Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!
I hope everybody's been good since last week! Once again, thank you for all your reviews, your love and your interest in this story! You guys keep me going and you know it.
You know the disclaimers
ENJOY!
The wrong girl
Chapter three
Juvia had jumped at the sight of Happy flying in through her window and she noted that she was going to have to make sure Natsu didn't do the same. She could now see why Lucy was so annoyed whenever they did it. Was it that hard to use the door?
"Happy-chan? What are you doing here?"
"We were all worried about you when you left and Natsu got me to follow you to make sure that you're alright. You kind of gave us all an ominous feeling when you were talking about the job."
Juvia sighed and nodded. "It's just that...well Juvia doesn't have good memories about that fight back at the Tower of Heaven. Juvia was so weak! Lucy-chan wasn't brainwashed, but Juvia was and she became a villain again. Juvia attacked Lucy-chan and Juvia hated every minute of it. Juvia doesn't really mention it, but Gray was Juvia's first loss. To then fight Vivaldus and lose woefully, it was a really big blow. Not only that, Juvia still sees him in her nightmares. He made Juvia become someone different and with the amount of enemies of ours that have all escaped prison at some point, Juvia feels like he might have done the same."
Happy wasn't expecting for her to spill all that information to him and he even felt like she wasn't meant to, she just did it by accident. He rubbed her arm, trying to give her comfort as she looked like she was about to cry. She wiped her tears that built up in her tears ducts and tried to smile despite the pain she felt.
"Thank you, Happy-chan. Juvia is sorry for unloading like that. Also, please don't tell Natsu. He doesn't need to be bothered by something as little as this. Juvia already knows that he'll try to do something about the situation as he's Juvia's mate for the next few days."
Happy sighed and nodded. "I'll try not to, but he's not stupid, you know? He'll know something's wrong in an instant. You gotta make sure you don't smell of salt otherwise he'll know that you've been crying."
Juvia nodded quickly, understanding that she couldn't leave a single trace of her upset behind. She headed for her room, trying to pack her things away in a bag. She glanced over at Happy and pointed at the fridge. "I have some fish that will probably go bad if it isn't eaten today."
She didn't even need to finish the sentence before Happy was already launching himself at the fridge. He found the delicacy immediately as he hummed with joy as he ate it. Juvia giggled as she continued to put her clothes neatly into her bag. Happy was sitting on a chair, swinging his little feet as Juvia packed away all the necessities she always packed. Things like a first aid kit was important, especially as Wendy wasn't coming on the job with them.
"So Juvia. If it weren't for the mate bite, do you think you could ever fall for Natsu?"
The said woman almost tripped over her sofa as she stared at Happy, not having expected the question. "Uh, what makes you ask?"
He shrugged while munching on his fish. "I dunno. I guess I never thought about the two of you being together, but the way you guys were interacting actually made some sense. You guys are a lot alike, but also very different. You're both crazy. You can't even deny it either, because you know you are!"
Juvia had opened her mouth to retort, but snapped it close immediately after. She thought about it before nodding reluctantly. "Okay, that makes sense. The same but different how?"
"Okay, so you're both crazy, you've both got no shame either. You're both passionate about things. The difference is that you know when to calm down and he doesn't. It's literally a fire and water thing. You cook and Nastu's your biggest fan."
Juvia straightened her back before lifting her duffle bag, as well as her eyebrow. "When has he ever eaten anything Juvia has made before?"
Happy scratched the back of his head, wondering whether or not he should tell her. If anything, now was the best time because she currently doesn't like Gray. The mate bite didn't let her like Gray, so it would be fine and she wouldn't cry him a river about it.
"Well, you know how you make food for Gray? You usually make it in the shape of his face and he finds that creepy, so Natsu has been eating it. The first thing of yours that he ever ate was that bento you made Gray back when we were rebuilding the guild after Phantom Lord destroyed it. He's been hooked ever since then and you never even knew it. He always loved it whenever you gave food to Gray because he knew that was going straight to him."
Juvia blinked before they headed out of her flat together. As she locked the door behind her, she turned to Happy. "So you're telling Juvia that Gray didn't even eat Juvia's meal once?"
"Nope," he replied, popping his p. Juvia didn't know why, but she felt some level of anger bubble within her. It was food for crying out loud, what was so bad about that?! Why did he act like she had some sort of disease whenever she was around him? As if it were contagious? He treated her like a pure menace and never like a person, and that really fucked her off. After all, she was nice enough to overlook all of his flaws, that's what love was about.
