Juvia was keeping herself busy. Busy was an understatement, actually. Ever since last month's festival, it seemed that her planner has been full of things to do. Almost every day she had either a new event or task to do. And she loved it. After the festival, she had planned to keep busy.

Her revelation to Laxus that night made her realize something very important, something very sobering:

In her eighteen years of living, not once did she do something for herself. Everything she did had to revolve around someone or something but never herself. All her life, Juvia tried to mold herself to become the perfect person-someone that other people wanted her to be.

She spent her earlier years in an orphanage trying to cling onto anyone that would show her some type of affection, some type of kindness. She tried to make herself into the perfect child, always helping around the orphanage with any tasks. Cooking, cleaning, taking care of the younger kids-anything to receive some type of positive feedback.

Then, she was recruited to join Phantom Lord after Master Jose came across her controlling the weather while she cried. For years, she dedicated her time trying to become the perfect tool for him. She suppressed her emotions and trained hard every day to try to reach the coveted S-Class position in the Element Four. Her mission was to become powerful and defeat anyone that stood in the way of Phantom Lord.

Finally, she joined Fairy Tail. The rowdiest guild in the nation. It was different there. There was not much structure and certainly not much order. And considering the fact that she was introduced as a villain, willing to kidnap one of their beloved members, and partially one of the many reasons for destruction to their original guild hall, she knew she could never operate the same way.

She didn't know many people at Fairy Tail but she knew Gray. She liked Gray. He was one of the few people besides Gajeel that seemed to accept her for who she was. Even while fighting him, he still treated her like a person. She could see that despite his cool demeanor, he was still a nice guy. She aspired to like that, like him. So confident in who he is that he doesn't have to explain himself or change in order to please the others around him. Everyone liked Gray. How could you not like him? He was perfect-or seemed perfect. At least to her.

Joining Fairy Tail was supposed to change her. It did. Being in the guild slowly pulled her out of her shell. She grew less cynical, more accepting, more loving. How could you not begin to feel that way? This is the same guild that will always accept their members, no matter if they came from another dimension, broke the rules, or caused a guild civil war. So she aspired to put them above her own needs, even when she knew that it was hurting her. She knew she had to endure to be liked. That has always been her mindset. She never could say no or speak up when something was bothering her.

However, these past months have begun to weigh on her. It didn't help that Gray was rejecting her with every transformation she made. It was something that she never said to anyone, likely because she didn't have anyone to tell it to. There was Gajeel but he wasn't that much better with discussing his own feelings, let alone listening to hers. He could only nod and grunt before giving extremely blunt advice which hurt her feelings often. He couldn't relate because he's never had to really change himself for anyone. It made sense, she thought. He was like his element, metal, not easily changed unless under extreme pressure. And Juvia was water, extremely malleable and easily adapting to any situation they're in.

Other than Gajeel, she didn't have many close friends. She was friendly with everyone but not on a personal level. It mainly had something to do with her chasing Gray around. It was embarrassing, looking back at it. Her overzealous behavior. Much of her identity has always revolved around other people's interests and keeping them happy. By partnering with Laxus, it took being out of her element to realize that...she didn't have much of an identity of her own.

The night of the festival, she decided she was going to go on a month-long break. No more missions, no more Gray, no more anything. Juvia was going to take her time and develop her own interests. She was going to discover her own likes and dislikes. She already had a list going:

Likes:

Cooking

Baking

Sweet treats

Gardening

Dislikes:

Rude people

Hiding my feelings

Selfishness

This month was going to be fun, she vowed. It's going to be all about me. Keeping busy wasn't hard. Luckily for her, opportunities kept popping up.

Her character buns had been such a success at the festival that citizens of Magnolia had begged her to start teaching cooking classes. She started off with one class once a week, but with Max's marketing techniques, she ended up having a long waitlist. Then it was twice a week. Now, it's four times a week, two on the weekends, two during the weekdays.

