Rating/Warnings: T

Characters: Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser

Word Count: 1,002

Pairing(s): Gray/Juvia

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: These two are my second favorite, and I can't wait until something more happens, dammit. Hopefully I wrote Juvia well, I was kind of worried about writing her since I've seen many different versions of her.


7. Wait until something terrible has happened and you can't not tell her anymore. Wait until she almost gets hit by a car crossing Wabash against the light and after you are done cursing at the shit-for-brains cab drivers in this city; realize you are actually just terrified of living without her. Tell her with your hands shaking.


She steps in front of him in the last second, and for several long moments, all Gray can see is the bright crimson of blood as it splatters his eyes and face. Juvia makes a sound that is torn between a groan and a scream and falls to the ground beside him, her head hitting the stones sharply.

Around him, Lucy cries out, and Wendy's already running over, but Gray can't understand what's happening. Why was she bleeding? Wasn't—her body was made of water, she'd said. SO why was there blood, and why wasn't she healing?

The smell of burnt flesh stings his nose and makes him nauseas. Of course, the answer was right in front of him. What happened when you mixed water and lightning?

Juvia must have known that, Gray thinks wilding, watching as Wendy drops to her knees in front of him, moving Juvia until she is on her back, gasping up at the sky, though her blue eyes watch him. She must have known that would be a killing blow, something she couldn't immediately heal from, and yet she did it anyway.

"—ay! Gray!" Lucy grabs hold of his face, pinching it between her fingers as she shouts in his face. He tries to listen, but he can't take his eyes off Juvia, can't stop seeing the thin trickle of blood as it falls from the corner of his mouth. "You have to let go of her! Wendy can't do anything until you move!"

He turns to the Sky Dragon, sees the fear in her eyes, then to Lucy, and finally to Juvia, who offers him a small, bloodstained smile. "Is Gray—" the cough she makes is wet and gurgling, her eyelids slipping, "alright?"

Something tightens around his hand and he looks down, finding himself half over her legs, clutching her hand tightly in his own. That's what Lucy meant, he thinks, slipping his fingers from hers and watching the smile fall from her face. "I'm fine, you'll be fine too, Juvia."

He nods to Lucy, to Wendy, gives Juvia one last glance, and Gray stands, something dangerous and furious boiling in his gut. He'll kill for this, he thinks.


The infirmary is always freezing cold; at least that's what Natsu says as Wendy bandages a cut on Lucy's thigh. Gray wants to tell the stupid fire head to shut up, to be courteous to the other people in the infirmary, but Lucy's got it covered, shooting him a fierce glare that renders the dragon silent.

Juvia is pale, skin cold, and Gray pulls off his sweater, draping it over the top half of her body, hoping it does a little too warm her up. The blankets in the room are too thin, he'll have to mention it to Mira.

"She'll be okay, you know. Just needs some rest." Wendy peeks under the covers to look at Juvia's own bandages, and Gray looks away, remembering the smell of burning flesh and the way half her dress had burned away when the lightning hit her.

"Thank you, Wendy," he replies, offering the girl a nod. She smiles back and touches his shoulder as she leaves, and then they're alone.

He hadn't killed the dark mage who had hit her; Gajeel had done that and then some. If he weren't so obsessed with Levy, Gray would have assumed he had a thing for Juvia. It makes him irrationally jealous, then guilty, because it's not fair that he's jealous of Gajeel. Hell, it's not fair that he's jealous of anyone. Despite accepting his feelings for her, Gray hadn't acted on them yet. He wasn't like Natsu, things didn't just fall into his lap like Lucy had, and his romance wasn't something like Erza and Jellal's. This was different.

"You're so stupid," he brushes his fingers over Juvia's forehead, then along her cheek, her chin. Gray considers tracing her face, but it's too lame and he pulls his hand away, curling his fingers with hers instead. "Why would you jump in front of me like that?"

"B-because I love Gray-sama, and I did not want him to be hurt," Juvia breathes, eyelashes fluttering open. Gray isn't surprised to see her awake, but he is annoyed that she is.

"You should be asleep. This would be much easier if you were asleep," he mutters, looking anywhere but her face. "I appreciate it, I really do, but…but don't do something like that again, okay?"

"But—but Gray-sama," she begins, coughing a bit as she attempts to sit up. She quickly thinks better of it and lays back, eyes searching his face.

"I don't want to lose anyone precious to me, ya hear?" He snaps, slumping in his chair. "Especially not the people I love." He can see that she's crying, but he can also see the smile on her face, making her look a lot better than she had six hours ago.

"I do it for the people I love, you know."

"Yeah," Gray chuckles, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. "I know."