Juvia had woken up happy and smiling today, like she did every day since a certain time, exactly 413 ago.
Yes, 413 days, since the day that her life had changed, giving her a twist, as much unexpected as it deeply desired.
This was due to the fact that, 413 days ago, Juvia met Gray and fell in love at first site.
That had been the best day of her life.
Of course, it wasn't the most romantic encounter, because there were definitely enemies and they had to fight, but that's how they met, and she fell in love with him and since that moment her life had completely changed, starting for the first time and her personality as well.
If Juvia was known as the Ice Queen, cold and distant, now everyone considered her a sweet and caring girl.
Sometimes, the blunette thought about the past, well she really thought about it quite often, it was impossible not to compare her bad past to her marvelous present.
Despite this, she thought about it and about how much she had changed, she also thought about the diverse nicknames and aliases that she had been given in the past.
Ameonna, Rain woman, the gloomy and depressing rain woman.
Fortunately, it didn't rain anymore, and it was all thanks to her beloved Gray-Sama.
Juvia of the deep and the Queen of Phantoms, in turn, had given her satisfaction, despite everything, at least they weren't derogatory, they didn't insult her person, on the contrary they provoked fear of her enormous magical power.
Juvia had been called many things throughout most of her life…
Gajeel, for his part, called her "raindrop" and she had a lot of love for that nickname, well unlike the others, she had always found it cute and sweet, or perhaps it was because her best friend used it with care. In fact, when thinking about it, when others called her Ameonna, Rain woman, etc., it upset her, but when Gajeel did it, she was calm.
In Phantom there were those who had nicknamed her the Ice Queen, due to her coldness and her dark and distant demeanor.
Thinking about it now, it made her smile a little, because her beloved Gray-Sama was an ice mage, her prince charming, her king and she felt honored to be his queen.
.-.
Juvia got out of bed, showered, got dressed, ate breakfast and then picked up her room a bit before leaving to start her day.
The girl had a ritual, now that she was a Fairy Tail mage, that ritual was look at the pictures hanging on the wall of her room.
Before Fairy Tail, she saved the typical identification photos, she didn't have any others, but since being in Fairy Tail she had a lot of photos.
They were all kinds of photos, from classic guild photos to more personal photos.
She had never been a fan of photos, also because she never had anyone who cared about her enough to have photos of her, but since joining Fairy Tail, she deeply loved every photograph.
Sure, she treasured every moment in her heart, but the photos were important.
Juvia had most of her photos hung on the wall above her bed and some, in particular, she had framed on her nightstand.
The first one was with Gajeel, when they had just joined Fairy Tail, sure, he had his usual annoyed look, but she loved that photo, because it was her first personal photo and the first with the only person who had a special place in her heart.
Next, of course, were photos of Gray and also some of them together. Mirajane had managed to get her some special photos, one of her and Gray on the Fantasia parade float, like king and queen, and another of her and her beloved while holding hands, after defeating Lyon and Cheria in the Great Magic Games.
"Ahh," the girl said, picking up the two photographs.
She was so happy; she had never thought that she could feel so much joy in her heart.
The girl took a look at every photo that she had, there was another with Gajeel, this time with Lily present, one of Team B, one of Team Fairy Tail winning the grand magic games, one with Lucy and Erza, and another with Cana, one with Mira, another with Lisanna, etc.
"Mh, Juvia needs more photos," thought the girl, "Obviously much more with Gray-Sama! But Juvia would also like ones with Meredy, but given her current situation it won't be easy… Also Juvia needs to ask Rogue-San! He'd really like it!"
Surprisingly, the girl also thought about her ex-Phantom Lord teammates, the Element Four. Despite everything, there was a bond between the four elements, not of friendship, rather esteem and mutual respect.
"Who knows how Aria-San and Monsieur are doing?" the girl thought, "Juvia hopes that they're doing well."
In the end, despite everything, she owed a lot to those men, they had taught her a majority of the things she knew about magic.
"Ah, stop thinking about the past! Let's think about this marvelous new day!" said the blunette, leaving her room smiling.
.-.
"Good morning Juvia-San," greeted Wendy, who was in the hallway with Erza and Charle.
"Hello everyone!" she responded, smiling.
"You seem in happy today, did something great happen to you?" Erza asked her.
"Oh no, Juvia is just, is just," she said blushing and bringing her hands to her cheeks, "it's Juvia and Gray-Sama's 413 day anniversary!"
Juvia started to run through the hallway, jumping happily, still red with her hands on her cheeks and shouting: "It's Juvia and Gray-Sama's 413 day anniversary, a very special day!"
"413 day anniversary?" Charle asked, perplexed.
"Yes," she happily responded.
"What a foolish thing! What is so significant about 413 days?" the exceed asked.
"Is there something special about the number? Like did you two meet on the 13th of April?" Wendy asked enthusiastically.
"No, it's just," the girl said, "Juvia and Gray-Sama have known each other for exactly 413 days."
Of course, excluding the seven years that they were frozen in Tenrou…
"Then, what was yesterday?" Charle asked.
"Our 412 day anniversary!"
"And tomorrow?" asked Wendy.
