A/N: To be honest I almost couldn't do this chapter because I HATE to write fights. Even though there's a lot of fights throughout Fairy Tail…. I'm going to tell you a secret…. *I don't pay attention*. That means I don't remember their moves or even how they won sometimes. Shameful, I know, but I care more about the emotional conflicts and dialogue more than the actual fighting.
I don't know squat! The extent my knowledge goes is that I know Gray uses static ice make magic (objects) and Lyon does more of the dynamic (animals). I had to re-read and re-watch some of their fights to remember what they use for attacks. So go easy okay? This is not my strong area.
But you know what I always wondered? Why is there no blood in the anime? There's a scene in the earlier ones where Gray's like, "I've gotta patch up this wound!" and I'm just thinking, "what wound?"
"YOU WANNA RUN THAT BY ME ONE MORE TIME, YOU FUCKING BASTARD?! ICE MAKE LANCE!"
Almost too easily, Lyon dodged the first attack. Gray was drunk, therefore the silver haired mage figured he wasn't too keen at judging spacial measurements at the moment. He had presented himself to fight in the worst possible condition.
"Which part? The part where I got Juvia pregnant or the part where I SLEPT WITH HER?!" He shot back, tauntingly. "ICE MAKE EAGLE!"
The attack was easily blocked. "ICE MAKE SHIELD!" Lyon stood there, having barely lifted a finger and Why are you using that old move on me? You haven't advanced after all this time?"
The light haired mage scoffed, wearing a slight smirk. "I was trying to go easy on you in case you came to your senses at the last moment." He put his hands together again. "But I guess you're not that smart."
"ICE MAKE SNOW DRAGON!"
Gray took the hit, and cried out in pain, but quickly stood back up as if nothing had happened and formed a move of his his own. "ICE MAKE FREEZE LANCER!" The dynamic ice make mage fell over and bleed from the affected areas.
Or is Gray in his best condition? He was moving quicker than usual, and he'd also improved his reaction time, despite his lack of good aim. He had better pain tolerance as well, it seemed. It'd been a while since he'd battled his rival one on one, but still he had no idea he'd grown this much.
"How the FUCK can you possibly even claim to have slept with her on the SAME EXACT NIGHT AS I DID?!"
Lyon's eyes shifted upwards furrowing his eyebrows at the same time, thinking about what Gray just said. Once, it fully hit home, he was unresponsive for a second, but quickly snapped out of it to laugh at Gray.
"You call me desperate!?" He said, lightly gesturing himself. "YOU'RE so desperate you have to make up some ridiculous story about having your way with her on the same night!? PATHETIC!"
All around the guild, people were whispering amongst themselves. However, those closest to the Lamia Scale ice mage were completely taken by surprise by this sudden battle between the two ice mages.
It's not that Gray and Lyon never fought, but it all happened so quickly. The Fairy Tail mage had just waltzed right through the door and challenged their friend, seemingly out of nowhere. And then there were the crazy claims each other were making.
How the hell was it even possible that they were arguing over who slept with Juvia Lockser on the very same night? It made no sense. Although what did make sense was why Juvia had arrived weeks before asking for Lyon's address, little did they know it was to inform him she was pregnant.
Chelia was the first among his main lackies to say anything. "What are they talking about!?" she asked the others frantically. Not only did she hate to see the senseless fighting, but she felt a twinge of jealousy when hearing the water mage's name spoken."She loves that Gray guy!" she whined, unable to even say the name.
Toby shook his head and pushed his hands against the sides of his head. "WHAT!? Lyon got that girl from Fairy Tail pregnant?!HOLY CRAP!"
"Shhhhh!' Yuka shushed them. "Be quiet, both of you. We don't know that. This is confusing to me too." He said, musing. Lyon hadn't said anything about this before, but what was really strange about it all was that he seemed hesitant and unsure of himself. Most wouldn't notice it, but in between insults, the conversation gave way to a slight pause, as Lyon seemed to be over analyzing their statements; both his own and Gray's.
