So I was actually going to post this yesterday, but then the server died or something and then I had something to do and by the time I got home I really didn't feel like redoing all this. But at least I'm not updating late or anything. Speaking of updates, there'll probably only be something like five more chapters, give or take one or two. I'm not planning on making this as long as Just Friends.

Oh, and one last note: there are two quotes this time, because I really couldn't decide. So now that all that's been said, enjoy the chapter!

We women love longest even when all hope is gone. - Jane Austen

Hope is the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity. - Robert Green Ingersoll

Gray had to say, he'd expected yelling. It had been his reaction, after all – shouting was easier than trying to process the fact that someone he cared about was disappearing before his very eyes. It was also easier than trying to process the fact that Juvia was someone he cared about. Of course, she was his guild mate, and everyone in the guild was like family, but everyone has family members they simply don't like. And generally, stalkers are not one's favorite people.

But Juvia was different. Juvia wasn't just that creeper that followed him everywhere and tried to get him to look at her naked (it happened more frequently than Gray liked to admit). Juvia was just…Juvia. And that made it all the more unbearable.

So Gray hadn't expected the entire group of people around him (some of the noisiest people he knew) to go silent and stare at their feet as if wondering whether they too would start to vanish. He nudged Natsu and got no reaction. "Um… Lucy?" he tried. Nothing.

"How long?" someone asked. Gray jumped, startled.

"What?"

Levy looked him directly in the eye and repeated, "How long until she's completely gone?"

"Porlyusica said at this rate, another week at most." Gray looked around the circle. "I need your help to find a way to save her."

"Of course we'll help," Lucy said, her gaze still focused on her shoes. "I just…can't believe she didn't tell us." Natsu and Wendy nodded their agreement. "I mean, we're her friends, right? Aren't you supposed to tell your friends about this sort of stuff?"

"She wouldn't," Gajeel said abruptly. "Juvia's never been like that. She keeps the important stuff to herself." He shrugged carelessly, even though the expression on his face was anything but disinterested. With his pierced, hairless brows drawn together, he resembled a very frightening, very angry thundercloud. "Being in a dark guild like Phantom'll do that to you."

But for Juvia, Gray was sure, it had started long before she joined Phantom Lord. It wasn't that she didn't like to confide in her friends – she'd never really had friends to confide in.

"Do you think I could do something with my healing magic?" Wendy asked, her eyes lighting up. Gray frowned doubtfully.

"Maybe, but I think Porlyusica would have already asked you to help if she thought you could." The little girl deflated, and Natsu patted her comfortingly on the shoulder.

"We'll figure it out, Wendy. Don't worry, I know you'll be able to help Juvia." His brows drew together suddenly, and Gray could almost see the lightbulb go off above his head. "Gray, what if you freeze her somehow with your ice magic? Like, make her outermost layer into ice." The whole group seemed to brighten at this suggestion, but Gray was already shaking his head.

"I can't freeze people. I could stick her in a block of ice, but that would melt pretty fast and I'm not sure she'd be able to survive anyway, since there'd be no oxygen. It wouldn't work out." He sighed. "I think the best plan is to travel around to as many towns as we can and see if we can find out anything about this. I bet there are other people this has happened to that could help us." Everyone nodded and slowly the cluster dispersed as they pulled away in twos and threes to discuss the search. Gray was about to follow Lucy and Natsu when a small hand tugged on his wrist. He glanced down at Levy. "What?"

She glanced around, then whispered, "I think I know of a way to save her."

Gray blinked. "Why didn't you say so before? Hey–" He raised his voice to call the others back, but Levy clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Wait!" she hissed frantically. "Just hold on a second." She released him and sighed heavily, pulling an enormous leather-bound tome from her bag. "Remember how I was telling you about this book before?" Gray squinted at the elaborate squiggles and patterns that wrapped around the spine and the cover.

"No." Levy heaved another sigh of frustration.

"Well, I did. Pay attention now, okay?" Gray nodded, mystified. "This book seems to be some sort of record of a certain tribe's magical practices and ceremonies." Gray fought to hold back a yawn. All he got was that it was really old and full of boring ceremonial crap. He didn't get what that had to with Juvia.

Levy noticed his wandering attention and pinched his arm. Hard. "Ow!" Gray hissed, swatting away her hand. "What was that for?"

"I told you to pay attention," she huffed. "Anyway, I'm not really sure yet what sort of ceremonies they were, but the important part is what the tribe called themselves." She opened the book, flipping pages carefully until she found the one she wanted. "There, look." She circled a collection of squiggles and dots with her fingertip, glancing at Gray impatiently. He nodded obediently like he understood. "In their language, it would have been pronounced something like–" She broke off to make a strange series of indistinguishable guttural noises. "Roughly translated, it means People of the Rain."

