Gray dropped into the empty seat with a heavy thunk, the job had been more than Team Natsu had bargained for, but they were finally back and he could get some decent rest now. A familiar voice broke through the hustle and bustle of the guild and her cheerful tone met his ears, Juvia.
"Gray-sama, would you like to join Juvia on a mission?" she asked holding out a job flier for him to see. His eyes skimmed the words, something about bandits and a crudely drawn map.
"I just got back from a pretty brutal job, and I am not going out agai-," his brain changed gears in an instant, "wait! Where is this job at?" he snagged the flier from her hands and inspected it more closely. "I'll get my stuff, meet me at the station in an hour?"
"Oh Thank you, Gray-sama!" she squealed snagging the flier back and shooting toward the door gleefully
"What was that all about, I thought you wanted to do nothing for days and be done with jobs for now? What changed? Lucy pried.
"There's just something I have to take care of first," he answered pulling his exhausted body out of his seat, "this shouldn't take more than two days, and then I can get that break."
"If you say so," Natsu shrugged,
"See you guys later," he waved making his way back out the door he had been so thankful to enter just moments ago.
After sleeping on the train the job was easy enough for them to complete, the bandits had turned out to be complete boneheads and walked right into Juvia's trap before they'd fully prepared it. After collecting the reward the sun had set and Juvia shivered against the cold winds as flurries of snowflakes began to swirl.
"We should probably find shelter, this snow is really picking up," Juvia said hugging her coat tighter against the brisk gusts, "I think there is an inn here somewhere," she pulled out her map.
"Do you realize where we are?" Gray asked carefully, watching Juvia for a reaction.
"Hm, well this town is small, but there's a bigger one that way," she pointed west, and then trailed off a bit as she turned east, "and this way is..."
"Let's stay there, what do you say?" he asked with a grin.
Juvia nodded and they jogged toward the east, eager to get out of the quickly accumulating snow.
Gray opened the door of the house he'd stayed in with Juvia during the disbandment of Fairy Tail, the floors and surfaces lay thick with dust, it appeared no one had ever found their home in the abandoned village.
Juvia walked slowly around the rooms, her fingertips trailing along the countertops of the kitchen and she turned to face Gray with tears welling in her eyes. "It's all the same, just how I left it."
"I was just thinking to myself about how no one had found out house," Gray responded pulling a book from the shelf and flipping through the pages. "it's all here, all of it."
Juvia let a shuddered breath as she spoke again, "I sat here for so long waiting, the months we spent here I just hoped that one day you'd say you brought me here for a reason, that you let me come along because you really did want me here. That you'd say-" she held back a sob.
"I love you" He answered but was quickly cut off again by her words.
"yes, but it never happened, I was just so stupid to think that you had-"
This time he cut her words short, "No. Juvia, I'm saying that I love you!"
"Wha- what?" she said through her tears.
"I love you, and I came on you with this job because it was close to this house, so I could bring you here and do what I should have done back then, to make it right. I never should have left you behind but once I did, I felt like I had to become a better person. I didn't deserve all of the times you stood by my side and I wanted to be what you really deserve and hell, I don't know if I am even to that point yet, but I can't wait any longer. I can't make you wait either. So, now I just have to hope I didn't wait too long."
She moved the few steps across the room to stand in front of him and in an instant, she threw her arms around him, "I love you too."
Although he had hoped to stop her tears they continued to fall, but the emotion behind them had indeed shifted, now she smiled at him as he wiped the streams away.
Once they had settled from the excitement of the moment, they turned to making the house clean enough to stay in for the night. Juvia shook out blankets and Gray built a fire to combat the frigid drafts of the old house. Sinking into the worn- and broken-down sofa Juvia nestled against his warmth as they watched the flickering flames in the fireplace. "I'm glad you came, Gray-sama."
"Me too, I'm glad to finally make this a happy place for you again."