Crossing her legs up onto the couch and resting her elbows on her knees, Juvia clasped her hands together so she could rest her chin on them, and turned to the ice mage, giving him her fullest attention. Finally relaxing, Gray returned to facing the woman beside him.
"Well, I guess I'll start from the beginning. The quest we went was chosen by Lucy, because it had such a high pay, but also seemed fairly easy. I mean, with a team of 5 strong wizards, none of us thought that we would have trouble with a job like this."
Juvia lightly nodded her head, her fixation not faltering.
"The quest was to get rid of these bandits who were stealing valuables from random homes in Hargeon. Basically, it all started when we found these bandits…"
"You guys will never catch us!"
"Hmph, you guys have no clue what you're messing with!" Lucy shouted to them, already reaching for her gate keys.
"That's right! We're from Fairy Tail! And we're gonna kick your asses!" Natsu added enthusiastically, taking a step forward.
"Does he always have to announce it?" Carla questioned to no one in particular, face palming.
One of the bandits carrying a large bag who seemed to be the leader, laughed maniacally.
"I'd like to see you guys try! " He turned to one of his lackeys, and motioned his hands towards the wizards before them, "Now!"
And just like that, with lightning speed, one of the brigands zipped by team Natsu, and then appeared back standing with his group, giving a crooked grin.
"Woah! What just happened?" Lucy questioned, feeling slightly dizzy from the speed of their enemy.
"Try and defeat us now! Ahahaha!" the third crook of the group boisterously laughed, his hands on his hips. Natsu, who was not impressed one bit, gave him a very pissed off look.
"Yeah? Well try and evade this! Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu roared, but to his utter shock, nothing happened. With a quizzical look, he questioned, "what the hell?"
"That's right! See you, losers!" the leader with the bag let out another airy laugh, and the 4 misfits took off running in all different directions.
"What just happened?" Wendy inquired with a sad and confused look.
"Magic nullifying bracelets," Erza answered, lifting up her wrist. The entire team gasped when they all turned their attention to their wrists. There, they all sported rusty metal bands on their right wrists. Lucy even jumped back in surprise.
"When did they-"
"When that guy ran by us," Gray responded, glaring angrily at his new bracelet.
"Well, how are we gonna get them off?!" the Salamander asked bitterly, trying to yank off his unfamiliar accessory.
"We have no time to worry about that right now, what we need to do is track down those bandits before they get away," Erza announced. Natsu opened his mouth to complain, but Titania continued speaking before he could get the chance to.
"These guys aren't strong, and all of us are more than capable of taking them down, so for now we are just going to have to deal with no magic, and reply on our brute strength."
"Yeah, 'brute strength'…" Wendy swallowed, earning a disappointed look from her Exceed.
"Wendy, don't worry. Since there are only four of them, you and Lucy should go together since-"
"I'm going after the guy with the bag," Gray cut off Erza, making the red haired woman shoot a slight glare towards him. Before anyone else could say anything, the ice mage was already off running.
"Why did Gray-sama want to go for the man with the bag?" Juvia interrupted, giving Gray a puzzled look.
"Because I knew he was the one with all of the stolen valuables," Gray answered casually, "besides, they were wasting a lot of time on talking. I mean come on, if they kept that up, the bandits would probably be on the other side of the country by the time they finished!"
Juvia laughed heartily at Gray's comment, contagiously making the ice mage smile.
"Alright. Juvia apologizes for interrupting. Gray-sama may continue his story now."
Gray ran at a full sprint down the streets of Hargeon. Sure, the idea of not being able to use his Maker Magic was slightly alarming, but he had confidence that he would not have any trouble with this idiot stealing innocent people's belongings.
Making it to the end of the town, the ice mage found himself at the waterfront of the town. Luckily for him, he found just who he was searching for, standing at the dock before the water, hunched over and trying to catch his breath.
'Just my luck,' Gray thought with a grin as he walked over to the bandit with ease.
"Man, I guess my age is really catching up with me," the bandit with the bag mention to himself out loud, breathing heavy and quick breaths.
"Hey you!"
The bandit looked over his shoulder, and saw a half naked man walking towards him.
"Crap…"
After a few mere seconds, Gray was standing head to head with the crook with the bag. The ice mage crossed his arms over his bare chest.
"Why are you stealing people's treasures?"
The bandit snorted, and strengthened his grip on his large brown satchel.
"What do you think? So we could sell it all for a heck load of jewel!"
