Juvia felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her heart, after speaking with Bora. Of course, it hadn't happened exactly how she had wanted, but the important thing was that now she really felt that she had closed that chapter.

The water mage walked along the river and walked back and forth, because now she had one last thing to resolve.

She had to confront the celestial spirit mage!

She knew that she wasn't at the guild and she was thankful for that, because as much as she loved Fairy Tail, she also desired some privacy sometimes, something impossible to achieve in the craziest guild in all of Fiore.

.-.

Lucy was at home, writing another chapter of her novel, when she suddenly heard someone at the door.

"Eh? Someone's at the door? Who could it be? Natsu and Happy? Impossible, they never knock, not even Erza and Gray knock, nor the landlady. Now that I think about it, no one has ever knocked!"

Curious, she went to open the door to see who this marvelously educated person who remembered to knock before entering could be.

The blonde opened the door and she was confronted with the person she least expected.

"J-Juvia?" the celestial mage asked, surprised.

"Can Juvia come in?" she asked with a serious expression.

"Y-yes, of course, please come in."

"Thank you."

"Goodness, eh, is there something I can do for you?"

Lucy was trembling and grasping her keys ready to summon any spirit to help her against the rage of the water mage.

"Don't worry, Juvia just wants to talk with you, Juvia won't hurt you, so there is no need to worry or tremble."

"N-no, I-I'm not trembling."

Juvia gave her a look that said "really?"

"Can Juvia sit?"

"Y-yes, of course, wherever you like."

"Thank you," she responded, taking a seat at the table.

"D-do you want something to eat? What can I offer you?"

"Juvia would like a drink, thank you."

"Y-yes, I'll bring you one now."

The girl, left alone in the living room of her love rival, looked around, observing the decorations.

"Here, tea, Mira told me that you prefer tea to coffee, so here you go."

"Thank you," the blunette said, taking the cup the blonde offered her.

Lucy also sat at the table, in front of her.

"So, I noticed that you're looking around, do you like it?"

"Lucy-San has good taste, without a doubt."

"Thank you," the blonde responded, despite part of her feeling that she wasn't just referring to the decorations.

"Juvia will get to the point."

"Yes, please."

"Gajeel-Kun told Juvia how you met Bora, she wants to hear your version from you."

"First thing's first, I swear that nothing happened between us, I met him when I came to Hargeon to go to the guild, it was the worst encounter and worst experience of my life.

"When?"

"A year and a half ago, or rather eight, from what Gajeel told me, you and Bora weren't together then."

"And is it true that he kidnapped you?"

"Well, yes and no."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I was under his spell, so it was against my will."

"Bora is a fire mage, what spell could he have thrown at you to make you follow him?"

"Well, he stole a magic charm, an illegal magic that was used precisely to attract people and make them do things that they don't want to do, they arrested him for that too."

"Juvia understands, she had no idea that he was using illegal magic."

"I know that you've decided to talk with him."

"Juvia did so a few hours ago."

"And did everything go ok?"

"Juvia feels better, so yes."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Either way, keep going."

"Yes, and then he took me to his yacht, which I don't know if it was his or not…"

"Yes, it was his," she said bitterly.

"And—you know about it? Have you ever been?"

"Since it was always raining and we couldn't do normal things, we always had to put the cover on and we went there a lot, he said he never brought anyone there, that it was our special place."

"I'm very sorry."

"Don't be, continue."

"Later he revealed who he really was, not Salamander from Fairy Tail like he had made me believe, rather a simple fire mage who now dedicated himself to slave trading."

Juvia stayed silent for a while; it still took a lot to believe that her ex had fallen so low.

"When Juvia met Bora, she knew that he wasn't a saint nor a good guy, but she never would have imagined that some day in the future he would dedicate himself to something like that."

"Think that it ended between the two of you before he became too dangerous for you too."

"Yes."

"Either way when I tried to defend myself, he took my keys and threw them overboard, saying that they were useless.

"Yes, typical Bora, to him all magic, especially a woman's, was useless, he always loved belittling everyone else.

"A mediocre mage and an even worse man."

"Yes."

"Either way, thankfully Natsu arrived, who I also met that day, and saved me, showing me that he was the real Salamander and then he took me to the guild after turning Bora into the authorities.

"And that's the story of how Lucy-San arrived at Fairy Tail.

"Yes, I've always been grateful to Natsu for that."

"Juvia sees," she said, smiling for the first time.

"Either way Juvia, really, I don't know what to say…"

"Let Juvia speak."

"I'm listening."

"Juvia is sorry about the bad experience Bora gave you."

"Oh my god! It wasn't your fault! You don't have to apologize! Besides, It was a bad experience but it was also good because I met Natsu and now I'm in the guild."

"But maybe if Juvia had taught him the lesson that he deserved at that moment, perhaps he would have learned and wouldn't have kept hurting, cheating, and playing around."

"Listen," she said, taking her hand, "It wasn't your fault. Unfortunately, we can't control other people's actions and their behavior doesn't depend on us, they are the ones who make those decisions, we can only choose how to react to those actions."

"Juvia feels the same."

"It's not necessary."

"Who knows what Lucy-San will think of Juvia now?"

"I'll admit that I was afraid that you would want to drown me, after all…"

"Juvia admits that when she found out that Lucy-San knew Bora, the first thing she thought was that she was part of his list."

"Of women that he cheated on you with?"

"Yes."