"Our 414 day anniversary!" she said, completely happy, her face red.
She showed them her planner, which she had on her, and opened it to a page covered in pink hearts.
"Ever day is an anniversary!"
Charle gazed at the planner perplexed, while Wendy was at her side unsure of what to say.
"This is marvelous! It's important to give meaning to every day of your life," Erza said, putting her hands on Juvia's shoulders, "I would love to learn from you."
"N-nice," Wendy said, while she and Charle lowered their heads, discouraged.
"As if the girl wasn't crazy enough alone, she decides to add to her craziness. How absurd," thought the Princess of Extalia.
"I think it's admirable how you appreciate every day, Juvia-San," Wendy said smiling.
"You really have a cheerful personality, Juvia," Charle said, her head still down in disconcertion.
"Yes, well, it's thanks to Gray-Sama that Juvia is happy every day," she admitted with a smile.
"Your 413 day anniversary, yes, that is a happy occasion, a truly happy occasion," Erza said.
"It's true!" the girl said, this time lost in her fantasy world.
"Erza-San is really mature," Wendy said.
"It's like a spreading fire," Charle said, at her side, with a distressed expression.
"Are you going to celebrate the occasion?" Erza asked with enthusiasm.
"No, Juvia is fine spending the day in a state of complete bliss," the girl admitted.
"Oh no! That's not enough!" Erza said, "After all, it's your anniversary, no? Don't you think that Gray would be happy if you gave him a gift?"
"Juvin!" the girl gasped, opening her eyes in shock and falling, once more, into her fantasy world.
She imagined everything, from her giving him the gift, to him hugging her, to their wedding…
"This girl works fast!" Wendy and Charle cried out, surprised.
"That's a great idea! Juvia shall do it!" she said enthusiastically, then she put her hands in her hair and desperately exclaimed, "Oh, what to give him! Juvia's mind is completely blank!"
"This is where a woman's power is tested," Charle said.
"A woman's power? A woman's power?" Juvia asked.
"You don't have to worry yourself too much about that," Erza said, "The basics of gift giving is to give something that the recipient would like."
"Then, what would he like? What would Erza-San like?"
"Well, obviously, weapons and armor," the requip mage responded.
Although, Jellal covered strawberries and frosted like cake wouldn't be bad either, but obviously Erza wouldn't reveal those thoughts.
Juvia, meanwhile, imagined giving Gray an enormous trunk full of weapons and armor and him telling her that she had made him very happy and asking her to marry him and their wedding day, Gray was wearing one of the pieces of amor she had gifted him, while she was wearing a type of kimono.
"That doesn't fit in Juvia's imagination," the girl realized.
"Gray-San likes to go everywhere naked, so that wouldn't fit him," Wendy said, embarrassed.
"That's the problem?" Charle asked her.
"Wendy, what do you think boys like?" Juvia asked.
"Huh, I've never given a boy a gift," the girl admitted, giving an embarrassed smile. She turned to ask, "What do you think, Charle?"
The little cat was trying to escape out the window, lamenting that it was locked and she couldn't open it.
"You're not interested anymore?" Wendy asked.
"Why don't you try asking Levy or Laki? I also saw Cana in the dining room," said Erza.
"We all live in the same dorm," Wendy said happily, "I think this way you can get different viewpoints and receive different opinions."
"You're right! Yes, Juvia will take a chance!" said the happy girl.
.-.
The water mage followed Erza and Wendy's advice and went to talk with the diverse cast of female guildmates.
Levy was first.
"Juvia has always been impressed with your room, Levy-San, it's like a library."
"It's rare for you to visit me, Juvia, is there something I can do for you?" asked the solid script sorceress, who was on her back, well, seated on a staircase, reading a book from high up on her library.
"Actually, Juvia is having trouble deciding a gift. What would you like, Levy-San?"
"Books," she quickly answered, "I have various tomes of hieroglyphs, but almost no literature or reference material, I'd love to receive an encyclopedia or a dictionary."
Juvia shook her head in regret, knowing that her Gray-Sama wouldn't like those things.
But the still took a note to the side to give to Lily, who would remember to tell Gajeel, if some day in the future the Dragon Slayer finds the courage to court Levy.
.-.
Afterwards Juvia went to talk with Cana, who was already very drunk, even though it was afternoon.
"What would I like to receive as a gift? Liquor, of course!"
"Juvia should have known," the girl answered knowingly. "But aren't you drinking in the afternoon?"
"How could I, with such a fine wine? Wanna join me, Juvia?"
"No, Juvia is busy, sorry," she turned down with obvious discomfort and left.
.-.
The blunette then went to Laki's room, not that she was too close to the Wood-Make mage, they were mere guildmates, but asking her too wouldn't hurt, who knows, maybe she could give her a good idea.
"This room is impressive, different from Levy-San's in many different ways," thought Juvia, a little scared at all those coffins and torture devices in the room.
"Guys love to receive things. I suggest anything in here," Laki said.
"Those are too…Juvia does not think they'd be appropriate, Laki-San… but thank you anyways."
"Some guys are pleased with many of these objects, to explain, a completely different world will open to you," the wood mage said, while creating her new and strange object.
