Thank you readers for all the reviews and the favorites and the follows! Many apologies for taking longer than expected on this next chapter. It was written once, turned out terrible, and then it had to be rewritten almost twice more.
But we are getting there, and most readers should have a good idea based on the anime or manga where the plot is heading at the end of the chapter. (This is also a little wordy, I'll try to cut down on the word count, the reason here being that Juvia is undergoing a big perspective change). Outwardly, this has to happen quick. Inwardly though, it has to be believable.
I also promised Natsu, Lucy and Erza in this chapter, but unfortunately ran out of room. They are coming though, and I do hope to put some hints (in the very least), about relationships developing amongst them.
Hope you enjoy!
(I am reposting this, uh, sorry, because I accidently forgot to fix a few things with the dialogue. Ooops, but now it is not as rough.)
She'd met the edge of the dock, but didn't go over. One heel floated out on air, the adjoined ball and toes of the foot's sol curled and strained against soft soggy wood. Here, she quivered with miniscule vibrations, the planks jack rabbiting underneath as waves bashed the pillars, heaving to jostle her that final inch. Okay, she could do this, if that other foot pushed off the ground and those toes loosened their grip, there would be nothing left to do but fall. The anchor would follow, tethered by chain. Simple and final.
"Hey, slow down there." Gray ordered, calling out to her.
Unfortunately, he didn't seem to realize his presence only instigated the decision. Calm, stay calm, she instructed herself, while her heart continued to speed. Luckily, thankfully, the quickening blood or tremble wasn't showing through to skin. With the composure of stone, she sent him a dead stare, a determined and an unspoken warning that he'd better turn now if he didn't want to see.
Juvia was just about to take the plunge, permitting a quick peek into the abyss. Long drop, she considered; distracting herself, doing anything to keep her thoughts off the dangerous man merely steps away.
"Look woman, I really don't want to jump in after you."
..Oh. Her ears had drunk in his scoff regardless.
..Oh. his voice adrift in the sea, urged with a kind of importance. He'd said something unorthodox, uncharacteristic for a villain, about following.
Huh?
Doubtful eyes jerked from the shadowed crests, with a moment of distilled clarity. Her foot slipped in the whirlpool of a head spin, and she fleetingly thought about just letting go, then deciding against it, checked fast its hold.
Had she heard correctly? Aggravating, nagging, curiosity mixed her stomach with a complete churn. Her head banked slightly right, trying to recall precisely that last sentence. The memory of his voice repeated once behind her mental barrier, and then went silent. She heard it fine though, even the wind hadn't been able to dampen the distinctiveness the first time.
Furrowing her face, Juvia searched for the falseness, the cover, anything that indicated he knew that had been an utterly unbelievable, frigidly protective statement. Not a bead of sweat or twitch appeared. So, the puzzled gaze swiveled right and left ensuring there hadn't been a mistake of their position.
Of course, there wasn't; Phantom Lord seemed to know exactly where to go for seedy business. The two executioners had been precise, brought her out on the longest stretch of walk: one that ran about a quarter mile straight from the shore's village of warehouses, and made a hard right angle turn, creating another snug little bay within the bay. Almost every sailboat slept, snoring in bells, tied tight amongst the inner docks.
Not that the location mattered much with the jewelry she'd been gifted. Maybe, had those heavy chains been gone, there would have been a chance to swim. The same chance as threading a number one needle in one try with all the lights turned off. The gnashing bay looked ferocious, unwilling to return any unfortunate thing it caught.
Did Gray not recognize this? She had considered him a lot smarter, more sensible at least. Whatever those books were worth, it couldn't have been more than his life, and even if they were so important, him drowning along with her would do nothing to help Fairy Tail. She was sure he recognized this too; the way he used her to get into the apartment, the tact in his dismissal of Harold.
And if he did, he could not have meant that claim. His statement must have been a bluff, because truthfully, no one would actually jump after her.
The bay again agreed. The chain clinked, a tinkling reminder to the fifty dollar value of its prisoner; plus gas and tax, if she wanted to add in a few more measly bucks.
It was still too much, because she was truly worth no more than rain, free and gloomy over whichever land it resides.
Rinsing in melancholy, Juvia shot Gray a last warning, tried to prevent him from staying. Just on the small possibility that she really had misjudged his intelligence, that his words were as solid as he. She didn't believe so and he didn't deserve it, but it was an own last granted self-request, from that achingly traitorous heart of hers, pleading to keep safe that black haired beauty.
