Series: Fairy Tail

Pairing: Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser

Prompt: "Offer Me" and White Day

Rating: E for Everyone

AN: When I got a request for a White's Day Gruvia fic, I couldn't turn it down! If you're unfamiliar with the holiday, so worries, it is explained within the context of the fic. Enjoy!

Gray's feet tapped against the dirt roads as he took himself towards Fairy Tail. The sun was already high in the sky, and the ice mage wondered if he had slept in too late; all the good missions may have already been taken. As the man neared the guild's doors, a burst of girly laughter broke out from behind them. Gray barely stepped back in time to avoid the doors swinging open in front of him, revealing a pair of giggling girls.

Lucy and Juvia laughed with their heads up high, until they noticed the figure standing before them.

"Oops! Sorry Gray!" Lucy exclaimed, and grabbed Juvia's free hand, the other was being held over the bluenette's open mouth, as she blushed upon his appearance. "We gotta go! See you tomorrow!"

Gray watched the blonde run off, dragging her friend behind her in a cloud of dust. Gray scratched his head in confusion. "Tomorrow?" He asked himself.

The black haired man shook it off, and continued his way into the guildhall. He glanced at the request board, which he could tell from where he was, had been ripped clean of worthwhile jobs. He sighed, and took a look around the guild, before spotting Erza sitting alone at a booth table, slowly eating a slice of strawberry cake. He shrugged, and trekked over to his friend, slipping into the booth seat across from her.

Erza looked up to him from her dessert. "Hello Gray." She greeted him, "To what do I owe the honor?" She smiled teasingly.

Gray hadn't really thought that far. Sitting with a friend just seemed like a good distraction until he figured out something better to do. But then his run in from a couple minutes prior came to mind. "Well, you're one of the only level headed woman in the guild." He started, "Do you have any idea what has Lucy and Juvia all riled up? Is tomorrow important? Is it someone's birthday?"

Erza took the last bite of her cake, and wiped her lips clean, before responding to her teammate. "Well, it is March, 14." She told him.

Gray tilted his head to the side. That information meant nothing to him.

Erza snickered a bit. "They are not the only two excited for it. Take a look around."

Gray did as suggested. He saw Levy pulling at Gajeel's arm, trying to get some information out of him, Cana and Evergreen excitedly chattering to each other, and Wendy blushing brightly as Bisca relayed some tale to her. And they weren't the only ones—all the women in Fairy Tail had an excited glow about them.

Gray started to feel pale. He had forgotten something. What was it? He turned back to Erza to see the woman smirking at him.

"I'll make the assumption that you just don't know about it, but, you did accept chocolate from Juvia last month, didn't you?" She questioned him.

Gray thought back. He definitely remembered the young lady pushing a heart shaped box into his face. She had told him it was bitter, because she thought he might not like sweets. It was. Too bitter. But she was so excited to see him take one bite; that he ate the whole thing in front of her, even if it was just to avoid a torrential downpour.

He sighed. "Yeah. I did. So tomorrow is one month later. What's it mean?" He asked.

"It is called Saint White's day. One month after, the boys who received heartfelt chocolate from the girls return the favor with a gift of white." Erza explained, "To show that they accept the girls' feelings."

Gray's entire body felt like it hit 100 degrees, and smoke may as well have begun to puff out his ears. He attempted to formulate a come back, but the last couple words of Erza's speech still rung in his mind. "I—what?" Slowly, he fell back to reality, and took a deep breath, before standing up from the booth.

"Well, then I guess I'm not expected to buy her anything then." He said coldly. He had his back turned to Erza, but there was a flash of light behind him as she requipped, and Gray had a sword blade being held to his throat before he knew it.

"Gray, I hope you don't mean to break Juvia's heart on White's day, do you?" She asked coolly. "After that steamy reaction, do you actually expect anyone to believe you don't have any feelings worth responding through?"

Gray's eyes were wide, as he stared back at the woman, trying not to move. "I… just meant that I already had a gift." He lied.

Erza dropped her sword, and exquipped back to her casual outfit. "Oh. Well that's great to hear. I'm sure she'll be happy."

"Yeah…" Gray's voice trailed off as he rushed out of the guild as fast as he could. So much for the one level headed woman.