Mentally, she laughed bitterly to herself. The answer was right there. He didn't love her the same way that she loved him and he probably never would. Why would she force herself onto him? After all, she hated it when Lyon did it to her and she hates it when her job contact does it to her too. It took her a while, but she finally understood why Gray was annoyed by her.
"So what else makes Natsu and Juvia such a great couple?"
"Well, remember how I said you guys don't have any shame? I think that's a good thing. You love big. You want all the nice gestures, for everyone to know who you're dating. You're not scared to yell you love someone from the rooftops. I think Natsu's the sort of guy that's good for that."
Juvia laughed in disbelief. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! We all know Natsu is the least romantic guy in the world and that he genuinely hasn't looked at a girl thinking she's cute or anything. I feel like his brain is too occupied by anything to really think about having a mate, but whatever. Still, I just know he's the sort of guy to like PDA. He won't be scared to give you a little kiss in public if you want one."
Juvia spluttered at the thought of sharing a kiss with Natsu. The idea didn't disgust her at all, but she couldn't bring herself to really imagine it. After all, they were supposed to be waiting for the mate bite to fade, not give into it!
"W-well that's all well and good, but Juvia and Natsu won't be getting that far. In the 5 days that we'll be spending doing this mission, we'll pretty much try to avoid each other. We need the bite to fade."
Happy gave her a look that said he didn't buy it for one second. "Do you guys really need it to fade or is that just your excuse?"
Juvia was taken aback. It hadn't even been a day, of course she wasn't making up excuses! It was an inconvenience to have. "Excuse Juvia?"
Happy actually had the audacity to put his hands on his hips. "Well, what's your real reason for not wanting Natsu? You don't think my best friend is a catch?"
Juvia really didn't know what was happening here, why is Happy grilling her?! "J-Juvia never said that! Look, we only like each other because of the mate bite. We never thought about each other in that way and Juvia was very much in love with Gray. After the 5 days we develop something between us...then Juvia will be willing to give it a shot for real."
Happy's eyes widened with glee. "Oh really, you mean it?!"
Juvia nodded while not looking him in the eyes. Her face was on fire. She couldn't actually believe that she had just admitted to something like that! She had heard Happy's compelling argument as to why her and Natsu would be a good match, but she just didn't know if that was true. What would really make Natsu like her? At least Gray had had girlfriends in the past and knew what to do. Natsu didn't. Just like Happy had said earlier, Natsu doesn't have a romantic bone in his body and never thought of girls in that sense until he bit her.
"But that's what makes him that much cuter."
Juvia could scream at her thoughts, but she didn't. She knew it was just going to be something that she was going to have to put up with until the 5 days were done. Great.
The train journey hadn't been as bad as everyone thought it was going to be. Natsu had been worried the most. It was just a known fact that dragon slayers and transportation didn't go hand in hand and that was fine. It just meant that Natsu was shoved off into his own cabin so that if he threw up, no one would have to see it or smell it. Then Gray came up with the greatest idea ever by making Juvia go with him, because then with her water magic, she could clean it all up very simply. Natsu didn't like the reason they had been lumped together, but he definitely wasn't going to complain that they were together. Before the train started moving, Natsu was fuming at how they treated Juvia and he made it known.
"That fucking bastard, how dare he?! You're not some fucking cleaner!"
Juvia sighed as she thought about it. Was that the sort of thing Gray always got her to do and she would blindly do it just because he said so? That was pathetic! Just what kind of person had she reduced herself to? Still, they were in a completely different carriage as all the other tables in their carriage had been taken, but that was just fine for Juvia. She wouldn't have to see Gray's annoying face.
She decided not to comment on it as she had a question. "How do you guys usually deal with this?"
"I just usually let him hang out of the window. When we're with the others, Erza always knocks him out without fail. How do you deal with it with Gajeel?"
Juvia shrugs. "Gajeel-kun always got a train with a toilet if we were going far, or we walked to our jobs to avoid it. Well, Juvia won't be knocking Natsu out, that's evil."
