Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.
Even after four days upon returning from Juvia's job, Juvia still can't believe that Natsu is Juvia's boyfriend. He may not be the most romantic and tactful person in the world but, he's prefect in Juvia's eyes. However, Juvia feels like our relationship hasn't changed much, while we have gotten more intimate with our interactions, holding hands, the occasional hugging, we certainly hang out a lot more than before. However, Juvia feels like our relationship isn't that much different from being best friends.
We haven't done anything past hugging after the…kiss back on the island. While Juvia hasn't really asked for more physical contact, she sure has made plenty of cues towards the dragon slayer. All of them seems to fly above his head, not even noticing them. In fact, he doesn't seem to weigh our relationship very heavily, he would act like normal when he's with Juvia. Somehow his closeness has reduced, Natsu was avoiding Juvia for some reason, he would be talking with his friends and the moment Juvia enters, he always makes some excuse to leave. Juvia offered to follow him but, he shuts Juvia down every time. To be honest, it hurts when that happened. Juvia feels like Natsu has lost interest in her. Yet, at the same time, when we're alone, he's so comforting and silly that it makes Natsu's dodging seem like something Juvia made up in her mind.
Today is the day where Juvia get answers, while Juvia doesn't want to doubt her lover, the fact that he's hiding something from Juvia is something that Juvia can't just let it go by without any questioning. Thus, Juvia is carrying a bundle of anti-magic rope to the guild. Juvia made sure to ask Bisca on how to properly use a lasso to help with the capturing of Natsu Dragneel, to ensure the success of Juvia's plan, Juvia spent the last two days of her free time trying to catch animals, even going as far as using Happy as a target. This maybe extreme but, Juvia needs answers! It's his fault for avoiding Juvia in the first place!
One problem about Juvia's plan, Juvia forgot about Natsu's sense of smell, so when Juvia showed up at the guild, he wasn't there, Lucy said he ran off somewhere. Juvia has also tried to ask the friends that Natsu has been talking to in hopes of getting some idea, this proved to be fruitless as they all told Juvia to not worry about it and wait for him to explain. They also said it will take a day or two, so Juvia waited before taking action. The waiting resulted in the bundle of rope in Juvia's hands.
"So what's with the rope?" Lucy pointed to the spool in Juvia's hands.
"Juvia was hoping to catch Natsu with this."
"Isn't that going too far!?"
"He's the one that's avoiding Juvia! And the time that we spent together didn't give Juvia any answers! He always changed the subject, or teased Juvia so much until Juvia forgot about it!"
"I understand how you feel but—"
"How would you feel if Gray-san started doing something behind your back!?"
"I mean sure, it would feel uncomfortable but, I'm sure he won't do something like that," Lucy stared menacingly at Gray-san, who was drinking some juice. Seeing his girlfriend's chilling stare, Gray-san jumped. "right?"
"O—of course. T—there no way I would do that." Gray-san said shakily and finished with a few nervous laughs.
"Anyway, do you know where Natsu went?"
"Wh—why don't you calm down and have a drink first?" Lucy offered a mug of hot chocolate.
"Juvia is calm, Juvia is just—"
"Worried about falling out with Natsu right?" Once Lucy hit the nail on the coffin, Juvia's bottled up anxiousness released, drawing a few tears.
"But…what if…he doesn't like Juvia…anymore? Juvia can't recover from another…heartbreak…" Lucy guided Juvia to a seat and pushed the mug to Juvia's hands.
"That won't happen. For one, Natsu is too loyal for that. Also, he still loves you, from the talks that we have, I can say with confidence that Natsu is crazy for you. Also, do you think Natsu is smart enough to do something like an affair or pretend affection?" Lucy laughed at her last remark.
"Juvia supposes not."
"There you go, just wait for a while, I promise that everything will be clear." Juvia took a sip of the warm drink handed to her, cozy liquid ran down Juvia's throat, calming Juvia's nerves, but most of all—
"It's sweet." Juvia drank a mouthful. "This is good."
"Lucy, let's go get lunch!" Gray call out.
"Sure! Juvia, we'll go now, once you've calmed down, why don't you just go to Natsu's house and ask him directly, even he can't from his house, it only has one door. Erza, you want to go with us?"
"If you don't mind we take a detour to a bakery."
"No problem." Now that lunch time is here, some stayed in the guild to eat and enjoy the rowdy atmosphere. Others when outside to go to a quieter place and have a meal. Juvia stayed inside and asked for a simple meal consisting of sandwiches and a bowl of soup.
Despite the loud background noise, Juvia managed to shut them all out, thinking about what to do. Juvia's focus was so strong, even the taste of Juvia's lunch was minimal. Juvia's thinking lasted until evening to which Juvia decided to visit Natsu's house and look for answers, throwing away the rope of course.
