Through the Years II
Time passed.
And, despite what he originally imagined, travelling with a demon and trying to pass unobserved and undetected of the fact had been, against all his fears, unexpectedly easy―they just needed to keep a low profile while wandering from one place to another. There were problems, of course, such was the case of money with all the expenses for lodging and absurdly high prices of history books for a girl from a few centuries ago.
Regardless, with time, Gray discovered that Fiore had much more to offer than what he had ever dreamt at first. There were places and then there were its people, each different and each remarkable in their own right, and he learnt from that, which made Ur right when she pleaded to him and Lyon to find and discover to their hearts' contents―then again, Ur had been right about lots of things.
Juvia, on the other hand, discovered what she had missed, cheerful and hopeful as she always was, and Gray learnt to live with that, too. His decisions, after all, were his and only his, as Ur would have said, and he abided by them. Even when with all the almost instants where she would lose it and near breakdowns and all that should be feared haunting them, they marched on.
Juvia was good at that, and he picked up from her.
Years passed, and they grew.
And, well, if Gray was being honest with himself―
It wasn't half bad.
Most of the time anyway.
ooOOooOOoo
The bars rattled as the door to his cell opened, the gruff police officer awaiting for him with a run-down expression marring his features. Gray was not better to wear and, half-naked, stomped out from the confined space with his hands, not shoved deeply in his trouser's pockets as he would in any other occasion since he had none, but firmly clenched at his side.
"I hope," the policeman said while handing him his possessions, "I won't see you here again, Fullbuster."
Gray took his clothes and began dressing after making sure his pouch had everything it held before he'd been retained. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry," he grumbled out. "I'll be more careful next time."
The officer laughed brazenly. "You said that last time and look where you are now."
Gray sent a contemptuous glare over his shoulder.
"I'll try harder."
Once wholly geared, underwear and shirt and pants and even his journey cloak in place and then double checked just in case, the police escorted him to the counter so they could sign him out one last time and when at last free, Juvia welcomed him at the exit.
"You'd think that, after being in Onibas a thousand times, the police would learn that I'm not a pervert with a―a fetish of flashing around," complained Gray as he read the charged accusations. "The fuck's this. How many times do I've to explain to bring the point across?"
Juvia giggled, exchanging with him a bag jam-packed with fast-food for the document. "Juvia thinks whether Gray-sama's a pervert or not is not what the officers worry about."
"Thanks, I was starving," he said munching on the hamburger. "And it's not like I strip on purpose. It just… sorta happens. There gotta be an exceptional rule for these kind of cases."
"Hmm," nodded Juvia while dusting off her wintry thick dress. "At any rate, it's becoming a real problem, Gray-sama. He should consider reigning over his most," here, she licked her lips as if pondering how to continue the sentence, "infamous habit before we are in real trouble."
He blinked, mouth full. "Whaddya mean?"
Grimacing, she passed him another file without a word, much like the one he had before; but instead of noting down the reasoning for his confinement, it dealt with the bail Juvia had to pay to free him. When his eyes landed on the specific amount of jewels his lips twisted into a sneer and he looked up to see how Juvia nodded at his silent question.
"Oh," choked Gray, gaze switching between the dark eyes and nefarious numbers. "Okay, yes. Totally toning down the stripping," he blurted out, lowering the hamburger. "Although they fucking raised the fee, didn't they? Last time it wasn't this high. Assholes."
Juvia shrugged, an apologetic look grazing before she adjusted her backpack and waved a goodbye to the policeman as they began to stroll down the street. Gray muttered under his breath, paper crumbling under his annoyed grasp and the food quickly finished with a few bites. Gray noted, with some resignation, that they were heading to Anna's Hole at the other side of Onibas. He glanced over Juvia, who was singing to herself, and scratched at his nape jadedly.
"What now?" he asked.
She looked back at him in confusion and smiled after his words registered. "Juvia doesn't mind if Gray-sama's goes naked when he's with Juvia in a non-public place," she said with flushed cheeks that to any other might have deemed as innocent. "She finds it exciting." Then, as her eyes narrowed, Juvia remarked, "As long as it's only with Juvia."
