… winded."
"I am so sorry. I didn't expect you to pop out like that!" Juvia squeaked, wringing her hands and flitting around the fallen man nervously. She realized her nervous behavior was not helping, so she extended a hand to Gray to pull him up instead. He accepted it gratefully and scrambled to his feet.
"I'm all right. You're fine," he gasped, bending over and placing his hands on his knees. After a moment, he looked up at Juvia, relatively recovered, and absorbed her outfit. He had very mixed feelings about it the moment he laid eyes on the dress. Now that Juvia was actually wearing it, the internal debate waged even stronger. There was no denying that she looked stunning, but it didn't really look like it fit her style. However, if he looked at it from another angle, he could see how it fit her perfectly. Gray got a headache just thinking about it, so he just settled with mumbling, "You look great."
Juvia giggled as she scanned his fancy cape, suit, and tights. To her, Gray looked amazing in anything, but saying the getup suited him would really be stretching it. It was so far-removed from his usual outfits that she had to pinch herself to make sure it wasn't a dream. Plucking at her skirt, Juvia laughed, "Not bad yourself."
Gray snorted and pulled his cape around so he could look at it, "Who am I kidding. I look ridiculous."
"It's not very… you," Juvia said, "But it's not bad."
"Ha, thanks," Gray smiled a bit before looking at her restricting bodice and satellite dish collar, "I can't say I envy you."
"I'm trying my best to deal," Juvia giggled, "It's not really flattering, is it?"
Gray chuckled, "I wouldn't say that. You look quite good, Queen Juvia." He lowered himself into an exaggerated bow and winked up at the blunette. Juvia blushed a little and laughed at the man's oddly dopey behavior.
"You're really getting a kick out of this, aren't you," Juvia said, pulling on her elbow-length gloves, "We should go."
Gray nodded, then looked at the heels dangling from Juvia's hand, "What about your shoes?"
Juvia looked at the death-trap heels, contemplating how to put them on considering she couldn't bend past a thirty degree angle. As she peered downward toward her feet, she realized she couldn't even see them from under the skirts. Juvia smirked at Gray and put a finger to her lips in a shushing motion before going over to the nearest clothing rack and dumping the shoes under the longest cloak she could find. Gray laughed as he saw her do that, "Nice, very rebellious."
Juvia smiled brightly, "I know!"
The dark-haired man smirked and stuck out an arm, "Well, Milady. Let's go, shall we?" Juvia giggled and took his arm. She had a feeling that that night would be a magical one. As she glanced at the man before her, she wondered if her life so far was truly real, or if she had simply hallucinated it. That definitely sounded like something she would do.
I wasn't able to put in the Fantasia parade scene in cuz the chapter was getting a bit long. Also, I haven't finished writing the whole thing yet, and I really wanted to give y'all something today. Anyway, rest assured. I will be updating again soon, probably around New Years, with the next installment, so stay tuned!
Important:
Here is my question for you guys. I have ideas for 2 FT fanfics, and I need your opinions on them. Considering my updating for my existing fics is already terribly off-schedule, I probably won't be starting the new stories anytime soon. But it would be nice to have your opinions on my ideas, if you wouldn't mind giving them. Also, please tell me which one do you think you are more interested in reading. Here are the summaries:
Fic 1: It'll be another Gruvia AU and probably pretty short, say 10-ish chapters.
After a serious incident robs him of his sight, Gray Fullbuster never imagined he would see anything again besides infinite darkness. He quickly discovers that life has become little more than a series of adjustments to his new disability. Just as he begins losing sight of his future, a girl and her violin walk into his life, turning his world on its axis and restoring a new meaning to his life.
Fic 2: This will be a full-length story in the Fairy Tail universe (Nalu this time), but it'll take place 400 years in the past. This doesn't follow the whole canon "Natsu is a time traveller" thing though (sorry, spoilers). I also don't have a super good summary for this yet, but it'll go something like this:
The Dragon Civil War started and ended with humans. As the dragons working for peace with the humans begins losing ground, they turn to Dragon Slayers to help balance the tide. Follow the path of a young Dragon Slayer named Natsu as he works to master his powers and bring an end to the war. However, with the rise of a dangerous third party, the futures of both dragons and humans hang in the balance.
Any input is appreciated! Thank you so much and, again, have a happy holiday!
