Juvia arrived at the guild to meet Gajeel the next morning, she had promised him she would keep him updated and she had to tell someone about what all had transpired. She was happy to see her friend already sitting at their table, she practically skipped over taking her seat. "Good morning, Gajeel," she said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh? A good morning you say?" he smirked, "I guess everything went well last night."

"It was perfect," Juvia gushed.

"I'm happy for you Rain Woman,' he said, his gaze drifting past her, "so what about him?"

Juvia turned to see who Gajeel was looking at and to no real surprise she saw Gray sitting with Erza and Lucy a few tables away. Turning back, she nibbled her lip before answering, "Natsu said that was a problem for another day."

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it is another day."

Juvia grimaced, he wasn't wrong, Natsu hadn't specified when or how they would handle the situation, but she knew it would have to happen eventually. She huffed, "We will have to figure it out next time we talk."

"That might be sooner than you think," Gajeel said gesturing behind her.

"Hey Juves," Nastu. She glanced up in time to see him arrive at her table.

"Hey, Good Morning."

"It is a good morning," he answered with a smile.

Gajeel interjected with a chuckle, "You two are so sweet, it's disgusting."

Juvia shot him a look of warning before turning back to Natsu, "so what's up?"

"Well, we said we were taking things slow, so I am starting off by letting everyone see us having breakfast at the guild. It's fairly normal, but different enough," he said cheerily.

"Aren't you worried about what they'll say?" she asked cautiously.

"No," he was quick and firm, "besides, Gajeel is here too so they probably won't read too much into things." He took a seat between the friends and Juvia looked past him to see they had drawn the attention of the entirety of Team Natsu.

She swallowed her anxiety as best she could, "I hope you know what you're doing."

"Relax Juves," he patted her hand, "trust me."

There was something about the way he looked at her that made her heart skip a beat. She did trust him. She nodded, "Okay."

"Mira! Three specials!" Gajeel called across the room.

"Got it!" she called back and headed into the kitchen.

"So, you think they'll be on board with the two of you?" Gajeel asked Natsu.

"Once they warm up to the idea, yeah. They aren't anti-Juvia, they're just not sure how to move forward from what happened so I'm gonna show them how to do it." he seemed confident in his abilities.

Gajeel smirked, "to be fair you're trying to date her, that's different."

"But I was still friends with her until then," he reminded, tapping the table for emphasis, "So it's possible for them too."

Mira approached balancing plates in her hands, "Here you go, three specials," she carefully set the places on the table giving them a knowing look, "enjoy your meal, you three."

Breakfast went by quickly with the three mages talking about missions and joking while they ate. Natsu snagged the last piece of bacon from Juvia's plate resulting in her whining, "hey."

"You left your food unattended," he joked, "it was fair game."

"That's what you think" she scolded, pulling her nearly empty plate closer.

"I better get ready to go, I'm supposed to do another quick job with my team today," he sighed, "but I wish I could just stay here and hang out with you."

"Me too," Juvia agreed, "but we need to get a move on too."

"Rain Woman promised to help me shop for Levy's birthday present and I'd be lost without her," Gajeel added.

"Can I see you later tonight? Maybe around 7?" Natsu asked giving her hand a subtle squeeze.

Juvia nodded, "how about the usual place?"

"Why don't we meet at my place tonight," he offered, "it's supposed to be really foggy out tonight."

"Okay, it's a date," she grinned.

"Seriously, you two are sickening." Gajeel added.

Juvia didn't mind helping her best friend shop for his girlfriend, but her mind was elsewhere as they scanned the shops for the perfect present.

"HEY!' Gajeel barked, "are you even listening to me?"

"Sorry," she apologized, "I was thinking about something else."

"Pink hair? Pain in the ass?" he quipped, "I figured."

"I just can't help but wonder how things are going with his team," she sighed running her hands over some colorful silk scarves. "I want to be able to go out and do things with Natsu without worrying about hurting someone else's feelings."

"Then maybe you need to suck it up and talk to Gray yourself," Gajeel offered, "I don't know about him, but I would appreciate someone trying to be transparent with me. Just be honest and talk to him."

"I don't know if I could do that," she worried, "What if it makes things worse?"

"What if he sees the two of you together before you open up and assumes this has been going on the whole time? You could make things a hell of a lot worse if you aren't careful."

Juvia examined some small crystal figurines and considered her friend's point, the last thing she would want to do is make Gray think there had been something going on when she had broken up with him. She hadn't even thought about the possibility of things getting misconstrued. "Maybe I will talk to him," she said as she handed Gajeel a worn tome, "and Levy has been looking for this book for ages, and it's a first edition."

"That's quite a find, Rain Woman, I will have to get it and maybe one of those classy handmade bookmarks she likes so much." He placed the book on the counter, "and I think you're doing the right thing with Gray."

"I don't know if there really is a right thing to do, but I am going to do my best to not hurt anyone any more than I already have," she frowned, "I'll talk to Natsu about it tonight and hope he's on board."

"He will be," her friend said confidently, "that boy is eager to be open with your little relationship, I can tell by the way he kept trying to hold your hand this morning."

Juvia picked up one of the tiny crystal figurines, "I'm getting this for Levy, since I gave you the good gift," she teased. "let's check out and get out of here, I have a lot to think about."

By the time she arrived to Natsu's place the sky was the same pinky-purple it had been when she first told him how she felt, and it stirred up a wave of emotions in her soul. She knocked lightly and it only took a moment for Natsu to open the door, coy smile on his face. "Hey,"

"Hey, yourself." she poked him in the chest but he quickly snagged her by her wrist and pulled her inside with him. His lips crashed to hers as he swung the door shut behind them.

Juvia melted into him and laced her fingers through his, they fit together like puzzle pieces that were made for one another. Natsu finally broke the kiss and whispered into her ear, "I'm glad you came."

"Me too," she blushed, "I've been thinking about you all day."

"Same," he laughed, "it made it hard to focus enough to get the job done. I'm glad it was short, so I had plenty of time to get back here to see you."

"I need to talk to you about something before I get too distracted," she said carefully.

Natsu pulled back and looked at her, concern shining in his eyes. "Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?"

"Everything is fine, and it has more to do with Gray than anything. I want to talk to him tomorrow, before he gets the chance to get the wrong idea about us. I want to be honest with him and not let everything fall on you to get them used to the idea of me being around. I think it's best if I do things this way, but I wanted to see what you thought."

Natsu hummed as he considered her proposition, pacing the floor beside her, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Then, I support you." he took her hand in his, "but I want to be close by when you talk to him in case things don't go well. I don't want you to be alone."

Juvia tightened her grip on his hand, "okay, I think that's a good idea."

"Alright, now that we've got that figured out can we enjoy our evening together? I've been waiting all day for this." He hugged her close.

"Just try and stop me," she teased, kissing his cheek.