"Aren't you excited, Juvia?" Lucy asked. She sat on the edge of her bed, with Juvia sitting on the floor in front of her. The blonde pulled a brush softly through her friend's hair.

"Juvia does not know." She replied honestly, pulling her knees up and hugging them. "What if Gray does not even know about White Day?"

Lucy choked back a laugh. She hadn't thought of that. Gray was a little withdrawn, maybe he had never heard of it. That could be a problem. She laughed off her worry, and lifted Juvia's hair to being braiding it. "Oh, I wouldn't worry. Gray's an observant guy. I'm sure he'll ask someone what's up if he sees everyone in the guild today."

Juvia sighed. She was not quite convinced, but honestly, that was not her biggest worry. "Lucy?" She question, lifting her head, before Lucy yanked her hair into a tighter plat.

"Yeah?" The celestial mage responded, as she tied the end of Juvia's hair together with a rubber band.

"What if Gray does know about White Day…" Her voice trailed off, as she hesitated speaking of her less positive thoughts. Lucy leaned forward to hang her head over Juvia's shoulder and listened closer.

"What if Gray still does not give anything to Juvia?" The bluenette finally said, and hid her face in her knees.

Lucy frowned, and patted her friend's head. It was not as if Juvia had no reason to worry. Gray rarely responded to her advances, so who was to say this would be any different? She slipped off the edge of her bed and sat down to Juvia's right, before wrapping an arm around her comrade and pulling her close.

"What have I told you about being negative?" She said with a teasing voice, and ruffled the blue hair she had just styled. "You're an adorable young lady and we all know Gray has to fight every urge to resist you."

Juvia looked up from her knees with a weak smile.

"Awe, come on, I know you can do better than that." Lucy replied, and then lunged her fingers to Juvia's sides, tickling them mercilessly.

Juvia let out a great burst of laughter and rolled on the floor in attempt to escape. "No, Lucy! No!" She cried and jumped to her feet laughing. "Juvia will not be negative! No more tickling!" She pointed at Lucy as she shouted her demands with giggles in between.

Lucy stayed seated on the floor, but looked up to her friend, who was smiling again.

Tomorrow was only a couple hours away.

"Tomorrow is only a couple hours away…" Gray groaned to himself, as he trudged down the streets of Magnolia. The sun had set and shops around him were turning off their lights and locking their doors.

Since he had left Fairy Tail, the young man had wandered about the town, window shopped at stores he deemed "too girly" for him to even step foot in. But it was all for naught. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he was sure he saw nothing that suited Juvia.

Though he was sure that Lucy, or Erza, or even Levy, would tell him that Juvia would love anything he gave her… He just wanted this to be right.

He felt his cheeks grown warm as those thoughts crossed his mind. Why did he care so much?

What was he kidding?

He knew exactly why. All he wanted was to see Juvia smile. He hated seeing her cry—not because of the rain—because it hurt him to see her tears. He only wanted to see her happy.

He was positive that if he told that to anyone they would tell him…
"That's Love." Gray read the sign of a tiny shop at the end of the street. He stood straight in front of it. The shop was painted bright pink with a white roof, and the sign was a deep magenta coloration. Pasted on the front of the red door was a paper sign that read "White Day Sale! Open until midnight!"

Gray looked back and forth. The streets were empty. If he went in now, no one would know any better. He reached for the doorknob, turned it slowly, and as he opened it, a scent, similar to the one Erza's cakes gave off, wafted out towards him, and lead him right into the shop.

The interior of the shack was much less obnoxious than the outside. The hardwood floors were waxed to give off a nice sheen. All around there were little white desks with displays. Jewelry and little trinkets hung from tiny silver trees standing on each desk. To the back wall, stood a closet filled with pastel colored dresses and aprons. And the check out counter was a light peach color, with a cream colored cat sleeping atop it.

"Sir, we have a no-shirt, no-service policy." A man's voice spoke up from Gray's right. He saw a thin man, in his early forties, walking out from behind the counter. He was dressed in a red shirt and white pants, with a white half-apron over his legs.

Gray listened to his words, and then looked down to find he was wearing his dark green slacks and nothing else. He sighed and shook his head, not even wanting to freak out over it this time. "Sorry about that." He said in defeat and turned for the door.

