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You all have a wonderful day, and I love you guys!

=xxx=

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Sleeping Beauty

No one was looking at Juvia, and if they did glance at her, they didn't give her a second look. It was a good sign for her, really, blending in with the rest of the community with no suspicious glares. It was still early in the morning - Juvia found a outdoor clock reading seven - so she knew right offhand that her destination would have occupants still slumbering inside on the weekend. Looking around the buildings and streets, Juvia found no familiar sense of disturbance in the air, the sun was shining brightly and the faint noise of boat horns could be heard in the distance. Getting deeper into the town and going uphill, Juvia was starting to remember these streets from her past visits.

Looking at street signs and using her hands to shade the sun out of her eyes, Juvia crossed the street and entered a neighborhood of quiet, cozy homes. A couple of people were out letting their pets take a morning leak or preparing to head in to town, yet no one looked her way as she walked steadily down the street.

Seeing a bricked, two-story house with a blue door, Juvia's heart pattered against her ribs as she past by the mailbox reading Marvell Family and the white fence keeping pests out. Walking up the step and coming face-to-face with the blue door, Juvia hesitated for a moment before clenching her fist.

Juvia knocked, loud enough for someone inside to hear, yet gentle on the outside so no one would wonder why a woman is trying to waken a household. She waited for about a few minutes, when the tiny pattering of paws scrambled around the front door and scampered off. Smiling softly, Juvia recognized the paws padding on the wooden floor and hushed voices hurrying away somewhere.

Juvia inhaled and exhaled, hearing slow, tired feet coming to the door and unlocking the bolt. When the door opened, Juvia met the sleepy gaze of a salmon-colored hair and tanned face of her beloved friend that she hasn't seen in a long while.

"Wassa ya wan…" Natsu groggily, his eyes still closed and rubbing under his eyes with his knuckle. "We dun wanna buy nuthin'... Too early, man..."

"Natsu-san," Juvia said softly, causing her friend's face to scrunch up for a second.

Cracking his eyes open, Natsu cleared his vision and blinked at the form of Juvia coming through, his black eyes widening then. Juvia gave him a shy smile and kept her tears at bay, seeing Natsu splutter nonsense and waking up more each second.

"L-L...Lu-L...Lucy…" Natsu called behind him, twisting his head for a second to look behind him. "L-Lucy! Wake up! It's Juvia, she's okay! H-Happy, Carla, w-wake up Lucy!"

"Aye sir!" a childish squawk caught Juvia's ears as she heard the pattering feet fade off again. Natsu didn't waste time to yank Juvia inside and shut the door quickly, locking the door as fast as he could. "Luuucyyy! Wake uuup!" Happy sang in the distance.

Juvia, in the dimmed lit room of the entranceway of the house, watched as the blue talking cat tug on a pink pajama leg, guiding a stumbling blonde with large breasts and a nasty bedhead out of the living room. At her shoulders, a white feline with wings was holding the woman upright, so she wouldn't fall.

"What's wrong…" Lucy hummed groggily, her eyes also closed like Natsu was a few moments ago. "Did Natsu fall asleep by the fridge again?"

"Lucy," Natsu chuckled with wet eyes as he jumped to his wife's sluggish body. He carefully grasped her shoulder with one hand and rubbed her cheek with his other, rousing her awake quicker. "Lucy, babe, open your eyes and see who's here!"

Brown eyes cracked open and looked over Natsu's shoulder with a bored and exhausted sigh. It only took a second for Lucy's adrenaline to pump her fully alarmed as she covered her mouth with both hands to keep down her scream. Tears instantly flooded and slipped from her pretty eyes, as her shoulder shook. This caused Juvia to frown.

"Juvia should have called, I know," she said quietly, watching as Natsu moved to wrap an arm around his wife and face the blue-haired woman. "And...Juvia knows that Cana-nee and Erza-nee and Jellal live here, too, but she forgets where they live. Juvia is sorry for waking you up so early-!"

"Damn it, Juvia-chan!" Lucy cried out in a choked sob as she launched herself at the blue-haired woman, wrapping her arms around Juvia and buried her face into her pale neck. She was sobbing hard and her vice grip on Juvia's makeshift outfit made guest stumble and hold on to Lucy's weight by wrapping her arms around her in return. "Do you know scared I was last night? You know how scared I was, Juvia-chan?"

