Author's Note:
I know this is supposed to be a one-shot. But I made an exception this time, so now, it's a two-shot!
kisses n' hugs to my loveliest readers
paprika
.
Jellal's hands went around her supple frame in a subtle embrace before letting go. Bamboo groves are verdant wrestlers of the wind, bending and cooing like lullaby fairies. He drew her closer by the elbow and kissed her forehead. "Stop right there." He tugged her back when she decided to go away.
"I can't. I have to get back before curfew." She touched the wrist connected to hers, trying to free them fruitlessly. "Let go, Jellal."
"You look beautiful in the moonlight." On his face was a suave smile.
"My dear Kami! Lower your voice a bit, Jellal." She clamps her eyes shut, a shiver rolling down her spine as her lover drags her to his lap, peppering kisses from her ears to her mouth. Juvia had just finished her laundry and was about to cook dinner when he showed up at her window and brought her to this clearing in the woods where bamboo shoots soaked in the stars, wailing out sedating tootle-toos.
His eyes fall at ease on her curves veiled by the thin excuse of a blanket now that they lay aglitter in each other's sweat in the meadows behind the cluster of bamboo. Juvia used to be a modest young woman. Enter Jellal, and she could not pinpoint when her inhibitions petered out into the breeze.
What a wonderful man had she gotten herself? At that moment, enjoying the tangle of their limbs, Juvia felt blessed. Under the blankets, he traced his naughty fingers over her midriff to her clavicle, where she caught it from moving further. "I should be more careful. Mira already has her doubts."
"Why should we be careful when you can be with me all you want?" He thinks her choice to move to the dorms when she could sleep in his house is pointless. "My house doesn't have a curfew, unlike your Fairy Hills," Jellal spoke, cradling her head to his chest.
When their lips brushed, his tongue slipped inside for a taste. "I love you."
"I love you too." She moaned. "Now let go of the blanket. I need to put on my clothes." Jellal blinked at her panting form, his grip on the blanket tightening at once.
He laughs when she blushes, heaving herself up and away from their cuddle. She snatches the blanket from him and runs away, hissing. "See you later."
.
Juvia came to the guild on Monday. There was no bustle, just the buzz of the radio in the corner and the squeak of Mira wiping the windows spick and span. The skull on the back of Gray's leather jacket squinted at her from where he leaned against the windows, a newspaper under his arms. She went to look at the mission board and got her papers ready for a mission with Jellal. Her plan worked as Gajeel kept his distance, even going so far as to get out of the guild, wrinkling his nose. Juvia's lips kept their solemn line, her satisfaction, a secret. Not that anyone gave a shit about her life, but Mira can catch on quick. Shadows fell on the floorboards of the guild from the wide doorway. Daylight lily white on the snow coating the power lines overhead. Of course, Juvia was wrong about the first part of her statement when more than half of the guild began to poke their nose into her business, curious about her lengthy absence.
"Ahaha. I was on a vacation." Lucy wasn't smiling at her response. So, they knew about what had happened with Gray. She had pity in her eyes. Juvia didn't need anyone's pity. She walked past the inquiring blonde out of the bitter-faced guild, wanting yet another break from this. She didn't know if Lucy realised this, but she was siding with her friends. Juvia didn't give two fucks about their friendship. Even so, Lucy doesn't have the right to try and justify what they did. Jellal warned her this would happen, but Juvia hadn't expected such unfairness. Life is like that. Who cares? She'll live her best no matter what life hurls her way. She had taken more hardships than the average Fiorian, used to livin' through it. Juvia wasn't made of stones. Water doesn't break; it takes shape.
.
It was a private affair nobody in the guild envisioned. A month to the date of their first anniversary, Juvia was expecting.
She pressed cornflowers onto white cotton, letting them stain blue flower prints by binding them against the fabric with jute ropes. Blankets for the baby. Gray's outburst was unexpected since he stayed cool as a cucumber for so long, such that people thought both of them patched things up. Their separation wasn't on the cover pages of any magazines, yet it was an open secret. One day, when Natsu trotted to her side, nobody got the chance to misjudge whose child grew inside her womb. He circled her like a strange creature. Then, took a loud, shameless sniff, nostrils flaring before a squawk. "Jellal's going to be a dad?!" All the cats were out of the bag before Levy's ink dried on the pages of her journal.
At that time, Jellal wasn't aware of the fact, nor was Juvia. They were not the only ones frozen on the spot; the entire guild was enveloped in deafening stillness. When Gray bared his teeth, Jellal refused to do the same. As subtle as it was, her boyfriend's message had its weight, keeping the brunette at bay. "You will not touch her." Jellal had warned. In the fullness of time, her belly had swelled a delightful round she no longer hid behind baggy clothes.
At around one minute to eleven, Jellal marches into the workspace in his boxers, comforters draped over his naked shoulders like a robe. "We'll do the rest tomorrow morning. Come on, let's sleep." Lovingly, he places his chin atop her head, drowsiness tugging at his eyelids and voice. "Too many flowers. Be careful. You could've been allergic to some." When she shows no intention of getting up from the chair, he takes matters into his own hands. She doesn't have the strength to protest when she gets lifted off the floor along with the chair and carried into the bedroom slick as a whistle. Remind her again of all the times Jellal has beat her at arm-wrestling. His strength was tried and true.
In their cosy home, spooning beneath the comforters, the couple drifted off to sweet dreams, contented.
.
᪥┄┄┄┄᪥