AN: I MIGHT HAVE CRIED A BIT WRITING THIS CHAPTER BUT I'M NOT SO SURE.

Thank you so much for your reviews! I'm so happy that so many have started reading, even so close to the end, and have enjoyed it. I really do my best to please at all times.

Allow me to assure many now that this is not the last chapter; we still have to have some more stuff to address, like her settling back into daily life and, of course, the funeral of Totomaru. In addition to that, I was thinking of making a sequel to it; who thinks that would be a good idea?

FAIRY HILLS

"Does this look okay?" Juvia whirled around in her long gray dress. "Does it? Does it?"

Levy and Lucy narrowed their eyes and tilted their heads, observing Juvia in the dress with the fur-lined black coat and cream scarf. She looked elegant and poised, like a noblewoman, and over-excited and ready to burst.

"You never got so excited about those other outings with Gray," Erza commented.

The water mage's small smile began to fall. "W-well… That was a different time, Erza-san. Juvia was in a bit of a darker place then. She's feeling much, much better now, however, and feels excited about these things again!"

"That's great, Juvia-san!" Wendy said, combing a brush through Carla's fur. "We're all so happy that this is over for you."

Just saying that it was over, just being alive after it all and ready to dig herself out of the pit she'd fallen in, just thinking having all that brought pure joy to her. She got to go do normal things again, she got to be a normal mage, not be some weapon of destruction. Juvia twirled the silky fabric in her hands and smiled.

"It's just another outing, but Juvia is back in the game!" The rain woman yanked her hair up in a ponytail and smiled at her reflection, clenching her fists in determination. "Juvia is certainly going to try and win Gray's affections!"

"When did you stop calling him 'Gray-sama?'" Lisanna asked, wrapping one of Juvia's scarfs around her head.

"He asked her to. Just before she left a few months ago, he said, 'We're good friends, so you should call me Gray.'"

Lucy squealed and hugged a pillow, falling over into Cana's lap. "That's adorable!"

Mirajane turned Juvia around and patted her cheeks. "You and Gray will make the cutest couple. EVER."

"Someone say my name?" Evergreen poked her head into the room, looking around.

"Oh, Evergreen!" Levy smiled. "No, Mira was saying that Gray and Juvia would make the cutest couple ever."

"Ah." Ever gave Juvia a thumbs up. "Nice dress."

"Thank you!" Juvia said with her brightest smile, and Evergreen shut the door again, leaving the younger girls to their devices. "Evergreen-san is so nice."

"Nice isn't exactly the word I'd use…" Lucy said with a nervous smile.

Juvia puffed out her cheeks, crossing her arms. "Treat Evergreen-san nicely, please."

"I've never been anything but be nice to that woman!" Lucy contradicted, and they both laughed at each other.

"He's going to meet you out front in a few minutes, right?" Lisanna said, checking her watch. "You need to get outside!"

Juvia sighed. "Juvia wishes that Gran hadn't gone home earlier today… She wanted her to see her dress."

"I'm sure she'd agree that you look phenomenal," Erza assured, taking Juvia by the shoulders and steering her out the door. "But she had work to do, and couldn't afford to take another week away from her business, right?"

"Right…" Juvia mumbled, grabbing her purse. "Well, Juvia's off!" She waved and smiled, feeling butterflies in her stomach. "You should wish her luck."

"'Luck!" Cana shouted as Juvia shut her door. They sat there for a few moments, and then she got up and said, "Wonder if she has any beer in here."

"Cana, please no."

"Oh, I was going to come up and get you," Gray said, looking mildly surprised. He looked very nice, yes, very nice indeed, wearing jeans and a black button-up shirt, a dark blue blazer over it.

Juvia blushed, feeling much like her old self again, and turned her gaze to a tree towards her right. "N-no, men aren't allowed in Fairy Hills. Juvia is fine, she didn't have to wait, after all."

She was rambling.

"Gr-Gray and Juvia should get going, shouldn't they? Th-the coffee shop is going to be busy soon."

"Oh." Gray looked up at the sun that was close to beginning to sink between thick gray clouds. "That's right, we should. The Christmas lights are out, so I thought we could also take a look at those."

Looking at the lights… WITH GRAY. Juvia's heart went pitter patter as it hasn't in what seemed like a millenium, but rather than dissolving into squeals and gasps for breath, she smiled and nodded her head, taking the arm he extended to her. "Yes, that would be smart."

