Review Responses:
Dark Gothic Lolita: Thank you so much for your sweet words! Considering that I have taken, yet again, MONTHS to update this work, I'm sure you can tell that university has not been easing up on me, LOL. And that line was something I wrote! I'm not sure if someone else already wrote that line, but if they did, kudos to them, too! The end is almost near, so the reveal will be coming soon! And I'm happy to be a part of the community - I don't have enough NaVia works to be considered the community, but I appreciate your encouragement! (p≧w≦q)
Liatria: Thank you so much for your encouragement and kind words! After MONTHS, I am FINALLY back, so hopefully this chapter will do *some* justice! ( •̀ ω •́ )✧
Summer Nickels: Thank you so much for your kind words! And keep reading this chapter for some clarity moments that Juvia FINALLY realizes~ (^/^)
Clavijo: Gracias! (●'◡'●)
Chapter 9
Life goes on as it always does, but now, Juvia finds that she can breathe easier now that Natsu is back in her life. While it hurts a bit that she can't pursue anything other than friendship with him - the past few days showed her that she really cannot function without the pink-haired male in her life - so she thinks that she can live with that. Because as long as Natsu is still in her life, that's all that really matters. Romantic feelings be damned.
After that fateful day, Natsu has been coming over to the coffee shop just as usual. Only this time, he stays there until closing time. Normally, he would leave a few hours before closing time, but now...it seems as if he's trying to maximize his time with her. To make up for that awkward period of radio silence or to catch up, Juvia doesn't know and quite frankly, doesn't care. Because all that matters is that he's here with her and everything is right in the world.
The sky is blue.
The grass is green.
Natsu is the sun in Juvia's life - beautiful at a distance, but if she gets too close, her world as she knows it will be destroyed.
xoxo
It is a Monday, and like any other Monday, it is another 'study buddy session' with Natsu. This time, Natsu is actually studying - he has a midterm coming up and it is worth quite a hefty sum of his grade. It is a bit odd to see Natsu so quiet - and by quiet, the pink-haired male is hardly talking except for the occasional murmurings to himself about fire protection - but Juvia finds that she doesn't mind. Especially not when it gives her time to observe him without fear of being detected.
She notices things she's never noticed before. Like how his eyebrows furrow when he's focused. The scar on the right side of his neck. How calloused his hands are. How -
"Hey, Juvia, before I forget, I have to warn you about something." Natsu's voice startles her from her reverie, making her hastily make eye contact with him.
"A-About what, Natsu-san?" She stutters, her heart beating rapidly. Kami, she hopes that he hadn't noticed her staring at him.
"One of my friends, is coming to the coffee shop on Wednesday. She's been noticing that I haven't been hanging out as much and she finally confronted me about it. I told her about spending time with you here and she wants to meet you." Natsu answers, sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"O-Oh." Is all Juvia can say as a multitude of emotions wash over her. Natsu has a friend who's female? Is she his girlfriend? Has Natsu been in a relationship this entire time? Oh, Kami, the one time that she has a crush on a great guy, he just HAS to have a girlfriend -
"But don't worry!" The pink-haired male chimes in, perhaps noticing how speechless the bluenette is. "You're an amazing person and Erza's going to see that immediately! Erza's just being overprotective these days."
"Er...za?" The thoughts of Natsu being taken vanish completely out of Juvia's mind when she hears that name. It's so familiar...where has she heard of that name before?
"Yep! Erza's like a scary, older sister to me. Especially if strawberry cake is involved." Natsu shudders before continuing on about Erza, but Juvia is too distracted to really listen to him. Her mind wanders off a bit for the rest of the afternoon before she comes back to reality when she reaches her apartment.
xoxo
"Welcome to Element 4! What - "
"You must be Juvia Lockser." The woman interrupts. The woman standing in front of Juvia has crimson red hair and chocolate eyes. Her eyes sharpen as they take Juvia in, and while the bluenette is scared, she finds the woman to be gorgeous, even in a simple white sleeveless blouse and blue skirt paired with a pair of black knee-high boots.
"Y-Yes." Juvia squeaks. Oh, so this must be Natsu's friend, Erza, that he was talking about on Monday.
"You are the reason why Natsu isn't spending time with his friends on Monday's and Wednesday's." Erza's eyes narrow even more, and it takes all of Juvia's willpower not to melt into a puddle right then and there.