She also co-hosted a weekly book club with Lucy in the dorm. All the ladies (plus Freed) gathered in the recreation area of Fairy Hills to discuss novels. It was Lucy's idea. It was perfect! She would provide the book suggestions (with some suggestions from Freed-Levy was too much of a nonfiction reader) and Juvia would provide the snacks. Erza took it one step further and joined every session with a different character cosplay. For Juvia, this was a perfect chance to bond with the girls and really get to know them.

"Have you seen Juvia?" Gray asked. It's been a week or so since he last saw her and it was in passing. Lately, she hasn't been in the guild and he wondered if it had anything to do with their conversation they had the night of the festival.

"Juvia, can I speak to you?" His hands were shoved deep into his pockets.

She was outside, alone. For the first time, in a long time, it was just her.

She had been staring up at the dark sky for some time now, her arms hugging herself tightly. Startled, she turned to face me, her expression softened but her eyes continued to be pensive. "Sure, what's wrong Gray?"

He paused for a moment. He was stuck. He wanted to say something but didn't know how she'd react to his words. "I...uh...I...really enjoyed those buns." His face slightly reddened. Scratching the back of his head, he looked both ways and smiled shyly. "I've always enjoyed them."

The enthusiasm he expected was a lot more subdued. "That's good. I'm glad you enjoyed it." Her lips curved upward slightly. Gray let out an awkward chuckle. This was going to be harder than I thought it would be, he said to himself.

"Gray…" She started.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"I actually had wanted to talk to you about something." Her tone was a lot more serious. It was as if she was thinking about this for some time.

His eyes widened a bit, "What is it?" He swallowed. Whatever she had to say, he knew that it was not going to be good.

"I think that-and this is no offense to you-but I think that maybe we shouldn't do this." She exhaled deeply.

"What do you mean 'this'?"

The seriousness of her eyes never left. "I think it's best, for myself especially, if we take a break."

"What do you mean by break? We're not seeing each other."

"Exactly. We're not seeing each other and yet...for a long time, you were all I wanted to see. And that's not healthy." She paused for a moment and took a breath. "I think that it's best if we don't interact too much. It's not you, it's just that...it's just that I need to sort out my feelings and take care of myself."

An awestruck Gray couldn't believe his ears. She was breaking up with him. Their friendship, at least. He was feeling a familiar feeling. Something he hadn't felt in years. "Are you saying that you don't want to be friends anymore?"

Juvia shook her head rapidly, "N-No! It's not that! It's just that...look at me. I've been...making a fool of myself and embarrassing you."

"You haven't been embarrassing me," Gray said, "I've been embarrassing you."

She chuckled lightly, "Same old Gray. Always so nice. Gray, my...obsession with you...it isn't healthy, Gray. And you know that too, don't you?" He dropped his head.

"All I want to do is take some time away so that I could be a better person, a better friend...to you and to everyone."

His fists tightened, "Is this about Laxus?" His eyes still downcast. Juvia could feel tears well in her eyes but fought to control them back. She took a step forward, cupping her hand on her cheek, putting slight pressure to make him face her. "You know this isn't about him. It's something that I've been thinking about for a while. It's best that I do this."

"But you're going away?" She smiled.

"I'm not going away. I'll be here but I won't be able to accompany you on missions for a while."

He did the one thing that he didn't expect to do. He hugged her. It stunned her for a second but then she relented. "Promise me one thing." She looked up at him. He was smiling, "Take care of yourself. When you finally come back from break, you better go on a mission with me." Her smile softened and she buried herself into his chest, "Of course I will."

"Has anyone seen Juvia? She's been all over the place lately." Mirajane said, pointing to the Guild Character buns on display. "She was just here earlier to drop the latest batch off."

"Do you know where she is now?" Gray asked.

She placed the tip of her index finger on her lips, "Um...I know she has a cooking class today, then she's volunteering at the local orphanage...Oooh-and then there's also the book club later tonight!" Her eyes focused on him. He looked annoyed.

"You can always try tomorrow." His eyes shifted before looking back at her. Her smile widened, "You know...she always drops off the buns every morning at 10."

"No, it's fine." With that being said, he turned around and sat down at a nearby table. He's been replaying her words over and over again.