Magic of the Stars Chapter XII, a fairy tail fanfic

Lucy felt comforting warmth surrounding her before she opened her eyes.

The first thing that registered in her mind was the darkness. It was either late at night or really early in the morning.

However, after seeing faint traces of light in the sky, she concluded that it was early morning.

The next thing that she realized was the source of the warmth. She was lying down in someone's lap with their arms wrapped around her, holding her securely.

Her eyes traveled upward until she spotted the familiar red tattoo on his eye and the even more familiar color of his blue hair.

How did I get in Jellal's lap? The last thing I remember was passing out after getting rid of that...that thing.

She sighed slightly as her eyes took in his form. He was deeply asleep, his hair slightly covering his eyes, his chest rising and falling in the rhythm of his breathing.

His tattoo that sits above and below his right eye seems to stand out even more now than he's awake for some reason.

Lucy unconsciously lifted her hand to trace it, her touch featherlight. Jellal didn't stir as she did this, still immersed in his deep sleep.

Lucy smiled when he unconsciously leaned into her touch, his mouth lifting slightly at the corners.

Then she caught herself.

What am I doing? I need to stop this, I'll only end up hurt.

She tried sitting up. Ignoring the slight pain from her chest wounds that she realized were bandaged, she quietly got up from Jellal's lap and glanced around the camp.

Meredy was laying on her back with her face tilted up towards the sky, her eyes fluttering as her dreams took a different turn, but remained asleep.

Wendy was leaning up against a tree, her arms wrapped around Carla, who was laying against her stomach. However, Lucy was surprised at the slight red surrounding their eyes and tear tracks going down Wendy's cheeks.

"What in Kami-sama's name happened while I was unconscious?" Lucy asked herself quietly.

She shook herself out of her thoughts. Wide awake and unwilling to fall back asleep, she made her way out of camp and back towards the cliff edge to watch the sunrise again.

So caught up in her task of getting there, she didn't know the eyes following her as she walked away.

~wWw~

Juvia Lockser was a complicated teen girl who is actually very kind once you got to know her.

She's very sweet, loyal to a fault, and has a loving capacity that seems to be as big as the ocean.

Her water magic is really powerful and will continue to get stronger with her will to protect protect those who she holds dear.

And speaking of people she holds dear...

Well, first there's Gray. Juvia feels that she'll never be able to repay him for allowing her to see the sun for the first time in her life. She was able to see the big ball of light and fire that all the kids love to play under and that the adults like to eat under.

She was able to feel its warmth on her skin and drink in the energy it seemed to bestow upon her by simply being there.

She saw the sky for the first time as well too. And it's always blue. Not always the same shade of course but, it was still blue. She was able to see it firsthand instead of the pictures in books and listening to the other kids from the orphanage described it.

Gray was able to unlock all of that for her. And so he counts as one of her closest friends.

There's Gajeel too. While in the Phantom Lord Guild, even though she was surrounded by other people who welcomed her powers, revered them even, she was still alone.

Gajeel was her only friend there.

He would listen to what she has to say, offer her advice, and just....be there. Having him there made her life bearable she was able to get by okay.

And then, there's Lucy. Juvia admits that she hasn't been the nicest person to her when they first met.

Kidnapping made a bad first impression.

And then she kept bad mouthing her to Gray, trying to show him how bad her supposed 'love rival' compared her, before she realized that their relationship was nothing more than siblings.

And after everything she said, Lucy still saved her during their fight against that creepy man in the Tower of Heaven.

And she's been kind to her ever since, despite Juvia's continued bad remarks.

And now Lucy's gone, along with Wendy and Carla, on a training trip and she doesn't know how or when she'll come back. And Juvia finds that she actually misses her and wishes for the conversations they had together.

It's just before sunrise when Juvia wakes up. She always wake up at this time. She still can't get over the beauty of watching the sunrise in the early morning.

She hurriedly gets dressed and leaves her room, quietly shutting her door so as to not wake the other girls in Fairy Hills. But she paused on her way to the roof.

For some reason, Juvia doesn't feel like going to the roof. Maybe Juvia should go to that big hill that overlooks Magnolia. Juvia should have a better view there. Plus...Juvia needs to think.

She made her way out of the building and started walking down the pathway into town. Since it was so early in the morning, there was hardly anybody around. As she walked down the street, Juvia thought back to the incident that broke her heart.

Gray-sama said that he doesn't love Juvia the way Juvia loves him. He didn't even say it nicely, though Juvia suspects she deserves it. And even though on the outside Juvia acted like she didn't care, on the inside Juvia was crying and sobbing and struggling not to let the clouds block the sun again. Juvia doesn't know what to do now. The phrase 'If you love something, let it go free' comes to mind but...it still hurts Juvia to let Gray-sama go.