Juvia bit her lip as she gently rubbed the blonde's back, resting her cheek against her head. "Juvia is sorry, Lucy-chan," she mumbled quietly, unconsciously gripping her friend's pink pajamas. "Juvia is so sorry…"

Lucy whined and buried her face deeper into Juvia's neck. Both of the girls slowly sunk to the floor, clinging to each other and crying their eyes out as Natsu chuckled a teary grin, before kneeling down and hugging them both tightly.

=xxx=

Eventually, the three Mages and two cats made it to the living room that was a distance from the front door. It was small, yet very homey with the white-leathered couches and a brown table in the middle, the TV against the wall. Juvia sat between the cats on one couch, a steaming cup of tea in her hands, while Natsu and Lucy sat across from her; Natsu's muscular arm was behind Lucy, his thumb gently rubbing her shoulder while she fiddled with the front of her buttoned top.

"We watched you on TV," Lucy said over the course of the silence, her voice small. "Wendy stayed up to see you wave to the camera - I told her that you would wave to her, and she was excited - and once you waved after arriving, Carla and Happy took her to bed so we could keep watching."

Happy's paw prodded Juvia's black uniform, sniffing at it while Carla looked her over and over the woman silently. Juvia nodded, letting Lucy continue. "We saw bits and pieces of you from then on. The camera got you dancing and that was about it. Then, there was the rumbling. The reporter and cameraman were talking and said it must've been an earthquake? Then, it happened again and there was an explosion…"

"The camera fell and there were screams," Natsu finished for her, noticing how the blonde woman was becoming more quiet. "The station cut the connection and went back to the desk, saying there was some interruption. It took them a good five minutes to say what was going on."

Juvia's shoulders slouched, looking to her tea. "From what I understand, the man who was holding the camera got his head crushed from debri. He died pretty quickly. Juvia met the reporter, the woman in the red dress doing the event special, and she told Juvia."

"Where were you when the explosion happened?" Natsu asked with a tilt of his head, blinking.

"Juvia was with her boss, closer to the fountain in the hall," she answered, using a hand to gesture the distance. "Sort've near the staircase and fountain, so Juvia didn't get large rocks her way...Juvia's boss shielded her with his body, so I may be wrong."

"We tried calling your apartment so many times," Lucy whispered, closing her eyes. She ran a hand through her messy hair. "Everyone was calling each other to see if anyone heard from you, but no one was able to know what happened. Oh my God, Juvia-chan, we thought you were dead."

Juvia gave a weak smile. "Lucy-chan knows that it takes more to kill Juvia than flying rocks," she said, making her friend give a hiccup of a half-laugh and half-cry. Juvia set the teacup on the coaster and sat back, picking up Happy and setting him on her lap, rubbing his ears carefully. The mutant cat smiled for a moment at the attention he was receiving before bending his head back up to her.

"How did you get here, Juvia?" Happy asked, staring up at her. "These aren't the same clothes you were wearing last night."

"Juvia jumped into the ocean. Juvia had to swim, and woke up in Cedar Town."

"What?" Natsu gawked and Lucy's eyes snapped wide open. "The hell make you do that? Didn't you escape with the survivors? We saw on the news that ambulances found them in the garden ruins. You know, they have a wall blocked off so no one could get near the edge of the cliffs?""

Juvia's face fell, eyes closing. "Juvia needs to tell you the truth," she breathed. "The attack at E.N.D. and the attack at the hall are from the same Mages. They broke into Juvia's office, looking for her. Juvia had to fight back to protect everyone when they arrived to the event, otherwise they would have killed more people."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Lucy asked worriedly. "Why didn't you tell us when Erza-nee and Cana-nee and I called you that night about the break in?"

"Juvia didn't want to tell you who broke in," Juvia said quietly. "Juvia thought it was a fake, but now she knows better to say it wasn't. It was a mistake, and Juvia should have told everyone right away when asked..."

"Juvia?"