Along the way to Natsu's house, Juvia was rehearsing apologies to say. After thinking about it for a while, Juvia felt guilty for doubting Natsu to the point of trying to catch him. Once Juvia figured out a good apology, Juvia moved to thinking how to get answers from Natsu's mouth. Should Juvia go with a straight approach? Or wait until he's eating then slam the question at his face? This is difficult…
Juvia knocked on the door of Natsu's house, the door is most likely open, Natsu never locks the door. No one besides guild members even knows that there is a house out here. Seeing no response, Juvia called out to Natsu. Nothing. Is he out? Then Juvia can wait for him to return to a cooked meal. Juvia opened the door and walked into the kitchen. The table was already filled with food! Lots of it are food that Juvia likes eating and not much of Natsu's favorite foods. Natsu was sitting beside the table, holding a beautiful blueberry cake.
"Happy birthday Juvia!"
"Happy Birthday!" An amalgamation of voices echoed Natsu's words, all of Juvia's friend appeared out of nowhere, all of them holding a wrapped present in their hands. One present that caught Juvia's eye was Bisca that was holding Asuka-chan that was holding a present, how cute.
"So all this time, Natsu was—"
"Yes! Why did you think we told you to calm down?" Cana said.
"S—sorry for deceiving you!" Wendy bowed. "Natsu said he wanted a surprise so he told all of us to keep it a secret."
"But Juvia has never told her birthday to Natsu, only to Gray-san because Juvia wanted to—you told him!?" Gray-san winked while tossing his present up and down—still shirtless.
"I figured you would be too overwhelmed with flame brain and fawn over him to tell him of your birthday, so I did it."
"That's true, even Juvia forgot about her birthday."
"Anyway, let's start the party already!" Lisanna and Levy pulled Juvia to the birthday cake that was lit with Natsu's flames. "Make a wish!" Lisanna ushered. Juvia was at a loss, there really isn't anything that Juvia wants, Juvia has it already, a lover, great friends, all that Juvia missed out on in her childhood. To have healthy childr—no that's rushing things! Juvia stood there for a good few seconds before deciding on a good wish. Juvia wants to stay with Natsu. Thinking of her wish, Juvia blew the flames out.
"Now let's eat! I'm hungry!" Gajeel already had an empty bowl in his hands.
"Not before Juvia touches the food first!" Natsu butted heads with Gajeel. For Natsu to suppress his needs for Juvia, that surprised Juvia the most.
"You don't have to do all that for Juvia, Juvia is happy with you just controlling your hunger for once."
"You sure?"
"Yes! It's Juvia's fault for not trusting you."
"What did you do?"
"Juvia thought that you were doing something bad behind Juvia's back."
"I mean, I was selfish and wanted a surprise."
"For flame brain to know that he's being selfish. Juvia, what did you do to him?".
"What are you trying to say!?"
"You're a dumbass! What else?" Before a fight started, Erza's hands shot out and grabbed the two by the necks, like a lioness picking up her child by the scruff, only without the affection.
"This is Juvia's birthday, I won't let you two ruin it!"
"Aye sir!" "Yes, ma'am!"
"Natsu is copying me!" Happy was munching on a plate of fish, disregarding what Natsu had said.
"Since Happy already started, why don't we start the party?" Mira suggested.
"Yes!" With Juvia's word, the party started, Natsu and Gajeel was having an eating contest; Juvia was opening her presents, she first picked up a present from Levy, it was most likely a book, the shape and the weight of it was more than enough clues to go by. Tearing apart the checked pink wrapping paper, a book titled Morning Dew showed up.
"This is?"
"It's one of my favorite books, the author is Michael Green, and he's known for crafting—" Lisanna came from behind and cupped Levy's mouth.
"W—why don't you open my present next?" Lisanna handed Juvia a brown paper bag that was taped off. After undoing the bond, Juvia pulled out a pair of panda oven mittens. "You said that you wanted to bake more often, right? I hope you like it."
"Thank You so much!"
"Next it's my turn." Erza announced with authority, which was a bit strange considering the situation but, Juvia picked up the most classic depiction of a present, it was a blue box wrapped with a green ribbon. Though classic, it does its job in maintaining a sense of mystery, so Juvia eagerly got into what's behind the wrapping. A black backpack appeared once Juvia lifted the lid off the box. "I use the same type when I don't have as much leeway for luggage, so I can guarantee the quality of it."
"Thank You, Juvia will be sure to make use of it."
"Good to know."
"Then I guess it's my turn!" Cana stumbled to our group. She handed a bottle of whiskey to Juvia. "Enjoy it slowly, this was hard to get you know?"
"Thank You…"
"Cana!" Levy shouted. "You didn't even wrap it!? How drunk were you before you came here?"
"Buuut, what's the point of wrapping it if Juvia already knows what it is?"
"At least it looks like you put thought into it!"
"Who cares? We're friends, Juvia already knows what I'm—"
"Umm…" Wendy's voice squeezed into our group. "may I give my present now?"
"Wendy! You don't have to be so reserved."
"B—but Carla, what if—"
"Carla is right Wendy, you can be less reserved. Juvia doesn't mind, and everyone else is the same."