Finally, Juvia reached the hill that overlooked the whole of Magnolia and sat at its edge. At this angle, Juvia could see the whole town and the stretch of sky that houses the sun.

For now, Juvia pushed the thoughts of Gray and heartbreak out of her mind in anticipation for the rising sun.

She was startled out of her reverie by a voice. "Juvia?"

She quickly turned around and found Lyon standing behind her. "Lyon?" she said in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

Lyon blushed. With Magnolia and the slowly brightening sky behind her, Juvia looked like a goddess, her blue hair lightly swaying in the wind.

Juvia's eyebrows raised. "Lyon?" she asked again.

Realizing he was staring, Lyon coughed to hide his embarrassment and answered her question. "Well, I came here for business reasons but then I saw you walking here. It's really early out so I...followed you to see if you're okay."

"Oh...well, Juvia is okay, she just came up here to see the sun rise," Juvia answered him.

"Oh," Lyon said, surprised again. "Mind if I sit with you?"

Juvia looked back at him and considered his request.

Juvia guesses that nothing bad can come out of it. And...he likes Juvia. Maybe Juvia can see if she can at least be friends with him.

"Sure, Juvia doesn't mind," she said with a small smile.

Lyon returned her smiles with one of his and sat next to her, but not too close as to invade her personal space.

For a while, neither said anything, just content on basking in the silence surrounding them in the air. Well, except for the sounds of the birds chirping to one another.

Just before the sun was to appear on the horizon, Lyon spoke up. "I never got the chance to ask you," he said, "how are you? After everything that happened in Crocus I mean."

Of course Juvia knew what he was talking about. When they all got a vision of Gray dying.

"Juvia is getting over it," she said slowly. "However, Juvia is confused."

Lyon looked over at her. "About what?" he inquired.

"...Juvia knows that Gray-sama doesn't love Juvia. But the vision showed Gray-sama dying in Juvia's place. Why would he do that if he doesn't love Juvia?" she asked him in an almost desperate manner.

Lyon was quiet during her rant and remained quiet as he considered what to say to her.

So, that idiotic Gray doesn't see what is right in front of him. He's either too stubborn or too much of a coward to do anything about Juvia's affection for him so he pushes her away. Again I say, he's an idiot.

"Well," Lyon starts off, "maybe he does love you."

Juvia shook her head. "Īe, Gray-sama told Juvia that he doesn't feel the same as Juvia does," Juvia insistent.

"I didn't mean it like that," Lyon said quickly. "Just because he's not in love with you doesn't mean he doesn't just love you."

Juvia furrowed her brow. "Juvia...doesn't follow," she admits in confusion, finally turning to look at him.

Lyon fought the urge to smile. "There are three kinds of love," he explains. "There's the love you have for a family member, like a brother or sister. Then there's the love you have for a friend, like how you love Cana or even Gajeel. And then, there's the love for someone you have a deep personal connection to. Someone you understand on a deep level. And sadly, it is sometimes unrequited."

Juvia stayed silent and didn't interrupt him once while he was explaining.

"Why did you think you were in love with Gray?" Lyon asked softly.

"He took Juvia's rain away," she replied instantly.

Lyon looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean he took your rain away?" he asked.

Juvia stayed quiet.

"Gomen'nasai," Lyon said quickly, turning away. "I didn't mean to pry I just–"

"No," Juvia interrupted softly, "it is fine, Juvia was just thinking of how to phrase it."

Lyon waited diligently.

"Juvia used to not have good control over her magic," she started saying, "Wherever Juvia went, it always rained. The other kids at the orphanage stayed away from Juvia because they thought Juvia was creepy and a bad omen. Everyone blamed her whenever there was an outing and they couldn't enjoy it because of Juvia's rain.

"When Juvia got older, it got worse because people became really creative when it came to calling her names. Juvia even had a boyfriend once, but he dumped her because of the rain and never getting the chance to do anything outside with her.

"Then came the day Juvia joined Phantom Lord. The people there weren't afraid of Juvia's magic, they were actually excited to have such a strong strand of magic in their ranks. But even though Juvia was surrounded by loads of people, her rain still wouldn't stop.

"Then came the day when Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail went to war. Juvia was a member of the element four so she was a key player. That's when Juvia and Gray-sama met. Even though Juvia was Gray-sama's enemy, he saved Juvia from her death and was actually really nice. The of the first few people who were ever nice to Juvia.

"And that's when Juvia's rain went away, and she saw the sky for the first time. Gray-sama did so much for Juvia."

When Juvia finally finished talking her throat was sore, because she hasn't talked that much in one go before.