And they didn't talk about Tempesta, they didn't talk about Jose, not Totomaru, not anyone but each other and themselves. The past seemed far, far behind them, eons rather than a few mere weeks, and Juvia loved that. No longer was she anyone's weapon; she was Gray's friend, and that was it.

"What do you want?" Gray asked with the twitchiest smile on his face, trying his best not to laugh at Juvia who had dissolved into laughter while trying to tell a joke. "Seriously, Juvia, stop laughing, you're going to fall over!"

She halted her laughing slowly, sweeping her fingers below her eyes to rid of tears that had spilled in her peals. "J-just a caffe mocha, please. That's all."

Gray ordered an iced coffee, garnering some odd looks, seeing that it was the middle of December. Juvia kept laughing to herself, less because she thought she was funny, but just because she couldn't believe that she hadn't even been able to tell the joke. Gray seemed to be content in waiting for their orders and watching her try to get over herself.

"Let's go outside," he said, squeezing through the crowd that was brewing in the coffeehouse. "C'mere, don't bump into anyone."

The couple at the table outside was just leaving, and Gray quickly slid in, claiming it before anyone else could. Juvia sat down and he slid her drink over to her. The glass was chilled where he had placed his fingers, and she smiled slightly, swiping her finger over the froth on top of it.

"So, Marina-san went home, right?" he asked, breaking up a chunk of frozen coffee with his spoon.

"Yes, Gran just left for the estate this morning. She wanted to stay longer, but unfortunately, she is a busy woman. Coraline and Moxie weren't able to hold down the business much longer without her." She took a sip of the beverage, a bit on the milky side. "Juvia wishes she had stayed longer. It would have been nice."

"She's a nice lady," Gray said. "I still can't believe that she has the power to be one of the Wizard Saints."

"An assassin tried to kill Juvia when she first moved in," she said, "and Gran had him taken care of in no time flat when negotiation wouldn't work."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that that kind of stuff happened to you. You are a princess, after all." Gray slurped a bit off the rim of his cup. "Also can't believe that you come from a rich family. I mean, you got the mannerisms, but just-"

"Well, Juvia's family… her mother and father… were very poor people, actually."

"Huh? How do you get to be poor when your grandma is one of the richest ladies on the continent?" Gray was utterly confused, licking his lips.

She blushed and looked away. "Juvia's mother's name… was Ariel. Ariel Grace after she got married to her husband. And… her husband wasn't really a nice man. He didn't want her to have much contact from her family, so that included getting financial support. And so, we just ended up living in a shack."

Gray listened to her, shifting the spoon in his mouth. He was already leaning towards disliking her father- or, rather, her mother's husband, she seemed to prefer he be called. He couldn't imagine why, though, unless-

"James was not a nice man, Juvia will readily admit such a thing." She smiled and lowered her head, staring at her lap. "He was an alcoholic, and he liked to beat Juvia for no reason. He much preferred her older brother to her."

"Eh? Brother?"
"Daniel Grace. He was older than Juvia by two, three years, she thinks? She tries not to think of him. He was just as mean as his father. Didn't like the rain. Liked to break bone, however."

The question lingered in the air between them, a frozen question waiting to be shattered: What happened? To everything?

"Daniel died when Juvia was eleven. He went out for a walk one day and slipped in the rain, fell over and cracked his head open. Before anyone got there, he bled out and died. Juvia's family… fell apart after that."

"I know how that is," Gray said absentmindedly, staring at the steam rising from her mocha. "Death, I mean, ripping a family apart. When Ur died, everything went straight to hell, y'know."

"Do you mind talking about Ur-sama?" she asked quietly.

The least he could do for her was talk about Ur. In fact, he wanted to talk about Ur for the first time since her death.

"Deliora, that demon from Zeref's Book, destroyed my village when I was a kid. Ur and Lyon found me in the rubble. I was the only one who lived. I remember, I was so mad. Little ball of rage, that was me. We buried my parents and left."

"Juvia is so sorry."

"It's, um…" NOT OKAY. "Anyway, Ur taught me my magic. Word on the street is she could've been one of the Wizard Saints if she wanted to. But she didn't. After she lost Ultear, she just wanted to be alone. I was a bad kid, Juvia. I yelled when I got even slightly mad, I blamed her and Lyon, I was a monster. One day, I guess that was our downfall."