Finally understanding dawned. "So you think they were a tribe of people like Juvia," Gray said. Levy snapped the book shut, sending up a cloud of dust which she expertly avoided.

"Right, but I don't have any proof yet. This is one of the hardest things I've ever translated – their language was extremely complex. In fact," she added, her tone brightening and rapidly gaining excitement, "They may have been the first tribe in Fiore to create their own written and spoken language. You might even say they were–" Now it was Gray's turn to cover Levy's mouth.

"I get it, Levy. So that's why you didn't want to tell the others." She nodded.

"It very well could be completely unrelated. I don't want to get everyone's hopes up. But, Gray, in case it does have something to do with Juvia's condition, I want you to do me a favor."

"Anything," he replied immediately. "Just say the word."

"I got this book in a town to the north called Oak. I need you to go there and investigate this tribe and any possibility of a cure for Juvia."

Gray frowned. A town called Oak… He blinked. "Wasn't Oak…" Levy cocked her head to one side.

"Wasn't Oak what?" He shook his head.

"It was on the tip of my tongue, but I forget now. It just sounds familiar. Anyway, I'm on it. Can I get there by train?" Levy nodded.

"It's about half a day by train from Magnolia. You should be there by tonight if you catch the train leaving at noon."

"Alright, thanks. So, just to make sure, I should ask around about that People of the Rain tribe and about Juvia's condition, right?"

Levy nodded again. "Actually, I think I'm going to go with you. There's something I want to confirm."

"You should stay here," Gray argued. "You need to work on translating that book, not running all over Fiore looking for crap. That's my job." Levy scrunched up her nose at him.

"And who says I can't do both? I don't trust you to be able to find this stuff out for me, so I have to do it myself. And that means I'm coming with you." They scowled at each other for a moment before Levy added, "You can't stop me from going, you know. I can go with or without you, but in the end I'm still going."

"Fine," Gray growled. "But whatever you're confirming better be important. Juvia's life is at stake here, and I'm not just saying that to be dramatic. If it turns out this textbook of yours could save her, but you were too busy doing other shit to translate it, I won't forgive you."

"What's this about not forgiving the shrimp?" Gajeel rumbled threateningly, leaning over Levy's spiky blue head.

"Hey!" she snapped. "I'm not a shrimp, and I'm not your elbow-rest either! Get off!"

She was ignored.

"It's nothing," Gray muttered, turning away. "Levy, if you're getting a ticket, you might want to hurry up. It's almost time for the train to leave."

"Hold it!" Gajeel called, grabbing his shoulder. "Where are you two going?"

"Oak," Gray replied. "And I'm kind of in a hurry. Let go." Gajeel released him and turned to Levy.

"What was he talking about before?"

Gray didn't hear what she said in response, because he was already leaving the guild. He was going to have to rush if he wanted to make it in time.

Juvia sighed, not noticing the way Porlyusica's long, thin fingers twitched. She wanted to get up. Her skin itched, like something was crawling across her shoulders and down her arms. She blinked, and then blinked again.

The sun was shining outside. Blink. She wanted to go outside and lie in the sun. Blink. She leaned toward the window, reaching out to touch the glass. Blink. Her hands weren't there. She couldn't feel anything through her phantom fingertips. Blink.

Juvia sighed, not noticing Porlyusica's sharp intake of breath. She wanted to do something. Play a game, talk to someone, write a poem… Anything to make time pass a little faster. Anything to make Gray show up a little sooner.

Juvia sighed.

The only thing that saved her from Porlyusica's wrath was the door as it flew open. Gray walked in, shirtless and sweaty. "Hey."

Juvia flung herself off the bed, forgetting in her joy that she couldn't use her legs. She tumbled to the floor, sliding to a stop by Gray's feet. Slightly embarrassed, she avoided Gray's eyes as she looked up. "Welcome back, Gray-sama!"

This time, Gray was the one to heave a sigh. "Honestly, you… Think a little before you go throwing yourself all over the place, will you?" He reached down and, before Juvia could react, lifted her from the floor by her arms, supporting her with one arm under her thighs.

"G-Gray-sama?" Juvia squeaked, too surprised to take advantage of the situation. Gray grinned at her, trying not to notice that their faces were closer than he'd expected. He was sort of enjoying the faint blush that painted her cheekbones. He so rarely got to see her being anything but completely obsessed with him. Suddenly Juvia squirmed and almost lost her balance, falling forward and catching herself on Gray's shoulders.

