*Author's Note*
It has been too long! I apologise for the long wait! I hope you enjoy this chapter (do note that it has yet to be edited, there might be mistakes along the way!)
Also, Merry Christmas! I was hoping to rush this out in time for Christmas which is why there might be some inconsistencies!
Happy Reading!
-Smiles: )
—
When it rains, it pours.
That phrase never proved itself more right as the light drizzle quickly became a downpour. Beneath the blanket of rainwater, a certain raven-haired male can be seen cutting through it with his hands over his forehead to shield his sight from rain droplets.
Having spent his week busying himself with assignments and throwing his body in the gym for as long as his body would allow, it did not stop the wandering thoughts that always led to the girl with flowers in her chest. He had hoped that a run in the park with fresh air might help though the weather had other plans for him by soaking him to the bones even when he was mere meters away from the dorm building. Shaking off what he could by the entrance, he slowly climbed up the stairs, leaving a trail of water right with every step he took.
"Finally!" The voice of his brother reached his ears. Gray lifted his head to see the silver-haired sibling standing right in front of his door. "Where have you been? I've been trying to call you."
Gray rolled his eyes, "I didn't take it with me. What the hell are you doing here anyway?" He dug through his wet pockets for his key, praying that he did not lose it while running recklessly in the rain moments ago. Normally, he would have Natsu open the door for him whenever he went on a run outside but his roommate had decided to crash at his girlfriend's apartment near the school for the week.
Just as he was about to open the door, he was spun around by the shoulders. Eyes wide, Gray pulled his head back, feeling too close for comfort with his brother. "Hey, what-?" For reasons, Lyon appeared angry, upset even and when he could not find whatever he was looking for in Gray's face, he relaxed his hold. Shaking off Lyon's hands, he stared at his brother incredulously. "What is it? Why are you here?" He frowned at the man's lack of words, something that was rare for the talkative man.
If Lyon had planned to visit him at the dorms, he would have told him in advance. Especially so during weekdays where he should have been at the ice rink, though the team was taking a break that week.
"Do you know when Juvia is going into surgery for her condition?" Lyon asked. The expression on his face spelt nothing but pity as he was the one breaking the news. Based on what he knew of his brother, if he had known the date itself, he would not have been that calm with a confused look on his face.
Juvia had not told him when the other time and Gray assumed it was going to be in another month or so. Most surgeries had a buffer time, right?
Tugging on the door successfully this time without the interference of his brother, Gray spoke, "In a month, isn't it? Is that why you're here? I'll talk to her soon enough, we just-, it's hard to explain—,"
"It's the day after tomorrow."
He froze with one foot past the door frame. He thought he might have heard wrongly, that his brother might have misspoken. "What?" Because it would be absurd that there would be so little time left between the two of them all of a sudden.
Sighing, Lyon pushed his brother indoors gently, "Go dry up yourself, take a bath or something and we can talk."
"What? You can't just tell me something like that and tell me to go take a bath! What are you-," his words stopped short when Lyon shook his head firmly. Arguing would prove useless because it would only waste both their time.
To say it was the fastest shower that Gray had taken would be an understatement. Emerging from the bathroom within a minute in fresh, dry pants and wet hair with his shirt missing, he approached his brother who was sitting on the couch staring into the small television that was switched off.
"Explain, how did you know about it?"
Lyon lifted his head, only to glare at him before running a hand through his hair. "I only found out about it earlier before rushing here. Mom was the one who told me," he paused with a sigh as he gestured for the younger male to take a seat. "You can't see Juvia now anyways, sit down." He told him the moment Gray was about to bolt out the door.
"What?"
Shifting himself on the couch, Lyon patted on the space next to him, "Mom tried to visit Juvia yesterday but she only saw Metalicana and Gajeel. It seems that Juvia had been in bed rest in recent days for fear she overdid herself."
It sounded ridiculous to Gray. How could that be? A girl whom he knew since they were young who took her stamina and athletic genes with pride whenever she could, it sounded absurd for her to be in bed rest in case of overexertion. How bad of a condition was she in compared to the last time he saw her where she still appeared alright?
No. He recalled. There was that incident at the pool and from what Lucy had told him, it was to do with her condition. But it made zero sense to him that it would deteriorate so quickly when the last he saw he was a week ago.
"Mom was going to tell you right away but you've been ignoring her calls like the idiot you are," Lyon sighed loudly, barely masking the irritation he had been feeling. His brother's disappearance act whenever there was a problem had always been one part of Gray that Lyon hated. The former always preferred keeping to himself and everyone knew that. Even so, it irritated Lyon.