Natsu groaned in what seemed to be thanks as he flopped onto the seat opposite Juvia. She giggled before she had an idea. She got up and sat next to him, lifting his head up. There was a gurgle in the back of his throat almost as if he were going to vomit. Gingerly, Juvia placed his head in her lap as she peacefully ran her hand through his hair. It took some time, but Natsu eventually calmed down. His face eased up as he fell asleep. Juvia couldn't help the speed that her heart was beating at because Natsu looked so damn adorable.
"You're good with him."
Juvia had had enough of Happy's comments. He was trying to convince her that they'd be good together. "Just go to sleep, Happy-chan."
Before they had gotten off the train, Natsu had given Juvia a hug that she couldn't help but melt into. Natsu gave amazing hugs, that's for sure.
"Thanks for that," was all he said before they got off the train to meet the others. Juvia was practically glowing as she felt as if she had finally done something right for once in her life.
The others stood on the platform waiting for them and Natsu looked down at Juvia's hand before reaching out. Juvia looked confused.
"What?"
"Gimme your bag. I can't let you carry that. I've got it."
Before she could even utter another word, Natsu quietly swiped her bag from her hands and carried it for her. Heat flushed throughout her body as Happy smirked at her, mouthing that they're perfect for each other and Juvia tried her best to ignore him. That didn't mean anything, he probably did that for Lucy all the time. Even if he didn't, it was just the mate bite making him do it.
"Oh, are you offering to carry our bags?! You've never done that before! Here."
Lucy held her bags out to Natsu and Erza pointed at her wagon full of crap. Natsu screwed up his face at the pair of them. "Hell no. You guys shoved me off to Juvia. Someone was treating her like a human mop, so this is my thank you to her for not complaining. Hold ya own shit and let's go."
Juvia covered her mouth so that she could hold back her laugh and the two other girls weren't happy.
"Stop swearing, it's disgusting. You don't want to kiss your future girlfriend with that mouth."
"Haven't heard her complain, so I doubt she minds," he mumbled to himself, not realising that Juvia could hear him. She turned her head away from the group as they left the station together. She felt her body flush with heat from what he had just said, but it definitely made her feel good.
"So Juvia, we'll be following you from here on out."
Juvia nodded at the redhead before she led them down the street to where their contact was. He owned an office and as Juvia went to open the door, she stilled, but so did Lucy. The two girls gave each other a look as Juvia released the door almost immediately and stepped back, almost as if she were afraid of something on the other side. The blonde's eyes widened as everyone else stared at them. Gray and Erza were close to Lucy's side as Natsu and Happy instantly took Juvia's.
"Are you guys okay, what the fuck kinda reaction was that from Juvia touching a door."
Lucy glared at Gray to get him to shut up, which he did sharply. "We both recognise that magic. It's from that hair guy that brainwashed Juvia. He's clearly been here and has brainwashed Juvia's contact. If anything, I would say that this whole job is a hoax."
Juvia shook her head. She had already known that she was going to meet him, but she didn't know it would be this quick. "No, Juvia thinks it was a real job that got hijacked. Juvia's contact is a private detective and when he has all the evidence he needs in order to get certain people thrown into jail, depending on how strong they are, he calls Juvia in. He doesn't need to call Gajeel-kun because we're a pair. Well, were. Still, Juvia has you guys, so it should be okay. It means that Vivaldus has been watching him."
Without another word, Juvia pushed the door open and stepped into the office. Natsu quickly followed her in and made it a point to remain by her side.
"Hell, hell, hell! What's up Juvia, it's been a while!"
Lucy flinched when she remembered how Juvia had the same speech pattern when she was under control. She glanced over at the water mage who didn't even flinch. Sometimes, the blonde couldn't help but marvel at the bluenette, because how was she able to remain calm in such a situation? It was almost as if she became the girl that she had left behind in Phantom.
"Samagui-san, it's always good to see you. This is Juvia's team for the job. Hotel information?"
"Always soooo professional! I love that about you!"
Natsu clenched his fists by his side. "Yeah, well less lovin', more workin'."
Samagui didn't even let Natsu's aggression phase him as he just gave Juvia all that she needed. He then froze before it looked like he had returned to normal.
"J-Juvia?! Thank Kami you're here!"
Juvia's eyes widened as she jumped forward, not wanting to waste any time to find out more information about what was going on. "Samagui-san?! What happened to you?!"
The man looked close to tears. "It was some flipping busker! I heard him playing some music in the town square and it sounded really good. Before I knew it, I was under his control! Kept telling me that the job I put out to you was a good way to drag you back to his side. Juvia-chan, did you work for such a man?!"
