Chapter X: Bubbling Feelings
It hadn't been that long since the night Natsu and Juvia settled for 'taking things slowly' between them so that they could better understand their feelings for another, and surprisingly the water woman was taking it quite well. For now, it was dedicating what time they could during the day to continue training, as it was the original purpose of the trip they were on. Seeing as they were at a beach like environment, they felt it was a cool place to settle for a short while. Though, one of the bad things they eventually came to understand was the lack of good resources around them. Unlike before, they were in the pure wild, having sources of food and what not available to them without too much worry. However, being out here was slightly more difficult as their camp could be a little farther out than before. It wasn't too much of a stretch, but sometimes it had meant that the two of them needed to plan a little more in advanced. Some of the nearby towns were also still an option if they needed, but it was likely farther, and they needed to save their funds for when they really needed to.
From the morning up, the two of them would run back across the length of the beach with their respective footwear on. It wouldn't have been bad but the two of them simply wanted to be cautious about avoiding cutting their feet, especially since they wouldn't be able to disinfect it, and the pinkette didn't feel comfortable cauterizing his 'somewhat' new lover's foot. Since they weren't too used to it, they took it at a slower pace to just adjust before taking it up a few notches. It wasn't too bad. After their short break, the dragonslayer would ask the rainwoman to help spot him, and after he had finished, they'd switch and he would do the same for her.
Holding his feet steady, her job was to keep track of how many he had done and to assure he wasn't cheating in any form of way. "Alright, I'm ready~" telling him with a light smile on her face. Watching, she found it a little difficult to concentrate however, as he rested his hands behind his head, pulling himself up for crunches, "1,..." counting just as he came forward, "2,...3,..." this wasn't the time or the place, but she couldn't help but feel distracted by him. "No, Natsu is counting on you, Juvia" mentally snapping herself out of it, she continued keeping focus on the task he had given her.
"Juv,...?" keeping himself up, taking a short little break, "H-How many was that...?" gasping a little for air. He had trained hard before, but this was one of the rare few times that he did this after running on the beach for quite a while. "Juv...?" calling out to her once more, looking at her a little worn out.
A little embarrassed, she felt guilty, "S-Sorry..." ashamed, she felt a little glum with a light fluster on her face, "Juvia was,... too distracted by the sight of her beloved that she lost track of the number" hiding her face a little, "Juvia accepts all forms of punishment!" the guilt overwhelming her.
"It's fine" catching her off guard, she peeked a little from between her fingers until she slowly removed them from her face. To further assure her, he planted his hand on her head gently and petted her slightly with a large smile, "You must really love me though, don'tcha?" smiling bright at her.
Her face burned and flustered a little from what was happening. Feeling his lightly rough hand pet her made her heart quiver, speeding it up as she tried to contain herself. "Juvia does,..." a little embarrassed, finding it hard to admit it straight in front of him. She hadn't yet experienced what it felt for someone to at least accept all of her feelings, so the thought that the dragonslayer and easily accepted them given their situation took her by surprise. "Does this mean,...Natsu isn't mad at Juvia?" looking at him a little timidly.
"Juvia..." giving her a gentle look, "It's fine" assuring her once more, he rose up and stretched outwards a little, "But man that's sore! We've been doing this for what,... a couple weeks? And it hasn't felt any better" despite the pain he was feeling he somehow managed to put on a smile like there was nothing wrong in the world. "How about it" looking at her, "We spend the entire day training, then maybe go around find a little town for us" looking up, "Happy!" calling out to his friend sitting in the hut.
Fluttering out, a little worn and tired, the little exceed looked over at him, "Yawn~" tired he fell a little before smacking himself awake, "Yes, Natsu?" asking his friend.
"Well... this'll be a little mean of me..." scratching his cheek a little, nervously smiling at the blue cat, "But do you think you can scout out the nearest town?" he asked his friend, "You don't have to go far, but any nearest town will be all right" specifying just a little.
Mulling over it, "Mmmmmmm...Fine~" agreeing, "But! You have to buy me a super yummy fish!" crossing his arms, turning half way, peeking lightly to see if his friend could bite at the demand.
"Fine fine" agreeing, "Hurry up and look for one" not wanting to drag it on longer. Knowing his friend, unless he quickly agreed, the exceed would continue to make slightly more demands. Excited, his friend happily fled off without worries in search of a close town, "Well... I guess taking a job there wouldn't be too bad" a little bummed that it was going to be interrupting what little relaxing time they could get.
