Chapter 9:
That next morning the sun finally began to shine, and the train was running smooth and steady along its big iron tracks. The group headed to the dining car for breakfast; everyone seemed calm and well-rested despite last night's occurrence, even Juvia was putting on a small smile. If she really meant it, however, no one could say for sure. She had stayed quiet and walked behind everyone as though she thought no one would notice. They all noticed of course, but no one knew exactly what to say, and right as Gray was about to speak Lucy cut him off.
"Juvia?" she shook out of her daze and looked up at Lucy.
"I have a couple of drafts for my novel that I brought with me, and I'd like a second opinion. Wanna grab some coffee and muffins? Look them over with me?" Lucy gave the most encouraging smile she could and to her happy surprise Juvia returned it "Juvia would love to help Lucy-San!" Lucy grabbed the food and escorted Juvia to a more secluded car so they could work, on her way out she gave the group a wink and a smile to let them know that she would handle this.
"Wow, Lucy-San! This is good, Juvia would love to read more when it's complete!" Juvia exclaimed as she finished reviewing the last of Lucy's drafts.
"Thanks, Juvia, that means a lot, it can be difficult with missions and battles to find a good chance to edit, let alone write, so I'm happy to have been given this time to do it!" Lucy smiled and took a bite of her muffin.
"Juvia is just happy she could help in some way, lately she seems to not be very good at helping anyone, even herself." Juvia's demeanor changed back to her dazed state from earlier.
"Is this about last night Juvia?" Lucy asked.
"Juvia couldn't even fight off her own opponent, she almost hurt herself and Gray-Sama. Juvia has made all her teammates worried about her, and we haven't even gotten to Yura Palace yet. Juvia is causing people trouble and she's afraid that if she can't beat Yura then people Juvia care about will get hurt because of her." Lucy gave her a sad expression and reached out her arms pulling Juvia into a hug.
"Juvia, stop being so hard on yourself. Last night was hardly a fair fight, and it was only Yura trying to scare you. Don't let him get to you like that, it's what he wants. You are so worried about everyone else, and I have always admired that about you, but you need to focus on yourself. If you are worried about us, Yura will only use that fear against you, we're your family and we can take care of ourselves. You may not remember all the sacrifices you have made for each of us in the past, but trust me, it's only fair you let us protect you now, okay? So, no more crying?" Lucy gave a reassuring smile as she rubbed Juvia's back.
"Thank you, Lucy-San, Juvia feels much better now getting that off her chest!" Suddenly Lucy gave her a mischievous look "Speaking of chests, how did it feel sleeping on top of Grays?" Juvia's face went bright pink, and she began to laugh embarrassingly "JUVIA HAS NO IDEA WHAT LUCY-SAN IS TALKING ABOUT! SH-SHE BARELY EVEN NOTICED GRAY-SAMAS BARE CHEST!" Lucy gave a smirk "I didn't say that he was topless?"
From pink to very hot red, Juvia let out a shocked sigh "AHHH!" and Lucy sat there and continued to laugh.
"Do you think she's okay?" Gray asked, sitting at a table with Erza, Gajeel, and Natsu.
"She's with Lucy, if anyone knows how to talk to her it's Luce." Natsu stated, eating a plate of pork dumplings
"Speaking of okay, how are you doing after last night?" Gajeel asked.
"It pissed me off that I couldn't help her fight that stupid prick. She almost fell off the train! Why send her on this mission if he was going to try and hurt her?" Gray grunted and Erza pondered.
"I think you helped Juvia more than you think..." All three boys gave her a quizzical look.
"What do you mean?" Gray asked.
"I don't think he intended on throwing her off the train, the only reason she almost fell in the first place was because you intercepted somehow. Both times you grabbed Juvia's hand it weakened his power, she even said last night he was angry and caught off guard by her sudden bursts of magic energy. If he wanted to physically injure Juvia he could have, instead he only hurt her in her mind, she never drew any blood." Gray thought this through a moment, realizing that Erza was right.
"I don't know how I did that though?" Gray said.
"For now, let's chalk it up to an isolated incident of warning, hopefully his tricks will be at a pause until we arrive in Iceberg. Maybe I'll have Levy look into it, see if she missed something about the curse that we didn't see before." Erza sighed, clearly frustrated she didn't have all the answers.
"There has to be a way we can help Juvia like Gray did when this guy attacks her like this. You know it's only going to get worse as we journey closer." Gajeel said. He wasn't trying to point out the obvious, but everyone had been thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, the only thing the group could go on was their faith and strength in one another.
"I know." Erza said solemnly
*** Yura Palace***
"Master?" Totoro squeaked as he entered the throne room. He saw Master Kurayami slumped in his chair, his face grim with deep and angry thoughts. He'd been that way ever since last night after the girl Juvia attacked him during his trance. It was not often he saw his master caught so off guard, and he knew this had deeply displeased him.
"Totoro, did you find the scroll as I ordered?" He asked sternly.
"Y-yes master, he-here you are sir." Totoro raced up to his master who swiped the parchment out of his hands before he could even catch his breath. His eyes swiped over it with an intense burning to them. "Damn!" Kurayami shouted, throwing the paper at the imp "There is nothing here either!" Landing back in his seat with disgust Yura began to explain.
