Most of the guild watched Juvia, exuberant and lively, and assumed that she laughed often and easily. She was so filled with emotion and love that they assumed she was capable of loud boisterous laughter at the drop of a hat. Gray knew better. He knew that she hardly ever laughed, had never heard a giggle from her rosy lips, or a chuckle, or a hearty belly laugh. It was one of the things that intrigued him most about the lovely water mage.
Maybe never seeing the sun made things like joy impossible for her. He remembered the dark sullen eyes she possessed at their first meeting, the pale, lifeless aura surrounding her. Did she know how to laugh? Has she ever done it before?
Gray often found himself watching her out of the corner of his eye when they were at the guild together. Juvia usually kept herself within arm's reach of him, something that used to make him slightly uncomfortable, but was now one of the things he found himself missing when she wasn't there, so it was never hard to find her. At the moment, Juvia was sitting next to him at the bar, turned to face Lucy while they chatted amiably.
He listened to their carefree chatter for a moment but found himself distracted quickly. Within moments he was staring at Juvia's lips. They were light pink and soft looking, quite pretty on her pale face. He watched as she smiled while Lucy talked, sometimes a small smile of contentment, sometimes a large grin that showed her pearly teeth. But never once did she laugh.
Gray pondered over this for a long time, watching her the whole while. He wanted to see her laugh, wanted to be the one to bring her over the edge of joy until she burst at the seams with happiness. He wasn't sure why he had to be the one to do it, though a small part of his mind whispered the answer to him. He ignored that small part of himself and instead kept thinking of different ways to get Juvia to giggle.
Finally, he turned to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, Juvia," he said.
Juvia spun around in her seat, hearts in her eyes. "Gray-sama!" she sang, hands clasped to her chest.
Gray paused momentarily, trying to remember the joke he was going to tell her. "Uh, did you hear about the killer whale that plays the flute?"
Juvia frowned slightly, utterly confused. "What?"
Gray rushed through the punch line, embarrassed himself now. "Um, he wants to be in the orca-stra."
Juvia smiled. "That sounds lovely, Gray-sama! Does this whale play concerts? Is this Gray-sama asking Juvia on a date to see the orca-stra?"
Gray turned cherry red. "No!" he exclaimed. "It was a joke! I was telling you a joke. I don't think there are any killer whales in the orchestra!"
Juvia deflated. "Okay then, Gray-sama. Thank you for the joke."
Behind her, Lucy was smacking herself on the forehead. These two are idiots, she thought to herself.
Later in the day, Gray came up with another idea. He grabbed a banana from the kitchen and peeled it quickly. He rushed out into the guild hall and threw the peel onto the ground. "Hey, Juvia!" he called out, making the girl's head turn to him immediately. Gray looked at the ground and saw the banana peel. "Oh no!" he said theatrically. "A banana peel! I sure hope somebody doesn't slip on this!"
Before Gray could take a step onto the peel, Natsu came flying into the guild. He was holding a job request and yelling at Lucy. Within seconds of entering the guild, Natsu ran into Gray, pushing both of them onto the banana peel. The two boys went skidding halfway across the guild hall, causing chaos in their wake. Flailing around helplessly, they pushed food off tables, smacked guild members, and Natsu threw up everywhere from the motion. Eventually they slammed into Elfman, who stopped them from moving any further with his massive body.
As soon as they stopped moving, Natsu recovered instantly and started a full-on brawl with Gray and Elfman.
Needless to say, Juvia did not laugh at the course of events.
After a full day of trying to get Juvia to laugh, Gray felt like giving up. This was not going the way he wanted it to at all. He stood up from his barstool and slowly made his way out of the guild, head down.
Gray meandered down the streets of Magnolia. He didn't have a destination in mind; he simply wandered. Walking across the bridge over the river that wound through the city, Gray slowed to a stop. He leaned against the stones making up the railing, arms crossed.
Not even aware of how long he was standing there, Gray sighed. Suddenly a small hand grasped his atop the bridge. Gray started and turned to see Juvia standing next to him.
A rosy blush deepened across her pale cheeks. "Gray-sama, Juvia was just wondering what makes you sigh so."
Gray turned red as well. "Why don't you ever laugh?" he blurted, mouth moving before his brain could catch up.
Juvia's eyes widened. "Gray-sama…" She sighed and looked away, out towards the river. "Juvia has never laughed very often. She isn't even sure she knows how anymore." Her eyes met his once more. "But Juvia has never smiled as much as she has now, being in Fairy Tail. So, she is sure that laughing will come back to her as well."
Gray frowned. He had surmised as much, but it still made him uncomfortable hearing it from Juvia's lips. Hearing it out loud made it feel more real, and he wanted his guild mate to be happy, as happy as possible. "I'm sure you're right," he said finally.
The two stood gazing out at the river in companionable silence. Neither felt ready to leave quite yet. A slight drizzle began to mist around them. Gray held a hand out to the sky, feeling the rain kiss his skin.
Juvia looked at Gray, worry clouding her blue eyes. "This is not Juvia's rain," she assured him.
Gray laughed. "Of course it isn't," he said. "This feels nothing like your rain." An idea popped into his head, and before his brain could overthink it, he held his outstretched hand out to Juvia. "Come on," he said. "Come dance in the rain."
Juvia blushed, her entire being becoming flustered. "O-okay, Gray-sama," she mumbled, taking his hand in her own.
Gray pulled Juvia closer and began to spin them around. He didn't quite know the steps, and neither did she, but they didn't care. As they danced, Juvia became less shy, and she opened up more. They spun and spun in the rain, feet splashing in the tiny puddles beginning to form. Juvia's long blue hair flowed out around her as they whirled through the streets.
Gray started to laugh as they danced, joy sparking inside him at the sight of Juvia having so much fun. Her mouth was split in a wide grin, and the sparkle in her eyes was enchanting. Water droplets caught in her eyelashes, making her look like some sort of water goddess that appeared out of the ocean to grant his every wish.
Suddenly, a tiny giggle burst out of Juvia's mouth. Her eyes widened in shock, but she giggled once more. And then, as if a dam burst, she started to laugh harder. She had never had this much fun in her life, and in the rain to boot!
Gray twirled her around one of his hands, and when he untwisted her, he caught her in his arms and dipped her low, giving her the chance to meet his darkened gaze. Looking into those eyes, filled with some emotion she didn't quite understand, Juvia felt quite shy once more.
"G-Gray-sama," she whispered, unable to look away.
As if some spell had broken at her words, Gray pulled her back into a standing position and let go of her. His cheeks were flushed, and he took a few steps away from her. "I just felt like you needed that," he said quietly. But then, remembering his goal of the day, he brightened and turned back to look at her face. "But you laughed, Juvia! You laughed!"
Juvia grinned at Gray. "Thank you, Gray-sama!"
Gray flushed again. He was quite embarrassed now that his brain started to overthink everything that had just happened. "Well, good night," he murmured. Unable to stay a moment longer, Gray started walking home, trying to get away from the embarrassment.
Juvia stayed on the bridge, watching him walk away. When he was no longer in sight, she tipped her head up to the sky, letting the rain cool her reddened face. "Good night, Gray-sama," she whispered. She took one last moment to cherish the feeling of mist on her face before going her own way home.
Tomorrow wouldn't be any different than today, she thought. But she at least has one more memory to cherish with Gray-sama. And one day, she would have many, many more.