She didn't notice that both of her hands were in tight fists beside Happy. The talking Exceed, a mutant animal with Mage abilities, pressed each paw on her tight knuckles in a comforting pet. Carla, too, reached and touched her paw gently and rubbed the pads soothingly on her skin. Juvia shut her eyes and breathed, keeping her sadness down and the sky open outside, letting the sun shine.

"It was Gray," she said finally, letting silence take over. It was as if time stopped in the room, heartbeats and breathing could be only heard. Opening her eyes, Juvia saw Happy and Carla looking at her with disbelief in their eyes. "Juvia understands how absurd it sounds, but...it was Gray who attacked. Gray is alive."

She looked up to see her friends still as statues. Natsu scoffed and strained to figure out what to say in response. "That can't be true, Juvia. I mean…" he blinked and clenched and unclenched his hands. "Gray went missing years ago. Everyone was looking for him and no one found him! Gramps came to the conclusion that he died. You were there, Ju-!"

"Juvia knows that!" Juvia huffed. "Juvia knows that she was the last to see Gray-sama alive on that mission. Juvia helped look for him when she was able to walk after her injuries, and not finding any trace of Gray-sama. Juvia knows that Master Makarov concluded that he died on the way home..!"

"Juvia-chan, shhh," Lucy cooed softly and got up from her spot. She went around the table and Carla crawled off the couch for her to sit next to Juvia and wrap her arms around her tight. Lucy pressed her cheek on Juvia's quivering shoulder. "We know. We didn't mean it that way, Juvia-chan. Shhh…"

"B-but, it wasn't Gray-sama," Juvia whispered, causing Natsu to pause his apology and Lucy to pull back and look at her in surprise. "This man, he is Gray, but not the Gray-sama Juvia knows."

"What do you mean, Juvia?" Natsu asked in the same volume as her.

Juvia shut her eyes and pulled Happy closer to her in her lap, her hands gentle, who in return snuggled his large head on her arm. "He had the same look, the same smile...his hair and skin was like Gray-sama," she shuddered. "B-but...his eyes weren't black anymore - they were red - and he had th-this..? I don't know what it was," she unwrapped her arms from Happy and used her hand to move around her right arm and a part of her face. "Juvia saw he had a black marking from his hand and up to his face, like a scar. He didn't even have his tattoo on anymore."

"The Guild mark?" Natsu scrunched his face, pointing to his right pectoral. "He didn't have his tattoo here?"

Juvia shook his head. "His voice is like Gray-sama, he looks like Gray-sama… But he's not Juvia's Gray-sama."

"That can't be possible...the tattoo can't disappear for Mages. At least, not as easily. It would've left a scar anyway if you removed it," Lucy explained, pulling her sleeve back to show the pink tattoo on her right hand. "You still have yours, right?"

Juvia pulled her skirt up to show her blue Guild tattoo to Lucy, who exhaled in relief. "The black marks wouldn't have covered his tattoo, but it wasn't there… Gray-sama would never kill anyone either. Not so brutally and merciless..."

"We saw on the news that they counted the bodies past sixty now, mostly cops and the security E.N.D. hired," Natsu crossed his arms. "They wouldn't give any names of who they found, but all of the injured and survivors were taken to Fiore City's hospital. Erza and Jellal tried calling to see if you were there, too, but the lines were busy."

"Juvia, are you sure it was Gray?" Lucy asked softly, her hand on Juvia's shoulder. "Couldn't it have been someone who looks like him, maybe? Someone who copied his appearance to throw you off? It could have been a convicted Mage, or-!"

"He told Juvia that he loved her, like the way Gray-sama used to say it to Juvia," she said, shutting Lucy up instantly. "No one could ever imitate Gray-sama saying that. Not even Lucy-chan's Gemini could do that."

Lucy and Natsu glanced at each other with frowns on their faces. Juvia sighed and gently stroked Happy's head, unable to look up any more. She felt tired.

"You swam all the way to Cedar from Fiore City," Lucy whispered gently, pulling Juvia's head to rest on her shoulder. She cooed softly and gently rocked the blue-haired woman. "You know that's a two day train ride from there, at full speed and no stops at most...You used a lot of your energy, didn't you, Juvia-chan? The saltwater could have caused irritation in your body, if you use too much of it at once, right?"