Gray gave the crazy man in front of him a deathly glare.
"And you don't care that you are taking other people's precious belongings? That's pretty screwed up, man."
The misfit took a step towards Gray, a maniacal grin on his face.
"You think I care? It's not my problem that they may have just potentially lost one of their most prized possessions! Ahahaha-"
The laughing man was cut off swiftly when he received a solid punch straight into his face, knocking him right off his feet.
The bandit fell to the ground with a large thump, screeching at the new bruise forming on his back. Cursing under his breath, he took a look up to his attacker.
"You shouldn't meddle with what isn't yours," Gray spat, and lifted his leg, preparing for a whopping kick he was about to deliver. As he launched his leg though, the bandit quickly rolled away, and brought himself off the floor.
"Why not? It's a lot more fun than you think," the crook smirked villainously. He then reached forward and snatched Gray's necklace off his neck, leaving the magic-less wizard in slight shock.
"Hey!"
"See, look how fun that was!" he teased, dangling Gray's ever present necklace in front of him. When he tried snatching it back, the thief quickly pulled his arm back.
"What the hell man? Give it back to me!"
"Gray!"
Gray turned his head at the sound of his name, and to his surprise, saw Lucy and Wendy further down the distance, struggling against the bandit that they chose to go after. Just then, Wendy received a large punch to her face, sending her faltering backwards onto the ground.
"Lucy! Wendy! Just give me a sec! I need to finish this guy up first!"
When Gray turned back around, his previous enemy was giving him an extremely offended look.
"Do I mean so little to you?" he questioned, taking steps back, until he made it to the end of the dock, clutching his satchel of goodies in one hand, and Gray's necklace in the other.
"Clearly I'm not as weak as you make me out to be, because you still don't have your necklace back," he mockingly swung the chain of the necklace back and forth with an outstretched arm.
"Screw you! I'm gonna get back my necklace AND everyone else's treasures! Then I'm gonna save Lucy and Wendy! And finally, I'm gonna kick your ass for being such an annoyance!"
"Oh really…" the criminal snarled, loosening his grip on the chain in his hand. Noticing his opportunity, Gray charged at the cause of his aggravation, reaching out for his favourite article of clothing.
Just as the necklace was an arm's length away from him, Gray stretched out to grab it, but was shocked when the bandit raised the chain upwards.
The thief let out a riotous laugh as Gray almost fell right off the dock.
"Nice try! But that's not enough to get your precious necklace back! Ahahaha!"
Gray glared at the giggling maniac, and attempted grab his necklace yet again, but the enemy had different plans.
"Oops!"
And just then, he threw Gray's necklace off the dock, and it slowly began to sink down. Astonished, the ice mage did the first thing he could think of, and jumped into the water, desperately hoping to find his necklace.
"I don't think so! Water lock!"
"Water magic?!" Juvia jumped up in shock, startling Gray.
"Yeah, I was kind of surprised myself. I've never seen anyone use spells similar to yours."
Juvia settled back into her seat crossing her arms, a childlike pout adorned on her face. "What a disgrace to water mages, using his magic for evil."
"Uh… but what about your days in Phantom Lord?"
The rain woman gasped, her jaw dropping.
"W-Well! it was a long time ago… a-and that was when-"
"It doesn't matter," Gray shrugged, "anyways…"
A large bubble of water cast around Gray's wrist, which just so happened to be beside the ladder of the dock, making him trapped to said ladder.
The stripper let out a frustrated noise, attempting to freeze the water that has cancelled his mobility. Sadly, nothing happened, just as he expected.
'Crap… this guy's magic isn't even that strong, but this stupid bracelet is messing up everything!' Gray thought, continuously tugging at his wrist, but was making no progress.
"Oh, how sad…" the bandit teased, "looks like you have lost your necklace I still have the bag!"
Just after he said that, a distant female scream was heard down the distance, making the evil man smile even more.
"As well, you haven't saved your friends either!"
He started laughing once more, making Gray flinch.
"Would you just shut the hell up?!" He struggled, but to no avail.
"Why not? Gray, was it? Just listen to your friend's screams," he gave an evil grin, "listen to all the pain they're in, just because you wanted to save your little necklace before them."
Guilt slowly began to consume Gray, as he listened to his friend's cries for help.
"You call yourself a mage, Gray? A real mage wouldn't have this much trouble retrieving a simple necklace."