Gray spluttered, almost stumbling over his own feet, and glared at her.
"I wasn't talking 'bout that, crazy woman," he growled. "I curse the day you found those stupid irksome romantic books. They've been messing with your brain since then."
In response, Juvia moped, clutching the strap of her bag tightly where he knew one of those dammed books resided, and Gray listened as she mumbled something too low for him to hear but guessed it went along the lines of the usual defensive arguments she used whenever he complaint about her choice of literature.
Gray grunted, not ready for the discussion after a night in prison, and diverted the conversation swiftly.
"Anyway, we have nothing, do we?" He watched as Juvia nodded with a hint of embarrassment and he run a hand through his hair. "Which means we need a new job."
Her shoulder's squared, an exact mirror of his movements, and casually caressed his arm in encouragement.
"Yes," she said, shyly smiling at him.
Gray kicked a pebble.
"Well, then. Better get over it now than later."
ooOOooOOoo
"Look who we have here," teased Anna from her position at the other side of the bar. "I hope you'll be able to keep your pants on, strip boy. We don't wanna call the cops again, right?"
She began to laugh, next, drawing the attention of the few customers around while Gray glowered at her. They beelined to the stools, Juvia quietly giggling behind him as the bartender scooted closer to attend them once they sat.
"We just arrived yesterday," Gray grumbled, "how in the hell did you know that?"
"When you're in charge of serving a bunch of drunkards who don't know how to keep information, and hands, to themselves, it's hard not to know the newest gossips," Anna commented with a wrinkled nose. "Besides, with your record, it's an educated guess. And an easy one too."
Juvia took her hat and put it down on the counter, scoffing. "Anna-san does have a point on the last part," she said. "Gray-sama has a knack of being caught."
Gray huffed. "Not helping."
Anna winked at Juvia, wide smirk still in place, as Juvia concealed her own curled up lips from the view in a way that aggravated him.
"Listen to Juvia, Gray, she must know better than anyone," the barwoman snickered before straightening and archly asked, "So, the usual?"
Gray scoffed, hands tightly clutched onto the wood and far away from any clothes. He wasn't giving in on temptation after the mocking, and shook his head with conviction. Juvia sighed next to him, holding her pack closer to herself and shrugged at Anna's questioning gaze.
"Juvia and Gray-sama're here to see if Anna-san has any job to give," informed Juvia. "We'd appreciate it."
Gray nodded, arms crossed before his chest and glared at the men who eyed them back from their seats in the corner until they stopped doing so. Anna began to clean one of the glasses left behind and stared at them weirdly.
"There hasn't been much lately. The guilds around're taking care of every problem," she answered after a long time of dubitative silence.
Juvia's face fell, and Gray felt his mood dropping with it. "What a letdown."
Anna drummed her fingers, still with the glass in hand, and regarded them with a leveled gaze that didn't suppress the disappointed swarming inside them.
"You know, you two could always join one," she mentioned lightly. At their confused stare, Anna elaborated, "A guild. As far as I know, you both are talented enough to go for any you wish for. Even the grand ones like Fairy Tail or Lamia Scale'd accept you."
Gray made a choking sound at the last one. "Maybe not Lamia Scale."
"Eh," she blinked and searched for Juvia's help who only shook her head. Anna shrugged, then, and continued, "I'm not complaining either way. Your clients are pretty happy and they come to me for more requests, which brings more clients to my bar and I get a rise from it."
"You're using us," Gray jeered and shot a snide glare.
"And you me, kid," she sniped. "Symbiosis's a beautiful thing."
"So, there's no mission left?" Juvia chirmed in, grasping at his arm.
Anna tittered, index finger poking at Juvia, and that brought a tiny smile to them.
"I didn't say there wasn't any right now," she mocked before her expression turned sour, "but it's painfully underpaid for what it asks."
"Like many others we did," Gray remarked and the woman arched a brow.
Juvia smiled bashfully. "Beggars can't be choosers."