Knowing their past, it seemed natural for Lyon to automatically assume an opposing role to his rival, whether or not what the other man said was true.
"Are you saying he's lying!?" Chelia asked the small man, hopefully, though aware that the explanation was all too simple.
He hesitated. "No… but we don't fully understand what the situation is yet. There could be something we're missing." He said matter of factly. Though he was equally confused, it was the only sure thing he could say. "But really, Chelia, you're too young for him and besides, it's none of your business." The blue haired man added. It couldn't be helped, the girl was chasing waterfalls and on a fast track to heartbreak. It was a miracle for Lyon to notice any other girl besides Juvia, let alone a fifteen year old.
"Hey!" The pink haired girl frowned at his discouraging comment but continued to watch the fight in silence, hoping to get some form of explanation from their ongoing argument. Gray was still ranting on his end.
"Honestly I have no idea what the hell is going on in that screwed up head of yours, but I thought you changed! Why are you doing this to to me!? Why are you doing this to Juvia!?"
"I think you need to ask yourself that question, Gray. Tell me, where were you on that night?! Because I don't recall you even you even being AT the celebration!"
Gray refused to accept that Lyon was making him out to be an insane liar. Who was he to accuse him of being what if anything, the elder ice mage himself was. "That's really none of your business, but I don't understand, are you THIS shameless?! ICE MAKE shotgun!"
This time Lyon was able to maneuver his way out the attacks range. "I love Juvia, and that's why you should believe me when I say that I didn't do anything to alter her mind! I already told you I don't have that ability!"
Uncaring whether it was a lie or not, Gray focused on the part that urked him the most. "How can you say you love her?! ICE MAKE BATTLE AXE!"
Lyon dodged once again, the other man's vision still being skewed from the alcohol. "Gray, you couldn't have slept with her, you weren't around. So your story doesn't make any sense." He bent over slightly, catching his breath. "I'll be honest, I don't remember all the details, much like Juvia, but can you tell me how it's possible that I had her naked in bed with me and yet somehow you impregnated her?"
His confession came as somewhat of a shock to Gray. The dark haired man couldn't find the right words to express his anger and annoyance at the other man's arrogant behavior. He was so sure Lyon was straight out lying, but it was puzzling; why would he admit any doubt in the matter? If he was going to claim that Juvia had been naked with him, why not claim an entire memory of sleeping with her?
Unless there was a motive he was unaware of, it didn't make sense, but it had tipped the scale in his favor in the younger man's eyes since it gave his story more of a chance. "You're saying that you don't even remember sleeping with her!? Then why do you proclaim me to be a liar with such confidence!?"
He had mentioned Juvia as well. She doesn't remember it either? Come to think of it she had acted confused as well, but she hadn't clarified that she didn't remember any actual sex. She had stated it as fact, without any doubt, that Lyon was indeed the father.
"I didn't say that! I can clearly remember us being together, so don't get your hopes up."
"Stop beating around the bush! DID you or did you NOT sleep with her?! You're changing your story Lyon!"
The silence in the room was infectious, every mouth sealed shut, awaiting their guild member's reply. It came as a shock to most when it appeared he didn't have one.
"What's the matter can't hold your lie together?! Here's what I have on you, I DO remember sleeping with her! So it's time you shut that FUCKING mouth of yours! Why do you always think you have the upper hand? The only thing keeping the truth obscured here is you. So why don't you…"
"Does she remember?" He asked calmly.
"What?"
"Does she remember you?"
Gray coughed up a small amount of blood."What are you getting at?! All that matters is that I KNOW we slept together!
"Then why do you proclaim me a liar so confidently? How do you know she didn't sleep with both of us."
This conversation was going in circles. "That's absurd! ICE MAKE UNLIMITED: ONE SIDED CHAOTIC DANCE!" There it was; his second origin. He trapped Lyon, much to the latter's surprise and took out his next move. "ICE MAKE BRINGER!"
Lyon was unable to dodge, being that he was encased in ice, and took the blows. However, It still wasn't enough to completely take him out , though he was impressed. " If I remember correctly you used something like this on Rufus Lore at the games, isn't that right?" He slowly stood to his feet, wobbling. "It's a good move, though not good enough for me. You're lucky our battle was tag team. Had it not been…."