"Eh?"
"Juvia is not ready for that world, sorry," the blunette said, fleeing scared, but trying not to make it obvious to the Wood-Make mage.
.-.
Juvia walked through the halls of Fairy Hills, sighing in despair.
"What would Gray-Sama like?"
It's not like she had given a gift before, just to Gajeel. But Gajeel is Gajeel! Surely she couldn't give Gray-Sama precious metals!"
"What a disaster. There is no one who can help Juvia with gift-giving ideas."
What could Gray like?
.-.
All of a sudden, exiting one of the rooms, came Evergreen, another resident of Fairy Hills.
"Evergreen-San!" she exclaimed happily.
Perhaps she could help her!
"Have you been like this all day? For this? How childish!" the Stone Eyes mage said, when Juvia explained the situation.
"Juvia knows and you are an adult, Evergreen-San, so would you be able to help Juvia," asked the girl, begging, really.
"It's true, I have a lot of experience, not like Erza who is a simple book reader and I have many male friends," the woman said, pretending to be wise.
Well, Juvia had always been surrounded by guys as well, she never had a female role model, but even then, she had no idea.
Looking back, she had only given gifts to Gajeel, and she always bought him the best quality iron to eat, now she'd buy Lily kiwis because he liked them.
Years ago, in Phantom, she used to prepare something to eat for the then tiny Rogue and she'd give him blankets… One time she even brought him an umbrella, while the boy spent hours under the rain.
What would the men that she knew before like?
Maybe Aria-San would have liked something sad, or a book on the diverse magical arts, Monsieur would have liked something elegant or something French, meanwhile Totomaru-San… he would have liked something perverse, best not to think about that.
Probably, in turn, Master Jose would have like a bottle of red wine or something elegant and archaic…
And Bora?
He was her ex, but she never gave him anything, other than her first time, and that had been a great gift for her, one that she now regretted, even though they never went too far.
In the end, Juvia freed herself from those thoughts and she knelt in front of Evergreen, desperately asking her for help and calling her "Mistress."
The woman was flattered and said: "Ask me anything, I'll answer any question."
"What do you do to marry the man that you love?" Juvia asked her.
"Marry?" Evergreen asked, taken aback.
Unintentionally, the woman found herself imagining a house, with her inside knitting and Elfman by her side drinking a cup of coffee. Evergreen imagined asking Elfman what he would like, a boy or a girl and him responding that he wanted a girl, and she would get mad telling him that he should have answered with the word man and they ended up arguing.
"Oh my God! What am I thinking about?" the woman said, visibly embarrassed.
"Evergreen-San?"
"Oh, well, I think it'd be better if you ask a man about another man," the woman answered, trying to exit this situation.
"Eh?"
"When you ask a woman her opinion, she will talk about her own interests."
"That's true! Thank you very much, Juvia will do that!" the blunette said.
.-.
Juvia headed towards the guild, where she saw Natsu and Happy, seated at a table with Lucy, while they ate.
"What would I be happy to receive?" Lucy asked back.
"Food! Of course!" Natsu responded, turning towards Juvia and showing her his gray with chicken legs.
"Fish for me," Happy said.
"Juvia doesn't think that Gray-Sama would be happy if he received fish," Juvia said, smiling awkwardly.
"That's not true," Happy responded.
"I'd be happy with food," Natsu said, smiling while eating.
"Gray doesn't have your appetite," Lucy told Natsu.
.-.
Juvia then walked towards Elfman, who surprisingly was seated with Gajeel.
"What do you think? Elfman-San? Gajeel-Kun?"
"What would give me joy to receive?" Elfman asked, "For me… something manly!"
Juvia, Lucy, and Happy lowered their heads in obvious embarrassment.
"I don't think that has anything to do with this," Lucy said, raising her hand to her forehead and shaking her head.
"I would like a suit and guitar, with a red rose, that would be perfect," Gajeel said.
Juvia fell back into her fantasies and imagined Gray dressed in Gajeel's typical suit, with a guitar and a red rose in his mouth, asking her to marry him, and then their marriage with him, dressed in the same way.
"Juvia is sure that it would fit him perfectly, but…"
"But that's not Gray's image," Lucy finished for her.
"How about some clothes?" Happy offered.
"Clothes?"
Juvia imagined Gray with different outfits, asking her to marry him and finding herself choosing between all those different Gray-Samas, in the end choosing to marry all of them.
"She's back in her fantasy world," Lucy said, noticing the water mage had her eyes closed again and an expression of pure ecstasy on her face.
"Maybe, for a gift, he'd like something handmade?" Mirajane said, from the bar.
"Handmade?"
Juvia, Lucy, Happy, Gajeel, and Eflman turned towards the white-haired mage after hearing her idea, everyone with a different expression on their face.
"If you'd like to show your feelings, I think that you can give him something handmade by you," Mira said smiling.
"A homemade man?" Elfman said, "I don't understand."
"A homemade guitar?" Gajeel said, " I wouldn't mind getting one."
"You two are too calm," Lucy told Natsu and Happy, "You make things more complicated."
"I want food!" Natsu said, raising another chicken leg in the air.
