Hello! I finally finished this chapter! Finally! For me, writing takes a long, long time. Writing this chapter probably took me around 4 hours because I have the tendency of constantly self-editing as I write. That being said, I still make a ton of mistakes in my writing, especially about tenses. I sometimes switch between past tense and current tense randomly, so please let me know if there are any blatant mistakes!

I'm not sure what to do with this story anymore to be honest... I have so many side plots running in my head that I've strayed from my originally planned main plot line. *sigh* the struggle is real.

-KingRadish

Two Halves Make a Whole

Chapter 6- January 2nd

"Just leave him. Let's go," Ultear said and glanced back at him. "He's not worth it."

Lyon smiled down at him, his silver hair speckled with Gray's blood. "You heard the lady. Buh-bye now, Gray." He delivers a final kick to the prone figure lying on the wet concrete and turns away.

As the rain's soft pitter-patter on his cheeks washes away his crimson anger, Gray shuts his eyes and prays that this is the last time he'll ever feel this pain. Not the pain, no; the loneliness. The all-consuming loneliness that has robbed him of everything so many times.

The rain tasted like salt.

Gray is a false king, knocked off his throne to find that the ones who sang his praises were the ones who stabbed him in the back, and as he lays dying, his kingdom of sand and lies crumbles before his eyes. He tries to raise his hand, tries to reach out toward the two silhouettes in the distance.

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"Come back…" The weight of reality pulled him out of his nightmare, the movement of his mouth giving substance to his pain.

A head of azure waves turns toward him. "Sorry, did Gray-sama say something?"

It took Gray a moment to realize who he was looking at. The strangeness of the clean face and the bright eyes took him by surprise, and suddenly he's floating between the past and present, remembering the different strangers he'd woken up with in his long-lost youth.

"Gray-sama?" Juvia was by his side, her gentle hands caressing his face. The heat in his cheeks reveled in the coolness of her fingers. "What happened?"

"Nothing," he sighed. "Just a bad dream." He couldn't read her expression as she watched him. Letting the memories sink again into the depths of his mind, Gray closed his eyes and stretched. Then he shot up in bed and flung away the bed sheets in a sudden moment of panic.

His boxers were still on.

"Oh thank God," he groaned. "I'd thought—"

"Nothing happened. Don't worry Gray-sama, Juvia would never force you to do something like that."

Gray laughed. "You wouldn't be forcing me, Juvia."

There was a moment of silence as both of them regarded each other in disbelief. Gray wondered why he'd said something like that. It took him a second to find his words again. "Well, I'd better get dressed and let's go get you some new clothes-"

"Juvia can't stay."

"Why not?" His brows furrowed. "You want to go back?"

She fidgeted. "No… But she can't leave things as is."

They had another stare down and he looked uncomfortably away from her glittering eyes. He didn't want her to go. Of course not. But what claim did he have over her?

Gray sighed and ran a hand through his ruffled bedhead. "Don't go, Juvia. Don't leave yet. Stay a little longer, please."

Her eyes seemed to glow. "Why?"

He sunk his head into his hands and told a half-truth. "Because, Juvia, I need you."

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They went to Blue Pegasus Mall first, and got Juvia a dress. At first she'd been reluctant, uncomfortable with receiving anything paid for by other people, but eventually conceded her position after much persuading by her host.

After all, Gray was not lacking in money, making a salary of six figures to support his minimalistic lifestyle. For once it felt good to spend it on someone else. He had a habit of indulging his companions' whims, sometimes a little too much.

She'd insisted on the dress being at least knee-length and covering everything below her neck. This threw Ichiya, the store clerk, for a loop. ("Why would anyone with such beautiful perfume be so conservative?" He'd demanded as he struck dramatic poses.) But in the end he complied and Juvia walked out in a blue and white dress and hat that brought out her eyes.

As they walked through the mall together, Gray began to notice the staring.

There were glances from passing people; whispers and winks directed at his companion. The mumbles of words as she walked by and the appraising looks that lingered too long. She seemed to shrink into herself, like a piece of paper crumpling into a ball. She hung her head and trudged on in silence.

He didn't care about how she felt, however. No, Gray was much too selfish for that. This was all for himself, his pride, his vanity. She was his now, and undeniably so. He owned her like he owned her dress, her current sanity; and the feeling of conquest gave him a thrill.

He was her only support; the only one she knew in this sea of people and no matter what happened, she would not, could not leave him. She needed him.

But there was another voice in his mind. His voice. It was a whisper in an empty room, slowly gaining in volume and timbre as it approached from far away, berating him for his egoism.

He pulled her into a nearby hallway and roughly pushed her against the wall. "Juvia," he panted. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

She seemed alarmed. "What's wrong—"

"See, I'm not as great as you think. I'm just... I'm just using you." He turned to leave, but her hand grasped the hem of his shirt tightly.

"What do you mean? Please, Gray-sama… Don't leave Juvia here."

He spun around. "Do you not understand? I'm not really your friend."

She blinked, stunned. "Gray-"

"I'm selfish, okay? I'm just like your boyfriend, like those other guys. I'm trash. But you don't deserve this, Juvia. You don't deserve to be hurt again."

She bristled. "So, what do you mean? That Juvia is just sitting around, waiting to be abused? Juvia loves who she wants to love, and although she doesn't make good choices, they're her choices. Don't tell her that this is your way of taking care of her, because Juvia doesn't need this sympathy! Juvia wants to be friends with you, Gray-sama. Juvia wants to help you." Her voice softened as she touched his face with her soft, cool hands, wiping away the tears that had escaped his eyes unnoticed.

He pulled away brusquely and inhaled until his lungs felt as if they would burst. "Help me? Juvia, I don't need help. I'm fine. You're the one—"

"Why aren't you happy, then?"

"Huh?"

She took his hands in her, and he let her. "Why do you need Juvia? Why are you torturing yourself like this? Why are you trying so hard to close yourself up? Please, Gray-sama. Let Juvia heal you."

He looked down into her earnest eyes, cerulean depths drowning him in their vortexes. Something, something was so mesmerizing about her; so interesting and truthful about everything she did, that he felt his heart ache for her.

She needed him, yes, but he needed her far more.

"Come with me, Juvia," he found himself saying. "Come, and promise never to leave me."

Some serious stuff is gonna happen soon, I promise! And more characters will come into the story. I love writing conversations so much because I feel like I can actually hear the characters talking!

Anyway, lemme know if you like the story! I love reviews! ^_^