He put his hands together and formed one of his favorite moves. "ICE MAKE WATER SERPENT!"
Surprised by his quick recovery from the attack, the dark haired mage reacted too slowly to dodge the attack and took a hard blow, which flung him into the air and landed him on the ground. The other man continued his sentence "You would have most DEFINITELY lost!"
Laying on the ground trying defy the pain, Gray spoke. "You're wrong. That fight worked out the way it should have….because of both of us." He pulled himself back up. "But that doesn't mean I couldn't have taken you by yourself." Trying to catch his breath, he continued. "There's only thing about this I know; I am the father of that baby. So that means…" He put his fist to his palm again. "either you're lying, or you've really gone off the deep end." He took another deep breath. "But either way….. she will NEVER love you!"
Though his words cut deep, Lyon tried to keep his composure. He feared his reputation would be shot should he break down over such a thing. Men didn't cry, and they especially didn't cry in front of their rivals. Instead he put his hands together in the form of an ice make move. However, before forming anything, he put his hands down and let the ice dissipate.
There wasn't a move in his maker magic that could properly accomplish what he wanted to do. The man made eye contact with Gray and lurched forward towards him at full force, not even sure what he was planning to do.
The other man, stood readying himself for defense.
Once Lyon was only a few feet away from his enemy an abrupt force stopped him in his tracks. The floor moved and bent beneath them and caused the ice mages to lose their balance. Looking to see what it was, they found themselves looking at what was, the life saving obstacle between them."The one with the stronger conviction wins; that is why neither of you will emerge the victor. There is no honor to your conviction!" Came a familiar booming voice from a humble man.
"Jura!" The ice mages yelled simultaneously. and turned their attention to the man who stood between them, keeping his eye on both of them in case they made another move. The ten wizard saint didn't choose fights too often and to show his disapproval of a fight was rare, so their duel must've been one that he wholeheartedly disagreed with, especially for him to go against his own guild mate.
Both the ice mages respected Jura, so they held back from doing as they desired.
"Did you really come down here just to pick a fight Gray-dono?"
"I'm fighting for Juvia, and the justice she deserves!" Gray reasoned. "This idiot is using any loose ends he can find to make up some crazy shit!"
"You took the words right out of my mouth!" Lyon growled.
"You two are fighting out of your possessive feelings for the girl; even I can see that! Your not doing her any favors by trying to rip each other's guts out!" The two took in his simple, yet sage advice and felt the shame sink in. "I may not fully understand what this is about, but fighting like this cannot be the answer, it's not righteous anger. SO OWN UP TO YOUR DISHONOR!"
They knew he was right. Both were Ur's pupil's and had agreed long ago that they weren't truly enemies, in fact they were family in a way. Yet, their inner turmoil had caused them to forget all of that, against their teacher's wishes.
Seeing that the two had reduced their threatening body language, the ten wizard saint relaxed more. Chelia, rushed over to the silver haired mage to begin healing his wounds, but not before falling and tripping first. "Owww..."
Gray could see it, the feelings were mutual. Anger overshadowed their bond from childhood. Feeling the still present tension, the younger ice mage grunted and began trudging towards the exit, in order to remove himself from the temptation to be reckless. He wanted to obliterate the murderous emotions within him, but they still lingered, unwilling to be defeated so easily.
Before walking out, however, he left his rival with a last statement. "This burden is mine. Don't come to Magnolia again. All you do is cause trouble for me and her. If you really love her, you'll stay out of this." He hated saying that word, "love", Lyon didn't love her, it was only lust as far as he could tell.
"Gray, wait! Don't leave, you need your wounds healed!" Chelia called out to him, beside a bruised and bleeding Lyon.
The exhausted ice mage ignored the girl and made his way out, trying the best he could to stay on his feet. Staying any longer wasn't a smart idea, at least in his opinion. Besides, the alcohol was beginning to wear off, and he needed more if he were to survive the remainder of the day.