Gray gave the bandit the dirtiest look he could make, but he couldn't help but begin to regret his decisions.
"Whatever! I'm more of a mage than you'll ever be!"
"Oh really now? How about you think of your friends right now. They're all fighting in hopes to get this bag back," he lifted up his satchel, so Gray could get a better look, "but in reality, they're battling so you wouldn't have too much trouble saving it."
Gray lamely attempted to retrieve the bag, but from where he was, there was not a chance he could reach it, making the crook smirk.
"How sad though, because you weren't able to achieve that goal either!"
The robber cackled as he launched the bag of possessions right over Gray's head. Panicking, Gray screamed as his goal was tossed right over him, and watched it slap the water with a large splash.
"No!" he reached out with his free hand, but it was no use. The one item he needed was now drowning right before his eyes, and he could do nothing about it.
At the top of the dock, the water magic user laughed at Gray's drowning dreams, but was cut off by someone running down the dock towards him.
"What the hell, Rob?!" To his relief, it was one of his lackeys.
"Don't worry Bill, we can just get more treasure after this. Trust me, seeing this wannabe mage squirm was totally worth it."
Bill looked down the dock, and saw a half naked man trapped to the ladder, flailing violently towards the water before him. The sight caused him to give a sly smile.
"What happened to the two girls you were fighting?" Rob questioned.
"Oh them? I took them down no problem."
The criminals snickered loudly, before turning their attention to the defenseless ice mage beneath them.
"You hear that Gray? I thought you were supposed to have saved them by now! Whatever happened to that? Oh right! It's because you are a failure! You let all your friends down, all because of a stupid chain of metal that you weren't even able to save! How humiliating." Rob ridiculed.
" Have fun explaining this one to all the towns' people who were counting on you!"
Juvia stared at Gray as he let out a large sigh, avoiding eye contact by staring at his hands.
"What… what happened after that?"
"Erza and Natsu eventually showed up after a few minutes," Gray muttered angrily, "they were able to take those two idiots down in no time, and saved me from the water."
"Oh… well that's good-"
"No, it's not," Gray rudely interrupted, and the water mage quickly shut her mouth.
"Erza and Natsu ended up defeating all 4 of the bandits by themselves, as well as they took care of Wendy, Lucy and I."
Juvia gave Gray a perplexed look, not understanding what the problem was.
"After that ordeal, when we went to talk to the mayor of Hargeon, he was beyond pissed off at us. He yelled at us for failing so miserably, but who could blame him though? I really did screw up big time on this one."
Juvia opened her mouth to disagree, but decided it'd be better to wait until Gray was done his story telling. She had interrupted him too many times anyway.
"Not only did we not get the money, but he also banned us from ever coming to Hargeon again!"
Juvia's eyes widened from hearing this, and Gray looked downcast.
"So, not only are none of us allowed to be there anymore, but we also lost a huge cash reward that would have been great. Not to mention that Lucy and Wendy got hurt, and it was all my fault."
A twinge of jealousy found its way into Juvia after hearing that Gray was concerned for the other girls, but she quickly brushed it off.
"All because of a stupid necklace that I didn't get back." Gray ran his hand through his hair, signifying the end of his story.
They sat in silence for a few moments, neither knowing what to say or do. Juvia, deciding to break the thick silence, and adjusted how she was sitting so she could look Gray straight in the eye.
"Juvia thinks… that Gray-sama may be over thinking this."
Her words caused Gray to finally look at Juvia for the first time since his story began, and the water mage noticed the sadness and frustration in his eyes.
"What do you mean by that?"
"W-Well…" Juvia stuttered, slightly startled by the intense look Gray was giving her.
"J-Juvia will go to Hargeon and search the waters for the missing bag!" she stammered, her heart beating terribly fast.
Why does he have to look at Juvia so deeply?!
"No, there would be no point. That bag is long gone by now, so there's no reason to waste time looking for it."
"Juvia doesn't mind searching-"
"I said there's no point, so drop it!" Gray shouted, making the water mage jump.
"Gray-sama…"
Gray groaned as he leaned very far back into his couch with a grievous look on his face that made Juvia's heart feel like it was slowly cracking.
"Juvia does not understand. Why is Gray-sama so upset over a silly mission?"
Gray gave her an exasperated look. "Are you serious right now? What do you think?"
"Missions go wrong all the time, and we all have our fair share of jobs that have gone way beyond our control. Plus, you've never been so troubled by one before. Juvia thinks that there is something beyond the incomplete job."