"I've used this spell dozens of times and this never occurred before last night. I don't know what it means! How was she and that insolent Gray Fullbuster able to disturb my spell? The only one who should have the power to do that is me….it doesn't make any sense…"
"Are you worried master?" Totoro asked
"No, you IDIOT! They won't even make it to the front gate, but from a strategic and war-like manner this is something I need explained for myself...however that may take more time than I have. This will not disrupt my plans, once that train enters Iceberg those Fairy Tail brats will wish they never crossed the Family Yura. I'll make sure of it." with a spat of venom on his tongue Kurayami stormed out of the room leaving the air sickening cold behind him.
*** The Train ***
"Alright, it's our last night before Iceberg...who's up for drinking games huh?!" Cana cheered; four bottles of sake juggling between her hands.
"Oh, it's on!" Natsu shouted happily, getting up to help Cana pour the drinks.
"I don't think this is wise. We need to be ready and, on our A,-game tomorrow so we can't afford-"
"Looks like Erza can only wield a sword and not a drink." Gajeel, looking smug, sent a challenging shot towards Erza.
Erza's eyes focused, staring at the bottle in front of her, then back up at Gajeel. Erza grabbed the closest glass and downed it in under a second, slamming it to the ground. "I'm a woman of many talents. Let's go!"
*** A Few Moments Later ***
"See-*hic*- Gajeel, I told *hic* you!" Erza smiled as she finished off her portion of the sake. Her and Gajeel were simply seeing who could drink the longest, and while Erza technically won as Gajeel was passed out on the sleeping mat, Erza followed in his steps moments after victory.
Levy, Lucy, and Cana were playing truth, dare, or drink. If one of the girls didn't want to follow through, they would drink as a substitute. Lucy was already six drinks in, seeing as every truth or dare had to do with her feelings for Natsu. "Come on guys! You're ganging up on me." Lucy cried.
"If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen LUCCYY!" Cana laughed obnoxiously. She was also very intoxicated, but this was by choice, she had done all challenges during her turn.
"Oh JUVIA! I got one for you!" Juvia had been sipping on her sake, just observing, and smiling at the people around her. She originally declined playing and took to having Wendy, who was also already sleeping lay her head on her lap.
"Alright, Levy!" Juvia agreed, one turn would be fine.
"Truth *hic* or DAAREE *hic*" Levy could barely get her words out
"Hmmm dare!" Juvia smiled.
Natsu and Gray, who had been playing poker with Happy and Lily, suddenly listened in on the girls' circle.
"I dare you to kiss Grayyyyyyyy Hehe!" Levy blushed. Cana and Lucy gave smug smirks in Gray's direction.
"EH?! But-but Juvia can't, or she means- well it's not that she doesn't want-er JUVIA MUST USE THE BATHROOM!" With a splash of rose-red to her cheeks, Juvia quickly got up and exited the car. She could hear the girls giggling behind her, knowing that this is how she would react.
After using the bathroom Juvia washed her face in the sink, hoping the cold water would cool her down. She sighed to herself as she looked in the mirror, she did want to kiss Gray. Juvia felt though, that this would be wrong, that Gray would not want to, because she couldn't remember their past. Now the girls said those things in front of him, he was probably embarrassed too. Juvia could feel the warmth in her cheeks return "OH NO! STOP IT!" she smacked her hands against her face. Ugh what was Juvia going to do, she didn't want to go back yet. "Juvia?" there was a knock on the bathroom door.
"Ye-yes?" Juvia stuttered.
"Are you alright in there? The girls didn't mean anything by it, don't be upset with them." Gray asked.
"J-Juvia isn't upset with them. She just needed to use the bathroom, like she said before. Juvia will return shortly." She needed him to leave so she could calm down, the embarrassment mixed with the sake was making Juvia dizzy.
"Come on out Juuves, or I'm coming in." Juvia quickly unlocked the door, stepping out, her head down, not wanting to make eye contact with him.
"Juvia is sorry if Levy-Chans question embarrassed him at all. She didn't know that she would ask that…" Juvia spoke quietly
"Why would I be embarrassed?" Gray asked.
"Well, Juvia knows that Gray-sama and her never kissed in the past that she knows of, things are awkward right now, and Juvia isn't trying to make it worse." She felt his fingers under her chin as he pulled her face up to his.
"Juvia. I would never be embarrassed by something like that. In fact, I was more concerned about how it made you feel. I'm sure being dared to kiss someone you hardly remember would make you uncomfortable, and I would never make you do something that made you feel that way." Juvia cut him off. "Juvia isn't uncomfortable." she said quietly, but loud enough for him to hear. She looked away from him "Juvia, would definitely want to kiss Gray-sama if she remembered, why wouldn't she want to now…" Gray gave her a small smile. He slowly leaned in more, his face coming closer. Juvia braced herself, shaking all the jitters she felt in her chest, only to feel his soft lips brush her cheek. She looked at him in surprise
"We don't have to rush into anything right now...there is a lot going on, we should focus on the mission. I don't want to overwhelm you with emotions and have your mind wander. Okay?" He smiled and reached out his hand.
Juvia felt a sigh of both relief and disappointment. She did want Gray to kiss her and was a little sad he didn't. But he was right; she felt rushed to remember and feel all the feelings of her current and past self. She was relieved to know that Gray understood her, way better then she could even understand herself. She clasped her hand in his and they walked back to their train car, where everyone was finally passed out, sleeping away the laughter and silliness that they shared that evening. If only they knew to hang onto that brief moment, before the laughter would become void and cold.