Thanks to everyone who reviewed my first chapter! rao hyuga 18, tigerfire54, and janeto13, I appreciate it a lot! I am sorry I am a day behind, but I have been super busy this week baking a birthday cake for a friend's daughter! I am hopefully going to be back on schedule tomorrow, but if not, I will still post all 7 prompts! :) I hope you guys enjoy Day 2 Warmth! Set after Alvarez, but before 100 year quest.

It was a swelteringly hot summer's day in Magnolia, and Master Makarov decided to treat his children with a visit to Akane Beach, along with a two nights stay at the resort. Almost everyone in the guild went, not wanting to miss out on a free three day vacation.

Gray and Juvia were sitting together on the bus to Akane Beach, and she was just telling him about the treats she made for them to eat on the beach. Natsu and Lucy were sitting behind them, Natsu moaning and groaning with his head in Lucy's lap. Levy and Gajeel were in a similar state two rows ahead, and Wendy and Carla in the row across from them. Alzack and Bisca were sitting diagonal ahead of them, little Asuka in Bisca's lap, playing with a horse stuffed animal. The diagonal seats behind them were occupied by Cana and Lisanna.

"What do you want to do first, Gray-sama?" Juvia asked him, a smile on her face.

Gray looked over at her, acutely aware of how tempting she looked in her white sundress and floppy hat with the pink ribbon. He assumed she had a revealing swimsuit underneath the flowing material of her dress, and he was both anxiously dreading and impatiently desiring to see it. "Um, whatever is fine with me," he told her.

"Hmm." Juvia put one finger to her lips and tilted her head to the side as she thought about it. "Juvia thinks we should find a nice place to sit and maybe build a sandcastle. Or maybe we could go for a swim right away and then lay on our towels to dry off and eat snacks. What does Gray-sama think?"

Gray, thoroughly engrossed in how cute she looked with her head tilted to the side, was slow to answer. "Um, yeah that sounds nice," he finally said, not quite sure what she said to him.

"Gray-sama! You weren't listening to Juvia!" She pouted at him, and he could feel his heart thumping hard in his chest.

Instead of staring at her like an idiot (like he wanted to), Gray reached out a hand and pulled her hat off her head to ruffle her hair. Juvia hmmphed at him and told him to give her the hat back, arms folded resolutely across her chest. Gray pretended to think about it, and then put it back on her head before tickling her. Juvia squealed and arched her back, trying to get away from his hands. Gray laughed and tickled her harder, finding sensitive spots under her arms and on her sides. Juvia, giggling, wiggled out of her seat and halfway into Gray's lap.

"Gray-sama! Stop tickling Juvia-a-a!"

Gray laughed harder. Watching her laugh like a happy child made his heart give a queer ache, and he felt so lucky to be near her. He wasn't an idiot. He knew he loved her. But telling her was so hard, and he wasn't strong enough yet. After the war with Alvarez, he was fully intending on telling her, but after what happened with Invel, Gray just didn't feel ready. Instead, the two had grown even closer together, but they had never crossed that final line into having an actual relationship.

Juvia was still laughing, and she wiggled again, brushing against Gray's lap with her butt inadvertently. Gray gasped and stopped teasing her immediately. He pushed her off his lap, his face bright red as he felt himself tightening beneath his pants. He brought that image of the master naked in the swimming pool to keep himself from getting a full blown erection, and was glad when it worked. Juvia had frozen, just staring at him with a shocked face.

"Juvia is sorry," she whispered, not understanding what happened.

Gray's blush deepened. "It isn't your fault," he mumbled. Eager to change the subject, he was quick to add, "So I think we should go for a swim first. This weather is too damn hot and I want to cool down."

Juvia nodded, fully distracted from what just happened. "Okay! Juvia bought a new swimsuit for this weekend and she can't wait to show you!"

Oh god, Gray thought. She really is trying to kill me. Cana, who was watching their whole encounter with a knowing gaze, smirked at Gray. He looked back and saw her, and glared at her.

