" …via, Juvia… Juvia !"

" Huh ?" Juvia raised her head and noticed Gray Fullbuster, shirt off after one of his usual bickering with Natsu, looking at her with a concerned look on his face.

" I called you four times, is everything alright ?"

Juvia looked at him, blinked twice, before giving him a sly smile and sighing as she used to do so whenever he was in her field of vision.

"My ! Gray-sama is worried about Juvia ? Does that mean he loves her?"

Gray was a blushing mess and hid his face with his arms while spitting words such as " You… !" or " Stop!" and other few words she could not decipher. This was their new dynamic, a friendly banter in which Juvia found a lot of fun seeing him lose his composure.

On a sunny afternoon, Gray Fullbuster and Juvia Lockser broke up on friendly terms after dating for six months. The bluenette enjoyed every bit, every moment they spent together but at the end of the day, they both realised that they were better off as friends. She was able to catch a glimpse of the world she has always imagined since their meeting back when she was still a Phantom and if the downpour that happened for the next week after they broke up did not help with their new friendship, they were now better with each other's presence. Especially Juvia. She found it very amusing to destabilise him whenever she could, he was always so easy to rile up, she now understood Natsu and his habit of bothering Gray.

" You need to stop Juvia, how are you still amused by that ?" Gray came back to his senses and sighed. His blush was still visible on his cheeks despite trying his hardest to make it disappear, even using his powers to cool off.

Juvia laughed and raised her shoulders with an innocent smile. She loved this new dynamic, or rather she learned to love it, she was no longer waiting for something from him, no longer waiting for an answer to her love declarations, she could just tease him. But then, he stared at her, or rather, he tried staring at her soul and Juvia's smile lessened a bit.

" Juvia was just thinking about her relationships. She realises that none of her relationships, romantic ones, worked out for her. And Juvia wonders why. That is all."

She rested her elbow on the table at which she'd sat and rested her face on her hand, her expression far away, somewhere no one could reach except for her. Gray stayed silent for a minute before clearing his throat, which brought back Juvia to wherever she was in her mind, and pointed to the mission's board. Juvia followed his fingers and raised a single eyebrow.

" I might not be in the best place to advise you on that, also I have no idea what to answer you except that you're thinking about it too much. You should take something to do and get your mind off of that mindset. For a bit at least."

" No need for explanation, our relationship is better as friends. Though Juvia thinks that Gray is very cute whenever he blushes."

" Forget I even asked you what was wrong." He grumbled and crossed his arms looking away but Juvia could see the faint smile on his lips. He liked their new type of banter, and he considered those jokes as funny as they were embarrassing.

They continued to chat for a bit, mostly catching up and Juvia explaining her new sewing projects as well as the recipes she wants to try. And Gray told her about his latest mission and complained about how he still could not understand how to cook despite her help. And all throughout his complaints about cooking and the danger of making sure nothing burns on his watch, Juvia could not help but feel a little nostalgic. Seeing him talking about something they used to do when they were together, when she was at his apartment and she would stay the night so they cooked together, it made her feel… unsatisfied.

She moved on from Gray, she really did, but she could not fight the feeling that she was so happy to be loved by someone, to love someone, that she forgot to love herself first and foremost. She has insecurities but she knows her worth and her beauty. However she could not remember the last time she talked about something with passion, something she did for herself.

She loves to cook, she likes to learn how to bake, she loves sewing and loves hanging out with her friends but something did not feel right. She always used her passion to give happiness to others : her new sewing projects ? They were destined for some of the girls in the guild. Her cooking ? When it wasn't to feed herself, it was to give to Gajeel or Gray… Suddenly, she straightened up and clapped her hands together, which startled Gray.

" Juvia needs some alone time !" Gray looked at her and smiled while crossing his arms. He nodded and pointed to the mission's board before leaving for his team's table, leaving Juvia alone, contemplating.

