Friendship: X793 Part One
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Well, I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find
(I Won't Give Up ~ Jason Mraz)
In the year X793, two years after the death of Lucy Heartfilia and Juvia Loxar. Gray Fullbuster, now twenty years old had become quite a workaholic, which had become worse after he had succeeded in becoming an S-class mage in the year X792.
He had just returned from a job. He was guarding a duke's daughter. Yes, the young woman had been beautiful with her short ginger hair and her bright eyes. Yes, the interest she showed in him was quite flattering. Yes, going on a date meant free high-class food.
But he was not interested. He was not interested in her, nor was he interested in her money or her fancy food. He was also not interested in leading her on.
Because he was still waiting. And if it took a whole lifetime. He would wait until his last breath for her.
Juvia Loxar.
He knew the guild thought he was stupid or crazy or still in denial of her death, but he knew she would return to him. He knew she was not dead. He was sure. Even though he held her dead body in his arms.
But she told him, she would return. For him. She promised him. And he would not give up on her.
She had changed his complete world. Of course at the start he was annoyed when she was in one of her moods again. He knew she had stalked him. He knew she had viewed Lucy as her love rival. For so long he had resisted her.
After all this time he had to say, he was stupid for not seeing his feelings for her sooner. But what could he say. It took some time for him to reciprocate her feelings and even a longer for him to admit that to himself.
He had noticed the change when Lyon first lay his eyes on her. He could not explain the anger he felt whenever the older ice mage would try to win her over. He had been so dense.
And afraid. Afraid of losing her. Like everyone else he had loved.
But she had taught him that she would never go away. He would never lose her, even if he did, she would come back to him. So he waited. Because love was worth it. Because she was worth it.
He handed part of the reward to the master and allowed himself half an our break. He sat down, ordered a beer and walked around ask his fellow guildmates how they were doing.
He found out that he had missed Droy's wedding. He held his goddaughter, whom he called his little raindrop. Well it was Gajeel's own fault for naming one of his twin daughters Ameonna, after Juvia. The other was named Lucy. He had been surprised to find out that Gajeel had started this and not Levy.
Talking of Levy, the petite woman was pregnant again with a son. Since she did not want to walk down the aisle pregnant, they still were not married.
Elfman and Evergreen would marry the following month and Gray promised that he would be there. He did not think he would, but he would not tell Evergreen that, since she had turned into a bride zilla. He had never thought he would see the day Bixlow would take pity on Elfman and stop taunting him. But when Evergreen turned away from him in search of Elfman, her teammate lied. When Evergreen had left the room Elfman had come out from behind the couch Bixlow was sitting on and thanked him, before disappearing as well.
He watched Gildarts glaring at a drunk Bacchus, who was visiting Cana quite often, he made a mental note to ask Cana about that when the other drunk was not beside her.
He turned to Lisanna, who just came back from bringing a beer over to Bixlow, which had earned her a playful slap on the but and a kiss from the male, and asked her
"Have you heard anything from Natsu?"
"You two keep missing each other. He was in the guild just yesterday. Are you doing this on purpose?", she asked and Gray joked
"Yes, of course. You know we learnt this new telepathic magic and can communicate across the country. We always warn each other when we get to the guild."
Lisanna laughed and Gray went on
"By the way he says 'hi' and that he ships you with Bixlow."
"What does shipping even mean?", Lisanna asked, shaking her head and giggling
"He says 'ask your sister'."
"I will. When she comes back from her 'mission' with Laxus.", with her fingers she made quotation marks in the air. "Yeah mission my a-pril", she censored herself when she saw Ame look at her with big red eyes. Gray chuckled and lifted the little girl up from the floor into his arms.
"How long are you going to stay this time?", Lisanna asked. It was normal for him to finish a job and be gone on the next on the following morning. He looked up to the clock and shrugged
"Ten minutes, I guess. I'll just finish my beer and then bring this little raindrop back to her mommie. Then I'll look for a new one and I'll be off.", he tickled Ame and she giggled. Next to her daddie and her mommie her uncle Gray was her favourite adult.
15, because like her namesake Ameonna was quite sad upon parting with Gray, minutes later he stood in front of the job board and looked around.
He did not take long to pick out a job and brought it to Lisanna. Rather he put it on the counter with a note, since the youngest Strauss had disappeared along with Bixlow.
Then he left.
He made a quick stop at home for a quick shower and changed the clothes in his bag. He put the dirty clothing into another bag that he brought to the landlady of the apartment he shared with Natsu. He looked back and smiled at the memories of this apartment. Before her disappearance, Juvia had lived here with Lucy.
Every time he walked through the door he wished for her to sit there and greet him. But he could wait. After all the time he made her wait, he also had to be patient.
He reached the rainy town by the coast on the following morning, looking for the mayor right away. The mayor explained that for several weeks now there was a demon in a bay not far from the town, which used dark magic to make everyone who went to take it out to believe she was not there to harm. When he mentioned that the rain had gotten worse when the demon first appeared, Gray got his hopes up.
Quickly he pushed them down again. Even though he was patient, it hurt every time when they were destroyed.
"The demon looks like a woman, but don't let her deceive you. She doesn't move ever and when she speaks her mouth doesn't ever.", he warned and Gray nodded.
When the mayor had finished his request Gray went down to the bay. He had to walk through the forest for a couple of kilometres, but soon he reached it. The sand under his feet crushed and he could hear the sea.
He looked around and saw a lonely figure standing in the water looking up into the sky, where the moon was still to be seen. He recognized her in an instant.
The black dress she had worn in the dream, without the veil. Her long wavy blue hair, that was reaching down her back and into the water.
He could not stop. He was running, unable to call out for her and when he finally had his arms around her, the momentum caused them to fall over into the water. But Gray did not let her go.
He pressed his lips on hers and his heart swelled with happiness when she responded.
He had his Juvia back and he would never let her out of his sight again.
Okay so I don't know, after the next two or chapters if or how I will continue this fanfiction. So I decided to call it to an end. Maybe in some time there will be a sequel. But at the moment I don't have any more believable plotlines left for this fanfiction to write. So yeaaah.