"Which sucks," he finished. "Get on with it, Anna."
The barwoman exhaled noisily, and Gray could perceive his hair standing on an end when she took longer than she should to answer. Juvia wiggled as she got closer to the tight circle that was forming with everyone leaning in. He sighed in misery, and did the same.
"Thieves band," Anna said lastly. "The problem: they got a couple of mages among them so you should consider being more careful."
ooOOooOOoo
The hideout located somewhere between the roads connecting Onibas and Clover Town, deep in a forest within a cleaning and Gray wondered, with a scoff, what were those kind of people thinking when setting camp on an open field.
"Let's attack from each side," Juvia suggested, pointing two spaces with enough vegetation to act as a hiding spot.
Gray regarded the band steadily. "The mages're gonna be a hassle," he said, "so let's be careful and put down the mooks first, 'kay?"
Juvia nodded, her body leaning to the side, and Gray followed swiftly in the other direction with a confidence only acquired from years of working together.
It was like a well-practiced dance, with her stepping ahead and slicing the thieves with boiling water spurts before he acted freezing the water that had flooded the ground and thus their opponents with it. Gray watched as most of them were out of the game, encased in ice, and the only ones avoided the attack, who he supposed were the two mages of the band, stood before them.
The woman, tall and bulky, growled while her companion, a lanky man, bided his time behind her.
"Who are you?" the skinny man asked with a shrill voice. "Are you from a guild?"
"As if that matters," the woman growled.
"No," said Juvia, fighting pose still up. "But Juvia hopes we could end this quickly and without incidents."
Gray rolled his eyes at that, Juvia and her habit of asking before acting, and heard how the tall woman laughed hysterically.
"Good one," she said and launched herself against them with, Gray observed, smoke and heat radiating from her fists.
A fire mage, he realized with scorn.
"Shit."
He summoned an ice-hammer, Juvia fencing the attacks thanks to her water body, and, before anyone could see what was happening, slammed the weapon against their adversary's back with a cracking sound that made them cringe as Juvia blew out her fire with water. The thief didn't stay put, though, and growled at them.
"Suta, fucking move, you useless man!" the woman snarled and her lanky companion squeaked, frightened.
"Juvia, lock her! I get rid of the man!" Gray yelled.
Before they could carry out anything, however, the earth grumbled and from it huge, dirty pillars emerged. Gray saw from his position on the ground after he had lost balance how the man who seemed to be an earth mage tripped down as well, and with a snarl, Gray rammed the earth, covering it with another layer of ice.
"Gray-sama―don't!"
He rolled around still without standing up to meet Juvia, who apparently had been fighting the other mage in her water form, iced over as the rest of the field. The fire woman grinned lavishly, throwing a well-timed fiery punch against Juvia's side and then stepped over her towards him.
"Shit shit shit," grumbled Gray as he created an ice-shield to prevent the first pounding, although it only lasted a few seconds, with the heat of the fire and the stupidly absurd strength of the woman hitting at full breaking it in matter of seconds.
"You seeked this, idiots," the woman cackled.
"Fuck you," said Gray and matched her physically, not ready to become a scorched corpse despite his hands would suffer from the fate.
It was even fight, his finger burning and sweat dangling from his skin, and Gray expected that only the one with most experience would win. Or so he thought, at least, until―
Well.
Until something broke, like a crackling and a zap of bristling magic, and then waves of water came in unstoppable torrents. Lots of it, as if a dam had broken, chilling them to the core and wanted to swallow everything whole.
"What," hissed someone behind them, "do you think you're doing to Gray-sama?"
Gray barely avoided the magical wave coming their way, even though the bulky woman didn't have the same luck and was dragged along until crashing out against one of the earth pillars.
"What the hell―"
The female thief never had the chance of finishing whatever she was going to say and Gray saw how Juvia, now covered in blue and sea-greens and gills and fins and webs and all he marked as no human making her something that she shouldn't be, exploded into lashes of water whips against an enemy that had long been subdued.