"Juvia won't give up the code to the books, no matter what you do. You would do best to leave now."
She breathed out, tasting stale air leaving her lungs for what would be one of the last times. A large wave hit the dock, rippled up her legs and knees, ever precariously balanced. Hardly a second after came the crash and growl, sick and aggravated. Juvia understands, just stop the noise, no more hurtful unhappy voices.
Rather than listening, Gray stayed planted in the spot, leaned his shoulders forward. For the briefest of seconds, she thought his brows flicked upward, but didn't pay much heed to it. Then, was not the time to be analyzing. Gray exhaled, an action she saw in the slim movement of his lips rather than heard, his deep dark eyes…
She flushed out the distraction instantly. He spoke regardless.
"Stop this, We've already figured out the code. I'm not here because of the books."
It was another lie though, that was all.
Near, but just so far, Gray put his hand up, showing the item that Harold had left him: a metal ring, with two miniature keys dangling innocently. Suddenly, those thick chains became twice heavy, and the touch of steel bit both wrists. The waves and her body were mercilessly begging her to go now, as if aware of imminent danger to the plan. He offered up the fake armistice. The one that any general would have seen coming a mile away, and then shot the messenger for sport and ridicule. That wasn't a promise of ceasefire in his hands, or a treaty; Gray wouldn't be looking at her so intently while offering the sort of thing.
Toes cringing, eyes sucked shut, Juvia called the bluff. She refused to be persuaded, and used that last false encouragement to finally push.
She fell. Truly fell. Emptiness sweeping under the arch of her back, winds intense along her sides. Everything was tipping, and abruptly a hoard of butterflies took flight up in her stomach, beating papery wings fiercely against her internals. Ironically, she'd always admired butterflies for their freedom, and now she had her own, trapped inside.
Not a second later, the steel cuffs wrenched on her wrist, cutting ditches into skin. The anchor was towed into motion. It came racing after her, inches aside her left foot, into the air like it had been swept over a waterfall. Her eyes clamped, choosing not to watch. The wind and butterflies kicked up an internal maelstrom. And Gray was witnessing it all.
Juvia dropped gracelessly, stomach twisting itself into a whirlpool. Eyes still crushed close, hoping dreadfully this was right: to splatter as a simple raindrop on the ocean's surface, and drift away from the resentful world. There was no going back; she had to believe in the action.
So she splattered, hiting the ocean with a horrendous smacking sound. Wind flew from her shocked jaw, to be instantly stolen by the storm.
Every vertebrae must have misaligned in the impact, and for a brief instant, it felt as though she'd fallen upon a bed of needles. Something clinked in her ears, the tinkle of shattering glass. A frigid, suffocating, blanket swept over every limb and inch of exposed flesh, poured into her boots brushing along her calves. She gasped instinctively, before her mind reoriented.
Understanding came a second late, when more invasive coldness, though this time also loaded with heavy, sharp salt, raced down her throat. Frigid crystal blades carved through her trachea's tissues, with a sting worse than fire. Viscous liquid pooled deep behind her breasts. Breathe, breath, but there was no more air, and she'd lost her own supply, in the impulsive gasps. And though her throat throbbed with fire, the chill that shuddered through the rest of her chest was worse; Juvia squirmed as the bay sloshed in her, trickled to the heart. It cooled her inside out, through bones to skin.
She was so awake, alive, in pain, and consciously drowning; nowhere near how she'd imagined dying. Her lungs screamed for self-preservation, careless of the fact that this was what she wanted. Apparently, the message did not translate to her body, which only survived for the sake of it.
Tied arms flailed, grabbed for stability, failing to find any solid support. The back of her left hand brushed a hard surface, barely off her hip, but her instincts ignored this, the only dire tasks were seeking out the surface, and coughing up the cold weight shoved behind her singed ribs. It took a few attempts, arms flailing against time. Then both hands conjoined by chain, reached up, and eliciting a brief moment of hopeful relief, broke into warm air. Her strength surged, fueled by the momentous accomplishment. The surface was right above, barely inches away. Unconsciously, she shot after her arms, not thinking about repercussions, merely craving the air-water interface. She was blind, her lungs full of stagnant liquid, and mouth stiffly agape.