Juvia shook her head adamantly. "No way! Juvia was captured the same way as you, through his music! It only works on those who like rock music. How are you able to talk with Juvia now? This never happened when Juvia was placed under his control, we had to actually defeat him for his control to stop."
Samagui's eyes moved side to side as if he were worried that someone would be listening to what he was going to say. "Whenever he goes a little too far out, I come back to my senses. It seems as though he has a range. I believe you weakened him, because the information we have on him doesn't bring up anything about a range. Also, do not stay at that hotel. I know you and Gajeel have a place where you stay and it's a good thing that I don't know about it, otherwise all the assassins would be watching the place like a hawk. He has things set up for your capture. For some reason, he's obsessed with you."
Juvia closed her eyes and nodded. With the nightmares that she'd had as of late, she knew it was all boiling down to this one moment. Erza stepped forward and placed a hand on his table with a stern look on her face. "But the job, is it legitimate? I don't like hearing that one of my friends is being targeted by a mad man."
Juvia had seen the way Natsu's fists clenched by his side and she could've sworn she saw a flicker of fire. This wasn't the time for him to be mad. It might even make her job more difficult now that she had a caring dragon slayer mate to deal with. Still, it was nice that everyone showed their concern.
Samagui nodded, intimidated that he had the Titania in front of him looking like she wanted to eat him alive right now.
"Y-yes! They've been a thorn in everyone's side, trying to set up their guild here in our town! As they're assassins, they're a lot harder to catch than your everyday mages. I'm glad that Juvia has brought a whole team this time, I don't know if just her and Gajeel were going to cut it."
He stiffened again which made Lucy grab Erza back out of fear, even though the redhead was probably the most fearless in the room right now. Without even realising it, Natsu reached out for Juvia's hand and did the same thing. The man was pale once again with face tattoos. His grin was wide with black lipstick.
"Sorry, I musta zoned out there! Did I give ya the hotel address?
Juvia lifted the paper with a simple nod. Her heartbeat was racing, but she had to will herself to come across as fearless. She had been waiting for this job for a long time. "You did. We'll be on our way now."
She realised that Natsu still hadn't let her go yet and she glanced up at him at the same time he looked down at her. There was an annoyed expression in his eyes, but Juvia could tell it wasn't aimed at her. She pointedly looked down at their hands and he quickly snatched his back, the tips of his ears burning. Juvia would've laughed had the situation not been serious.
The team turned around and Natsu made sure that he was walking behind Juvia so that Samagui wouldn't get a good look at her. She was grateful for it when she learned what he was doing and she sighed slightly. She then turned to him as he blinked down at her.
"Can Natsu smell the owner of the magic from here? Or maybe anyone who seems suspicious?"
Natsu sniffed before shaking his head. "No, why?"
Juvia nodded her head as she still looked around the area, making sure that there were no prying eyes. She knew it would be inevitable to have at least one of the assassins watching from a building nearby, but that didn't bother her. She beckoned for everyone to stand in closer so that no one else could hear her. Natsu's arm brushed up against hers and she had to suck in a breath so that she wouldn't react.
"Okay, so this is the address to the hotel that Samagui has given us and the assassins of Death Head Caucus should be expecting us there as they'll most likely be parading as staff. We'll pretend to check in like normal, put our stuff somewhere and then carry out the first half of the mission. We can't go to the actual hotel that Gajeel-kun and Juvia stay in as they'll be watching us. Now, if Juvia is correct, they'll have the assassins on rotation, almost like a shift pattern. The assassins at the hotel will be the only ones we're worrying about today."
Juvia saw the way Erza, Gray and Natsu raised an eyebrow, as if to ask her how she knew that, but she didn't bother looking at them. Natsu was trying hid hardest to catch her attention, but she purposely ignored him. Lucy was the only one to smile and nod.
"Good plan. Lead the way."
~x~
Just like Juvia had predicted, there were a few assassins working at the hotel and they had managed to take them out without any problems before trying them up with magic ban and hiding them. To anyone on the outside, they would have looked like the bad guys. Juvia couldn't help but notice that Natsu was attacking a lot more aggressively than usual and he was listening to anything she said with a look of unadulterated concentration on his face. At some point when she was alone with Erza, the redhead pointed it out.