Gray choked, Juvia growled guttural, and he gritted his teeth at the image that he wished not to see.
"Juvia, stop it! You won!" he commanded careful not to get too close. She had never done anything to him in the few times the situation had repeated, but he knew better than test his luck. "We're not here to kill them; only retain them! Juvia. Stop. Now."
She didn't listen him, though, or couldn't, and continued in her onslaught with a ferocity that made him flinch. Gray watched, a dash of trepidation swelling inside him, as Juvia's Water Lock materialized around the woman as deathly as always.
There were bubbles, the woman losing her consciousness as she closed her eyes and even with that, Juvia didn't seem to want to stop.
Not like that―all scales and hatred and poisoned thoughts.
So he froze her before it was too late and sighed.
"God-fucking-dammit," Gray wheezed once he recovered, glaring at the snapping ice shaping Juvia. "Why does always something have to happen?"
ooOOooOOoo
Gray woke up with Juvia's face hovering above his, too close to be comfortable and lighted with, he guessed, the dim glow of the moon since the rest of the room remained dark. Years back, this scenario would have freaked him out―Juvia did develop some creepy habits here and there, after all, like going all demonic and stuff every time he got into trouble― and thrown himself out of the bed and into the furthest corner or spot he could reach.
Nevertheless, once the situation repeated so many times, the surprise was lost and he endured it as he would endure any other pseudo-normal situation. Even though that, the familiarity and normalcy of the action, worried him more.
He sighed, resigning himself to a glare.
And then Juvia poked him.
Gray's glare narrowed. "What are you doin'?"
"Juvia's checking," she said before sitting down on the bed despite his low warning. "Did Juvia cause a lot of troubles?"
Gray smacked one hand over his face to swipe the sleepiness away and regarded her with tired eyes.
"Yeah," he said and Juvia grimaced. "It coulda been worse, though."
She lowered her gaze, bandaged arms shaking and lips trembling.
"Juvia's sorry," she said.
"Nothin' to be sorry for," muttered Gray, wondering if he should stood up before dismissing the idea since it was late and he was tired and she resembled a mummy more than a person now and, honestly, couldn't the girl wait until morning to have the conversation? He huffed at the thought and resigned himself to ask, "You better?"
"Mmmh," Juvia nodded. "Juvia feels a bit cold still, but better."
She smiled, tilting towards him, which made Gray sigh in relief and watched as her expression changed into one of realization and stretched the collar of her nightgown that was already too low for his taste. His face warmed instantly, turning around to face the window.
"And with a new scar," she chirped, releasing the garment.
He raised an eyebrow. "A scar?"
"The woman's fire hit Juvia's skin. It burnt." Her nose wrinkled. "And it's ugly."
"The doctor didn't say," drawled Gray.
"It's faint," she said. "Juvia only spotted it because the flesh's more tender there."
Gray scoffed sardonically. "Big deal then."
She gasped, smitten, and clasped her right hand against her chest with a hurt look grazing her. Gray flinched, her slacked jaw a certain giveaway of his seemingly lack of tact and tried to right the situation.
"Hey," he spluttered, "as long as your injuries are visible it's good."
Juvia eyes widened and, smirking, she asked, "Has Gray-sama being snooping around Juvia's novels?"
"The hell are you sayin'."
Juvia tilted her head knowingly and he glowered at her with twitching lips and curling hands. Gray turned his back at her, ignoring Juvia at the best of his abilities and attempted to regain his sleep despite her weight on the bed.
There was a moment of silence, where he almost achieved his goal, until Juvia decided it was a good idea to lay beside him.
"What are you doing? Get off now," Gray said while kicking her under the sheets.
She shrugged it off, looked at him square in the eye with a frown uncommon of her and said, "Does Gray-sama ever regret this?"
"This what?" he asked back with furrowed brow.
Juvia hesitated at first, the skin between her eyes puckering before she gestured with her hand, first herself and then the room, the backpacks, Fiore's maps on the nightstand and finally him. Gray watched her squirming, her question heavy as he blinked, and considered her words and her expression and the subtle way she tried not to look upset and wary and tiny.
