A/N: Been a while since I've find myself writing fics. I'd blame that on academics, extra-curricular activities and work. So, this, I've been working on a while (A LONG WHILE) and was only kicked up a notch after my frustration of Gray and Juvia's reunion after AVATAR. So, yeah. Here's a bit of something I've been dying for Juvia. I just love her so much.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the plot. Fairy Tail solely belongs to Hiro (fcking) Mashima.
A sad song.
Humming through the wind – or was it in her head?
The song, it was so sad, so meaningful, and yet, so familiar.
Where had she heard it before?
A sad song, almost melancholic.
And yet, it was so heartfelt.
How she can tell, she did not know.
All she knew was that the song tugged at her heart, making her stomach drop and her mind to go blank. The song though, where had she heard it before?
"Juvia?" Lucy's voice came, snapping her off her thoughts.
Said blunette turned to the blonde, who was eyeing her curiously.
"Are you okay?"
Juvia blinked, lips pressed tightly. Eventually, those lips turned slightly. A small, forced smile.
"Yes."
And then, the song ended.
They were on a mission – Team Natsu, with the special participation of Juvia and Wendy – upon the request of Princess Hisui. They were to investigate about a lost civilization on an island not far from Crocus.
Teardrop island.
It had taken almost two weeks before the team was able to finish the mission.
When they arrived at the castle, they brought with them trunks about to be smuggled by dark guilds. The trunks were filled with items about the lost civilization, which would seem to be of high cost. Retrieving the trunks from them was easy, bringing them back to the castle was another story. (There were a lot of them, and Natsu and Gray almost broke some of the trunks had not Erza intervened and disciplined the two)
Princess Hisui was pleased with their success.
And it just so happened that the moment they arrived at the castle, the city was celebrating its feast day. The castle was filled with glamour, already filled with promising grandeur, and the team were invited to celebrate their success.
Of course, the girls were more than happy to celebrate with them. Natsu and Gray, though, seemed less than excited. The latter especially, forced into wearing some formal attire.
Juvia, however, didn't seem as excited as the rest of the girls when they were making their way back to the castle. Her thoughts were elsewhere.
"Juvia," the redhead mage called, noticing her lack of excitement. "is everything alright?"
She was staring out the window, looking out at the sky painting in hues of orange, pink and purple.
"Juvia?" Erza called again, a bit louder this time causing the Water Mage to jump.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine."
The lie was evident, not that Erza would press into it. Knowing that pressing it would make things bad; Erza didn't press it but instead led them both to the changing room, where they were to be attended to. Gray, who was passing by, could only watch the two women disappear in sight.
Suddenly, she was wearing an elegant dress. Half of her hair had been tied up, braided, into an elegant bun. Lucy, Erza, Wendy, even Carla were all beautiful in their dresses. All compliments of Princess Hisui.
She was almost excited to go through the night. Almost.
Being back in the castle brought back memories of when her beloved Gray coldly rejected her, how she was humiliated and alone for the rest of the night (as much as she hid it with a smile). But that wasn't what was really bothering her right now.
She tried, as much as she can, to enjoy the night. Tried to laugh when Natsu began to gorge the buffet, or how Erza conquered the dessert table; tried to even aide Lucy in keeping Gray and Natsu from beating each other up; even tried to keep her focus on Wendy, who was taking everything in.
Tried.
She was trying and failing so hard.
Unable to take it anymore, she excused herself from Wendy and out of the ballroom. Thankfully, across the hall was an open door that leads to a spacious balcony, overlooking the ocean.
Almost immediately, she found herself at ease. Leaning her arms against the railing, she watched the moon reflected against the ocean. The cool breeze whipped through her skin, making her hair dance against the wind. Faintly, she could make out the ocean breeze. She smiled faintly; the ocean always did manage to calm her nerves.
The smell of the ocean – salty, sweet and cool, somehow nostalgic at the same time, and she didn't know why. She'd like to think it was because she was a Water Mage and being around her element invigorated her senses tenfold.
But back at Teardrop Island, things were different, peculiar.
That mission at Teardrop Island, she thought with a sigh as she closed her eyes.
Juvia found she unable to join the festivities, feeling a bit lost since they arrived at Teardrop Island. Everything about that place screamed something at her, tugging something deep within. It unnerved her, rattled her even.
She dropped her face into her hands, wallowing in her thoughts.
"What's wrong with me?" she asked helplessly.
Thinking that the festivities could provide a distraction from her thoughts, she turned on her heel, about to retreat back to the ballroom when she heard it.
She froze, blood running cold.
That song.
It was faint, but she could hear it.
She recognized the skimming of keys through the intro, building up tempo. The notes were heavy, sad, but full of yearning. It was hauntingly beautiful.
On instinct, she picked up her dress and ran.
He yawned, already bored. He didn't want to be rude (which was an understatement really), but he just didn't like formal events.
I mean, you can celebrate your heart out, but not while wearing a flimsy coat. Hell, he was itching to take it off if not for the presence of Erza.
Just then, the music began and people were getting to the dance floor. Automatically, he set his guard up. Waiting for a certain mage to approach him.
Instead, a few minutes after the music played, nothing happened.
Which was strange.
"Hey," he found himself asking Erza. "have you seen Juvia?"
"I thought she was with Wendy?" said the stoic redhead in turn.