"Juvia went to a bathhouse and had to trick the employees to let her clean up and get rid of her clothes, too," she confessed with a hoarse voice. Lucy sighed and asked if she used her hypnosis, which Juvia nodded. "It's okay, Juvia just needs to relax."

"That's why you smell weird with this on," Happy blinked and sniffed at Juvia's outfit once more. "It blocks your natural scent very well, Juvia. I don't think any Mage with a tracking talent can pick you up at all. Not even Natsu could smell you, right?"

Natsu shrugged with a half-smile. "Couldn't even tell it was you until I opened my eyes. I thought you were some business lady trying to sell me something."

Carla's ears perked to the opening in the room. "Wendy is waking up," she stated matter-of-factly, already walking out of the room. Juvia slowly sat herself up and collected herself quickly and Lucy stood up as well, her hand brushing the top of Juvia's head in a comforting pet that she used to do when they were both younger.

"Juvia would like to see Wendy," Juvia softly said, letting Happy jump off her lap.

Natsu offered a toothy grin, making his wife smile a little bit. "You know that Wendy already prepared the guest room for you this summer? You can rest up in there, if you want."

"And Natsu and I will call everyone to let them know that you're okay, Juvia-chan. If we can, we can organize them to come here and we will talk more tomorrow night, after you rest," Lucy added in a hush. "We still have some of your clothes from last time you visited, probably some of your pjs. You can always borrow mine."

"Mamaaa," Wendy's sleepy voice yawned into the soft conversation. Turning their heads, the adults and blue cat saw Carla guiding Wendy in to the living room. The young girl with deep-purple hair and flushed cheeks rubbed her face with one hand while the other held on to Carla's white paw. "Mamaaa, Papaaa, I had a bad dream," she mumbled, nearly tripping over her long pajama pants.

"Did you, sweetie?" Lucy pouted and held her arms out to receive the stumbling child and hauled her into her warm hug. "What was it about, Wendy?" she asked while kissing the little girl's cheek.

"I dreamed that there was a monster under my bed, and it tried to eat meee," Wendy groggily whined, smushing her cheek to Lucy's shoulder after she got a kiss to the cheek. "I tried calling for Papa, but he couldn't hear me."

"Bah, Wendyyy!" Natsu gruffed and crossed his arms sadly. "You know I will always come and fight monsters under your bed! I'll get all fired up for the fight!"

"I know, Papa," Wendy hummed and cracked her eyes open, instantly catching eye contact with Juvia, who was silent and had a tiny smile on her face. Blinking, Wendy raised her head and looked at the woman with confused eyes. "Aunt Juvia?"

"Hi Wendy," Juvia said quietly. "Juvia didn't mean to wake Wendy up."

Wendy instantly smiled brightly and let Lucy turn around so that her tiny arms can reach out to her. Juvia willingly took the child from Lucy and hugged her tight. Wendy instantly inhaled Juvia's scent and blushed, nuzzling her face into her shoulder. "I saw you wave on camera last night, Aunt Juvia," she giggled brightly. "You looked so pretty!"

"Thank you, Wendy," Juvia said and ran her fingers through the girl's hair. "Wendy is up very early, and Wendy went to bed late to see Juvia on TV, hmm?"

"Yeah, I did. I'm still sleepy. I'm happy you're here, Aunt Juvia..." she gurgled and began dozing off. It only took another minute for the girl to fall back asleep in Juvia's arm, causing the blue-haired woman to grin and snuggle her cheek against her soft hair.

Looking to Lucy and Natsu, who smiled at the sight and held hands tightly, Juvia carefully stood with the child in her arms. "May I take Wendy back to bed and tuck her in?"

"Sure thing," Natsu smiled brightly, slipping his hand out of Lucy's only to wrap his arm around her back and pulled her closer by the hip and then stood up from the couch. "She missed you a lot, Juvia. She might cling to you, if you're not careful."

"Follow us, Juvia!" Happy instructed with a wave of his paw. "We can tickle her off of you, if she clings."

"Juvia doesn't mind," Juvia smiled in return, following both of the cats who lead the way to the stairs. Lucy and Natsu watched as the blue-haired woman carried their adopted daughter back to her room.