While Gray accepted anger easily, sadness was one that he could not handle well. It was a trace of his past as a kid who lost his parents in an instant when they got into a car accident on their way back home. The young Gray then was only four, under the care of Ur who was a close friend to Mika Fullbuster, barely understood what death meant. All he knew was they were no longer coming back no matter how much he cried for them and he hated the looks of pity and cries from strangers whom he knew nothing of.
No matter how much you cry, it won't bring them back. Was what he grew up thinking.
So when everyone else was trying to contact him about Juvia, he avoided them. It would be unbearable with the several eyes staring at him filled with pity. The sympathy looks and words of comfort would mean nothing if they could not help the situation. The only one who understood him and would never push forth with those words was Juvia. She knew how much he disliked being treated like a charity case despite her telling him it was only natural people try to comfort others.
Just her presence and shoulder for him to lean on was enough for him.
Though, he was about to lose that shoulder because who would lend a stranger she did not know her shoulder.
"I'll go look for her now," were the only words Gray could bring himself to say upon the realisation that he would not be able to talk to her as soon as she goes under the knife.
"And what are you going to say when you see her?" Gray froze in the midst of getting up. What exactly could he say when he saw her? What could he do? What else could he do when he had already made the mistake of being unable to talk to her properly instead of acting on his emotions of fear and impulsiveness?
"I'm not here to tell you that just so you can go off running to her like that. I came here because Mom thought you knew and that was the reason you refused to come back despite her telling you to." Another sigh escaped the older male. "Mom wanted me here to check on you and also tell you, 'it is best for both you and Juvia if you accepted the situation as it is. Don't blame yourself'."
The short phrase seemed to echo in his mind. Had he not accepted it? Had he not known this would happen? Why is everything feeling like it is the first time he heard of it? The absurdity of it all made him laugh. How could he not blame himself when he was part of the problem, it sounded ludicrous.
The first cackle that left his lips made Lyon confused. The silver-haired man stared at his brother incredulously as he continued to laugh, hunched over his knees as he had been earlier. Before he could even say a word about it, he noticed the glistening drops that splattered against the polished wood beneath their feet.
It was inevitable, no matter how many times Gray told himself otherwise, there was some part of him that would always find a reason to blame Juvia's situation on his own. Had he realised earlier, had he made a move, had he understood her better, had he known she was pretending to be okay when she was not; if only he knew better was what he constantly blamed himself for not knowing.
His laughs that had been of a mocking tone morphed into cries of sorrow as the dams of his emotions broke loose. The cries were ones that Lyon never thought he would have to hear from the guy he grew up with, the last time he wailed like that was the first night he slept over after his parents' passing.
Bringing a hand to the younger's shoulder, Lyon gave him a firm pat before telling him that he would be outside if he needed him. While Juvia was the only one who could give him comfort through her presence, the comfort Lyon could provide was through silence and space whilst still being there.
"Let it all out." As though it was a whisper carried by the wind, the rain outside seemed to become heavier, blocking out the sounds of the cry of a man who was finally giving in to the pain he had kept away.
—
As time passed, sleep never came as Gray laid in bed staring at the ceiling. After tomorrow, Juvia will no longer remember him. It was a fact that sounded more like a myth to Gray.
Another crack of lightning flashed through his window and he wondered if it was raining as heavily outside her room. He remembered how much she hated the rain when she was younger, always pouting in disappointment when the weather changed their plans to go outside. While Juvia attributed the foul impression of the rain to its inconvenience, Gray understood it would have been from her childhood. She had once told him when they were younger that kids in the orphanage found her gloomy like the rain.
But Gray felt otherwise, she was like the sun that entered their lives on the day he met her. Her shy smile and curious eyes were nothing like the gloomy rain as the kids had claimed, even if she was indeed like the rain, she felt more like rain on a hot summer's day, unexpected but welcomed.
The thunderous roar of the sky snapped Gray out of his thoughts and he was back to staring at the ceiling, willing for sleep to take over yet unwilling for it to do so. He felt like if he just slept, morning would come faster than it should while if he stayed awake, it was like inducing more anxiety toward the day that was approaching.
There were still things he had to say to her but his mind came up empty each time he tapped on the messaging app on his phone.
New Message To: Juvia
Enter your message here|
What should he say? What can he say? What would be appropriate? What would not sound weird? The same questions circled his mind.
"Just write what you want to say, I don't understand why you've got to overcomplicate things." Juvia huffed as she grabbed his phone, typing down aggressively on the device before returning it to him.
