"My mind tells me to give up on love but my heart won't let me."
(Anonymous) (Web)
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Juvia had returned from the mission and immediately ran to Fairy Hills, to lock herself up in her room and cry and calm down.
Erza had seen her arrive and had tried to talk with her but didn't manage to, as Juvia had run like lightning and locked herself up.
The other girls in the dormitory also got up.
"What's wrong with Juvia-San, Erza-San? Is she injured?" Wendy asked.
"Don't worry about it, Wendy, go back to bed, I'll take care of it," Erza said.
"I told you it was a bad idea to send those three on a mission together," Evergreen said. "Surely those two idiots did something! Men, you can never rely on them!"
"Erza, what do we do?" Levy asked.
"Go rest, I'll take care of it."
"Very well."
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Juvia had thrown herself on her bed and was crying, hugging her pillow, from all the anger that she felt, she had even thrown a few of her Gray items to the floor. Her room was a disaster at the moment.
Erza knocked on the door, hoping that Juvia would open it and would vent with her.
"Juvia, please open the door."
"Erza-San, go back to sleep, Juvia is fine, Juvia just… wants to be alone."
"No, you're not fine. If you were fine you wouldn't be crying."
"Erza-San, please!"
The redhead sighed and said, "Fine, have it your way, I'll let you calm down on your own, but remember if you need me, I'm here, ok? If you need to vent to someone, I'm here. If you need a hug or just some advice, come to me, please."
"Thank you, Erza-San, Juvia is very lucky to have such good friends, but right now Juvia needs to calm down and be alone."
"Very well."
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Erza went to her room, but didn't manage to sleep, rather, she paced through her five rooms, pondering what could have gone wrong.
The requip mage shook her head and also thought about several ways to punish Gray.
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The next morning there was a tense air in the guild.
Juvia had arrived very early and had decided to go on a mission, Gajeel decided to join her so the ex-Phantom Duo, obviously accompanied by Lily, had left.
Gray had managed to see her for a moment but hadn't had the opportunity to speak with her.
"What did you do?" Erza asked, poking him with her sword.
"Erza…"
"TALK! Yesterday she returned and locked herself in her room crying. I tried to talk with her but she said that she wanted to be alone, so tell me right now, what happened?"
"It was Lyon's fault, ok?"
"Yeah, sure, and you are the poor victim in this situation," Evergreen said, adjusting her glasses and deciding whether or not it was worth it to petrify the ice mage.
"No! But Lyon's the one who made me mad, so it's his fault!"
Gray was now surrounded by the girls: Erza, Mirajane, Cana, Lucy, Levy, and Lisanna were around him demanding explanations.
"Tell us now from beginning to end, got it?" Mirajane said.
"Y-Yeah."
So, Gray told them what had happened and how it all ended.
"I can't believe it! Baka!," Lucy said, hitting him.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, Gray! You're no better than Lyon, you stooped down to his level," Lisanna said.
"I'm really disappointed," Mirajane said.
"It's your guys' fault too!"
"Our fault?"
"Yeah, if you hadn't insisted on Lyon coming along too, everything would have been fine."
"We wanted to help you."
"But you all made things worse!"
"Us?"
"Yes you guys!"
"I seriously don't get what Juvia sees in you," Evergreen said.
"I'm profoundly disappointed, Gray, playing around like this… I never expected it from you," Erza said.
"No…"
"How could you two treat Juvia like an object? Like some piece of merchandise? Like a prize for your stupid fights?" Mirajane said.
Gray found himself earning several furious looks and received several slaps.
"You even dared to bet on her?" Levy asked. "That's very low, Gray!"
"I don't know what to say, but I'm disappointed in you," Cana said.
Gray lowered his head, he couldn't even defend himself, because he was at fault.
During the day, he had received various reproachful looks, not just from the girls, but also from a few of the guys.
"That wasn't right, Gray," Bickslow said.
"It was in bad taste! No one should bet that way on anyone! But to do it over a girl who is genuinely in love with you seems to me like the vilest thing you could do," Freed said.