"You know, I don't know how you managed to do it, but you really got Natsu to respect every decision you make. Maybe there's something about you and dragon slayers."
Juvia tilted her head in confusion. "What does that mean?"
Erza turned to face her with a smile. "Well, Gajeel is your best friend. Wendy takes a lot of jobs with your team and while I thought it was because of Gajeel, I also see you go on a few jobs with Wendy and Carla. Then there's also Laxus who seems to tolerate you more than anyone else outside of his team. Rogue sees you as his older sister because you were in Phantom Lord together and Sting has a lot of respect for you as well. It's only fair that Natsu would end up joining the list."
Juvia blushed. She had never noticed that she had so many dragon slayers in her life that cared for her. It had never been her concern to care about anyone who wasn't Gray. It was ironic really. She had wanted friends all her life and when she finally got what she wanted, she cast them all aside for a guy. How pathetic.
"Juvia never noticed..."
The re-equip mage chuckled. "I guess that's because you had your eye on one person. Speaking of which, how's that been going lately? Do you have some sort of big plan up your sleeve?"
For the second time in two minutes, Juvia looked confused yet again. "Juvia isn't quite sure what Erza-san means."
"It means, do you have some sort of big confession planned for Gray? You haven't really looked in his direction ever since we started this job and I was wondering if it was a new tactic of yours. I'm not one for playing mind games, but I'll definitely help you if you have something going on."
Juvia sighed slightly and smiled, shaking her head as she did so. "There is no plan, there are no tricks. Juvia likes to take Samagui's jobs seriously, so Gray will just have to be on the back burner for a little while. Please don't think that Juvia is currently playing hard to get, because Juvia isn't playing."
She didn't want to outright say that she was done chasing Gray, because she didn't know how things were going to be when the mate bite wore off. She really hoped that she wouldn't give Gray the time of day again, but she wasn't sure. Just as she saw Erza open her mouth to ask her more questions, a voice came through their earphones, making them pause to listen.
"My section's clear, what about yours, Juvia?"
Her body tingled at the sound of Natsu's voice that held a slight tinge of concern. Her heart fluttered a little bit at the idea of Natsu being worried about her, so she decided to ease his worries.
"Juvia and Erza-chan are done here. Lucy-chan, Gray? What about you guys?"
Originally, the teams had been that Juvia would go with Gray, Natsu, Happy and Lucy would go together and then Erza would be by herself. Before Natsu and even Juvia could voice their annoyance, Gray voiced his. He did it politely, but still, the implication was there.
"Erza, I get what you're tryna do. Let's not do it on an important job, okay? You can play matchmaker later."
It had been awkward and Lucy had to stop Erza from wanting to beat up the ice mage by saying that she would go with him. Before Juvia could say that she would go with Natsu, Erza claimed dibbs on her, making Natsu give Juvia a hard look as if to say he was upset with the decision. Juvia responded with a helpless look of her own before she had to follow Erza to their wing of the hotel.
When they all met up, Lucy held up her phone. "I've already called the magical knights to come and collect them. There should be some people on their way with some carriages to escort them. We just need someone to guard the basement so that others don't come for them."
"I can do it. Gives me a chance to fight off anyone who comes by."
Natsu cracked his neck and Juvia couldn't help herself as she watched him do so. Just how did someone look so attractive doing something so mundane?
"Does Natsu need a partner? Because Juvia can stay and help."
Juvia had opened her mouth to speak before she could even retract those words. She definitely hadn't thought it through as everyone was now staring at her. She willed herself not to show her embarrassment on her face as she gave them a look of indifference.
"Is there an issue with something that Juvia has suggested?"
Happy was the only one trying his best not to laugh as he held his little paws over his mouth, watching how this whole scene would unfold. It was Lucy who got over her shock first as she shook her head.
"No, no! It's just so odd to see you volunteer to do partner work with someone who isn't Gray."
Juvia knew that, but she had an answer against that so that it wouldn't be deemed as suspicious. "But Juvia does partner work with Gajeel-kun all the time. It's not so odd to see Juvia work with someone else, is it?"
Lucy gave up. "No, you're right. Sorry."
Juvia felt a little bit guilty, but it got them off of her back. The others seemed okay with the idea and Natsu couldn't help himself as he smirked at her, enjoying her plan. Juvia glanced at him before looking away quickly. She felt her body grow hot and knew that if she wasn't careful, she would turn into a ball of steam.
