ch 6

Natsu, Lucy and the others kissed the land when they finally reached the shore.

Three hours.

They had spend three hours swimming deep in the ocean and no one would have make it if it wasn't for Juvia that provided a way to breath, for all of them, while she had also to constantly move the water, in order to keep the sand out of their way, or else that Ajeel guy would have found them in a blink of an eye and in the way they were, there really was no way they could fight someone with such power.

They were drained in their body and spirit.

Those guys, they had an amount of power that would make every battle impossible to win for them. They were beyond them in every move, they knew about their arrival, they were waiting and apparently they had a plan and the worse, they had Wendy.

Why Wendy?

Gray hissed a curse the same moment his mouth was free. Every inch of his body hurt as hell. He couldn't move a muscle but he used his last strength to lift her. Juvia collapsed the moment they were all safe, her body almost empty with magic.

Gray pulled her out of the water, to his body. His legs just wouldn't move anymore so he stayed there for a while with Juvia in his arms, brushing her wet hair from her forehead.

He was warried but he knew she was fine. She breathed, her cheeks were pale but warm and she had a light grip on his finger. She was a warrior and he knew.

If it wasn't for her! After their encounter with the two mages, a male and a female, Ajeel and Brandy, they knew there was not much they could do. They were Fairy Tail mages so obviously they would fight till the end but that girl had Wendy and this was their priority.

Natsu and Erza had managed to upset the guy while the green haired girl seemed just annoyed about the whole situation so she had left, taking the little dragon Slayer with her.

They were superior in number but fighting with men made of sand revealed to be not exactly a piece of cake. Erza had hit him with a thousand of her sword but he had managed to turn them all in sand, Lucy had hit him hard with her arrows but he just had made them go through his body. There was no way to hide, so they decided to hit altogether. The moment he transformed himself into a mountain made of sand, to finish them, Juvia used her water and he became a puddle of mud. But this was just enough for them to escape. As far and as quick as they could.

They all were tired, so damn tired but there was no way Ajeel would not find them on a beach, they had to think quickly, Lucy had an idea, she asked Virgo to make a tunnel that would bring them in the wood while Gray created small film of ice behind them. It should work and when they come out it was already dark.

"is she still asleep?" Lucy asked

"mm" was the only answer she gained from Gray

He was carrying Juvia all the way, on his back, ignoring Natsu's and Mest's offers to take her at some point.

They made a circle around the fire, discussing a plan to save Wendy and Makarov, they had to outsmart the enemy because they were not fighting on the same level and they had to be prepared.

As difficult and unnerving was to wait instead of rushing to save Wendy, Erza ordered them to sleep few hours, they would move at down.

Juvia opened her eyes. Not still awake but halfway between dreaming and conscience.

She tried to adjust her eyes at the surroundings but it was pitch black, the only light was coming from an almost extinguished fire camp. From her position she could see Lucy on the ground, next to the fire, all wrapped and hidden under something, as she was trying to take all the heat from that particular place.. or wait.. it was a person. "Take a room you two" she thought and she would say it out loud, teasing Natsu and Lucy but she could feel her tongue tied and her mouth dry.

Her whole body seemed sap, drained and she could feel her muscles ache but it was something else that caught her attention.

The warmth.

She could remember this sensation as it came from another life. The moment Gray had dropped his iced Armour in front of her. She had spent the year clutched at his arms or hugging him but it was just that time, in front of Gray's parents grave that she had felt him warm in their hug. As if for the first time he was giving her a true sight into himself. He was not the ice mage, in that moment, he was just Gray. No walls around.

But that same walls returned, she could sense them growing every time he trained thinking about his vengeance, thinking about END she could practically see his ice enveloping him again filled with something dark that haunted her dreams with worries, until the day he disappeared, leaving her in a limbo made of hopes and fears that were ripping apart her heart while she waited for him at the windows of their house.

A single tear rolled down her cheek and she cursed herself for being this stupid. She was no more that girl.

And yet she couldn't stop her body from enjoying the warmth wrapped all around. She could smell Gray's scent on his jacket placed on her shoulder, she could feel the heat coming from his hands, one placed possessively on her stomach while the other was gripping her thigh. As she tried to shift he only readjusted his position, taking her back closer to his chest and she felt his warm breath and his lips brushing her neck while he mumbled something unintelligible.

She decided against moving again. It was no use with his legs completely blocking hers however, so she just closed her eyes releasing a sigh.

"Ehi you two, wake up!" Natsu said kicking Gray's boot "and take a room if ya wanna sleep like this"

Gray opened one eyes, strangely conscious of something really really soft in his arms, like waking up hugging a puppy or a plushie. Strange because he didn't have one since he was five, his mother Mika always let him sleep with his favorite stuffed animal, they were almost inseparable, God he had totally forgot about Mr Blue Frog! And now that he thought about this, it was the first time he woke up with a memory of his past that was not about something horrible. This was, indeed, the first time he was having an happy memory!

A content smile crept on his lips and he opened both his eyes looking in his arms. The image of a puppy never falters as he looked down. He had his fingers entangled in a blue wavy mess of soft hair but what it startled him was Juvia's face. She had her face hidden in his chest, her arms were around him dangerously near the curve of his ass, Not that he felt like complaining or anything.