"Juvia, I swear I never would have done that."

"Bora was a good cheater and liar, Juvia always wondered if all those women knew that he had a girlfriend."

"Well, you know what? It's his loss! You're worth much more than all of those women."

"He told her this morning that it was her fault."

"What? That idiot! Of course, it wasn't your fault! He was unfaithful because he's a horrible person, you have nothing to do with that."

"After Bora dumped her, something clicked in her and she told herself that she was foolish to believe that there was anything good out there for her."

"Juvia, of course there's something good out there for you."

"Juvia is glad to have found Fairy Tail."

"It's a marvelous place, where you really can find happiness."

"Juvia is grateful to Gray-Sama for showing her not just the sun and clear skies, but also the Fairy Tail family."

"Yes, and I am too for Natsu."

"But Juvia has reasoned and she should also thank Lucy-San."

"Me? Why?"

"Well, Lucy-San was the motive between the war between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord, without that war Juvia wouldn't have met Gray-Sama and she wouldn't have had the opportunity to be a part of Fairy Tail."

"Well, then it was a pleasure to be of help."

"Juvia never adequately apologized for what happened in Phantom."

"That's water under the bridge!"

"She was so focused on Gray-Sama and her belief that Lucy was her love rival, that she never found the opportunity to apologize properly."

"To me what happened in the Tower of Heaven is valid, our Unison Raid was more than adequate."

"Juvia thought about it often but was always too ashamed to approach."

"Why?"

"Well, she's not really proud of what she did."

"It was an order from your master, no?"

"Yes."

"And if you had refused, you would have had to face the consequences, right?"

"In Phantom no one would have ever thought about refusing anything, it was prohibited."

"See? It's better this way! At least it turned out well."

"Yes, Juvia often wonders what would have happened if Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord never would have gone to war."

"Everything would have been very different."

"Yes, and Juvia admits that now she is very happy with her life."

"All's well that ends well."

"Yes," she said smiling.

"I consider you a friend, honestly, I would love for us to be closer."

"Juvia apologizes, she knows that she exaggerates a bit."

"No, I get it now, the reason behind your behavior."

"Really?"

"You're afraid of Gray ever getting with another person."

"Yes, Juvia knows that she and Gray-Sama aren't together and she knows that Gray-Sama has the right to be with whoever he wants, but just the idea of that drives her crazy."

"Of course, you're in love, it's obvious, but I want you to know that Gray and I are just friends, there is nothing romantic or anything between us."

"In the end Juvia knows that, it's just that when she sees Lucy-San all her doubts enter her mind."

"Why?"

"Because Lucy-San is any man's dream! She is perfect! She is gorgeous, intelligent, strong, pleasant, cheerful, she gets along with everyone, she has a bright smile, everyone loves her, that's Lucy-San, she's the sun, the light, meanwhile Juvia is the rain and darkness."

"Oh Juvia! Don't belittle yourself! You're also all that, you're lovely and powerful, you have a sparkling personality, you're fun, you know how to do so much, you have a million talents, and it's not true that you're the darkness, you also shine brightly, we all do, each in our own way."

"Juvia will tell Lucy-San a secret."

"Yes?"

"Juvia considers Lucy-San her first true friend, she was the first girl that she felt comfortable with."

"Really?"

"In Phantom Lord, although there were other girls, Juvia never managed to befriend them, especially being part of the elite and spending all her time with Gajeel-Kun, Totomaru-San, Monsieur Sol, and Aria-San, and she was always more comfortable talking with guys, more at ease, she still feels a bit uncomfortable with girls."

"I realized that, well, you'll see with time, you'll get used to it."

"Yes, for sure, Lisanna-San proposed a ladies' day and Mira said that she would take care of everything, will Lucy-San come?"

"Of course, I will! If you want me there."

"Juvia would like that."

"Then let's dedicate a day to ourselves, just girls."

"Yeah."

"Bora really hurt you, no?"

"Yes, he did and there are things that Juvia probably still hasn't overcome and she's realized that before jumping headfirst into another story, she first has to overcome the past."

"Yes, and one day you'll find a guy that loves you for who you are, rain or shine, because you are you and because love is real, and doesn't care about those things."

Juvia smiled and remembered the conversation she had with Gray by the lake the night before.

"Juvia will keep trying to conquer Gray-Sama, her heart tells her that he is the one.

"Then follow your heart."

"Juvia will."

"No, why don't we go to the guild and make a list of things to do on our ladies' day?"

"That's a great idea, Lucy-San, let's go."

"Come on."

And so here the friendship between the two girls became even stronger and important.

Because in the end the two girls weren't that different and with time, they learned to be more and more united.

.-.

Author's corner.

Here is the last chapter of this story.

I'm so proud of myself!

This is the first time that I managed to finish a multi-chapter story.

Anyways, I wanted to write something about Juvia and Lucy and their very underestimated friendship.

And I always wanted to explain what there is behind Juvia's crazy behavior a bit and her labeling of Lucy as a "Love Rival."

Juvia doesn't hate Lucy, on the contrary, she admires her.

I also wanted to write this because during Tartaros, Alvarez, etc, I noticed them more tranquil, closer, and united.

Having said that, thank you very much to those who read, comment, and we'll see each other soon in the next fanfics (I have a lot in mind) …

Thank you to BotanG for translating it.

Thank you everyone, even for just reading and until next time.

GruviaSilver.