"Oh Max, give him a break. We're closing soon anyway." A feminine voice sang out, as a short, chubby woman in a red polka dot dress, and frilly pink apron walked out of the back room to join the two men in the shop. She waved her hand at Gray sweetly. "Please ignore my husband. Take your time and look around the shop."

Max grunted a bit, but didn't argue, though he made sure to keep an eye of Gray from that point on.

Gray nodded to the woman, and began to look closer at the displays. Everything that hung from the tiny trees seemed to be made of glass. There were all sorts of things: dolphins, flowers, butterflies… Butterflies. That was a thought. He softly touched a pendant with a white butterfly hanging from it.

"See something you like?"

Gray jolted up to find the pudgy woman standing next to him smiling. "I'm Pumpernickel." She introduced herself, "Are you shopping for your girlfriend?"

Gray's cheeks grew warm again. "She's not really my girlfriend." He said.

"Your wife then?" Pumpernickel questioned.

Gray looked at her with wide eyes and red face, before shaking his head adamantly. The woman laughed a bit, and Gray pouted.

"Stop pestering, Pump." Max said from across the room.

"I'm just trying to help, Mr. Grumpy." She replied with a snort, and then turned her attention back to her customer. "Well, what does this not girlfriend like?"

Gray thought for a moment. Me? Would have been his first response, but that wouldn't be very helpful. Though, he was sure Juvia would love to get him as a gift.

"Butterflies… flowers… the sun." Gray voiced random things he saw Juvia take interest in. "Spring, I guess." He found that pretty funny. A woman who dressed like the temperature was always below zero, and was infatuated by a man who controlled ice, found herself interested in spring instead of winter.

Pumpernickel gasped and clapped her hands together. Gray looked down to the short woman to see a sparkle in her eye. She turned to her husband and waved her hand away as if she wanted him to leave. "Max! Max, go get it! It's perfect."

Her husband scoffed and rolled his eyes. "It?"

The tiny woman puffed up her cheeks in reaction to his response. "You know! It! I just finished it yesterday." But Max was already walked back into the room she had emerged from.

"I was just kidding." He laughed at her haughty display, before disappearing into the back room.

Gray stared on curiously, looking back and forth between the cheerful woman in front of him and the quiet man that had left the room. After a moment of silence, Max exited the storeroom with a tiny box in his hand. He walked over to his wife and handed it to her, who turned to Gray and opened the box to display it to her costumer.

Gray's eyes became soft, and he grinned. "I'll take it."

The following morning, Juvia had woken up earlier than she had in months. She was too excited to sleep. For a few hours, she had dozed off on Lucy's bedroom floor, but when she caught Natsu climbing in through the Blonde's window shortly past midnight, she thought it might be better to walk herself home.

Juvia had rolled around under her covers in her apartment, getting a couple winks of sleep here and there, but the excitement and worries of the following day woke her again and again. When the sun rose, she decided it was best to rise with it.

Juvia dressed herself in a white sundress, with a floppy white sunhat, decorated with yellow flowers. She put on a pair of pale yellow tights, since it was still a little cold outside, and then slipped into a pair of white Mary Janes before exiting her apartment, excitement swelling in her chest.

She arrived at Fairy Tail a short time later, to find many other women already seated about the hall. Levy was leaning on a table, dozing off on the hardwood. Bisca was sitting at the bar with a sleepy Asuka on her lap. Cana was sitting to the right, chugging down her morning booze. Evergeen was to the left of the mother, complaining about needing her beauty sleep to Freed, who seemed to have been dragged along to keep the young lady awake. Wendy was sitting at a couple's booth, kicking her feet about under it, with Carla in her lap. The little exceed did not seem amused.

Juvia's heart skipped a beat. They were all waiting for their gifts too—from their dates. She held her hands to her bright red cheeks. Would Juvia get a date today? That would be so very exciting.

Before she had a chance to step further into the guild, the doors opened behind her and she felt a hand pat her shoulder. The bluenette turned to find Erza standing behind her smiling.

"Excited?" The red head asked.

Juvia nodded shyly, and followed her teammate to the same booth table Erza had sat with Gray the day before. "Juvia is a little worried." She admitted.

"Oh. I wouldn't be if I were you." Erza replied. "Gray will act upon his feelings today." In the back of her mind, she added, "If he knows what's good for him."

Juvia smiled at Erza's encouragement. But then her visage turned curious, and she tilted her head to the right. "What about Erza? Doesn't she want a gift today too?"

