A/N: I have toyed with this chap a while, but in the end I gave up and just uploaded it as it is. I am a perfectionist so I wanted to get the characters just right!

Anyways, as usual let me know what you think! I am very grateful to those who have done this already : D

Don't want to give anything away, but keep in mind this is Gruvia, even if doesn't seem like it at times.

Trying to make the most of her time, the blunette had a pen in her hand. She wrote down a sentence, then crossed it out. Then wrote down another, and once again scribbled over it. This pattern continued until the nervous girl realized she was almost out of paper. It would take a Herculean effort to come up with the right words to say to the silver haired ice mage. How could she explain this kind of thing? I don't mean to disrupt your life, but remember that one night, a few weeks ago? Yeah. You knocked me up, sorry. I hope this doesn't put a damper on your day?

The water mage sighed, accepting the familiar feeling of approaching a dead end. She faced both writer's block and genuine dread churning in her gut.

All of a sudden, the anxious mother-to be felt an abrupt thud in her back. She turned around.

"I'm bored! When are we getting there!" Came the voice of a whiny child.

"Madeleine! You stop that right now!"

A woman, who looked to be in her mid thirties to early forties ,was scolding her daughter who had been kicking the water mage's seat relentlessly. The girl looked to about two years old in age.

"I'm so sorry! She's not usually like this!" She apologized.

Juvia gave a weak smile and replied. "That's okay… children will be children." It was the best she could come up with, without sounding rude.

Juvia glanced at her watch. Only fifteen minutes had gone by. She layed her head against the window and tried to sleep. No good. The sound of the train's engine roaring and the constant squabbles she heard on the hind side of her seat were endless. It was Madeleine's parents, bickering as if they were her age. Shutting her eyes, the mage heard the sound of the father's voice talking low, first. Then came the mother's. The water mage couldn't make out what they were saying at first, but as fuel was added to the fire, their voices grew more and more audible.

"She's your child, so deal with her! Why do you allow her to be so rude?!" The man barked.

"Don't even go there! YOU were the one who wanted to bring her in the first place! I wanted to find a babysitter! but nooooo… "

"DO NOT raise your voice at me, Jeanelle! I thought for once, we could go somewhere without our child making a scene! But every time I correct her, you console her and blame me!"

At the climax of their argument, their daughter, Madeleine began wailing at the top of her lungs. The noise pierced her ears like a sharp blade cutting into her eardrum. Juvia had never wanted so much to yell at somebody else's child. But this kid….. was such a brat.

She stopped the train attendant as she walked by. "Excuse me…. Um… Can Juvia get a couple of pillows?" She politely asked.

"Sure, I'll be back in a moment miss."

When the pregnant mage recieved her pillows, she took them and sandwiched herself, with a pillow on each ear, so that the intense cries of the child were dulled. Although she could still hear the whining of the girl and the arguing of the couple, it was muffled.

The exasperated mage put a hand to her lower belly. "You're going to be a good girl, right?" She whispered softly.

Finally as the the family behind her calmed down, she began to feel a calmness wash over her for the first time in days. Motherhood was going to be one wild ride. Though she was sure it would be a challenge, she told herself she could do it. If Bisca could do it, so could she. But even so, she knew that Bisca had Alzack, and they were madly in love. She was pregnant with Lyon's baby, and was far from being madly in love with him.

The silver haired mage greeted her with a surprised expression. Just the sight of Juvia was enough to stupefy him.

"…. Juvia-chan!" He exclaimed. The ice mage had an apron draped around him. It was an odd sight, with Opera music blaring in the background. It was Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the famous German Baritone opera singer.

"Hello, Lyon. Juvia's sorry she had to drop by so unexpectedly… she can see you were busy."

"Oh, no it's fine! I just wasn't….exactly expecting… to see you." The words stumbled out. "How did you know where I live?"

"I went to your guild and spoke to some of your friends. They told me you were taking the day off."

"Oh. I see. "Well, come inside and sit down at least. I made churros" He replied, trying to be friendly.

"Lyon, it's okay, you don't have to be so polite. Juvia doesn't want to beat around the bush so…."

But when Juvia stepped inside she had a question come to mind . "Churros? What's a churro?" She asked, distracted by the side conversation, and the music.

"It's a Spanish dish. They're like a cinnamon flavored fried dough. I baked mine though, makes it a little healthier." He explained. "Here." He said, putting one on a plate and handing it to her. "Try it." She planned on protesting, but ended up taking it anyway. They did smell good.

