Chapter 1: The Crash
It was a split second; that's all it took before everyone realized the danger they were in.
"We have lost control of the left engine." one member of the cabin crew shouted, running to the front of the plane and into the cockpit.
"Message to the cabin - fasten your seat belts. We are making an emergency lan- shit! Right engine is out, Mayday Mayday we are going down!"
One moment they were casually trying to get to know each other, and the next, they were being shouted at to brace for impact. They were about to make the best emergency landing in history, or they were about to crash head-on into the ocean with no hopes of slowing down.
In the face of death, everyone reacted; differently. Some prayed, some held on to their loved ones if they were lucky enough to come with someone, and others screamed.
The plane's altitude dropped lower at dangerous speeds, and before they knew it, they were crashing into the oceans.
Juvia's eyes fluttered as she was blinded by the sun's bright light, "What?" She questioned, feeling a hard metal surface under her back. She didn't have much time to think before the last events came flooding into her mind a full force—the plane crash.
Juvia sat up quickly, gasping at the sight before her; parts of the plane lay in wreckage across the water around. "Hello!" She screamed, trying to see any presence of life, but she got no answer.
"Anybody!" She tried again, her chest heaving in panic. She waited a while for a response but was again met by silence. "Please," Juvia whispered to herself, praying she wasn't alone.
Suddenly a loud screech tore through the water, drawing Juvia's. She looked around quickly, trying to find the location of the voice. Juvia tried her best not to lose her balance on the mental plane part she laid on as she moved back and forth, trying to find the owner of the voice.
"Help!" They called again, and Juvia was finally able to make out a young girl with similar blue hair as Juvia, struggling to stay up and float as her head bobbed in and out of the water repeatedly.
"Juvia's coming!" She yelled, diving into the water without a second thought. She just needed to get the girl and bring her back to the metal platform.
Juvia thrashed through the water towards the girl, and that's when she noticed the crash took more of a toll on her than she thought. Her ears were ringing, and her head pounded against her skull. Water filled her nose; the saltiness burned her sinuses. Her vision began to blacken as the crashing of the waves pushed her slender frame around. 'Keep your head up, Juvia. Don't go under the water.' Juvia screamed at herself mentally as she continued to swim in the girl's direction.
Juvia could tell the young girl was tired as her attempt to keep herself afloat became weaker. "Hold on!" Juvia tried to scream, but water filled her mouth. She tried to keep focus, but the saltiness of the sea burned her eyes, nose, and now her throat. 'Don't panic,' she had to remind herself. If you panic, you both will die.
Cutting through the water at a fast pace, Juvia finally reached the young girl by the arm and pulled her towards her. Both girls were exhausted, but Juvia knew she just had to get the girl to the metal platform. Once she was they, they were there Juvia could rest, but until then, she had to keep going.
Grabbing the girl by the arm Juvia pulled her towards her and held her closely, she was all but unconsciously by this time, but that helped juvia since the girl was no longer freaking out and splashing around. Hooking one arm under the young girl's armpit and around her neck, Juvia began to swim toward the platform while also trying to conserve some of her energy.
As the older blue hair girl moved through the water, she began to notice the waves became even less friendly than before, pushing everything around her, including the metal platform. No, no, no, no - don't panic, don't panic- fuck! How was she not supposed to panic when their lifeline drifted further away from them?
She had two options.
Option 1: Continue trying to swim towards the constantly moving platform and potentially drown with this girl
Or
Option 2: Leave the girls and dash towards the platform to save herself. The girl was passed out anyway. If she drowned, would she even feel it?
Juvia felt alarmed at her lack of options, neither of the two being ones she wanted to pick, but suddenly, out on the horizon, a third option came to life.
An island.
Juvia could almost pass out from relief when she saw this island that only seemed about a mile away. She could do it. She can get them there. She wasn't called 'Juvia of the Great Sea" and "Juvia of the Deep'" for nothing, she was the best swimmer around. She just needed to stay focused a little longer until she could get them both to safety.