Cough!, all those survival instincts shrieked, just as her wide lips scraped the underside of a wave. But it was too late. The cuff bracelets tugged her arms downward, as belatedly, Juvia realized it had been the anchor which her hand had grazed on its pass. Barely an inch submerged, she could practically feel the wind through the wave's peak, and her body twisted back into descent, robbed. Her breath couldn't hold any longer, inhaled deeply on the suffocating medium, urgently seeking air that was plainly not present.
Another sweep of cold crushed against the inside of her ribs. More muscle tore, igniting organs.
She almost screamed.
Water pushed up her front, her wrists leading the charge into the void. And more ice cold flames burned her at the core. The will to fight flickered and died first.
All there was left was to sink and drown. Sink and drown. A mantra that was as eerie as it was coercive. Those words were beginning to take over. Reflexively her body retched and gargled less, and no sooner later, the surrounding abyss started seeping through her skull. Her very thoughts were slowing, and blurring, however possible thoughts could blur, as she progressed further toward sleep. Vaguely, she felt the drag decrease, and with a disturbingly long pause between thoughts, decided that the anchor must have hit the bottom.
Sink and drown. She floated. The survival instinct had gone quiet now accepting fate, or simply tiring to the point where it couldn't argue otherwise. Sink and drown.
Clink.
She heard it before she felt it, revived slightly by a foreboding sense of Déjà vu. There had been a not so different click, just a few days before. On that resulted in Sol dropping to his knees and thumping on the ground, the red paint splattered hallway. The images demolished that morbid, yet comforting mantra.
This was not the apartment (oh no, it definitely was not there). There was no red spilling around her, and that chime she'd heard did not ring as the one before.
It was different, Juvia's mind had just concluded, taking far longer than it should have, when something soft and cold brushed her forehead. Sinking and drowning just couldn't have been terrible enough. Her pulse struggled to spike under the early trance of death.
As fast as possible, and so probably slow as a snail, she flinched. Her eyes blinked open, disregarding the cold sting of the salt. They found nothing, no light, no shadows in the depths, and her ears were plugged and muffled to anything but the sharpest sounds. She could only feel the water moving, skimming over her numb flesh, counter to the rest of the flow.
There was some creature, a shark?!. Right in front of her, before her face. It could have been another body, but the waves patterns meant it obviously kept wriggling. Throbbing dully and irregularly, her little water balloon heart threatened to burst any second. She hadn't really believed she'd find a shark, maybe a lobster or two, but not a carnivorous, man eating fish. And she could touch it even if she just reached…
It touched her. A powerful jaw suddenly squeezed hard on her left breast, taking it in full consumption.
She should have been scared to death, perhaps angry at the perverted gods playing her, but no, Juvia had never had the most reasonable emotion responses. Neither this time. Heat, warmth that her brain and body probably desperately needed, slowly wasted into her cheeks, as she became hypersensitive to the fondling and encompassing mouth. Shame. She was drowning, being gnawed on by God knows what, and she felt humiliated.
The fish clenched once, giving her an uncomfortable cold squeeze, lingered for a second later and retracted. Juvia reeled, waiting for its second attack, honestly more scared of not knowing its location than having the vile thing clamped onto her in such a degrading manner. The mouth came at her face, the wave in front brushing her cheek just before the touch. She mentally screamed, ready for teeth to tear into her skin.
No teeth. The touch was soft, malleable. It cupped her left cheek, from ear to eye to chin. And she could feel fingers, and a palm that moved over her features, touched her hair, down to her dress. She froze, that probing hand, the temperature of ice, stiffened at the jerk of movement, and worked lower frantically, grabbing, grabbing, grabbing.
Juvia could hardly pay attention though; half ready to toss her sanity into the deep ocean right beside her. Gray?
It had to be, there was no other living people down here (a thought she again did not want to consider); but more so, she knew that hand, that heart stricken recollection of it guiding her into all this torment. The same probing touch as the rain; and for some reason it, he, refused to let her be.
Dare she think he had jumped? It couldn't be true; her senses had to have flooded. Yet, that hand, hands now, continued to probe, were fiddling around on her wrists, and cold invasive reality assured this was not another crazy mental breakdown.
Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink. The chimes continued, more rapid, and overlapping. The chain, she could feel it shifting the cuff bracelets. At once, the metal slacked, and fell. Those firm hands pulled hers upward, wrists naked and weightless. More than that, he was taking her whole body upwards. A thigh kicked her head. She, still feeling partially anesthetized, did nothing, too lost trying to determine if her subdued sixth sense could truly have picked out Gray's presence.
