It had been a rather eventful festival. It was almost midnight and the night had just started to wind down. A lot of noise, a lot of food, and a lot of sales.

Juvia approached Laxus, who had resigned himself some time ago to a spot underneath a giant tree. She took place beside him, standing as he sat and observed the dark horizon. He had been quiet for the rest of the festival. Juvia didn't know if it was energy fatigue from all of the stimulation from the festival or if something was bothering him. Whatever it was, she knew he would never tell her. He's too prideful. Besides, she knew he needed his space. If he wanted to tell her, he would tell her so she never pushed it.

"Hungry? I brought some food." She said as she placed a plate in front of his face.

"Thanks." He said as she handed him the plate. He never bothered to look up. Something was troubling him, she thought.

She crouched down to take a seat beside him, not too close but close enough where they could maintain personal space. "What did you think of the festival?" She asked.

Laxus smirked. He knew she, being ever-so-polite, was trying to make conversation even though his body language expressed that he'd rather not. She always went out of her way to be nice. He turned to face her, "A waste of time."

Juvia gave a slight closed smile, "So then you had a good time? That's good." Her smile widened. She could see that, by the modest smirk, he was thawing.

"Not as much of a good time as you did." He teased.

Lyon wasn't her first choice-and he wasn't her second. He was, however, sweet. And supportive. And most importantly, he liked her. That was all she needed. The look that rested on his face at the moment agreed with her.

Lyon, on the other hand, was beside himself. He was almost surprised as she was. She actually said yes. After years of trying and competing with his best friend, she finally said yes. His expression was as if the wind was knocked out of him.

For him, this had been a long time coming. And he still had to replay her words in his head. He couldn't believe his luck: the object of his affection was finally accepting him. Before he could even attempt to celebrate, there was also was a bittersweet feeling, since he felt that Gray might possibly like her as well and she and him.

"Listen, Juvia, I don't want you to say yes because Gray-" Juvia shook her head.

"Gray has nothing to do with this." His eyes widened slightly at hearing her say that.

"I think it's time I start dating...for real this time." Her eyes were genuine and her smile was warm.

Lyon smiled. She got him. Once again. And all it took was one smile.

"You know, now that this whole thingy is over,' Laxus gestures to the both of them, 'we won't be dating anymore."

Juvia pokes her lip out, "I guess not. But that still means that we can be friends, right?" He looked away in amusement, "No way would I be friends with such a crazy loser." Juvia looks at him with a wide grin and decides to pounce on him, giving him the biggest hug she could muster at the time. The tight hug caught Laxus by surprise. He remained still until she stopped.

"And why would I be friends with such a jerk?"

Others watching the display, namely Lucy and Levy were slack-jawed at the sudden expression of affection. When has Laxus ever hugged, let alone be hugged? They weren't the only ones. Erza and Evergreen were flabbergasted. Even Mirajane couldn't take her eyes away from the display. Was this really a thing? Was this actually happening?

"You haven't even gotten rid of me yet and already you have not one, but two dates lined up." Laxus teased.

A blush made an appearance across Juvia's face. Lyon was one date, yes, but the other one wasn't. Frosch had won a game and his prize was two tickets to a restaurant. However, because Frosch wasn't human, there was an extra ticket so he invited Juvia to join him and Rogue. She couldn't exactly say no to the offer.

"Yeah, but the Frosch one doesn't count." She looked away.

"Doesn't matter. A date is a date, whether it be a frog-cat or not. You're still accompanying a human male, you know." His last sentence was flat.

She turned to face him, "Fine, but does that mean that you'll finally find yourself someone to date?"

Laxus studied her face for a moment. Despite it being dark, he could make out her delicate features, thanks to all of the decorative lights hanging around.

Despite it being faint, he could still make out her scent-something herbal-but-not-too-strong like eucalyptus. Sometimes she smelled like eucalyptus, sometimes like lavender. She often switched it up when she felt like it.

Her hair was long, but not too long. It fell down her back midway. The Sun usually shone delightfully against her brilliant blue locks. But the dimmed lighting made her baby blue hair almost indigo. Her eyes were big but kind. Her smile was honest and awkward.

He chuckled, "Not if they're as annoying as you." Juvia giggled. Despite the diminished mood, he still never hesitated to joke as usual.

"I've been thinking of your words." She said before focusing her attention forward. Laxus raised his eyebrow. What words?

"You know, about focusing on myself. I'm learning that...that...sometimes it's good to be selfish." He smirked slightly. "Hmph, took you long enough."

Her eyes remained forward, "Sometimes you need to learn the hard way." He witnessed as the night's wind blew individual strands past her face. "Is that what happened to you?"

She smiled wistfully, "It's just something that I've been thinking about for some time-before I was partnered with you. You gave me the opportunity to really do it."

There was silence between the pair of mages. Nothing awkward, they were used to the pregnant pauses in their conversations. It gave them time to reflect.

Laxus felt something simmering inside him. Had Wendy not been present in front of him, he would have shared the same expression with Lyon. Wendy, on the other hand, may not have paid attention to the conversation, but it was obvious to her that something was up.

The look in Laxus' eyes stated that something wasn't quite right.

His eyes widened briefly, so brief that had anyone blinked at the same time, they wouldn't be able to catch it. But she did.

"Gray...was my crutch," Juvia stated. Part of her was relieved that she finally said it out loud.

"I held onto him as long as I could because he took away my rain. I know that-I know that you think that it's something silly but rainfall had been a major problem for me since I was younger. My rain prevented me from making friends, it helped me lose friends...boyfriends. I just wanted to be normal, and yet, I couldn't. My rain inhibited me from being normal. I couldn't control it, part of me didn't want to control it. It was the closest thing I got to showing other people my emotions." Laxus continued to listen.