She smelled like spring rain, cool and a little bit sweet. Gray frowned. It was the exact same scent as in his dream. Come to think of it, was it normal to have senses besides sight in a dream? He wasn't sure.

Juvia, meanwhile, was about to start hyperventilating. Her nose hovered centimeters from Gray's smooth, creamy skin, and she wondered if he would taste as delicious as he smelled. It was a tantalizing combination of sweat and something uniquely Gray, minty and bittersweet.

"Juvia," Gray said very slowly in her ear, sending shivers down her spine, "Did you just…lick me?"

Juvia blinked. "No…?" she lied hesitantly. Gray grunted and unceremoniously tossed her onto the bed, breaking the moment. Juvia pouted. "That hurt, Gray-sama!" He ignored her and turned to Porlyusica, who was pointedly bent over her worktable, not paying attention to either of them.

"I'm going out of town for a few days to dig up some information," he said.

Juvia's playful pout faded. This was exactly why she didn't want to tell him. "Didn't Juvia tell you already? There's nothing you can do. Going won't change anything; staying won't change anything. Crying won't fix it. Shouting won't make it stop. No matter what you do, no matter who you ask or beg or threaten for information, there's point, because there is no cure."

"How are you so sure?" Gray shot back, undeterred. "You haven't looked everywhere yet! You haven't even bothered to do anything to save yourself, Juvia, because you don't think you can! You won't even let the people who care about you look for a way to help you! Is that what you really want? You want everyone to sit by and let you go just like that, without doing anything to save you? That's not fucking fair!"

For an endless moment, Juvia was silent. Her voice was steady when she asked, "Gray-sama, what is hope?"

"What?"

"What does the word 'hope' mean to you?" She paused as if waiting for an answer, but when none came, she continued, "To Juvia, hope is only a beautiful, wonderful lie."

"I don't get it," Gray snapped. "Juvia, you're not making sense. Listen–"

"Gray, you're the one not listening. Be quiet and try to understand." Porlyusica's voice was soft, but it echoed in Gray's ears.

"But–"

"Juvia has looked," the delicate figure sprawled on the bed murmured, interrupting Gray's protests. "Juvia has been looking since she was young, ever since she found out about her condition. Juvia has looked everywhere." She drew herself up into a sitting position and raised her clear dark eyes to meet Gray's. "Gray-sama, please believe that Juvia has tried everything and been disappointed every time. Hope is the worst traitor Juvia has ever met." She gave a soft, bitter laugh. "Hope is the reason Juvia refuses to think about a cure. Because hope isn't fair. Because in the end, hope will be what breaks your soul."

Her voice was very, very quiet, nothing more than a light breath, as she said, "Juvia doesn't want to see Gray-sama hope."

"I'm still going."

"Juvia knows."

Porlyusica was beginning to wonder how much longer the two would continue to stare each other down and if she would have to get involved when the door to her home opened for the second time that day. Jace stood on the doorstep, glancing around cautiously. His eyes widened when he spotted Porlyusica (the memories of the day before were still very fresh in his mind).

"Um, good morning," he said. She nodded, waving him in silently. He stepped in and saw Gray and Juvia locking eyes. Neither of them seemed to have even registered his entrance. Porlyusica approached Jace, her usual scowl in place.

"Good morning," she intoned. "I assume you're here to visit your sister." When he nodded hesitantly, she snapped over her shoulder, "Juvia! Your brother's here!"

Juvia blinked hard and looked at the pair standing by the door. "Jace!" she exclaimed. "You came to visit me?"

"Yeah," he said with a gentle smile. "But it looks like Gray got here before me." At that, the ice mage turned away.

"I'm leaving. I have a train to catch."

"Gray-sama!" Juvia called as he moved towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"Oak," he replied, glancing over his shoulder. "Why?" The stillness in Juvia's expression was almost frightening. Out of the corner of his eye, Gray noticed Jace looked like Gray had just announced he was off on quick journey to Hell.

"Jace," Juvia said slowly, "Would you please go with him?" Gray frowned, but Jace only nodded.

"Yeah. I'll take him."

Without another word, Jace grabbed Gray's wrist and dragged him out of the tree. "Wait, what? Why are you coming too? What the hell was that all about?"

Jace didn't make a sound until they had bought tickets and caught the train (just barely). "Who told you about Oak?"

Gray cocked an eyebrow, thoroughly irritated. "No one told me anything about the place. Levy said there might be something important there, so I said I'd check it out."

