Juvia is used to people not calling her by name.
In Phantom Lord, everyone called her "the rain woman" or "the blue woman". Even Gajeel, before they developed a friendship.
That changes when she joins Fairy Tail. Most members do call her by her name, except for three people.
Cana likes to call her "Juves".
Mirajane often calls her sweetie, but Mira calls everyone sweetie.
And Lucy calls her "Juvi".
...Sometimes, though, she calls her "darling".
The first time was in the Tower of Heaven, as laying on the wet floor after their battle with Vidaldus. Juvia had groaned after trying to move her sore and spent body.
"Are you okay, darling?" the water mage went still, taken aback by the term of endearment. Lucy didn't take it back, so she just assumed that was something common for female friendships.
"Juvia's fine, just tired," she had managed to turn on her side and face Lucy, who gave her a side glance before looking at the ceiling again.
"Yeah, maybe we should rest for a while." Her eyes closed and Juvia wondered if Lucy's eyelashes were really that long.
The second time it happens is in the middle of a mission.
Team Natsu had taken a job to defeat a minor dark guild and Juvia had secretly gone along. Truth be told, the stalking was mostly out of habit than actual romantic interest; her infatuation with Gray had naturally passed as soon as Juvia started bonding with her guildmates and realizing the only reason she'd been interested in him on the first place was because she had been unused to kindness.
Juvia decided this would be the last time she follows them like this. If she wanted to join them on a mission, next time it was best to just ask.
However, she was a little glad that she'd been there since the team got separated and Juvia ended up with Lucy. The water mage knew there was no point in hiding anymore, so she joined the celestial mage.
"Juvi? What are you doing here?"
"Ehm, Juvia was just around." she lied, badly. Although, judging by the blonde's expression, she surely knew what she'd been doing. Ashamed, Juvia fixed her eyes somewhere past Lucy's shoulder and frowned when she noticed a dark figure near the trees.
The figure raised his hand and Juvia jumped into action. "Get down!" she tackled the other girl as a dark mage shoot a beam of magic. She responded by attacking with her water slicer and then trapping him with a water lock until he was unconscious.
"Woah, I hadn't even sensed he was here. Thanks, darling!" Lucy's voice sounded a little too close, that's when her brain registered the position they were in. Juvia straddled the blonde's hips, protectively leaning over her, and maybe she was imagining it, but she could have sworn there was a flush on the celestial mage's face.
"It-It was nothing," she immediately got up and offered her a hand. "Now let's look for the others.
As they walked, Juvia tried not to think about the softness of Lucy's hand in hers.
The third and fourth time happened on the same day. The day of the battle of Fairy Tail.
Juvia was backstage, getting ready for her turn on the runway. She had signed up for the beauty contest for the prize money, but she knew not to get her hopes up. There were many girls more beautiful than her in the guild.
She was just finishing putting on mascara when Lucy came in, smiling sheepishly at her through the large mirror.
"Hey, Juvi. I didn't know you'll participate too."
"Yeah, Juvia thought it would be fun even if she has no opportunity to win," the water mage couldn't stop staring at the reflection of the blonde's revealing outfit with a mix of envy and another emotion she couldn't quite pinpoint.
"Don't say that, darling. You look gorgeous in that dress, definitely some tough competition." Juvia didn't know how to respond and if she had tried to open her mouth, the only thing to have come out would have been unintelligible mumbles.
Luckily for her, the host called her name.
Much later, after being turned to stone and then back to normal; after crashing her body against a lacrima and bursting into tears when Cana said she was already seen as a beloved member of their guild, Juvia is sitting in the infirmary. She's wrapped in bandages, feeling useless as she awaits for Laxus's defeat, when Loke comes in carrying Lucy in his arms.
"What happened?" Juvia asks, searching for something to help treat the blonde's bruises.
"We fought Bickslow," the lion explains. He lays Lucy on one of the beds and bows lightly. "I'm returning to the spirit world now, but if you need me again you know what to do." Lucy smiles at him and Juvia hates the familiar sensation that settles into her gut. Jealousy.
Juvia blinks in confusion. Why is she feeling jealous? She doesn't know that much about Loke, it makes no sense for her to have a crush on him.
There's not enough time to dwell on it because suddenly the voices of Warren and Gray are sounding in their heads, telling every Fairy Tail member to help destroy the lacrimas.
And Lucy, stubborn as she is, rushes to the guild's terrace.
"Lucy, don't! You're tired and hurt. The comeback will do too much damage."
"What if there are not enough people? If I can stand, I can still fight!" Juvia stays quiet for a moment, thinking.
"Fine," she grabs her hand, "but let Juvia lend you power." The smile Lucy gives her is so warm Juvia can't stop staring at it until the blond pulls her closer and points their joined hands at the sky.
"Ready, darling?" The water mage only manages to hum in approval.
Water starts circling around them as Warren counts down in their head.
"Unison raid!" Their power combines perfectly into a current that shoots up to the sky.
The lacrima is destroyed. Glittering dust starts raining down on them and Juvia's mouth goes dry. Lucy's hair looks like strands of paper gold and her eyes are pools of liquid copper.
Suddenly, she's hit by two thinks:
A bolt of electricity that seems to have split the power of its comeback between the two of them, and the realization that she has a crush on Lucy Heartfilia.
Juvia knows she isn't being discreet about it. Though, to be fair, she's never being discreet with anything related to love.
When they're talking in the guildhall, the water mage is always smiling and acting overly enthusiastic at all that comes from the celestial mage's mouth. Then, whenever Lucy is sitting with her team, Mira and Cana start teasing her about the lovesick looks she's constantly giving from afar.
Juvia doesn't know what to do. She's never known what do, she's only really had one boyfriend and it was he who took the first step.
But Lucy probably doesn't even see Juvia as something more. She is affectionate with all the girls; calling them "Honey" and "Babe", so one pet-name doesn't really mean anything.
"Juvi, darling," while she's deep in thought, the blonde comes over with a quest paper in hand. "Do you want to team up for a job?" Juvia takes a moment to recover her speech. The combination of Lucy's nickname for her and the term of endearment had rendered her incapable of focusing beyond the blonde's beautiful face.
A slightly tipsy Cana chuckles and speaks from her seat at the bar, "Darling? And I thought Juves was the only unsubtle one." Juvia's face burns as she looks at the object of her affections to analyze her reaction.
To her surprise, Lucy is equally flustered, and she stammers, "W-What do you mean? I-I always use p-pet names with you girls."
Cana's grin is mischievous, "You've never called anyone darling." Juvia's eyes widen as she realizes it's true. She's only ever heard Lucy say it to her.
"W-Well...I..." The blonde is at a loss for words. She turns to Juvia and says, in a voice that's an octave higher than usual, "I'll be waiting at the station if you want to come, the train leaves in two hours," then she's running away through the guild doors.
"You're welcome," Cana takes a swig from her beer, but Juvia is already rushing out too.
She has outfits to pick.