"When I met him, suddenly I felt that everything was okay. I could finally be normal. So I followed him." This was the first time she really got to express this with anyone else.

"And I'm glad I followed him." Laxus' eyebrows gave a slight raise.

"Without him, I would have not joined this guild, make my friends, go on adventures...and become friends with you." She said before turning to him. Lucky for him, his slight blush was concealed by the shadow of the tree. To say that he was surprised by her turn in words.

"And that's why I decided to finally say yes to Lyon. I can't keep running after Gray forever. I can't keep using him as a crutch when I can already walk on my own."

Laxus grinned slightly and nodded in approval. He was proud of her. She was becoming her own person in front of his eyes.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

"For what?" He asked.

"For actually listening to me." He nodded.

The two ate in comfortable silence as they observed the rest of the festival winding down.

Gray walked alongside Natsu. Apparently, the dragon slayer noticed his friend's down mood and grabbed him (while he was in the middle of working the festival) to take a walk.

It was just the two of them. Neither man said anything to the other.

Gray was annoyed (to be dragged) but at the same time, grateful. He needed some time away from the festival to be alone with his thoughts. He knew that Natsu wouldn't bother him.

"Whatever it is Gray, it'll be over soon." Natsu's weird-but-oddly-appropriate words managed to lighten his mood.

Gray smirked, "Yeah, I guess it will."

It was one of those rare moments that Natsu could comfort him. He knew that he wasn't the best at this, but he felt grateful that, of all people, he was the one who did it. It felt just right.

It was over anyway.

"Wanna know a secret?" Laxus asked, breaking the silence. Juvia turned to face him.

Laxus leaned closer and whispered, prompting Juvia to look over at him in concern. "You know the old geezer and Erza and Mira made a bet with each other?"

"What?"

"3,000 jewels that we wouldn't go past a first date."

"Oh?" She said with a smile. Her smile was sadistic.

Laxus noted internally that many of the girls in the guild have a sadistic side. Juvia was no exception. Oddly enough, he liked seeing her sadistic side make an appearance. They both went back-and-forth, whispering in each other's ears.

From the outside, the pair looked quite intimate. Juvia looked excited. She hugged him again, with this hug seeming to be tighter. She even kissed him on the cheek, which lead him to blush a bit. His ears became red, body became hot.

The rest of the guild was resting inside the hall. Many of them barely slept the night before and they were ready to go. They were waiting for the Master's and Mirajane's final words about the festival. It seemed like a success. There were lots of foot traffic around Magnolia. It was as if all of Fiore appeared to visit the town. Surely the local Magnolian economy was benefiting from all of the bodies in town.

"Good job, everyone. You all have managed to make this year's festival a success!" Master congratulated.

"So successful that the town of Magnolia not only asked us to host next year's festival!" Mirajane rejoiced. There was a mixture of groans and cheers-well, more groans than cheers-which prompted Mirajane to release some killing intent-laced magical energy-barely slight enough for the tired crowd to wake up.

"Thank you all for your service. We can now say that the festival is over." Erza stated.

With all being said, many of the crowd prepared to leave. That was when both Laxus and Juvia walked in, arm-in-arm. Suddenly the need to go home could wait.

The couple walked over to Erza, Makarov, and Mirajane, Juvia held his arm tightly. The trio couldn't believe the scene they were seeing. They looked together, but they couldn't be so sure.

Evergreen, who was sitting with Elfman, adjusted her glasses and watched the duo with Freed.

Juvia, tightly holding Laxus' arm, speaks. "Thank you for putting us together."

"Huh?!" The crowd began to pile around them.

"Because of you, we decided to get hitched," Laxus said with a smile.

Everyone's mouths dropped. Is this what they were hearing? Were they really getting married?

Makarov, mouth agape, tried to intervene, "Uh-uh, Laxus, is this what you really want to do?! Think about it!"

"No, I thought about it. And I'm sure. Besides old man, didn't you want me to settle down?" Laxus teased. Juvia nudged his forearm with her cheek. Makarov was dumbfounded, "Not like this!"

Erza turned to Juvia and says, "Please, d-don't you think it's all going too fast?" Juvia turned on her lovey-dovey schtick and shook her head, "No, I think we're going at a great pace!"

She looks over Laxus, "I can't wait to be married to my prince and have his 33 babies!"

"You won't have to wait so long," Laxus replied with a slick smirk.

"What?!" The whole guild erupted in confusion. They could hear chatters and whispers about the whole situation.

"T-T-Thirty-three babies?!" Erza was having a meltdown.

"But what about Gray?" Mirajane asked, very concerned.

"W-what about him? I finally found my prince charming in Laxus!" Juvia exclaims.

"Laxus?!"

"You're far more sadistic than I could ever be." Laxus noted as he walked beside Juvia.

"They deserved it. Juvia is not an experiment." Juvia found herself slipping back to her usual speaking pattern.

"I never thought so many people would faint." Laxus smiled to himself.

"Same here. Looks like that killed whatever bet they had." Juvia wiped her hands together.

He turned to face her, "Don't you think the 33 babies was kinda overkill?"

Juvia stopped in her tracks, facing him, "So was 'you won't have to wait too long.'"

He smirked, "But still...I didn't think we'd have to call Porlyusica." His mind went to the older woman scolding the two about putting strain on an old man's heart.

"It's what they deserved." She walked past him.

Typical Juvia. Tiny with giant-sized ambition. Overzealous but caring. He admired that quality in her. The ability to disarm him and make him forget that he has to be tough. Even if he reformed. He couldn't let people think he got softer.

But she was different. A good different. A good change.

Even with her occasional whines, her awkward pauses, and sudden overthinking, she was just charming to him.