Ah, yes, that had been their downfall indeed. His rage, his fiery hot rage that he foolishly believed could dispose of the Demon of Destruction. Too late, much, much too late, he had learned of his mistake, as he took one step into the village and let the demon blow everything skyhigh. The grimace on his lips would grow as he recalled such things, and to continue almost felt painful. He had not spoken of such things since Galuna, and even then, he hadn't wanted to. It had merely been necessity.

"I was hopelessly outmatched. So was Ur. Her only hope to save us was to use Iced Shell. So, that was it. She just… turned into ice. She saved us all. Ain't she a hero?" He put his finger on the head of the spoon, pressing down and watching the utensil flip.

"A Saint… Juvia guesses that her and Gray's teachers were rather similar! Strong women who took us in…" The rain woman smiled and pulled her scarf up a bit, staring up at the gray sky.

"How'd you get with your grandma?" Gray asked. "I think I mighta interrupted that."

"Oh," she said, looking surprised. She waved her hands. "Oh, no no no. Juvia… feels so privileged that Gray considers her such a friend that he can tell her about Ur-sama. But, well, Juvia's mother… broke after Daniel died. Absolutely shattered. Her husband, it hurt him, too. Juvia's grandfather, he was a wonderful man. Leonard, that was his name. He thought he was funnier than he really was, and he was the kindest person you could ever meet.

"He died, however, only a couple of months before Daniel. Overworked himself. Gran didn't think that Juvia could keep going on in that house, and she was lonely, so she took Juvia in. She remembers her first day there, she was so shocked by how big it was! The servants, the gardens, the dining room." Juvia looked over the rim of her cup at Gray. "Juvia never showed you the ball room. The parties I had to attend, ugh…"

"Boring?"

"So boring."

He smirked and looked at his watch. "Hey, c'mon, the lights are going to get goin' soon. This close to Christmas, it's gonna be crazy after a bit."

She took the hand he extended to her.

Magnolia was known for its Christmas lights. Juvia had caught glimpses of them once, as they were being set up the week they'd all left for Tenrou, but as she had vanished before they were ready for viewing. They were a sight to behold, Gray had told her, and she really couldn't wait.

The lights on her estate were enrapturing, certainly. The ones strung up in the gardens, and mostly inside the house, due to the rain she had once brought. Lights floating midair, a stairway banister that changed color when you ran your hands along it; Juvia remembered very well sliding down the banister and watching it shift from black to glowing silver under her as she swished past, then running up once more to see it go to white.

"Oh, oh wow."

It was barely anything compared to the lights of Magnolia. Lanterns hovering in the air, reindeer of light prancing along and scattering into particles when touched, cobblestones that changed color when stepped upon; vendors sold sweet treats and hot chocolate, and lovers cuddled along the frozen riverbank, sharing chocolate covered marshmallows.

If the night went well, maybe she and Gray…!

She slapped her cheeks, bringing color up to them. No, no, not tonight. For now, he did not look at her like that. She was merely Juvia the Friend, not Juvia the Lover. But she desperately wanted to change that, now more than ever.

"You okay? You look dizzy."

"Fine, fine, fine!" she squeaked, fanning herself with a hand and forcing a laugh.

He lifted an eyebrow and turned back around, leaving his companion to walk briskly through the light snow to catch up once more.

"How long… these lights… they must be-"

"Important to me? Yeah." Gray lifted a hand to catch the flurry of snow that was starting to come down. "I've been coming to see these since I was nine or ten. Gramps used to gather all us kids up and take us down here. He'd buy us hot chocolate and stuff. Sometimes Gildarts would come along, if he was in town, and he'd spoil us rotten."

"Juvia wishes she could've been along as a kid! Except, her rain would've ruined everything…"

"Well, if it was Fairy Tail that took the rain away, then it wouldn't have been there, woud it?" Gray asked, perfectly composed and logical. "But Natsu and Lisanna, man, the stuff those two could do together. Only got worse when Happy came 'long. They'd climb the trees and shake snow down onto people, or Natsu would melt the snow into ice to watch people slip into snow piles that Lisanna had made to cushion them."

"What would Happy do?"

Gray shuddered. "You don't wanna know."

"Um, alright."

They walked together for a good hour, until it was utterly dark and parents were taking their children home, leaving only husbands and wives, couples, dear friends. It was very quiet, and Gray was walking along the edge of the bridge, arms thrown out for balance, to see if he could make Juvia laugh.

"Careful, careful!" she squealed, rushing along beside him and reaching out her arms, should he fall. "Don't fall!"