Gray grumbled as he crossed his arms over his bare chest, turning his head completely away from Juvia.
"Don't worry about it."
Irritation was one of many words of how Juvia was feeling right now.
"Stubborn as ever…" she sputtered quietly, but due to them being in an empty and silent room with no one but each other, Gray obviously had heard her.
"Hey!"
Juvia gasped at this, her eyes widening as big as tennis balls.
"Juvia is sorr-" she stopped herself. No, Juvia was not going to take a tsundere attitude from him today!
"Actually, no, I take that back," the rain woman stood up and marched over towards the front of her love, a sudden wave of confidence flooding her, "I want to know whats really bugging you right now!"
Gray gaped at her sudden boldness, causing Juvia's newfound determination to freeze and shatter within an instant.
"Th-that is… if Gray-sama is comfortable with telling Juvia…" she stumbled as she turned away from him, a fresh new blush appearing.
Gray raised an eyebrow at this, before shaking his head at the ludicrous girl in front of him.
"I'm sorry Juvia, but it's really nothing. Stop worrying so much, will ya?"
But the water mage stood her ground, staring at the ceiling above her. She quickly retold Gray's story in her head, looking for any clues of why Gray would be upset.
If it's not the bag disappearing then why is- a large gasp escaped the bluenette as she turned around once again to face her obsession.
"How could Juvia be so stupid?!" she exclaimed wildly.
"You're angry because of what that bandit with the bag was saying to you!"
The ice mage looked away, scratching the back of his head. "Well, it's not that hard to figure out."
"Gray-sama doesn't… believe any of those terrible words that were said to him, right?"
A light scowl grew upon his face, making Juvia let out a sharp gasp yet again.
"B-But! He is so very wrong-"
"How could I not believe him? Everything he said was true. I lost the bag, and my friends got hurt. What kind of Fairy Tail wizard let's all of that happen because of a stupid, worthless necklace?"
"You can't believe what everyone says! He's lying, Gray-sama! He was only saying that to make you feel invaluable!"
"Everything he said was true though!"
Juvia put her hand on her forehead in aggravation, and settled back into her seat.
"He is wrong, Gray-sama."
Gray also groaned in frustration, not enjoying the back and forth arguing. "Clearly he wasn't, seeing as everything he said did actually happen. I really am a worthless mage."
"Just because you made a mistake doesn't mean you are a bad mage," she replied quietly, clearing out the wrinkles on her skirt.
"We all make many mistakes during our lives, but those imperfections are what make us human!" she pleaded, but Gray did nothing but slightly shrug at her words, clearly not buying it.
Running out of options, Juvia did the one thing that she had hoped she wouldn't have to ever do again.
"A long time ago, people would tell Juvia that she would be followed by the rain forever," she started suddenly, causing Gray to give her a slightly taken aback look.
"Juvia, you don't have to-"
"And… for a long time, Juvia believed them. What hope could a rain woman like me have if it really was happening? For years and years, Juvia had decided to accept the fact that she would never see a sun shine.
"But… after the whole Phantom Lord incident, Juvia was shown that she had been living a lie the whole time. Who would have thought that the sun would actually illuminate down on me?"
"Juvia…"
"Juvia learned something very important that day. She… I learned that it is so easy to tell a lie, and even easier to be convinced into believing one. But, after that day Gray-sama, I knew that I would never be tricked so easily again. Even though it may seem like it's the truth at the time, learn that it does not matter what others say to you."
Gray gave the water woman an astonished look, in which she replied with a sheepish smile.
"Juvia knows that Lucy and Wendy are not upset, as they could never be."
A light blush dusted Juvia's cheeks. "Also, to Juvia, Gray-sama is the strongest wizard she will ever meet."
This comment caused a light blush graze itself onto the ice mage's cheeks.
"But if you if really that affected by that stranger's words, Juvia is willing to do anything in her power to help atone for Gray-sama's mistakes."
A sincere smile sprouted from Gray's lips, making Juvia's heart flutter.
"Thank you, Juvia."
The smile alone caused Juvia to instantly want to pounce onto her beloved and embrace him, but her self-control told her not to.
"Anything for Gray-sama!"
Feeling more at ease, Gray extended his legs onto the table in front of him, looking down onto his empty chest.
"It's just… whenever I look down and see that I no longer have my necklace there, I can't help but think about everything that went wrong."