The water mage looked at him in confusion. From the beginning of their journey he had always tried to avoid going into town unless it was absolutely necessary like if they needed to pick up some supplies, spare set of clothes, or even if they were in light dire needs of food. So, hearing the fact that the dragonslayer had opted to go into town, something probably out of their way baffled her. Was he getting tired of living in the outdoors? It had been a few months already, so she could understand if he was dying for something modern. Hell, secretly she had been wanting a little time being able to take a hot shower, but she dealt with it primarily because she didn't want to bother him, at the time she already felt guilty for tagging along.
Feeling the need to ask him, she held her hands behind and leered in, "Um,... Natsu?" asking him. She waited for a bit to assure she had his complete attention, despite how bad it could be, "Are you getting tired of training out in the world?" asking. She wasn't sure what was on the dragonslayer's mind, but she had hoped perhaps that because of how close they have gotten over the time they've been on this journey, that hopefully he wouldn't be feeling so secretive and would speak with her about anything she needed to know.
"Hmm..?" looking at her a little odd, his hands on his waist, "No not really..." answering her, "It's just I wasn't too sure how much I could get done" expanding on his answer, "See... it's like Happy said. I didn't really have an idea what I was planning to do once I set off. Though,... It's not that what we've been doing was a waste of time either. I simply just think should do what we can now, find a good place to stay after, then go out" hoping that he at least made a little sense, because honestly, he wasn't too sure if he was. "Every now and then I want to see how much stronger I've become... so I can use that to gauge how much harder I need to train, that being said..." he dropped to the ground. It was difficult a little for him to get a good holding since it was sand and not much of it made for good holding, but he did his best, "I'm going to aim past 100!" smiling a little large, "Juvia! Get on" feeling riled and ready to push his limits.
"R-Really?!" her eyes beamed as she happily rushed over to him and lied on his back, pressing against him, holding him closely to her. Taking in his sent and feeling, she made sure that no part of her could slide off so that she wouldn't disturb the pinkette's training, "Juvia's ready~" smitten.
However, he hadn't moved a bit, "Uh,... Juvia,..." a little dulled with her action, flustered a little, "I meant sit on my back..." correcting him, "You're kind of..." he wasn't sure what the words were, but either way it was distracting him from what he was going to do.
"Mmmmm... But Juvia likes it this way!" pouting, lightly complaining with him as she held onto him a little tight, "Natsu's just going to have to deal with it" standing up for her actions.
Sighing just a little, he relaxed, "If you do this for me, Juvia,... I'll uh..." pondering what he could do to gamble with the rain woman, he realized there was no other option, "I guess... you know..." a little flustered, "...We can...tonight" finding it difficult to say.
Knowing exactly what he was getting at, she held a little tighter, "...Tonight and tomorrow" bargaining with him, feeling a little fluttered, "Natsu has to be Juvia's...warm bear" her face dyed red, she pressed her face into his face to avoid the feeling of her expression being exposed out to the open.
"..." realizing, that he hadn't immediately responded, she peeked out a little, noticing that steam was pouring from his face as it lied buried in the sand. He didn't know why it was so difficult to accept it, seeing as they had already done so once before. Though, recalling that night reminded him that this time he'd have to be even closer to her than he had planned. It was hard setting limits, especially since the person he had to set limits with was someone who was, without a doubt, fairly aggressive with her love. "...Fine" caving in.
Her heart jumped just imagining it as she happily got off of him and changed her position. Crossing her legs on his back, she faced his general direction as he got to work. However, because her heart was having a little too much joy in being accepted like that, she had to assure she didn't fall off, and instead 'locked' herself around him with a variant of 'Water Lock' she had created. It was a little difficult considering that perhaps some of the challenge was balancing, but she knew he didn't mind, or he'd have said something. His persistence inspired her; it always had since the moment their journey started. Even if it was painful, or he ran into a wall he couldn't move, he would force past it, determined to push through no matter what.
As the day continued to pass by, they took a light break as Natsu spotted for Juvia. Fueled by his spirit every day, she pushed as hard as she could to do the same. Mock training. Conditioning. It was fairly different from what she was used to, but she wanted to push as hard like the dragonslayer. It was a disease, she felt. Racing across the rough sand, morning and night, made every bit of her legs and feet ache more than her body. She had always watched the pinkette, pushing hard, and maybe, perhaps after that night, there was a part of her that wanted to see the road that lied ahead for them. Though, as they lied on the warm sand looking at another with a smile, their bodies in pain, she began to love the thrill of pushing through to the unknown.