Lucy slowly wrapped her arms around Natsu's torso, resting her head on his shoulder as she exhaled quietly. "Do you think it's true, Natsu? Do you think Gray is still alive, after all that happened..?"

"I don't know," Natsu mumbled, running a hand through his hair before holding her closer to him. He pressed his mouth to her soft hair, giving her a soft kiss. "We found her covered in blood and no signs of Gray...I guess it could be possible…"

Lucy glanced up to her husband's stern face. "If he is alive," Natsu said through his teeth, "there's no doubt that there is going to be trouble, with what he caused in Fiore City."

Juvia had no trouble tucking the young child back in bed, since Wendy felt the familiar material of her blankets and sheets, she instantly snuggled back into a curled ball. Pulling the thick blanket to Wendy's chin, Juvia barely heard the girl ask for her plush, which fell from the bed when she got up to look for her parents. Juvia found the plush on the ground, the one she made for Wendy's birthday a few years back.

The doll looked exactly like Wendy, with angel wings on her back and a cute dress with little birds and wings. Juvia remembered how happy Wendy was when she opened her gift, keeping it by her side no matter what - even photos Lucy would send to Juvia via email, holiday cards and even conversations had Wendy with her trusted doll with her.

Tucking the doll to her niece, Juvia watched as the sleeping child wrapped her arm around her doll and snuggled her cheek to its soft face. Smiling, Juvia pressed a small kiss to Wendy's forehead and got up, the two cats following her feet and closed the door behind them.

Lucy was waiting outside the room, fresh, more better clothes folded in her hands. Juvia blinked at the expression on her dear friend's face. "Natsu turned on the news and it looks like they found a Mage's body in the ballroom," Lucy said quietly, handing the clothes to her. They were Juvia's more leisure wear summer clothes. "They said that the body was covered in burns, like he was boiled alive."

"Juvia is sorry," Juvia nibbled her lip. "He was a speed Mage, and he was going to harm Juvia's boss and try and take Juvia away…"

"N-no, Juvia-chan," Lucy comforted, hands on both of her shoulders. "I'm not upset about that, even if you killed him - I'm just so happy that you're alive." Lucy tilted her chin up so their eyes could meet. "You did whatever you had to do to protect yourself and save everyone else. If anything, I'm proud of you."

"Juvia didn't want to use her powers," she confessed quietly, holding her new clothes to her chest. "Juvia made a promise to never use her powers again, but her co-workers...they were scared and bleeding. It was overwhelming to Juvia...how they were so scared."

"I know, I know," Lucy cooed gently, holding Juvia's face with both hands. "But you saved as many people as possible, and that's all anyone can ask for you. The news said that the hospital gave word that the survivors and injured are going to be okay. The critically injured will be okay, too…"

Juvia could only nod, looking down to the floor. "Can Juvia stay up and watch the news, too?"

"Sure. Just change and I'll start making breakfast."

Juvia changed into a more comfortable outfit. White and light blue dress with a darker shade of blue ribbon on the trimmings, and buttoned up in the front. Juvia left her hair alone and got rid of the cheap sandals and clothes that were given to her in the guest room that was cleaned and decorated all by Wendy and Lucy (a couple of Wendy's stuffed animals were on the bed and it made Juvia giggle quietly). She returned downstairs with Carla to find Lucy and Natsu in the kitchen, the husband snuggling against the back of his wife and constantly asking if the food was ready yet. Juvia smiled sweetly at the sight when Lucy sweetly chided at him and stuffed a strawberry into his mouth, hushing him for a moment.

Natsu noticed Juvia and Carla entering the room and flushed at her teasing look. Pulling himself away from Lucy, the pink-haired man cleared his throat for his wife to turn around, who giggled at his flustered behavior and turned with a tray of pancakes and bowls of fruit in her hands. Juvia helped Lucy carry plates and Natsu held Happy back from getting fur on the food while they returned to the living room with the TV on,

"It appears that another Mage investigation is taking place," the reporter began, viewing outside of Fiore City's hospital. "However, instead of breaking in and causing harm to innocent victims, it looks to be a breakout of the ward where the injured and survivors of last night's attack are being kept.

