Natsu, Juvia, and Happy, are currently on a train, on the way to Oak town. Juvia in particular is quite uncomfortable with the travel. It's because a certain dragon slayer is constantly puking hard while hugging a bucket which is already half-full of his... unwanted substances, she hated to see someone tortured because of her.

Yes, Juvia blamed herself for Natsu's condition right now. She's thinking that if it haven't for her, Natsu and Happy would only be traveling by foot. They made it obvious with all the camping materials they brought with them. Instead, they offered to take the train because she's with them.

"Natsu-san, Juvia is really sorry! She hopes this helps." she apologized while rubbing his back to somehow comfort him from his motion sickness.

Natsu wanted to assure her that she doesn't need to worry. However, all of his sanity is focused on keeping his head from falling to his bucket. Just the thought of having his puke splattered all over his face even disgusts him, and that's already saying something as he's known to be someone who's not so conscious about cleanliness.

Happy went to his rescue by assuring Juvia that she didn't do anything wrong. "Don't worry Juvia, he'll be back to full strength once we arrive at the station. Though it would be nice if we're not to ride the train back to Magnolia."

With that, she calmed herself. Now that her mind somehow cleared up, she just realized that she's now taking care of a boy who's not Gray. Well, to be fair, she hadn't got a chance to take care of him either as he always rejects her advancements. Sure, she took care of Gajeel a few times during their quests before, but like Gray, he's also a stubborn one despite his obvious need for help.

This time, Natsu openly accepts her help. He openly took the antihistamine pills she offered and rubbed his back, which somehow alleviate his condition by a small amount. She guessed that this is because Natsu is just way too open to his guildmates, whether offering or accepting help from them.

At last, they arrived at the Oak town train station. Juvia felt a high levels of nostalgia upon stepping out of the train. It's only natural because just few months ago, she's a regular in this station while taking jobs as a Phantom Lord wizard.

Natsu immediately slithered out of the train like a jelly. They rested a bit at the shed nearby to help Natsu recover from the grueling ride.

"You should really consider training for your motion sickness, Natsu." Happy commented while digging their backpack for a fish.

"Trust me Happy, I already tried. Last time, I almost died of dehydration."

'Dehydration, maybe Juvia can help with that.' she thought to herself. She's about to suggest that she would want to help him with his training but decided not to because she remembered how her acts of help were just instantly rejected every time by Gray. 'Juvia doesn't want her new friends to hate her.'

After Natsu recovered, they began their walk towards the village. Since it is located far from the central part of the town, it is expected that they'll be going past some uninhabited areas. This time it's a forest so it is not that much of an issue for them.

They didn't notice that it's already dark due to the shade of the trees covering the light of the sun.

"Guys, I think we should camp here for the night."

Juvia then realized that she didn't have anything for this situation, scratch that, she didn't have anything in her right now except for a few jewels. To be fair, she didn't expect that she would be going for a job today and she hastily accepted their offer to come with the job to distract herself from sad thoughts about Gray.

"Eh, but Juvia doesn't have anything in her right now."

"Don't worry about it, we have these!" Happy then pulled out from Natsu's huge backpack some plastic containers filled with fishes.

"But Juvia doesn't have a tent, a change of clothes and some other stuff."

Natsu interrupted her. "Hey, if makes feel better, I also don't have the first two you mentioned."

Juvia just kept silent and sat on a fallen tree while Happy is setting up his tent. Natsu skewered some fishes and lighted a campfire to cook a meal for them. Seeing Juvia being silent for quite some time now, he then sat beside her on the fallen tree while waiting for the fishes to cook.

"What's wrong Juvia? You're silent for a while now."

"It's just that Juvia doesn't have any contribution to this whole trip. Juvia is ashamed."

"Woah, I didn't know you feel like that. But no, you're plenty helpful to us." Natsu assured her.

"Eh, how?"

"When we're at the train, you even spent your own pocket money to buy those anti-something pills you gave to me. They've been a huge help back there. Plus, you're unprepared so we can't blame you for it."

