Here's the start of the original content for the story! While Team Natsu is sent to take out the Oración Seis, Juvia and Gajeel are sent on another mission. Zale will join them on that mission and I'll ensure that the relationship between him and Juvia will continue to grow. In other news, my Game of the Year 2014 is none other than Super Smash Bros. for Wii U with Dark Souls II as the runner-up! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy! And Happy New Year!

Early in the morning as the sun was rising, Zale was lying in his bed, finally recovered from the injuries he sustained from his battle with Laxus. He was about to sit up until he realized that something was on his chest. Looking down at it, he noticed that it was an arm and he traced it to see Juvia sleeping in bed next to him with a white nightgown. The sight of her made Zale blush furiously.

"J-Juvia?!" Zale exclaimed. "What are you doing in my bed?!"

Juvia woke up, sat up, rubbed her eyes and was about to speak.

COOKOO! COOKOO! COOKOO!

Zale's clock was going off and snapped him out of the dream he was having.

"… Damn alarm clock…" Zale muttered under his breath.

Zale's house was small and nothing special, but he preferred it like that. His place was fairly cheap, so he could have more money for food. After clearing his head, he got out of bed and went to take a shower. As he relaxed while taking his shower, his mind started to wander.

(Begin Daydream)

Zale was still in the shower, but something came up from behind him and wrapped its arms around him. He turned around to see a nude Juvia caressing him from behind.

"Juvia thought you would like some company." Juvia said.

Zale wanted to say something, but Juvia was just so cute that he couldn't say it. That and he could feel her breasts press up against his back.

(End Daydream)

Zale had finished his shower, dried himself off and got dressed so he could head to the guild.

He arrived at the guild hall to notice that Makarov was speaking with Juvia and Gajeel.

"Ah, there he is." Makarov said.

"Um… Am I in trouble?" Zale asked.

"No… And stop saying that!" Makarov said. "You're the only one in this guild that doesn't get in trouble! Normally, I would send you three with Natsu, Gray, Erza and Lucy to face the Oración Seis, but there's something else I need you three to do."

"What's that?" Zale asked.

"Apparently a mercenary wizard has been causing mudslides all over the place." Gajeel said. "We've been tasked with taking him out before he becomes a problem."

"That's it?" Zale asked. "Doesn't sound too bad."

"That mercenary better put up a good fight." Gajeel scoffed. "I really wanted to beat up some Oración Seis along with Salamander."

"As long as Juvia is with Zale, she's not complaining." Juvia said as she leaned in toward Zale.

"Um… Likewise…" Zale said as he blushed, looked away and scratched the back of his head.

"You can find the mercenary near Garen's Well." Makarov said.

"But that's on the other side of the continent!" Zale exclaimed.

"Doesn't matter." Makarov said. "There's a job that needs to be done and you three are the people tasked with it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my drinking."

As Makarov started gulping down a mug of beer, Zale sighed with exasperation.

*I hate having to travel far distances.* Zale thought. *Oh well, at least Juvia will be along for the trip… CRAP! With all the fantasies I had this morning, that's only going to make things worse! Calm down, Zale. Just keep your mind clear and focus strictly on business. No more fantasies, no more problems. What's the worst that could happen?*

After a day of traveling, night fell and they stopped at a small town. The three of them were standing in front of an inn and Zale just leered at it.

*… Oh… right…* Zale thought. *It's too far so we have to stop at least twice on this trip.*

"This place looks nice." Juvia said.

"It looks boring." Gajeel said.

Zale walked over to get a closer look at the sign. "It says that the hot springs here are the most relaxing in the world. No better advertisement than hyperbole, I guess."

"What the heck's that supposed to mean?" Gajeel asked.

"It means they're exaggerating the truth to bring in more customers." Zale answered.

"You are so smart, Zale!" Juvia said with a wide smile and a glimmer of admiration on her face.

"Since this is the closest inn and it's too dangerous to camp out, we should just stay here for the night." Zale said before thinking to himself. *This is not going to bode well for me.*

After checking into the inn, they went into their given room and Zale lied down on the bed.

"This bed is certainly comfy." Zale said.

"There're only two beds." Gajeel said before lying down on the floor. "The floor isn't too bad. I wouldn't mind sleeping here while you two take the beds."

"Are you sure it won't bother your back or anything?" Zale asked.

"I'm not an old man, ya know!" Gajeel barked. "It's either this or you and Juvia share a bed because I ain't sleepin' with either of ya."

"Juvia wouldn't mind sharing a bed with Zale!" Juvia said.

*Think, Zale, think!* Zale thought in a panic. *I need to find a way so we don't end up sharing a bed tonight!* "Um, I don't think that's a good idea because… I usually sleep either in my underwear or the nude." *Not necessarily lying. I really do sleep in the nude."

"It's official." Gajeel said as he stood up. "I'm getting my own room."

Gajeel walked out of the room, leaving Zale and Juvia alone.

"… There, we have our own beds now." Zale said. *Phew! Dodged a bullet!*

*Shoot, I was so excited at the idea of sharing a bed with Zale!* Juvia thought, crying a little.

"It's been a long day and my legs are getting sore." Zale said. "I might as well go to the hot springs."

"Juvia will do the same."

The two began making their way toward the changing rooms for the hot springs, an awkward silence falling upon them as they continued to glance at each other and blush. When they finally arrived at the changing rooms, they just quietly stood where they were for several seconds.