"Not gonna, not gonna," he muttered in concentration, then jumped off the edge, landing right on a patch of ice. "Whoa!"

"Got you!" she shouted, wrapping her arms around his waist and hoisting him upright. "Careful, Juvia said careful!"

"Sorry," he said, sliding along the ice. "Won't happen again. Promise."

"It better not. Juvia would like to have another outing. That bar we went to before she left was very nice; we could go again."

"It was nice to have a drink without tons of screaming and death threats flying around, like one certain guild I know." He struck a pose, with a deadly serious look on his face and a less than enthusiastic voice said, "I'm all fired up. You're all going down. I'm Natsu, and I don't care if I drive this guild to bankruptcy, I'm going to destroy that village because I'm all fired up. Have you seen my dad? I'm Natsu Dragneel."

"That," Juvia started, trying her best to look very serious, "was the best Natsu-san impression Juvia has ever seen in her life. Gray should do impressions for a living. He could do it, he's that amazing."

"You think?" Gray said sarcastically, coming out of his "Fired-Up-Pose." "I think so, too. Maybe I could get a certain little lady to come along with me and be, like, my roadie or something. That'd be fun, maybe. Provided she behaved."

"Provided a certain man kept his clothes on," she quipped, walking ahead of him. "He's done a remarkably good job this night, however. A certain little lady is surprised, to say in the least."

"Oh, is that sass?" Gray swung his arm over her shoulder and studied her. "Juvia Lockser has sass in her? What a world."

"Gajeel-kun might have rubbed off on Juvia at some point."

"You eat metal, too? Or has he kept that to 'imself?"

"Juvia has not ever had a craving for iron, so she assumes that she's safe from that particular habit."

"Good. I wasn't sure how the guild would react if you walked in one day, breaking your teeth on some screws or somethin'. Probably send you to the closest hospital, that's for sure."

The lights underneath their feet, disguised as cobblestone, lit up to a bright blue that sparkled on the nearby snow. The next step Juvia took turned it a lovely dark orange, and Gray hopped a couple steps ahead to light one up a vivid red. A couple walked past them, holding hands and smiling, laughing at their antics.

"Have a nice night!" Juvia called, waving her hand. "They looked happy, didn't they, Gray?"

"Mmm? Yeah. It's just about impossible to not look happy when you're looking at all the lights. Just gives you the warm-fuzzies, I guess." Gray kicked a pebble, which turned a dark, glowing green before bursting midair, letting off mini fireworks. "Wow. Hey. That's new, and pretty cool."

"Yes."

They lapsed into silence, watching the last of the couples and stragglers retreat, intimidated by the cold, until they were just about the last left. Gray checked his watch: "It's almost eleven o'clock. Wanna get going back to your dorm?"

"No." Juvia sat down heavily on a bench behind them, tucking her hands into her coat pockets. "Juvia would love to sit here and enjoy the snow, please."

"Okay."

So they did. He sat down next to her and watched the light flurry raining down upon them, looking up into the gray of the clouds, barely visible in the night. Juvia sat quietly next to him, occasionally breathing out heavily, just to enjoy the cloud her breath could make. She giggled; she felt like a dragon.

"This is nice, the simplicity."

"Yes," Juvia said, removing a hand from her pocket to tuck her scarf above her nose. "When you almost die… when you realize what you are going to lose, you truly come to appreciate the simple beauty in life. Snow is very, very beautiful."

"I like that each one is completely different from the others. Kinda like people. I think snowflakes are the closest things to people." Gray let out a puff of breath as well. "Short-lived, unique, beautiful."

"How poetic."

"Thanks. I try, sometimes."

"Juvia likes it when Gray tries," she said hushedly, looking out at the lights.

They sat in silence for a while longer.

"So, when are you in the green-zone to go back on jobs and stuff? I bet Porlyusica has some restrictions set on you."

She nodded. "Juvia isn't supposed to go on any jobs for at least another month, and even after that, she shouldn't go alone for a long while."

"I'll go on a lot of jobs with you," Gray said, almost quietly. "As many as you want. Really, I promise I will."

Juvia blushed and looked at her lap. What a kind friend she had, to offer such things to her.

"And I'm glad that you're all right. I mean, we all are, but you really gave me a scare."

She'd worried them… What a bother she was, really. But, she shook those thoughts out of her head and smiled at him, then turned back to the snow.