Lyon listened to her story with a mix of sadness and anger. Sad that she had to go through all of that and anger at those who didn't even try to understand the person she is.

"What everyone says about members of Fairy Tail, is that they're like the family someone never had," Lyon said. "It's in their nature to help those who're in need. I'm pretty sure if it were any other member fighting beside you at Crocus, the result would've been the same. They protect their own."

Juvia was quiet for so long after Lyon's speech that he was sure he earned her scorn.

But then—

"Juvia sees the logic behind your statement," she said finally. "But this feeling in her chest...will it always hurt?"

"Not always," Lyon replied easily. "The pain will come in waves but eventually, it'll go away."

Juvia smiled with genuine emotion. "Thank you Lyon," she said earnestly.

Lyon grinned. "No problem Juvia."

It was at that moment that the sun rose above the horizon, bathing both the city of Magnolia and the two sitting on the hill in a golden glow.

Juvia gasped softly. "Oh, isn't it beautiful?" she asked dreamily.

Lyon looked over at her and saw her awestruck expression along with the golden light from the early morning sun.

"Hai," he agreed. "It's exquisite."

You truly are.

~wWw~

Watching the sun rise slowly but surely into the sky relaxed Lucy enough to get her moving. Watching the sun gently settle into the sky brought back the happier moments she spent with her mom and dad before her mother's death and her dad's distancing from her.

She quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts.

Īe! I will not dwell on those kind of thoughts, they wouldn't want that from me. I need something to do to keep myself busy.

Knowing that she couldn't do anything strenuous yet because of her injury, she chose to do some stretches.

Getting in the rhythm of things, she started humming a song to herself as she stretched.

Doing the more active stretches, she started singing the song out loud to exercise to the beat to the song.

"Masayume chasing chasing
koero motto
jibun shijou saikou no

"Ima wo chasing chasing
sou egaita
jibun ni natte
moyase mune no hi wo."

On her feet now, Lucy started dancing as she sung, her eyes shut as she swayed and spun to the lyrics.

"Na na na na na na na oh
na na na na na hey! Hey!
na na na na na na oh

"Kakenukero hero!

"Na na na na na na na oh
na na na na na hey! Hey!
na na na na na na oh

"Moyase mune no hi wo!"

Ending the song, and subsequently her dancing, she took some deep breaths.

Huh, I guess even dancing will make my chest hurt. Or maybe it's my breathing. I'll ask Wendy when she wakes up.

She was startled out of her thoughts by a chuckle. Deja vú anyone?

"Why is it that I always seem to find you singing?" it said in amusement. Lucy didn't even need to turn around to know it was Jellal.

Lucy grinned as she turned around to face him. "Because it's fun," she said impishly.

Jellal rolled his eyes in playful exasperation and walked towards her. He wasn't wearing his cloak and was showing off his arms.

His nice muscular arms.

Kusō, would you look at those things? Just imagining having those arms wrapped around me and – no! Bad Lucy! Bad!

His eyes strayed to the wound on her chest. "How are you feeling?" he asked seriously.

Lucy smiled slightly. "I'm fine," she answered. "Although, I figure I shouldn't be doing anything strenuous for a least a day or two."

Jellal nodded. "That's true," he agreed.

He then frowned. "Hey, I've been thinking, how did you drive off the tiger?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know," she answered truthfully.

"Wait a minute," Jellal said after a moment's thought, "Is it possible that you changed into one of your star dresses unconsciously?"

"I guess that's a possibility," Lucy said slowly.

"Basing on the fact that you sent that thing over the cliff with one punch, I'm guessing it's a star dress that specializes in strength," Jellal theorizes.

"Well then, it's possible that it was Taurus's star dress," Lucy said in contemplation. "His special skill is strength. I could try equipping it to see if it's the same."

"Maybe, but not right now," Jellal shot that idea down. "You need to rest up some more."

Lucy chuckled. "Okay Dr. Fernandes," she said jokingly.

Jellal smiled and laughed along with her.

Lucy turned her head to gaze back at the sun.

Such a powerful ball of fire that also gives off warmth. Kind of like...kind of like Natsu.

Noticing her slightly downcast expression, Jellal asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Lucy was quiet for a second. Then she said quietly, "Just about someone I thought I was in love with."

Jellal turned to her in shock. "You thought you were in love with someone?" he asked her.

She only nodded. "Hai."

"Who?" he asked.

She hesitated slightly before replying, "Natsu."

"Natsu?" Jellal said in confusion.

"Hai," Lucy said wearily.

She sighed. "He's the one who brought me to Fairy Tail and gave me a new family. He's done so much for me...and I guess I kind of fell for him," she said resignedly. "But, I realized that even if he felt the same way, that feeling was starting to go away. And sometimes, he's too overprotective to a point where it seems like he doesn't trust me to take care of things myself."