It's really as she expected from Natsu. He may be rough on the edges and well, not that smart, but he really is a true friend to everyone at the guild. It's a shame that only few individuals look past his exterior.

"It's called antihistamine, Natsu-san. But yeah, thank you, Juvia needs to here that."

With that, she removed her thoughts of being useless and all that negative stuff and focused on the main problem at hand. Still, nothing much is solved since she still doesn't have any change of clothes and a place to sleep.

"What would Juvia do with her clothes? She doesn't have any change of clothes with her."

"Oh that? I think I can help with that. Just wash yourself with clothes on and I'll dry you with my flames. That way you don't have to worry about stripping."

Juvia was amazed with his thinking. Sure it's a bit less sanitary, but with all of her choices right now, which is practically nothing, what Natsu presented is a great idea.

"Does Natsu-san do that all the time?"

"Not really. Just on situations like this. Oh look, the fishes are all cooked. Let's eat!"

He immediately stood up and rushed towards the food. After picking up all of the sticks of fish, he sat back to the log and offered Juvia some of it. She grabbed only one because she's still a bit ashamed of her lack of contribution. As for Happy, he sat beside Natsu while holding the plastic container with raw fishes in it.

The three ate at a rather peaceful state, well, as peaceful as Natsu could eat. The taste of the fish is nothing special considering that it's already not that fresh, though Happy was still pretty much content of it. However, what the three enjoyed was this very nice change of pace. This is a very rare occasion, possibly the first time, just them spending some time like this.

While eating, Natsu and Happy told Juvia their past adventures and she would occasionally laugh at their antics whenever their stories didn't match. Otherwise, she found herself quite interested in their adventures.

The idea made her think about her past jobs when she was a member of Phantom Lord. Though all the jobs she took are legal ones, it always comes down to just beating someone up or some uneventful escorting mission. Even after she joined Fairy Tail, though her experience with the guild is a major improvement, she still haven't felt this sense of involvement that Natsu and Happy's jobs boasted in their stories. Is it because of her or just the friendship between Natsu and Happy made their jobs more enjoyable.

It's already getting late and they're all sleepy. Happy went to his very small tent while Natsu tied his hammock to the tree near Happy's tent. Now Juvia once again is facing a problem. Where would she sleep? The ground feels way too uncomfortable for her liking yet she doesn't have any other options.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you don't have any sleeping materials. Here, I'll let you sleep on my hammock." he offered with his signature grin on his face.

"But... But where would Natsu-san sleep? Juvia can't take your offer!"

Natsu didn't heed to her as he just pulled a bunch of blankets from his huge backpack. "Nah, I can just sleep on the ground. Also, here. You might need this." he replied as he handed a blanket to her.

Juvia didn't want to impose to him any further but sleepiness is already getting into her that's why she just accepted his offer and took the blanket from hos hand. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

One might wonder why would the fire mage carry a blanket on his travels. Well, the easy answer is that he loves blankets, not for their insulating properties but just because they're cuddly. More or less the same reason as why he's always wearing a scarf, though that one goes way deeper than just cuddling.

Speaking of cuddly, Juvia just realized that she's now covered in a blanket with some of Natsu's scent in it. Only some because it seems that the blanket is unused for quite some time until today. However, because some of it is still there, she can't help but have thoughts of Natsu hugging her in her sleep or is sleeping right beside her under this blanket.

'Aaah! What is Juvia thinking!" Juvia discarded the thought to prevent her from thinking about it all night and waste her precious sleep time. However, she just can't remove all the lingering thoughts. Those thoughts actually helped her sleep faster. 'Being hugged by someone who cares feels nice.'

...

It's already morning and the three continued their journey towards the village.

The village is pretty small, with only just about twenty small houses erected in the area. Well, it's to be expected from a fishing village located at a lake. Like any small villages, children are running around and playing happily, the adults are more interactive with one another, and they only have one leader which is the chieftain.

Natsu loves to see this kind of scenery. Not the annoying sound of busy people in the major cities, but the sound of just plain joy and happiness. It's the same reason why he loves the guild because although the Fairy Tail guild is arguably the loudest place in Magnolia, they are noises made of pure companionship.

