A/N: I do not own either Fairy Tail or The Wizard of Oz.
"Lucy, we're not in Magnolia anymore."
"I know. I heard you the first time," Lucy answered dryly. She stepped outside, surveying the unfamiliar surroundings.
"Well, why didn't you say anything?" Gray groused, scowling at her. He trudged after her.
"I was waiting for you to say something remotely intelligent," she replied matter-of-factly. "But alas, my hopes of having an intellectually satisfying conversation with you at this moment in time were dashed by your repeated statement of the obvious," she lamented.
"Anyway," she continued, not giving him time to reply, "do you know where we are exactly?"
As if in response, the sky darkened and the first drops of rain fell. They hurried back into the mansion to avoid getting drenched.
"Summer rains," Gray said, running a hand through his damp hair. "You can never predict them."
Lucy nodded absently, distracted by a figure approaching them. Her hand instinctively went to her waist where her gate keys hung. The motion caught Gray's attention. He followed her line of sight and spotted the silhouette of a woman walking slowly towards them. His eyes narrowed.
"Stay here, Lucy," he warned. "She could be dangerous."
Without waiting for a reply, he walked purposefully towards the stranger.
As he neared the suspicious visitor, he saw that she was around his age. He stopped and assessed her. Blue hair. He preferred blondes. Pale complexion. He liked girls who looked healthy. He stared openly at her, unmindful of the fact that the girl in question was peering at him shyly from under the parasol she held in her hand. In the end, he concluded that she wasn't his type.
"State your business," he enunciated, falling back into his butler role. Ice formed around his hand. He tensed slightly, preparing himself in case she attacked.
The girl's cheeks flushed. She wrenched her gaze from the rivulets of water trickling down his sculpted body. Seeing her sneaking glances at his bare chest, he wished that he had at least put on a shirt before he came out to meet her. He felt so exposed.
"I am Juvia, Wizard Master of Phantom in the north. I have come to offer you my thanks for ridding Fiore of the villainous Eligor and to acknowledge you as the new wizard master of the east," she said, stumbling over her words. Her eyes flitted this way and that, unable to meet his.
"Huh?" he said, confused.
"Are you not a wizard?" she asked, looking pointedly at the ice encasing his hand. "And is this," she gestured towards the Heartphilia mansion, "not your mansion that crushed Eligor, former Wizard Master of Eisenwald?"
"Oh, that's not mine. That's Lucy's," he replied nonchalantly.
"Lucy?" she articulated, her grip on her parasol tightening. She saw someone coming up behind Gray.
"That's me," the person said cheerfully. "I'm Lucy Heartphilia." She held an open umbrella in one hand, her free hand clutching her keys. Gray strode towards her and took the umbrella from her. He held it above them, closing the distance between them to avoid getting even wetter. Juvia eyed the intimate way they stood together suspiciously. Lucy, mistaking her scrutiny for curiosity, smiled at her welcomingly.
"And how are you related to Mr. -," she paused, remembering that she had forgotten to ask for his name.
"Gray Fullbuster," he said helpfully.
"Thank you," she coughed, willing her voice not to squeak.
"What is your relationship with Mr. Fullbuster, if I may ask, Miss Heartphilia?" she inquired, glaring subtly at the blonde.
"She's my mistress," Gray clarified. Lucy nodded in agreement, looking puzzled at the sudden hostility directed at her.
Juvia's eyes widened, her hand flying up to cover her suddenly trembling mouth. She turned away, muttering to herself.
"His mistress? His woman? His wife?" she cried, her voice steadily escalating.
"Oh, how cruel fate is," she grieved, earning her looks of confusion from the other two. She walked towards Lucy, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Juvia will wish you well, even if it is painful," she said mournfully. She pressed her lips lightly to Lucy's forehead.
"The kiss of the Wizard Master of the north will ensure that no one will harm you," she sniffled. She looked at Gray with watery eyes.
"Goodbye, Mr. Fullbuster," she said tearfully. She started walking back the way she came. After a few meters, she broke out into a run.
"Oh, what could have been!" she wailed.
They watched her go, each wondering what had just happened. Once she was out of sight, the rain stopped as suddenly as it had started. Gray looked down at Lucy and snickered.
"Your forehead's glowing," he pointed out.
Lucy ran to the nearest puddle and inspected her face. She saw that her forehead was indeed glowing where Juvia had kissed her.
"What is this?" she cried, rubbing furiously at the mark.
"Aye! That mark is a sign that you are under the protection of the wizard master of the north!" a voice chirped from behind her. She looked over her shoulder and found that the voice belonged to a blue cat. With wings.
"I'm not even surprised anymore," she sighed. "This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder."