Ok, so yea, almost a month. Why? Because I am a busy bee, and also a lazy bee xD. So the anime started the Sun Village Arc! Finally, woot woot ^^ Lol I know I'm late, but! It's okay! Because! Chapter! 8! Warning: Mild Language!

Gray: I can't believe I just left her there...damn you, Lyon!

Lyon: Has Ur not taught you better, Gray? Watch your tongue!

Gray: You don't tell me what to fucking do.

Lyon: *glares*

No one's POV:

The guild was silent upon the mage's return from their mission. All eyes were glued onto the Wizards, all walking into the guild with knowing looks on their faces. The master took all of this in with worried eyes.

"Did it go well?" he asks Erza, whose face was encased in shadows. A lengthy pause follows before the woman even moves. "He came and got her himself. Lyon did," she says slowly.

"What?" Makarov says incredulously. "Impossible. Why would the sender of the mission come up just to do it himself?"

Gray tsked, his tensed hands balled into tight fists. "That's just what I wanna know," he seethes, his eyes alive with anger. Lucy looks at the ice wizard with a small frown.

"Gray," she begins, "though it goes against what we are used to, technically, our part in the mission is over."

Happy flies next to Natsu and lands on his shoulder, giving a small 'aye' in response to the blonde's words. The bubblegum haired dragonslayer opens his mouth to address the ice make user. "Lucy's right. Everything about that mission is now behind us. That means that woman—"

"She is not just a woman!" the shirtless Mage yells, quieting the growing whispers from the mess hall. "Her name is Juvia. Juvia Lockser."

Gray shakes violently, his pure fury uncontainable now. "I can't believe I just left her there. You all have no clue, no clue whatsoever. She's alone in this world. There's no one to watch out for her, no one to help her, no one to even fucking talk to her. She wanders town to town because of her damned rain. The rain that I pulled her out of. The rain that I wanted to help cease altogether!"

He falls to his knees and bends forward, feeling the cold floor with his widespread palms. "I wanted to be there for her. But because of this stupid mission. I couldn't. Because of Fairy Tail's dumb as fuck rules, I couldn't go to her."

Gray whirls around, facing Natsu, facing the Master, facing the guild. With tears streaming down his face, he proclaims, "If a mission came that instructed you all to kill a little girl, would you?!"

"Hell no," replied Natsu, pure disgust lining his face. "Why would you even say that?"

"Because," whispers the ice Mage venomously, "according to this guild's old ass rule, you would have to. And guess what? If you didn't, you'd be kicked out the guild."

"Gray," warns Makarov, walking gracefully toward the taller. "You talk differently from the current situation. No one here is taking a life."

"We might as well be! What life is there, wandering alone everywhere, not having anyone by your side?! Tell me! You all!" Gray faces the guild with widespread arms, in an attempt to win them over, to get on his side. It just wasn't fair! Nothing here was fair!

"Tell me the difference between leaving an innocent woman alone for the rest of her life, and taking that same life! Killing them emotionally, or killing them physically! Having to live, dead, or having to die, dead!? Which, in your damned minds, is worse?!"

"Gray!" Wendy squeaks, tears forming in her eyes.

"I want to at least help Juvia so she can live peacefully! So she won't have to live each and everyday feeling like she's nothing in the world! I want to help her so she's doesn't feel dead while she's still living!" the black hair yells, openly crying now. "What is so wrong with that!? Why won't you let me help her—"

A sickening crunch greets the sound of the fairies' ears, and Gray flies into the nearby wooden wall, which breaks and collapses under his weight. In the place where the Mage used to stand resides Natsu, his eyes narrowed into slits, and a muscled arm completely engulfed in flames.

"Do not talk about that stranger as if she's more important than the family you've known for most of your life," Natsu says, a deathly chill in his voice. "Are you trying to imply you know so much about this woman that you are willing to break a Fairy Tail tradition for her? Not to mention you met her, what, a few hours ago?"

Planks of wood rain down upon the dark haired, beating his battered body even further. Yet, he stands with death on his face. "She's worth it," he says softly, wiping off his tears and the dust from the impact. "I feel like I've known her forever. Her smile...it's something I want to save, to keep, to treasure. You all may not get it, but I'm smitten."

"Ah!" gasps Lucy, holding her heart for emphasis.

"I've decided," he continues, "that I want to stay in the guild. But, I also want to help Juvia. Regardless of the rule I'm about to break, and wether you kick me out because of it, I will always consider myself a Fairy Tail wizard."

At that, he turns and leaves through the hole in the wall, where some planks of wood still hang precariously onto, walking towards the horizon, where the large sun lazily sits. The retreating back of their comrade cast long shadows back towards the guild, mimicking his every slight movement. Erza stared after him wisely, taking in sips and slowly drinking the speech he gave, comprehending it. Natsu glared after him, livid that he even considered the woman. Lucy and Wendy held each other, silent tears in their faces, staring gravely at their comrade. Carla and Wendy looked worried, large eyes taking in the scene with a mix of fascination and a sense of doom. Makarov sighs, closing his eyes and turning away. Forcing a small, dim smile, Mirajane sets a bottle in front of the old man. "He'll definitely come back," she states. The master nods slightly, taking a swing of the beer.

"That idiot son better not do anything stupid," he mutters.

It was evening, around seven, when Gray's back finally disappeared, and the guild was left with only the sun in his wake.

...

Juvia picked at her new dress. The feeling of the soft material against her skin was completely new, something she had never experienced before.

"Ahh, it looks so wonderful!" gushes Chelia, giving Juvia nod after nod of approval, circling the woman. The girl had brought Juvia along on her shopping spree, determined to buy the both of them at least twenty sets of clothing, which Juvia frankly thought was ridiculous. But, nevertheless, the energetic smile on her young face was contagious.

The shorter girl lifted up the silky lower half of the dress, studying the fabric intently. "This color...I love it so much! So so so very much! And it's so soft!"

Juvia, embarrassed, gently snags the cloth away. "Th- Thank you," she says gently, which only excites the child more. "Oh, no need! You're just too cute, Juvia!"

'Cute?' thought the blue haired silently, twisting to see herself better in the mirror. Chelia had picked a pale yellow spaghetti strap dress, which hugged her chest and waist tightly. A baby blue sash was fashioned around her midsection, the border between the upper and lower halves. From there, the dress exploded, ruffles upon ruffles cascading down in a graceful and elegant manor. The tint began as blue, the same as the sash, and ended as the same pale yellow in the upper half.

Juvia had to admit, the dress looked beautiful.

To top it all off, Chelia had picked a large floppy straw hat, with a blue ribbon that ended in a bow tied around it, for her to wear, along with some fashionable strappy sandals.

"Oooh, Juvia!" squeals Chelia delightfully, hands covering her mouth. "I know Lyon will love this! Because I doooo!"

"Really?" questions Juvia, twirling to see the dress spin out from under her.

"Definitely! Without! A! Doubt!" cheers the younger, erupting into a fit of giggles. "You're gonna be lookin' FAB for your date tomorrow!"

The older girl turns to her reflection. Smiles. The dress seemed to smile with her. Maybe she could do this. Live a new life, move on. Forget her past. Forget that...person.

She sure would try.

"Thank you," repeats Juvia, turning to Chelia with a large grin.

"Save the thank you for when your closets are full," jokes the younger, quickly pulling the outfit off of her. "Now hurry! We have some more shopping to do before it gets too late."

"Okay," giggles Juvia, removing her hat.

...

It was almost nine when the two leave the mall with several heaving bags of clothing, jewelry, and shoes. "How much did this all cost again?" asks the blue haired, her eyebrows rising at just how much clothing they had.

Balancing about twelve bags herself, Chelia frowns a bit, thinking, looking into space as she does so. "Maybe a good fifteen, twenty hundred? I don't know. I always send the cheek to Lyon's bank account."

Dumbfounded, Juvia stops. "Over one thousand, five hundred dollars? Up to two thousand? Are you kidding me?"

Trying, and failing, to contain her laughter, Chelia simply keeps walking. "Oh, don't worry, he has the money. And he knows about my money spending problem, but he doesn't care. As long as I'm happy. I've spent up to about thirty thousand once, and all he did was freeze a chair."

The blue haired blinked. "He froze a chair," she repeats, hurrying to catch up with the girl.

