Greetings everyone! So basically, this fanfic will hold 12 shots of Gray and Juvia's developing relationship. As mentioned in the summary, it'll be 12 short stories for the 12 months of the year, and we're starting in December, well, just because.

Also, the title refers to Gray and Juvia together. Since Periwinkle is a sort of pale/cold blue, I threw the white of Gray's magic and the blue of Juvia's magic together and this came out.

Enjoy! :)

Periwinkle Year

{December}

Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers. -Robert Green Ingersoll

"Okay, everyone get ready!" yelled Mirajane, her eyes sparkling and her mouth opened in a radiant smile that purposely showed her joy and excitement.

The people in the guild immediately reacted as Mira raised her brown bag up in the air. "Each mage has his or her name in there, on a piece of paper. Please form one and only line in front of me and we will begin the drawing!"

Gray Fullbuster let out a resigned groan as he made his way toward the end of the line with Natsu, Lucy and Wendy. Christmas was only in one week, and this year, Mira and Makarov had apparently decided that everyone in the guild would have to participate in secret Santa. Fairy Tail would spend Christmas Eve together, celebrate until midnight, eat a wonderful meal and then, proceed with the gift exchange.

It wasn't that Gray was against the idea, not at all, but he had just never been a big fan of Christmas. Maybe it was the overjoyed feeling that flew around every single person that annoyed him, or the fact that the same damn songs kept repeating again and again and again…

This year, he would have to buy someone…something. Some sort of present. He had never done this before, and he knew he wouldn't be good at finding a great idea. Plus, he had been a little short on cash lately, given the fact that he hadn't taken many missions.

'Anyways,' thought the ice mage as he wore a light frown. 'I'll surely find a way to figure something out during the remaining week, no need to over think it now.'

"I'm so excited about the secret Santa!" Gray suddenly heard Lucy squeal in front of him. "This Christmas is gonna be perfect!"

Natsu scratched the back of his head with a thoughtful face before smiling widely out of nowhere, his two hands now in fists. "Hey, does this mean that if I pick Erza and get her a crappy gift, she'll get mad at me and I'll finally be able to fight her?"

A sweat drop appeared on Wendy's head while Lucy hit her forehead with her hand. "That's not the spirit of Christmas, idiot!"

Gray sighed and rolled his eyes in exasperation before getting back into his own thoughts. If only he could get Happy, he could just give him a fish and the silly cat would be more than thrilled. Perfect plan.

After a minute or two, Gray arrived in front of an extremely satisfied Mirajane and put one hand in the bag, feeling the little papers on his skin. 'Come on give me Happy. Happy,' he silently hoped in his mind.

Gray's hand finally stopped on one single paper. He slowly raised his hand and unfolded it, before his eyes read the name written in black ink…

Juvia.

Gray froze right there on the spot, before blinking slowly one and only time, and reading it again.

Juvia.

Was this some kind of joke?!

Juvia. He had actually, out of every single mage in Fairy Tail, pulled out the woman who would throw herself in front of a train for him? Juvia?

He had indeed picked her.

Gray folded the paper again and hid it in his pocket, walking away from the line and from the now too-excited guild he usually called his family.

On the good way, this could be terribly easy. Given the fact that Juvia Lockser was crazy about him, he could give her a banana and she'd be on cloud nine.

On the other hand… She was a really sensitive person and strangely, he didn't want to disappoint her too much and get her all teary.

Gray sighed. This was going to be a hell of a week.

. . . . . . . . . .

"ONLY ONE MINUTE LEFT!"

Natsu and Happy had been doing the countdown for over a half an hour now. People had been rather annoyed at first, but now, almost everyone had a smile on their faces, even Gray -he had to admit- as midnight was only a few seconds away.

"Mouaahhh I can't wait to eat everything!" Natsu said loudly, his tongue passing between his lips and his hands on his hips. He then turned and walked in the room next to the bar. "Hey, you in the kitchen! Get the buffet ready, I'm coming!"

"Aye!"

Lucy, standing beside Gray, only closed her eyes and sighed slightly. "Let's just hope they'll leave enough food for the rest of us."

"Five, four, three, two, one," the final countdown was happily yelled in the guild. "Merry Christmas!"

Gray smiled in the corner of his mouth as he looked around him. Natsu jumping in the gigantic buffet; Carla pulling on Happy's paw to stop the mess he was about to make; Wendy, Lucy and Levy smiling widely and laughing together; Mirajane and Lisanna hugging each other; Cana protecting her barrel of sake; Bickslow shoving Evergreen and Elfman under a mistletoe; master Makarov scowling at Laxus and Gajeel for not being happy enough; Erza already saving her dear strawberry cake…

It was a normal, yet the most lighthearted type of night for Fairy Tail.