Erza opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again as her cheeks turned red. She bit her lip, and then tried again. "I did not give my love a gift this valentines day." She said, but then smiled, "But it is alright. He responded to my feelings long ago. I do not expect to see him today."

Juvia stared onto her comrade. She had never seen such a soft expression upon Erza before. She seemed so serene and radiant, and the look in her eye was a dreamy one. Juvia hoped one day, her own eyes may be filled with such a look, instead of worry and empty hope.

The guild's doors slammed open and Juvia leapt in her seat. She turned to it to see the first man make his entrance. Natsu stomped into the guild with Lucy balanced on his shoulders. Happy flew circles around the happy couple, before gliding off in Carla and Wendy's direction, a white cod on paw.

Lucy was protesting her position, but Natsu kept laughing until her heel swung back into his face and the man collapsed to the ground.

Lucy leapt off of him with a "that's what you get," and then saw Juvia and Erza and left the dragon slayer to rub his bloody nose.

"Juvia! Is he here yet? What did he get you?" She asked right away, excited all over. "I was so surprised to see you were gone this morning. Though that did work out…"

Juvia laughed a bit, before replying. "Natsu is the first man to arrive, for the exception of Freed." She glanced over to the green haired man, who now had Evergreen napping on his shoulder. "What did Natsu give Lucy?"

Lucy blushed a bit at the question. "Well um… I can't exactly just show you…" She mumbled. She looked back and forth, and then leaned down towards Juvia and pulled back at the collar of her shirt, showing a pearly white bra strap.

Juvia's cheeks turned red. "Oh."

"It's a set too!" Lucy squealed, "Super limited edition! I can't believe he bought them and didn't manage to set them on fire before I got them!"

"I'm not sure if that is an appropriate gift for White Day." Erza spoke up.

"Oh come on!" Lucy grumped at her, "It's white. I like it. Natsu liked it on me. It's totally perfect."

The two women she was speaking to gave her a bewildered look, and she replayed her words in her mind. Natsu liked it on me…

Lucy's entire face turned red and she began to wave her arms about. "You—You didn't hear that! You didn't hear anything!" She screeched, and then ran away from them as fast as they could. She yanked Natsu off the floor to cheer him up since she had left him to wallow in his defeat to her heel.

Over the next hour or so, more of Fairy Tail's male members found their way into the guild. Romeo showed up next, blushing madly and dressed awkwardly in a suit that was far too big for him. He gifted a pair of white hair clips to an excited Wendy, before the two youngsters sat down for a Fairy Tail breakfast date.

Gajeel was pushed into the guild by Pantherlily, and handed a lacey white ribbon over to Levy. The excited girl quickly removed the yellow one she was wearing to tie the new one on, and then asked the man how she looked. He had turned four or five shades of red before finally replying "…cute." The word elicited a squeal from the petite bluenette, who wrapped her arms tight around the man, before dragging him out of the guild for a date elsewhere.

Alzack entered shortly after their departure, and Asuka woke up right away to run over to her father and get spun around in the air. Alzack gifted his wife a brand new pair of white cowboy boots, which she swore to never get dirty, as impossible as it might seem. The family stayed in Fairy Tail, the atmosphere of the guild being their favorite.

Elfman shuffled into the guild next, his usual excited expression replaced with a worried one. He eyed Evergreen on the other end of the guild and found his way over to her. Freed shook her awake, before she berated Elfman for taking too long to arrive, but her words fell silent as he presented her an elegant pair of glasses, with white frames, her name engraved into the arms. The woman looked up at his with red cheeks, before closing her eyes and removing her current pair of glasses, and Elfman carefully slipped the new pair onto her face. The brunette slowly opened her eyes and smiled upon the man, before wrapping her arms around one of his, and waved goodbye to a worn out Freed, before the couple left the guild together.

After they left, the new appearances became sparse. Another hour passed and still no Gray. Juvia's heart began to sink, but Erza stayed sitting with her, keeping the girl's hopes up that he would soon arrive.

The water mage glanced around the guild. It was now full of happy couples. Even Bacchus had shown up with a keg of foreign booze for Cana, thought Juvia wasn't sure if that was so much a White Day present, as it was a challenge to a drinking contest. Juvia was jealous none-the-less. She pouted. Maybe he wasn't coming after all.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, she heard his voice and her heart jumped in her chest.

