.Servatorem.
The smell of Juvia's chili makes Lucy's mouth water. She hadn't had it in months. She sits patiently at the table with her hand tracing circles into the surface of the wood. Her free hand pets Happy, raking through his fur and causing him to purr every few seconds. Natsu stared at them from across the table. His eyes narrowed on Happy, who contentedly snuggled into Lucy's hand. He frowned, muttering a, "Traitor," under his breath.
The cat sent him a smug smirk in return. He spun to face Lucy, looking at her with wide eyes. "Can I have a fish?" He asked in a sickeningly sweet tone. He hadn't kept his mouth shut since they got off the train for nothing. If he played his cards right, he'd be able to mooch a week's worth of fish off Lucy.
There's a clattering as Juvia drops her large wooden spoon on the floor. Plue scurried over, licking the remnants of sauce from the back of the item. She goes rigid, turning to see who the voice belonged to. Lucy sighed. She should've seen this coming, but Happy had been so quiet that the fact that he could talk had just slipped her mind and she forgot to say anything about it. "What," Juvia says after a long minute of glancing around the open layout of Lucy's apartment, "Was that?"
Happy looked at her like she was crazy. "It was me, obviously," He announced, looking the woman dead in the eyes. After a moment of no response, he said, "So can I have the fish?"
Juvia nodded her head slowly, processing the information. She'd heard of talking cats, but she had never once seen one in person. Even though Happy looked weird, she just assumed that the cat had gone through a strange magical transformation.
Having licked the spoon clean, Plue trotted away, probably to go lay down and sleep in his bed. His dog tags jingled loudly as he walked, letting them all know he was leaving. Lucy watched him leave, only turning back to the cat when the noise of Plue's tag's clinking together stopped.
"We don't have any," Lucy supplied the answer when it became clear her friend wasn't going to. "Maybe you could get some from the store with Natsu?" She ended the statement with a jaw-cracking yawn. Juvia glanced at her over her shoulder as she picked the spoon from the floor and got a new one. There was an unspoken word in her gaze and the blonde quickly turned away.
Natsu tears his eyes away from the steaming chili to look at her. "Huh?"
She snorted and rolled her eyes at him. "Nothing," She looks back at Happy as he curls up on the table next to her. A comfortable silence falls over them as she ran her fingers through the cat's hair, the only noise being the sound of Natsu's knee hitting the table as his leg bounced up and down. A habit, she assumed.
His eyes eventually drifted back to the pot on the stove, and Lucy took the opportunity to examine his features properly; the way his jaw sloped abruptly, the unusual sharpness of his ears, how his shaggy hair spiked up in all directions, and even the strangely sharp canines she could see peeking through his slightly open mouth.
Juvia tapped the ladle on the side of the pot a few times, then faced them with her back leaning against the counter. The blonde blinked curiously at her. "Natsu," She paused to make sure he was paying attention. He was. "What magic do you use?"
He grinned and blew a plume of smoke from his mouth, causing the blonde to hurry and fan it away from the smoke detectors. At her glare, he gave a sheepish laugh. "Dragon Slayer." He said simply.
The swimmer's brows practically shot up into her forehead. "Uh, wow. That's... rare," She stopped herself from saying 'absolutely destructive.'
"And annoying! He blew up my hotel room and got me banned," Lucy hissed as she shot the sheepish man a glare, sitting back in her seat. Juvia chuckled and began getting out spoons and bowls, setting them on the table. She dropped a heat-resistant pad on the wooden surface before setting the pot on it, taking her own seat afterward.
"Dinner is served," She smiled, piling some chili into her bowl. Lucy followed. Natsu waited until they'd filled their bowls before pulling the pot in front of himself and eating straight from it. Juvia pursed her lips and sighed.
"You're going to eat the whole thing, aren't you?" She looked at him with a critical eye, only half amused by the situation.
He jerked his head in a nod and shoved a mouthful of chili in his mouth. Easily recognizing that he wasn't going to give up the food no matter what she said, Juvia changed the topic. Between bites of chili, she listened to Lucy recount some of the details of her trip, smiling and laughing the whole time. Happy was content to ignore them, preferring to quietly nap in an empty spot on the table.
They all finished eating at the same time, which was surprising considering Natsu had gotten at least four times the amount of food that they did. He let out a satisfied belch, patting his full tummy as he rocked on the back two legs of the chair. Juvia placed all the dirty dishes in the sink and began to wash her hands. "You're welcome," She said, passive-aggressively reminding them to say thank you.
At the same time, Natsu and Lucy snorted before grunting out a half-hearted thank you. Juvia nodded her approval. She maneuvered so that she was standing out of Natsu's eyesight, giving Lucy a pointed and meaningful look. When the blonde feigned confusion, she mouthed, "We need to talk. You know what to do."
