Chapter Two: Emotional Tears and Quiet Fears
"Juvia?" Gray could not move, he could not believe it, it was Juvia right there, like she'd never left.
"JUVIA!" The guild erupted and in one swift stampede Juvia was toppled over with the members of the guild. Some were crying, some were cheering, none wanting to let go, but Gray stayed where he was observing the whole scene.
"Juvia where have you been?" Lucy cried, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"We thought you were dead!" Erza exclaimed, her eyes also watery.
"I told them you were still alive Juvia! I just knew it, yeah I'm all FIRED UP!" Natsu jumped doing cartwheels around the guild hall, a path of flames shooting like fireworks behind him.
Then as though everyone noticed he wasn't with them, they got up and made a path for Gray, still frozen in place. He took a deep breath and moved forward, not going to fast in case she'd disappear in front of him. But as he approached, he noticed something different about Juvia, the way she looked at everyone in front of her. "Juvia?" Gray kneeled down to her level until they were staring right at one another.
"Uh, Juvia is very happy to meet everyone, but uh, does she know you all from somewhere?" Everyone froze, halted by the young mages claim.
"You don't know who we are?" Erza asked.
Juvia gave a small shake of the head "No, Juvia is sorry, should she?" Gray looked Juvia up and down, to see if maybe he missed an injury, she had when she came in, that's when he saw it and his blood ran cold.
"Juvia, what happened to your Fairy Tail mark?" Everyone looked in the same place Gray was looking at. On her thigh, which was exposed due to the slit in her skirts, the blue mark of the guild, that had always been there, was gone. Natsu looked pained in his expression, it wasn't the first time he saw a member lose the mark, and it did not bring happy memories.
"Juvia doesn't have any marks on her, unless you count scars or bruises?" Juvia pushed herself off the guild hall floor and brushed her skirt out from under her. "Juvia just arrived in town, she is looking to make some money, and was told this was a good place to find work, but it seems you know Juvia, but she doesn't recognize you?"
"Children, what is going on here." Master Markovs voice boomed from the stairs as he made his way down to assess the situation he heard from his office. He immediately recognized one of his children, who had been lost for many months. He made his way to stand in the center of everyone to grasp their attention. He looked to Erza, in hopes she would summarize it for him.
"Master, Juvia has returned, but she doesn't seem to remember us, and her guild mark, it's gone?" Markov looked and saw for himself that indeed the seal of Fairy Tail was no longer placed on the child, and he knew something was terribly wrong.
"Everyone go back to what you are doing, we are Fairy Tail, and people need your help, Team Natsu, Levy, Gajeel, and Cana, come with me." He asked Juvia to also follow him and she kindly agreed.
Once everyone was seated in his office Markov began a series of questions for Juvia, to see what she knew, or didn't in this case.
"Tell me what you remember child, if you don't mind that is?" Juvia smiled.
"Not at all, although Juvia must apologize again her memories aren't very good. Juvia washed up on land near Akane beach five months ago, barely alive so she was told. An elderly couple took care of Juvia's injuries and she only recently healed for the better. Juvia can't remember anything before that, not her childhood, her family, her friends, just lots of nightmares that Juvia thinks might be a memory of some kind. Juvia made her way to the train station, unsure of her destination, she felt pulled to take the train going to Magnolia. Once she arrived, she thought the town was beautiful and it would make for a nice first stop. Juvia hoped to one day find out where she came from, but she needed to find living space and stuff first, so she decided to get a job. She was then led here and that's when she met all of you." Everyone seemed to be taking in every detail.
"Can you tell us about your dream?" Gray spoke up from the back of the room.
Juvia seemed quiet, scared even, and Gray had a feeling he knew exactly what her dream was, but he had to hear her say it.
"Juvia is in a lot of pain in the dream, she sees and feels a heavy chain and she is always ice-cold. Someone is laughing at her, but she can't see who it is, and another figure stands in front of her. Juvia then feels everything stop and go black, and she hears a sad scream and a hint of warmth. Then she wakes up and has the same dream again and again." Juvia is shaking, she is traumatized by something she doesn't even remember. Everyone in the room can feel her pain radiating off of her.
"So, if you all know Juvia, does that mean this is where she was from? Do you know what happened to her? One of you said you thought she was dead. Why?" Juvia scanned face to face to see which wizard would tell her the truth, but all she heard was silence.
"You were part of the Fairy Tail Guild, you are a member of the Fairy Tail guild. One of the finest water mages we've ever seen. We're your family and your closest friends and we all care about you so much." Lucy spoke up, tears washing down her eyes.
"There was a war, Juvia, and we all fought in it together side-by-side. We did win the war, but we thought you didn't make it." Ezra's pained expression began to falter.
"I saw you die. That person in your dream, that was me Juuves. We were put under a strong magical spell called Icelock. The Ice Wizard Invel pitted you and me against each other, and the only way to break the chain was for one of us to kill the other. We had no control and fought one another. You and I managed to have enough willpower left to make the ultimate choice, we both killed ourselves in the hopes to save the other. I didn't die though, you saved me with the last bit of power you had left, by turning your water into a blood transfusion spell. You- I held you and I watched you die in my arms. You died Juvia." Gray was holding on to what little composer he had left. The tears everyone knew he was fighting back were so close to falling, but Gray wouldn't let it. He needed to be strong for Juvia, especially since she was crying and shaking her chair unable to speak.
"After we defeated the enemy, I went back to find your body, but it was gone. We searched everywhere for months, hoping by some miracle that you were alive, but we had concluded that maybe the spell you used eventually evaporated your body from being made out of water. Juvia if I knew I never would have stopped looking." Gray pleated
"None of us would." Gajeel said, face stoned and emotionless.
"Juvia is so sorry that she made you all feel so sad, she didn't mean too. She wishes she could remember any of this so that she could make you all feel better. Juvia is trying, she's trying really hard right now-" Juvia started crying again and Wendy approached her, giving her a hug.
"Could she just have Amnesia?" Cana asked from the left of the room
"Amnesia couldn't explain her missing guild mark though?" Erza stated clearly thinking of the next steps to take. She turned to Levy.
"Levy could you possibly take a look at Juvia? Maybe see if we can figure out how she survived in the first place? We could work from there." Levy nodded determined to help her friend.
"In the meantime, we can all try and help Juvia remember her life, maybe something will click if it really is just amnesia?" Everyone nodded in agreement, happy that there was something they could do to help.
"So Juvia can stay?" Juvia finally stopped crying and looked up at the Master.
"Of course, you are one of my children whether you remember it or not and this is your home. Now I expect everyone to make this their prime focus for now, so no more jobs for the time being. We must do everything we can to help Juvia, and I want updates every day. I don't know what happened to you dear, but we are going to find out." Markov smiled.
"Juvia feels so blessed, and she will try her hardest too." She beamed and blushed at everyone around her, trying to put names to faces. She would have to try at it every day, but deep down she knew it would be worth it. As she got up to leave everyone stared at her.
"Did Juvia forget something else?"
"Where are you going?" Cana asked.
"Oh, Juvia was going to find a place to rest for the night, she is very tired."
"You already have a place Juvia, Fairyhills, does that ring any bells?" Wendy asked
"No, but maybe when Juvia sees it something will come back!" She beamed with hope.
"I can take you there." Gray added. Erza was about to give him a punch to the head knowing full well he knows men aren't permitted there.
"It's alright Erza, they need some time to themselves anyways." Master Markov smiled.
Levy took a few samples for her test from Juvia and then Gray led her out of the guild hall. Everyone seemed nervous watching her walk out, afraid she may never come back, but they knew that if Gray was with her, it would never happen again.