"Then…here you go." Wendy gave Juvia a rectangular box adorned with branches that wrapped around the vessel. Opening it, three carefully crafted glass bottles depicting a forest scene rested gently. Inside, was a thick, semi-transparent, purple liquid. They gave off a slight glow that was curious. What kind of enchantment is this?
"What are these? More importantly, these look really expensive, are you sure you want to give them to Juvia?"
"About that…these are something I made myself, the potions of course, not the bottles. These are something that can cure most sickness."
"Could this be made with Summerburn Mushrooms?"
"H—how did you know?"
"That's the job Juvia and Natsu took, that's how we know of it."
"I see…" Wendy had a disappointed face,
"Y—you're wrong! Juvia likes it very much!" Wendy gave Juvia a bright smile.
"I hope that you don't have to use it! I made it as a decoration if that's the case." Asuka-chan came running up to Juvia's leg holding the small box Juvia saw before, mouth still having some brown sauce on it.
"Honey, you have sauce on your mouth." Bisca came with a napkin and wiped away the residue. Bisca was carrying something that Juvia was not expected, a pelt of an animal that Juvia can't identify. Whatever it was, the pelt was stunning, rich red stripes on top of orange fur.
"This is something we hunted not too long ago, it had a lovely fur, so I figured that this would make for a great gift. However, you need to care for stuff like this, or the weather will get to it."
"Thank you, Juvia will take care of it." Juvia felt a soft poke on Juvia's shin.
"Here!" Juvia took the cute purple box from Asuka-chan's hands. "I made it with mama and papa." She said her words carefully, then smiled proudly at her own work. Juvia opened the box and got a bracelet made up of wood beads. It wasn't colourful or anything, just the same pine wood throughout. Juvia put it on her left hand.
"Does it look good?"
"Yup!" Asuka-chan ran back to her mom and the two join Alzack-san in his meal.
"Now it's finally my turn!" Mira came in and gave Juvia a soft, fabric-like material wrapped in red paper decorated with teddy bears. "Tada!" Juvia unraveled the packaging and a black dress unfurled—the dress strangely looked like it matched Juvia's dimensions perfectly. It had no sleeves, or straps, the dress flowed smoothly down and ended with a frill finish.
"Juvia likes this but, how did you get Juvia's—"
"I found out what store you modeled for with Natsu." Mira winked at Juvia before returning to the kitchen. Juvia then picked up the sound of the stove turning on, did Natsu really eat that much already?
"Come on Salamander, you're the only one that hasn't given Juvia a present, don't tell me you forgot about it after organizing this party? Maybe you ran out of brain cells or something."
"Aye! Natsu is stupid after all!"
"I'm gonna kill you guys!"
"Bring it! I haven't gotten back at you for dumping me on that cart ride."
"I did that?"
"You're asking for it!"
"Boys, don't start a fight yet, Juvia hasn't receive a present form Natsu yet," Lisanna stopped the fighting. "what if it gets damaged?"
"Like I'll get hit from this guy." Gajeel punched Natsu's face in response.
"Gi hi, what was that?"
"A cheap shot ya bastard, try that again when I'm pay attention!"
"Natsu!" Lisanna chided.
"I know, I know." Natsu fished into his pockets and pulled out a necklace. It was the same seed that we got from our first job together, only that a dragon coiled around it, as if protecting it. "Happy birthday." Natsu walked over to Juvia and looped the necklace around Juvia's neck. To finish it off, Natsu gave a quick peck on Juvia's cheeks. "Sorry to worry you." At this point, Juvia wants to hug and kiss Natsu, the crowd stopped Juvia from doing so. However, Juvia's face is most likely red, steam was coming off Juvia's head. Can you blame Juvia? Natsu really knows how to push Juvia's buttons.
"Thanks for the gift, Juvia will cherish it." Maybe Juvia is more romantic than Juvia originally thought.
But most of all, Juvia will cherish you more than anything given to Juvia today. After all, you are the most precious thing in the entire world. You are Juvia's third chance and hopefully, Juvia's prince.
Thanks for reading! Anyone else feels like the lasso was a bit too much? I like the comedy it provided so I kept it, let me know what you think!
The thing about this chapter about Juvia's birthday as a bit tricky, it's on the 13th of Nov, so I had to calculate all the time skips starting from Harvest festival 15th of October just to validate this one chapter. If I made a mistake in the calculations, please tell me and I'll make the days align. I got all this information from the wikia, so if it's wrong, forgive me.
Yeah, this is like the time when I stuffed tissue paper in my mouth and said 'but I'm hungry' for the words Natsu said with his mouth full a while back just so that I can have a more accurate wording on the dialogue.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed, still looking for that juicy feedback, I seem to be in a dryspell. And I bet if you look back into my previous chapters starting from chapter 18, you will find that my wordings in asking for more feedback is getting more desperate.
See you guys in the next chapter!