-[x]-
Following the exceed, her heart was a little racing, wondering what they were going to do by the time they reached the city. Were they going to explore? See all the sights the city had to offer? There were endless possibilities fluttering through her mind the more she imagined it. Their bodies were still a little worn out from their usual morning run across the sandy beach, but the thought of being able to relax soothed her, and what more, being caught up in his arms. He had still promised an extra night of being her 'warm bear', meaning that tonight she would be allowed to feel the thrill of snuggling with the warm dragon in a comfortable bed, the thought of that sending her mind to mush.
Eventually, they arrived in the town led by the exceed. It wasn't large like Magnolia, but it was definitely bigger than the village they had stayed just a few months ago after the encounter with the fake 'Thunder God Tribe'. The town was bustling, with people going around place to place, or sitting at places while they ate. Nevertheless, it was a huge change of scenery for them as usually it was isolated with just the two of them around. However, considering then she could have Natsu all to herself, she couldn't necessary say it was entirely bad.
"Well, it's been a while, hasn't it Juvia?" smiling, he used his hand to block the sun from his vision as he eyed out the city, "Not sure what we'll do first, but what do you say we find an inn or something?" suggesting, "That way we can go get something to eat,... or look around without any worry of struggling to find a place".
Nodding, "As long as that's what you wanna do, anything is fine with Juvia" saying as she lightly clung to him to the side. "She just wants to be by your side".
At that point it was a little hard for him to move as she had completely 'locked' him into an embrace on the side. It wasn't that it bothered him. Every time the water mage would have done this he felt his heart acting up a little more, the more she did it. Feeling a fluster muster up, he simply avoided looking at her and simply patted her on the head, thinking that it would suffice enough for the time being. He had to admit that since accepting her feelings, she had become a little more touchy and, well, doing her best to stick up against him whenever the opportunity would arise. Sometimes he had sworn her scent tickled the air whenever he'd wash off for the day, and it had felt she was doing her best to commit as much detail of him as possible into her memory, as if she was trying to replace all of Gray with him.
Though, as much as he enjoyed this experiment of theirs, as well as the warm-loving care she was displaying, he was soon reaching his limit. Gently, he pushed her aside, finding it hard to face her as he was a little too shy to admit that she was starting to make attempts to meld the two of them into one. Unfortunately, some of the times he did this, he would realize that perhaps he had come to realize that what he was doing was almost like an act of rejection, to which he would have to keep his hand on the top of her head to assure that he wasn't 'entirely' reject her. This, would often lead to her trying to get back to him, to which he'd have to hold her back with his hand rested against her forehead.
"Mmmm... no fair!" pouting, he could hear the rain woman lightly complaining to her, "Natsu's sending Juvia mixed signals again!" being blocked by his hand, she tried reaching out to him to no avail, trying to hold and embrace her dragonslayer once more.
Slowly, bit by bit he realized the real challenges that somehow his friend was able to endure with. Just at that moment, a loud explosion occurred as fire spread all over not too far away. The three of them stopped what they were doing, and paid mind to what was going on before rushing off to the scene. People were screaming in fear as people rushed out to the area as fast as they could, trying in their hopes to see if they could help if necessary. He couldn't tell if it was a strange coincidence, but he caught a strange familiar scent in the air as they made their way over, and when they reached the source of the flames, he began to understand why something about it seemed familiar.
Making their out of the smoke were three people lightly obscured by the smoke, as they heard the charging footsteps of the rune knights that were probably in the area. Two of them were large muscular men, with a young woman just between them. Awkwardly enough, the two of them fell into a lightly dulled look as they realized who they were. It was the fake 'Thunder God Tribe' they had encountered a few months ago back near the beginning of their journey. Eventually, it wasn't long until the three had caught a glimpse of the two and froze for a moment, recognizing them as well.
"Y-You!" the girl had pointed out at them, "What're you two doing here?!" frustration built as she lightly glared over at them. If they had remembered correctly, they felt assumed that her name was 'Dos', and she was the one whom was dealing with Juvia previously. However, they were soon brought out of their little 'shock' as the sounds of the marching knights came to sound, "Argh,... never mind!" frustrated, "Stre, Nuo! Break past them!"
Stretching out, dropping his stuff on the ground he turned to face the oncoming assault, "So... I'll take out one, you get one... who gets the third one?" loosening up a little, he paid focus to the rain woman beside him.
