AN: This is my take on Yuuba's AU (you can find it all over Tumblr), which is amazing! Special thanks to Esthellar, whom I annoyed a lot by asking her to read it to see if this was good enough about three thousand times.

About Armors and Hunters

It took Juvia Lockser twenty-one years to find an Armor that was exactly made for her. During the years, she had worn all types of Armors but all of them abandoned her because they weren't compatible and that made Juvia feel like she was a failure. She was a good Master, she knew it in her bones that she was good enough, but the only person that ever stayed long enough for her to wear was her best friend, Gajeel Redfox.

She wanted to be a real Hunter with her real armor; she wore her best friend as a weapon and even though she was on the business, she couldn't help but to wonder what it would feel if she had an armor that was actually meant for her; Gajeel's armor form was too tight on her chest and hips, the spiked ball wasn't her preferred weapon, but they made do.

When Gajeel informed that he had found someone else, Juvia gladly let him go, after all, Gajeel wouldn't just leave her: he felt that this other woman – Levy McGarden – was the one for him and Juvia would never get between that.

A couple of days later, when Juvia met her friend's new Master's colleagues, she was so overwhelmed by how warm they seemed to be… but at the moment her eyes fell onto a brooding dark haired man just a little outside the crowed, she felt it. Her whole body seemed to call for his and she knew it was him, the man she was supposed to wear.

Gray felt it too, of course, but didn't want anything to do with her, no matter how many times she insisted they would be great together. He wasn't interested in permanent partnership – too much responsibility for another person's life in a long term.

One day, though, when the situation called for it, he agreed to let Juvia wear him and at that moment, he knew that he found his half. He was made for her like a glove, his coat fit her perfectly, the boots were comfortable enough, his vest had the right size and the way she handled the spear he formed was formidable. For a first try, they had been truly amazing and not even Gray had arguments to why they shouldn't work together.

He, of course, had to set some ground rules: they had to train to get even more synchronized, they would share a room at every inn (she swoon over that, but he explained that it was easier for protection, plus they would have two beds) and he would feed solely from her blood and only from her wrist.

Turned out that he was right about only feeding from her wrist, when he did take her blood, he felt like he never did before: hot all over and with the bright idea of wanting to throw her on the wall and feast on her blood while he excited her and that was not happening.

Ur, his former Master, had taught him that the blood feeding could carry many feelings, and that they came from deep inside their soul. When Gray drank Ur's blood, he felt the same kind of love he felt whenever he remembered of his mother, when he took blood from a stranger, sometimes he felt just indifference and the fact that taking Juvia's blood was a mix between heavenly pleasure and happiness, it was dangerous. Plus, he had to block the sounds she made while he drank from her wrists, because really? Who moans like that when having their blood sucked?

It was dangerous and he had to prevent himself of thinking about it and drinking it only when necessary.

He began their physical training as soon as they went out on their first Hunt and every day, he would try to teach her even more about self-defense. She was a good student, always eager to learn, but she was more skilled in medium range combat and with his spear, she could accomplish that without issue.

They became somewhat friends for the first two months since they met and their Hunts were very satisfactory and until that moment, neither had suffered a serious injury, which was a record for both of them, Maybe they were indeed good together.

One morning, though, after their usual training, Juvia was lying on the grass, sweating after an intense session. "We already tried your way of synchronizing us, now it's Juvia's turn." She told him, excited while patting on the floor by her side and the Armor rolled his eyes, but sat anyways – fair was fair.

"What we're gonna do?" He sighed.

"It's an ancient way of knowing your partner, it's been done by Armors and Masters for thousands of years." Gray raised an eyebrow. What was this technique she was talking about? He never heard about it. "We," the blunette turned to look at him with a wide smile, which he could see by the corner of his eye, "are going to talk."

Gray had to turn to look at her and her smile disarmed him a little bit, but he scowled either way. "Really? This is the ancient way of knowing your partner? Talking?"

"Yeap." She popped the p, excitedly.

He stared at her for a long time. "What are we going to talk about?"

