Note:

Flashbacks and thoughts in italics

I do not condone or encourage any behaviors in this story. It is simply a fictional story.

CHAPTER 13

Unforgettable

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Juvia did try to forget, but it's not a possible task. She had been trying to keep it away from her mind. Too bad the distance between her urges and thoughts is never long. One thing triggers another, which leads to another and so on. Indeed, she had successfully kept it at bay by keeping herself engaged, but the moment her body hits the bed every night, her head reverts to pondering that one thing she doesn't want to think. What is this thing that's eating her mind? The leader of the zodiacs aka Celestial Spirit Leo, and his hands, or how he had marked her with those sinful, dangerous lips.

She hopped down a few steps through a narrow path that led her to an open space. Everywhere was spangled with crowded food booths, perfume stalls, magic potion shops, antique stores, cloth stores, and whatnot.

"How much for this jacket?" Juvia wandered through the spaces in between the tables. This was heaven—the closest she had ever been to Utopia. There were so many options and so less prices. When she asked Suzaku if he could tell her the best place she could go on a shopping spree, she hadn't expected this. "Nine hundred jewels. Ma'am." She grabbed all the pretty stuff and cheap beautiful goods that met her eyes. Especially clothes. Juvia really needed to revamp her wardrobe.

Loke is not her new obsession. No absolute fucking way she'll let that happen. Juvia had learned her lesson on Obsessions the hard way as she'd evermore dreadfully recollect. There's no going back and no repeating mistakes. There's no way she'd want to keep thinking about something as casual as last time. Sure, there's a deviation from the norm: they fucked in a forest. So what? They still fucked in a bed(a freaking bed in a freaking forest!) They were just two adults trying to have a good time, nothing more than that, however marvellous the sex may be. And who knew Loke Knockout Regulus was spectacularly wild in bed. Call what she's about to say bitter, but Lucy is seriously missing out.

"Ohoho! Ahahahahhahhh!" Totomaru barged ahead, eager to escape Suzaku's hold. Who knew this grown-ass man was—"Stop tickling me, you schmuck." Ticklish in the tummy?

Eventide has settled, chasing the birds to their nests, and the townsfolk to the carnival. She tittered, unable to help it. Whereas the man held his belly and laughed. After long strides around the town, Juvia was tired, except in a content way. She was glad, save for the one fact that her journey would eventually come to an end in a few days. The end of a month-long period was nearing. Was she ready to leave them yet, her new home? Not really. But the realisation that she could always backtrack to this home lit up her face.

The air sped out of Juvia's lungs once she picked out familiar faces in the crowd. Though his eyes were shaded with aviator sunglasses, she knew he was focused on her. She cursed under her breath. "Goddam. Not now." She ought to have known better than to agree when Suzaku chose a tourist spot near Magnolia.

Much relaxed now as Suzaku went off to book their tickets for the movie, Totomaru threw an arm over her shoulders. He shot her a furtive glance. Big or small, he had caught on to her trouble. "Wanna get outta here?"

"Juvia wish we could." Her whisper was too low for anyone to hear, but Totomaru's pretty sharp. "They're fast, and there's Natsu. Besides, I'm not running away from anything."

"Alright, Juv." He nodded and drawled. "But did they notice that you noticed them?"

Considering she was shorter than the many around, her blue head sank into the sea of people every so often. They didn't. Maybe Natsu must be taking his time to breathe amid the thick whiff of sausages, cheese, vanilla, sweat and beer, she figured. The smell was too much, even for her. Juvia threw her friend—who is more than just a friend—a cocky wink. "Nope."

"Then, let's get outta here anyways." He scarfed down the last of his takoyaki, grabbing her hand. "If they're gonna catch us, let them," Maru remarked with smiling eyes.

Some days her diary got filled with Totomaru's stories of grief: losing his father whom he had not loved. He had said it was strange how he did not love the man but still felt heartache and shed tears. Perhaps, Maru hated him so much because he loved him. Some days, there were stories of great eventful adventures, those of her or others. Suzaku's older sister, the Village Chief, had slapped her thighs, saying she was a great listener. Juvia had pulled her shoulders back, elated at the admiration. Ultimately, she had made the most out of summer nights in and outside Chinatsu. She made good connections, even people to love, and good memories to cherish forever.

