Everyone held their breath as Juvia glowered over Gray, who remained silent. Her grip on his hands prevented him from stripping.
Juvia finally spoke, and the cloud of anger around her began to dissipate. "Juvia does not mind if Gray-sama takes jobs on his own sometimes, even though Juvia wishes she could be with Gray-sama all the time. And even if Juvia thinks some rules are not fair, she respects Erza-san enough that she will obey them. But!" The angry cloud reformed, if only for a second. "Juvia wants Gray-sama to miss her. Juvia doesn't want to feel like Gray is trying to run away from her ever again." Juvia released Gray from her grasp. "Juvia wants to feel like Gray-sama wants Juvia as much as Juvia wants Gray-sama."
"Is that physically possible?" Lucy whispered, a sweat drop forming on the back of her head.
Gray looked to the side. "Oi, woman," and then he decided that sounded too rough, "Look, Juvia, I told you, sometimes I need my space. It's got nothing to do with running away from you. If I didn't want to be with you, I wouldn't be, right?"
"Juvia can…Juvia can try to give Gray-sama space when he needs it," Juvia acknowledged, "but right now Juvia is still worried."
The wheels in Gray's brain had apparently already been turning. He took Juvia's hands—the mere act of which made her blush, even under these circumstances—and asked, "You want to spend a lot of time together, right?"
"Of course, Gray-sama."
"But you said it yourself: you can't always come on missions with me. Sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. Believe me when I say, though, that I'll always be glad I have you to come home to. And as long as I have you to come home to, I'll have something extra to be fighting for."
Tears were in Juvia's eyes, but this time they seemed like happy ones. "Juvia believes Gray-sama."
"That was well done," Loke said appreciatively.
Lucy raised an eyebrow skeptically. "What, have you been giving him lessons?"
Even though Gray appeared slightly uncomfortable at first, Juvia pulled him in to an embrace. Hesitantly, he accepted it, putting his arms around her waist.
Erza nodded her head in approval. "He is finally growing up. It's good to see," she said quietly. She raised her voice as she said, "Juvia, perhaps we can ask our client when we arrive if he would be okay with one additional wizard beyond his four maximum."
"Seriously, I never count…" Happy said with a pout.
Erza chose to ignore him. "I cannot make this a common occurrence, but I feel it makes sense, since you are already here."
Juvia shook her head. "Juvia very much appreciates the gesture, Erza-san, but Juvia will go home now. Juvia has an idea for when Gray-sama comes back, and Juvia thinks she need to get to work now on it."
"Alright, then. We will see you upon our return." Erza smiled at the water mage.
Gray smiled at Juvia. "I'll see you soon."
Juvia leaned up and kissed him. Once again, it took Gray a moment before he responded. This prompted a chuckle from Loke, an eye roll and a slight smile from Lucy, another nod from Erza, and a "they liiiiike each other," from Happy.
As Juvia walked off, Gray returned to his seat, his cheeks bright red. "Just so we're clear, we're not going to discuss what just happened."
"Aw, why not? I'm sure your girlfriend would be very disappointed to hear that," Loke said with a cheeky grin.
"Shut up," Gray grumbled. His brain stuck on the word girlfriend. That's what Juvia was to him now. Not his friend. Not his nakama. His girlfriend. He hadn't seen that coming, even though he suspected she had since about the moment they first laid eyes on each other. But he knew now that his words were not a lie. She was a girl worth coming home to, and Gray would be lying if he said he wasn't already looking forward to seeing what their relationship had in store.
A/N: So there you have it! The conclusion of Like Ice and Water. There is a possibility I'll do a sequel. If you'd like that, you can let me know. :) Or you can just tell me what you thought of this! I'd like that, too.
I've got some one-shots sitting around, so I'll be uploading those soon. Mostly LoLu (because that pairing always needs more love) and of course some Gruvia.
In terms of major multi-chapter fanfic plans, I have a Jerza one in the works! Jerza is one of my favorite pairings, but I find them somewhat difficult to write accurately. If anyone would like to beta read what I have so far and tell me what you think, I'd love that! Just drop me a message.
Well, that's all for now! Thanks for reading this far! :D I'll see you in the next fanfic. ~artemisfang