"Focus on him, he needs it more than me." He told her, despite the fact that he was just as, if not more banged up. After leaving he found a nearby resting place and sealed up his own wounds artificially, planning on receiving better help from Wendy once arriving home. He felt bad about doing all of this behind Juvia's back, but he couldn't see her, not until his feelings of aggression subsided.
Days had passed since the fight, and it had been even longer since Gray was first informed about the pregnancy. The water mage was becoming impatient. She still hadn't heard from him and it was beginning to worry her. When she had asked Erza about him, all she said was that he needed to work some things out.
Confident that she had waited long enough, Juvia headed down to his usual thinking spot. Like one of those scenes from a romance movie, she had ran to where he was, without stopping in order to be reunited with her love. She was incredibly out of breath at this point. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for a pregnant woman to run so far, even in the early stages.
Seeing him sitting there, unaware of her presence, he reminded Juvia of a famous philosopher, accessing the deepest recesses of his mind, to find an explanation, any explanation for why this was happening to him. The statue "The thinker" came mind, although surprisingly, Gray wasn't naked, which would have completed the resemblance to a tee.
"Gray-sama!"
He knew that voice and upon hearing it, was surprised. The ice mage was unsure what he felt for her at the moment, but when he turned around, he saw a beautiful woman standing onthe rocks above him, the wind blowing her long blue locks of hair. With the longing look in her cerulean eyes, he could see a little bit of her old self shining through. She seemed to have a glow about her and gave off a vibe that he couldn't explain, and almost as if it was divine in nature he felt all of the inner anguish and peril disappear.
The man had always wanted her to be mature and act her age, but what he realized was that if it meant she had to be in pain it wasn't worth it. It was much better for her to be her sweet, naive self than to be bogged down with the worries that had made this new side of her so heartbreaking to see. He thought he would still feel anger towards her, but it didn't overtake him the way he thought it would.
"Juvia."
Seeing that he seemed more on the sober side, she carefully made her way down towards him, trying to avoid slipping. This place was so familiar; she had talked with him there once before, and she remembered that it hurt to do so.
The pregnant woman made a declaration over the sound of the crashing waters. "Juvia can't take this. She can't stand being at odds with you; it's not right! It's not right at all!" The girl didn't hold back as she sat down right next to him only inches away and looked him in the eyes, looking for what Lucy had told her about. Did his anger really come from his love for her? If it did…. then maybe they had hope after all. Maybe their future wasn't doomed; they could work things out, and everything would all be alright.
"You have some nerve coming and finding me after all that crap you dumped on me." He said avoiding eye contact with her, still holding his injured arm. It had been patched up, but still hurt like hell.
Her heart sunk, but only momentarily as he continued his response. "Juvia, why did you keep all of this from me? Are you that afraid of me?-" He grimaced at the thought. He tried to choose his words carefully, especially with how close they were to the water. If there was one thing that could be defined as a major pet peeve for the man, it was being soaked, which happened a lot with the water mage.
"Of course not, Juvia would never be afraid of Gray-sama! But, why are you holding your arm?" She frowned as the worry in her gut began to come to the surface.
"Oh this? It's nothing." He said, like it was nothing while also trying to hide his leg from her view, which, ironically directed her attention to it.
"Gray-sama what about your leg? It looks injured also!" As she spoke, it became more obvious to her; that he had gotten in a fight.
"Juvia….."
"Gray-sama! Please! What happened?" She pleaded for an explanation,alarmed at his hesitation to give her one. The expression on her face was blank and her voice, robotic sounding when she realized. "You fought with Lyon-sama, didn't you?"
The silence spoke for him.
"Didn't you?!" She questioned.
He didn't look at her. She was right; he did pick a fight with Lyon, out of pure frustration and selfishness among other things.
"Look, at it from my position; I'm the father of your child and another guy is claiming that he is. Isn't that enough justification?"
She shook her head, with regret that she couldn't find any justice in what he'd done. The blue haired girl wasn't exactly happy about the confusion either, but she didn't feel that Lyon needed to be Gray's personal punching bag in reaction to his frustration.