The years she had spent in Fairy Tail seem torpid and barren in contrast to a single month spent on this easy but well-spent ride. Suzaku, Maru, Chinatsu, and this journey, made her feel that life is too short, whereas, in her Guild, time had dragged on. She cannot see that as a mistake, and nobody is to blame. Life is neither on time nor behind the time when it gives you insights and shows you yet another shade of it.

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Veins pulsed in his neck as he clenched his fists. Anger. Not the one glaciating over a mountain but the wrathful one sizzling in a lava pond.

"Gwwve. The frick is goin' on in ur brain." Natsu talked with his mouth full. Not a rare phenomenon. However, Gray's acting unusually. They had a mission to finish tomorrow, but Erza and Lucy will not miss an opportunity to experience the carnival. It was the last day to boot, and so the last chance. It's a can't-miss event. In any case, the Santamaria Tavern is near. Thus, they could return before midnight and have 7 hours of sleep.

Gray had no answer for the things Juvia made him feel. Missing her was not easy. She worms into his mind and never leaves. Pins would prod and tease his heart whenever he was lost in his thoughts. Missing Juvia was not easy at all.

Gray missed her every time she wasn't next to him. Evenings after a mission, when he's alone at home, he would imagine her next to him, inside his arms, leaning into his chest. Somedays, he would wake up sweating after a dream. The dream would've been about him and her running down a lane on a snowy night and into his house, where they snuggle up for warmth, and Gray would kiss her with lawless, turbulent passion. Thus and thus. Before fucking her raw enough to make her thresh with rapture and fulfilment. And never, ever forget.

"Oh my God. Stop saying my name like that." Gray said hotly. So much for the cool guy front and notoriously frigid ice magic.

"Like what?" Natsu kept chewing and crunching as he spoke. Drunk as a lord on the night of the party while Gray kissed Erza, he thought about Juvia, her mellow lips melding with his and soft body squeezing into him. Being a total lightweight, Erza passed out immediately after the kiss and woke up the next morning with no memory of the preceding day. Given Gray hated wasting time on stupid explanations, he was thankful for her timely forgetfulness. Because that night, he had wanted to kiss Juvia. He wrote that off as a sexual pull towards a babelicious female body, a fetish for curves.

Juvia is rain in the sunshine. Without even noticing it, she showered over him and doused him in her loveliest touch. Before he could do anything about it, his heart had already slipped into her hold. The catch? Gray never knew it had happened, not once, not ever, not in a million years. He was steadfast in turning a blind eye to anything that pertained to Love. He kept his heart frozen, so he wouldn't have to bear its beating staccato rocking him from head to toe.

The brunette shook his head vigorously, snapping. "Like a baby. Why don't you guys suck each other's dicks? I gotta go somewhere." They were on the lookout for muggers and robbers as the Ferris wheel spun into the dimming sky. If they focused, they could see the romantic moon drawing a backdrop for the silhouette of a kissing couple in the cabin at the peak.

"I like babies." Laid back after the outburst, Natsu pinched his nose. To Erza, it felt like their personalities got reversed. Suffice it to say Loudmouth looks as cool as a cucumber. He must be saying: "Whatcha say, you frosted dick!" instead.

"Don't drag me into this. Get it over with if you guys want to hate fuck and make babies." The redhead snorted, causing Natsu to sputter popcorn and cackle. Storming off, Gray was less than pleased with her retort.

"Gross. I have better taste than that ice-blockhead." Natsu guffawed. "It would be cool if Lucy was a man." Only last year did Natsu come to terms with the fact that he is, in fact, bisexual and that he likes blonde, gentle boys. "But whatever she is, Lucy is hot."

Erza smacked him on the back of his head, hissing. "Lucy is only a few steps ahead of us. She might hear you!" The blonde was planning to buy convenient toiletries since the inn they were staying in lacked proper supplies for today.

