Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!

So I'm finally using the fanfic app and I'm also using this to upload this chapter. Eh, I can't say I like using it, but it is nice I guess.

I also noticed that I had PMs that never showed up on my desktop version. I feel so bad! I haven't been ignoring you guys, I just never saw the messages! Maybe it only works app to app? I'm not sure.

But this is indeed the story's final chapter. Thank you for reading it for the last 4 Mondays!

I don't own Fairy Tail. Sorry for the bad grammar and spelling, but I'll blame the app and my injured arm on that.

ENJOY!

Forgetting to remember

Chapter four

Juvia had been grounded. ACTUALLY grounded at the age of 18 and she had to be looked after by Erza. She had wanted to say that technically she thought she was an S class mage at the time, which was true. But that wouldn't have gone down well with Erza. Erza wouldn't have cared if she had the memory of her five year old self. Juvia had been in the guild for a month without her memories and knew well and good that she shouldn't have followed along with a plan of Natsu's. She didn't know why she hadn't done it before, Natsu was a riot.

Still, she couldn't complain much. She got slapped with 2 months while Lucy and Natsu got slapped with 6 months with their 'babysitters'. Lucy was getting watched by Mira while Natsu and Happy were getting watched by Laxus. Juvia didn't think that was very fair, he was practically going on S class missions every other week. But so was she. She followed Erza everywhere she went and Juvia appreciated doing jobs that were finally challenging. Why hadn't she stolen an S class job with Gajeel? Not like she would be doing it again...Yeah...

"I really hope that when the time comes around, you take the S class mage trials seriously. I believe that you can pass this time around if you put your mind to it. You've been an amazing help."

Juvia beamed at Erza and nodded enthusiastically. "Don't worry, I'll definitely be taking it seriously this time around! I'm not Gray crazy and I'll be a lot more focused as well as alert for any trouble. I feel like Fairy Tail always find themselves in some sort of mess. We'll be prepared this time for anything."

"That is right, we'll be ready for anything that comes our way. So how does it feel having all your memories back? Do you feel weird or different?"

Juvia shrugged. "It feels a lot better than not having my memories, that's for sure. As for the difference...I don't really know. I didn't lose my memories for too long, only for like a month. I guess it was too short for me to form any proper habits. Still, if there's one thing that changed is that I found some sort of peace not chasing after Gray. Not having remembered what he had done for me, I didn't feel obliged to spend every minute I was awake pining after him. I think maybe my form of thanks just got a little out of hand."

Erza didn't look like she was too happy to hear that. In fact, she looked like she was upset and disappointed all at the same time. Before Juvia could even ask her what was wrong, she found herself being squished into Erza's armoured side. If she hadn't been a water mage with a water body, that could have really been detrimental to her health.

"No Juvia-chan, I was ROOTING for you! The both of you!"

Juvia forgot about her original shock and started laughing. "I know you were and I'm sorry. It's just that...Gray doesn't really like me in that way and I saw that clearly when I lost my memories. He didn't act any different, in fact, he acted more relieved that I wasn't after him. He didn't seem to miss my presence like all the men do in all the stories we've read. We're nakama and that's how it will stay."

Erza hummed reluctantly. She understood where she was coming from, but she didn't want to. Juvia giggled a little bit and Erza released her. "So are you trying to tell me that you've got absolutely no feelings left towards him? And that was all because of your amnesia?"

Juvia thought about it and shook her head. "I would like to think I'm over him, but I still find him attractive. That was what drew me in in the first place, his looks. But now, I'm more than happy to admit that there are other good looking guys. However, I feel like our friendship is really solid now. It's good."

Erza smiled as the guild came into plain sight. "It's so weird to see you like this, but also very refreshing. It's almost like you combined two different personalities and made it one. Although I'm well aware in the beginning, you didn't trust us."

Juvia ducked her head down. "You noticed that? Sorry, it used to be a defence mechanism. I was always weary around new people and you guys were so new to me, all except Gajeel. The more time I spent with you all, the more I came to realise that Jose preyed on the insecurities of many in order to get us to be loyal to him. I learned many things about me and even my past that I had once forgotten."