His house was different than what the girl had pictured. It was small, but tasteful. Though she saw that his kitchen was cluttered when she walked by, the rest of his house was fairly neat. Most of the walls were a deep blue hue. Most of the items around were old looking and a bit rusted, but they were artsy, looking very antique. It was very much different from he other ice mage's house which was plain in comparison.

They entered his living room and they sat down at a couch, Lyon removing his apron and turning the music off.

" Oh! These are really delicious!" For one golden second, she thought of nothing but the churro. She took another bite and set the plate on the coffee table before continuing.

"But Juvia must get to the point." Her tone transformed. Though she'd thought for the longest time about what she should say to him, all of her planning had gone to waste. The water mage couldn't remember a word of what she had decided to say.

"Listen. Juvia doesn't want you to get the wrong idea about us. What happened that night…."

"Juvia, before you say anything I want to say I'm sorry."

"…..Sorry?"

"Of course! I should never have bought you all those drinks! A person should never have more than one Martini on their first time! And well… look where it lead us. We haven't even spoken since." He stated regretfully.

"Honestly, I always thought that I would cherish a night with you, even if it was just one" He cast his gaze onto the floor. "What an idiot I was. I don't even remember the details! I was just as out of it as you were!"

"Lyon… please. Before we talk about this any further, there's something else I need to tell you." She spat out.

His eyes widened until his expression appeared vacant. The water mage took a deep breath before dropping the bombshell.

Before she knew it drops of salty water were once again flowing, like a river, down her cold, white skin.

"I-I 'm s-sorry." She stammered. "I wish I didn't have to tell you this. It's too much for me to stomach, even now." She wiped her eyes. Luckily it was easier this time to handle the tears. There had been many tears lately.

"Lyon, I-I-I-I….." She was choking on her words.

Lyon's icy stare made him impossible to read. He blinked his eyes as he remained fixated on the wall behind her with blank eyes. Although she hadn't come out with the hard truth yet, she didn't need to. The ice mage knew just by hearing the tone of her voice and seeing the scared expression in her eyes, that she was indeed pregnant. His face looked familiar. It was the same face that she wore when her eyes saw the pink coloration on the test strip.

"So we did go all the way that night, as I thought." He put a hand over his eyes. "And I don't even remember what it was like." He smiled bitterly. "Funny how karma works." The silence gave off a distinctly uncomfortable aura.

"How did Gray react?" He asked monotonously, looking up at his love interest.

"He didn't" She replied, still trying the dry the dampness on her face.

"Excuse me?" He asked with a hollow tone.

"He didn't react. Juvia didn't tell him."

Lyon was nearly speechless. "You didn't tell Gray?" He was still in a state of disbelief, about both pieces of information.

She responded firmly, almost irritated. "Of course not! It's between us. He's not involved."

"I can't believe I'm hearing those words from your mouth, Juvia. You came all the way here to tell me first. I'm touched."

Normally the water mage would be annoyed, as he was implying that there was something between them, but he seemed to genuine. Not flirtatious, just genuine.

"Well, it's only right, you know. Gray-sama doesn't need to be burdened with this right now." Her eyes still reflected worry. "This is my problem. Not his or anyone else's."

He moved towards her, putting his arms around her body to embrace her ."It's my problem too. You're forgetting that." Gripping her, he pulled her into a tight hug.

The torn water mage put her hands in between their bodies and gave the ice mage a gentle push. She stood up. "No, Lyon. Juvia only came here to tell you the facts. You're the father, but you needn't be involved any further. The child doesn't need to know." Lyon's heart sank when the warmth of her body disappeared as she moved away from him.

"Are you kidding me!? This is my child we're talking about. If I made a baby with you, then I plan to take responsibility."

" We can't raise her like this!" She exploded.

"Her? So, It's a girl?" The very confused man scrunched his eyebrows together.

The pregnant girl ignored him. She had forgotten that she didn't really know, she was only trying to give her baby an identity. Having a gender might help.

"Juvia's not in love with you. She can't just force herself to love somebody. It' s better for the child to be raised by one parent who will concentrate on raising her, than to be placed in the middle of a one-sided relationship."

The father to be pursed his lips. Her point had gotten across. A relationship where there wasn't love would only skew their child's perception of love. Trying to make it work would only lead to fighting. As much as he longed for her to return his feelings. There was no forcing love. Juvia didn't like playing with his emotions, but she could help it. Unfortunately, that was how love worked. It was often a string of unreturned feelings, causing a domino effect. It made if hard for those effected to not lose their grip on reality. Lyon was a good man, she could tell, but he could not take the place of Gray.