The blunette shrugged. "You don't need to tell Juvia any deep secrets or anything; we just need to know each other better." Gray stared at her with doubts; he wasn't exactly known for sharing his feelings, unlike her. "Here, Juvia will go first." She thought about it for a moment. "Oh, I know." She stared at him for a second before tell before resuming talking again. "Juvia was left on an orphanage when she was still a newborn with nothing on her except for a cheap blanket." Seeing his expression soften, Juvia held up one hand to prevent him from talking. "It's okay, Juvia survived. The story is not how Juvia was left behind." The blunette gave him a pointed look, telling him to not feel sorry for her and he nodded, after all, he hated when it happened to him. "Moving on, there was a nun there and she named Juvia this way because it was raining when she was left on the cold rain for hours and even getting soaked to the bone, Juvia was healthy as a horse when she was found.

"Juvia's last name, though… She was supposed to be called Locksley instead of Lockser." Juvia informed him and he recognized the name immediately. "Yes, from Robin of Locksley, also known as Robin Hood, the first Hunter." Gray nodded his understanding. "According to history, he wore his wife, Lady Marian and received 'Hood' as a nickname because of how she dressed him. Well, anyway, when it was the day to register Juvia, the nun was sick and couldn't go so she told another to go and to name me 'Juvia Locksley', but the woman understood it wrong and named me Lockser instead." Gray waited for her to get to the point. "Robin of Locksley took his bounties by chasing off criminals that were terrorizing towns and then he shared what he got with the poorest and with the people who had damages during the criminals' attacks. All he had in his life were his wife and Armor, and his Merry Men – his friends – and every book shows him happy with them.

"Juvia never thought she'd have that, she thought that the woman messing up with her name was some kind of signal that everything was going to get wrong and for a long time, it did." Their eyes locked. "But after Juvia met you, Gray-sama, she realized that she had the chance to get things right. Before, Juvia only had Gajeel-kun and even then we were just Armor and Master, but after Juvia met you, she gained a family because she felt hope and she let herself be happy. And she is, she is so very happy by just meeting you, by fighting by your side." She finished it by looking down to the ground. "Thank you for that."

Gray wasn't expecting that heartfelt confession at all when all of that began, on the contrary: he thought she was going to tell him about her likes and dislikes. Instead, she had just shared something so deep that he didn't even have an answer.

Clearing her throat and refusing to look at him while she was blushing so much, Juvia got up from the floor and cleaned her training shorts. "Well… it is enough for today. Next time is Gray-sama's turn to tell something about himself, alright?" Gray nodded as he watched her practically run away towards the inn they were staying.

That wasn't one of her everyday flirting, it wasn't her teasing him: she had told him the truth from the bottom of her heart and it bothered him how a warm feeling spread through his chest when she informed that he helped her reach happiness. Of course he was supposed to be happy for her – he was her Armor after all and it was his job to look out for her – but that feeling… that was something else he couldn't, and refused, to name it.

Maybe he was overthinking it and that's why he hated sharing feelings: he had to face his own and when it came to that and didn't involve protecting his friends, Gray was a coward.

With a sigh, Gray got up as well and went after his Master, after all, they still had a long journey ahead of them before they could get their Bounty.

#

It took Gray three months after Juvia's confession to confide in Juvia about the way his parents and his former Master died.

As usual, they shared a room at an inn while searching for a criminal, each on their own bed, of course, but around three a.m., Gray woke her Master up with screams as a nightmare haunted his dreams. Most of the times, he would wake up panting and sweating after a strenuous one, but that one could only be categorized as a night terror. He was used of seeing his mother trying to protect him, to see his father try to fight off the Dark Armor and get stabbed on the gut, to see his Master casting him away and letting that same Dark Armor kill her to protect him. That night, though, something else was added.

That night he saw that same Dark Armor resurrects from the dead and kill Juvia.

It was horrible: she called for him, begged him to help her, to save her, to reach her, but he was chained and couldn't; all he did was watch as the Dark Armor gutted her in front of him while she screamed in agonizing pain.

"Gray-sama." It was her voice that woke him and Gray calmed himself before opening his eyes and seeing that she had joined him in bed and at some point, he had put his arms around her so tight that for a moment he worried she might've broken something, but instead, she was caressing his hair while he had his head resting on her chest. "Shh… it was just a nightmare."

Instead of feeling shy, blush and push her away, Gray held her even tighter as he heard her heart beat strong inside her chest and her smell and warmth surround him. She kept shushing him and telling that everything was okay, that he just had a nightmare and that she wouldn't let anything get to him.

At that last part, Gray couldn't help but to chuckle. Oh, the irony. He was supposed to protect her, not the other way around and there she was: 5' 4", poor close combat skills and looking so brave and strong, talking about protecting him.