Juvia however, feels a bit gloomy when she sees children playing like this. Due to the rains she brings, children at the orphanage hated and bullied her. That's why whenever she sees some children playing, she's already anticipating their hateful glares and bullying. Even now in her late teens, she still having doubts whenever she interacts with kids.

Her slight frown didn't go unnoticed as Natsu immediately saw her from his peripheral vision.

Then a little girl accidentally bumped Juvia that made the former fall on the ground. Instinctively, she helped the girl stand up. "Sorry about that, nee-san. And thank you."

"No, it's okay. Juv-" Then she remembered that one of the reasons kids find her weird is that she talks in third person that's why she immediately corrected herself. "I-I also wasn't being careful."

Seeing the girl hurt, well not really that much, Happy comforted her with the method he knows. "Hey, want some fish?"

The girl just giggled and commented "Wow, a talking cat!" She then rushed back to her friends who were playing some kind of a tag game variation. Happy comically looked depressed from his offer being turned down.

Seeing the girl leaving without crying or feeling irritated to her, Juvia felt a small relief and glad that she's not hated by every child.

Without any more interruptions, they went straight to the chieftain's office. The office was nothing special, just some framed pictures of the previous leaders and a desk with tons of documents. There sat the middle aged woman with a stressed countenance.

Good morning ma'am, we're from Fairy Tail and we took this job."

He then handed the poster to the chieftain and she took it. "Okay, please sit down so I can tell you the about these water drakes in our lake."

The two took a chair and sat in front of the desk while Happy just landed on Natsu's shoulder.

She explained the biology of the water drakes based on what the village had observed so far. It seems that these overgrown lizards are not entirely aquatic as it is more like a magical crocodile. She also said that though human attacks are not confirmed, there are already three missing since they first saw the drakes.

"Why did you make this as a normal quest? This should have been an urgent quest!" Natsu expressed his worry towards the village.

"T-That is because we don't have enough reward money to pay for urgent quests. We just hoped that someone kind enough will recognize the urgency of this quest.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go, Juvia and Happy!"

They immediately bolted out of the chieftain's office, leaving her in tears of hope that this issue will finally be solved.

The three started circling around the lake shore. If the chieftain's info is correct that the drakes act like crocodiles, then they might have a chance of finding a congregation of them on these shores. And if all ten of them are on the same spot, then it would be either easy or hard for them, there's no in between with that kind of situation.

A deer walked towards the lake to drink. Natsu saw it and stopped on it's tracks. "Wait." he whispered.

"What is it, Natsu-san?" Juvia whispered back.

"There is a deer up ahead. I bet that would make a good lunch. Let's sneak up on it."

Both agreed to him, although Happy would still prefer fish for lunch, and sneaked behind some bushes to ambush the deer. Juvia was amazed how the loudest member of Fairy Tail was so good at sneaking up to such an animal.

Just when the deer is already at their attack range, the water in front of the deer suddenly splashed violently. They then saw their prey drag below the water by a bluish crocodile with wide sail-like fins on it's back...

"Juvia can't believe our lunch was stolen just like that."

Natsu however, immediately jumped from his hiding position to the bluish crocodile while screaming "Damn you croc! That's my lunch!"

Due to his anger, he let out a roar at the spot where the 'crocodile' was submerged. The roar made a relatively large crater and the water in that area to evaporate. The deer also burned into nothingness.

Before the water could fill up the crater again, he saw the slightly burnt 'crocodile' and immediately pulled it up. He then violently slammed its body at the shore, again causing a crater to appear beneath it.

"Heh, if I can't have my deer back, then I'll at least have you for lunch."

He waited for the 'crocodile' to react but it didn't so it's safe to assume that it's already dead. Juvia and Happy ran towards him, or rather at the 'crocodile'.

"Wow Natsu, that's a scaly fish you got there!" Happy said enthusiastically as he played with its fins. "Is this what they call a sailfish?"

"No Happy-san, sailfishes live in the sea."

