The kiss was quite sweet but both Gray and Juvia were foreign to romantic and sexual encounters so as much as they enjoyed the kiss, they couldn't help but feel shy and self conscious at the moment. They broke away from each other, blushing a little and not sure what to do next.

"I...I...I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't-"

"No I'm sorry. I think I initiated it."

"No I think I did."

"Oh...I...I...I."

"Is everything alright in here?" Meredy said entering the room.

"Yes! Everything's fine!" Gray said moving away from Juvia. "She was just helping me with my wounds, using her gifts for growing natural remedies. Thank you very much for that Juvia."

"You're...You're welcome...And...And thank you for saving me earlier."

Without another word to each other, Juvia stood up and returned to her room with her face looking very flushed and confused. Meredy watched her leave suspiciously and her suspicion grew when she looked back to see that Gray's face was also flushed and confused.

"My lord, forgive me if I am prying but may I ask if something happened while I was gone?"

"Yes. I already told you what happened. Juvia treated my wounds."

"That's not I meant sire. Your wounds were on your back, she treated them meaning she would have to touch them. Did that lead to anything?"

"No."

"I pray you'll pardon me for meddling in your affairs but recently Lyon and I have noticed a change in you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well ever since we met you, you've always been good to us but always distant, cold, and not very prone to feeling."

"I'm the God of Death, what did you two expect?"

"Oh no you misunderstand. We have no problem with your behavior and we enjoy serving you but we've noticed that recently you've changed a little. You seem less cold and distant as before and you've been allowing yourself to show feeling. We think it's marvelous of course and we have reason to believe that-"

"Meredy I am exhausted." He said. "I need sleep. Please save whatever nonsense this is for a time when I'm more rested."

"Yes sire."

He the retired to his chambers, just as he was leaving the room Lyon approached Meredy.

"You might as well give up now." He told her. "You'll never get him to open up or acknowledge what's happening here."

"Maybe not as quickly as I would like but I won't wave the white flag just yet. I help weave the tapestry of fate remember? So that means I can get a few glimpses in the future."

"Really? In that case would you mind telling me if you know if I'll ever get married?"

"Lyon when those three women hired me I had to take an oath that I'd never reveal the future to anyone. That includes you."

"Can you at least tell me if I have a chance with Juvia?"

"What?!"

"Hey if he's not going for it-"

"Lyon I've never seen your future but I can surely say, that desire will never come to pass." She rolled her eyes and then left.

The next morning in the world above, the goddesses Erza, Mirajane, and Cana were preparing to bath in a hot spring somewhere below the mountains and close to the sea. The threee of them were covered in dirt, bent up, and in desperate need for soothing treatment and pampering. You see, for the last two weeks they had been helping Levy search the entire earth for her missing sister but to no avail. They were determined to help but the endless searching was damaging their image and the feeling in their backs and feet. Levy decided to tell her friends to stop searching and to let her handle on her own. Naturally they protested but Levy had a gift for being very persuasive. She couldn't convince them to stop helping her but she managed to get them to concede to a break.

"Poor Levy." Mirajane sighed as the three women sat together in the warm water. "I've never seen her so miserable."

"I know. She's searched pretty much every inch of the whole planet and for some reason she can't find Juvia." Cana said. "She doesn't deserve this misery."

"It's all our fault." Erza said regretfully. "Not you Mirajane, me and Cana. We should've been watching Juvia that day. We all knew how sheltered she was but we got into an argument and we failed to notice her wandering off."

"You're right about that." Cana sighed with guilt. "I'm surprised that Levy hasn't blamed us for this."

"Now you two shouldn't beat yourselves up over this." Mirajane said comfortingly. "Juvia is not a child, she is a grown woman. You two couldn't be expected to babysit her that day and she chose to wander off. Maybe even chose to leave. Who knows, maybe she wasn't even abducted."

"But why would she leave?" Cana asked.

"Maybe she just wanted try going out and living on her own."

"Without telling Levy?" Erza inquired. "I mean I'm not saying I'm against the idea of her choosing to live on her own but if she did that then why wouldn't she tell Levy? She must've known that leaving without a word would upset and worry her greatly."

"You have a point there. It is a bit odd that she would leave willingly but not inform anyone."

"What's even more odd is that she doesn't seem to be anywhere on earth. Could she be somewhere in the heavens?"

"Possibly but neither Natsu or Mavis have mentioned seeing her up there."

"Just where the Tartarus is she?" Cana said.

"Sonya only knows." Erza stepped out of the spring and put on a robe. "I'm going to comb my hair. I'll be back."

"Okay." Cana said watching her leave. "If there's any consolation to any of this, at least everyone is trying to help Levy."

"Well almost everyone." Mirajane said.

"Oh yeah, Laxus. Well he never helps anybody and he's always been a jerk."

"True but I was referring to Evergreen."

"Evergreen?"

"For someone reason she doesn't appear all that concerned or sympathetic to Levy's situation."

"Well she's not exactly the most empathetic and selfless goddess."

"Yes of course but something tells me this isn't just her being careless and it might be my imagination but whenever she hears someone bring up what happened to Juvia, she looks very smug. As if she bested someone or won some sort of competition."

"What exactly are you getting at?"

"Do you remember how a lot mortals, gods, and other beings reacted to seeing Juvia for the first time?"

"Yeah. They thought she was sweet, nice, beautiful-"

"Yes. They thought she was very beautiful. So beautiful that people from distant lands would travel such a great length just to witness her beauty. The mortals started worshipping her in no time at all, some even said she that was more beautiful than Evergreen and I don't think I need to tell you how dangerous Evergreen's vanity and jealousy can be."

"So you think she might have had something to do with Juvia's disappearance?"

"Truthfully I wouldn't put it past her."

"Oh come on, she's crazy about her looks but not that crazy."

"Cana she once started a war all because she wanted to know who the fairest goddess is. Albeit it was indirectly but she has a nasty habit of acting before considering the consequences."

"Good point. Should we talk to her?"

"No good. She wouldn't tell us anything. She never liked me."

"But she does like your brother right?" Cana said with a suggestive eye brow raise. "I mean they are rather close and people have tended to let secrets slip out in moments of unbridled passion."

"Oh gods, I don't like where you're going with this."

"Hey you may not like it but this maybe our only chance of finding out what happened to Juvia. We just summon up your brother, ask him to pay Evergreen a visit, and try to coax some information out of her."

"Ugh." Mirajane shivered at the thought. "Alright, I'll summon him but only for Levy and Juvia's sake."