Gray licked his lips, the question present in the forefront of his mind and never wavered his sight from her.
He could see it. How his life would have worked out, maybe, if he had never bothered to stop that single time. He would have marched west, probably joined a guild too, like Lyon had done, and lived off the rest of his life without knowing. He would have never met bubbly Juvia who always worried for him and would have never cared about demons, apart from his nightmares, or feared being found with one, or struggled with the problems of a nomad.
Or he could have been found dumped somewhere, dead, and that would have been it.
These were, however, somehow sad thoughts regardless of how he looked at it, and he scoffed at the question.
Juvia tensed besides him.
"Nah, don't think so," Gray said truthfully. "It's not like there's anything that can be done now, so it doesn't matter either way."
Juvia smiled, the motion slow with each registered word, and sighed wistfully as her eyes swarmed with something akin to reverence and longing and raw awe, and Gray waited with a dry throat for her reply.
"Juvia thinks she's in love with Gray-sama," Juvia stated finally, voice soft and her expression much softer.
Gray looked away, cheeks heating with a vivid red, and spluttered, "You already told me that."
"Well, it's true," Juvia pouted. "Juvia loves Gray-sama."
He exhaled and she watched.
"Now, get off," said Gray, face smudged with a new shade of red and pushing her again. "Hog the sheets if you wanna, but stay out."
Juvia laughed cheerfully, her hand resting on his chest.
"No until Gray-sama admits he's being reading Juvia's books," she said, and then added while watching his dark but still pink expression, "And Gray-sama doesn't look good when brooding."
"I don't brood!" he grunted. "And go to your bed already. I wanna sleep."
Juvia laughed once again, pecked him in the cheek, hopped to the twin bed with his sheets in hand and said as she tucked herself, "Gray-sama didn't deny whether he reads the books or not."
ooOOooOOoo
Gray stood in the middle of the plains, nodding at his new acquisition with an approving sign, and Juvia sighed incredulously.
"Juvia can't believe Gray-sama pulled this," she said as she stared at the enormous leopard-thing that was staring her back. "Juvia can't believe Gray-sama managed to."
Gray sneered as he began to check the mounting equipment and making sure the saddle was safely placed the way the seller had shown him. He glanced over Juvia, who was very still with one hand hiding her mouth, and arched an eyebrow.
"Your dream's to read every-damn-one of those gag inducing romantic novels. Mine's to have a cool pet," he said. "I buy you the books and you allow me this. Win-win situation. Everyone's happy." Then, low enough not to be heard but that sounded like an actual sentence, he mumbled, "I even paid it from my portion of jewels. Took me forever with all the bailouts."
Gray noted how her mouth coiled upwards, motioning one of his own smile as he patted the beast who leant against his touch and was bigger than the common ones in the wild with a darker shade of fur that bizarrely faded away into white at its legs.
"Besides," added Gray after a moment, "no outrageous walking through days to no end. Think about that."
"Juvia thinks we handled it well so far," she pointed out.
Gray scoffed. "Now we don't have to handle it at all."
Juvia snickered, not really upset, and approached them both with a smile in place. He prompted her to get closer when she hesitated, the last preparations finished, and watched as Juvia rubbed the spot behind the beast's ear. The leopard purred under her touch.
"All right," she conceded finally, a soft look taking over. "As long as Juvia can cuddle as much as she wants."
Gray sniggered, climbing to the leopard and helped Juvia to do the same.
"What's her name?" Juvia wondered aloud as the animal started to move.
Gray glanced at Juvia, then the animal and back to Juvia with wide eyes. "Her?"
ooOOooOOoo
"Harujion's port has been destroyed," Juvia informed him one afternoon as they rode off to the next location. "Juvia thinks maybe we should go there, Gray-sama. They must be searching for workers to restore it."
He grumbled, his fingers clenching around the strap of their mount and gave a quick glance to Juvia who sat at the back before returning his sight to the path in front. Stamping themselves against a tree, after all, wouldn't do.
