FANTASY
Fantasy mirrors desire.
Imagination reshapes it.
-Mason Cooley-
The loud sound of a waterfall awakened Gray from his slumber and when he opened his eyes, he was confused to find himself in a dark forest with glowing trees giving the place a mythical vibe. He's not sure how he ended up there. He was pretty sure he fell asleep in the camp his team set up for the night as they were on a mission.
If his memory was right, they were supposed to be at the foot of a mountain and not in a forest. Did he sleepwalk and found this place unconsciously?
Weirdly, the place looked magical, but he can't feel any magical energy.
Am I in a dream? The ice mage mused. That's the only explanation he could think of. Well, this does look like a dream, he thought as he walked around following the sound of the waterfall. He's not sure why he's following it but that's what he instinctively did.
When he reached the end of the glowing tree line, he indeed found a small waterfall with a glowing pool of what looked like magical water. Gray continued to walk towards it, and he tried to step into the water. The water rippled under his feet, but he didn't sink. Great, now I can walk on water.
He kept walking until he reached the middle of the pool where a silhouette of a person appeared. Gray frowned and tried to guess who it was. From the look of it, it was a woman with long hair wearing a flowy dress that blends and glides with the water.
His eyes widened when he realized who was it. "Juvia!"
The shadow surrounding the figure lifted and the blue-haired woman looked up at him with a smile. "Gray-sama! You found Juvia!" She stood up and threw herself in Gray's arms.
"What are you doing here?" he asked as his arms automatically caught her and held her close against him.
Juvia cheekily smiled at him. "Why is Gray-sama asking Juvia? This is your dream, you're the only one who knew why Juvia is here," she said. "They say you usually dream about things or people that you were thinking about before going to bed," she added with a playful smile on her lips. "Say, Gray-sama. Were you thinking of Juvia?"
His face flushed and he deliberately looked away from her as she started to poke his cheek. This is my dream, then why am I letting myself get teased here? "So, what if I was thinking of you? Am I not allowed to?"
Her hearty giggles filled the air, and though Gray knew it was just a dream, he could not help but feel warm inside because of it. "Of course, Gray-sama can think of Juvia all he wants. It's just fair because Juvia also thinks of Gray-sama all the time."
If he had heard those words before he got together with Juvia, Gray would probably run away already to escape Juvia's over-the-top affection. But there's no way he'll do that now. Dream or not, he won't ever make Juvia feel like he doesn't want her. Jeez, she's already in his dream and that's proof enough that she'd been occupying his thoughts more than enough.
"But Gray-sama, Juvia's wondering," her voice cut this train of thoughts. "Have you always fantasized about Juvia being a water goddess?"
"What?"
Juvia looked down on her clothes and then back at Gray again. "Well, Juvia is supposed to be a water goddess right now. That means that's how you perceived me, right? In Juvia's fantasies, Gray-sama is always the handsome prince charming. Juvia never knew that you actually see me as a goddess. And I must say I look rather beautiful in your eyes. I saw my reflection in the water."
Every word that came out from Juvia's mouth was like hot water boiling Gray's whole being. His face was completely red from embarrassment because admittedly, the Juvia in front of him was exactly how he sees her sometimes, especially when she's using her magic.
Damn, she's a badass water mage and he could not help but think that she's actually a water goddess. A beautiful one at that.
But why?
Why was he being grilled in his own dream?
Outside the dream world, somewhere at the foot of the mountain, all members of team Natsu were all awake except for one ice mage.
Erza, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Wendy, and Carla were all looking down at Gray.
"Is Gray-san okay?" Wendy asked worriedly. "His face is all read. What sort of things could he be dreaming about? Should we wake him up?"
"Nuh!" Natsu snorted. "That pervert must be just having some lewd dreams. I'm sure he's fine. You heard him, he just called Juvia."
"He did?" Lucy asked. She didn't have Wendy and Natsu's hearing so she didn't really understand what Gray was mumbling about in his sleep. Wendy who also heard it just smiled awkwardly.
"Just let him be," Erza interjected. "It's still early so he can continue sleeping for another hour before we head out."
"But –"
"Let him be, Natsu," Happy chirped in. "In a way, it's your fault he's only with Juvia in his dream."
"How was it my fault!?"
"He said it already before we started the mission, he wanted to take a job with Juvia, but you forced him to come with us," Lucy explained.
"Because we need him for our job and he's in our team!" the fire mage retorted.
"But it's different now, Natsu," Happy said again. "He's with Juvia now and he liiiiikes her so it's only natural that he wanted to be with her more."
Natsu just made a face but said nothing anymore. It's not that he didn't understand, it's just that he's not yet used to the idea. But it seemed like he must get used to it really fast because he is horrified with what his idiot frenemy was muttering in his sleep.
"Goddess," he heard him say and a vein almost popped in his head. What was this idiot dreaming about!?
Just a short fluff for day 2! I hope you liked it!