"She's glad she is alright, too. Juvia shouldn't have died. To be alive is much better… Totomaru said as much."

Gray shifted on the bench and slouched forward, glaring at the piling snow. Juvia wondered if she had said something to offend him, but upon closer inspection, he looked more awkward than anything.

"That, uh, Totomaru guy… He was pretty important to you, right? I mean, he was one of your first friends, I know."

"That's correct." Juvia smiled, shutting her eyes and envisioning him in their younger years. "Always a bit of a clown. Liked to make people smile. He was such a good friend, and was much warmer than most people in Phantom were. Juvia couldn't have asked for a better savior than him."

"It… wasn't love?"

She froze. A snowflake fell on her nose and she swallowed.

"N-no… at least, not on Juvia's part. Not that kind of love that she imagines Gray is talking about. What Toto felt for Juvia, however… um, it was something romantic. Juvia means, Gray does know of his final words to her, right?"

"'I love you.'"

Though the words were not his own, hearing Gray Fullbuster say those words to her, Juvia Lockser, said chills, the most pleasant kind, not the kind Jose had given her, down right to the base of her spine. Her lip's corners tipped down, then up just a bit in the best smile she could conjure up to try and fool him. This wasn't the time to be sad.

"That's right. He was a hero to Juvia, and he always will be. Not just anyone would give their life for her."

And there were her tears, falling from her eyes as she shifted her legs together, turning slightly from Gray, false smile leaving her. He leaned towards her.

"Juvia… Juvia doesn't understand why Toto had to die. He had such a good life ahead of him. He had students, he had a nice life!" The tears fell harder. "Why did he love her? Why would he love her enough to die for her?"

"Hey…"

Sniffling, tears still falling, she tried smiling, not looking at him. "Juvia is always-always the one wh-who loves too much… Except this time, she wasn't. A-and she doesn't know… how to deal with that. Totomaru was the one who loved too much."

A cold hand touched the side of her face. She jumped.

"What are you-?"

The hand slipped towards the back of her head, shifting it towards her.

"Gray."

A slight intake of breath from him, and the hand pressed deeper into her curls.

Their lips touched.

Juvia stiffened, hands jolting out of her pockets and hanging in the air. Where should she put them? Putting them on him just seemed too forward, and so did kissing him back, though that was all she wanted in the world.

When she did not kiss back, he started to pull away. She grabbed the front of his coat and pressed forward, moving her lips, barely a clue as to what she was doing; not once had she had a kiss, and she was certain neither of them knew exactly what they were doing as he kept kissing her.

His skin was cold, the air was cold, the snow on her face was absolutely freezing, but the kiss, no matter how sloppy it was, was the warmest thing in the world. It was more than Juvia had ever dreamed, than she had ever hoped, and she felt like she could sit there forever, putting her gloved hands against his cheeks and forgetting that the rest of the world existed.

Their lips detached and they opened their eyes, lowered, as though both in thought. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her cold cheek, warming it, then put his hands against both, leaning his forehead against her own. She grabbed his wrists and took a few shallow breaths.

"I like you. A lot."

Juvia tightened her grip on his wrists, listening to every word leaving his mouth. This was what she had worked for for such a long time, for at least a year.

"I haven't earned the right to say that I love you, though. But I want to earn that right. So for now, let me say that I really like you."

She couldn't at all help it. She sniffled, gripped his wrists even tighter, and tried not to cry. "Y-you have every single right to say 'I love you!' Juvia lo- I love you, too! Please don't say you don't have the right, please don't!"

Gray smirked and held her as she tossed her arms around him, listening to her sob out apologies for nothing and utterings of how much like a dream it all was. Though she was sure it felt odd for him to do so, given his character, he patted her head and stroked her hair, burying his face into her neck.

"Let me be the one that loves you too much, Juvia. I'll do anything so you won't have to go through anything like you have anymore. Is that okay with you?"

Sobbing, she nodded against his chest, clenching the back of his coat until she feared it might rip. This was a dream. This couldn't be happening. It really couldn't. She and Gray couldn't have shared a kiss days before Christmas, with snow falling on them, sitting on a bench alone. No, that was a fairy tale, and fairy tales did not happen to the lonely Rain Woman.

"Wanna go out on another date later, Juvia?"

His voice sounded slightly shaky.

Her tears flowed slower, and she gave a wobbly smile, pulling away from him and sinking her fingers into his black hair and ruffling it.

"That's all Juvia would like, Gray."