"It's a waste of time," Jace snapped. "Don't you think we would have started looking there?"

Gray blinked, startled. "Well, I don't know much about the place, except Levy got some sorta book there that might have some clues. I kinda figured most people wouldn't be able to translate that thing, so I didn't think you would've known about it."

Jace stared at him for a moment before asking, "You mean you didn't know Juvia and I grew up there?"

Gray stared back. "Really? You did?" Jace sighed and leaned back against the seat, closing his eyes.

"Sorry about that. Home is…a sensitive topic." Gray didn't respond. He was trying to remember why Oak sounded so familiar. He was sure Juvia had never mentioned her hometown to him or anyone else while he was in earshot. But for some reason, it still felt connected to her.

"Is there something else I'm missing?" he asked Jace, who cracked one eye to peer at him. "Like… I don't know, I just get the feeling there's more to this place than being the town you grew up in." Jace examined Gray's shoes.

"Oak doesn't have an official town guild like Magnolia does," he said, never taking his eyes off the floor. His white-blue hair fell down over his forehead and tangled in his lashes. "But a few years ago, there was a dark guild that had a base there."

"Phantom Lord," Gray filled in quietly. "That's why the name of the town was so familiar."

"Juvia joined when she turned fifteen," Jace said. "Six months after she brought me home. I just woke up one day and she said, 'I'm joining Phantom Lord today.' I didn't know what to say to her, or how I was supposed to react. I ended up just staring at her like an idiot until she left the room."

"Why did she join?"

"Money," Jace answered simply. "We needed the cash to pay for my mom's medication. We weren't poor or anything, but the stuff was killer expensive, and we couldn't afford it if my dad was the only one working. But after she joined, she just…changed. Something about that place made her empty and cold, and it was like she wasn't Juvia anymore. She barely talked to me, and she acted like our parents didn't exist. She came home less and less, and then I started hearing stuff about the Element Four. It was honestly kind of scary."

"But then she joined Fairy Tail, and now she's happy, right?" Gray hadn't meant his statement to be a question, but suddenly he wanted reassurance. Was Juvia happy? "I mean, she's dy–" He bit his lip. "Disappearing." That would certainly be enough to depress him.

Jace gave a short bark of laughter. "Well, I guess you could say the whole reason she's evaporating is because she's happy. Did she tell you the reason this is happening?" Gray shook his head. As Jace explained, his eyes widened and his fingers curled into a fist. His nails dug into his palm, forming deep crescent moon-shaped indents in his skin.

"That's crazy," Gray growled. "What kind of a sick curse is that? It's like God is telling her she's not allowed to be happy!"

"I know how you feel," Jace said, "But calm down a little, okay? You're turning the train into a freezer." Gray realized he could see his breath, and Jace had his arms crossed tightly over his chest as if to ward off the cold. Ice crystals crackled as they formed on the edges of the windows. With a conscious effort, he halted the flow of cold seeping from his body.

"Sorry," he managed. "I don't usually do that." Jace blew into his cupped hands and smiled at Gray.

"Nah, it's fine. Actually, I'm glad you got mad for Juvia. Proves you care a lot about her." He glanced out the window at the grassy flatlands rushing past and turned back to Gray. "So, you said you have an adopted brother, right? What's he like?"

"Lyon? He's…" Gray paused. "He's pretty crazy. He's one of the stronger members of Lamia Scale. Oh, and… He's head over heels for your sister," Gray finished with a grimace. Jace stared at him, his eyes wider than Gray had thought physically possible.

"Someone likes my nutball of an older sister?" Gray laughed.

"Believe it or not, he really does. Maybe because she's never stalked him or tried to flash him or anything. Or maybe it's because he's equally insane." He exhaled, smiling. "He and I were both students of the same woman when we were kids. We were both orphans, and Ur was like our mother. So naturally, we were 'brothers'." Jace leaned forward, interest in his eyes.

"So why'd you two join different guilds? Did you get into some sort of argument or something?" When Gray's expression clouded over, he held up his hands. "Oh, my bad. You don't have to answer if it's a touchy subject–"

"No, it's fine," Gray said, forcing a smile. "See, we parted ways after Ur died. He resented me for a long time after because he thought it was my fault. Well, I suppose he wasn't really wrong." Gray glanced up at Jace, who looked shaken. "Want to know?"

"Only if you don't mind telling," Jace said softly.