"No, wait, was that time I only spent a hundred? Yeah...yeah! When I spent thirty thousand, he didn't freeze a chair, silly me, he froze a whole continent."

Juvia drops her bags. "Okay, what the fuck Chelia?"

The girl burst out laughing so loudly that bystanders stares as they walked past. A full minute passed, and the girl had just barely gotten it together, wiping tears from her eyes. "I've never heard you cuss before, Juvia!" she pants between each fit of shaking laughter. The blue haired, now uncomfortable, regathers her bags and waits.

"How did no one notice that a whole continent was suddenly cold and iced?" asks Juvia.

Finally breathing somewhat normally, Chelia giggles as she responds. "Well, duh. How do you think Antarctica came to be?"

Julia's blue, eyelash-rimmed eyes widen. That whole land area?

She did not get to question the matter more, as the pink haired was already ahead of her, hauling her bags as if they didn't weigh her down at all. Most likely due to experience, Juvia concluded, as she struggled with her bags. Finally getting a firm grip, she began to awkwardly half-walk, half-shuffle after the girl, who was now making lively conversation with random strangers.

A few minutes later, when Chelia was not as far away as before, Juvia bumped into a man, dropping some of her bags as she did so. Embarrassed at the mess on the floor, she muttered an 'excuse me', and started to pick up her belongings.

"No, no, not at all," says the oddly familiar voice. Surprise overtakes her, and Juvia looks into the man's face, and—

"Gray," she whispers.

His smoldering dark eyes meet hers, and her breath hitches in her throat. She forgot how beautiful his eyes were.

And then she remembers why she forgot.

She frowns, grabs her things with a huff, and walks away quickly, searching for her pink haired shopping partner.

"Juvia!" Gray calls from behind her, a yearning in his voice that makes her want to almost stop and go back to him. But he lied. He messed with her feelings. She gave him a chance, and he turned his back on her. What does he want with her again? Just to mess with her heart?

No gonna happen.

"Please, wait up!"

Juvia rushes at this point. Chelia was a clear twenty feet away, but it looked like a hundred. Not to mention the fullness of the crowd. It didn't help, didn't help at all, and if anything, Juvia would've thought the crowd was working against her, pushing her to Gray instead of to Chelia.

Instead of to Lyon.

"Juvia," speaks the voice from right behind her, and Juvia doesn't turn around. She gave him a chance, and he failed. Gave Lyon a chance, and he took it. He even stopped her rain!

So why was she so tempted to turn and look at him?

A family of seven walks in front of her, and she groans internally. At this rate, Gray really will catch up—

"I'm so, so sorry," Gray says softy by her ear, eliciting a startled blush, and jump, from her. What the—

"Juvia!" yells Chelia, locating Juvia and waving her over. She stands by a bus stop. "Come here, we're about to leave! The bus will leave in about thirty seconds!"

"That's more than enough time," mutters Gray, forcefully spinning Juvia around to face him.

Narrowing her eyes, Juvia glares daggers at him. "What do you want with me?!" she angrily snaps.

"Twenty seconds!" Chelia calls out impatiently.

"I just want you to understand that I...I made a mistake back there. I messed up big time, and you hate me for it. Trust, I hate me too right now," Gray speaks quickly, lowering his eyes. "But—"

"Ten seconds! Come on, Juvia! The bus is gonna leave us!"

The blue haired backs away slowly, shaking her head. "Why should I even believe a single word you're saying, Gray?"

"Seven...six!" Chelia sounds panicked.

"Because I..." Gray begins, a rose sprouting on his cheeks.

"Five...four!"

Juvia huffs again and turns on her heel, dashing for the bus. The pink hair's eyes light up at the incoming figure of her friend.

"...love you."

The whispered line was loud in her ears, three words Juvia didn't expect to hear. The heart of the girl went into a frenzy, thank goodness her face the man didn't see. As bright as a tomato, as one would say, as sharp a contrast as night is to day. The two females boarded the bright bus, watching the stars shine by and by, as one thought their spending a must, the other thought of two men to decide.

Idk, the poem at the end. It just...came. Maybe inspired by Shakespeare because? I just! So, kinda long chapter! Hope you liked it! Review, follow, favorite, all that juice. See you all in Ch 9!