"Don't laugh, Juvia is getting better in close combat." He heard her complain and chuckled again.

"You are made for medium range combat, Juvia."

"Whatever you say." He could hear the smile on her lips and even if he felt slightly better about his nightmare, he was still clinging himself on her like a scared child and she didn't seem to mind, continuing to caress his hair tenderly. "Do you want to talk about it? Usually you go back to sleep once Juvia joins you."

Gray froze and then – very reluctant – let her go a tiny bit so he could look up to her. "What?" He whispered. Realizing what she had just said, Juvia stilled her hand on his hair for a moment and bit her lower lip. So, he wasn't able to hide it from her, was he? "How often?"

Juvia sighed. "A couple of times a week." Gray groaned and hid his face back on her chest while she explained to him, "It's okay, Gray-sama. Juvia doesn't mind."

"Tell me." He finally let go off her sleeping shirt – which he had just realized that he had grabbed the garment very hard.

"You talk sometimes and move a lot." Juvia hesitated. "You seemed in so much pain, that one time Juvia tried to calm you down by hugging you and it worked. Juvia stays with you for about ten to twenty minutes, to make sure that you came back to sleep, and then she returns to her bed, before you wake up."

"When did it start?" Gay asked, after a moment.

"The week we first got our first Bounty together was the first time, but by then Juvia calmed you by talking. Only a couple of months later it started not work anymore so Juvia has to stay by your side now."

He took a moment to answer. "Why you never told me?"

"The same reason you never did. She figured that if you wanted Juvia to know, you would've told her." And, trying to lighten the mood, she added. "Plus, it was a nice way to get you on the bed…"

"Don't." He cut her off, not in the mood for playing anymore; he hated feeling vulnerable (not enough to let her go, apparently).

"It doesn't bother Juvia, don't worry." His master assured. "She likes feeling useful."

Gray stayed quiet for a long minute, having an internal battle about whether to tell her about a tiny part of his past, or not. They have been hunting together for almost seven months now and she had been comforting him for just as long; she has been a part of it without his knowledge.

"When…" he took a deep breath "when I was seven, there was this large group of Dark Armors and its Masters…"

"You don't have to…" Juvia tried, but Gray just held on her tighter.

"These armors attacked my village, killed everyone, including my parents." He paused. "I can still remember my mother hiding me inside the cupboard while my father fought off the Armor. He wasn't anything special, you know? My dad, I mean." Gray chocked and took a second to talk again. "But he fought them off so my mom and I could hide, but…"

"She didn't stay with you." Juvia finished for him when she realized that he was too emotional to continue and after a moment, he shook his head.

"She went after my father and she never came back. No one did." He gulped. "They destroyed our house and I lost consciousness. When I woke up and got up from underneath the broken cupboard…" Gray held on her tighter, hiding his face on her stomach for a few moments and Juvia waited with patience, knowing how hard it was for him to share the experience. "I still remember the smell of the burned houses, the burned corpses all over the city. I remember trying to wake my mother up, but she never did. My dad had his eyes opened in shock and I wonder if he saw her die while being helpless. I was so scared, so lost, that I just lied there, between my dead parents. How fucked up is that?"

That time Juvia was the one who held him tighter while her eyes watered. "You were just a child. No one should go through that, especially a child."

"It was the worse day of my life." They stayed in silence for a couple of moments before Gray kept talking. "A couple of hours later, a Hunter appeared with this kid just a year or two older than me. They found me, but by then I was so full of anger and wish for revenge… Either way, she took me in. Her name was Ur."

"You call for her sometimes." Juvia said softly.

"I assumed I did." He sighed. "She has a big role in my life."

"You don't have to tell Juvia anything else. If this is too much…"

"No." Gray shook his head. "You have to understand why I am this way." The blunette stayed in silence, realizing that it was something he had to do. "Ur was… She was a Master and she was training Lyon, the kid I told you she was with, to be a better Armor. Her husband had been her Armor for years until he left her, so, she took Lyon in and then, when she saw I had no one, she took me in.

"All I wanted was revenge. Even when I was happy by being with her and Lyon, before I went to sleep, I thought about the day I would avenge my parents, that I would meet that Dark Armor and kill it. I will never forget his name: Deliora." He said between gritted teeth. "Ur trained me, she treated me like her son and I didn't enjoy that as much as I should because all I wanted was to kill that bastard. Once we realized that I was indeed an Armor, god, I went ballistic. I didn't want to be the same thing as Deliora, I didn't want to have anything in common to that… thing.

