Luminescence

Her eyes felt so heavy.

"Didn't you know?"

She yawned behind a hand and shook her head. The rocking of the carriage didn't help much to keep her from falling asleep.

"Those things are huge and I can't believe he exploded one of them in one blow!"

She sat back and smiled at him softly when he chuckled. The moment she decided to rest her eyes for a bit, she felt fingers trip down the side of her face, brushing a strand of her hair back.

"You look tired," he whispered.

She looked up at him and blushed at him being so close. She quickly averted her eyes again. "Don't worry about Juvia, Grey-sama. Juvia is fine."

Grey watched her for a moment longer and then sighed, moving back to stare out of the small window at the passing scenery.

Juvia opened her eyes and looked at him silently, admiring his quiet reassurance and confident disposition.

It'd been those two qualities of his that had saved her a few hours ago; she never would've finished the mission on her own without him there.

Her face was growing red again as she thought of what he must've been thinking now that she so pitifully failed on a mission she picked out herself. How embarrassing…

She'd sworn to protect him and yet he ended up protecting her. On a mission he had no part in initially.

She'd failed to find a partner for the mission and Grey'd probably felt the need to help her out of some misplaced feeling of guilt. He was too kind of a person… It had never been her intention to have him worry about her. Ever.

She loved him too much for that.

"I'm so sorry, Grey-sama."

He looked at her again, smiling comfortingly. "Hey, what for? And I told you; just Grey is fine."

She shook her head and sniffled, eyes directed to the floor as she desperately tried to keep the tears at bay. Every bone in her body ached and she felt like a complete failure as she sat there, feeling exhausted while she hadn't really done much to help him during the battle. "Juvia should have thought things through! Juvia never should've put Grey-sama in a position where he'd felt the need to protect her. Juvia doesn't deserve it… she is so sorry…"

Grey frowned a bit at her stubbornness, but couldn't help reaching out for her as she broke down in silent sobs. "Hey… we all make mistakes, it's no big deal," he said comfortingly. "Better luck next time, right?"

Juvia bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling and turned her head to the side in an effort to hide the tears that now welled up from her eyes.

He'd grasped the meaning of every small thing she did for him a while ago, he'd understood from where her feelings were coming from and where he at first couldn't see the depth of her caring for him, he now saw how lucky he really was. It hadn't been hard… it had been surprisingly easy; all he'd had to do was open his eyes and see that she'd always been there. She had always wanted to be there with him and for him.

She'd made it so surprisingly easy.

"Shhh…" Grey whispered, silencing her soft sobs.

The moment she looked up, his lips were covering hers and she stilled; eyes wide open in shock.

Not only was she kind and beautiful, but she genuinely cared for him and loved him, despite his flaws. It had felt increasingly uncomfortable to see her put herself through so many hardships just because she loved him. He wanted to let her know now that he'd do the same for her and not only because they were nakama.

He broke the kiss and stared into her teary eyes. "Well?" he murmured softly.

Her trembling fingers touched where he'd kissed her, her eyes still shedding tears as she kept looking at him, clearly at a loss for words.

He grinned and moved closer again, this time taking her face in his hands. "You're not alone in this anymore. You have me."

Juvia gasped, realizing the true meaning of his words with renewed shock. Her lower lip began to quiver and the tears welled up again, but this time for a whole different reason. "Grey-sam—"

Grey kissed her again, his lips sliding lazily over hers. By the time he broke the kiss she was panting and blushing even more.

"I keep telling you," Grey murmured, nuzzling the tip of his nose against hers, "I don't want any of that. Please call me 'Grey', Juvia."

She hesitantly placed a hand against the side of his face in turn and slid it up into his hair. "Grey…"

He smiled and closed his eyes, leaning into her touch lovingly. "Don't put me on a pedestal… I don't want that."

"You're the one and only for me, Grey… I don't— I don't know how else to treat you; Juvia only always managed to make men run away from her. I don't know how else to—"

"You have me," he said again, interrupting her. "You have me; I don't want to leave you. So, how about me making you feel like you're indispensable to me?"

