Rain

Jude looked into the sky. It had started to rain, drenching the man in his desperate search for his daughter. It didn't matter, though; he was still searching for her, and wouldn't stop until he had succeeded in doing so.

Plus, the rain covered up his tears.

Jude wandered over a hill. The trees were getting scarcer and scarcer as he struggled over it. A while back, he had finished the entire sake bottle, and it was making the search prove even more difficult. Just another bad decision he made.

He soon found himself on a long dirt road. Knowing her, he thought to himself, she mightv'e found this road and started following it to get away from me. I don't know where this leads to, but it's probably the closest thing I have to finding her.

Going with his gut feeling, he followed the small dirt road, travelling farther and farther away from the mansion with every step.

As he went, the rain poured down harder and harder; falling in sheets over his now drenched clothes. He lost track of time as he followed this long trek of dirt; now turning to mud due to the downpour. The rain was dampening Jude's spirits. He thought he would never find her.

Until he spotted it.

A bandage.

()()()()()()()

Natsu opened his eyes. Lucy was still in his arms, thank goodness. But, where were they? And why couldn't Natsu breathe?

He took a closer look around him. Wait. He Thought. Is this…Water?!

He walked, no, rather, swam towards the light shining through the substance. After a couple of minutes, he broke the surface.

He and Lucy fell to the ground, coughing up the water that they had breathed in by accident. Neither of them were prepared to appear in water, so they unintentionally sucked in a ton of the stuff.

"NATSU!"

A flying, blue bullet fell from the sky and into his arms. "I…..I Thought," He sniffled, "I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO DIE!" He screamed. Happy then nuzzled deep into Natsu's chest and started to cry. Natsu looked down at his blue friend. (HAH! See what I did there?!)

"I thought I was too." He hugged his friend back. "Where did the water come from in the first place?!" He asked looking around the clearing. Natsu turned around, and spotted her.

Juvia was standing on the other side of the clearing in her fighting stance, sweat staining her face. And behind her, a really shocked looking…

"GRAY!" Natsu screamed. "YOU RUINED MY EPIC DEATH!" Natsu then started to run up to him. "YOU BASTARD! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING I DO!?"

"Natsu, it was Juvia who- OOF!" Juvia grunted. Natsu had punched her in the stomach, causing her to fly several yards and land on her butt.

"GREAT JOB, NATSU! YOU JUST PUNCHED THE PERSON WHO SAVED YOUR SHITTY ASS!" Gray hollered. Natsu stopped, mid-punch, inches from Gray's face.

"Wait," realization swept over Natsu, "It was Juvia?!" Natsu asked Gray. He nodded in return.

Natsu gulped, whipped around and met face-to-face with an angry, blue-haired hero. "Oh, h-hi-i Juvia…" Natsu spoke nervously, avoiding her death gaze.

"HOW DARE YOU PUNCH JUVIA!" She howled. "I WAS THE ONE WHO SAVED YOUR ASS, PYRO!"

Juvia then proceeded to kick Natsu where the sun doesn't shine (if you know what I mean). Natsu, who was currently keeling on the grass, looked up at Gray. "L-L-uc-y" He croaked out, then fainted in the grass.

"Geeze, you're pathetic." Gray remarked.

Juvia looked at the pink-haired lump on the ground. "Wait, who's Lucy?" Happy flew over to them, carrying the blonde-haired girl by her shirt.

"Guys! We have a problem here!" Happy shouted at them. He laid the girl on the grass by their feet. Her scar, now visible without the make-shift-scarf bandage, was completely black. Lucy, unable to open her eyes, was lying there, paler than ever, and having trouble breathing.

"Lucy…" Gray mumbled. He sat down by her side, and took her right hand into his. Juvia's eye twitched as he did so.

"Love Rival." She hissed.

Gray ignored the comment, and looked at the wound. " 'J.H', What's that supposed to mean?" He looked to happy for an answer.

"I don't know! Just please! Help her! She's dying god dammit!" Happy shouted, on the verge of tears.

Gray turned back to Lucy. He put his hand on top of hers, closed his eyes, and a blue aura soon filled the air under his palm. The aura stopped as soon as it started, and Gray moved his hand away, presenting an ice-bandage over top of her wound. "All right," Gray spoke sternly, "With this heat, that bandage will only last about twenty minutes. That should be enough time to get her back to the guild. Happy, grab Natsu. I've got the girl."

Gray's ice bandages have an unusual effect. When an ice bandage is applied to a wound, not only does it stop bleeding, but in turn, begins to heal the wound itself.

Happy looked down at Natsu, who was curled up in a ball of hurt on the ground. "Aye Sir!"

Juvia turned to Gray. "Juvia will help you carry her, Gray-sama!" Gray picked up Lucy and draped her over his back.

"Nah, I've got her. She weighs practically nothing." Gray replied. "Besides, apparently she's your 'Love Rival'. Why would you want to help her?" Gray asked sarcastically.

Happy giggled. "Love rival?! Her? Natsu told me he already has dibs." He then started bursting out laughing. "Look at his sorry ass!" The reason Happy was laughing so hard is because Natsu had begun talking in his sleep. "L-L-ucy. M-m-ust help Lucy." He whispered.

Gray started to chuckle too. "Man, that guy's a piece of work."

Happy started to laugh so hard, that he dropped Natsu onto the cement. He landed face first into the ground, and then stood up like nothing happened. "I wasn't asleep!" He busted out.

Happy was currently crying from his laughing fit. "Yup," He laughed, "definitely a piece of work!"

Natsu turned to Happy. "WHO YOU CALLING A PIECE OF WORK?!" He then butted heads with the cat.

"WHO DO YOU THINK, WEIRDO?!"

"WELL, IT BETTER NOT HAVE BEEN ME!"

Gray stopped in his tracks, which caused the two to ram into the back of him.

"HEY!WHAT"S THE BIG IDEA, ICE BREATH?!"

He turned. "CUT IT OUT YOU IDIOTS! LUCY NEEDS HELP AND YOU GUYS ARE PICKING FIGHTS!?" This caused Natsu to glance at him. Draped over his shoulder, Lucy was getting paler by the minute, and seemed to be fighting for her life.

"WELL WHAT ARE WE STANDIN' AROUND FOR?!" He shouted angrily. "LET'S GET BACK TO THE GUILD HALL ALREADY!" After his sudden outburst, Natsu grabbed Lucy off of Gray's shoulder, put her on his own, and then started running in the direction of the guild.

"OY! NATSU!" Gray called after him. "WAIT FOR US!"

Gray, Juvia, and Happy followed Natsu; who was, in turn, leaving them in the dust.

()()()()()()()