Hi! I'm back!

It's been a really long time, I know, and I'm really sorry. Basically, this author's note is just me giving excuses repeatedly for either my very late updates or very bad writing. In this case, it's both.

Two days ago, I got a review from anon asking me to update, which reminded me that I actually have something to write!

So, thank you anon for that. I actually wrote most of this chapter a month ago, but I never managed to finish it because I got busy with stuff like lounging around and continuing my losing streak in hearthstone. Very busy, I know. And I haven't been writing anything for three months, so my writing skills have decreased exponentially from my already low amounts of talent. Hence, this sad chapter (that is also somewhat important). Please bear with me.

-KingRadish

Two Halves Make a Whole

Chapter 5- January 1st (2)

He'd always been strong, muscular despite his wiry frame and quick on his feet. He figured he had enough wit about him to survive for a little while. What happened afterward would be in the hands of fate.

As he squirmed through the hole in the fence that circled around the dingy apartment building, he wondered if anyone would miss him at all.

Would anyone notice that he no longer stood behind the counter at the McDonald's? Probably not.

Would the Child Services come looking for him? Probably, but not for long.

After all, he was just another kid on the streets, a mongrel with nowhere to go. Whether he died or not did not affect anyone. He had no tag, no owner, and no home.

But he was free.

He didn't need an owner or a home, because Gray was free.

He would go wherever the wind took him, and with a small grin on his face, Gray emerged on the other side of the fence, ready to take on the world.

In the duffle bag he carried, he had about ten dollars, a change of clothes, and Silver's gun.

He walked to the other side of the city, begging along the way and grabbing meals when he could from trashcans.

A few days later, he found himself at the gates of his old house, watching what used to be his bedroom window with forlorn eyes. When a girl's face suddenly appeared, he looked away, plunged his hands into his pockets, and walked away.

He wandered about for a few days, not willing to leave the area he knew as home, and when he returned to the house, he saw the girl again, staring out of the window with a look not unlike the one on his own face.

Her dark hair, also so similar to his own, was long and straight, cascading past her shoulders; her eyes were dark and full of something disillusioned and black, like it swallowed up the light around it. She sat there at her desk in front of the window, one hand propping her pale face up, her mouth muttering words that he couldn't hear.

Lovely was the word that came to his mind. Lovely melancholia.

"Hey," he croaked, as he approached the gate he knew so well, his dirty hands tracing the contours of the iron bars. He knew his clothes and hair were a mess, but approaching this girl with the beautiful sadness made him feel like a prince approaching a princess in a tower.

Perhaps she was Rapunzel, waiting for the witch to come home, and as Gray ventured closer he felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise up in warning. He wasn't supposed to be here, he knew, and every step closer filled him with foreboding.

She blinked, her eyes catching the light, and he realized that her eyes were in fact a deep shade of mahogany. The way her eyes flashed was simply… enticing. Her eyelashes cast fluttery shadows on her cheeks, still round with the easiness of childhood. Her brows furrowed slightly when she realized that he was a stranger.

He paused and stood motionless, waiting.

"Who're you?" She finally said, her voice carried over in the silence.

Gray smiled. "I used to live here. Just dropping by for a visit." He suddenly felt an urge to leave, a desperate urge screaming at him to bolt, to get out before it's too late. Tearing his eyes away from the girl by the window, he scanned the sidewalks around him.

She wrinkled her nose. "How come you're so dirty?"

He shrugged. "Been living the hard life."

She watched him intently for a few moments and Gray felt goosebumps raise on his back.

"Anyway, it's time for me to go." He turned, clutching his bag to his shoulder tightly. "I hope you're happy here. This used to be my home, and well, I guess it's yours now."

"Wait a sec, hold on." She disappeared from the window and Gray heard the sound of the front door locks being turned. Then she emerged from the door and hurried across the lawn in her white dress. "Don't you want to come in? You're visiting aren't you?"

He glanced at the sunlight reflecting off her glossy dark hair. "No, I really gotta go." By now his senses were screaming at him to GET THE FUCK OUT.

She unlatched the gate. "It's alright. You can stay for a cup of tea."

He gulped. Well, he really was thirsty, and a cup of tea would help his sandpaper throat. And… The girl was so pretty, he could hardly refuse her, right?

"Actually, sure. Sure, tea sounds great."

She smiled then, and Gray thought that was when he fell in love.

ჱ

He was looking at Juvia, so why did he think of Ultear?

Gray raised a shaking hand and touched it to Juvia's porcelain skin, looking into her eyes for confirmation. She nodded ever so slightly as he made contact. She flinched, then looked away, weeping silently.

She was cold, her skin trembling with every movement of his fingers. He traced the poisonous black words on her body.

BITCH. CUNT. SLUT. TRASH. WHORE.

Chains of words circled her torso, deep, black, scars that will never heal. Tattoos in the shape of scrawled words, messy, yet systematically cruel.

Gray swallowed, but his throat was dry. Like that day long ago, he found himself overcome with the feeling to run away as he was rooted to the spot, unable to tear himself away from her.

There was pity, yes, and who wouldn't feel it? Beautiful girl that she was, brought to this shaking, tearful mess by trash who branded her with repulsive words. And there was anger; fury for this shameful, unjust world that let her fall to pieces. But there was also something else in the madness of the situation.

Their eyes found each other in the midst of the chaos.

"Juvia…"

"Disgusting, right? Juvia is disgusting." Her smile was ghostly. "Gray-sama thinks Juvia is dirty."

He tried to swallow again, to bring some sort of speech into his mouth to convey the way he felt. But only one word came. "No."

Juvia was silent as she shook her head, a tear running down her neck and coming to rest on her collarbone. Her hands shook with the effort of holding her shirt up and the soft skin on her stomach contracted as she gasped through her pain.

"No," he said, firmly this time. "No, Juvia, look at me."

She did, and he pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her as she cried.

Yes, I know, they hug a lot. I love hugs! And I think people don't hug enough in fanfiction. This is Hurt/Comfort, anyway, so hugging is important.

Next update is... Sometime in the future. I'm really sorry but I legit cannot update on time. It's beyond my ability.

Please leave me feedback! I love reading your reviews~