No longer concerned about saving her strength as it was quickly depleting, Juvia used all her force to get them through the rough water, ignoring how her lungs were screaming at her to rest. The closer she got, the more eager she became to get to her destination.
At first, Juvia thought she was imagining things when she started to hear other voices scream at her as she got closer and closer to the shoreline.
"Hey! Hey!" A deep voice yelled.
"We see you, we're coming!" Another voice shouted; it was a girl.
As Juvia reached the shallows, she ditched swimming and attempted to stand on her feet but collapsed. Not being one to quit, she began to crawl, dragging the girl behind her. She heard the sounds of splashing coming near her, and suddenly a pair of hands grasped her, pulling her to in the sand and out of the dangers of the water. She rolled on her back as her chest heaved heavily from the loss of energy she had just endured. Her vision was still blurry, but that didn't matter, as long as Juvia could feel the earth beneath her fingertips, she couldn't find herself concerned about anything else. That was until she heard the girl's voice speak again,
"Oh my god, she isn't breathing. What do we do?"
"Do you know CPR?"
"What? No! Do you know CPR?"
"I wouldn't be asking you if you knew CPR if I know CPR!"
Juvia felt a rush of adrenaline flow through her body, and she sat up quickly, ignoring how dizzy she felt. She did not just risk both of their lives out there for the girl to die now. She rushed towards where the young girl lay in the sand and swiftly pushed the other girl from in front of her. She'd apologize for it later, but for now, she had to help the younger girl.
She tilted the girl's head back and pitched her nostrils as she leaned forward to puff a big breath of air into the younger girl's mouth. She repeated her actions before beginning compressions, humming a toon to stay on a constant beat.
"Come on," Juvia begged as she continued to push down on her chest. After a few more pushes, she restarted the process, giving the girl mouth-to-mouth again before switching to compressions. "Come on!" Juvia screamed; she didn't notice that tears began to drip down her face.
With a little more pressure, Juvia pushed down on the girl until finally, her eyes opened, and water began to spill from her mouth. Juvia quickly rolled her to her side and hit her back to ensure all the water escaped from the younger girl.
Seeing that the young girl was going to be okay, Juvia laid back on the sand, once again trying to calm her breathing.
The girl who helped them when they reached the shore stayed with the little girl to comfort her as the guy who pulled Juvia in kneeled next to her.
"Are you okay? That was quite the heroic act you pulled there." Juvia could tell he was trying to lighten up the mood by joking, and normally, Juvia would have laughed but right now, she was too exhausted to react. All she was able to muster was a weak nod.
Even though the boy was against the light, Juvia could make out his pink hair, similar to a salmon color. He gave Juvia a toothy grin and held his hand out towards her intending to help Juvia sit up, but she waved her hand in front of her rejecting his offer.
"Juvia needs - Juvia needs to breathe, she needs to rest." After every word, she found herself taking deep gasps for air.
"Juvia? Is that your name?" He asked, confused, and she only nodded in response.
"I'm Natsu; the blonde girl is…ah, I think she said her name was Lucy." Juvia again only nodded in response to show him that she was listening.
"Do you know the name of the girl you pulled in?" Juvia shook her head.
After a few minutes, Juvia's breathing finally settled, and she lifted her hand towards Natsu's, eventually taking his offer to help her. Juvia groaned as she sat up in the sand and looked around her.
The young girl was also about done catching her breath, and the blond girl Natsu called Lucy sat with her rubbing her back. "Thank you," Juvia spoke, breaking the silence, "For helping Juvia and the girl."
Lucy responded by giving her a warm smile before turning back to the other blue-haired girl.
"With how you saved her, I know you would have done the same for us, so don't mention it," Natsu replied, patting her back gently. In all honestly, it wasn't so gentle, but Juvia could also tell the pink-haired boy didn't realize how heavy his hand was.
They sat in silence once more until the sound of stomping on wet sand filled their ears.
"The others! They are others over here!"