"Ur, then, explained to me that there were Armors and there were Dark Armors and if I kept myself in the right path, I would never become one. She told me about feeding with blood to not rot; she told me that finding a good Master mattered a lot and she trained both me and Lyon and she wore us both, but she always made it clear that she was not our Master, that she was training us for our real ones. Everything I know about fighting, about control and about being an Armor, it's because of her.

"One day, about two years after my parents died, I heard that Deliora and his crew of Dark Armors were going to a nearby mountain town a and all the calm I collect during those years, all the memories I tried to forget came back like a wave and before I knew it, I was yelling at Ur and running out the door. I was such a brat that night; I was a ten year old kid that ran away without a Master to wear me and I wanted to take on one of the strongest Dark Armors that existed."

"You didn't expect to come out alive of that encounter." Juvia whispered.

"Of course not." Gray stopped for a minute. "Looking back now, I think that I wanted him to kill me too while I tried to kill him. I knew I wouldn't kill him, but I wanted to honor my parents. My dad died while trying to save my mom and I. My mom saved me, but died trying to help my dad. What did I do? I hid in the cupboard, shaking in fear while the got murdered. I just wanted to be worthy of them."

"Oh, Gray-sama." Juvia tried to make him look at her, but he didn't let her.

"I can't look at you right now. Let me finish this. Please." He said in a low voice and the blunette nodded, but thought to herself that she was going to properly comfort him later. When he felt that his Master was no longer trying to make him look at her, Gray kept talking. "I was actually able to find him, you know? I actually found Deliora and the son of a bitch laughed at me." Gray's hands tightened once again on Juvia's clothes. "I got so angry, so, so angry that I remember turning my hand into a blade and running towards him and he did the same with his own hand but stayed still, waiting for me to meet my death.

"One moment I was running towards his blade and in the other moment, I was being pulled back and hitting the floor. When I looked up, Ur was there between me and Deliora. She was wearing Lyon and immediately, she casted him away and knocked over his head, leaving him unconscious, telling me to keep an eye on Lyon. She turned to me and said that she was going to seal my darkness, that she knew that I had it in me to be happy." Gray's voice was thick of emotion and Juvia had her cheek stained with tears because she could guess what was going to happen. "She fought him with the short sword she always carried no matter what while Deliora changes his limbs into weapons as they went. Ur was fearless, Juvia. She was just a Master, she didn't have the ability to heal by drinking blood, she didn't have the ability to change herself into steel to form a weapon, but she took him on and by the end, she did as much damage to him as he did her.

"But she couldn't win without an Armor and she knew it – Ur would never wear me or Lyon in the middle of a fight of that level while we were just kids. I remember her looking over her shoulder and smiling at me. She told me to let go of hate and that Lyon and I had to be happy." Gray stopped for a moment. "Before I knew, she charged towards Deliora, who stabbed her through her stomach, and pushed him towards the edge of the mountain and he only realize it when it was too late. They fell." Juvia could feel the wetness on her shirt, but didn't comment on it, after all, she was crying as well. "When Lyon woke up and I told him that Ur was dead… The expression on his face, the way he looked at me… He blamed me and he was right." Gray sobbed and Juvia had enough of him hiding from her, so, she made her look at him. His eyes were ready from sleep deprivation and crying, his cheeks were wet and he looked like a scared little boy, the same little boy who lost everything ten years before.

Juvia made him look at her by cupping his face with her hands. "It wasn't your fault. It was her decision to save your life. She could've let you go but she didn't because she loved you and wanted you to be free of your demons and to have a life after that." She dried a tear that fell from his eye with her thumb. "She sacrificed herself so you could live without turning your heart black with the thought of revenge. Ur-san knew you had good on you, that you would just get stronger and stronger and you are." She touched his forehead with hers. "You honored her, you honored your parents and everything they stood for, which was to protect the ones you love. You protect your friends with everything you got and you should be proud.

"You wish to have done things differently? Of course you do, we all have that moment, but we can't go back to undo things we thought were wrong. Sometimes the greatest tragedies are what push us to our destiny, Gray-sama." Juvia whispered. "Maybe we can't see it right then, maybe we can't see it even years later, but we go to where we are supposed to go. Juvia thought that being pushed away from everyone in her life was hell, but now she realizes that they were not pushing Juvia away, they were pushing her to you and I couldn't be more grateful."

