Thank you for the reviews Alfys-World and the guest reviewer! I appreciate it so much! This is my first fanfiction and I was a little nervous about posting it. I'm glad you like it! Also thanks to those who have favorited/saved my story! Here is another chapter for you guys!
Juvia woke up disoriented, not sure where she was. She looked around herself, trying to figure out where she was.
She was snuggled in a comfortable bunk bed, swathed in fluffy sea green sheets. There were six bunk beds lining the walls of the room, with a rug in the middle of the floor. On the windows were sheer white curtains with a collection of various corals and aquatic flora in glass jars on the windowsills. There was a room off to the right side with an open door showing a bathroom, and a fountain was in the center of the back wall, made out of sea rock and bubbling cheerfully.
Slowly, the events of the past day came back to her. Had it really just been a day? she thought to herself. So much has happened to me. It feels like a dream.
Juvia glanced up when she heard a knock on her door. She got out of her bed to open it, shuddering when she felt the chill of the winter air cut through the thin pajamas Lucy had lent her.
"I'm so sorry! I forget it's a lot colder to everybody else than it is to me," Gray, who was on the other side of the door, said.
Juvia laughed. "It's alright, Gray. Was there something you needed?"
He blushed, then turned his head away. "I was just wondering if you were ready to get some breakfast. The girls were looking for you."
Juvia gasped. "I didn't mean to make anybody wait! I will be out in five minutes." She shut the door and scrambled to find the camp T-shirt Lucy had given her and the jeans she had been wearing the day before. She threw them on and rushed out the door.
"Whoa there," Gray said, catching her as she slid on a patch of ice just outside her door. "Careful, Juves."
She blushed as she looked up into his dark eyes. He was holding her just above the ground in both of his arms. She couldn't help but feel the romance of the situation.
The distinct sound of someone clearing their throat brought them both to attention. Standing at the foot of the cabin stairs was Erza, looking highly amused.
"So this is what's been keeping you, Gray. We were wondering when you were coming down to breakfast."
Gray blushed and pulled Juvia up, letting go of her. She immediately felt cold in the absence of his warmth.
Together they followed Erza to the main pavilion, where a few campers were sitting and eating. One such group consisted of Gajeel, Levy, Jellal, Lucy, and Natsu. The three teenagers joined them.
"-beat that ice princess's ass today!" Natsu was saying.
Gray, having heard that, snarled. "What was that, you Pyro Bastard?"
"I said, I'm going to beat your ass, Popsicle Pervert!" Natsu had risen out of his seat to taunt Gray further.
"Over my dead body, Fire Freak!" Gray subconsciously took his shirt off and threw it.
"Stripping Pervert!
"Flame Bastard!"
"Boys…" Erza Scarlet had stood up from her breakfast, a menacing aura surrounding her. Juvia turned pale. She was extremely scared of the girl and she wasn't even the one in trouble. "Are you fighting again?"
Both of the boys hugged each other and laughed nervously.
"We would never, Erza!" Gray said.
"Aye! We are best friends!" Natsu added.
"Good." Erza sat down and resumed her breakfast.
The boys both sat back down, glaring at each other. Erza would occasionally glance at them, and everytime she did, the two would act like they were the best of friends.
Juvia was highly amused. Meanwhile, Lucy and Levy were having a discussion about what they wanted to do that day while Gajeel and Jellal laughed at Natsu's and Gray's poor misfortune at being caught by Erza.
"I want to check out this new book Makarov was telling me about," Levy said.
Lucy laughed at her. "You will have to let me know if it is any good, Lev. I wanted to watch Natsu and Gray while they sword fight today."
"Sword fight?" Juvia asked, slightly alarmed. "Won't they kill each other?"
Lucy chuckled. "As much as they would want to some days, no. They are always careful to keep it to mostly light maiming. And there's always nectar and ambrosia. They will be fine. Hey, Juvia, you should come with me! Maybe we can get you a weapon and practice a little, too!"
Juvia agreed a little hesitantly. She wasn't so sure about the sword fighting. It sounded a little dangerous, and she didn't want to hurt her new friends. But Lucy looked so excited about it that she couldn't help but to say yes.
After they finished their breakfast, Lucy dragged Juvia along behind her to the arena. "There's a cache of weapons in the arena that we can look through for you. Otherwise, I can convince Natsu to make you one!"
"You can convince Natsu of anything?" Juvia was very surprised. He seemed like the kind of guy that would never be convinced of anything.
Lucy laughed darkly. "If he knows what's good for him."
Juvia decided not to ask.
Lucy pulled her to a closet in the arena, where she started pulling out different weapons for Juvia to try. First Juvia tried a spear. It felt wrong in her hands. She shook her head no to Lucy. The blonde blew her bangs out of her face and dove back into the closet. Next she pulled out a double-headed axe. She sized Juvia up, then shook her own head.
"How do you feel about archery?" she asked the blue haired girl.
"Not sure. I wouldn't mind trying it, though."
"Hmm. We will work on that later then."
Next, she pulled out a curved blade. "This is for mounted combat, so I don't think it will be a good fit."