"Stop reading the newspaper while riding in Mittens!" chided Gray, the new name of their leopard rolling awkwardly on his tongue as he internally cursed the moment he let her decided the name. "Once of you throwing up on me is one too many times already."
Juvia didn't comply, the swish of paper still permanent behind him and her grip around his stomach tightening. "Although, Juvia thinks," she pondered, "maybe we shouldn't. The Magic Council is there inspecting the damage."
Mittens skipped through the debris of the forest at great speed and Gray made her slow down after perking up at that. "Why?"
"Fairy Tail," Juvia answered, and that was enough to draw a groan from him.
"Not them again," Gray snarled. "Why it's always them."
Juvia chuckled lightly, although he knew she agreed with him, and Gray growled before she continued on.
"Yesterday noon, the harbor of Harujion was torn down when a ship, which was later found to be a slavery ship, was hurled against the installments," she read. "It's believed that the culprit was one of the members of the renowned Fairy Tail guild, who had a long history of property destruction and disregard of the law. Uhm, the article goes on for a bit longer after this."
There was a stunned silence as Juvia finished the paragraph, only broken by the soft rumbles coming from Mittens and her stride against the ground, and Gray found himself with his mouth agape and eyes narrowed.
"How," he drawled nonplussed, "do you throw a ship up against the forsaken dock?"
Juvia contemplated the question, her head falling on his shoulders to relieve the rocking, and Gray swore that, if the next thing she uttered was to please, stop, Juvia feels dizzy, he was dropping her right there.
"Juvia could do that, too," she said at last with a shrug.
Gray chose to overlook the comment and focused on the issue. "…so, we get going or not?"
Juvia stiffened, her body closing the gap between his before stammering, "But―the Council―"
Gray chortled, his mouth going dry in the process and Juvia peering over.
"They'll be there to gauge the loses and gone by the time we arrive there," he grumbled out. "It's not like it's been different the other times we faced something like this."
Juvia considered it, the observation rigging true, and nodded.
ooOOooOOoo
The lacrima buzzed with magic before a blurry image appeared and a static sound droned, the connection becoming clearer as he bumped some more energy into it. When it finally cleared out, though, Gustav greeted him and Gray waved lazily.
"Hey, old man," he said. "How's going there?"
"Stripper boy," Gustav smiled back and Gray frowned. "S'good. Same ol', same ol' with the kid and the husband. And as long as you ain't callin' for bailout money for public indecency it'll stay good."
Gray shut his jaw with mutinous click, eyes twitching as he looked back to find a distracted Juvia reading whatever she was reading to return to the call.
He leered. "What do you know?"
"What Juvia tells Evelina and Evelina tells me," the man shrugged with a hearty laugh. "It's always been like this, Gray. Nothin' unusual.
Gray huffed and glared dejectedly. "Don't you have anything better to do than gossip with the doc over us every time you go out for a nice, afternoon tea or what?"
"The world doesn't spin 'round ya, lad," Gustav reproached with a drawl.
"Whatever. The reason I called," Gray sighed. "Juvia and me aren't going there as said. Got a job and then we agreed to visit Onibas one more time before setting off. So don't expect us for a couple months."
Gustav harrumphed, hand stroking his beard as he watched Gray with his stoic expression and beetle eyes.
"Oh," he said, skin dotted with wrinkles. "A pity."
Gray sneered, smirk tugging on the corners his mouth and bended over to have a better view of the other side of the lacrima.
"What? Gonna miss us?" he peeped.
"Only 'coz yer ain't there to babysit the kid. Hardly missin' I'd say," Gustav replied cockily. "But―I got a whiff of a well-paid work fo' ye."
Gray puffed, his ears perking at that and he willed to steel himself at the new information.
"How much?" Gray questioned and huffed when Gustav only smirked. "C'mon!"
"Cool down, boy." Gustav rolled his eyes as he began to search for something on his own side of the connection. "Lemme look… around 4 000 000 jewels as reward."
Gray whistled. "Really?"
"Yeh."