Gray was right. She did not go on a solo mission in a while, her missions were always with a fellow guild member, be it Gajeel, Gajeel and Levy, Gray, Team Natsu, Erza… She could not remember the last time she went alone on a mission and Juvia was sure this was the best opportunity for her to get some well deserved introspection into herself. She knows that this was just a hard moment, something that will go away once she finally makes herself the centre of her world again.

She stood up and walked to the mission's board, looking for something not too difficult for a first solo mission. She squinted her eyes to any offers that could do the job but none of them really thrilled her until she noticed one job perfect for her.

"Village needs help with irrigation of the crops… This mission is perfect for Juvia !"

She hastily took the sheet of paper and practically ran all the way to Mirajane at the bar and showed it to her with a satisfied smile plastered on her face. Her eagerness was showing and this only made the pretty barmaid smile even more than the one she usually has.

" My, my Juvia ! You look very happy to go on a mission ! Is there a special occasion I am not aware of ?" Mirajane took the sheet of paper from Juvia's hand in order to quickly read it and stamp it, a general procedure that is now practically marked in her brain after doing it for so many years.

"Yes ! It is the first solo job Juvia has taken in a while ! She can't help but feel very excited about it!" Maybe it was ridiculous to feel so much joy for something as trivial as a rank C mission however she just wanted to feel like herself again. And Mirajane could not help the soft expression on her face seeing how genuinely excited the girl in front of her looked.

The spawn of Satan, the nice Mirajane, always had a soft spot for Juvia. Of course she does not have favourites, but she genuinely loved the bluenette. She was always so eager to help people around her, to make them feel worthy of being loved whether in a friendly way or romantically. The white haired mage's heart broke in two when Gray and Juvia split up and the rain would not stop. She was beyond worried and had Lisanna make sure to cheer up Juvia once the downpour stopped. She recalls insisting on having Juvia in the kitchen to help her with busy days and have her take her mind off of her failed relationship which Juvia enjoyed a lot. However she could never forget how broken Juvia was after one too many people asked her how she was doing now that she broke up. Gajeel intervened immediately and almost brutally murdered the guy but Mirajane was the one who saw her break down in the kitchen. She never let go of her that night and kept her in her arms until the shaking stopped. So yes, Mirajane could not help but have a soft spot for sweet, sweet Juvia.

" Everything is done ! I will let them know someone is coming and you can prepare ! You will do a great job!"

"Thank you so much Mirajane ! Juvia will go and prepare for the trip now! She will see you once she is done!" And with a last wave of the hand to Mirajane but also to Gray who was watching her from his table, Juvia walked out of the guild, determined to finally have some time for herself.

And it did not take much time for her to pack her things, Juvia took the habit to always have a separate bag with some clothes, all the necessaries she could need while away and medicine. That way she was always prepared, she had to when her partner was Gajeel who would pack way too lightly, pretending that he only needed himself when on a mission. The only thing that took some time for her was to find her wallet - which she found under her pillow and Juvia could not remember for the life of her how it ended up there - but once she did, she took off to the train station, light on her feet and with the sun shining bright up in the sky.

The train station was busy as usual, a large crowd of unfamiliar faces and mysterious habits. Juvia loved to observe those people come and go and try to guess their story, where they were headed to or why they were coming to Magnolia. It was a fun little game whenever she was too ahead of time and had to wait for her train. And this is exactly what she has been doing for the past twenty minutes, observing and guessing : Oh this man has a lot of baggage and flowers in his hands too, perhaps he is moving in with his beloved ? Oh and this old lady has a frown and looks at the young couple in front of her, maybe she disapproves of her grandchild's relationship and does not accept their love !

Juvia was immersed in her game, when she caught a very familiar face in the crowd near the train she needed to catch. She quickly got up and walked all the way to this familiar man.

" Laxus !"

The blond man turned around, a very blank expression on his face, curious to know who called him by his name with such enthusiasm, but when he realised it was the bluenette, his frown disappeared and he got his neutral expression back.