"We don't need to hear that from you," Lucy said.
"Natsu has a good idea," Mirajane said, making Juvia turn towards her.
"This reminds me of how delicious Erza's cake looked and the ones from last week," the Satan Soul mage said.
"A homemade cake," Juvia said, smiling happily.
"Can you make one on your own?" Lucy asked doubtful.
"Yes! It's perfect! Juvia will do it!" the blunette exclaimed, very happy.
"Bring us some when you finish too," Happy said.
"Juvia will not, the cake will be unique and exclusively for Gray-Sama," the girl said, nearing the Dragon Slayer and his exceed.
The two, sad, lowered their heads.
.-.
Juvia was ready to make the cake to give to Gray for their 413 day anniversary.
"Wait there, Gray-Sama, Juvia will make the best cake that she can," she told her plushie that she herself had made of the love of her life.
The young girl took a recipe book and read every ingredient and cooking instructions and followed them all.
She was so happy, until she realized that a homemade cake was very difficult to bake, it wasn't like her beloved personalized cookies.
"Juvia has failed," the girl said, crying over the mess.
"If Gray-Sama were to find out about this…" muttered the said girl.
Juvia imagined Gray rejecting her because she didn't know how to make a homemade cake, telling her that he was very disappointed with her.
"JUVIA DOESN'T WANT THIS!"
And so she tried again. Yes or yes, she would make this cake!
"What to do? Juvia can't keep living if this were to happen!" the girl said, desperate, while she cooked and cried.
Eventually, the mage had another idea, that is to use magic and then, she used several of her magical techniques to complete the various steps to make a homemade cake.
.-.
Meanwhile, Lucy, Wendy, and Charle, a little concerned about the situation, headed towards Fairy Hills to see Juvia and try to help her.
"Just like we imagined," Wendy said.
Yes, because as soon as they arrived at Fairy Hills, the three saw some and heard various sounds and discovered that Juvia had ended up destroying the kitchen.
"Juvia!"
"Juvia did it!" the blunette said, smiling happily and showing the girls the cake that she had made.
The cake in question was horrible, on the outside but also on the inside.
"No, no you didn't," the three said.
On the cake, instead of "Gray-Sama Love," "Samaga Lovery" was written.
"I can tell that a lot of effort was put into it, but even the letters came out badly."
"It's horrible."
Juvia felt hopeless and fell to the floor, crying in shame.
She didn't even know how to bake a cake!
"Maybe it'll taste good," Wendy said, trying to savor it and trying to see the good in things.
Unfortunately, no, it didn't even taste good.
"Juvia used the correct ingredients…" the girl said, regretful.
"It could be a type of talent that you possess… in your own way," Charle said.
"What will Juvia do? Should she attempt to make something else?" the blunette asked, sitting in a chair with her Gray-Sama Plushie in her arms and a sad look on her face.
"I think you should give up on cakes," Lucy said, after trying a piece of the cake.
"We'll clean up here so that you can find another gift, Juvia-San," Wendy said.
"That's easy to say, but what would be good?" the girl said, distressed.
"Well, what do you think about an accessory or something that he can use?" Charle offered.
"That's a great idea! It makes sense! Juvia will try!" the girl said, smiling happily and hugging her tiny plushie.
.-.
Finally, Juvia decided to give Gray a handmade scarf.
"This should be good; Juvia thinks she will give him this."
And once more, she fell victim to her crazy imagination and found herself imagining giving him the scarf and him happily accepting it, then they wed and he uses the scarf.
"This time for sure! It's perfect!" the girl said, exultant with happiness.
.-.
"It's late! Juvia wonders if Gray-Sama is still in the guild," the girl said while she entered Fairy Tail.
Despite this, Juvia, once again, imagined things: Natsu and Lucy hugging and kissing, when in reality they weren't even close, rather in front of each other and Natsu was eating, while the blonde watched him.
"A hallucination?" the blunette asked herself.
She turned and saw Gajeel and Levy kissing, and that almost knocked her out.
"Gajeel-Kun?"
Ok, yes, she suspected that those two had feelings for each other, but she didn't expect this…
She turned again and saw Evergreen, in Elfman's arms, telling him that he was a great man and he responded that she was a great woman.
She also saw Happy and Charle, very close, engaging in romantic behavior.
After she rubbed her eyes, she looked carefully and she realized that it was all a product of her savage imagination.
.-.
"Juvia!" Lucy said.
"You worked very hard today, did you manage to find a gift?" Levy asked her.
"Y-yes, a scarf," Juvia responded, showing them the white envelope that she held.
"Oh no! The romantic part of Juvia's brain is making her see things that aren't really happening," thought the girl, sore.
"What? It's not a guitar?" Gajeel said, upset.
After all, the gift was for the ice stripper!
Gajeel didn't understand what Juvia saw in that guy, really.
Yes, ok, she had shown him the sun, etc., but to Gajeel that wasn't enough, it was fine to be grateful to him, even though personally he believed that Fullbuster didn't have anything to do with the rain stopping. But she was too…
When it came to that guy, Juvia was exaggerating, she had always been crazy, but lately she had gotten worse!