"No?" He closed his eyes and gave a smile. "Didn't think so."
The confused pregnant girl wanted to say something but couldn't think of exactly what it was she wanted to say.
"He'll be alright." He chuckled a little. "Yep, that bastard will be alright. He's probably trying to process what just happened this very second. You know, as much as I want to believe he knows what's going on… I think he's just as confused as we are."
He picked up a larger stone and purposefully aimed it down into the ocean, splashing him a little. He had given up on the girly stone skipping. "So if he doesn't, who does?" He looked up at Juvia, half expecting some sort of bizarre last minute confession; but it didn't come. The man had all the evidence in the world to support his claim.
He had a fully functional memory, and no doubts concerning that matter whatsoever, it even made sense in accordance with all other means of logic. But, he couldn't control her point of view. He couldn't control what was in her head, what she remembered of the night.
"When Juvia first went to see Lyon-sama about the baby…" the pregnant mage began, cautiously. "she didn't sense any ill will in him."
"So you don't think he's still trying to win you?" The ice mage asked, doubtfully.
"I'm not saying that…. but I don't think he would go that far."
He'd come the same conclusion, but that also didn't make anything clearer "You're right." He admitted. "You know, he told me he really didn't remember sleeping with you. That'd be too risky of a confession for a man who wants to create a solid story."
"He told Juvia he doesn't remember too." She added.
The dark haired man's eye met hers."You really don't remember, do you?"
The mutual eye contact soon turned into Juvia staring into his dark eyes in a trance. They were so mesmerizing that she tried to break away from their grip, but still she felt a familiar feeling wash over her. In all the weeks following the Magic Games, she had not once truly looked at his eyes, rather, she looked past them whenever she was forced into contact with them. What a strange thing to finally look into them and find that they had changed; they said more than they ever had before.
Like a record player, the image in her head kept playing and repeating, never moving past the original sequence. His eyes looking at her pathetically out of desperation. They sought an answer that she couldn't give. Such a deja vu, but when had she ever had such a moment with him? The pregnant mage felt like her mind was betraying her, throwing her for a loop at every turn of events.
The man in front had told her that he slept with her, something she couldn't begin to comprehend as being possible. Yet, she didn't question his honesty, rather, she questioned the very reliability of the human brain.
Reality had chosen to cover its tracks and leave the three of them desperate and fighting for peace of mind. There was a feeling within her that those weren't just eyes she had seen on any average day. She had seen them in a different scenario.
But the memory of Lyon touching her was still as clear as ever. That didn't change. In comparison to it, any Gray-related memory from the night seemed too far from her reach.
What they were left with was Gray's word, her "feelings", Lyon's memories, and her memories.
"Gray-sama di-?" She stopped and tried to pick it back up again. "I mean… how did you find Juvia that night? I don't remember you anywhere during the celebration…"
Lyon had pointed out the same thing. It was true; he hadn't been there, and he regretted that he wasn't. Otherwise, this craziness might've never happened.
Unfortunately, aside from Ultear's powers, there was no way to erase what had happened, and there was no way to prove Juvia didn't sleep with Lyon if he hadn't been there at the exact moment to know what fucked up bull they were talking about.
"Juvia?"
"What?"
"How are you?" The question was simple but made the girl feel something stir within her. Something she hadn't felt for a while. Just for him to ask about her well-being re-awakened her fangirl side from deep within.
"Fine. But Juvia's so happy that you care to ask!" She clasped her hands together.
He ignored the hearts in her eyes. "How about your... baby?"
She calmed down a little. "She's fine too."
He scratched his head. She? But since he didn't want to forget what he wanted to say, he ignored the detail. "What's that mark on your face from?"
She had forgotten about that. The scar had faded, but was still visible to the eye. "Oh this? Juvia fainted on her flat iron, but don't worry she went to the doctor to ask about it."
She owns a flat iron?