Gray nodded and said nothing, not trusting words. He was afraid that she would take pity on him, like most do, but all she did was remind him that Ur died so he could have a life and that he grew stronger with whatever was thrown in his way. He remembered telling Lucy (after finally getting things straight with Lyon ten years of bitterness latrt) that he's rather have scars on the outside instead of inside and by talking to Juvia that night, he didn't know how she did it, but she healed him a little bit more inside.

"Now Juvia understands why you are like this." She told him with a small smile and Gray raised an eyebrow. "You know… training Juvia in fighting without you, keep Juvia on your line of sight when we get somewhere we don't know, how you choose the bed close to the door every time…" Gray sighed. She had noticed, then. He thought he was being subtle. It was his duty as an Armor to protect his Master, that was a rule, but he kind of took a little bit over the edge. "Juvia understands now. You are afraid of losing someone else and you try your best to protect them and when we are in a mission, you focus on protecting Juvia. That's okay. Juvia wants to protect you too." The blunette shrugged, but Gray snarled at her.

"Don't you fucking dare."

"Hey." Juvia caressed his cheek. "We are a team, okay? If we go down, we go down together; no flying solo."

Gray look deep into her brown eyes and saw that she was telling the truth, that she's rather fight with him than being protected and he understood that very well. They were a team, they have been the best team for months and now, she knew the depth secret he had been holding for a decade. They were it, they were what they had.

"No flying solo." He agreed.

"Now, come on and let's get some sleep." She lied back on the mattress and Gray raised an eyebrow when she opened her arms once more, clearly inviting him to be there with her. "You need Juvia in here today. Tomorrow we can just pretend this never happened and you can return to being all stoic and frowny, but tonight, you are not sleeping alone. It's easier if you just accept that and lie down with Juvia."

Gray thought it over for a moment, before nodding and do as she said. He had visited too many hurtful memories – memories he had pushed away the best he could – and he already had one nightmare with Juvia dying while he watched; at least if they slept at the same bed that night, he would know that she was safe and sound.

When he finally had his body pressed once more against her warm frame, head resting on her shoulder while an arm was over her stomach (he did notice a wet spot there, where he had cried), Juvia kissed his forehead and whispered. "Go to sleep. You protect Juvia during the day and Juvia protects you during the night."

And before he could even think anything else, sleep claimed him and he hadn't slept that well in years. Maybe Juvia's way of connecting by talking was working better than he knew.

#

The next day when Gray woke up, Juvia was already gone into the bathroom and he thought it was better that way. Juvia never brought up that night again and he was grateful for it. Some mornings, though, he would get the scent of her perfume on the pillow next to his and he would know that she had, once again, calmed him down during his nightmares; surprisingly enough, though, he didn't remember them anymore and had much more energy now that his nights weren't full of restless dreams.

His relationship with his Master changed a bit too: she was much more inclined into learning whatever Gray wanted to teach her about self-defense, instead of frown when he insisted on checking if their room was safe enough and with an emergency way of getting out, Juvia actually helped him do it and she made sure to stay in his line of sight all the times they were in a crowd. She understood why he wanted to have that kind of control in his life and, willingly, she let him have it just to ease his mind.

From his side, though, Gray was much more open about himself, telling her about a few stories about Ur and his friend Lyon. She even told him about her years on the orphanage and how she had to practically raise herself and how all the other kids called her a jinx because everything turned out wrong when she was around (Gray wanted to go back in time to knock sense into those kids) and Gray shared with her how he and Lyon finally made up by punching each other for hours ten years later.

They were actually very happy with how things were turning out to be, they were very good friends and their teamwork improved very much to a point where he didn't even have to tell her his plan, because she would know what he wanted to do.

For two months, they had no problem; but then, they met Gray's old friend at an inn during a Hunt for a few dragons and while Gray was pleased to see Lyon, he was not amused to the man's attentions towards his Master.

Juvia didn't mind, after all, when a handsome man – beautiful silver hair, narrow eyes that just gave him a more exotic look, tall and clearly nicely build underneath his dark clothes – lets his jaw hanging after meeting a woman, she tends to blush a lot.

"Could this be what they called love at first sight?" Lyon asked once he had greeted Gray and stared at the blunette woman who was just a few feet behind the Armor.