"Either way, in the end, Gray didn't come in today," Mirajane said.
"He's probably home," Natsu said while chewing on more food.
"Seriously? Then Juvia will go there!" the girl said running.
.-.
"It looks like the sky will open up at any moment," the girl thought, "Perhaps Juvia should hurry up."
The young girl began to tremble over the sky, a whole life under the rain and always feeling guilty for the bad weather, it wasn't easy to forget.
"Juvia is just excited, but her emotions aren't negative, they're good, so the weather is not her fault…"
Or maybe it was?
The truth was that this subject scared her a lot. It had rained a few times since she had been in Fairy Tail, but every time she had always felt the same guilt, even though it wasn't her fault.
The girl was walking down the street, lost in her thoughts, when she miraculously realized that she was about to run into someone, and that someone was… Lyon,
"Lyon-Sama."
"Juvia-Chan. Are you going to see Gray?"
"Yes, Lyon-Sama too?"
"Yes, I haven't seen him in quite some time, so…"
"Juvia understands."
"I already passed by his house, but he's not there."
"He's not?"
"No, did something happen?" the young man asked.
"Yes, well, today is our anniversary, so Juvia wanted to bring him a gift," the girl admitted blushing.
"Anniversary?" Lyon asked, alarmed.
Lyon's face had an indecipherable expression, but nothing good, rather he looked worried and distressed, but Juvia didn't notice it.
"But if he's not home, there's no use in going there, Juvia will look for him somewhere else, bye Lyon-Sama" she said, running as fast as lightning.
"Juvia-Chan!"
The white haired mage looked down and shook his head, he looked up at the sky and prayed that Gray wouldn't act too cold and break Juvia's heart.
.-.
She looked everywhere but didn't find Gray anywhere, after more searches, she saw him leave an alleyway.
"Gray-Sama!" the happy girl yelled, "Juvia has been looking for you everywhere! Where were you hiding today?"
"I've been around here," he responded, after getting closer to where she was.
"Here! Juvia made it quickly, so it might not be perfect, but it's a handmade scarf. Juvia made it for you, Gray-Sama," she said, showing it to him.
"Good night," he said, ignoring her and continuing on his way.
"But? Gray-Sama, wait!" she said catching up to him and hugging him.
"Hey! What are you doing?" he asked her.
"Juvia made you this scarf."
"I don't need it."
"Look, it's pretty!"
"I don't care!"
"But it will protect you from the cold and it's been rather cold lately!"
"I'm an ice mage, the cold doesn't affect me."
"Juvin!"
She hadn't thought about that at all!
She had been so worried thinking about the perfect gift that she hadn't thought about that specific detail.
The girl dropped to the floor in despair and said, "Today… is our anniversary."
This changed the expression on Gray's face.
"You don't have to wear it, but take it, it's a gift to mark the occasion."
"Occasion?"
"Today is our 413 day anniversary of the day we met."
"I've never heard of a stupid anniversary such as that."
"The date doesn't matter, as long as it's a happy day it should be celebrated."
"I'm sorry. Maybe some other time," he said, walking off without looking at her.
"Gray-Sama."
The tears began to fall from her eyes while snow started to fall from the sky.
.-.
"Juvia-Chan," Lyon said when he managed to catch up with her.
Yes, he had originally thought to just let things go, but afterwards, knowing Gray and knowing what this day signified to him, he decided to follow Juvia before Gray ended up breaking her heart.
"Lyon-Sama?" she said looking at him.
He knelt by her side.
"Don't cry, Juvia-Chan."
"Gray-Sama, he…"
"I should have told you earlier, today is a particular day."
"Eh?"
"Today is the day that Ur died."
"What?" she said, beginning to cry harder.
"Gray, he, still blames himself for her death, for Deliora, I came today to try and talk to him but I didn't find him."
"Anniversary, today is the anniversary of the death of…"
"Yes."
"Juvia is a terrible person."
"No! No, no, never say that again Juvia-Chan! You couldn't have known, Gray doesn't talk about these things, it was just a tragic coincidence."
And it was also his fault, he should have warned her and he blamed himself for that.
"Stupid. Stupid Lyon," he told himself.
"Get up from the ground, Juvia-Chan, I'll take you home."
She stood up on her own, even though he offered a hand for assistance.
"That's not necessary, Lyon-Sama, thank you."
"I insist, you're too upset to go alone."
"Juvia needs…"
She didn't even know what she needed, maybe a hug? Forgiveness?
"You need to go home, rest, and dry your tears, I bet that today has also been long and hard for you too."
"Juvia doesn't know if she wants to go home…"
"Do you want to go somewhere in particular? I can accompany you. And about Gray, I suggest you leave him alone for now, he needs it, it's better this way," he said lowering his head.
The truth was that despite everything, Lyon's feelings for Juvia hadn't changed, on the contrary, seeing her there, on the ground, crying, heartbroken, made him realize that he never stopped loving her.
It hurt seeing her this hurt, he understood Gray, yes, today was a bad day for both of them, but he could have acted differently, he could have at least accepted the gift.
"Lyon-Sama."
"Yes, Juvia-Chan."
"Juvia is sorry, she… she is so sorry."
"I know, hey, wipe those tears, it's fine, it's not your fault, you didn't know."
"It's for that reason that Lyon-Sama wanted to see Gray today."
"Yes…"
"And Juvia got in the way of this tragic event and she disrespected the memory of your teacher."
"You didn't do any of that, Juvia-Chan, you didn't know."
.-.
After talking with Lyon for a bit and after he explained the situation a bit more, the girl went home.
He insisted on accompanying her, but she preferred to return alone.
And so now she was on the steps crying.
"This isn't like you," Erza said catching her, "You're always the optimist."
"Erza-San," she said, breaking into tears and hiding in her arms.
"What is it? What happened?"
Juvia told her about Gray, Lyon, and the anniversary, which was not happy at all, rather sad.
"It's a sad day for him and Juvia goes and tells him that today is our happy anniversary."
The girl was sitting and crying with her head over her knees and Erza was by her side listening.
"Juvia didn't know, what should she do now?"
"I was the one who put you up to it, I'm sorry."
"No, this was Juvia's fault."
"I don't think Gray is upset over what you did."
"Juvia is upset with herself! It's such an important day for Gray-Sama and Juvia…"
"It's just one day on the calendar," Erza said, "If a life was lost today, another life was born. Every person feels the weight of every day differently. The important thing is how you feel about the day."
Juvia didn't respond, she just looked at her with eyes sparkling due to the tears.
"I admire how you appreciate each and every day."
"Erza-San," she said while shuddering.
She didn't know if she was shivering because of the cold, because she truly felt it deep in her heart, or what, but Juvia was shaking.
Erza saw it and consoled her, Juvia stopped hiding in her arms and cried her heart out until she could cry no more.
"There, there."
In general, she was used to crying alone, in her room, also because no one ever consoled her in the orphanage. In Phantom Lord, on the other hand, it was seen as a weakness, where the few times that she did cry were done in private.
It was also true that it had been quite some time since she thought about how the more she cried the more it rained, for which she had tried not to shed a single tear.
Nevertheless, there was only one person who had ever consoled her before Erza, only one person with whom she felt free to throw herself in their arms and shed tears.
It seemed incredible, that person was Gajeel.
Yes, Juvia had cried in Gajeel's arms and he had consoled her, in his own way, but he had consoled her.
.-.
Perhaps, because of their past, Juvia decided to go see Gajeel, after crying in Erza's arms.
She needed it.
.-.
Gajeel was in his apartment, sitting on the sofa.
It was late, but he didn't know why, he couldn't sleep, and it was at that moment that he convinced himself that his instincts were correct.
The Dragon Slayer opened the door and as he feared, he found Juvia crying.
"Raindrop?"
"Gajeel-Kun," she said, throwing herself on his chest.
He dragged her inside and closed the front door.
"What happened?"
"Juvia… Juvia needs… can you hug her, please?"
He was left speechless, not everyone knew it, but Juvia was too proud or perhaps she was so used to being alone that she never asked anything from anyone.
That's why, seeing her cry, hearing her ask for a hug, had left Gajeel in shock.
He simply opened his arms and she threw herself on his chest, hoping that he would surround her in an embrace, which happened quickly.
Gajeel embraced her, he put his hand on her head and stroked her hair, trying to calm her down.
He didn't say anything, they didn't talk much in the bad times, he didn't care that she was crying on his shirt or that she'd get him so wet that he'd start to rust, she let her do it.
.-.
After a while, Juvia calmed down, true, her eyes were now red and teary, but at least they weren't drowned out in tears.
Gajeel got up to make her some herbal tea, yes, incredible, but Gajeel knew how to make herbal teas, that was due to Juvia loving herbal teas and they calmed her, so he learned how to prepare them and sometimes he made them for her. This was one of those times.
"Here," he said, giving her a cup.
"Thank you, Gajeel-Kun, Juvia is sorry."
"Don't be stupid," he said, sitting down with her on the sofa and drinking a beer.
After a few minutes of silence, he looked at her and she said, "It was bad, really bad, Gajeel-Kun."
"I don't know why you decided to celebrate with him, wasn't it fine doing it alone?"
"Yes, but…"
"He rejected you? Said you were stupid? What did he do?"
"It wasn't Gray-Sama's fault."
"It's never his fault! If it were up to you he'd be a saint, with how good and perfect he is!"
"It's all Juvia and her fantasies fault this time."
"You're fooling yourself, that much is clear, I've told you a thousand times!"
"Today is a bad day for Gray-Sama…"
"Why? What does it mean?"
"Juvia is a horrible person, Gajeel-Kun."
"Hey! You're crazy, not horrible, it's different!"
Juvia was not a horrible person, in fact, her heart had always been good and full of love. She had always been sweet, including while in Phantom.
There everyone saw him as a monster, but despite all this she approached him and with her stubbornness they managed to become friends.
She was not a horrible person. He was! Their ex-Master was! Many people were! But not Juvia, she was not horrible at all!
"Juvia told Gray-Sama that today was a happy day because it was our 413 day anniversary."
"And?"