"Juvia just wants the woman" she told him, "But she supposes whoever wins first will be allowed to claim the last one and win" telling him. "If Juvia wins, however,... well Natsu will just have to wait to know what she gets as a reward~"
Dragging the bags together, to keep them in one place, the little blue cat plopped onto the, "Natsu... I got a bad feeling about Juvia..." mulling over a little, he began to play a little all the things that she had done to Gray in the past.
Before they started, he inhaled all the flames that were spread across the area, effectively halting their progress and simultaneously refueling himself. Lightly dreading what the rain woman had in mind, there was no way the pinkette could lose against her. They weren't sure how much the other three had changed over the course of the months that had passed, but what they did know what was that the two of them had trained hard as they could after seeing how much of a hard time they were having. However, this time things were different as they felt they were a little more confident that their strengths from last time had greatly changed and improved, setting this to be a little 'revenge' match from last time.
Rushing off, the two of them went to their respective targets, one of the larger, muscular looking guys for Natsu, and Dos for Juvia. It was an odd sensation they felt, as their bodies were still lightly in pain but they still had the belief that things were different from last time. Increasing her speed via hydroplaning, Juvia had alternated a fair bit between leaving a trail of water and cutting off points so that Dos' lightning magic. She could tell that she had trained as well, probably annoyed that from their last enough to try and work past their barrier and work on getting revenge as well.
"Stay still!" angered, Dos, "Lightning gun!" throwing her hand forward, barrels full of tiny little spears made of lightning manifested and darted at her full speed. It should have been easy; her opponent was made of water after all!
Swerving, through the corner of her gaze she could see the dragonslayer punch back some of them with everything he had, adding bits of his fire dragonslayer magic into the mix to increase damage. Something like this had happened before back in the village, but at the time, he was deeply enraged and she had assumed they worked hard too since then so that the same would not happen twice. Though, she was fairly upset that the other had once again, followed suit and joined in Natsu's brawl, meaning that if she wasn't quick enough she wouldn't get to win. And she was fairly annoyed by that fact.
"Pay attention!" enraged, her opponent was getting bothered she was not getting enough attention from their one vs. one fight. "I swear! You're just being so anno-"
Annoyed that her opponent was yelling, "Quiet!" whisking her hand, she used her 'water cane' to knock Dos with enough force to turn her around, before clenching her fist, "Water Lock: Restraint!" Water soon burst from beneath and grasped around the female mage's legs, binding them in water-pressured locks, "Don't you understand?!" a little upset, "Juvia's going to lose, and she won't get priority over her Sweet Beloved Natsu! She was going to have him do all sorts of things to her!"
"Wait, what?!" hearing that, the dragonslayer turned to face her with a shocked look on his face. He had just caught a strike from one of them, Stre, after kicking away Nuo, "Juvia, I really don't want to know what it was you were going to do" narrowing his gaze at her, he kicked away Stre before following it up with a violent breath of fire. "Sheesh, now I really have to make sure I win".
Distraught, Juvia was close to crying now that her efforts were for naught. Frustrated, she darkened her look slightly at the female lightning, mage. Throwing her hand forward, she casted, "Water Nebula!" large violent spouts of water sprung from the ground, converging and crashing into her in a multi-helix style, launching straight into the ground. "Bullet Storm: Rainfall rev.!" Spheres of water manifested, launching themselves like bullets and coming down like pouring rain, striking Dos down to the ground in a flat second.
Luckily, Juvia had laid out a water dome to 'catch' and secure the fallen thunder mage before she could hit the ground. However, looking over, she had already seen that Natsu had already taken down the other two as both of them were lightly burnt. He had a smile on his face, but the fact that he had beaten the two of them had thoroughly upset her, which made her pout and cross her arms since she had wanted to win this and get her wish. However, it was already a little unfortunately that she let slip her 'main' reason for wanting to win. The little exceed, who stayed back to watch their belongings floated on bye as the three waited for the Rune Knights to make their way and arrest the fallen mages. Though, as much as they were thanked and praised for their efforts, they were also still likely scolded for wrecking and destroying the place, especially from the pinkette.
-[x]-
Night began to fall as the three of them were finally able to reach their inn they were going to stay in for a short time. As thanks for their efforts, the three of them were given free stay at one of the town's best inns. Along the way to the inn they bought some extra fresh clothes for them to sleep and change into once they were done, alongside with something to eat before they relaxed for the rest of the night. They were finally able to rest and relax for the day. Things didn't quite go as they planned, but for the most part they were happy that it all ended without too many problems, aside from the light damage properties that had occurred during the apprehension.