The diner passed rather quickly, the mages sharing many laughs as they ate together. The guild had been noisy all evening and all night long, but then again, everyone in here was used to it. Gray had caught Juvia giving him a few loving and curious glances during the feast, from the table she shared with Gajeel, Levy, Jet and Droy. As usual, the ice mage didn't really return the constant attention.

It's only around two in the morning that Mirajane spoke again to do her announcement. "Okay everyone, this is the moment we had all been waiting for: secret Santa!"

Many happy cheers were thrown around here and there, before the white-haired mage continued. "Here's how it's going to work: you're all going to stay at the table you are sitting at right now, and we're going to pick one of Cana's card at a time. The person chosen will have to get up and give his or her present to the one he or she picked. Everyone understand?"

"What?! We have to give it in front of everyone else?" yelled a very flushed Evergreen.

Mira smiled and talked before anyone else could make a comment. "Yes, that is right." She then turned to face everyone again. "Are you all ready? Let's start!"

About an hour later, almost half the guild had already passed. A few moments brought major reactions from the others, such as Freed giving Gray straps to prevent him from undressing all the time and which made the ice boy scowl deeply – though according to Freed, it was a very noble gift. There was also when Cana gave Lucy a complete set of black and pink lingerie, apparently to finally get her some luck in bed, which made the blonde blush like crazy and yell at the older woman. And of course, let's not forget when Natsu gave Erza a toothbrush… Literally.

And finally, Mirajane called out the young Fullbuster.

Gray took his well wrapped present in his hands, got up and walked toward a certain water mage. As Juvia understood that Gray was making his way to her, she felt the beating of her heart increase and her cheeks go from pale to rosy. Some let out a laugh and said something about the irony of the situation, but Gray just ignored them. He simply gave his present, not looking at her, and stood there, waiting for the girl to unwrap it.

Juvia, after a few seconds of mentally freaking out, began unwrapping her gift.

The guild hadn't been this quiet since they started to celebrate. Actually, it hadn't been this quiet in a long time…

As Juvia finally let the wrapping paper fall to the floor, her eyes widened and she gasped loudly enough for many members to hear.

And she wasn't the only astonished one.

In front of her blue eyes was the gift Gray had just given her: a simple, yet breathtakingly beautiful flower, completely made of translucent ice. Juvia couldn't tear her eyes from it, and slowly, very slowly, she lift it in the air, the light going through it making it look like it was made of pure crystal.

Gray suddenly cleared his throat as he noticed the sudden –and weird- silence in the room. "Hm, I made it with a special Ice-Make technic," he told his blue-haired partner. "It's not Eternal Ice but it won't melt for another hundred years, maybe even more."

Juvia raised her stare and was about to meet Gray's eyes when Natsu yelled out of nowhere: "What the heck is that? You made a random flower?" he chuckled. "That's even worse than the toothbrush!"

Gray was about to growl and talk back but Levy stopped him.

"I know this flower," she said as she got up and everyone looked at her. "It's a Zephyranthes, isn't it Gray?"

The boy was slightly surprised that someone knew about this flower, but then again, that was Levy. "Hm, yeah," he answered, looking at the petite lady.

"It isn't a very common flower, it blooms only at night, because it needs colder temperature. It also needs lots, lots of water, but rain is usually what it takes to make it bloom perfectly. It's also one of the rare flowers that can survive during winter. Basically, this flower needs both rain and cold to exist."

With this declaration, the whole guild became speechless. Except of course, of Natsu.

"Yeah, and? It's still a random flower," said the salamander.

But most of the people in the room understood the meaning, the metaphor hidden in this crystalline flower.

"Drop it, Natsu," said Lucy with a small smile as she put her hand on the Dragon Slayer's shoulder.

The boy stayed totally clueless, just as Juvia, who wasn't even sure if her breathing was regular anymore. But she didn't care.

She just didn't understood Gray's intentions.

'Gray-sama… What did you mean with this?' she thought, her hands still around the delicate and most meaningful object she had ever possessed in her life.

Gray, who was getting more and more confused with the situation he was in right now, turned around to see all mages staring at him blankly. Even Cana.

He frowned slightly and started making his way back to his table. "Whatever, can we continue the Santa thing?"

Mirajane suddenly blinked and cleared her throat. "Hm, yes. Of course. Next one is…Gajeel!"

. . . . . . . . . .