Erza chuckled before remembering something else. "So those memory flashes that you kept on having, did you find the answer to them?"

Juvia smiled and even blushed at the thought of Invel. He was the past that she had been talking about. When she had finally taken the potion that Mest and Porlyusica had made with their combined efforts, all of her repressed memories came rushing back to her. Forgotten memories, minimal memories of her parents and memories of her uncle. She then had memories of the first ever friend she made before she moved away to the orphanage. Invel. The reason why she had remembered his snow and the chill that he brought was because it was him.

"Yes, I did find the answer to my memory flashes."

She turned her head away from Erza, not wanting her to see the blush. She was too late, because Erza saw the blush and smirked.

"Oh ho! Don't tell me it's about some childhood sweetheart!"

Juvia was put out by how easily she had managed to guess that. She tried to shake Erza. "N-no! We're not in love with each other and we never were!"

Erza chuckled as she opened the guild door, clearly not believing a word she was saying. Juvia was speaking the truth though. She wasn't in love with Invel, she just...liked him for now. She had a crush on him and she wasn't sure if it would develop into real feelings or if it was simply because she had found him again. She didn't want it to be weird between them, just because she got pretty much all of her memories.

"Hey guys, we've got a new guild mate!"

Everyone seemed to be excited that a new person had joined the guild and everyone was talking about how they were definitely the strongest guild by 10 miles. Everyone was drinking and talking loudly, a full on party taking place. Juvia smiled. Any excuse for a party. Juvia and Erza tried to push through the crowd to see who was being spoken about and Juvia's breath got caught in her throat.

There he was in all his cool boy glory. His red eyes were taking everything in, smiling gently but awkwardly to people who spoke to him. He seemed okay in answering their questions too. Juvia's heart thumped in her chest at the sight of him sitting there. Erza had long left her side to go and greet the newbie, but Juvia found herself frozen. Did he even remember her the way she remembered him? Should she still be mad at him for what he tried to do to her?

"No, Juvia could never stay mad at him."

"Yo, Juvia."

The said mage turned her head at the sound of her name and she saw Gray walking towards her with a salute for a wave and a smirk dancing on his lips. Juvia frowned. This definitely wasn't a good sign, because why was Gray smirking at her?

"Hello Gray," she stated slowly. "How are you?"

"Me? Oh I'm fine. I should be asking you that question though. What are you doing standing around when you should be greeting the new guild mate? I heard that it was after your recommendation, he ended up joining the guild. You shouldn't be hanging back here, you should go and say hi."

Juvia was so confused as to what he was talking about before she felt like her face was on fire. Did he know about all the times that they had spoken to each other and how she found herself at his house twice? Why was he teasing her?! Did he think this was funny?!

"W-what the hell are you talking about?!"

Gray laughed, like really laughed. Their friendship had turned out to be really great now that Juvia was no longer 'in love' with him. It was almost as if the two of them had become the best of friends, but never to be seen as lovers.

"Oh I think you know. Either way, it's not my place to get involved other than to say that you should go and say hi. It doesn't look good you wanting him to join the guild and then you don't even make the poor guy feel welcome. That wouldn't leave a good taste in anyone's mouth."

Juvia was floored. Was Gray insinuating that he knew about her feelings for Invel? Impossible, he didn't know a thing. He couldn't know a thing, she never once spoke about him and for a good reason too.

"Fine, I'll go and welcome him whenever everyone stops swarming around him. It must be a bit overwhelming to have everyone coming up to him like that."

Bullshit, she was trying to stall as long as possible before she had to speak to him. Gray also wasn't as dumb as he sometimes made himself out to be. He probably knew that she was stalling.

"Nah, I think if you got to him now, you'll save him the trouble of being around them all now. Go on."

Juvia blinked at her old crush and she was pretty sure that any remainder of her feelings for him had been sucked right out of her. He was so damn annoying. How did she never see that he was like this? Maybe Natsu was right in fighting him everyday.

"I hate you," she said with a pout.

His response was him tilting his head to the side and smirking. "Very weird words coming from you, but also none to care about. Now go."