Juvia sighed in happiness as she finished feeling the water rinse her off before getting out of the shower. Drying off, she changed into her sleep outfit before making her way out to see the dragonslayer and the exceed happily resting on the beds. Unfortunately, the only room the inn had left was a two-bed room, and seeing as how she was going to further her goal of her plan to 'make Natsu fall in love with her', this was a light wrench in her little scheme. Though, she was happy enough that she was able to still spend the night with her dragonslayer.
Sitting on the bed, she rustled around, enveloped by the warmth, "Natsu...?" yawning a little, the comfy feeling of the bed took her by surprise, easily relaxing and lightly tiring her out. "Na...tsu...?" leaning up a little, she had noticed that both him and the exceed had passed out lightly, probably taken aback by how soft the bed was.
She couldn't deny that she was a little upset he had forgotten that he owed her another night in the bed, but for the time being, she had felt it was alright considering they had managed to get past the mages without much difficult. Though, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed he hadn't said anything it. Over the course since the last met the two they had definitely gotten stronger, something she was surprised to see. This was just the brunt of it too, she felt. If they had started the same regimen from the beginning, who knows how much stronger they would have become. Oddly enough, she felt a little weird thinking about the 'beginning' of their journey together.
Resting her eyes, she began to think about all the things that had happened, and if she were her from back then, she never would have thought about falling in love with the pinkette. And the words he shared with her last night that sparked her soul, words of acceptance and love. Maybe she was getting a little ahead of herself, she began to feel. She was happy, she knew that much, but was it just because he was so nice to her? Calmly breathing, she understood a little more why Natsu had wanted them to take it slow and figure these things out. Why was it? Could she pin point a reason why she loved him?
"Juvia?" she felt a like shake, startling her away, "S-sorry" smiling a little embarrassed, he scratched the back of his head, "I fell asleep without waiting you,... but maybe I can still make due on that pro-" Before he could finish answering her, she pulled him into the bed, lightly embarrassed her compulsion had done so. Curled up a little, she wasn't sure what to say or if she could face him after that, but her body burned with warmth as she felt him hold her lightly against him. "You were pretty cool out there, Juv" she could feel and sense how excited he was saying that, "I really need to step up my game, don't I?"
He was praising her. Even though he had taken out two of them, she didn't know why he was complimenting her on something he probably could have easily done. "N-No...Natsu fought off two of them,.. that's something to be more amazed of...! J-...Juvia's only taken out one person".
"Well, she was obviously tough wasn't she?" smiling, "You weren't even trying and you managed to take her out" telling her, "Don't sell yourself short, Juv" encouraging her, "We're gonna get so strong... that..." he trailed off.
Looking up, he had fallen asleep, just making her admire his sleeping face as her heart began to beat faster. That was why, she felt. He was a monster, destructive whenever he fought. However, the more she remembered, this past few months, she saw the kind, warm side to that 'monster' that could easily break out during fights. She made her feel warm. Loved. And for some reason, there were many, she felt absolutely safe. No matter how she cried, or caught in the frozen depths of her pain, the warm fire he let out would melt it all away. Lightly grasping his chest, huddled up against her, her heart sped up a little as she leaned up. His breath tickled her lips, sending shivers through her body as she held it there. Just as she was about to take his lips, she froze, remembering what they had promised, and inside lightly touched the corner of his lips of his cheek, before nestling into him and falling asleep.
A/N: ITS FINALLY UPDATED. (Darky is sorry) SO VERY SORRY. XD. I've had a lot of annoying things happening lately and sadly it'll be getting a little more like it later on. However I will try to keep this going :). Yeah... I also wrote an extra Edo Erza chapter, just 'cause I WAS SO EXCITED. And I dunno, I got super distracted. Sorry! So yeah! I wanted to introduce a little peak into Natsu and Juvia's early stages before hitting their 'main relationship'. I've wanted to kind of evolve Juvia's character a little more, keep her a sort of stalker and obsessive person, but also a little more mature in her reasoning? Something liek that. I mean she's going to still have stalker parts of her, but it's gonna be less creepy... well, just a little less maybe? xD I also kind of wanted to introduce a little more to show Natsu and Juvia's growth, so I reintroduced the same three people and the hint of maybe they've gotten stronger or not, but i felt it was a good scale xD. ALSO JUVIA HAS MORE SKILLS. even though they're all just tweaks of her old ones! xD. Anywho, I might take a light break I wanna rest a bit after binge writing so much the past week or so. (Darky's head wants to pop) ;w; so so much (Darky's gonna write a billion more words and pages) nooooooooooooooooo :sobs: (Darky loves you all~ :heart: :heart: :heart:)