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"Can you please sit down on your seat, prick! If you're making this hard for everyone, you're getting out of here." A man bellows from behind. A woman—probably his girlfriend or wife—"Baby, calm down." —tries to simmer down the situation by pulling the guy by the end of his sleeves. "I won't. We paid for the tickets." Rowdy furore befell Hallows Movie Theatre on the one hand. On the other, there was a silent staring contest between two—no four of the occupants(one of whom started the problem in the first place) in the room. On the big screen facing the audience, a man throws mud flying onto a woman's face. Enraged, the woman grabs the nearest flowerpot and cracks it on his head. The man is conscious enough to mouth one last insult before instant death. But everyone's attention is elsewhere.

Gray stood with a black stare. Behind his tall frame, people screamed, demanding him to just sit the fuck down on his seat before they could throw him out. While it's one thing to sit in place, another to not have hell freeze over in the hall. "Where the hell have you been for a whole month?" And what the fuck are you doing with these dickheads! He had a brain-to-mouth filter for all intents and purposes.

Hey, that's not a really nice way to greet people. She blinked rapidly before gazing at him in the eyes. She found them glaring like stones, unrelenting, mirroring the light from the flashing screen. "Juvia was on a mission."

"A month-long mission?" Lips screwed up with discontent, Gray inhaled loudly. He was in streetwear: a T-shirt with elbow-length sleeves, hair kempt beneath the baseball cap secure on his head. He was alone and strayed away from his group. She suspected Team Natsu to be hot on his tail. "Why didn't you tell me before going?" Is he concerned?

"It's not a big deal. Have you ever told me before leaving for missions carrying on for more than just a month?" Amidst the dissatisfied spectators, curious faces peeked at her. Not moving from her seat, Juvia sighed and glanced sideways. She was thrown off by the overwhelming attention. "Uhm. Why don't we have this conversation somewhere more private and quiet?"

Be that as it may, he was having none of it. "If this is you trying to get even, it's ridiculous. Got a new boyfriend? An ex-Phantom Lord guildmate, a two-time loser?" Gray was on the warpath. To tell the truth, after a torturously long month of MIA, the moment he caught sight of Juvia's vibrant hair in the swathe of people, he was pleased but miffed. Then as the ice mage clocked another man's arm resting cosily over her shoulders, Gray saw red. The instant he spotted her smiling at this lowlife whom he was starting to recognise, it was the last straw. Before the man even knew it, Gray was breathing fire. No matter how he looked at it, the idea of Juvia getting a boyfriend didn't sit right with him. "Well, perfect choice. He suits you." The dramatic violin plays in the background. The air gets heavier.

And to think that this is the moron with whom Juvia Lockser—the woman who had been the Water Mage of Element 4—has become obsessed over the years pisses Totomaru off to no end. In Phantom, he remembers how she consistently undertook to hold things together during high-risk episodes where their lives hung by a thread. She was their trump card. He was enlightened about how in the fight against Fairy Tail, Juvia's emotions had irreversibly gotten in the way. Good or bad, Gray was a milepost in her life nonetheless. And "Gray" had to happen.

Totomaru feels the need to heat his palms up to balance the temperature inside the hall but decides against it. Instead, he settles on placing one palm on Suzaku's shoulders and the other over Juvia's hand. The dropping degrees and ice crystals fanning out onto the carpeted floor proved handy for one thing. The menacing aura of Demon Slayer magic has somehow managed to shut up most of the complaining mob. He runs a hand through his trimmed locks, lips twisted in a lopsided grimace. This douchebag thinks I'm her boyfriend.

Criminal. Maru is overfamiliar with the word. The night before Jose took him under his wing, Totomaru was on-the-run from his father. He had been blamed for a crime. Stealing? Nope, murder. The murder of his dad's loyal subordinate. Because the loyal underling had tried to rape his mother. Her screams heralded what was about to happen behind closed doors, and the son would stay put no more. White hot fire erupted from his fingers to his feet, and Maru had fried his predator alive. It was unplanned. In Phantom Lord, everything used to go with a plan. He can count on the fingers of one hand the times they did something impromptu. His previous Guild was an unholy place. Still and all, it had given him a roof over his head. Fairy Tail was an unexpected backlash.