Juvia almost stomped away as if she were having a tantrum, her face contorted with anger. Just who did Gray think he was, getting into her personal life, finding out who she was crushing on and basically force her to go and spend time with him? He actually had some nerve doing all this.

Most of the guild members had all left Invel alone at this point, but some still lingered around him. Juvia swallowed a lump of saliva that went down like a rock. She hated this feeling. If she didn't have any memories of him, she would have been even more confident in her skin. Still, she pushed forward until their eyes connected.

He looked stunned to see her, as if he hadn't come to her guild, but Juvia took note of the slight happiness in his orbs. She felt confident to go and walk up to him, so she did. It would be as if fate was in her favour because all the remaining people who still swarmed around him all had jobs to go on, so they smiled, waved and left. Juvia felt the relief wash over her as it was her turn to greet him.

"Invel...what are you doing here?"

The question wasn't mean, but she did remember him saying that he wasn't going to join the guild. She was pleasantly surprised to see that he was now in the middle of her guild hall, the stamp next to him. She tried to see where he had gotten stamped, but it wasn't visible. He raised an eyebrow at her question and turned to look away from her, as if he were too embarrassed to look at her.

"I decided that I don't want you bothering me anymore. I don't want you showing up at random times, trying to get me to join your guild. So I just decided to join it instead. Hopefully that's enough for you."

Juvia couldn't actually believe what he was saying as she stood there stunned. He turned his head back and it looked like he was watching for a reaction and she blushed when his intense eyes were now back on hers. It almost sounded as if he were trying to justify his reason for joining by making it seem like it was her fault, but Juvia could read between the lines. Stop trudging in my cold, harsh snow just to get me to join. I'm here now.

There was something about him joining with her in mind that really made her excited and she smiled before sitting down at his table. The last of the people who had come to greet him had all left. She had already tried to get him out of her head for the last 2 months, but it hadn't worked. She thought about him more and more everyday, which was starting to annoy her. She didn't want to force her feelings or her love on yet another ice mage.

"Yes, I'm very sure that's the reason why you're here now, to get me off your back. I thought you had more resistance than that? Are you proving that you don't?"

She watched as Invel flushed and ruffled his hand through his hair. Just seeing him like that made her giggle as she raised her hand and cutely covered her mouth. Invel's head shot back in her direction and she thought he was going to scold her for laughing at him, but instead, he just stared at her. Her giggles died down as she was now the one blushing and Invel gave her a simple shrug.

"Juvia, it may seem like a long shot talking about this with you, but I remember everything myself. I remember you."

Juvia had a feeling that he was going to bring it up, but she was still stunned that he did. She placed her hands on her lap and fidgeted. So she hadn't been the only one to forget about their friendship from when they were young. What did he have to say about it?

"Oh...so what do you want to do? I mean, where do we go from here?"

Invel shrugged. "I have to start by apologising to you. Don't say I don't need to, because I do. Starting from when you first left me. I was so angry with you, that you made me open up to you, made me feel like I was worth having a friend. Then you just left. I didn't realise that your uncle was just unfit to look after you, yet I was being an idiot. I'm sorry."

Juvia nodded her head slowly, her heart aching at the thought of her uncle, but also how Invel felt. "I didn't want to leave you, I even had the worst time in the orphanage. Besides, we were kids. How were you supposed to know about these things?"

Invel closed his eyes briefly as if what he heard hurt him before opening them again. "See? I just thought you were being a bad friend and left me. I was so angry for so long that I basically blocked you out of my mind. And then I was trying to get Gray to kill you and vice versa. THEN I ruined your memories. How you're able to look at me...you surprise me more and more."

Juvia reached out and held his hand in hers. She had tears growing at the corners of her eyes, but she made sure that they didn't fall. He flinched from her touch and tried to pull away, but Juvia didn't let him.

"No. Don't run from me. I forgive you. I'm sorry I left you all alone and that I betrayed your trust-"

Invel let out a distressed sound while his face showed annoyance. "Betrayed my trust? What are you talking about, I did that! I was just being a stubborn kid who didn't want to get over himself and for that, I'm sorry. I feel like I'm not worthy of being here with you."