Cana leaned forward and whispered to him, "I helped her pick it out, Grayyy. I hope you like it."

He shot her another glare and decided to ignore her the rest of the trip, turning back to Juvia's happy face.

When they finally got to the beach, the three dragon slayers pushed their way off the vehicle. Natsu threw up in the bushes outside the resort while Lucy looked on annoyed, and Gajeel used the bag Levy made for him with her magic. Only Wendy got through the bus ride without throwing up, which Carla was very grateful for.

Gray helped Juvia off the bus, carrying her bags for her. She was so excited she couldn't stand still, and bounced around waiting for everyone to get off so they could check in and get to the beach. Gray watched her with an amused smile, admiring how her blue curls shone in the sun.

"Alright, brats! Get in the resort so we can check in!" Makarov was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, bermuda shorts, and flip flops, totally ready to be on the beach. He led the huge group into the resort, wincing as the noise level in the building skyrocketed. He hoped fervently that his children won't destroy the guild.

Unfortunately for Makarov's hopes, Gray and Natsu were sharing a room. The odds of them leaving the hotel resort intact was very, very small. Juvia and Lucy were sharing, too, and Juvia was really happy about it. She wanted to become closer to Gray's team, and she felt an extra bond already with Lucy ever since the Tower of Heaven, despite how often Juvia called her love rival.

Gray and Natsu helped Juvia and Lucy carry their bags up to their room while the two women giggled together about something.

"Lucy has way more bags than Juvia! They are way heavier!" Natsu shouted at Gray.

Gray growled. "No way Fire Freak! Juvia has way more stuff! Look at how heavy they are!" He shoved Juvia's bulging floral blue bags in Natsu's face.

"Yeah but she only has two bags. See, Lucy has three!" Natsu shoved Lucy's hot pink bags back at Gray.

"Look how much this one is bulging though! It's packed way heavier."

"Boys."

Natsu and Gray froze, and slowly turned around. Erza was coming up behind them carrying her mountain of luggage behind her. They side-hugged immediately, and fake smiled at her. "We're not fighting!" they chanted together.

"Oh, good," Erza said dryly. "I want to make it absolutely clear that I expect the both of you to behave on this trip. No fighting."

"Aye!" the boys said together, throwing their arms around each other.

When Gray and Juvia were both settled in their respective rooms, they walked down to the beach, fingertips brushing slightly as they made their way through the halls. The beach was pristine, white sand and crystal blue water. There were umbrellas and beach chairs littered up and down the shore, and people everywhere swimming or tanning or building sandcastles.

Gray, who was carrying their bags, set their things up far enough from the water to keep it safe but close enough to have an easy trip to swim. Gray laid out his dark blue towel and Juvia's white one with pale blue snowflakes on it while Juvia set up their snacks and an umbrella. She rummaged through their bag for a few minutes while Gray waited for her, already in just his swim trunks.

"Oh no! Juvia forgot her sunblock in the room." She pouted. "Juvia doesn't want to burn."

"You'll be fine, Juvia. Let's just go swim." Gray was sweating buckets, the weather was so warm. He just wanted to get in the water and cool off.

Juvia frowned but eventually agreed. She took off her white dress and Gray's breath caught in his throat. She was wearing a white bikini that barely seemed to cover her breasts and a tiny scrap of fabric covering her bottom half. Gray swallowed thickly. He couldn't decide whether he wanted to thank Cana or kill her.

Juvia smiled at him and took his hand before dragging him to the water. She really was excited to be back in her element. Juvia looked up at Gray coyly and smiled before splashing him with blissfully cool water.

Gray gasped and then said, "Oh, you did not just do that."

He grabbed her around the middle and went to dunk her, but she wasn't there anymore. She used her magic to slide through his fingers and reappeared a few feet away from him.

"Gray-sama won't beat Juvia in the water," she giggled and splashed him once more.

Gray arched an eyebrow. "Do you wanna test me?" he asked with a smirk.