Jellal stayed silent after she finished talking.

After a moment, he spoke up. "Was he the real reason you came on this training trip?" he asked quietly.

"He was part of it," Lucy admitted.

And silence settled over them again. For a while, they both just stared at the rising sun, thinking over things.

"You know," Jellal said softly. "I thought I was in love with someone too."

Lucy whirled on him. "Seriously?" she asked.

Really? Truly, he can't mean...

"Who was it," Lucy asked him sincerely.

"It was Erza," he answered.

It was Erza?!

"Really?" Lucy asked in genuine surprised.

"Hai," Jellal sighed. "We were brought together during a traumatic moment and had to band together to survive. That kind of thing bonds people on a deep level. After regaining my memories of everything we went through, I actually thought I was in love with her.

"We were talking and we got into a sort-of intimate position. We were about to kiss and..." he trailed off.

"And?" Lucy said softly.

"It just felt...wrong, somehow," he said slowly. "I pushed her away and fed her some lie about having a fiancé but I don't think she bought it. At the time, I told Ultear and Meredy that I lied because of my past and my sins but...the truth is, I just couldn't go through with it because it felt wrong to me."

Lucy gaped at him.

Wow, I never expected that to come out of his mouth. Still though, maybe he does love her, just not in a romantic way.

Without her permission, a small tendril of hope slithered into her chest.

"Sing something," Jellal said suddenly.

Lucy looked over at him in shock. "Nani?" she asked.

"Your voice is very beautiful when you sing, it actually soothes me," he admitted with a tinge of red covering his cheeks as he continued to stare out towards the rising sun.

"Please?" he added softly.

Lucy turned to look back over the cliff edge.

Well when he asks like that, who am I to deny him? But the question is, what song should I sing? Hmm...oh! I know!

Taking a deep breath, Lucy started the song:

"I see your monsters, I see your pain
Tell me your problems, I'll chase them away
I'll be your lighthouse, I'll make it okay
When I see your monsters, I'll stand there
so brave
And chase them all away."

Lucy saw Jellal turn towards her out of the corner of her eye but didn't look towards him and kept singing.

"In the dark we, we, we stand apart
We, we never see that the things we need
Are staring right at us

"You just wanna hide, hide, hide
Never show your smile, smile
Stand alone when you need someone
It's the hardest thing of all

"That you seed are the bad, bad, bad
memories
Take your time and you'll find me

"I see your monsters, I see your pain
Tell me your problems, I'll chase them away
I'll be your lighthouse, I'll make it okay
When I see your monsters, I'll stand there
so brave
And chase all away."

Jellal's hand circled around Lucy's wrist and pulled her to him. He wrapped her in a hug and buried his face in her neck. "Keep singing," he whispered to her, his breath on her neck making her shiver slightly.

He started moving them in a slow dance.

Lucy kept singing.

"I could see the sky, sky, sky beautiful
tonight, night
When you breathe, why can't you see
That the clouds are in your head?

"I will stay there, there, there
No need to fear, fear
And when you need, to talk it out
With someone you can trust

"What you seed are the bad, bad, bad
memories
Take your time and you'll find me."

Jellal spun her around slowly before bringing her to him again.

Lucy wrapped her arms around Jellal's neck.

"I'll chase them all away.

"You've got the chance to see the light
Even in the darkest night
And I will be here like you were for me
So just let me in."

Jellal moved his face from Lucy's neck and stared down into her eyes, still swaying them softly to the tone of the song.

Lucy stared back and continued the last verse of the song softly.

"Cause I see your monsters, I see your pain
Tell me your problems, I'll chase them away
I'll be your lighthouse, I'll make it okay
When I see your monsters, I'll stand there
so brave
And chase them all away."

They both stared into each other's eyes, neither willing or wanting to pull away.

Then, ever so slowly, Jellal removed his hands from where they rested on Lucy's waist and trailed them up her arms and neck, until they settled on her face.

Lucy moved her hands from around his neck and into his hair.

They both moved towards each other slowly but deliberately.

Time seemed to stop.

It could've been seconds or hours, or even a day.

The gap between their lips kept getting smaller and smaller.

Until finally.

Their lips met.

~wWw~

Unknown to everyone except the Kami, the red string of fate wrapped around their pinkies pulsed once before becoming thicker, their ends meeting and entwining together.

Hey guys!

I hope I made Juvia's dialogue believable. I know she speaks in third person so I tried writing that as best as I could.

The english song I had Lucy sing is called 'Monsters' by Katie Sky and I thought it suited the situation perfectly.

I'll try to update more frequently but I hope this chapter tides you over for now.

Stayed tuned! Ja ne!