Juvia gave him a soft smile, her unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "What? Don't think that way, I love having you here. With my all of my memories given back to me, I remember everything that we did together. You were my first friend and the snow and cold that I felt that day that I first met you...I knew it felt familiar! I remember every promise that we made too."

Their cheeks bloomed as they were instantly reminded of the promise that Juvia was talking about. Juvia started stuttering out apologies, sorry for bringing it up and telling him that they should make the promise null and void, but Invel coughed and nodded his head. He had to be realistic here. They couldn't just act on a promise that they made when they were literally kids. It had been years since they had hung out with one another and they were childish to promise each other that they would marry one another.

"That's kind of an embarrassing promise, isn't it?"

Juvia awkwardly giggled as she nodded her head, trying her best not to look him in the eyes. That was definitely something she never wished to remember, especially as she had been the one to initiate the promise. Such a naive child she had been. She felt like Lisanna when the animal take over mage had told her that her and Natsu had once promised to marry each other too. All Juvia could do was mentally sigh and roll her eyes before thinking, "kids."

She glanced back over at him and saw the way he seemed to be watching everyone around them. She could understand how he felt. Fairy Tail was full of life that sometimes, it could be extremely overwhelming. She remembered how both her and Gajeel felt when they first joined and Gajeel called them all 'fuckin nuts.' He wasn't wrong, that's for sure.

But for an ice/snow mage like Invel, it was probably a bit too much. He was most probably used to the silence and being left alone unless Zeref needed him for something. It would take him a while, but he was currently out of his comfort zone. He'll get used to it all eventually.

"Would you like to take a walk with me? I know how loud the guild can get."

Juvia could read relief in his face as he nodded and they stood up together. She purposely ignored Gray's smirk as they passed him by. She really didn't understand why he was being annoying, and judging by the look on Invel's face, he wasn't pleased with him either. All the more to get out of the guild.

They finally burst out of the guild and Juvia felt like she could finally breathe again. She didn't realise how much she felt like she was suffocating inside of the guild, but now she could speak freely with Invel. If she felt like that, she wondered how Invel felt. She turned to face him and found that he was already staring at her. She felt frozen in place as she stared back.

"I-is everything okay?"

"Yeah...it is now..."

Juvia couldn't help herself as she blushed. She saw him reach out for her hand, but he did so slowly, almost as if he wanted to test the waters and make sure that she didn't mind him touching her. Her breath got caught in her throat, and when she didn't stop him, he grabbed her hand gently.

His focus was now on their hands as Juvia also looked down. He intertwined his fingers with hers before his crimson eyes looked up at her. "I hope this is okay? I wanted to hold your hand as we walked along."

Juvia almost melted into a puddle. She was a very affectionate person, and the fact that Invel wanted to hold hands with her as they walked along...how could she say no to that? Especially as she had this ever growing crush on him.

"Yes, yes. This is fine. This is more than fine. Thank you."

Invel smiled a little bit as he shook his head. Juvia was almost blown away. Despite his smile being so small, it reminded her of the first time she made him smile. It had taken a while, but after maybe two weeks, Invel smiled at her. She remembered her excitement at seeing him smile. His magic had made him a very cold person, so little Juvia had felt privileged in making him open up to her. Gradually, the cold around them started to warm up, and Juvia could have sworn her rain was drying out a little bit more and more.

"You smiled," she couldn't help but blurt out.

Invel raised an eyebrow as if confused. "What do you mean?"

Juvia giggled as they walked hand in hand. "I mean that you smiled. I remembered the first time I was able to make you smile. It took me two weeks."

Invel paused as if to remember himself before he chuckled. Juvia liked that sound. She liked it a lot. It was smooth and deep and extremely soothing too. She couldn't help it as she beamed up at him. Now she had basically made him laugh too.

"Yeah, because you were claiming you could reach the top shelf and then you knocked everything over. The librarian was not happy."

