At Long Last

Juvia grew increasingly more despondent with the shifting of the moon phases. She'd watched the moon's growth and grown excited when it was its brightest. The big reddish orb didn't look anything like the moon where Gray stayed but it followed a similar pattern. Juvia knew that when it was full and at its highest point in the sky is when Gray usually asked to see her. So, she floated and waited and then her giant moon began to wane and with it her hope.

Juvia was starting to realize her waters didn't feel right anymore. The gently lapping red as far as the eye could see no longer held a sense of wonder; Juvia didn't even find the contrast of her blue hair and the orangey red waves beautiful anymore. Her scales didn't seem to shine as bright. She missed Gray. She really missed him, unaware of how strong her feelings would be. Sure she'd been obsessed with him since he'd first called out and she answered, finding the tone of his voice soothing. Juvia had answered him without a second thought, but she'd hesitated to share her magic. That was as good as a marriage proposal to those whose essence was nothing but magic; She'd learned over her many years the power she'd give those if they were tied to her through a power share, but she was interested.

He never really prayed like she'd expected of a worshipper, instead he talked and he raged. Juvia was captivated by the desire that entered Gray's voice whenever he talked about how he wanted to be a hunter. She started to agree when he cried out about how unfair it was that he wasn't unique in a family full of strong witches. How it never stuck. How he exposed himself to the harsh blizzards that racked his homeland and hoped it would somehow give him what he wanted most: a way to fight back.

Juvia floated in her endless sea, chasing fish and inspecting seashells when she listened to him. His voice fast became her favorite sound in her lonely world, where friends were few. Mostly she was revered and that led to isolation. She nursed on the constant of hearing him. She listened intently and dreamed. Dreaming turned into longing and Juvia would never forget the first time she'd 'appeared' in front of him. Her waters had grown warm and then he was in front of her, kneeling where it should have been impossible; his image was hazy but Juvia could make out the dark blue of his hair and the dark void of his eyes. She liked them, thinking them deep and beautiful, a mystery she wanted to fall into and unravel. It had taken her a while to notice the blood.

"Juvia doesn't want to think about that," the mermaid interrupted her train of thought with a hard lash of her tail; the sting bringing her mind back from the past. Her tail still throbbed where new scales were growing. Thinking of the confrontation with that blonde witch and her pet undine was making her mad all over again. A harder lash of her tail sent peach water shooting in all directions from her fins. She wanted to think happy thoughts, like how strong Gray had grown after their last power share. "Gray-sama keeps impressing Juvia. More and more," Juvia hummed. She sank below the surface briefly before floating back up, her eyes intent on the moon. It was the third bright moon since she'd last seen Gray, having been shoved out of his reality rather abruptly and unable to see him. She'd still been able to hear his 'prayers' to her but unable to speak back. It made her realize how much she missed stumbling on foreign limbs after him in his strange waterless world. The sullen mermaid slipped under again and didn't resurface. She sank slowly, unimpressed with the waters shift from peach to orange to red and darker still the deeper she went. The cold pressed in on her heart like her loneliness; Juvia was sad that the seafoam and moonlight could no longer comfort her when they'd always have. She'd come from the two and had felt sheltered by them until she'd been sucked from her world and dumped into a bluer sea with less salt. She'd never realized what the word 'lonely' meant until she was back in her seemingly empty world.

Bright flashes of light slipped up around Juvia startling the mermaid from her pity party. The small bursts blinded her in the dark that surrounded her after illuminating her surroundings briefly. She hadn't noticed she was crying, the green bioluminescence leaking from her eyes increasing. Juvia watched as the current washed her tears away, a stream of underwater fireflies disappearing in the depths and leaving her in the dark again. She'd cry a million tears if it meant she could just brush her fingers through Gray's hair again. She wanted to touch one of his gifts, marvel at how it could feel so solid and cold but still be made of water. Juvia had never seen anything like it before.

She wanted to see more, experience more and she couldn't do it here. She wanted to experience the new and unknown, especially if it was with him. She wanted that more than anything. It took a while for Juvia to notice the gradual warming of the water around her, rising clouds of bubbles floating from under her the first clue. Her home didn't have underwater vents, the temperature stayed constantly frigid at the depth she was at. The warmer it grew the more excited Juvia got and she dived suddenly. Hurtling herself towards the sea floor and stretching her hands out enthusiastically when she realized she could see.

She'd experienced this before, just once, but once was enough.

oOo

He wasn't sure what had gone wrong this time. He'd made sure he did it just like before, when Juvia had been in front of him but not. Still intangible yet right in front of him. His fingers twitched and he frowned down at the splintered geode in the middle of his makeshift altar in the ocean by his condo. The full moon threw splinters of light that reflected on the crystal clusters but the wash of energy he'd felt earlier was starting to dissipate.

Gray didn't want to admit it but he was close to panicking. He was sure this was going to work. Well pretty sure anyway. Maybe he was supposed to be thinking a certain way? He wracked his brain to try to remember what he'd thought the first time she'd slipped into his world. He'd wanted to feel her, wondered if her lips were warm and if she smelled like the ocean. He'd been so engrossed with the thought that it scared him how much he wanted to find out. Obsession with a mermaid was never healthy, especially one that shared her power, but Gray found he couldn't help himself.

There was just something about Juvia that he found himself drawn too, his feelings a confusing mix of awe and respect that made his stomach feel warm and his head fuzzy. He found impressing her amused him, the expression on her face always made him smug. He wanted to see it now, after he told her about the survival portion of the ranking exam and the extermination request. After he thanked her for always backing him. The time apart had given him time to reflect and come to terms with his feelings, not that he was sure where he stood. He just had a better understanding of how he viewed her and how much he really appreciated her. "I just wanted to tell you that," Gray said out loud, wiping his hands down his face and staring absentmindedly at the arrangement of pearls and shells he'd carefully laid out. He'd save them to try for next time, and next time Juvia would be there to admire them.

"Gray-sama!" had Gray jerking his head up in time to see a blur of blue hair and metallic scales invading his vision. Soft but cold skin and the smell of the ocean collided with him, sending him sprawling into the waves. "Juvia missed Gray-sama! Did Gray-sama miss Juvia?" The familiar speech registered after he came up for air, eyes stinging from the salt. He couldn't believe she was here, practically laying on top of him and smiling widely. Her hair was plastered to her face and her tail slapping against the water happily.

"H-how?" The blue haired mage started before sighing heavily and falling back into the water. He wanted to drown in embarrassment but it looked like he got what he wished for.

"Juvia likes the aquamarine," the mermaid chirped happily while still clinging to Gray, "Juvia is happy Gray-sama found another!"

"Thanks Juvia."

"Hm?"

"For everything."