"You should probably start hiding," Laxus advised him, "Because I assure you that when Gajeel returns he will destroy you and I don't think anyone here would help you."
But there were a few who defended Gray.
"Come on! It's a bet that wasn't even made, what's the harm in that?" Wakaba said.
"Certainly! What guy has never done it, bet on a girl?" Macao said.
They both received a death glare from Mirajane, which made them tremble in fear.
"So, in your opinion, it's normal to bet over a girl, right?"
"B-but, no, Mira…"
"You're both disgusting! I hope that Romeo doesn't turn out like you two when he grows up."
"But I'm proud of her! She did well trapping them in a water bubble," Erza said.
"Yes, Girl Power!" Mira said.
"Well, let's have a party and celebrate it with a toast tonight," Cana said.
"You want to get her drunk?" Evergreen asked.
"Alcohol is the best thing for bad romance."
"Says who?" Lucy asked.
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Just as Laxus had predicted, Gajeel returned and was furious, because he had heard about what Gray and Lyon had done with Juvia.
Mirajane helped him, summoning Lyon to Fairy Tail.
The young lady then gave the Iron Dragon Slayer permission to talk with them both in private, on the sole condition that he not kill them and not treat them too badly, but he was free to teach them a lesson.
"G-Gajeel…"
"SHUT UP!"
"Listen."
"No! You listen!"
"O-ok."
"So Juvia is an object, huh?"
"You should be ashamed of yourselves, I never liked you guys, but now…"
"It was a misunderstanding!" Lyon said.
"The two of us were fighting and we said stupid things."
"Yes, because you're idiots, the both of you!"
Gajeel, surprisingly, didn't punch or hit them, in Fairy Tail he had learned that there were things that hurt more than punches, it was something that the Master had taught him, in one of their chats.
So, the Iron Dragon Slayer just gave the two ice mages a short but extremely strong speech.
Gajeel hated hearing the word "bet" together with Juvia, because it reminded him that it was the same thing that had happened before with Bora and he didn't want her to go through that again.
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Juvia didn't want to talk with anybody, not with Erza, not with Lisanna, not with anyone else. Only Mirajane had managed to bring her out of her shell and got her to vent.
Juvia told her what had happened, while she cried in her arms and she caressed her head in a maternal manner.
"Why? Why do they act like that?"
"Let's start with the fact that men are stupid and that the majority of them are impulsive and insensitive."
"Yes."
"But there are circumstances and circumstances, sadly Gray can be very mature in many things, but childish in others and sadly when Natsu or Lyon are involved he acts immature."
"One of the things that upset Juvia the most was that Gray-Sama said that Lyon-Sama is only interested in Juvia to compete with him…"
"Like I told you, they're childish."
"Juvia doesn't know what to think anymore, why is love so difficult?"
"That's the question of the century! Love is love, it exists in many forms, pure, sincere, impossible, confusing, complicated, lovely, easy, difficult…"
"Juvia's seems to be a tragedy!"
"Yes, tragic love exists too, but it's not in your case, I'm sure of it."
"Sure, because in the end, it's not even love…"
"What are you talking about?"
"Juvia doesn't know, but perhaps she should take a break."
"If that's what you feel you need, it's fine, we'll support you, but don't let yourself get trapped in the moment, it's fine, think about it."
"Ok."
Juvia liked to talk with Mirajane, over all matters of the heart, also because she seemed to be the expert on the subject.
In the end, if there was a complicated love and a guy breaking your heart, then Mira was the person to go to, her history with Laxus was very different to Juvia and Gray's, but in the end…
The two kept talking and Juvia continued to vent and Mira consoled her and counseled her.
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The next day, Juvia went to Lamia Scale and spoke with Lyon.
"Juvia-Chan, I'm very glad that you're here."
"Juvia isn't here for pleasure…" she said, with a serious look and her arms crossed.
"I offer you my sincerest apologies, Juvia-Chan, I never wanted to hurt you or treat you like an object, I swear to you…"
"I don't care! Juvia is just here to clarify a few things, Lyon-San just needs to listen."