"What? Am I late? Was there a set time for this thing?" Gray asked, scratching the back of his head. "God, this holiday is so dumb."

Juvia's heart kept beating, faster and faster, praying he would walk in her direction. She saw his eyes wander the guild, and when they met hers, she thought she might leap out of her seat and run over to him. It took all she had to keep herself seated and wave at him sweetly.

As the man began to slowly trudge in her direction, Erza slipped out of the booth, with a wink at Juvia, before she tip toed away from the scene.

Gray made his way over to the table and rested his hand upon it. Juvia blushed brightly, staring directly at him, before he spoke up.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked. God I sound so stupid, what is wrong with me? Gray yelled at himself in his head.

"What? No! No please! Sit, Gray!" Juvia cheered. Please, Please, PLEASE! She continued to plead in thought. She watched him sit down across from her and her heart swelled. Her excitement wasn't wasted! He was here! She wanted to sing, or cry, she wasn't sure which yet.

"So, I uh, I've never even heard of this White Day thing before." He said, his chin in his hand. "I mean, I guess it makes sense. Girls give the boys chocolate, so the boys are supposed to return the favor somehow."

Juvia sat still, her hands in her lap. Her eyes were soft as she listened to him ramble on. "Juvia would give Gray a gift any day. No thanks necessary."

Gray smiled and sighed at her. "I know. But this is important to you, isn't it?"

The young lady kicked her feet about under the table a bit. She bit her lip softly, and then slowly nodded. She heard him fumbling around in his pocket, and then watched him slide a small gray box across the table to her. "Well then, happy Saint White Day, or whatever."

Juvia was suddenly elated, and picked up the box, rubbing it against her cheek excitedly. "Oh! Thank you Gray! Thank you so muuuch! Juvia will always cherish it!" She cried.

"You haven't even opened it yet." Gray chuckled at the girl's excited response.

"Juvia knows. But no matter what it is, Juvia will cherish it. Because it is from Gray, and Juvia loves Gray sooo much!"

There she goes again. The Ice mage thought. She says it so easily.

Gray watched as the young lady slowly opened the box, and her eyes opened wide. "Oh Gray. It is beautiful."

Juvia slowly pulled out the gift from its container. She revealed a white gold chain bracelet, with an assortment of glass blown charms dangling from it. There was a butterfly, a daisy, a smiling sun, a dove, and at the end, a snowflake. Though the last one seemed out of place, she still loved it—a snowflake for her Gray.

Juvia stared upon the jewelry, hanging it in front of her eyes, which began to well with tears. "Juvia loves it…" She said softly, and then held it towards Gray with her left hand, and held her right wrist out towards him. "Will Gray put it on for Juvia?"

Gray was caught off guard by her question, but took the bracelet softly by her, and slipped it around her wrist, before tightening the latched around the opposite end and securing it in place.

Juvia brought her hand back to her face and admired the bracelet more.

"You can add more charms to it. I can show you where I bought it some time if you like." Gray told her, sitting back in her seat.

"Yes. Juvia would like that." And then a thought struck her mind. The woman leapt to her feet and she ran around to Gray's side of the booth, before tugging at his arm. "Juvia wants to go right now, Gray!"

"What? Now?!" The ice mage replied in surprise, as the young lady yanked him out of his seat with vigor.

"Yes! It has to be now!" She cheered. She was going to make this a date whether he liked it or not.

"Okay, okay, slow down. I'm coming." Gray gave in to her pursuit, and let the woman lead him out the guild.

As the duo walked away from the guild, Juvia stopped short at the sight of a couple hiding around the side. "Is that… Erza? Who is she with?" She questioned, turning around to get a better look. But Gray grabbed her hand and the woman turned around with red cheeks.

"It looks like Mystogan." He replied, and began to pull the doting girl along with him. "We probably shouldn't bother them."

Juvia looked to Gray curiously, and then back to the couple, and then to Gray again. She thought for a moment, and then smiled widely and interlaced her fingers with Gray. "Okay. Juvia will leave them alone. She wants it to be just Gray and Juvia anyway."

Gray's hand felt warm in hers, and she could see his cheeks stained crimson, but he didn't reply to her words. She smiled anyway, though, and walked along the dirt paths with him, hand in hand.

End