The water mage had made herself clear to him several times in her encounters with him. But as long as Gray didn't return those feelings, the silver haired mage had hope that he could win her over.

But no matter how hurt she was by Gray's apparent indifferent attitude, she couldn't let go of her feelings for him. He had been there since the beginning. Even now, pregnant with another man's child, she had faith that they were fated to be together.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of the smoke detector going off. The smoky scent finally reached Juvia's nostrils and she watched as Lyon scrambled over to the kitchen to deal with the tiny hassle.

"Whoops, forgot about the churros!" He called to her from the kitchen, as if he was still in the dark about the pregnancy. "I should have put the timer on!" The blunette rolled her eyes as the momentum of her speech went down the drain. Juvia could have help him out, but instead she stayed put out of annoyance.

After taking longer than he should've, Lyon came back into the living room, still wearing oven mitts. "Sorry about that." He said before enduring another long awkward pause. His faint smile sunk into a frown when he saw her stoic expression.

"Lyon….. do you understand understand what I'm saying? I regret what happened and am sorry that it had be you there that night."

"It wasn't coincidence, Juvia! I was there when you were down because I care."

"You got Juvia drunk. How did that help anything?" Her words were truth and Lyon wanted to disagree with the statement, but couldn't. There was no arguing with her logic. He did get her drunk. But she had been absolutely miserable. He didn't want to deny her even artificial comfort.

Juvia's sorry but she needs to get going. She hasn't even completed the mission she took to come here. There's no need to rouse people's suspicions."

"Wait! Are you absolutely sure that you're pregnant? I mean, there's no need getting ourselves worked up for nothing! What if the test was wrong!?"

"Juvia's thought of that. She's taken several home pregnancy tests and she's thinking about going to a doctor soon, but it will be difficult going without anybody knowing."

"Nobody knowing? You can't honestly be telling me that you're not going to tell anybody!" He was equally as serious now. "People are going to know! Gray is going to know!" The ice mage looked her dead in the eyes.

Juvia nodded her head. It was funny hearing the ice mage showing his disapproval with her like this. It was like her talk with past twenty four hours, everyone had been ridiculously honest, that is, except for Juvia. She was still trying to piece together what was left of her once stable life. If her chances with Gray were slim before, they were practically at zero now.

"I'll be going now. Think what you want, but this is my child and I'll do what I want with her."

"Wait a minute….. you're not saying you're getting an abortion? Are you? Because this is my child too, Juvia! I hope you don't think I'm angry... but please... let me love you... and the baby" He cupped the left side of her face in his hand.

She pulled away again heading to the door.

"No…. that's not what Juvia meant. She's my baby. Even if I don't know her, she's still mine." Unable to restrain herself, the girl touched where her baby was growing, once again.

"I only mean that when and how I deal with her is my business. Lyon-sama, Juvia is truly sorry, really. Just let her think about it... she needs to think."

She turned back around and briskly exited Lyon's home, taking quick strides.

When she was only about ten feet out he caught her attention again. "Juvia!" She slowly turned her head back around.

"I love you." The words were like a kick in the gut, swift and painful.

The wind sent a cold breeze over them, unusual for summer. It was an October wind, not an August one, and it overtook Juvia, sending chills down her spine. It wasn't the same wind that blew near the ocean back at Fairy Tail. This wind was cold against her skin. It was cold against her soul. It was heartless, the way she was, or at least the way she felt. She wanted so badly to be able to tell him that she felt the same way, but it wasn't true.

Juvia took once last look at Lyon, and headed off to complete her mission.

Back in Magnolia, she felt lost, like it wasn't Fairy Tail at all. Being the only one from the guild that knew of the situation, she felt no motivation to talk to any of her friends at all. She was even less than enthused about seeing Gray again. Following her conversation with Lyon, the load on her chest felt even heavier than before.

The conversation hadn't gone the way she had hoped. But she felt the failure had been on her end. Lyon had completely accepted her and she pushed him away.

This was a burden that she didn't want to put on others, including him.

She went back to her dorm and headed immediately to the shower, where she could rejuvenate. After briefly washing off she hopped out, wrapping a towel around her body and went out to the kitchen. There were many other healthy choices in the girl's reach, but her eyes glazed over them and immediately focused on the large tub of cookie dough ice cream in the back of her freezer. She strenuously toiled through the maze of packaged foods and went straight for the good stuff.