"Before I met Ur, the town I lived in was attacked by Deliora, a demon from the book of Zeref. You've heard of it, right?" Jace nodded. "My parents were killed along with the rest of the people living there and the town was destroyed. I always hated how powerless I was. And I despised that demon more than anything else for taking away my family. So when I heard that Deliora had appeared in a town close to where Ur, Lyon and I were living in the mountains, the sky falling couldn't have stopped me from going. It was suicide, of course – I was just an inexperienced kid trying to fight one of Zeref's demons. Ur tried to stop me, but I wouldn't listen. So she followed me." Gray stared blankly out the window, unseeing. "Long story short, she sacrificed herself to save our lives by using a forbidden ice make technique that transformed her body into an indestructible ice block that imprisoned Deliora. But Lyon didn't know that was what happened. He thought she simply died. So he blamed me for years after that, and honestly, I blamed myself. Anyway, we met again by coincidence and eventually managed to sort everything out."

"Wow," Jace breathed. "That's…intense."

"You could say that," Gray agreed. "Anyway, he ended up joining Lamia with a couple of his friends. I see him once in a while on jobs or when we decide to meet up." He stretched his hands toward the ceiling of the train, rolling his shoulders until he heard a satisfying pop. "Been a while since I told anyone that story. What do you want to do now? I'd nap, but I think I'm too keyed up to be able to sleep right now." It was true; he was practically bouncing in place. His fingers tapped out an erratic rhythm on his knees, his heels knocking on the floor in time.

"Want to play a game?" Jace suggested. "Like hangman or something."

Gray grinned. "You're on. But we don't have any paper. Or anything to write with."

"Please," Jace scoffed. "Just watch." He twisted in his seat to face the person sitting behind him and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around, clearly surprised. Jace flashed a thousand-watt smile at her. "Sorry to bother you, but would you happen to have any paper and something to write with? My friend and I are bored, so we were going to play a game."

She nodded eagerly, spiky hair bobbing. "Of course! Just a second." Gray rolled his eyes when Jace turned back around, a notebook and pen in hand.

"You are unbelievable."

A smug smile spread across Jace's face. "Why, thank you."

They ended up playing hangman for three hours. It was starting to get dark by the time Gray finally managed to figure out that the word Jace had chosen was pshaw, and the stars came out while he attempted to confirm that it really was a word.

"I'm telling you, no matter how many people you ask, no one's going to have a dictionary on hand," Jace said, amusement evident in his voice.

"I haven't asked everyone in this car yet," he growled, stalking past Jace to the seat behind him. "Hey, do you have a dictionary with you?"

The girl Jace had borrowed paper from looked up from the thick book she was reading with a smile. "Sure, hang– Gray?"

Gray groaned. "Of course it's you. Normal people don't bring dictionaries with them on the train." Levy scowled.

"That's rude. Do you want to borrow it or not?"

"It'll probably be faster to ask you. Is 'pshaw' a word?"

Levy shrugged. "Of course. It's an exclamation that expresses contempt or impatience. It can also be used as a verb. Why do you ask?"

"Pshaw," Gray spat, disgusted. "I don't believe it." A sudden movement in his peripheral vision had him turning to see a slumped, pathetic lump of black fabric in the corner of the seat facing Levy's. "Is that…Gajeel?" Levy sighed.

"Unfortunately. He's as bad as Natsu with traveling."

"Suckers," Gray snickered. This wasn't the first time he had been extremely thankful for his travel-safe brand of magic.

The loudspeaker crackled and a female voice announced, "Next stop, Oak station. Next stop, Oak station."

As the train began to slow, Gray gritted his teeth against the surge of anxiety flooding his mind. What was he going to do if he couldn't find a way to at least slow down the process? What was he supposed to do if he couldn't save Juvia, and she vanished? What if he hoped, and that hope let him down?

Screw hope, he decided. He wasn't going to hope, because he didn't need it. He was going to find a way to save Juvia, whether hope liked it or not.

Screw hope indeed. I don't really know where that little nugget of wisdom came from, but you're welcome. Oh, btw, veracity means truthfulness. And in case anyone was wondering, 'pshaw' really is a word. Google says so (and so does autocorrect). Idk if anyone noticed, but there was a lot of sighing in this chapter. Like, a lot a lot. So if you were one of the people who didn't notice my sloppiness, please pretend I never mentioned it and go on your ignorant, blissful way (ignorant as in ignorance is bliss, not ignorant as in stupid). If you noticed and were like, question mark, I apologize. That was sloppy of me. And no, I'm not going to fix it, because I'm sloppy and lazy, and that's the way I like it. Well, maybe not the sloppy part, but I'm too lazy to do anything about it. xP

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