Once the gift exchange was –finally- over, the guild surprisingly and completely out of the blue, turned into a real dance floor. The music was incredibly loud, and many mages were, unfortunately for some men such as Macao, shaking and bouncing their bodies to the rhythm. Most of them were either drunk or overly enthusiast with celebration, and soon, a certain ice mage couldn't take any more of this unstoppable hurricane.

As he closed the main doors of the guild behind him, Gray breathed in the cold sent of winter, instantly feeling way more relaxed and comfortable. A couple of minutes passed, ten maybe, and he just stood there, focused on the cool and refreshing air around him.

Gray suddenly heard the doors open then close again behind him, and before he could turn around, a voice he knew so well filled his ears, and this time, it didn't sound so annoying to him.

"Gray-sama."

He didn't really move, in fact, he didn't know if he should say or do something in particular.

"Hey," he simply answered as she walked next to him to look at the white moon above them.

Silence fell over the two for a couple of seconds, maybe even a few minutes. It wasn't the most natural thing ever, but didn't feel awkward either.

That is, until Juvia spoke.

"Juvia didn't even say thank you to Gray-sama…" she almost whispered, turning to Gray slightly, although her gaze was set on the floor. "For the wonderful gift you gave her."

Gray blinked several times as she raised her head a little, finally looking at him. "Oh, it wasn't much though…"

"No." Juvia cut him in his hesitation. "Juvia loves it. It's…It's one of the nicest things she has ever received," she told him with an honest and beautiful smile, her eyes shining under the light of the moon and stars.

Gray gulped silently. It just amazed him how she could go from a crazy and hyperactive fangirl to a simple yet…captivating young woman.

He could see it in her face though: hope.

He couldn't let her hope too much, because he knew what she wanted.

"Hm, Juvia…" started Gray rather clumsily while frowning a bit. "You know I didn't mean to…"

"I know."

Gray, who was apparently staring at the ground, suddenly looked up at her in surprise. She knew what he was about to say, yet, her expression didn't show disappointment or sadness of any kind. No, she had a small smile plastered on her delicate face instead.

He was glad she understood, because he himself didn't know what he wanted to say. Gray didn't want her to have false hopes again, and he didn't want to have to explain the flower to anyone. Hell, he didn't even know why he had given it to her in the first place; he couldn't explain it himself. The idea had gotten into his mind without him realizing anything, and the next thing he knew, he was presenting his gift.

But the real meaning of it? He couldn't tell. He didn't even want to go there anyways.

"Can Juvia ask you something though, Gray-sama?"

Fullbuster was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts, like a freezing shower waking you up in a second. "Uh, sure…"

The girl blinked slowly, biting her bottom lip in a light way. "Do you…mind…Juvia's presence at the guild?"

Gray almost widened his eyes, but finally frowned instead. "What kind of question is that? You are an important member of Fairy Tail, of course I don't mind you being here."

Juvia's lips curved upward again, somewhere between shyness and slyness, if such a place even existed.

"Then, could you say you enjoy her presence here?"

Gray was slightly taken aback. Here. Gray knew, he felt that this little word held different meanings. Here at Fairy Tail? Here right now, outside with him? Here…by his side?

The Ice-Make mage didn't want to ask though. Ask her…or himself.

He then cleared his throat, answering "Uh… Yeah, I…I guess you could say that."

Juvia's eyes half closed as her mouth formed a full and large smile, and her hand almost covered it, making look like she wanted to giggle.

Surprisingly, that time, it didn't irritate the hell out of Gray. Against all odds, it was quite the opposite.

"I see," she murmured with a satisfied expression. Gray didn't realize he was staring at her when she started walking toward the guild. "Juvia will go back inside then, Gray-sama." She stopped with one hand on the big doorknob, saying her last words in a gentle, unique voice.

"Merry Christmas, Gray-sama."

Gray watched her as she disappeared inside, where the music still hadn't stopped. Blinking once, he answered in the night "Yeah… Merry Christmas, Juvia."

He turned back to observe the dark sky again. Gray felt a little relieved, but he couldn't help but wonder what was the unknown, prickling, tiny feeling in his chest.

So, like it? Hate it? Please let me know!

I know Christmas was over two months ago but I really wanted to write this idea, so I had to start with December.

The more reviews I get, the faster I will uptade! There should be a new chapter each month, but it might take less than that if you guys like it and if I have the time to write.

Also, Fairy Tail ep. 176 is coming back in April, are you excited? I SURE AS HELL AM :D

(Oh and I don't own Fairy Tail, yeah I know, shocking.)

|Death and Berry|