Lucy dropped her head onto the table with a loud thud. After an exaggerated sigh, she looked up at Natsu and Happy. "Will you two go to the store and get some fish?"
Happy perked, "I was going to go anyway, but thanks for paying!" He said as Lucy took money from her purse and slid it across the table. She gave him a sour look, cursing him under her breath.
Natsu stood, pocketing the cash. Pensive, he said, "Can I get snacks?"
"Yes," Lucy shooed them away, standing up and shoving them toward the door. "The grocery store is on the other side of town. Please don't blow anything up on the way there," She watched Natsu and Happy run of, both excited by the prospect of food even though one of them just ate.
She stalled for a second, closing the door slowly so she would have a chance to collect her thoughts before facing her best friend.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Everything."
"...I'll get the bath running."
"Well?" Juvia raised a brow, crossing her arms over her chest and causing water to slosh around in the tub.
"Well, what?" Lucy said stubbornly. "I'm not the only one with problem's here. Don't think I haven't noticed the nonstop texting and how you don't talk about how much fun you have at work as much as you used to." She fired back. Her arms wrapped around her knees to draw them to her chest, and she rested her chin on them.
From her side of the tub, Juvia deflated. "You go first." Seeing Lucy's unwilling look, she held up one of her balled up fists. Lucy did the same, and they counted to three before throwing out paper, rock, or scissors. Juvia ended up winning, her rock smashing Lucy's scissors.
"Shit," She muttered under her breath. After exhaling a deep breath, she met Juvia's eye. "Just confused, I guess." As an afterthought, she added, "And exhausted,"
Juvia nodded, asking, "Confused about what? I thought you already found the man you were looking for," She finished off with a suggestive quirking of her eyebrow.
"Cut it out!" The blonde muttered, splashing a little water at her friend and blushing. "That's not what I meant. Makarov, the guild master of Fairy Tail, gave me a diary that once belonged to one of my relatives. It's hundreds of years old and in another language, but I can read it, somehow," She brushed her bangs out of her eyes to watch a thoughtful expression pass over Juvia's face.
"That is weird," She hummed. "What's in it?" At that, the blonde's gaze shifted to the side.
"Can't say. I'll tell you later though," Lucy ran a hand through her hair in slight frustration. "Apparently I'm in some sort of danger. I might have to end up moving to Magnolia so Makarov can keep a closer eye on me." She snorted, "I can protect myself just fine though."
Juvia's brows drew together in worry and she placed a hand on Lucy's knee to get her attention. "Is it something I can help with?"
The blonde tried not to flinch away as a yawn tore through her tense facial muscles. "No," she said on the tail end of the yawn. "Not really." There was an uncertainty in her voice that showed through even though she tried to push it down. She felt unbelievably helpless not being able to do much for herself, and it was starting to rot away at what little self-confidence she had left.
"Lucy." Juvia hissed, frustrated beyond belief at the blonde's insistence that she didn't need any assistance, "Please, just let me help," Her irritated tone faded into a soft plea.
Clenching her jaw, Lucy ground her teeth together. Did everyone have to go and try and help her, no matter how many times she said no? "I said I can handle it, for fuck's sake!" Her voice shook, and she closed her eyes to keep her tears of frustration from falling.
"Really? Because it doesn't look like you're handling it all that great to me," Juvia's sarcastic tone was comforting in a strange way, easing the tension that had boiled between them.
"Is it too much to ask for a little trust? I know my limits well enough," Lucy muttered with a huff, brushing her bangs out of her face. As an afterthought, she added, "Just because I'm not some immortal mage doesn't mean I can't take manage my life just fine,"
Juvia's expression soured at the thought that she would outlive her friend. "Mages aren't immortal, and I never said you couldn't... it's just," A sigh escaped her mouth and her gaze fell to the water. "There's nothing wrong with accepting help, Lucy," She said earnestly.
Lucy's brows scrunched together slightly. It sounded like Juvia was speaking from experience here. "Where's this coming from?" There was such a long pause that she didn't think the swimmer would answer.
"Phantom Lord was all I ever knew. And Jose... he raised me when I was abandoned by my parents. He used to tell me that if people couldn't help themselves, they didn't deserve to be saved," Juvia gave a dry laugh as she traced circles into her knee, "I realize now how crazy that sounds; he did help me, after all."