"… Well…" Zale spoke up. "I hope you enjoy your bath."

"M-me too." Juvia replied somewhat sheepishly.

The two entered their respective changing rooms and Zale stripped down to his boxers and placed his clothes in a hamper.

*Thankfully I left my wallet and house keys in our room.* Zale thought. *Dammit! I left the hotel keys in the room, too! I just hope Juvia has the spare.*

Zale finally removed his boxers and placed them in the hamper with the rest of his clothes.

*Glad I'm the only person in here.* Zale continued thinking. *I can't stand being naked around other guys… or girls… Pretty much anyone.*

Zale stepped out of the changing room and outside to the men's side of the hot springs.

On the women's side of the hot springs, Juvia was relaxing in the water and lightly splashing the water all over her body.

*I know I shouldn't do it, but I'm just so curious to see Zale's naked body.* Juvia thought as she began to fantasize about what Zale would look like without his clothes. *His muscles must be sculpted like those of a god. With one swing of his hand, he could knock down those barriers that separate our baths and caring me away in those arms. Unable to hold back his love, he takes me right then and there. I'm getting hot just thinking about it!*

A little while later, Zale had finished relaxing in the hot springs and stepped back into the changing room, tossing aside the towel he had after drying himself off.

"It was definitely hyperbole, but it wasn't bad at all." Zale said to himself.

He went to get his clothes out of the hamper, only his clothes were now missing. Everything was gone, including his boxers.

"Damn it all!" Zale cursed under his breath. "Someone must have taken my clothes while I was in the bath… Who the hell would take clothes, anyway? Did a homeless guy sneak in or something? I should inform the hotel staff about this."

Zale tried to reach for the towel he just tossed away, but he didn't feel anything and saw that the towel was gone.

"Where'd my towel go?!" Zale exclaimed. "Guess I'll just look for another tow-"

Zale looked over at where the other towels were… only to find they had vanished as well.

"Seriously?! This isn't good. Without clothes or a towel, I can't leave the changing rooms or the bath."

Meanwhile, Juvia was getting out of the hot springs.

"Phew, that was relaxing." Juvia said as she wrapped a towel around her body. "Huh?"

She looked over to see a raccoon dragging a large number of towels and some clothes in its mouth. Upon closer inspection, she recognized the clothes it was carrying.

"Those are Zale's clothes." She muttered. "Water Lock!"

A sphere of water trapped the raccoon and Juvia walked up to it.

"I'll be taking those." Juvia said.

She took the clothes and towels away from the raccoon and walked over to the wooden wall that separated the men and women's areas of the hot springs.

"Zale, are you still there?" Juvia called out.

"Juvia?" Zale responded from the other side of the wall. "Thank God you're still here. Someone stole my clothes and all the towels, so I'm stuck here."

"Juvia got the raccoon that took them." Juvia said. "I've got them in my hands right now."

"A raccoon? That's why my clothes went missing? Anyway, do you think you can toss my clothes over the wall?"

Juvia tried to toss and throw Zale's clothes over the wall, but it was too high for her to reach.

"Juvia can't reach it." Juvia said. "I'm going to climb over."

"Wait, don't!" Zale said.

"Why?"

"I don't want you to see me naked. And what if you're naked?"

"I have a towel on and there's no other way."

Zale thought about it for a minute. "… All right." He quickly covered his privates with his arms and hands. "Ready?"

*This is it!* Juvia thought. *I didn't think it would be so soon, but I'm going to see Zale naked!*

Juvia's legs became surrounded in a twister of water and she jumped over the wall. As she reached the height of her jump which was a little over the wall, she saw that Zale was covering himself up with his arms.

*No!* Juvia thought. *He's far too resourceful! But that's one of the things I love about him!* She then started to examine the rest of Zale's body. *He's not as muscular as I thought… but I don't care! He's still the sexiest man in the world to me!*

"Juvia, look out!" Zale shouted.

Juvia's whirlpool died down and she fell down belly first into the hot spring, which prompted Zale to unconsciously uncover himself and ran over to where Juvia was.

"Juvia, are you all right?" Zale asked as he was about to help her up.

"I'm all right, Zale…" Juvia answered as her face was lifted out of the water.

However, Juvia's face instantly turned red and stared at Zale.

"What?" Zale asked. "… My jewels are showing, aren't they?" *It doesn't help that she's making me aroused.*

"Should Juvia get naked to make things even?" Juvia asked.

"Please don't…" Zale replied as he turned away with his face turning red.

The next morning, Zale, Juvia and Gajeel were leaving the inn and the town.

"All right, time to get going, guys." Gajeel said.

Zale wanted to speak to Juvia, but he was too embarrassed and shy to do so for several minutes.

"… Juvia?" Zale asked.

"Hm?" Juvia turned to face him.

"Could you please not tell anyone at the guild about what happened last night?" Zale asked.

"Juvia promises!" Juvia said. "You were my first naked man, after all! You're actually very attractive."

"Pl-please don't flatter me like that." Zale looked away while blushing. "I know it's not true."

"You should have more faith in your sex appeal, Zale. Just as long as you don't flaunt it to other women."

Due to his Dragon Slayer hearing, Gajeel ended up hearing every word they said.

"… I don't wanna know and I don't care…" Gajeel grumbled to himself.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And Happy New Year! I actually managed to get this done before midnight! Stay tuned for next time!