"W-What? Hey! You pressed sent?!" He stared at the unread notification turned to read almost immediately. "Juvia!" It was a message to a girl in their class whom Gray had crushed on for a month or so. He had been fretting over it because they've barely talked other than in science class.
She giggled and threw herself back on the bed, "You're welcome! Don't worry, if she rejects you, you can attend prom with me!"
He rolled his eyes, giving her a short glare before panicking when he saw the three dots determining his fate through the screen. Unable to see the reply he would get, he simply tossed the phone aside, unintentionally hitting the bluenette who yelped in pain.
"Since when have you been so worried over a girl's response, you never care anyways," she teased, taking the phone into her hands once again. As Gray watched her expression for any sign of joy, he was entirely disappointed when her face morphed into a wince.
'She said no' were unspoken but he could easily tell through her expression. He was better at reading it back then and she was bad at hiding her thoughts at the time.
"She's not worth it anyway," she tells him, switching off the phone for him and placing it aside.
Rolling his eyes once again, Gray simply leaned back against the front of the bed, folding his legs across the carpet. "Ah, what to do, I don't want to go with a girl who can't even eat Caramade Franks properly."
With a huff, the bluenette crawled up behind him. Before he could react in time for her attack, she gripped onto the sides of his head with her small hands.
"Was it like this? Or like this?" She shifted his head from side to side, playfully imitating the time he lectured her about using her hands to hold the sticky dessert.
"A-Ah! Don't break my neck." He panicked, while he knew she would not harm, there was no telling from a girl who picked up self-defence classes through her burly-built brother.
She simply giggled at his words, continuing to tease him.
He found himself smiling at the memory that came to mind before the weather outside pulled him back to reality once again. The smile fell as quickly as the raindrops outside the window.
What had she been doing for the past few days? Did she think about him as much as he did about her? If she did, did she come to hate him? For not being able to find the courage to talk to her again after that day, would she find him pathetic?
No. He shook his head. Even if she came to dislike him someday, it would be impossible for a kind soul like her to hate him. That was just who Juvia was, a person who only knew to love and love she did and love the wrong person that she had.
Perhaps it would have been better if you loved someone else. Such a thought came to mind. Though as sudden as it came, he quickly tarnished that idea. Because no one else is good enough for a girl like Juvia.
With a sigh, he placed the device aside, only to pick it up once more before putting it back down again. He repeated the action over and over again until the right words came to mind but those words never came.
"Just write what you want to say."
Gray: I want to see you. 2.59am.
To see her smile, to hear her voice, to make sure she was okay.
Gray: I'm sorry. I really am. 3.02am.
—
"Gray. Gray!"
It felt like Deja vu to Gray. With the pounding headache and his brother being obnoxiously loud in the early hours of the morning. Honestly, he wondered why he had not bothered to lock his door both at home and the dorm whenever his brother was over. Lyon was like a walking alarm clock he never wanted.
Unsuccessful in his attempts to wake up his younger brother, Lyon looked around the room for anything to aid in his mission. His eyes fell on a half-filled cup of water sitting dangerously at the edge of the nightstand. Snatching off the pillow, Lyon watched with unamused eyes as his brother flipped on his back with another groan.
Splash.
"I'm awake! I'm awake!" Gray sputtered unintelligently, eyes wide open at the water dripping off him and his bedsheets that were now damp from the wake-up call. "What the hell?" He glared at his brother.
Rather than meet his glare or instigate an immature argument like they usually do, Lyon appeared worried even as he threw the clothes that Gray had stripped off during his sleep.
"Mom called. It's Juvia."
—
There was nothing more nerve-wracking than waiting for a loved one that was in the operation room, especially when the condition they had was something still lacking proper studies and treatment.
Metalicana was no stranger to that, nor was Gajeel. Having been in the waiting room more times than they could keep track of when Eliana was alive, it did not feel foreign to them. Yet, the worry and anxiety incurred from it were something they never got used to.
The ticking of the clock in the silent room only seemed to echo past the two men's breathing and heartbeat. They barely left the waiting room, only leaving twice to use the bathroom and get a drink of water.
It had been exactly five hours since Juvia went in. The doctor assured them while the procedure was performed with little knowledge of the disease itself, she had done so several times for previous patients, all who had survived and currently living their best life.
While Metalicana was worried that things would turn out as it did for Eliana, there was faith that medical technology had advanced over the years.
He never prayed; he was never one to believe in a higher entity to change one's fate. He had done it once when Eliana was in a surgery that was high risk herself but he found himself doing so yet again for his daughter.