That thought continued, as the surface grew close, heard in the distant roar, felt in the agitated waters. Juvia barely recognized the sensations before the broke through the wall. It was a cannon blast, emerging back into a chaotic tempestuous world. Waves crashed and spit. Screams of the wind and the rushing bay tried to push her weak body back under, but Gray, yes certainly Gray, was faster, hands leaving her wrist, circling her waist and tugging her back flushed with his chest. He held tight and let her body take its course of ridding the toxins.
Juvia retched, before she even understood what the sick twisting and suffocating pain in her stomach and chest meant, spewing brine. The thin soupy vomit came nonstop, her chest heaving, rolling from both the bay and her convulsions, as her throat tried to tear away and spill out her mouth. She saw white, pristine as snow, as her vision fought to recover.
"Juvia! Take a breath!" Gray shouted.
A wave toppled over them, and she couldn't have held one even if she had foreseen enough to try. More water was inhaled into her lungs, only to be wretched back out as soon as they were back above. She was heaving onto his arms, disgustingly, but Gray kept her tight, shouting as more assaults toppled them. Each time she took in more water despite his warnings, then raced to spit it out before the next onslaught.
Although, the process seemed endless, eventually, her inner cavities emptied. Salted air replaced salted water, filling lungs stretched to breaking point, but which still desperately, and immodestly, gulped for the oxygen. The retching had dwindled to a heavy painful pant, her vision returned, as well as the speed of her other senses. Juvia eased off an unconsciously nailed in grip on Gray's forearms, not entirely healed, but with merely a lingering exhaustion in her periphery.
"We've got to swim for it." Gray bellowed into her ear. He must have noticed her rejuvenation. "This dock is too high to climb, but it's barely after high tide, some of the inner ones should be reachable."
Dazed, still coming off the rapid vomiting, Juvia only then fully recognized what had happened. Gray had come in after her like he'd promised. He'd put his own life in danger to save hers; an affection no one had ever given her before. For a moment, her heart stopped. It restarted on overdrive, as that never ending blush his handsome face always seemed to bring about bloomed. Juvia was not worth saving, but Gray had done so.
She felt confused, drawn by wistful curiosity over Gray's actions. Not that she dared add words to explain any of those strange feelings. But she allowed them to fester. Unfortunately, here was not the time to talk, while being pummeled and still in Death's reach.
Juvia nodded, lungs too pained to speak. It took her a second to remember that in the night he would not have seen. Another wave crashed over them, the chill cracking through her bones.
"Stay on my side, I'm not letting you pull another suicide stunt out here." He yelled, tightened his hold in place.
She gulped at the hard words. Her intention had never been to force him in after her. Neither was she worth the rescue. Unknown feelings rained over her heart, and before Juvia could even comprehend, she was crying. Melting to tears at the worst of moments, yet unable to stop.
Whether or not Gray realized this, he did not reply. Instead, he started forward, a strong one armed front crawl, dragging her with him. He swam for the inner docks, buffeted right, left, above and below; it felt like they'd even been turned upside down at times. They passed under the platform they'd both just come off, momentarily reentering total darkness in its shadow. She stared at the far off planks, paralyzed, whilst Gray pushed on. Either they got to the inner docks or they did not. And if there really were sharks below, Juvia could only pray that Gray and she escaped their interest.
But shortly after, Gray had begun to fade. His arm slapped down irregular, his hold kept shifting, and the waves had better success rolling them off course. He made no comment or stop for rest. Juvia knew he couldn't. The tide was changing, the storm was blowing, and who knew what was sizing them up from underneath. Who knew where they'd end up if he stopped? It did not change the fact that Gray kept getting sloppier and sloppier. He would die futile, his last efforts to keep her alive in vain.
The very thought made her shiver. It was not what she wanted.
And in rushed a boldness that had never driven her before; though, it was not the first time Gray had caused such strong emotions. She pushed off his skin, he tensed, sending a quick jolt of uncertainty up her spine.
"Don't…" He began, and Juvia cut him off.
"Juvia won't." Her voice croaked, raw, but she heard the determination with mild surprise. She spoke once more, letting her heart pour. "Juvia won't harm someone who saved her."