"Juvia-san went out for some air." Wendy told them, Carla in her arms. "She wasn't feeling well."
"She hasn't been since we were at Teardrop island." the white Exceed informed them.
"That's strange." Natsu wondered aloud, stuffing more food into his mouth. "I wonder what's happened to her."
"Anyway, I'll go fetch her." Wendy tells them, since she was the last person the Water Mage was with.
"I'll come with you." Gray found himself saying, but already trailing behind the young Dragon Slayer.
Behind them, Erza and Lucy exchanged worried glances.
She descended the steps on difficulty because she was wearing heels; her feet were beginning to ache. But, it didn't stop her. She kept moving.
Eventually, she had to lose the heels. They were slowing her down and she was in a hurry. She lifted her skirts to quicken her pace.
The song kept playing, getting louder with every step.
She knew she was getting closer. The song wasn't done yet!
There was a room up ahead at the edge of the hall – she guessed she was on the west side of the castle, she pushed them open and the song abruptly stopped.
Her labored breath filled the room, her shoulders sagging.
Filling the room were the retrieved trunks from Teardrop island. Most of them were filled with scrolls, paintings, sculptures, expensive vases and such. They all emitted a smell that told held secrets of a lost civilization about to be discovered. The large trunks – which Gray and Natsu carried, were carefully set to the side. But the biggest trunk (which Erza carried by herself) was standing in the middle of the room.
Juvia held her breath, not taking her eyes off it, slowly walking towards it.
Sleek, white.
Smooth and shiny.
She approached it tentatively.
There were markings on the lid, strange markings. Alphabets?
She touched it, surprised that it was made of pearls (Which was a wild guess).
Her fingers ran through, relishing the touch, eyes never leaving the beauty of it.
It was hard to believe that something like this was survived at all. All those years in that abandoned castle, leaving it untouched.
She sat on the bench, placing both hands on the lid. Her heart was beating fast and she didn't know why.
Somehow, the touch was nostalgic.
Gently, she lifted the lid, marveling at the polished keys. Her heart was beating fast, she didn't know why.
Unconsciously, her fingers spread out. She took a deep breath, her mind going blank.
And then, she started play.
The castle was huge, it was almost impossible to find a single person in here.
But with the help of Wendy's Dragon senses, they were able to track her down easily.
Taking a turn, they could hear music faintly playing. He recognized the room to be the place where they dropped off the retrieved items from the thieves. The song continued to play.
Melancholic, yet sweet.
Up ahead, they could see that the doors were open, and the music was getting louder as they approached.
They found Juvia in the middle of the room.
She was pouring her heart out.
She looked lost, yet found.
Her eyes were closed, face scrunched into concentration, as if losing herself in, while her thin fingers danced along the keys, producing beautiful yet sad melody.
Wendy thought it was sad. Gray thought it was heartbreaking.
Every tone produced, and he could feel the weight of emotions being played.
He continually watched her as she played, his heart gripping more and more as the music slowly came to a wistful end.
Juvia's expression was unreadable after that.
Wendy approached the blunette, cautiously sitting beside her. It took a while before the young woman turned to her. Juvia looked at Wendy weakly.
"I didn't know you could play the piano."
The blunette absentmindedly pressed a key, producing a sound. "Neither did I."
Noticing the sadness in her tone, the young Dragon Slayer asked if she was alright, the older woman said she wasn't. She then asked what was wrong. The woman said, and the answer broke Gray, who was hearing the whole thing, as much, "I feel my heart breaking."
She quickly hugged the young girl, sobbing against her shoulder, her wails echoing through the room.
A week later and the team returned to Magnolia.
The moment they arrived, Juvia immediately separated from the group. Nobody knew where she went, nor did anyone bothered to ask. She needed time, said Erza.
The Water Mage smiled at them, waving slightly, and then turned her back to them.
Once they were at the guild, Lucy, having been the brains throughout the mission, relayed what she learned from Princess Hisui and historians. "According to the princess, the lost civilization was about Water Mages."
At the mention of 'water mages', Gray quickly turned to Lucy, waiting for her next words. "Apparently, Water Mages originated from that island. It used to be inhabited by sea nymphs. Sometime later, they saw the kindness of the inhabitants of the island and taught them to manipulate magic. But that was that. Later, a human fell in love with a sea nymph. The sea nymph decided to live in land with her beloved and bore offspring that could manipulate water. It went on for years. They soon became the royal family. A Generation of Water Mages." Lucy paused, biting her lip. "But then, their island was attacked. A powerful dark guild wanted the family to join forces with them. The family refused, for their loyalty was to the island. A water mage has never left the island. That night, the family was annihilated. All except one."
Wendy gasped, clamping her hand over her mouth. Gray forgot to breathe.
"The Tsar and his wife had only one child, their only daughter and heir to the throne. They named her Juvia, like the rain." Taking a scroll, she read the inscriptions written inside. "Rain, because it cleanses; rain, because it purifies; rain, because it is good."
Let it be known to man that I am fcking terrible at endings. This was supposed to be a one-shot, but seeing as it's going to take me forever, I'm just gonna give this out as a sort of compensation for my long absence in the writing field. Yes, I am leaving you guys with a cliffhanger until I can get the right ending for this. Other than that, help yourselves to reviewing this fic. You are, after all, the better judge here.