"Here is the address to the place that Juvia and Gajeel-kun always stay in. It's not really hard to find and everyone knows where it is if you need to ask for directions."
Erza took the sheet of paper with a nod of the head as the other two mages followed her out. Happy was torn between wanting to stay so that he could watch what was going to happen between them and wanting to rest up in the new hotel. Eventually, he decided to go to the hotel because his stomach had started rumbling. Erza added their bags to her pile as she was okay with pulling it along on her wagon.
Soon, it was just Juvia and Natsu alone in the basement, keeping watch of the assassins that they had knocked out really well. Juvia busied herself with retying the knots that she had seen weren't tied by her. She could feel Natsu's eyes watching her every move and she wasn't exactly sure if he was watching her because he was curious about where she had learned to tie knots like this or if he was worried one of them might wake up and attack her.
"Where didya learn to tie knots like that?"
She smiled as she realised it was the former thought. "Back when Juvia was in Phantom Lord, we learned a lot of things. The reason why Juvia knows how assassins operate is..."
She trailed off, wondering if she should really delve into her life story like that with Natsu. He was so pure and such a good person that she didn't want him to think ill of her. Juvia's life was far from rainbows and sunshine and while Natsu had been left alone for a few days after Igneel had left him, he still didn't turn to evil like she had done. He was loved by someone even if it had been a dragon. They were from two different worlds and Juvia didn't want to let him know about it.
"Juvia? Are you okay? I mean, you don't have to tell me if you really don't wanna, but just know that I ain't here to judge ya. You're my nakama and I realise that a lot of us have come from all different walks of life, but at least you're here with us today, right? Besides, I know it's only gonna be for the next 5 days, but you're my mate."
That sold it for her. Her desire towards being called his mate, despite it being temporary, was a lot stronger than she thought it was. She rolled her eyes at herself for giving in, but she looked up at him to start explaining herself.
"Okay. Like Juvia was saying before, the reason why she knows how assassins operate is because Juvia used to be one herself."
She felt Natsu bristle behind her and didn't dare turn around to look at him. She could already imagine the surprise on his face, but she had to keep plundering through it. She really hoped that Natsu wouldn't change his mind about judging her by the time she was done.
"The Element Four that Jose put together was an assassination squad. We were his personal executors. Aria was the strongest of the group and he was our leader, but Juvia was the one who was really used the most for assassinations. Juvia had already been in bad places before joining the guild, doing anything she could just to get by. Because of Juvia's water magic, it's so easy to slip into places and essentially drown people just by filling up their lungs with water. Juvia never really needed to fight, although Jose made Juvia train everyday just to never become too cocky. All the best hiding spots, the best places to kill from, the strongest knots to make sure that someone couldn't dislocate their arms just to undo the knots, Juvia was taught all of it.
"Juvia didn't enjoy it, but Juvia had to do it to survive. The amount of people that Juvia had to kill...Juvia's not proud of it. If she could, Juvia would go back and never let Jose manipulate her the way that he did."
She had tried so hard to forget about the past, which is why reopening that can of worms was so painful for her. She didn't want to be reminded of just how much of a bad person she once was and that's not something she could remove from her life. Why should she ever be happy when she has caused so many families pain and grief? Killed off their loved ones, slaughtered whole families all for the sake of money? She removed her moral compass all to make sure that she still had her favour with a guild master who never truly saw her as one of his children like Makarov saw all of Fairy Tail as his family.
That's why this job was important to her. Vidaldus' brainwashing almost made her become the person that she didn't want to be. The persona that she had become was like a permanent voice in the back of her head that she tried her best to ignore, yet it taunted her, made her feel less than and tried to bring her down the path that she had been able to get off of. She knew that the Succubus version of her was the reason why Vidaldus was looking for her.
Juvia didn't realise that there were tears rolling down her face until Natsu hauled her up to her feet and used his thumbs to wipe them away. Each stroke of his thumb left a burning sensation on her cheek, but she welcomed the touch. She peered up into his onyx eyes as he stared at her, not giving anything away before her engulfed her in his arms. Her eyes widened slightly before she choked on a sob and wrapped her arms around him. He let her cry into his chest and Juvia was grateful for that. She felt like she had never truly mourned all those who she had killed, mostly because she doubted that she was even allowed to. But Natsu was here, hugging her and whispering that everything was okay now and that she was a member of Fairy Tail. No one could hurt her or use her again. She trusted his words. The only issue was, she still hadn't told him everything and she wasn't really planning to.