"As you can see from where I am standing," the reporter pointed to a wing of the hospital, where a giant collection of ice shard sprouted out of the window, "it looks to be an ice Mage's doing. No further report from the law enforcement, but no one was harmed or have seen who escaped. Some insiders think they had accidentally brought in a Mage while bringing survivors to the hospital last night, yet no one knows who it is."

"That's not Gray's ice," Natsu pointed out when the camera zoomed in to the ice sculpture. "Gray's ice isn't that bulky in the center. This one is more fat-looking, and the color is a bit different, too. It looks more teal."

Juvia nodded. "From what Juvia saw, the survivors already made it out of the building and were gone when Juvia led them outside of the grand hall. We were on the other side of the wall, though...and Juvia didn't see anyone else with ice powers."

"There must have been another Mage in the E.N.D. company that you guys didn't know about," Lucy suggested. "It's really, really hard to get a fake ID and make it work…"

"From cases Juvia dealt with on fake Human IDs, only Juvia could make ones that worked," Juvia said. Slipping out her ID that stated she was Human, Juvia remembered how she went to work two years ago and made herself and the whole Fairy Tail home Human IDs. It was just when she was hired at E.N.D. as an assistant to Lyon, and she had full access to his files and to any workstation in the building, including approving IDs. Looking up, Juvia looked at both of her friends' faces. "It would be impossible to approve IDs like that, only Juvia and very selected few at E.N.D. could do it."

Natsu groaned and stuffed a forkful of pancakes into his mouth. "This is just getting out of hand. It's giving me a headache."

"Officials are now looking into E.N.D., the grand hall and now the hospital for any more leads to the attacks that have taken place," the reporter concluded. "There is still no given information on the missing employees or deceased of the attacks. The patients and staff at the hospital are all safe..."

Juvia picked at her plate, letting Happy hop onto the couch and give her a polite look. Taking a piece of her pancake, Juvia gave Happy a share before continuing to poke her fruit. "Juvia-chan," Lucy called out softly, "please, try to eat something. It will make you feel better if you ate a little bit."

"Juvia knows," she said quietly, finally taking a bite of her breakfast. "Juvia is just a little worried for her co-workers."

"Lucy," Carla said as she entered the living room, holding the home phone with both paws wrapped around. Faint yelling could be heard from the device, making Juvia blink and Natsu stiffen midchew. "Erza is on the phone, and she would like to speak to you."

"Oh!" Lucy chirped and picked up the phone, thanking Carla. She ignored how the white cat snapped at Happy who began eating off of Juvia's plate, saving the fruits for the woman. Lucy licked her thumb clean of syrup before bring the phone to her ear. "Erza-nee, guess wha-?" Lucy pushed the phone when an shrilling yell came through, obviously Erza's voice. "Ahaha...I guess Carla told you, right? Yeah, I tried calling you, but you must've been asleep-! Please don't yell… No, Erza-nee, you don't need to-! Okay…"

Lucy hung up the phone with a sickly look on her face. Shivering in fear, Lucy gave a frightened smile. "I s-suppose I have to make a big dinner tonight, Natsu."

"Is Erza and Jellal coming over?" Natsu asked with a stuffed mouth, making Lucy frown at his manners.

"N-not just Erza and Jellal."

=xxx=

And that's how Lucy and Natsu's house was packed with the former members of the group she used to take missions on.

Juvia couldn't remember the last time she was crowded by the familiar faces of her family in one place. Sure, Juvia was invited by her family to holiday parties and vacations, but it was very rare for her to be able to take time off from work - she always took the hardest cases and had to work on them without a choice, but she enjoyed it. So, with that, Juvia wasn't always able to see her family all that often…

It seemed a lot of her old team was here, much to Juvia's surprise, for such a decent sized home Lucy and Natsu bought years back. Wendy had woken up a few hours after being put back to bed, and found even more people inside her house, yet she clung to Juvia's side the most; even telling Gajeel, who was expecting a hug from the little girl, that she had seen enough of him and missed Juvia more.

For Juvia, though, she was more concerned if she was going to survive the reunion with some of her sister-figures.

"What did I say?" Erza's voice was low and dangerous, making Juvia stiffen and fill her mouth with the mixed nuts and pretzels Lucy had put in the room for snacks. She pulled the bowl closer so Wendy could reach too. "Call us if anything were to happen! What did you do? You disobeyed my orders!"