Juvia scrunched her eyebrows together, as if she was thinking of a response.
"Then… starting tomorrow we shall begin thinking of plans to get rid of those thoughts!" she announced suddenly, her eyes sparkling.
Gray merely smiled in response, finally relaxing for the first time in that day.
After sitting in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, Juvia remembered something important.
"Ah! Juvia almost completely forgot!" she declared, causing Gray to turn his attention to her. She reached for her white bag and began to rummage through it.
"What is it?" he asked curiously, leaning up to try and get a peak of what she was looking for.
"What good is a dinner without dessert?" she exclaimed, and proudly pulled out yet another thermos from her bag of mysteries, causing Gray's eyes to lighten up.
A large and gracious smile grew onto the stripper as he eagerly awaited to find out just what she had made him. "Well, what did you make?"
Juvia bit her lip as she protectively held her thermos, looking slightly downcast.
"Well… Juvia spent so much time on making the soup that she did not have much time left to prepare for a dessert. Not wanting to show up empty handed though, Juvia tried to make a caramade frank."
Gray's smile grew wider at this, making Juvia frown glumly. Noticing her sadness, the ice mage's face contorted into a concerned looking one.
"But… Juvia has never baked such a pastry before, and since she rushed so much… well…" she slowly pooped the top off her thermos. "Juvia has created a caramade frank pudding!"
Immediately Gray raised an eyebrow to this, and peaked inside the thermos. There, was a brown pudding-like substance, with caramel being the only thing he could recognize in it.
Not wanting to offend the chef, he grabbed the thermos and spoon she offered him, and took a shot at the questionable dessert.
After swallowing the first spoonful, Gray was yet again surprised by the taste. "A little different, but it's still pretty damn good!"
Juvia cheered at hearing this, making Gray smile at her happiness.
He began to eat contently, before slightly feeling bad that the girl who was being so nice to him was sitting there, watching him eat.
"Do you want to try some?" he asked, offering her the thermos. Juvia's eyes widened at the suggestion.
"But… Juvia only brought one spoon!"
"I don't mind sharing," he said, scooping up a spoonful of her concoction.
Juvia let out the biggest gasp of the night as Gray slowly motioned for her to take the spoon.
Grabbing it, the rain woman began to go into one of her many extreme dazes.
I... In… Indirect… INDIRECT KISS! She shouted in her thoughts, a fuzzy feeling spreading through her body and she stared at the spoon in her hand.
She slowly began to bring the spoon to her mouth, shaking so much that some of its contents were falling off it. Gray gave her an unsure look.
Just as the spoon was only a mere few centimetres away from her mouth, Juvia's mind flooded with one single thought.
Indirect kiss. Indirect kiss. Indirect kiss!
Finally, as if she was taking forever, she brought the spoon into her mouth delightfully, before slowly pulling it out as she swallowed her pudding.
Gray stared at her questionably, as Juvia merely froze staring at the spoon.
"Well…?" the man asked, slightly confused at her ridiculous attitude towards the spoon.
After a few seconds, the water woman let out a surprisingly squeal while raising her raising her arms, accidentally letting go of the spoon during it, before passing out onto Gray's lap.
"What the hell…?" Gray questioned incredulously, before being bonked on the head with the spoon that was previously launched up by Juvia.
Still can't get over the fact that Michael Jones is going to be Sting Eucliffe for the English dub. Like holy freckled jesus I was FREAKING OUT.
Sorry this took slightly longer to be updated, its just that I recently got a job (yay!), so I was kinda busy with getting accustomed that lol.
And holy crackers this was a long chapter. I just didn't think cutting it halfway through his story would be very good, so I held off on that.
Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! Reading them made me feel better about there being no new chapter last Friday ;-;.
EDIT 12/08/2014- I WOKE UP THIS MORNING TO UPLOAD THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE I UPLOADED THAT DOC YESTERDAY AND STUFF, BUT THEM I'M LIKE BEFORE I DO THAT LET ME JUST GO ON TUMBLR AND OH MY GOSH I DIDN'T REALIZE THE NEW CHAPTER CAME OUT AND HOLY HOLY HOLY GAJEEL AND LEVY. IT HAPPENED. IF ANYONE WANTS TO FANGIRL ABOUT IT WITH ME PLEASE TELL ME BECAUSE I LITERALLY COULD NOT BREATHE (lol I'm funny).