Juvia giggled again and used her magic to drop a ball of water over Gray's head, drenching him. He spluttered and pushed his wet hair out of his eyes. With a whispered word, he froze Juvia's feet to the ocean floor and reached for her again, grinning when he was able to keep a grip on her this time with his icy hands.

Juvia, sensing defeat, decided to try another tactic. She reached up and kissed Gray on the cheek, laughing when his face went blank. With him distracted, she was able to free herself. She cupped her hands underwater and dumped a handful over Gray's head, making it very warm to make him more uncomfortable.

Natsu came swimming by then, as always dragging Lucy behind him, and the water fight turned into an epic battle of chicken fight. Of course, being in the water, Juvia and Gray won, and the four continued to play different games in the water for hours.

When Gray and Juvia finally made it back to their spot on the sand, Juvia stretched herself onto her towel face down while Gray shook his wet hair out. His eyes couldn't help but travel down the curves of her body, distractingly glistening wet. He glanced away with a blush and decided to eat something. He sat on his towel and pulled over the cooler to find something to drink.

As he ate, he watched Juvia's blue eyes flutter shut, lashes making dark crescents on her cheeks. Her breathing became more even, and Gray could hear gentle little snores. He smiled peacefully and decided to take a nap himself.

When he woke up, it was to see the sun low in the sky. It was evening, now, and a lot of his guild members were picnicking on the beach. Bisca, Alzack, and Asuka were closest to them, on a checked blanket, munching on sandwiches and drinking lemonade. Gray smiled at them before reaching over to wake Juvia up. She was on her back now, and her hair was spread around her head in a blue fan.

Oh shit, he thought. She is super red.

As soon as he put his hand on her shoulder, she gasped and sat up. "Oww," she moaned.

"I'm so sorry Juvia," Gray said. "I should have woken you up earlier, but I fell asleep, too. This is my fault. I should have gone up to get you that sunblock."

Juvia groaned as she stretched her limbs. "No, Gray-sama. Juvia should have known better. But she's going to go back to her room to put stuff on her skin." She stood up stiffly.

Gray scrambled up behind her. "Wait! I can help you. Just wait a second." He shoved all of their things in the big shoulder bag, and followed Juvia up to her room.

Every step she took was so painful, but she continued on, trying not to flinch. Gray looked on in concern, worried about his love. She was lobster-red everywhere, except for the tiny triangles her bikini covered.

When they got to her and Lucy's room, Gray set the bag down and went searching for aloe or something to put on her skin. Not finding anything, he asked Juvia if she even brought any.

"No," she moaned. "Juvia didn't think she'd need it."

"Come here," he told her, and cast a thin layer of magic to his hands, cooling them. When she came closer, he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around gently, pushing her on her stomach onto the bed. He knelt over her, hands massaging lightly on her sunburnt skin.

"Ohh," she said, making a throaty noise of pleasure.

Gray's pants tightened again, but he ignored it and continued massaging her shoulders, keeping the magic around his hands. She rolled her head and moaned, making the same little gasps and noises of pure pleasure as he made his way down her body. When he was done with her back, Gray moved down to her feet and calves, this time roaming up. Each inch of her skin he cast his magic to was becoming slightly less red and painful looking.

Happy that it was working, Gray grabbed her hips and flipped her onto her back underneath him. Juvia opened her eyes wide in surprise, but they closed again as Gray started on her legs, cooling the burns. This is a bad idea, he told himself as he reached her thighs, and her guild mark. Her legs were his favorite part of her body, and he could feel himself getting harder as he worked.

It didn't help that he could see her face as she made those little noises. Just hearing it was bad enough, but now he could watch her bite her lip or squeeze her eyes shut and open her mouth in an o. Gray moved to her stomach, trying to keep himself under control. Having gotten done with her belly, Gray hesitated, not quite sure what to do. Her breasts were angry and red, and he wanted to help her, but he didn't know if he could take much more of the erotic sight underneath him.