Gray stared, his mind swirling at the mammoth quantity that were 4 000 000 jewels, more than what he and Juvia managed to make in months, and his muscles tensed at the sheer excitation of having the chance of getting that number in his hands. Gustav stared back, too, sniggering as only the old man could do, and Gray felt his own lupine smile widening.
"And what's the mission?" he asked hurriedly, not missing a beat. "We could go for it once we're done here."
Gustav inhaled, theatrically waving the mission paper before him and gave one last once-over before reading it.
"Says it's 'bout a curse on an island. Galuna's called," he said and Gray nodded at him to continue when he wavered. "Dat the curse's 'coz the moon and―well, uh. Strange. They ask to destroy the moon?"
Silence first, the kind that surfaced from disbelief and astonishment and utter bewilderment, and then―
"You're joking," jeered Gray.
Gustav tilted his head, nose crinkled and grunted, "It won't do."
"I don't think so, no," Gray said. It took him a second before catching his tone and sighed with a hand massaging his neck, resigned. "But thanks. For trying, I guess."
Gustav chuckled lightly and said, "Anytime, kiddo."
Gray protested under his breath, flustered, that no, he wasn't a kid anymore and he should have stopped calling him that long ago, and Gustav laughed even harder at him.
ooOOooOOoo
Anna's Hole was disrupted by a woman clad in armor and long, red hair who decided that bringing in a gigantic horn and a decade worth of luggage inside the bar was a good idea. She sat at the far table located in the corner, her posture as regal as anyone would expect from a knight, and waited with razor-sharp stare in their direction and a cocked eyebrow until one of the barmaids approached asking for her order.
Gray slurped the soup on a go, switching between staring at the redhead, Juvia's starry, adoring gaze and Anna's, who had considered it was best to annoy them, screwing up face.
"Oh, gods. Not her again," Anna murmured with an unusual gloomy frown. "Once was enough of that woman beating up every single customer 'cuz she couldn't control her temper."
Gray decided, right away, that he liked the woman―whoever she was.
"Oh, but―but―she's Erza Scarlet-san," Juvia blabbered with a thrilled smile. "She's one of the best mages around!"
He sifted in his seat. "How do y'know that?"
"Juva might've read some magazines picturing her," she said flapping her hand to the sides. "Not much."
Gray watched how Juvia writhed under his gaze and came to the conclusion that he didn't really want to know, biting down on his tongue even before the question could take form. So, instead, he spun around to face Anna who was still sending daggers on Scarlet's direction.
"As if that matters. She's a hazard about to happen in my inn," she said gruffly. "Although I didn't take you as one of that woman's fangirls, Juvia. Thought you've better taste."
Juvia puffed her cheeks, aggravated, while Gray sniggered behind his glass full of beer and Anna watched them both with a malicious glint that knocked down his mood with suspicion.
"But seeing you with this idiot here," she droned, "maybe it's not that incredible."
This time around Gray was the one who bristled.
"None of your business," he bit back as Anna laughed.
"Juvia's passionate," Juvia protested. "There's nothing wrong with that. It just means that Juvia's more feelings oriented than others."
"That's what Gustav told you," Gray pointed out with a poignant look. "You shouldn't believe him on anything at all."
"Evelina-sama agreed," she noted.
Anna stifled a smile. "She got a point. Juvia is passionate. In an obsessive kind of way."
Gray huffed, forehead puckered and chin on his palm. He opened his mouth ready to answer when a shout cut through the air with an imperious tone that startled them out of their banter.
"Where's my booze?!" someone bellowed two tables away, leering at the barmaid in charge. "Why are you so slow, woman?!"
Three heads twirled around to confront a group of men boisterously talking with each other. Gray grimaced, probably from a guild he thought, and returned to the conversation with a derisive scowl as he faced a frowning Juvia who was still looking at those people and a scornful Anna.
"Wow, you've the best customers, don't you?" he mocked at the latter.
"Don't tell me," she mumbled while standing up from her position. "I should get on with my job before everything goes to hell. See ya, lovebirds."