"Juvia couldn't get to a phone when the attack happened," Levy said beside Juvia in the dining room, sipping her cup of water while rubbing her swelling belly, totally calm and collected. "You heard how it went, Erza-nee; Juju-chan jumped into the ocean to be able to escape from the Mages, so you shouldn't yell at her for making it here safely."

"True," Cana hummed, twirling her dark brown hair with her fingers. "But, that doesn't excuse her from not contacting all of us."

"Juvia said she was sorry!" Juvia whined and hid her face on top of Wendy's head, making the child blink and continue to nibble on her snacks. "Juvia used a lot of her water in her body to swim through the ocean to get here, and then used it on the bathhouse ladies to get her get cleaned up."

"You're still drinking a lot of water," Erza pointed out to the tall glass that once held water, now bone dry. Sighing, the redheaded woman leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms. "I suppose we can let this one slide, but don't do it again. We really need to get you a cellphone."

Juvia nodded and raised her head. "Is everyone okay, though? No unusual activity on the way here?"

The pregnant Mage looked up to her husband. Levy blinked when Gajeel huffed and shook his head. "Not that we noticed. Everything is normal in Oak Town and on the drive here," he answered.

"Yeah," Levy rubbed her fingers atop her belly in deep thought, "we weren't even pulled over by the cops. No one asked to see our IDs either." Both Levy and Gajeel lived in Oak Town, the next town over Cedar, where Levy is a teacher for young children and he worked for an auto shop that repaired cars and trains on a daily basis (sometimes he would bring metal scraps home for a late-night snack).

Natsu closed his eyes. "I went into town and asked some folks with Jellal," he stated. "No one seems to notice anything weird in Cedar, but it could be that since it's a two day ride from here to Fiore City. They're shocked about what happened in Fiore City, but don't feel the need to worry about it happening here."

"And you killed the speed Mage, right?" Jellal asked behind his makeshift mask covering most of his face. Despite the best Juvia could do for her fellow friend, the tattoo on his face and his crime record before joining Fairy Tail proved it difficult. Juvia was able to fake his ID to say he was Human, but suffered from permanent scars after serving time on duty, where he now works for the Cedar police department as the deputy. Erza worked as a receptionist in the police department, which wasn't all too fitting to the woman's strong personality. Still, the married couple still get to see each other frequently and have lunch together on break.

Juvia nodded. "He's the one that was boiled alive. He tried attacking Juvia and Mister Vastia." By this time, Wendy understood the situation of what her aunt was in, yet she remained calm as everyone else at the table; she knew what her family used to be, and she never pressured her adoptive parents to ever go into details. She was mature enough to handle this kind of talk, and would even sometimes snicker at the stories her adopted father will blab filled with violence and his stupidity. "Juvia doesn't know if there was another Mage with a speed talent, though, so there is no idea if they are already here looking for Juvia."

"Jet would have taken about a day to get from here to Fiore City," Gajeel pointed out. "Levy and I called and asked to see, and he confirmed that even he would take time to get here. From the time the attack happened and the time you got here, you swam here in less than six hours."

"Your body must be worn out, Juvia. Why are you still awake?" Cana asked with a raised brow. "I know you can push your limits, but that salt water must've dried up what you had stored in your body for health."

"Juvia-chan is restoring it, Cana-nee," Lucy sang as she walked into the room and picked up Juvia's empty glass and refilled it with her pitcher ready. "The bath she took by the shore bathhouse has helped her, and we're making her drink water still."

"Putting all that aside," Erza spoke sternly, catching everyone's attention. She looked up, staring at Juvia with soft, yet serious eyes. "Juvia, about what happened last night, when you escaped…"

Silence took over and all eyes went to Juvia, who heaved her shoulders and looked down to Wendy. The child smiled and slipped off of Juvia's lap and went past Lucy and into the kitchen. Placing her hands on the table, Juvia cleared her throat before speaking.

"Juvia saw Gray that night," she said. "Gray was the one who attacked E.N.D. and the event to find Juvia."

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=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - I feel like I need to add what everyone does after leaving the home and posing as Humans. I'll probably say more about them later, but meeeeeh.