"Eh?" Juvia's cheeks were so hot that she wondered for a moment if it could burst into flames. He was too close, holding her hands in between their bodies and staring right into her eyes and Juvia, honestly, was hypnotized by his heated stare and made no attempt of removing her hands off his. "H-Hold on… Wait… I can't… Juvia…"

"She's my Master." Gray removed Lyon's hands from hers and put his body slightly between them. "What are you doing here?" The three of them walked over a booth and sat.

Lyon ignored the other man, and spoke directly to Juvia. "Oh, if you are Gray's Master, this means that we are also compatible, we have the same element, you know?" He winked and Juvia blushed. "When you are tired of wearing him… you could…"

"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" Gray pulled his old friend by the collar over the table and the white haired man finally paid attention on him.

"The dragons." Lyon answered with calm, removing the other man's hands from his collar and sitting back. "They said that there are a lot of them in the forest and there's a Bounty on their heads."

"We got here first. Go away." In truth, Gray had met with Lyon after their 'punch fest' and even though bickering, he wasn't as annoyed as he was at the moment; Lyon had clearly taken a liking on Juvia and that was just plain ridiculous. She was his Master and there was no way in hell he's let her date Lyon of all people. "Where's your Master, by the way?"

"Up in her room." Lyon shrugged. "I told her that I was going to have a little bit to drink before going to sleep."

Knowing that they hadn't seen each other for a year, Juvia decided to go to their room as well. "Juvia will go to sleep as well." Gray was about to get up from the bench when she gently put a hand over his shoulder. "Juvia will be fine. You two haven't spoken in a long time; go on and catch up. Juvia needs her own girl time, you know?" She smiled playfully.

Gray knew that she didn't need 'girl time' or anything, she just wanted for him to bond with Lyon and she was right, it had been too long. Plus, it meant that Lyon wouldn't be ogling Juvia like he was currently doing. "I won't take long." He assured her. "I'll be up in a few minutes."

"No need. Take your time." She squeezed his shoulder and then stared at Lyon. "Make him laugh a little bit, please? It's exhausting when it's just Juvia trying. She needs a night off."

Lyon chuckled, his eyes full of wonder while staring at her. "Whatever you ask, beautiful."

"Go. Go." Gray pushed her away gently; he was in no mood of seeing Lyon flirt even more with her. Juvia waved good-bye and went upstairs and when she was finally out of sight, Gray turned back to his friend, who also watched as Juvia went away. Noticing that, Gray slammed his hand on the table, making the white haired man's gaze return to his old friend. "Stop that."

"You are one lucky man." Lyon smirked. "Do you know what I would do to have a woman like her wearing me?"

Gray groaned and ordered another beer to the barmaid. He needed to have a few otherwise, handling Lyon would be hell.

#

Once Gray returned to the room he shared with Juvia at the inn, he was half-way through getting completely drunk, and, apparently, he thought it was okay to strip down all of his clothes and lie next to a sleeping Juvia instead of going to his own bed.

The next day, Juvia was surprise to find him there wrapped around her, but giggled away and kissed his cheek before going on with her morning routine. At least he seemed to have a good time with his friend and needed to rest a little bit more, after all, it was very rare for Gray to let himself go enough to drink that much.

When he woke up, it was clear that his head was killing him and his eyes were sensitive to the light. She chuckled and offered her wrist, knowing that her blood would cure his hangover and once he had it, he was like new.

"I was so drunk last night that I agreed to share this Bounty with Lyon and his Master." Gray groaned while putting his coat back on. "Shit. Sorry about that. He'll be insufferable the whole time."

"It's okay." Juvia assured him by putting a hand on his forearm. "The flyer said that these dragons were small, but strong. Maybe having back up is a nice thing."

He thought it over for a moment and agreed. His priority was to protect his Master and having another set of Hunters alongside with them was more protection to all of them. Plus, the other teams that came after those specific dragons were not heard of again. In his drunken mind, he had agreed to something that could actually turn out better for them.

"Fine." Gray huffed, putting his boots on. "Just… keep away from him, okay? Or he'll tell you the cheesiest pick-up lines he can come up with." He noticed her blush and narrowed his eyes. "Unless it's what you want." The Armor said carefully, noting that uttering the words made his chest squeeze in pain. What if she wanted Lyon to keep flirting with her?

