Happy flew as fast as he could, racing against the wind. He knew that there wasn't much time, but as always he had every faith and the hope that Natsu had always shown him. He raced through the air, shouting "Natsu!" but quite honestly had no idea where to look. Gray had been pointing somewhere towards the mountains but earlier Gray admitted even he hadn't known exactly where he had been taken. "Natsu!"
He stopped his flight suddenly, seeing someone below. With little other option he knew he had to start asking if the pink spiky haired kid had been spotted in the area. As he flew closer, he could hear sobbing, as the young woman was hunched over the river. He gasped quietly, landing in front of her and stepping cautiously forwards. "Juvia…?" he asked her quietly.
Juvia lifted her head, surprised to have seen anyone else. She had half expected to have been taken away by the river, to have been long gone and able to just escape into a vast ocean somewhere. "Happy…"
Happy was torn, knowing that there was tears in Juvia's eyes but that if he didn't act fast then there could be lives at stake. "Juvia, have you seen Natsu?"
She swallowed hard, realising exactly what he was here for and trying to keep her resolve. "Juvia made a promise…" she whispered.
"Gray said that you'd taken Natsu away!" Happy told her, which seemed to surprise her significantly. "Things have changed! You have to give him back now!"
"Juvia promised Gray…" she whispered, "… that Natsu would not be around to fight…"
"Things have changed!" he shouted, turning his tiny paw into a less than fierce fist. "We need Natsu now! Gray sent me to get him back otherwise people will get hurt."
She looked up with a small gasp. Could she believe this small cat, was it true that Gray had really said those things? She knew that Happy had always been a loyal friend to Natsu, but she had never known him to be anything but honest. If she disappointed Gray she wasn't sure how she could live with herself, but she couldn't decide what would disappoint him most. "Juvia would never mean to cause harm to Natsu…" she assured Happy.
Happy tilted his head slightly. "Harm him?"
Juvia pointed across the river, the beautiful blue ripples rushing far away. "We'll have to Hurry, Happy. He's on a raft," she said, the determination of completing a task bringing her back to her feet. She had to believe that this would be the one, the true act to finally prove herself worthy to Gray. Happy was beside her, his wings already out and racing forwards, she was following, running along the riverbed careful to not get washed away by its speeding currents.
"Natsu!" Happy called out, dashing forwards as he could see a raft against the water. The river was getting choppier here, and they had to run faster just to keep up with the currents.
"Careful Happy!" Juvia called out, realising that he was flying close to the water. "These are rapids!" she said, realising the water was throthing and ahead twigs and leafs were being ripped away quickly. The raft was getting further away, not closer, and as fast as she could she could not keep up. Even Happy's wings were struggling to keep close, and the gushes of water began to slow his wings. A frown crossed her face. "Happy, if Juvia slows the raft, can you pull Natsu away?"
"Aye!" Happy nodded. "But what are you going to do?"
She strayed from the path, slowing to take a single step into the water. "Don't worry about Juvia. Juvia is always safe in water." With that her body began to sink down, slowly at first before melting into the rapids, a streak of dark blue against the white foam and cloudy water. Happy watched, his mouth open wide and turning into a cheer as he saw her move to the raft, rushing under it and pushing the water back.
In all the excitement he almost forgot what he was supposed to do, blasting forwards and grabbing onto Natsu just as the raft broke into pieces, flying him high into the sky. The dark streak of blue continued down the river, seemingly uncaring of what true form for now. "We did it Juvia!" Happy cheered, and looked down at Natsu that he was carrying. "Hey, you can stop feeling travel sick now, it's just me."
Natsu shook his head suddenly, looking around himself and kicking his legs and arms out as he complained angrily. Happy held him carefully, used to him moving around a lot, and went on to explain to him all he knew, reminding him that this was his battle and he was sure to win.