Juvia Lockser

We walked into the guild. Though I was still happy and light-headed from gushing and swooning over Gray for hours, worry still worked its way into my mind. Just what kind of nightmares did Misty mean? I wondered in my head.

"Oh. So it seems you're back." Makarov said.

"Yes. There's someone I'd like you to meet." Erza said in her usual calm demeanor.

She beckoned Alexandria forward, and Alexandria nervously walked to the front of our crowd.

"And who is this?" Makarov said.

"Well, this is Alexa-" Lucy started to say, before Alexandria cut her off.

"My name's Alex." She said quickly.

Lucy started to say that her name was Alexandria, but I stopped her. I understood why Alex changed her name.

"Yes. Alex would like to join Fairy Tail." Erza said, covering Alex.

"Mm? Where was she before?" Makarov said in his rusty voice.

"We can speak about this in more detail later, master. May she join?" Erza asked.

"It would be an honor, sir." Alex swiftly whispered, kneeling down.

"Well, I don't see why not." Makarov drawled, stretching. "Go to Mirajane over there. She can get you a guild mark. Anyways, I don't mind another hottie in our guild, heh heh." Makarov quipped, making Mirajane roll her eyes at him.

"Thank you so much, sir. You don't know how much this means to me." She said in her soft, serious voice, though uncomfortably crossed her arms over her exceptionally large chest after that last remark.

Alex walked over to the counter, and got her guild mark. It was a smoky purple, and resided on the right side of her neck.

"Here. Take these jewels. I make more than I know what to do with them, anyways. Go and buy yourself some new clothes. I'm sure you don't want those rags, especially because Misty forced you to wear them. Change your appearance. Look the way you want to. I'm sure there was many things you've wanted to do that you haven't been able to for a long time." Erza said warmly, and slipped a huge bag of jewel into her hands.

"N-no, I couldn't accept this.." Alex said, startled.

"Come on, take it. Consider it a treat from your friend." Erza insisted.

"Well, when you put it that way, I can't say no, can I?" Alex said softly with a smile, and she took the bag, bowed deeply, and walked out into the Magnolia marketplace.

I smiled. I love this guild. We care about each other so much…..We're a family. We help each other. We share our feelings together. We experience joy, sadness, tears, pain, happiness together. We all run to the light together, and never regret the nakama we have.

I smiled, and started to tuck into a lamb soup.

*A couple hours later*

Alex walked back into the guild. Team Natsu (including Jellal and I, this time) rushed forward. She looked entirely different. Her long, untidy ginger hair was now cut in a pixie cut. Her once sad, dull green eyes were bright and happier. Alex had disposed of her tattered cloak, and replaced it with a black open-collared waistcoat with purple trimming. It reached down to her knees, and under that she wore blue jeans.

"Hi, minna!" Alex said brightly.

"HI!" Everyone else in Fairy Tail yelled in unison.

I smiled. Suddenly, as I got up to hug her, a bout of tiredness ran over me, and I stumbled, losing my balance.

"Juvia!" Gray yelled, and I guess from instinct, caught me before I hit the ground.

"I-I'm fine…" I said weakly, though I knew I wasn't.

Happy lightly touched my forehead.

"Ow! Hot!" Happy flew around the guild in a frenzy, shaking his paw.

"Juvia, you're burning up! Why didn't you say so earlier!" Gray asked, looking concerned.

'I-I didn't notice…..I thought I just felt a little hot because I was wearing such a long dress.." I mumbled, fighting to stay conscious.

"She'll be okay. She just needs some bed rest and a little healing magic.." Wendy said as her and Carla came racing into the guild, apparently finished with their job. "Here.." she continued comfortingly, her green magic softly flowing into my heated skin.

I felt a little better, but still extremely weak.

"Oh, this is a very strange fever…..You can only catch this if you feel really hot when covered in water…" Wendy said.

"And, in Juvia's case, she's completely made out of water.." Carla said, her normally serious tone going up in worry.

"I-it's okay, minna…..I'll just need a couple days...I'm sure I'll recover soon…" I said, my head feeling so full of cotton I didn't even have the will to refer to myself in third person.

Gray's eyebrows scrunched in worry. "Don't worry, I'll get you home." He said soothingly.

He walked through the marketplace, holding me in his sturdy arms. Many people stood in clusters when they saw us, whispering and pointing. Instead of feeling happy and pleased as I usually would, ll I could think about was the feverish burning of my entire body. Gray simply ignored everyone, his eyes narrowed.

"We're almost at your home."

A couple minutes later, Gray opened the door to my house, and walked to my bedroom. Embarrassment clouded my thoughts as he momentarily scanned my room, with all types of Gray accessories dotting the room.

"Here. Please, rest." Gray whispered softly, placing me in my bed. He, with incredible daintiness, pulled up my covers lightly with his hands, trying to smile reassuringly. "I'll bring you some cold water you can drink when you wake up. And I'll ask Wendy if she can compress her magic into a pill to take with that water to help you feel better."

Without thinking, it seemed, he lightly kissed my forehead, then left. My eyes widened, and, trembling, my hand touched the spot on my forehead where his lips had touched. A blush shot onto my face, making me feel more sick and dizzy. Seeing his dark-blue-almost-black eyes so close to mine was the last image I saw before slipping into the darkness.

*10 hours later*

I woke up to see none other than Gray's face looking down at me.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

Though my heart soared that he cared enough to come visit me again, sickness still clouded my mind. The metallic taste of throw up stung in my mouth. Immediately, I rushed to the bathroom, barely making it in time. All of the soup I had had earlier, plus the chunks of lamb, reversed from my stomach, back to my mouth, and out. I hated the retching noises I made, but nonetheless, they came. Gray walked into the bathroom, and patted my back comfortingly.

"It's okay, better out than in. Wendy warned me this might be a side effect of what people call, the Lavender Fever. I'm by your side. We all feel a little sickly sometimes." Gray said in a soft, sympathetic, soothing voice.

I doubled up and retched a couple more times before just breaking into a loud bout of coughs. He helped me up and assisted me in rinsing my mouth. Even though I felt so happy to be with my Gray-sama, I was still immensely embarrassed. Now I couldn't even do anything other than get sick, be pathetic, eat (Actually, I'm not sure if I'm even still capable of that), and sleep. I wiped my mouth with a tissue, but still the unpleasant, metallic taste of vomit lingered in my mouth. He helped me back into bed, and again, ashamed I couldn't even walk on my own.

"Get some rest. Here." Gray handed me a cold cup of water and a glowing green pill.

I quickly downed the pill and washed it down with water. I smiled and mouthed thanks, realizing I had also lost my voice, and once again slipped into unconsciousness.

(Author's Note: Hi, minna, sorry I forgot an author's note last time! Next chapter, Juvia will start the chapter, but the narrating role will change in between all the characters in the group that went on the mission from there. Sorry I've been taking so long to make chapters!)