"What are…" A wave crushed the rest of his question, and without allowing him time to recover, Juvia grabbed, switched herself to a side stroke.
They were less than halfway, drifted off at an angle from their original path. She pushed on, towing her savior in a return favor. Possessed, that was the only way to describe her, for surely this was not Juvia. Her arms and legs were on such an adrenaline rush they barely felt strained. Her lungs too, though, she was dead certain, every nerve should have been flaring. But without the pain, there was nothing to hold her back, and so she made progress, hauling them both closer, and closer, without sense of time or reality.
All thoughts left, save reading the waves and encouragement to go faster. Gray's voice drifted in and out; but she did not listen, for both their sakes. They came into the fray of boats, sleeping like whales, unaware of the two swimmers buried beneath their hulls. Here the waves were dampened, the wind mostly blocked. Her strokes surged, with greater effect. She sprinted the last bit, Gray secured in her grasp.
Finally, they reached the docks, she clawed onto a slimy post. And when Gray too grabbed onto a support, the adrenaline shut off. The trance eased. Her muscles burned colder than before, each breath and chest movement ripped apart her lungs. Her limbs trembled violently. Her mind threatened to burst.
They'd made it. They had actually made it back to a relative safety. Just holding the dock post, catching a breath, nothing could have given her greater reprieve. Her eyes skimmed to where Gray should have been only to find empty air. Her ragged breath hitched and she almost sobbed. He was supposed to be safe now, but his presence had completely disappeared.
Frantic, Juvia searched along the docks' black underside and back out toward the bay without coming across any heads. If he'd gone under, she panicked on how to find him. Then her eyes shifted upward, catching sight of a hunched figure pinned and shimmying up between wooden post and the hull of a sailboat.
The brief horror died. He was a step ahead of her; above, not below.
He was almost halfway up by the time she decided she'd better do the same. Even for someone who loved to swim, these waters were far from welcoming. She reached for the platform at first, arm coming just a bit, an agonizing few inches, short. It should have been obvious with Gray's chosen route. The hand fell back, already shaking and over exerted. She'd have to go out the way Gray had, but with the sprint catching up to her body, there wasn't an ounce of energy leftover.
So Juvia stared at the gap between boat and dock, as Gray maneuvered himself out of the pinch onto the walkway, and tried to find leverage elsewhere. There had to be another easier technique; and then, the strangest, most absurd idea burst into her mind, one that made Juvia almost thought she'd gone delirious.
How luxurious it would be if that water could just magically lift her up! She'd never want more if she had that sort of superpower! Of course, it was ditzy, distracting daydream, for which Juvia gave her pathetic head a knock on the wooden post. That could only happen in a different world; she needed a less foolish, actually working solution.
Gray already had one.
Without pause, he stumbled over to where she floated, still anchored (oh god, she'd never use that phrase again) onto the slimy wooden post, and sent both hands down. There was no offer in the firm wordless gesture. She was supposed to take them. And, there was no other option, so Juvia accepted, letting him lift her weight. His grip reeked of algae, but grasped like clamps, and didn't slip. For a moment, her shoulders strained against their sockets, but any pain was too dim in comparison with the rest of her to be felt.
Then Gray dragged her across the wood, where she lay sprawled, breathing heavily, getting the full sensation of the phrase 'a wet noodle.' Her arms wouldn't move, her legs would probably topple should she try to stand, and her head was pinned down by what felt like the weight of a stone anvil placed center forehead. A few seconds, she just needed a few seconds to rest and let her body recover. She'd never been in such a state of exhaustion before.
Gray sat angled away from her side, slowly panting, resting his forearm on one bent knee, the other extended. She could see him much clearer out from under the dock.
It was with a bit of surprise, she noted the heaving of his chest, more so at the fact of the very naked chest. Not just naked, but naked and sculpted with abs and those little lines around the hips that (Totomaru once called them something, what was it?) made her heart nearly die on spot right. Screw the effort they both just put into staying alive. If she had to know she'd been pressed flush with those sharp abs only seconds ago, there was little hope left.
No pants either, that inner voice squealed without shame, and Juvia was sure she'd have an aneurysm just to humor the reaper. She had yet to even understand what had compelled Gray to nearly drown himself, or her impossible sprint swim. As much as the hormonal girl inside wanted to admire that physique, which was happening at that very moment no doubt, she could not forget all that happened.