"I don't know about you guys but this looks fish enough for me." Happy replied while trying to pull the creature out of the crater.

"Well, whatever it is, at least we don't have to worry about lunch."

It was then that Juvia remembered the description the chieftain gave to them. Crocodile-like behavior, large fins. And when Natsu attacked it, the deer in it's mouth just burned to nothingness yet the creature is still in one piece. Yes, this is definitely a water drake. "Wait, Juvia thinks that this is a water drake!"

Natsu, who just fought the creature with ease, frown with the statement. To think that a somewhat draconic species would go down easily without a fight is rather underwhelming for the dragon slayer. However, it's actually not the drake who's weak, he just unconsciously used a bit too much power on her previous attacks due to his anger.

"Eh, I thought water drakes would put up a bit of a fight? That's a bummer."

"Woah, so this is a dragon fish! Cool!" Happy just disregarded the name completely and just called it to the name he's used to.

"If it will makes Natsu-san feel better, there are still nine of them out there. Maybe taking them on all at once would be more difficult than this."

As if her words hold some strange curse, they heard multiple splashes of water from behind them. The three immediately turned behind and saw the water drakes jumping out of the water towards them. Some of the drakes open their mouth and expelled a high-pressure water towards them.

"You're right Juvia, this will be fun!" Natsu said as he jumped backwards to evade the blast.

It's either fortune or misfortune that all nine of the water drakes are now gathered here as their opponent. They must have sensed the death of their kind and rushed from somewhere in this huge lake towards here at a very fast pace.

A drake pounced towards Natsu but instead met a fiery uppercut on its jaws, sending it further upwards.

"It seems that they're more powerful than the first one I killed. Damn, my wrist kinda hurts from that one."

He then prepared a wide range spell.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"

Like a dragon flapping its wings, two waves of fire from his hands swept half of the drakes for about three meters. However, the spell wasn't enough to kill them as three of them immediately got back up and launched their bodies towards Natsu.

Meanwhile, Juvia was facing the other four. She noticed that because they are practically water elemental beasts, simple attacks such as a blast of water simply won't work to them. So instead of just putting raw power on it, she decided to condense the water to be sharp enough to penetrate their scales. And the perfect attack for that is...

"Water Slicer!"

A thin high-pressure water blade slashed horizontally in front of her, wounding all the drakes caught in its wide range. She kept on casting a barrage water slicer on them so that they can't get close to her while also dealing constant damage to them.

It's not without a downfall because constantly spamming a high concentration spell like water slicer burns her magic reserve faster. That's why she prepared a more powerful and condensed water slicer and hit the four of the drakes, causing them to be, well, sliced.

Natsu haven't really saw Juvia fight up close before. But now that he have witnessed it by fighting alongside him, he can only feel amazement on the power of who's considered as the third strongest woman of Fairy Tail.

"Wow, I think I have to up my game."

Using the concept of the spell his partner just used, he powered up to his most recent transformation just to secure the kill and to be used to the transformation.

"Lightning Flame Dragon Mode!"

Now with both his hands coated with flame and lightning, he's determined to end this fight in one devastating blow.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Lightning Blade!"

The sharp stream of lightning and flame severely sliced the drakes to death. Natsu, who just used the spell first time since the Tenrou island incident, struggled to catch his breath a little.

"Phew, that was quick! They've pretty tough though." Natsu commented while giving Juvia a thumbs up for the success of their mission.

"Yeah!" Juvia returned the thumbs up while panting moderately.

However, the one who's overjoyed by the success of the mission is no other than Happy. "Aye! More dragon fishes for lunch."

Unbeknownst to them, one fisherman witnessed the display of power the two fairies did. He already saw few mages who tried to deal with this problem of theirs yet they all just failed miserably. However, he somehow recognize the two mages.

'Wait, a fire mage wearing a scaly scarf with a blue cat companion? A woman who controls water to such a high degree? Aren't they the Salamander and the Rain Woman?"

A/N: This fic is set during their return from Tenrou island after seven years. Also, I don't really know how to write action.