"Of course."
"Juvia is in love with Gray-Sama, she can't change that."
"Yes, the heart can't be controlled and the feelings you have for someone can't be changed…" he said with sadness.
"Juvia is still mad about what happened between Gray-Sama and Lyon-San, but she is also sorry."
"Sorry?"
"Juvia doesn't want you two to fight for her."
"It's not your fault, Gray and I have been fighting since we were kids, it's normal."
"But Juvia doesn't want it, understand?"
"OK."
"You two should make peace."
"I consider Gray to be my little brother, I don't hate him, Juvia-Chan, honestly, on the contrary I love him a lot."
"Juvia knows and that's why it hurts that she has become a problem."
"It was never you, the problem was that we were both dumb and stubborn."
Juvia smiled.
"Juvia has decided to forget about what happened, but Lyon-San needs to promise never to do it again, it's bad for a girl to feel like a bet."
"I promise, Juvia-Chan."
"Well, Juvia also wanted to thank Lyon-San for everything he has done for her."
"I did it from the heart, really…"
"Juvia knows and is sorry that things turned out like this."
"I'm sorry too, Juvia-Chan."
"Juvia wishes that Lyon-San finds someone soon, she knows that that person exists somewhere in this world and she hopes she can love him the way you deserve to be."
"That's very sweet of you, Juvia-Chan, even though I think I'll need some time before I'm ready to dive headfirst with anyone else."
"Juvia also hopes that it goes well."
"I hope so too and I also hope that Gray decides soon. That idiot loves you but doesn't want to accept it, he's too scared and still lives in our tragic past."
"Juvia will wait, she knows that Gray-Sama also needs time."
"Lucky idiot! I hope to meet someone who loves me at least half as much as you love Gray."
"Juvia is sure of it, Lyon-San deserves it and Juvia has learned that it can't rain forever, sooner or later the sun will come out and will smile to make you happy."
The two smiled and hugged, knowing that after this clarification, things would change for the better.
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Juvia also confronted Gray and the two young mages found themselves talking frankly over their situation.
"I'm sorry."
"Juvia is also sorry, Gray-Sama, Juvia promised herself that she would never trap you in a water lock again."
"I deserved it this time, so it's fine," he said, laughing.
Nothing could be done at that moment, for as much as she tried to stop it, she couldn't, it was enough watching him laugh for her to fall back in love with him.
"Hey, I'm very sorry, I… never thought of you as an object, I never wanted to bet on you and neither did that idiot Lyon, we're both just stupid, it's probably because of that training that Ur put us through."
They both laughed.
"Juvia knows, Gray-Sama, she was a bit confused, you know? This situation, this type of triangle has raised various doubts and problems."
"I understand, I don't like this situation either, but from now on it'll get better, Lyon understood."
"What are you talking about, Gray-Sama."
How to explain what he felt for her when he didn't even know it for sure? How to tell her that she was important to him, much more than anyone else, but he didn't know how to intervene? How to explain to her that he was afraid?
"No…"
She got closer to him, smiled and caressed his cheek, "Gray-Sama doesn't need to explain anything. Juvia knows that it's still not the time, that right now you have other thoughts and other priorities, Juvia will wait and won't give up."
Yes, because despite thinking about it, she couldn't do it, she couldn't give up, because she loved him.
"It's not fair, you know? The girls are right, you can't wait forever, I can't make you do that."
"It's Juvia's choice, let her decide and do what she wants."
"Fine, but promise me that you'll think about yourself more, alright? And if I act like an idiot again, you'll trap me in that bubble again or you'll do whatever you want, got it?"
"OK"
Gray looked at her, smiled and thought, "Yes, I'm very lucky."
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Author's Corner
This is the penultimate chapter…
The epilogue will be very different from the rest of the story and there will be a time jump, and yes, there will also be Lyredy.
I'm always saying spoilers, sorry, lol.
Either way, thank you very much to everyone, those who read, those who comment, and everyone who passes by here, thank you very much.
Thank you to Botan G for translating it.
Gruvia Silver.