They heard the door open and they sprung apart quickly, getting into stance. They sighed in relief when they saw it was the magic council.
"Wow, you guys certainly caught a good chunk of them today! Nice work. You even managed to do it without burning down the hotel!"
Natsu growled and Juvia giggled, making the fire mage calm down. They started carrying out all the unconscious assassins and piling them into the magic vehicle and when Natsu wasn't looking, Juvia received a signal from the captain and she shook her head, her gaze on Natsu. He understood what that meant and nodded his head as they finished collecting the criminals.
When they were sure that they got all the assassins that they captured out of the hotel, Natsu and Juvia were left alone. Juvia hoped that the others had found the hotel that she was talking about, because it was the one place Juvia could truly relax in.
"Juvia thinks we should go and eat something before we go and find the others."
Natsu seemed excited at the thought of food and nodded his head. "Yeah, that's a good idea."
As they both walked down the street together, Juvia didn't realise that Natsu was staring at her hand, wondering if he should hold it or not. He never did anything, but he did clear his throat to gain her attention. She turned back to look at him.
"Is Natsu okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just have something to say as we were interrupted back in the basement, y'know? Happy told me about what this job means to you. I know you didn't want him to, but he told me and he said I shouldn't make a big deal out of it."
Juvia's heart thumped in her chest. Natsu knew she was afraid. She averted her eyes. She didn't want to come off as weak, yet Natsu now knew exactly how terrified she was.
"Hey, look at me, he won't get you again. I won't let him. You've got nothing to fear! He can't control you again, not when you already broke free from his control. I bet he's already a lot weaker than before. I mean, he's got a range now! That means he hasn't gained his full strength ever since you and Lucy kicked his ass!"
Juvia nodded, perking up a little bit but not entirely. "Juvia has already been used before and then she was made to try and kill the people who showed her mercy just because he brainwashed her. Juvia wants to see him rotting behind bars once and for all so that he can never do it again. Both to Juvia and to other people. Look at Samagui! He's under his control until we put Vidaldus away."
Natsu stopped to hold Juvia by the shoulders. "And we will, don't worry about that, okay? We're all stronger than we were eight years ago. You've got blood make magic now!"
Juvia sighed. That was the exact reason why she couldn't be brainwashed again. She has gotten stronger now. "Which is what makes Juvia nervous. But Natsu is right. Let's go and eat."
Before she could take a step, Natsu stopped her. "Just know that if you're ever in trouble, like ever out of your depth and you feel like you can't get out of a shitty situation and you need to get through to me, just rub on the mate bite. I'll feel it."
Juvia laughed a little. "Doesn't that just make Natsu horny?"
He immediately dropped his hands from her shoulders as he went bright red. "N-not all the time! Whenever you touch it when you're neutral or feeling horny, then I feel horny! If you touch it while you're in danger then I'll know."
Juvia nodded her head, enjoying how good Natsu looked with a blush. He looked cute and innocent, just like when he had been sleeping with his head on her lap on the train journey. She then smirked when she thought of something.
"So Natsu means that if Juvia touches it like this-"
She rubbed her thumb over the mate bite and Natsu growled a little as his knees buckled. Juvia watched as he panted and she couldn't help herself as she burst out laughing. Natsu looked up to shoot her a heated scowl and Juvia put some distance between them.
"Juvia couldn't help it, that is so funny!"
"No it's not!"
"Humour is subjective, but to Juvia, this is pure comedy."
She heard him sigh as she reached her hand out for him to clasp. She shot him an irreproachable smile and he couldn't help himself as he accepted her hand as she pulled him up. As he stood up straight, he ran his thumb over her mate bite. Because she wasn't expecting it, she moaned out loud before she clamped her hand over her mouth, eyes darting around the place, hoping that no one heard her. She rested her eyes on Natsu who was cackling.
"You're right, it's fucking hilarious!"
So, how was that chapter? I hope you guys enjoyed it. I've always liked the idea of Phantom being a borderline dark guild, you know? So I decided to play on that idea. I know they're not a bad guild, but they are for the purpose of this story.
Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! Once again, much love to all of you, thank you for all your continued support!
Lolita-chan