When next he began to take off his shirt, she silently hoped for Magnolia to still be far, far away.

"So that's what happened?"

Both Juvia and Grey looked at their friends from their seat at the other side of the small vip room of the club. Grey grinned and lowered his head into the crook of Juvia's neck again, kissing his way up towards her ear.

Natsu smiled above his drink as he watched Grey's hand slide up Juvia's thigh. He could tell that their relationship was strong and passionate. Their personalities were complementary to each other: Grey learnt humility and a softspokenness he hadn't possessed before, Juvia had blossomed ever since she joined the guild and grown more confident and bold in her behavior and mannerisms. Truth be told, he and Lucy had been wondering when Grey would finally admit to what Juvia had been feeling for him the moment they'd met. It always felt nice to see two people find each other, especially when you almost gave up on ever seeing it happening.

"Well, I guess I have to admit defeat," Lucy said, looking at Natsu, who grinned back. "I'll have to settle with Natsu after all."

Juvia laughed at them and then looked up at Grey. "You two belong together, just like Grey and I do." She closed her eyes when he moved in to kiss her forehead.

Natsu kissed Lucy's temple and held her close. "To each her own, right?"

"You're damn right about that," Grey murmured, kissing Juvia on her lips again.

Lucy smiled and leaned into Natsu, remembering their first time.

"Are you sure?"

Lucy took a breath and looked around her again. "No…"

Natsu smirked and kissed her. He felt her shiver. "Are you cold? Want me to heat up the water some more?"

She brushed a strand of wet hair out of her face and looked at the steaming water of the pool around them. "It's fine…" she whispered back softly, smiling up at him.

They floated around in the water for a few moments, wordlessly looking at each other in the dim light of the hundreds of candles aligning the edges of the pool.

Natsu could still sense that she was nervous. "There's no one here, I checked before we got into the water. The guild is empty."

"I know that," she whispered back, "I trust you. It's just…" she sighed and bit her lower lip, trying to find the right words.

"We both want this," he murmured, kissing her lips, "but if it'll make you feel better; I'm nervous too."

She blinked in surprise at that. "Why? I'm the one who is supposed to try and live up to—" she fell silent again, closing her eyes in regret of what she was going to say.

Natsu's eyes widened for a moment, but he smiled in understanding soon after. "I don't want you to try and live up to whatever you think you have to; Lisanna and you are two different persons. I could never draw a comparison between the two of you, nor would I want to. It's Lucy Heartfilia that I want, not Lisanna."

Lucy smiled tearfully at that and nodded, having found the courage for what was going to happen once more. "So why are you nervous?"

"Are you kidding?" Natsu replied and they both laughed. "Last time we did this, I was desperate and you were on the rebound. We both weren't exactly in favorable states of mind."

"True," Lucy whispered and then moved in to kiss him lovingly on his lips. "But you know what?"

"What?" Natsu whispered back, nuzzling her throat.

Lucy let her head fall backwards and held in a gasp when his lips slid lower down her chest. "Since we both are in favorable states of mind right now, we can always try again until we get it right."

Natsu pulled her back to him so that they were face to face again. "Is that a challenge?"

Lucy blushed, the expression on his face right then and there oozing sex. Yet at the same time she frowned, not seeing how what she said could be taken as a… oh. "Oh…!"

He smirked deviously, his nervousness now completely gone. "How many times do you think we'll need?"

When he kissed her next, the last thought she had that night flew right out of the window and she let go, knowing that he'd be there to catch her, just like he promised.

Lucy bit her lower lip at the memory and gasped when Natsu nibbled on her naked shoulder, loving the fact that they still felt passionate about one and other after so much time. She wished for Juvia nothing else but to be as happy as she was right now.

Because she knew that being loved and being able to return that love was the most cherished gift you could ever give a woman.

And if there was ever a man who understood that after everything he went through in his youth, then it was Grey. Ur had thought him well.

And there was no way that he would let go.

Not this time.

Thanks for the support everyone! Catch ya'll on the next one!

-BDP-