I made a promise to myself that I would post this chapter within the same week as 10! I'm really mad that this story is completely done and yet still it took me forever to upload. As mad as you guys are at me, trust me when I say I'm 10x madder at myself.
Hope you guys love this chapter!
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Chapter 11: Roses and Wine
Gray had decided it was time he took Juvia out. It had been a while since they had been able to go out together, other than buying groceries or running errands. Juvia had yet to see all of Magnolia, but today that was going to change.
"So where are you kidnaping me to?" Juvia giggle. Gray grinned, "All you've seen is the beach and the café. First, we're going to Magnolia South Gate Park. Juvia groaned, "You're making me walk? I hate physical activity." Gray rolled his eyes, "Yeah, which is why you wake me up at 6AM so we can run together. You're clearly the lazy one in this-" He stopped. He was about to say relationship.
"Relationship?" Juvia finished. She looked at him, "Friendship is a type of relationship." Friendship. The word left a sour taste on her tongue. Gray nodded hesitantly, "Right." He silently disagreed with his own words. He saw the sign of the park and almost sighed in relief, "We're here."
Juvia got out of the car before he could park. "It's beautiful." Sure, she had seen some grass and a few plants on her way to work, but nothing came close to this. Grass, trees, and flowers everywhere. She looked around and saw children playing, dogs and humans playing together, and other people just walking around. She saw interaction. She saw life.
"All I was used to seeing is seaweed and algae, and definitely no happy people. This is amazing Gray. Thank you for taking me here." It may have been a while since she was under water, but she never had the time to take in the sights on land. Her life had become so focused on Gray and work. In the ocean, examining scenery was all she had to do. Gray nodded, amazed at how happy she was and how radiant it made her look. Something so simple to him was the world to her. Gray was happy he did this to her. "I'm glad you like it."
"Come on!" Juvia shouted, "Take me around the park. I want to see all of it." She grabbed his hand without thinking and dragged him along. He let himself be dragged, enjoying the moment.
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Due to Juvia's excitement, they ended up spending the whole day at the park. Gray was glad she had fun, but he had wanted to show her one more thing before the day was over.
"What's wrong." Juvia didn't have to look at Gray to know something was wrong. "Nothing. Today was great." Juvia nodded, "I agree, but something feels off." Gray sighed, there was no getting past her. "I had one more place to show you but it's almost ten. You're probably tired-"
"It's only ten." Juvia agreed. "The night is still young." Gray grinned at her, "Kardia Cathedral. It's the most beautiful cathedral in the world and the reason why there are so many tourists." He said, rolling his eyes. Juvia laughed, "I can't wait to see it."
"Close your eyes."
Juvia did without hesitation. She trusted him, which no longer surprised her. Nothing about how she felt surprised her anymore. She loved Gray and although she didn't know much about love, she knew this must've been a part of it.
"May I ask why?" She smiled. "The lights at night make the cathedral even more beautiful. I want you to be surprised." After a bit of silence, Gray told her to open them. And he was right.
Juvia gasped, "Gray. It's beautiful." She couldn't even get out of the car because she was so mesmerized. The cathedral's architecture was impressive, the detail was fine and added elegance, but the lights were just the icing on the cake. It added an ethereal glow to the cathedral, making it look even more regal. "I could just stare at it for hours." She said, getting out of the car. "This might even be better than the park" Juvia wondered.
Gray laughed as he put an arm around her waist, "This is the most fun I've had in years." He smiled at her, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "It's the only fun I've had in years." Juvia joked, laughing as she said it. Gray just smiled and continued to stare.
Juvia knew what he wanted. It was what she wanted since she met him. Gray leaned in slightly, as if he was contemplating whether he should. Juvia knew why, but in that moment, she couldn't care less about Cana. She decided to just go for it. Should he reject her, she would know that he really wanted Cana, that she had no chance. She could finally move on. Juvia leaned in and kissed him. She felt him freeze. She almost thought he was going to pull away so she slowly let her hands travel up his chest to grab his shirt lightly. She wasn't sure what she was going to do if he really did push her away.
Gray grabbed her hips and kissed her back, just as gentle as hers. Juvia could feel the uncertainty, but then gasped as the kiss became fiercer. She felt his want and frustration, and in the moment, she knew her feelings were reciprocated. She kissed him back just as fiercely and almost let her hands travel, until she remembered that they were in a public place.
She backed away and laughed nervously, "Best date ever?"
Gray smiled at her and nodded, "Best date ever."
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As they were trying to find a place to eat, the came across a deli. Gray looked at it and shook his head, "Hell no." Juvia grabbed his hand as her stomach growled, "I will eat you if you don't get me food," He rolled his eyes, "Sandwiches?" Juvia shrugged, "I'm not picky."
"Funny. This looks like a date, except that's my boyfriend." Gray and Juvia turned and saw the brunette she-devil that kept haunting their life. "Cana." They said in unison. Cana rolled her eyes at their synchronization, "Romantic. Gray, you haven't returned my texts or calls. Seriously? You're my boyfriend, not hers." She looked around and saw Kardia in the distance. "You took her there? You never took me there!" Gray rolled his eyes, "She's new here. You aren't." Cana was about to fire back but then looked at Juvia and smiled. "Yeah, she is new here. I bet you don't know much about her." Gray looked at her in confusion, "I know a lot, actually."
"Do you know that she isn't human?"