Let this surgery be a success. Juvia still has a long life ahead of her. Look after her from above, Eliana. She still has plenty of things to achieve in this life.
"Ur says she's here," Gajeel told his father, putting his phone away in his pocket. An hour ago, he had been the one to inform the woman about Juvia's situation. He had texted Levy and told her if she wanted to, she could tell their friends as well but it would be best for them to only come to the hospital after the surgery was done.
"I'll go bring her up and get some coffee on my way, do you want some, old man?" Gajeel asked, tugging down the black shirt that he found in Metalicana's car. The shirt he wore to the hospital had been stained with Juvia's blood and vomit.
Answering him with a nod of his head, Metalicana's eyes flew to the door once more.
—
"Stop doing that." Lyon pointed out his brother's bouncing leg in the car. "She'll be fine."
The two siblings were stuck in traffic, as luck would have it, there was a sudden construction at one of the shortcuts to the hospital which meant that they had to take a detour. The morning rush did nothing to help the situation.
"Juvia is strong, young and healthy. I read articles online, most patients are fine after the surgery," Lyon told him. Though he was trying to comfort his brother, he too could not help but feel some sort of worry.
"I know. I know." Gray adjusted his seat, trying to get a better look at the traffic they were stuck in.
—
When Ur entered the room, she could see the tiredness on Metalicana's face. He looked the same as the times when Eliana was constantly stuck in the hospital. He lifted his head from his hands upon hearing footsteps.
"Hey," she said in a soft voice, a face full of sympathy as she walked towards him with open arms. The same way she had greeted Gajeel at the lobby beforehand.
"You didn't have to come so early," Metalicana tells her after pulling away from the hug. He accepted the cup of coffee handed to him by his son, taking comfort in what the hot beverage could offer in the cold morning.
Ur shook her head, "I had to. I consider Juvia as one of my own too, you know, both her and Gajeel. It is also what I promised Eliana in the past, to look after her children like my own."
The man took a sip of coffee, remembering what exactly Ur was saying. It was one of Eliana's final days where Ur had promised her such a thing. He had been present, staying close to his wife who worried more about her children's future and her husband who would have to raise them single-handedly than her own health.
"It would have been troublesome if you hadn't," Metalicana says light-heartedly. There were many moments where he had to place the two children with the neighbour's because of work. The times after Eliana had passed were tough; it would be a lie to say that Ur's offers to help look after Gajeel and Juvia whenever Metalicana was not home were unhelpful.
Gajeel eyed his father. They had yet to tell Ur of their plans to move after Juvia's recovery. There was no obligation but it was only right she knew. She treated them like her own, whenever and wherever. Catching his eye, Metalicana nodded, assuring Gajeel that he would let her know.
"To tell you the truth, I've been grateful for all the times you've lent a hand in looking after my children," Metalicana smiled but it does not reach his eyes like usual due to the stress he had been under since the wee hours of the morning. "They would not have been able to get this far without your help."
"There's no need to thank me. What are friends for? Also, I simply treated them like my own children, I always love having them over at our house."
He shook his head, "No, there is. It would only be right for me to say all this before we move."
This caught Ur off-guard.
"Once Juvia is fine enough to do so, we will be moving," Gajeel added, having sat so quietly on the couch, listening to the older generation talk.
"Is it because of Gray?" Ur questioned; a look of regret embedded on her face to which Metalicana quickly brushed off. While her son was one of the reasons, it was not the main catalyst.
"No. The workshop is expanding to Crocus and we've decided it would be best to relocate to reduce travelling time." The explanation was short and sweet but Ur felt like it was anything but sweet. The news was too abrupt for her to come to terms that the two children she had known for a large portion of their lives would be far from reach.
"I see."
Before she could ask further on whether they'll be coming back to Magnolia, a nurse interrupted the conversation.
"The guardians of Miss Juvia Lockser? Miss Lockser's surgery had just ended successfully and is being transferred to the ICU for observations before she can be placed in a private ward. Doctor Erika will be here soon to give a short brief on Miss Lockser's condition before you can see her."
The word 'successfully' was enough for the three in the waiting room to heave a sigh of relief.
"Thank you."
—
*Author's Note*
Once again, I'm sorry it took so long for a new update, I had been preoccupied with projects and exams till recently and had been unable to write often like before. Writer's block was also haunting me which is why I am afraid this update may be a bit lacking than before, but I do plan on rewriting parts of it when I am done with it.
Thank you so much for reading! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you guys real soon *insert heart*
-Smiles: )