"Careful, I will not tolerate any more of your insults." The water mage gritted her teeth. "He is not a two-time loser. Juvia can assure you, he's far above most men she's met in her life, even you." And thank you for making it clear. Juvia understands what she meant to you. "Also, I do not want to hold grudges, Gray." Really, she didn't want to hold any, but it depended on the extent to which Gray was willing to test her patience. There's nothing playful about this; his countenance makes it transparent.

The Demon Slayer stepped back with wide eyes. "What did you just call me?" Gray? Juvia was calling him Gray now?

Suzaku pulls up his hair in a bun, yawning. Talk about drama! Dramas mean headaches in Suzaku's Vernacular. It would make him feel so good to flip this berk off for trashing his brother. The redhead has half a mind to intrude, granted that it is not his place to do so. He restrains from checking his phone for new messages. The night out is starting to look like a breach of the peace. If this is heading for disaster—the Gray boy is up shit creek without a paddle.

"Gray Fullbuster, this argument is what's ridiculous." Choking back her emotions to regain her composure, Juvia responded. "So let's just stop."

"Tch. You're being weird!" At his snapping point, the brunette pulls away his cap and grips at his hair. Because he had chosen to stand upright in the middle of the movie hall, everyone's attention was on them. The movie played in the background: boring and slower than a snail. Nobody seemed interested in that anymore; most turned to the next piece of entertainment they could find: a mysterious heart-throb who could make it snow inside the theatre. For all that, nothing fazed Gray Fullbuster. He was dead set on having this conversation right here in the centre of attention. "What's with your attitude?!" His stripping tendencies were kicking in, which was not good.

"Juvia's attitude? I'm just trying to have a normal conversation here." Hadn't I always been a bit too weird for your taste? Her emotions burned cold beneath her skin, but she kept her voice from rising and her resentful thoughts to herself. They need not have any place in this conversation. She would not open the can of worms here. Although she was over him, her past was a part of her. It built her character and made her who she is. Take it easy, Juvia. He was not expecting this. Play it cool.

Inside the hall, somehow, Gray kept his voice under control, just as well. After all, he's infamous for being on the colder side. "This is not how we normally talk, Juvia."

"Gray, you never liked what Juvia used to call you." Her voice did not crack like she had thought it would. There were no tears in her eyes to blink back. There were no tears left to cry. She sat up straight and lifted her head. "You never forgot to remind her that."

Lips downturned, Gray stared back at a loss for words.

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As reckoned, Team Natsu arrived on the scene with a few minutes to spare. "Did Ice Princess forget about tomorrow's mission? You thought you could watch a movie with the scraps of time, Fucker!?" And Natsu's entered the picture like a cherry bomb. His voice blasted to fill the air. "Ju—VIA?" The audience whined at the mistreatment. Meanwhile, the Dragon Slayer hastened to dodge the slippers thrown his way.

"And Totomaru?" Lucy glanced quizzically at the state of affairs. If it weren't for the fact that they were running out of time, she would've had a small talk with Juvia.

"I'll see you later, Juvia." Gray waved, pottering out onto the cobblestones spreading underneath the midnight sky.

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A fish store on his bike, a dude raced past him into the streets. He blew a lock of hair out of his face, passing the colossal, arched pathway into the sun-singed backstreets. His eyes followed the two people crossing a skyway between a warehouse and a shop. "Target spotted." The wire caught on his voice.

The reply was quick: "Now get in, move left, and you'll find a balcony. Get in there and take action when you get the signal."

S-class trials had been postponed to the next month, and everyone was in the middle of training, honing their skills, whether its a mission or an ass whooping from Erza. So was Loke. He had tried hard to forget his love for Lucy, so much so that, after a month, there was only one thing left: Juvia. Yes, you heard that right. Absolutely right.

Author's Note:

Unforgettable by French Montana. Happy New Year!