"It's not threatening really, the doctor says it's just because…" She didn't want him to feel any blame. "Of all the stress. She wanted me to avoid any high stress situations if possible. It's not anything yet, but Juvia can develop umm…. *what was it called?* Oh yes, pre-ecclampsia, if things get worse anyway."
Gray smiled. "You got high blood pressure, huh? But you still decided to come find me?" It felt good to know the old Juvia was still in there somewhere, buried under the other crap piled on top. Though he was opposed to it, she always put him before her. It was a sign that she really was the same person.
"Gray-sama's not high stress. He calms Juvia. She can feel her blood pressure stabilizing by the second!"
The dark haired man let out a loud laugh. "You don't know what's good for you." His tone became more solemn. "You're lucky you caught me sober."
"Am I? But you can be fun if you're drunk sometimes."
Little minx. "What are you talking about? You don't see me drunk that often."
She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, enough to know anyways."
"I'm not an alcoholic." He stated, rather defensively. "You've just really done a number on me."
The blue haired girl giggled. "Juvia knows that, but she never misses it when you are even if you're just slightly buzzed!"
"Okay, whatever." He gave in, but couldn't help but wonder how he had avoided any sexual escapades with her before the escapade, considering how she had always been read at the drop of a hat to venture into that territory with him.
Despite this, he didn't consider her to be easy, since it was rare for a girl to be so faithful to somebody who may or may not have feelings for her. Any typical girl would've moved on by now, at least in his experience. She wouldn't settle for anyone else, because for some unknown cause she only had eyes for him.
Nobody had ever been so persistent, nobody had ever had such determination to make a relationship with him work. Easy? Not in the slightest. If anything she was difficult; there was no man that could take her from him. Nothing that happened could change the way he saw her, even if she saw herself that way. Juvia was who she was, a sucker for the "true love" hoax.
Oh yeah… what about real life? Lately it had been too easy to fall into "wonderland" with Juvia and forget that other people existed. "By the way, just so I know, have you told anybody else?"
"Oh, um, well, you know, once one person finds out sometimes it's hard to keep it a secret…"
The dark haired man narrowed his eyes. "Everyone at the guild knows, don't they?" He hoped it was a no, but he also knew better than to expect that to be the answer.
She nodded her head, though she didn't mention that she didn't bring up the whole real father fiasco. Instead, she let everyone assume that it was Gray's since no one directly asked her of course. The only members who knew the whole story, were Lucy, Natsu (which included Happy), Gajeel, Erza, and Gray, of course.
The tired mage buried his face in his hand and groaned. "What did you say? Never mind don't tell me; I don't wanna know."
Once again the water mage giggled. She went to lay her head down against his chest, but then stopped herself. Was it too soon to be affectionate with him?
The man took notice of her self control and formed a half smile. He couldn't harbor negative feelings towards her, especially when he was partially at fault through all of it."Go ahead, I don't mind."
Nothing in the world meant more than Gray's acceptance to the water mage. But she took it a step further and gave him a kiss on the lips. It took him by surprise, but he didn't react, and seeing this, she didn't stop. He was past the stage of feeling awkward about displays of affection, rather he was blasted full speed out of that stage when he first slept with her. Still, her swift actions always caught him off guard, no matter how many times it had happened before.
He let her keep kissing as long as she wanted, and returned the effort. They had to start somewhere after all, if she were to figure out the truth for herself. The man wouldn't give up until she had no doubt in her mind that he was the real parent.
But memories or not, he decided he liked it. She was unpredictably predictable; a unique and beautiful combination.
But it seemed they were back to square one...or was it square one hundred? They hadn't accomplished anything...
Or had they?
A/N: I hope you liked the chapter, especially since I waited a little longer than usual to put it out. If you don't, I'm sorry :(, I'm human and I can't please everyone. This one was mostly Gray's point of view for a change, but the next will probably focus more on Juvia, since, well, she's my favorite.
Also, I'm not 100% if the move I stated was Gray's second origin, but it I think it was. And once again, apologies if anything doesn't make sense. Written half awake.
Anyways, as usual thank you to those who reviewed, followed, and favorited!
And I'll end with my usual plea for feedback!