"Ju - Juvia - "
The sudden and violent opening of the door and the bell chiming interrupted the bluenette before the voice of a certain pink-haired male could interrupt. "JUVIA! ERZA IS - ERZA!" Juvia tears her gaze away from Erza to find Natsu standing in-between the door and the inside of the shop, looking more terrified than she ever saw him.
"Natsu." Erza shifts her focus onto the male instead. "So this is where you spend your time after school." The redhead spares a glance around the coffee shop, critiqing the shop no doubt.
"And what about it?" Any fear that Natsu might have had disappears as he walks towards the redhead. He meets her eyes with a fierce determination and courage, something that Juvia has never seen from him, but finds that it suits him.
"Nothing." Erza replies, breaking the tense silence. "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay, Natsu. We're all worried about you." The last sentence was spoken so softly and gently that the bluenette wonders for a short moment if this was the scary redhead that stormed into the coffee shop.
"I know that, Erza." Natsu's voice softens as well. "But I'm fine. Really. I've been okay for awhile now." His eyes meet Juvia's, a soft smile on his lips as he gazes back at her. He's been looking at her like that a lot lately, with intense yet soft eyes. As if she was the only person in this world. As if nothing but her mattered.
Erza must have sensed that Natsu's focus had shifted to Juvia, because before Juvia knew it, the redhead is turning her attention to her. Juvia follows as Erza's eyes ping pong between Natsu and Juvia, pausing a moment to study Natsu's expression when looking at Juvia. The redhead turns back to Juvia, a warm smile on her face.
"I apologize for starting off on the wrong foot, and if it is all right with you, I would like to start over again." A hand is extended towards Juvia. "I'm Erza Scarlet."
xoxo
"I'm sorry about Erza, Juvia. I know she's a bit...much but she's a big softie deep inside. She's...worried about me." Natsu apologizes as Juvia tidies up the coffee shop. Erza left a mere hour ago, just almost when the store was closed for the day. While the redheaded woman scared Juvia initially, the bluenette knows now after spending time with her that the older woman meant well. And if anything, Erza was adorable...in a slightly scary way.
"Don't apologize, Natsu-san. Juvia is happy to meet a friend of yours." She smiles, stacking a chair up on top of another stack of chairs. "If Juvia was Erza-san, Juvia would be worried about you too, especially if you don't let your friends know where you go off to twice a week."
"Well, yeah, but I see her everyday. What's a few hours every two days without seeing her? Besides, I just wanted this to be between you and me." Natsu stacks up the last few chairs, seemingly unaware of how his words affected Juvia. Kami, why must Natsu-san say all of these nice things if all it does is just break Juvia's heart?
"O-Oh." Juvia says, intelligently, as she fights a blush threatening to work its' way to her cheeks. "B-But, Natsu-san, what about Lisanna-san? Wouldn't she want to come here, too? With Bixlow?" She asks, cautiously.
"Lis? Nah, she probably won't come here. She's too busy helping Mira at the bar near school and she's got that vet internship thing going on and Bixlow is always - wait. Have I ever talked about Lisanna to you before?" Natsu pauses mid-rant, eyebrows furrowing in thought.
Instead of answering his question, Juvia asks him one of her own. "Natsu-san, would you like to come over to Juvia's apartment afterwards?"
End of Chapter 9.
(1/31/23): DUN DUN DUN! The moment that you've all been waiting for...just for it to end on a cliffhanger! I apologize for ending this chapter on a cliffhanger, but you have to admit, this is the PERFECT place for it! But don't worry, everything will be cleared up in the next chapter, so stay tuned for that! (•ˋ _ ˊ•)
Also, if you're wondering how Juvia realized how familiar Erza, Lisanna, and Bixlow's names are, Lisanna and Bixlow are mentioned in chapter 1 and Erza is mentioned in chapter 7.
Anyways, happy new year, friends! I haven't seen you in MONTHS - I hope you've all been doing well! University has been kicking my butt - what else is new? - but it's just for a few more months and then I will be FREE! A few of my goals this year is to 1. update a work once a month and 2. finish this work. Because of that, I'm hopeful that I will be able to finish this work by the end of the year, so please be patient with me! ~(_。)＼
As always, please let me know your thoughts down below and I will see you in the next chapter! Bye-bye! \^o^/