Gray sighed in peace at last without snooty people lingering close. "I don't stand that woman. She can't leave us alone for once at least?"
Juvia wasn't listening to him, however, pose stiff and piercing eyes set on somewhere else, and he jabbed at Juvia's side, disgruntled at her lack of care. She didn't budge, though, and before he could understand what was going on, Juvia smacked a hand over his mouth.
"What the heck―" She shushed him quiet, something she had never done, and Gray gaped at her while she yanked her head to the group of men who had interrupted them before.
Gray, not sure on what to do next with this Juvia and casting a dubious glare around them, squinted in the direction of the little group and listened on whatever that had grabbed Juvia's attention.
"―ligor-san know," one of those man was saying. "I'll definitely come back with the lullaby in a couple of days."
"For real?!" another of the thugs piped up. "Did you figure out how to break the seal?"
"Good job, Kage-chan!"
Gray turned to face Juvia still as confused as before and asked, "Juvia? What's going on?"
Juvia's features hardened, gaze following the retreating group that disappeared once the doors closed behind them. There was something, it appeared, that had escaped his compression but dug deeper than what he should expect since Juvia was so… distraught by whatever that had taken place between the discussion. Gray wondered with a careful watch on Juvia's coiling hand if he should start worrying as much as she was evidently doing.
Idly, he noticed how that redhead woman, Erza Scarlet, stood up, threw some jewels in the counter and strode out as well, her outrageous belongings at hand.
And Juvia seemed all set to follow those shady people if he went by her stern expression and worried twist of lips.
"Juvia and Gray-sama must get going after them!" she exclaimed while nagging him out of his seat.
She pushed and shoved and pulled him out of the tavern, grip tight around his wrist to reach their mount on quick strides despite his questions and tugs. They didn't even stop to wave a goodbye to Anna or the staff, who had trailed their every movement with raised eyebrows. Wordlessly, once out, Juvia fondled and prepared Mittens for the ride.
Gray huffed, still in the dark, stomped his feet and grabbed Juvia from her arm.
"Wait, I said!" he grounded and Juvia stopped saddling their leopard at his burst, spinning around with a troubled expression that made Gray step back and inhale before continuing, "Why the rush all of a sudden? For all we know they're just mages working on a mission!"
She chewed down on her lip, eyes flickering to either side of the road before confronting him with a disquieting frown and, with a voice so grave and tiny that set off all the alarms on his head because Gray could only expect the worse from that, said:
"It's just―Juvia isn't sure but how they spoke about that think―lullaby― is," Juvia breathed out, distressed, "familiar. Awfully familiar."
He scowled. "How so?"
"Juvia thinks it's one of Zeref-sama's inventions," she whined at him. "It's not safe. At all. It's extremely dangerous if Juvia's right."
Gray groaned.
"Gray-sama, we have to stop them before it's too late," she pressed with a pleading shine.
"Fuck," he said.
Notes: So, yeah, finally. It's turning out to be more of a challenge that I thought at the beginning. The fighting scene's me stepping on eggshells more than anything else, so if anyone has any propositions or criticism, please, do go ahead. I'll appreciate it.
And finally we got to canon, too! Now comes the scrutinizing chore of separating what I should write about canon or not, what to skip over and what scenes have to change. Jeez... But! For anyone who's interested, the arcs that I will cover (as for this moment, I may change my decision) are: Lullaby Arc, Galuna Island Arc, Tower of Heaven and Grimoire Heart. The first two arcs won't take more than one chapter each (I hope) and from the 7 years time skip on... weeeeellllll, I'm not really sure what to do with it to be honest. Ideas here and there, but nothing tangible.
All in due time, I guess.
Thank you for the favorites and followers, and specially the encouraging reviews from M, loki .charms, Guest, Drkooljack (whom I'm sorry to tell that, nope, Gray isn't getting Demon Slayer any time soon), Contrail, Merle the Great and dragonball256!
P.s. Next chapter might take longer since I won't be able to write shit for a week or so, although I'll try to bring another chapter before uni starts again. Key word: try.