Grabbing a spoon, she dipped the utensil into the container and dug out all the big chunks of dough. It was her favorite part, really. That was why she typically avoided even opening a tub of ice-cream. It started as a few spoonfuls and soon half of the ice-cream was gone. The girl, realizing what she was doing, dropped the spoonful of ice-cream like it was poison. She plopped the box into her trashcan.

"No more of that stuff. Juvia needs to eat healthy for the baby." She murmured to herself.

"Hey! I wanted some of that!" Juvia's heart skipped a beat when she heard the deep voice. Her favorite ice mage was standing right behind her.

After giving off a shrill shriek she interrogated him "Gray sama! What are you doing here!?You could have killed Juvia!" Embarassed she quickly threw the spoon into the sink, and wiped her face of any leftover ice-cream to hide the evidence of her pig-out,

"Dont'cha think you're exaggerating a little?"

"How long have you been here?" She asked, chewing on a finger nail. The other hand was making sure that the towel was secure around her. She blushed a crimson red, as he did.

Is Gray-sama blushing? Does he like to see Juvia nearly naked?

She couldn't help but grin slightly.

"That's for me to know."

"Don't you usually only break into Lucy-san's apartment?"

"What? Who told you that? Natsu? I don't break in, she welcomes me."

Not what the water mage wanted to hear, but decided to shrug it off. "No, Juvia just overhears things sometimes." she tilted her head to the side. "Why are you here Gray-sama? Juvia would like to know."

The ice mage scratched the back of his neck . "Well, it's nuthin really, I just wanted to make sure you were alright you know…. after our conversation and all." Gray said, retrieving the container of ice cream from the trash.

"Gray sama! That was in the trash!" The alarmed pregnant mage yelled.

"Yeah? And? It was on the very top; it didn't touch anything." The dark haired man found a spoon and dug in.

"Yes, Juvia's fine. It's not like she was upset about it." The water mage acted like it was obvious that she had taken it well. In truth, she knew he saw the tears strolling down during that talk. But what he didn't know was that she was reacting to a much bigger problem than the two of them.

"Reallly? It seemed like it really affected you." The ice mage said, pointedly,

She shot him a nervous smile. "Nope. No hurt feelings here, Gray sama. Sorry to disappoint you."

"Juvia, I'm serious. Don't lie. You think it makes it better, but it doesn't." He looked away from her, seeming to be in a trance. "Trust me, I know."

The mage seemed like he was hiding something himself, but still, he didn't know just how powerful those words were to her. The pregnant mage could've told him right then and there, but she wasn't ready. After her talk with Lyon, she needed a break from the stress. There was only so much negative energy she could take at a time. Telling the father was hard enough, but the blunette needed to rest in order to muster up all the strength she had to tell Gray.

"Sorry." That was all she could bring herself to say.

The dark haired man narrowed his eyes , reproachfully ."Don't say sorry anymore. I don't wanna hear that stuff. The only thing I want from you is the truth. If you're honest, I'll be honest." He said, leaning against the counter.

Juvia looked into his dark, earnest eyes. "Gray-sama, I have always been honest. I have told you before that I love you. I can't be more honest than that."

Gray looked as if he had something important on his mind. "Juvia….. you make t really hard for anyone to understand you." His voice was hard to interpret.

The water mage nodded her head. "Yes, Juvia knows." She sighed. "But she's tired and would like to go to sleep. Her mission was harder than expected."

" I bet. " Came the empty words.

"Well okay, time for Gray-sama to leave." She tried to shoo him out.

"Fine, I'm going. But don't say I didn't try." The ice mage decided to leave it at that. He definitely wasn't one to pry into her life, so it was unusual for him to do something like this.

"By the way, the master has a mission for us." He added. "When you're ready I'll fill you in."

His eyes then appeared to be studying his surroundings. The top of his eyelids drooped a bit. "And one more thing. Why do you have a giant picture of me hanging on the wall? That's kinda creepy." He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh…. yeah well….."

"You don't have to answer that." He told her, smirking. And with that the teenage boy leaped up onto her counter.

"Gray-sama?"

"What?"

"Could you knock next time? Even if it's on the window?"

Gray let out a brief chuckle and proceeded to exit her residence via the window above her sink.

Once he was gone, the hungry woman grabbed the tub of ice-cream which was sitting on the counter. When she peered inside, she found that he had not finished it.

She could waste her time wondering what it all meant. Her talk with Lyon, Gray showing up at her place unexpectedly and acting very strange, but the mother to be didn't have the energy. Right now, her attention was on the ice cream.

There's not very much left….. Juvia will finish it.

She went over to the sink and picked up the spoon she used before. Before she knew it, the rain woman had devoured every last bite of what was left.

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