" Juvia." The water mage offered him one of her signature smiles and looked around in order to also greet the Thunder Legion but instead she realised something.

" Did Laxus come back from a mission in Drimant village ? How amusing ! Juvia is about to go there too !" Laxus looked at her, for some seconds, and then quickly glanced around and he raised an eyebrow.

" You're alone ? " At this question, her entire demeanour changed, she seemed embarrassed but the way she explained to him her sudden need for a change, her enthusiasm was almost drowning the actual words that were coming out of her.

He was aware of her past relationship with Fullbuster, and more or less understood how it ended. But apart from minding his own business, he never tried anything to cheer her up. They were friends, thanks to the Grand Magic games for that, but he was not good with words and he thought that when it comes to romance, he was even less useful. So he chose to never bring it up on the very rare occasion they ran to each other and act as if nothing ever happened. But he liked her company, she was an interesting person with a warm personality and she never held it against him for what transpired when he wanted to have the most powerful guild in Fiore. He really liked having her as a friend and was feeling grateful for this uncommon friendship but when she explained her mission, he could not, for the life of him, understand why on earth she would settle for such a job.

" You could have taken a better mission. You know you're more powerful than that." The blond man did not say it to hurt her or mock her, he was genuinely surprised to see the difficulty of that mission. He did not understand and by the expression of the girl in front of him, he might have upset her.

"Juvia wanted something light to start this new chapter ! Laxus can't judge Juvia when he's always with the Thunder Legion in his mission" Because of her friendly behaviour and her pretty smile he always forgot that sometimes she could be just as rude as Redfox. And her comment unconsciously made his eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

" You always know what to say to piss off someone, that metalhead is rubbing off on you a bit too much. "

" Last call for Drimant village! All aboard!"

Juvia looked at the big clock and gasped. She quickly took her stuff and before running off to her wagon, she looked back at Laxus who was glaring at her, with a frown on his face.

" Laxus loves to play the big guy but he sometimes acts like a child. Juvia thinks it is cute!" That comment, right there, worsened his frown but he knew that she was only joking with him so he decided not to take it to heart and sighed, washing his face with his left hand.

"Lockser, once you get home I will-" He did not have the chance to finish it, she was already inside the wagon, looking for her chair. Laxus never quite understood how her mind worked. Of course when she was in love with the ice mage, anyone could guess what took up most of her thoughts. But now, he could not really pinpoint it but he could see that something was working in that… weird mind of hers. But Laxus did not really dwell on it too much, as soon as the train whistled its departure, he went back to finding his teammates. He could not wait to find his bed and call it a day.

Juvia, on the other hand, once she found her seat and was able to look out of the window, searched for Laxus and only observed him from afar. She was pondering over what he said, that she could take a harder mission for her level and it really warmed her heart to know that the lightning dragon slayer thought that of her. He was one of the most powerful mages in the guild, so of course she valued his opinion. And despite what people could say about him, she was quite fond of their friendship. Gajeel could not stop asking how it happened and she also had no idea how it came to life but she was glad to have him as a friend. So, the idea of having friends supporting her was endearing and made her whole body bounce in excitement. She was going to enjoy every second of that mission, and take the time to reconnect with herself. With this last thought, Juvia closed her eyes and let Orpheus charm her all the way to the realm of dreams.

Hello dear readers ! Here is the very first chapter to a story I PROMISE to finish. This post is mainly to apologise for the long wait, and frankly, I'm not too sure about how long it's going to take me to finish it. But this first chapter is also my way to show that I started it and this time i will finish it. I have the whole story planned from beginning to the end and i just need time to write it ( work is tiring me out... ) but chapter two is almost finished so do not despair too much !

Please enjoy as much as possible this new story and do not hesitate to leave a review ! I read them all and they always warm my heart.

I hope to see you soon with the rest of the story !