"But it's not a happy day! Today is the anniversary of the death of his teacher!" she cried, breaking down into tears again.
Gajeel looked at her surprised, speechless.
"Shit!"
"Juvia is a horrible person!"
"Enough! You are not a horrible person!"
"Juvia is!"
"Did you know what today was?" he asked her seriously.
"No."
"If you had known, would you have acted the same way?"
"No."
"Do you care that it's a bad day for him?"
"Of course Juvia cares!"
"Then you're not a horrible person! Everything you did, you didn't do it to hurt him, it was a coincidence!"
"But that doesn't change…"
"This has nothing to do with that! Stop blaming yourself!"
"Juvia feels guilty…"
"Wrongly, you didn't know."
"Juvia hurt Gray-Sama."
"His past and that demon hurt him, not you, cut it out."
"But Juvia… she…"
"That's enough!"
He sighed and hugged her again.
"This was all an accident, raindrop, you have nothing to do, tomorrow is another day, you'll see that everything will go back to how it was before, just leave him alone until tomorrow."
"Ok."
.-.
Gray was still strolling through the streets, lost in his thoughts.
Juvia was too, after talking with Gajeel, she had decided to return to Fairy Hills, despite that her best friend had tried to convince her to stay the night there and not to hang around there. But she, stubborn as always, had won.
The streets were completely covered in snow, they both walked under the snow.
.-.
Gray suddenly stopped in his tracks and remembered when, as a child, Ur wrapped a scarf around him and Lyon to protect them from the cold.
With this memory in mind, he ran to where he had run into and rejected Juvia before, looking for her.
.-.
Meanwhile, the girl, with her heart still heavy and sadness in her eyes, arrived at Fairy Hills.
.-.
Gray couldn't find Juvia anywhere, but he did find the scarf.
Yes, he had to dig in the snow with his hands to find it, but he did it.
Finally, after finding it, he put it around his neck, blushing deeply and with his face in his habitual Tsundere expression admitted: "This is really warm."
Afterward, he went back to his walk, and he didn't notice that Erza had passed by and saw him with the scarf Juvia made around his neck.
The requip mage smiled softly.
Meanwhile, the snow fell, the snow that was made of water vapor and ice crystals, the snow was part water and snow, water like Juvia and ice like Gray.
But that was only the first of these important moments that the two would remember in the presence of the snow.
.-.
The next day in the guild…
"Juvia is sorry, Gray-Sama, Juvia didn't know…
"Oh no, I was a bit out of… well…" he spoke in circles, later telling her, with his face red, that he was sorry too.
This was new, Gray had never apologized to anyone, he was very impulsive and proud.
.-.
Juvia was a bit confused about these unexpected apologies, but in the end, she armed herself with valor and asked him to accept her dakimakura.
"Today is our 414 day anniversary of the day we met."
Gray was completely aghast and super embarrassed by this new gift, also because it was a body pillow, and on it was Juvia in a bikini!
"I don't want it!"
Meanwhile, the two were being watched from above by Lucy, Elfman, Wendy, Charle, Happy, and Natsu while they ate.
"What gift is that?" Wendy asked.
"Food," Natsu said.
"Fish, it's fish!" Happy said.
"Something manly!" Elfman said.
"A suit and guitar!" Gajeel said, improvising a concert with his beloved performance attire.
"Lucy-San, what is that pillow used for?" Wendy asked.
"Don't ask me!" the blonde responded.
"Oh my," Erza said, smiling. "Well, I guess I can't complain when every day is happy."
"It's true! And Juvia will keep making them happy"
Meanwhile, Gray was still trying to get away.
"If you don't want it, I'll take it," Macao said, but a cold look made him back off.
"Don't interfere!" Erza said, "Can't you see that they are having a romantic moment?"
"Where do you see that romantic moment?" Lucy asked her.
.-.
A few hours had passed since that moment.
"Hey, Juvia?"
"Yes, Gray-Sama?"
"I'm really sorry."
"It's fine, Gray-Sama, you don't have to apologize, Juvia is the one who needs to apologize."
"No, it wasn't your fault, you didn't know, no one knew."
"Juvia also…"
"Let's put aside what happened yesterday, you agree?"
"Yes."
"Do you want…want to eat a Caramade Frank with me?"
"Juvin!"
Gray smiled.
"Let's go."
"Where?"
"To eat Caramade frank, you want some?"
"Juvia accepts!" she said with heart eyes.
And just like that, the two left the guild to go eat Caramade Frank.
"Like a date?" Lucy wondered.
"I told him something like that would work," said Cana.
"It was you?" Lucy asked her.
"Of course!"
"Great idea, Cana, congratulations," Erza said.
"You scare me," the blonde said.
"Ara ara, all's well that ends well," Mirajane said. "And who knows maybe we'll soon be celebrating an engagement," she added with heart eyes.
"In a little while, those two will end up together, she is in love and he is falling in love," Cana said.
"Let them have their moment, let's not pressure them," Levy said.
"It could have been done better, but it's fine," Evergreen said.
.-.
Gajeel stayed watching from the door and found himself smiling, even though he didn't like Gray as Juvia's future boyfriend, or literally his future brother-in-law, he could admit that he had enjoyed watching that sketch.