Juvia huffed and rolled her eyes, her cheeks glowing in embarrassment at the memory. Okay, so it was her fault as Invel had offered to try and get it for her, but she was a stubborn 5 year old and she wanted to get it herself. "You were being so mean and calling me short. I didn't like that."

Invel snorted out a laugh once more. "Yet here you are, still shorter than me. It looks like you can reach the stop shelf at least."

Juvia pulled her hand out of Invel's, ignoring his gasp and crossed it over her chest instead. She put her nose up into the air before walking away from him. "Yeah, well, at least I'm not old."

She was genuinely surprised that Invel yelled out at her with mock anger. "Hey! You're supposed to be three years younger than me! You went and got yourself frozen for seven years and now I'm 10 whole years older than you!"

Juvia laughed at him before her eyes went wide when his arms slipped around her waist and pulled her back. She snapped back into his chest as she looked up at him. Even Invel looked like he was surprised at himself, almost as if he couldn't believe what he had done. Still, there were some more important things to discuss.

"I...I hope that doesn't bother you? That I'm 10 years older than you now?"

The water mage's eyes widened. Did Invel mean what she thought he meant? Why would he care that he was now ten years older than her instead of three, unless he also liked her back? She could see a wave of sadness wash over his face and she shook her head quickly. She didn't want to see him look like that ever again. How could he think that his age would ever stop her from being with him? From liking him? She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek as she smiled.

"Never, Invel. I was just joking about you being old. I hope I didn't offend you?"

He shook his head and held onto her hand, intertwining their fingers once again. "No you didn't. It was just something that I thought of the moment you said it. I knew it was a joke, but I also couldn't help but think about it. Things are so different now. We can't just forget what I did to you in the war."

Juvia squeezed his hand. "You're right, we can't. But I can forgive you. Please get that out of your head right now, okay? Even with all my memories back of everything that happened, I still trust you. I still want you here as long as you do. I won't force you."

Invel lifted her hand to his lips and she gasped when he placed a soft kiss over her knuckles, watching her reaction through intense eyes. She bit her lip as if she were drowning in the sexual tension in the air. She had tried to tell herself that there would be nothing going on between them and that their childhood crushes on one another would go no further than that, but it looked like she was wrong. Over the last few months, he had consumed her mind and it looked like she had done the same thing to him.

"Of course I want to stay. It's you. You're here. And you know what? Fairy Tail isn't that bad. They really don't care that I was once the enemy, which I still find bad, but I can accept it. They've given me a second chance and I guess I can say it's because of you. If you hadn't come to 'bother' me, I don't think I would be here."

Juvia's face glowed as she turned her head and waved her free hand as if he was praising her too much. "N-no, anyone would have done it if they came across you before I did. I didn't really do anything..."

Invel chuckled at how cute she was being. It was definitely a side he could get used to seeing. He had seen her confident and sweet, but never shy and cute. He liked it all.

"You know, I really didn't remember it was you until after that S class job you stole. I don't know how it finally clicked into place, but I remembered how you used to say your name was Lluvia instead of Juvia. Then I remembered you were a water mage and it all snowballed from there."

Juvia would have appreciated his pun, had he not mentioned the way she used to say her name when she was younger. "Are you making fun of the way I used to talk?"

Invel smirked. "It was cute."

They started walking again and Juvia decided to change the subject. "I see you changed your style. You used to look so sharp in your trench coat and tie. What happened to all of that?"

Invel sighed. "The coat was a present from Zeref and I would rather not be reminded of him. I moved from Alvarez back to Fiore for a fresh start and that included my clothes. I was thinking of cutting my hair, but there was no way I was going to do that. I like my hair way too much."

Juvia giggled as she nodded. "Yes, I like it too. I like your whole new style actually. You look good in black."

"Oh? Have you been checking me out, Miss Juvia?"

Juvia wasn't sure how to react. He was playing with her, that's for sure. She didn't know what the right answer would be. She kind of wanted them to stop beating about the bush and see if they really do have feelings for one another or not. She just didn't want a repeat of what happened with Gray.

"But I mean, Invel was the one who suggested that we walk around holding hands, so will I really be reading anything wrong here?"