Juvia sighed, these were too complicated of emotions. In the corner of her eye, Gray turned his head in acknowledgement. They had to speak, before anything else could stir her anymore.
"Why did you save Juvia?" She tried to clarify, "If this is for information, Juvia can't break her vows."
Around them, the wind howled, buoys laughed, the waves roared angrily over the lost meal: sickening reminders of what he had overcome for seemingly nothing.
Gray did not hesitate. "You can't just throw away your life." Anger frosted his tone, Juvia's eyes widened. "Throwing yourself off the dock was a coward's choice, no matter what shit you've been through. And I told you, I don't care about information!"
She sat in silence, agape in his glare, thinking over his words. They should have been hurtful, in a way they were, but more so her heart was thumping, because he was speaking like he cared for her life.
"Why?" She stressed, her question still unanswered.
This was the same Gray as before, though less clothed, a lot less clothed, down to…. darn it, she should not have been noting his navy and aqua pin striped boxers. Yet, that act of, could she even call it altruism?, of heroic rescue, made her want to negate his past sins. A desperate voice inside pleaded her to believe he could be a good person. That seed of hope was germinating, amongst all the pollution, and against the odds, growing in her depths.
"You don't deserve to die." Gray was quieter this time, and the seed shell cracked a tiny bit. "There's a radio on you, our technician planted it before we returned you to the Oak district. We heard everything."
She gasped, her own voice more reflective, barely a whisper from her lips. "How does that matter? No one's ever endangered themselves for Juvia."
"Fairy Tail isn't like Phantom Lord." He pushed. "We don't use people. And when we make a mistake, we fix it at whatever cost."
Juvia tried not to dwell on it, but those words drenched her soul, more thoroughly than the ocean could have ever. They'd been more than what she wanted to hear, both a melancholy and spiriting brought closure, once and for all declaring her roommates, and old life, a misguided mistake.
By the time she'd found Sol, Totomaru and Aria, she had given up on such ideals, accepted that no one else in the world lived with moralities. She'd let the current take her for the ride.
But Gray, was his own shade of life...
A murderer. A thief. And a savior. He had come tonight to make amends, admitting his own error, and pronounced that he and the gang he belonged to were governed by their hearts and feelings of justice. He had shown her what happened to those who lived as she had always daydreamed. Yes, there were rough edges, but nothing marring the image, and which honestly, she loved all the more because as they made him human (which was important, as she was only human as well).
Her heart was hammering, bleating that it had known the truth all along. It screamed that she'd been captivated from the start, and that now was the time to get closer, to make a change and take a chance on a life she had tried to forsake. Nothing could have repelled that pounding. It doubled, while her disbelief was happily collapsing.
Ok, Juvia agreed, insisted upon by that nagging organ and her utter exhaustion. Okay, this time lacquered with resolve, she wouldn't give up on aspirations and follow the fool's path to a false paradise. She would not give up on this world, of following her heart, or becoming meaningful to people.
"Do you have any place to go?" Gray's voice broke her from the reverie.
She did not, but would have to find somewhere if she truly planned to live on. Her thoughts drifted to the original plan, the one from the park bench between the time of Fairy Tail's and Phantom Lord's kidnappings. It gave her a start at least.
"Juvia has enough money to leave the city; and find an apartment somewhere else."
"That so? I'm heading to Akane right now. I'll take you." Gray offered.
For a moment, she hesitated, the remnant fear of things again going wrong, squirmed through the crevices. But, no, her mind shot back, feeling much more empowered now than in the midst of its confliction. If it did, she would keep searching until it did get better. Gray was standing, and she followed, watching him with admiration (some just a little bit over that damn lean muscle).
She started, compelled to tell him her gratitude. "Thank you…"
"Hey popsicle dick!" A raucous shout rang out, demolishing its own path through all the smothering noise of the wind and bay. Gray grunted, Juvia turned, surprised. There was that pink headed boy, also Fairy Tail, grinning and charging a path down the dock, and a short ways behind was that whip carrying blonde girl, face flashing between anger, pain, and happiness.
"Damn that candle brained idiot." Gray sighed.
At first, with the name calling and the brawl of their previous encounter, Juvia would have bet money that the newcomers were not exactly friends. A bit of dislike for them splashed her thoughts, offense taken for the brash rudeness those two, especially that pink haired boy, showed toward her savior. They arrived less than a moment later, the blonde drained breathless and on her knees.