Gray froze. How did Cana know? He turned to Juvia, who hadn't reacted at all. How was she not reacting? He breathed deeply, wondering how he could fix it. "You must be so shocked. This girl is a mermaid. I saw her fin with my own eyes." Cana narrowed her eyes at Juvia, "Are you going to lie right to his face." Gray eyed Juvia, not being able to come with any excuse. How were they going to get out of this one?
Juvia smiled at her, "Not at all." She reached into her purse and pulled out a digital camera. Cana rolled her eyes, "Who even-"
"The sea life always fascinated me." Juvia smiled at her, "I wanted to start a blog where I pose in different mermaid tails in different parts of the ocean. Gray agreed to be my photographer." Cana looked at Gray, but he nodded. "Yeah. She's into it so I help her out." He had no idea where Juvia pulled this from but he wasn't about to let her hang.
"And where is the blog? I'd love to check it out." Juvia rolled her eyes, "You mean you want to see if I'm lying." She wasn't in the mood for Cana's bull. "I haven't started it yet. I need to grow my collection of tails before I start a blog. It'd get pretty boring otherwise." Cana looked between them some more before realizing she was the fool. She thought she had Juvia. She thought she could have embarrassed her, but now it was turned around.
"I-"
"You," Juvia started, "should go. And by the way, this was a date." She leaned in and kissed Gray, "Bye now." Gray shuffled a bit, but he couldn't deny the truth. He definitely loved her sass. Cana walked away defeated as Juvia hugged Gray, "I can't believe that worked." Gray kissed Juvia, "You're amazing." Juvia smiled triumphantly, but now wanted nothing more than to flop into bed. "Let's go home."
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"I had a great time tonight." Juvia smiled at him as she poured a second glass of wine. Juvia managed to convince Gray to buy a bottle to end their day. Although he was more of a whisky guy, he figured Juvia deserved it for being a complete badass. He was on his third glass, enjoying the drink far more than he thought he would. He was also a little tipsy.
"I'm glad." He nodded. Juvia noticed that even drunk, he wasn't a man of many words. "How's the wine?" Juvia took a sip before she answered, "Sweet. I really like it." She finished hers and went to pour another. Gray yawned, "I'm sleepy." Juvia laughed at him, "I think wine does that to you." There was about of silence as they just enjoyed each other's company. Juvia could tell Gray was about to sleep soon.
"Gray?" He didn't say anything but his head perked up, so she continued. "If I'm not who you thought I was, would you still accept me?" Gray just looked at her, his droopy eyes seeming droopier, "Honestly? Nothing can surprise me at this point." Juvia laughed but said nothing. She thought about telling him the truth about who she was. She didn't like to keep him in the dark, especially when he had been so honest with her. She said nothing, remembering Gajeel telling her not to. It felt wrong, but she wasn't ready yet. He wasn't completely sober either. Now wasn't the right time.
When Juvia was sure Gray was asleep, she pulled out the sheets Gajeel gave her. She looked over her unfinished song. Would she even remember how to write a song? She wasn't her old self anymore. What if she just ruined it? She called Gajeel, thinking it was time to tell him what had happened to her in all these years.
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"That sounds like bullshit." Juvia rolled her eyes, "Why would I make this up. If I wanted to lie, I would make up something more believable." She heard Gajeel sigh, "I believe you. It sounds ridiculous, but I believe you. It explains a lot of the sudden disappearance cases we have open." Juvia didn't pry, knowing it was confidential, "And?"
"I'm glad you're back. I want to kill whoever mermaid did that to you."
"Siren."
"Whatever. Did you look over the song?" Juvia nodded, even though he couldn't see her, "Yeah, but I'm not Ameonna anymore. It's been a long time. I don't think I can do it."
"Ameonna is just a stage name, not your spilt personality. Juvia made the lyrics. Juvia practiced the song over and over. Juvia constantly changed and improved. Juvia did all the work. Ameonna just got on stage and sang what you drilled into your head. You are still Juvia, so if you try hard enough just like you used to, you can do it." Juvia beamed at the confidence, and suddenly felt a burst of motivation. "I have the greatest best friend." Gajeel chuckled, "I know you do. But don't feel forced."
"What?"
"You can keep your current life as Juvia or make your comeback as Ameonna."
Juvia didn't think about what she would do. She only thought about finishing the song, not actually releasing it. "I don't know."
Gajeel sighed, "You don't need to know now. If you really want to finish the song, do it. Then we can decide what to do from there." Juvia agreed and saw Gray stir. She was getting tired as well. "I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked, hoping to catch him during her shift."
"It depends on work, but I'll let you know. Good night, Raindrop."
Juvia giggled, "Good night, Ironman." She had yet to learn all of their nicknames for each other, but she was trying.
Although she was rusty, she knew she could finish the song. She stared at Gray as he slept and smiled. She knew she could. "Eyes on Me is the song I based on you and look how successful it was." She whispered to him, knowing he couldn't hear her. She let her fingers brush against his cheek, watching him stir lightly. He wasn't bothered and continued his light snoring. "I guess my love for you made me so successful." She stared at the sheets, seeing only a few stanzas written. "This song will be for you too." Juvia put the sheets down and decided to go sleep as well. It was late and she wanted to be wide awake the next day to think of lyrics.
"Would I ever have to choose between my love for you and my love for singing?"
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Would she? What do you think?
Also Cana is done here, so don't expect her to come back. I wanted to make her the salty ex, but I didn't want to take it too far. I love Cana in Fairy Tail and didn't want to do her too dirty.
Hope you all loved it! Leave me a review of what you think so far or what you think is about to happen. Also tell me how proud you are of me for uploading twice in one week. Just kidding, just one chapter took four months. I don't deserve it
See you in the next one!