Juvia agreed.
"Ooh!" Lucy pulled out a double bladed leaf-shaped blade of bronze. It had a hilt studded with sapphires and Ancient Alvarez writing on it: Roufíchtra. She somehow understood what it meant: Whirlpool.
"Hold this one," Lucy demanded.
Juvia took the blade. Lucy walked around her. "How does it feel?" she asked. "Too heavy? Too long? Too light? Too short?"
"No," Juvia said. "It feels… good. I think."
"It is a sword perfect for a daughter of Poseidon," Gray said.
Juvia whirled, not remembering that she was still holding a deadly weapon.
"Whoa!" Gray yelled, dodging around the blade.
Juvia dropped it, her hands flying to her mouth as the sword clattered on the ground. "I am so so sorry," she cried, fully expecting Gray to hate her now, and probably Lucy too.
Lucy just laughed. "Damn, Gray. She almost got the drop on you. I'd watch out for this one." She winked at Juvia. "She's wild."
"Gray, I am seriously so sorry! I would never-"
"Juvia, it's okay," Gray told her, grabbing her sword off the ground for her. "I should be the one apologizing. I did sneak up on you after all." He handed her Whirlpool with a smile.
"Okay," she managed to get out.
"Hey, Lucy, your boyfriend wanted me to let you know we're going to start training now. He knows you like to watch him." He smirked at her.
"Natsu is not my boyfriend!" she shouted at him.
He just laughed and walked away.
Lucy sighed. "If only that flame-brained idiot would look at me like a girl. Then maybe. Come on Juvia, let's go watch."
Juvia smiled at Lucy sympathetically. She knew how it feels to be ignored. The two girls walked into the arena proper, where Gray and Natsu were already exchanging blows.
Juvia gasped when she saw Gray in action. He was wonderful- he dodged and parried and slashed with ease and precision. His muscles rippled with every movement. Of course his shirt was off already, she thought with a wry smile.
Lucy nudged her. "You like what you see, huh?"
Juvia instantly colored a bright pink. "Um, what?"
Lucy gave her a look. "Oh come on, Juvia. It's just us two. Those two idiots are too caught up in their brawl to pay us any attention."
Juvia looked back at the two boys. Sure enough, they were intensely focused on their fight, neither one gaining the upper hand, yet. She sighed. "Okay, yes. I do."
"See, that wasn't so hard," Lucy said, smiling gently.
"I think Natsu was right, yesterday," Juvia grumbled. "I think you are a child of the love goddess."
Lucy giggled. "Nah. I just want to see my friend happy. You didn't see him before he met you. You haven't seen the change in him. But trust me, Juvia. With you around, even though it's only been a couple days, he has smiled a real smile more than I've ever seen him. He's like a brother to me. And I want my brother to be happy."
Juvia didn't know how to answer that. She had the feeling the life of a demigod is unbearably hard. She had the sense that Gray's past was complicated, though he had never spoken of it. But she did know that he made her smile more than she ever had in her whole life. Who's to say the same cannot be said for him?
"Well," she said finally, "if it makes you feel any better, I thought you and Natsu were already a couple. He obviously cares for you."
It was Lucy's turn to blush now. "Thanks, Juvia." She turned back to the boys, who were still fighting.
Gray seemed to have the upper hand, Juvia noticed. Natsu seemed more tired, a little bit slower, a little bit sweatier. Gray pressed his advantage, whirling and slashing at his opponent. Natsu grunted, trying to hold him back. He must have sensed his disadvantage, too, because at that point he burst into flames. Gray just smiled grimly, though, and Juvia was amazed to feel the room cool off by at least 30 degrees. Gray produced a thick fall of ice and snow that doused Natsu and extinguished his flames. There was simply too much of the thick white stuff for Natsu to burn away.
"Gray!" Lucy shouted. "I hate it when you do this!" She hugged herself tightly to keep warm.
Gray laughed, then, and pressed Natsu harder. Natsu, unfortunately, slipped on a slippery patch and fell to the ground. Gray took the opportunity to touch his swordpoint to Natsu's neck. The salmon-haired boy growled.
"I win," Gray said triumphantly.
He backed off of Natsu and walked back over to where his shirt and coat were. He grabbed them and came over to where the two girls were standing.
"So… what did you think?" he asked Juvia with a smug grin.
She grinned back at him. "You were both excellent! I wish it wasn't quite so cold, though. These T-shirts aren't very warm."
He glanced at her torso, where all she had on was her Camp Fairy Tail T-shirt from Lucy. "Don't you have a winter coat?"
"I left my school to come help you, remember? I didn't have time to go get it out of my locker and then we came here."
He frowned and handed her his white coat. "Here, put this on. I will probably end up taking it off anyway."
She blushed, but put on the jacket. It was very warm, and it smelled nice- like pine. "Thanks, Gray."
"Don't mention it. So, do you wanna try swordfighting? I can help you, if you want?"
Juvia blushed again, but nodded shyly. She grabbed her new sword and went with Gray to stand in the middle of the sword arena, where she awaited his instructions.