Juvia frowned and whimpered when he took his hands off her red skin, and the sound of her in pain made the decision for him. With no more hesitation, he placed his hands on the swell of her breasts, breath catching as she moaned and wiggled underneath him. Her back arched off the bed, pushing her breasts more firmly into his hands. Gray squeezed gently, inadvertently, he told himself, and her eyes popped open. Gray's breath hitched when he saw how hazy they looked, and how dilated her pupils were. She made eye contact with him and moaned when he kneaded her again. Gray's shorts were now extremely tight, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep touching her without touching her.

Juvia bit her lip and moaned again, putting her pink hands over his hips. "Gray-sama," she mumbled before another moan escaped her lips.

It was the sound of his name mixed in with those pleasurable gasps and sighs that undid him. Gray took one hand off her breast and grabbed her face to pull it closer to his. He kissed her long and hard, savoring the feel of her mouth on his, especially when she gasped and he could slip his tongue inside her mouth. He threaded his fingers through her hair, pulling her head back so he could get a better angle. Juvia responded to the kiss with a passion usual to her, when it came to him, and he swore he could see stars every time she raked her nails down his back.

Gray lowered his body onto hers, instead of hovering over, and Juvia slid her legs out from under him to wrap around his waist. He grinded against her, and she gasped again when she felt exactly how much he liked kissing her. She ran her hands through his hair, tugging to try and pull him even closer to her. She wanted to feel every part of him against every part of her and this wasn't enough. Even though her skin burned with warmth, he kept her blissfully cool, and she loved it.

Gray suddenly pushed off of her. He looked at Juvia with a panicky expression. "Juvia, I am so sorry," he whispered.

Juvia couldn't do much more than stare at him. She didn't know what just happened, and she felt the loss of his coolness like someone pressed a burning knife to her.

"I didn't mean to… that isn't… I'm not…" He hung his head down in shame, dark hair hiding his face from her.

"Juvia… did something… wrong?" she finally asked.

"No!" Gray shot his head up, looking at his girl with her big blue eyes starting to fill with tears. "It isn't you! It's me, okay? You are… amazing," he finished on a sigh. "More than amazing. And I'm… not. I'm just not ready, yet."

Juvia nodded her head, accepting his answer almost before he finished speaking. "Okay. Well, Juvia is hungry, so Gray-sama should wait for her to change before we get something to eat."

Gray simply stared at her, stunned at her forgiving nature. When she shot him a look, he shook his head and then said, "Oh! Yeah, sorry. I will wait for you outside," before rushing out the door.

When the end of the weekend rolled around, surprisingly damage free, Gray found himself back on the bus next to Juvia. She was back to her pale complexion, thanks to Wendy and some aloe Lucy brought along, and neither of them had brought up the incident again.

"Gray-sama! Juvia had so much fun this weekend!"

"Uh, yeah, me too," he told her, his brain half caught up in thinking about how kissing her felt better than he ever imagined it would.

Cana slid past them on her way to her seat. She bent down next to Gray's ear and said slyly, "I hope you liked her bikini, Gray."

He scowled at her and didn't say anything. Cana laughed and sat down next to Lisanna.

"So, about the other day," he started, but Juvia stopped him.

"Juvia knows, Gray-sama. And she will wait for you to be ready. It's okay." She smiled serenely at him, cheeks pink and eyes shining.

Gray smiled back at her, so glad he found someone who knew him better than he knows himself sometimes.

"Also, Juvia is pretty sure she's going to fall asleep any minute, but it's not because she thinks Gray-sama is boring! She is just so exhausted from the trip."

"Well, come here." He grabbed her and pulled her head down to his chest, bringing one arm up to wrap around her. "You might as well be comfortable so you can sleep better. I still feel bad about letting you burn, so this is the least I can do."

He could feel Juvia smile against his bare chest. "Thank you, Gray-sama. And just so he knows, Gray-sama has always been amazing to Juvia," she said sleepily before letting her eyes drift shut and falling asleep to the sound of Gray's steady heartbeat surrounding her.

Gray chuckled. This girl, he thought. She sure is something.