She had her nose red for the friction of her face rubbing against his skin while she was waking and then he saw her opening her eyes, her blue limpid eyes, and it was like looking in a lake when the sun starts to mirror in the water. Those eyes made something powerful, like a 4000 V shock right in his chest and he immediately could feel those butterfly in the stomach everybody talked about. And he discovered it was almost painful.

He had always felt strong in his cool way to act, invincible in his ice and yet now it was as his heart was a fresh dish to offer on a plate to someone that could easily throw it away and suddenly everything made sense. He was not the brave one, Juvia was, every time she had put her heart on display for him to see., for him to hurt.

He knew well how much love meant suffering and until now he was not ready to let that happened, was he ready to suffer, to be hurt now?

She smiled with her eyes still not entirely focused and he melted. The urge of kissing her almost unbearable but she regain her awareness and the smile disappeared from her lips and the serenity in her gaze seemed.. Broken. There was no more light in her bright blue eyes.

She put her fists against his chest pushing him.

None of them said nothing.

He just let her slip away from his grasp, letting die the fucking butterflies one by one, each one leaving a strand of bitter in his stomach. He deserved this.

He almost wanted to laugh at himself.

Karma was a bitch.

"Let's get ready! We have to find Wendy!" Erza said

The plan was simple, in and out, the less they get noticed the better, only Natsu kept telling the plan was a shit because he couldn't burn anything but after a bit of menacing looks from Lucy and a pair of convincing glare from Erza he decided to stick to the plan.

Juvia would enter in her water form, looking for Wendy then going out and telling Mest the correct position, Mest, and Erza would enter taking the little dragon slayer and then out. Plain and simple. Well not a complicated plan but it seemed the best they could do with less that three hours of sleep and the simpler the better.

They managed to get closer to the castle. Well, for being the residence of Zeref it was actually.. Nice.. Not the kind of castle they kinda expected with scary spires and.. maybe bats all around the place, some Gargoyle at least? And truth be told there was not even so much of protection, just two guards peacefully sleeping at the entrance.

Maybe be the darkest mage around, makes you feel a little confident about not being attacked. Who the hell would try to leak in a place full of the strongest, evilest mages of the world?

"So, are we going? I'm all fired up!" Natsu said smiling wide

"Not you, it's Juvia's turn now! Erza answered hitting the dragon slayer.

"She'll take all the fun! This plan is a shit!" He pouted

"She will not, she will just go in and came out without meeting anyone, no fights!" Gray said almost hysterically.

"Sure," Lucy said putting her hands on Gray's shoulder "this is the plan!"

Juvia rolled her eyes, annoyed at something she couldn't quite pinpoint "Well, I'm going!"

"hey Juvia" Gray called going closer and looking strangely at her

" What?"

"Just.." He said passing a hand at the back of his nape, as he always did when he was nervous and diverted his eyes while a bit of red crept to his neck and ears "Just be safe, k?"

"I can take care of myself" she answered bitterly but truth be told, she felt a bit of a bitch treating him like this.. He was just being nice.. no harm.. so she touched lightly his wrist "I will" she said smiling before turning herself into water.

They were following Juvia's stream getting near the entrance

"Fuck" Gray panicked "What if they had a magic detector? They would find Juvia as soon as she enter the damn door, why didn't we think about this? This plan is a crap!"

They all hold a breath, it was a possibility after all and she was already there. It was too late to do anything.

Juvia passed between the two guards, almost splashing them in a mocking way, without them noticing and then she was in.

Everybody released a breath. "I told you it would work!" Natsu said cheerfully.

"…And now we wait" Erza said but almost too soon, from a side door they spotted a glimpse of blue hair

"wow Juvia sure is fast!" Natsu said

"That's not Juvia" Gray answered almost immediately. Well, Juvia had lighter hair, even at that distance it was pretty obvious, why were all looking strangely at him?

"Wait if that's not Juvia, it means…" Charle said almost crying

"it's Wendy!" Lucy shouted

"Wow! This rescue plan was amazing! I told ya!" Natsu yelled gaining a lot of rolling eyes

Wendy was happily walking down the street licking an ice cream when Mest transported her behind the bush everyone was hiding.

"Minna?" She smiled

"Wendy, we thought, you were in danger, what happened?" Erza asked "Is that Star mango's ice cream?" She added with a dangerous glimpse in her eyes, shocking her head at her same thoughts, as she was ready to do something really despicable like stealing a candy from a baby.. or an ice cream from a little girl.

"Gomen nasai, Gomen nasai, I didn't want to scare you!" Wendy bowed

"didn't that girl, Brandish kidnapped you?" Lucy asked

"Yes, well, Miss Brandish was actually very nice, she brought me to her room, she offered me tea, biscuits and a lot of ice cream and juice.."

"Starmango's" Erza asked hungrily

"Yes.." Wendy said a bit scared "she.. she let me sleep in her room and she said i could go whenever i wanted, that she would not let anyone follow me, that i was free, so i woke up soon to look for you and…"

"This does not makes sense at all" Gray said opening his shirt

"I thought the same but Brandish-san she said she doesn't like to fight, she prefers to go shopping and sewing and that she had mistaken me for another.. So it was all a big misunderstanding.."

"what does it means? How could she kidnap someone by mistake?" Mest said

"Miss Brandish said it was because of my hair.."

"your blue hair?" Gray asked feeling a clutch to his stomach

"yes," Wendy said sincerely

"Shit" Natsu cursed, "I think we just played their game"

Screw their "no fight" plan

Juvia was in danger and no way in hell Gray would let something happen to her!