There was a moment where Juvia got lost in her thoughts, and Lucy cleared her throat to get her attention again. Juvia blinked, then continued, "Growing up I did terrible things to other people, for the simple reason that I didn't know those terrible things were actually bad. I was fourteen when Phantom Lord was finally disbanded for doing a bunch of illegal activities. Everyone was arrested. We were all going to go to jail, but an elder at the council heard of my sob-story and he saw the good in me. He helped me, sent me to therapy. From there, I met you, and the rest is history."
Lucy's hands clenched and unclenched under the surface of the water. "I get it. If... When I need help, I'll tell you," She said firmly.
Juvia smiled and sighed, "Thanks,"
"Now," the blonde started, raising a suggestive brow, "Tell me about this mysterious texter,"
The swimmer's face flamed. "He's just someone I met a few weeks ago. He was on a job and stopped by the pool for a swim,"
Lucy could tell there was more to the story. In their seven years of friendship, she'd never once heard Juvia talk about a boy. She waited for Juvia to continue, allowing the woman to collect her thoughts to collect her thoughts.
She didn't look Lucy in the eye as she said, "I want to go back to being a mage. I've been meaning to tell you, but with everything that's been going on..." The end of the sentence went unspoken, both of them already knowing what she meant.
Lucy pushed her bangs out of her eyes. Her back went ramrod straight and she took to bouncing her fingers of her free hand against the side of the tub; a nervous twitch. "Oh," The word came as a hurt whisper, but she quickly covered it up as she continued, "So you're going to join another guild?"
Juvia jerked her head up and down in a nod. "At first I thought of Mermaid Heel, or maybe Sabertooth," She started. After a moment of thinking over her next statement, she said, "But then I met a boy. He came to Hargeon on a mission and stopped by the pool. He told me he was in a guild, and I asked if maybe I could join someday. He... he said that I'd have to leave Hargeon, but of course, I could join,"
Lucy swallowed thickly. Why did it feel as if she was losing her best friend? No, that was silly; she doubted Juvia would just leave her in the dust for some guy she met. Though she wasn't completely convinced by her own thoughts, she put on a brave front and smiled. It wasn't her place to ruin Juvia's happiness. "That's good. I'm happy for you,"
"How could you say that?" Juvia's voice quivered as she said it, and for the first time, Lucy looked up at her. Fat tears rolled down the woman's face and she tried desperately to wipe them away. "I'm leaving you, my best friend, to pursue a selfish desire! I feel so guilty for being happy when your life is falling down around you!"
"I..." The blonde's shoulder's slumped. Juvia wore her heart on her sleeve, so the crying wasn't too big of a surprise, but her guilt felt like a stab in the gut. "Juvs, it's not your fault. I'm a big girl, remember? I can take care of myself. Mostly," The joke fell flat, but they both laughed anyway, Juvia's sounding more like a breathless sob. It was quiet for several moments, each of them taking the opportunity to collect their thoughts.
Juvia sank deeper into the tub and closed her eyes. After drawing in a long, slow breath, she opened them again. "I know. I guess I'm just worried. The last guild I was in corrupted me from the inside out and nearly resulted in me being thrown in prison. What if this is the same? What if I join and all of a sudden I'm involved in some illegal black market again? And... What if I never see you again?"
"Phantom Lord was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, Juvs. Stop doubting yourself and go for it. What's the name of the guild you're joining?" The words came out soft and comforting, and Lucy accompanied the statement with a supportive pat on the knee.
She shrugged. "I don't know yet. I'm going to visit in a few days to see if they accept me,"
Lucy stood from the water, causing the liquid in the tub to slosh around again. "You know what? You're an amazing friend and a great person. They'd be fools to turn you away." She rested a hand on her hip, finally noticing how pruney her fingers had become. "Now, are we done here? My hands don't need to be grosser than they actually are," She offered her best friend a helping hand, which was taken with a grateful smile.
When Juvia was on her feet, Lucy pulled her into a hug. "It'll work out," she muttered, squeezing her eyes shut. A part of her was trying to convince herself, and another was trying to convince Juvia. "Promise," She felt the swimmer nod against her shoulder.
The sentimental hug quickly turned awkward, and they both pulled away. "No more naked hugs," Juvia said, stepping out of the tub. "That was just... no."
"Agreed," Lucy said, doing the same.
I'M BACK BITCHES. Yeah, it's been a while. I'm taking my first AP class (AP European History) and I'm only just now starting to get in a comfortable spot. Haha, anyway, here's the background on Juvia some of you have been asking for. It's not much, but I plan to include little snippets here and there. Before I forget, a pat on the back to me for finally breaking 20k words!
I don't own Fairy Tail.
Thanks to the reviewers: DiamondWolf210, FlameDragonHime, Lizz Cold 790, sarara1.8, Lady Mafia Dragneel, noseinabook145, and Grandeeney Marvell.
Don't forget to drop a review!