Juvia took a deep breath in as she wore a serious expression on her face. She watched as Invel's eyes widened in anticipation, wondering what she was going to say, so she decided to come clean. This was the type of person she was after all. She wore her heart on her sleeve and she wasn't going to change that.

"And if I was? What will you say then? I'm going to come clean to you, Invel. I have feelings for you and this is not because of the promise we made back when we were children. This is what I feel right now." For emphasis, she grabbed at her chest where her heart was, still looking up into his ruby reds.

"These last few months, when I remembered who you were without actually remembering, I...I wasn't lying when I said that I could trust you. I mean, don't get me wrong. At the time that I said that, I don't think I had any romantic feelings for you or whatever, but I started thinking about you a lot and every time we met I just felt like you understood me, especially where you make it snow and I used to make it rain and I just suddenly liked you out of nowhere. Oh my gosh, I'm sorry for rambling I do it sometimes-"

She was cut off when something landed on her forehead. She stared up to see that Invel had leaned in close to her and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. She froze up immediately as she could feel the blood slowly filling in her pale cheeks as he smiled down at her.

"I never took you as a rambler. There's a lot of things we need to learn about each other then, huh?"

Juvia nodded slowly and robotically, as if she couldn't believe that he had just done that. She was still speechless and Invel chuckled and shook his head.

"I guess I should say my own piece? I accept your feelings towards me, as I too have some feelings for you. You made me feel wanted, as if I do not need to isolate myself from the world as a form of atonement. You understand me more than anyone else could, and for that, I thank you. When you approached me in my house, I was so surprised to see you. I was convinced that you had come to drag me to prison where I belong. I felt so guilty that you had lost your memories because of me that I was unable to come clean."

Juvia squeezed his hand to show him that it was okay and he squeezed hers back in comfort. "And then even when you received your memories, I heard that you still never forgot about me."

Juvia almost pulled away in embarrassment. He wasn't supposed to know about that! "W-who said that?!"

Invel laughed and shook his head. "Who said it is insignificant. Extremely insignificant."

Juvia nodded suspiciously, but then remembered Gray's expression when he saw the both of them leaving together. She scowled at the thought of him meddling, but also kind of made a mental note to try and thank him later.

"Yeah, you're right. He's extremely insignificant. But anyway, what would you like to do now? We should go on a job together!"

At that very moment, her stomach rang out, grumbling and growling in annoyance that she had ignored it for a very long time and that it needed to be fed. Juvia hid her face in humiliation, but all Invel did was laugh a little and gently lift her head up. His eyes flickered to her lips but found her eyes again.

"We've got plenty of time to go on a job later, but for now, let's just go and eat, okay?"

Juvia's eyes sparkled. "D-do you mean, like a date?"

Invel scratched the back of his head with his free hand. Now he was the one who was blushing as his eyes darted to anywhere that wasn't Juvia's face.

"Yes, if you want it to be? I have no problems whatsoever with going on a date with you, I would very much enjoy that."

Juvia's heart almost exploded at how the snow mage was acting so cute right now! She smiled and nodded her head.

"Then it's a date."

Invel sighed in relief as they continued walking, hand in hand. Invel's thumb ran over Juvia's knuckles absentmindedly and honestly, if you had told Juvia during the war that she would be going on a date with a man as cold as Invel, she would have put you in a water lock, cried that you're her love rival and then run off to find Gray.

She grinned up at him when she remembered something else about him. They had both enjoyed seafood together and she knew the best place for that. She tugged his hand to grab his attention.

"If I remember correctly, you used to really enjoy eating salmon when we were younger. I know the best place in town for that! Come on!"

Invel nodded, the last of his ice around his heart finally melting away. "Yes, lead the way."

So how was that? I really hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! This story has indeed come to an end now and I can officially say I've written an Invel x Juvia!

Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! Thank you once again FantasticNic for the inspiration! Thank you to everyone else who read and reviewed this story too! You all know I love you guys to Pluto and back.

See you all in the next story! Whenever that is lol.

Lolita-love,

Lolita-chan

Dark Gothic Lolita