The Caramade one, not the pillow with her in a bikini.
"To think that one time she used to be so innocent and demure, now she's getting too daring with her crazy."
Ok, she was growing, she was almost of age… but to him she would always be his brat."
Even when she was to get married or when he had a brat of his own.
.-.
Gray had also spoken to Lyon.
"I'm glad that everything is resolved," said the white-haired man.
"Yeah…"
"It's great, Gray, really it is."
"I thought you gave up."
"I did, but that doesn't mean that my feelings for her have been eliminated."
"I'm sorry, Lyon, really, despite everything, I'm sorry that you're like this."
"It'll happen one day or maybe not… but it's better this way, at least no one is living a lie, she with someone she doesn't love and me with someone who doesn't love me."
"I…"
"Don't say anything, just, please, don't hurt her, she doesn't deserve it."
"I know, do you really think I'd do that? Or that I'd like to? She's also important to me!"
"I hope that you can clear up your feelings for her."
"We're just friends."
"You don't even believe that and you know it…"
"There's a relationship there, more than friendship, a special one, but…"
"You don't have to tell me, it's her that you need to talk to, Gray, love involves two people, in this relationship there is you and her, now I have given up."
"It was just luck, Lyon, who knows, maybe if she had met you first, she'd have fallen for you."
"We may never know, but I still hope that everything turns out well for the two of you."
"Thank you, Lyon."
"It's my duty as your older brother."
"We're not brothers!"
"Not by blood."
"You and your beliefs."
"Either way, Juvia-Chan and I are friends."
"So, you practically hurt yourself?"
"No."
"Bah."
"I'd like to at least have a friendship with her."
"It's up to you two to decide that."
To tell the truth, Gray was jealous of Lyon, he didn't like knowing that he was this close to Juvia, there was a part of him that told him that Lyon was the perfect person for Juvia and another that told him that she was his.
The truth was much more confusing, she was important to him, but could they have a romantic relationship in the future?
She was great, the problem was him, at least to himself, it was like that.
.-.
Author's corner!
Hello everyone!
This is absolutely one of my favorite Gruvia moments, I couldn't resist writing something about it.
I mixed the manga, anime, and my personal thoughts a bit.
Anyway, I have a lot to say over this chapter.
Starting with the anime, I don't know why, but they always exaggerate with Juvia, it's true that she her uncommon ways, but in the manga she doesn't act that way, the anime exaggerates it, especially the comedic moments, putting too much emphasis on them and the concept of love rivals.
Now, Juvia has her behaviors that I don't even like. There are some things that they make her do that I don't think are funny at all. But apparently in Japan it is fine.
One more thing. This chapter received a lot of criticism at the beginning. Juvia showers with things that have Gray's face on them. This is one of the scenes that I don't like and I think that it could have been cut out. But whatever.
Now, everyone has their own opinion about it and that's fine. I think that they could have cut that scene but these are just my personal thoughts.
When I called Juvia the "Ice Queen" in Phantom, that wasn't my personal idea, it's an idea circulated through the fandom and I like it.
I also really like it because, when thinking about it, Juvia was very cold when we saw her for the first time.
My favorite title for Juvia is Juvia of the Great Sea.
Juvia of the Deep, on the other hand, I don't like a lot, it's too dark.
Queen of Phantoms is something I invented, at least I think I did, because I haven't read a similar title anywhere.
Raindrop, on the other hand, I'm not sure where it came from, but Gajeel uses it a lot for Juvia and I like it, it's sound sweet, like if she were a tiny raindrop, I don't know, I like it.
About the photos, it was always my idea, I don't know why, but I thought that it was something that Juvia might like, that she could do.
Another thing, I don't remember if the cake scene is from the anime or if it's also in the manga, despite this, in the manga it is mentioned that Juvia knows how to cook, so I thought maybe she just can't make cakes.
I changed a few things, like the conversation with Lyon, I don't know, I thought it was better like this.
Everything else, I added the Caramade Frank bit because that's a detail that I love.
Also, I couldn't not add Gajeel or not mention Rogue, the Element Four, or Phantom.
(I'm writing a new fanfic, based on Juvia's past in Phantom, where Gajeel, the Element Four, Rogue, Bora, Etc., it's called "Juvia of the Great Sea-The Phantom Queen," right now it's in Italian, my mother tongue, and I still have a long ways to go to finish it, there are a lot of chapters, and I still have other fanfics written and published that I need to translate and publish here, so little by little).
I really think that Juvia felt really guilty during this episode.
It was such an important scene, a sweet and magical moment.
Then the snow… snow is water and ice and I've noticed that there's snow in a lot of their important moments.
Also because of that, in my mind their future daughter is called Nieve, which would be snow in Spanish, like Lluvia.
Anyways, I hope you like it.
With the Dakimakura, I have a fanfiction in mind about the famous Dakimakura and Gruvia (I have it already written and it will be the next that I translate and publish, little by little).
Thanks to BotanG for the translated my spanish fics in english you very much!
That said, thank you very much to those who read, comment, and until next time.
GruviaSilver.