"HEY! YOU'RE NAKED!" The pink one screeched off the bat, and Juvia looked away lest her eyes be drawn in any more than already.
"Yeah? I had to go in the bay and I wasn't going to swim with a suit on." Gray retorted.
Pink and blonde heads looked him up and down, then her, scrutinizing with both straight and worried faces respectively.
"You must have got there just in time… I'm so relieved." The blonde managed between pants. Gray grunted, and left the response at that. He did not make any comment over the fact that she had jumped. And although she could not discern if he meant to save her the embarrassment, it had the effect nonetheless.
The ' idiot' took a different approach, cocky grin plastered and growing. He simply laughed. "Knew you'd cut it close, they didn't get a jump on yah this time, did they?"
Gray quickly raised a fist, face hardening, obviously prepared to fight right there, a manner that Juvia could hardly believe considering what they had just been through. Then the blonde spoke up again, quelling the argument.
"Natsu! We can't be doing this now! You keep goofing off and well never find Erza!" There was desperation in the girl's voice. Gray, gave it a moment of consideration, and withdrew seriousness replacing anger. Natsu too, giving a nod to the blonde.
"Gray, we've since found out she left willingly with a small crew, uh, three or four guys and a girl. It looked like she knew them. But its just strange you know? No one was told why she just went off on her own."
It hit Juvia with a reminder of Gray's morals, that these people supposedly shared some protectiveness of each other.
"Detour's over," Natsu spoke addressing Gray first. "Don't worry Lucy, once we get to Akane, we'll beat the hell out of whatever shit heads tried messin' with Erza. She just better damn not have taken all the strongest ones." He cursed eagerly, the side of his lips twisting into a savage grin, fist pounding into a palm.
Gray's own expression changed, with more composure, but his eyes held the same glint, and though he moved his hands to his sides, Juvia could see the tense bend in his elbows and clenched fingers. Her mind raced to remember if she'd ever heard the name Erza, whom else from Fairy Tail she'd seen in the brief encounter. There was no clue, but obviously the woman was important to these three.
Even the blonde made her conviction apparent, coming to her feet, wiping wet wooden slivers off her legs with a rejuvenated confidence. "Alright," She ordered, though the effect was somewhat diminished by her distinctly effeminate voice, "let's stop wasting time and go then. It'll take at least an hour to drive, and…" She paused abruptly, catching eyes with Juvia, just then seeming to remember the fourth member's presence, momentarily backtracking to reevaluate.
"Oh, we'll have to call someone..."
"Don't worry about it. Juvia's getting out of this town anyways; I'll drop her off on the way." Gray supplied. Juvia nodded, a tiny bit grateful that they'd already made that plan before hand. It seemed everyone had quick paced agendas tonight.
Lucy and Natsu returned the head gesture, made a comment about cars being parked just a few docks back. They hurried away right after. Lucy offered a quick apology to her, with kind words that caught Juvia off guard like a warm summer rain. Natsu reciprocated her gesture, in the same way of sticking his name on someone else's neatly prepared card. Juvia actually took relief in his nonchalance, unaccustomed to strangers, no less her former kidnappers, humbling themselves. However, Natsu was a little more personal with Gray, goading him to hurry, or, and at his next words her stomach flipped, there wouldn't even be leftovers.
She watched, Natsu quickly catch Lucy, who had an appreciable start, heard their distant bickering, the blonde obviously displeased at the pink head's speed, or her lack thereof.
"Hop on." She turned at the command, Gray already crouched down, faced away. For a moment she did not understand, and Gray, in a hurry began to explain. "If you need me to carry you…."
The meaning came across, along with a clear image of herself up against his taught shoulder blades, arms snugged up over his naked chest, her legs gripped onto those slim angled hips. Too much blood was going to her face, there was too much excitement in those thoughts. She stuttered, trying to retreat into sanctity, keep away from that tempting sin bent down right before her.
"OH, no, ah, Ju – Juvia can run. She is f-fine."
"You sure?" He questioned, probably concerned over the tremble of her voice. Not trusting herself, Juvia gave a quick jerky head bob, straining to keep a straight face. This he took for confirmation, and then they too were running back.
Gray, Natsu, and Lucy were going to save their comrade. She was going to Akane too. But honestly, she had not a clue why.
Thanks for reading! Next chapter I'll try to get up in about the same time as it took this one.