I'm running a little behind today but I still managed to find time to upload. Thanks for all the messages and reviews, and special thanks to anyone who tracked me down on twitter.
Talking with Gray was easier said than done, Juvia hadn't actually spoken to him in what seemed like ages and when she approached him in the guild hall, she felt like she should turn around and run the other direction. Knowing she needed to do this she managed to make it to where he sat by the bar and gently cleared her throat. "Gray?"
He turned to look at her with a confused expression and her nervousness peaked sending her stomach sinking, "Yeah?"
"Can I talk to you," she looked around the crowded room seeing a few people watching their interaction, "alone?"
Gray studied her face carefully before he finally gulped down the last of his beer and nodded, "sure. Where do you want to talk?"
"Outside is fine," she said leading the way, feeling the eyes of her guildmates trailing after them. No one had seen them together like this in months and surely they wondered what was happening now. Once they were outside, she walked over to the benches lining the walkways and stopped. They were alone for the most part, but Natsu waited just around the corner in case things fell apart and the thought of that comforted Juvia enough to carry on with her plan.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked, sitting on the bench closest to them and looking up at her, the unease clear on his face.
Juvia gingerly sat next to him and folded her hands in her lap, "So I wanted to talk about how we can move forward." She gathered her strength and pushed through her anxiety, "I want us to be able to be around each other without it being awkward. I want both of us to move on with our lives without it being compared to when we were together."
"Are..." he trailed off and shifted to look directly at her, "are you moving on?"
She felt a quiver in her gut as she gave a small nod, "I want to. But I want us to be okay first. I know we aren't going to be best friends, I just want us to be able to be near each other and not feel uncomfortable. I want us to be happy, with whomever we find, and to be happy for one another. It's a lot to ask of you but I know there's someone out there to make you happy the way I couldn't."
"I wouldn't say I was unhappy with you," he defended, looking torn.
"No, we weren't unhappy, but can you truly say you were happy? Would you have wanted to live the rest of your life being fine instead of actually happy?"
Gray's eyes widened and flicked away, "No. I can't say that I would have been happy that way, Not really."
"I think there's someone out there that can make you happy, and I want you to find them." she offered him a genuine smile, she meant every word she said to him.
"Have you found someone?" he asked quietly, "someone to make you happy?"
"I don't know, I found something new, and I want to see where it leads but I need you to be okay with it before I can continue." she owed him honesty, and that's what she gave him.
"I may have found something too," he folded his hands together in his lap, "and I've been hesitant to give it a go because of us."
"But there is no us... not anymore." she put her hand on his, "and I want you to take the shot and find out for sure if this person is the one for you."
Gray furrowed his brow and pursed his lips, "I don't know if you will still say that once you know who it is."
Juvia laughed nervously, "Trust me, I might understand better than you think."
Gray looked into her eyes and swallowed hard, "It's Lucy."
Juvia burst out into laughter and Gray blushed and looked away, "No, I didn't mean to laugh, it's just that..." she tried her best to compose herself, "it's just that I recently realized I have feelings for Natsu."
"Wait? What?" Gray began laughing too, "tell me you aren't serious."
Juvia wiped her eyes, "I am completely serious, we've been spending a lot of time together and things just kind of happened."
"Same with Lucy," he shrugged, still laughing, "I can't explain how it started but I've been thinking about her differently lately. She makes me feel things I thought were impossible."
"Wow. I would never have guessed," Juvia leaned back and looked at his smile, she was happy for him, truly, but she needed to know how he felt. "So, are we good?"
"I think we're good," he nodded, "Like you said, I think it's time we both see what's out there and try to find our happiness."
"Thank you, Gray," she said leaning in and squeezing his hand one last time.
"Yeah, you too." He smiled at her, looking like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
Juvia looked toward the corner where Natsu waited for her, "I have someone else I need to talk to now."
"Me too... eventually" Gray said standing. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck," she said watching him head back into the guild. She walked quickly over to where Natsu stood and beamed at him, "I did it."
"You did," he took her into his arms, "I'm proud of you."
"And now we can see what develops without guilt." She pressed a kiss to his lips, savoring the moment. He deepened the kiss threading his hands through her hair and pulling her as close as possible.
Pulling back, he gave a wicked grin, "and now I can kiss you in front of everyone."
Juvia flushed, "I don't know if I am quite ready for the entire guild to be in on things."
He kissed her temple and laughed, "then we start small and let it just happen naturally, I'm happy if you are."
"I'm very happy," she said squeezing him tighter.
"Good."
Three days later Juvia and Gajeel returned from a job to find the guild hall packed with the usual energy of their friends. Gajeel headed directly to Levy's table but Juvia's eyes were on Natsu who was sitting with Gray and Lucy. Natsu grinned and out of nowhere Gray waved her over, "Juvia, come sit with us."
Lucy looked at him in disbelief and Juvia strolled over to sit next to Natsu. "How was the job," he asked.
"Fine, it was a pain at first but after we found the leader of the bandits we turned it around," she said as Natsu's arm draped over the back of her chair, and he kissed her cheek.
"Wait a minute!" Lucy said sitting up in her seat, "what was that?"
"Oh that?" Gray laughed, "They're dating."
"And you knew about this?" she asked in disbelief.
Gray smiled, "only for a few days, but yeah, I knew. Juvia and I had a talk about things, we're fine now."
"Really?" Lucy asked looking around the table,
"Yep," Juvia smiled, "we want to see each other happy."
"So that's why you were having breakfast with them the other day?" the pieces clicked together.
"Busted," Natsu smiled, "I was planning on just slowly introducing her back into the group, but she took matters into her own hands and just worked things out on her own."
"So now you're both just going to date other people?" Lucy asked still studying them closely.
"If you say yes," Gray said looking directly at Lucy.
"What?" Lucy looked lost.
It was Juvia's turn to smile, "I think he's asking you out, Lucy."
Lucy just looked back and forth between Natsu and Juvia, and Gray, "I feel like you've all lost your minds."
"Aw, come on Luce, Gray deserves an answer," Natsu said lightly.
Gray looked nervous, and Juvia was wondering if Lucy had taken him seriously, she didn't want to see him hurt again so she gave Lucy a gentle smile and nod.
"You want to go out with me?" she asked again, Gray nodded, "Okay, you kind of put me on the spot but I'd love to."
Juvia beamed at Gray, "I'm so happy for you guys!"
"We could totally double date," Natsu said, nudging into Juvia's side, "it could be fun."
"I think that I'd like to keep her all to myself at first," Gray said giving Lucy a long look, "but maybe once things settle down."
"I still can't believe we're all sitting her like this," Lucy shook her head, "I'm glad things are better between you guys."
"Me too," said Natsu kissing Juvia's hand.
Gray stood and held a hand out to Lucy, "Let's get out of here."
'Now?" she asked sounding exasperated.
"I'm not wasting time, I'm finding my happiness," he took her hand and pulled her from her seat.
"Bye guys," Natsu said.
Juvia waved as Gray pulled Lucy to the doors, "That went well."
"I think so," he agreed, lifting Juvia's chin for a kiss. Cana let a hoot from the bar and Juvia giggled. "So let's follow their lead and get out of here, I have plans for you."
"Oh really?" she grinned.
"and you're going to like what I have in store for you."
Juvia was ready to find out all of the things he had planned for her, she was content with the way things had turned out and ready to see where things took her.