"Oh, no." Juvia's face got redder as she shook her head in denial. "Juvia is not interested at all on him." It was strange how relieved he felt, until she spoke again, that is. "But it is nice to know that at least someone is interested." She gave him a pointed look and then turned around walking towards the door while Gray just stared at her back, in shock. "Juvia will be waiting for you downstairs."

Before he could say anything, she was gone. What was that about? He showed that he was interested. Wait, was he interested? As in interested? Juvia had been his partner and Master for almost ten months and he certainly had noticed that she was very pretty and very, very hot (she wore him, for crying out loud, of course he noticed) and it was also obvious that she felt something for him other than just friendship and… he felt a little spark of something inside his chest as well; he could feel every time the heat flow through his veins when he fed from her blood, the deep connection he never had with anyone else – he had felt happiness and desire while feeding from another person, but never at the same time. Whenever he fed from Juvia, he felt like he wanted to fuck her senseless and then just have her in his arms for no reason other than he could and that's why he prevented himself from feeding from her neck: if he ever had his body pressed on hers while doing so, he knew what could happen and he wasn't prepared for that.

"It's too early for these thoughts." He mumbled to himself.

#

The beginning of the travel to the heart of the forest was tense, to say the least. Chelia – Lyon's Master and also a Witch – was clearly in love with Lyon, who was clearly besotted with Juvia, who loved Gray, who was caught in the middle of it.

Chelia was a young girl but Gray didn't take her for granted, after all, Lyon wouldn't have a weak Master and, despite of everything, the pink haired girl and Juvia got along well enough after Juvia told her pretty bluntly that she was not interested in Lyon the least. Gray was happy for it; Juvia had little encounters with girls, even their own Hunters friends.

Despite of having to see Lyon shamelessly flirt with Juvia and pushing the will to punch the white haired man's face every single time, it was nice to talk to him when the girls were talking to each other themselves.

During the nights, though, when Gray and Juvia went to share a tent, Lyon would get all dramatic and offering to protect Juvia himself, but Gray just growled and even punched the other man on the face one time when while Lyon went to wake them up to take the next shift for the night, he saw that Gray had his arms around Juvia and that his coat enveloped both. The tent was small for two people, but having shared a bed with her because of his nightmares, they had no problem in sharing, as, apparently, Lyon and Chelia did with such close contact, especially that the man wasn't inclined to accept her feelings.

On the third day, they found the Dragon's nest and there were too many more than expected; they fought for hours to destroy it, Juvia and Chelia wore their Armors until they were all exhausted, but by the end, the dragons were defeated.

Panting their exhaustion, the girls casted their Armors away (the men averted their eyes from them, since they were only in their underwear) and they were talking excitedly about it when Gray heard movement from the bushes close to where Juvia was and for a second, he felt ice in his veins once he saw them.

They hadn't killed all the dragons and the ones that survived were targeting his Master.

He didn't even think, all he did was run – he didn't have the time to turn into her Armor – and call her name. Juvia looked over her shoulder with a frown and seeing the despair on his face; the woman looked around and saw the dragons coming out of the bushes. She pushed Chelia down, and wanted to charge towards the dragons, Gray could see it in her face.

Gray wouldn't let it happen, though. Right when the Dragons charged their lasers, Gray pushed Juvia out of the way but wasn't able to escape the beams. He was hit five times before losing consciousness and the last thing he heard had been Juvia calling his name with horror and pain.

#

Seeing her Gray-sama on the floor, bleeding after trying to protect her, Juvia kneeled by his side, eyes wide and drenching her knees with his blood. Was he dead? He couldn't be dead. No, no, no. "Gr-Gray-sama?" She whispered, reaching for him slowly and stopping before she could touch his neck to see if he had a pulse. What if he was dead? What if she was alone again? She wouldn't be able to handle it. He promised that they would go down together and there he was, probably dead just to save her life. She didn't even see the way Lyon changed his arm into a blade and took one dragon down, the others a little behind started to fuss, but didn't attack right away.

"Is he…?" Lyon's voice came from behind her and it was so full of emotion. "Please, tell me he's not…"

"I don't…" Juvia chocked, her hand still not moving further. "I can't… What if…?" Lyon kneeled next to her and seemed to have the same fear Juvia was having and didn't touch him, so, Chelia, who had slid next to them, took as her mission to know if he was alive. The petite girl touched Gray's neck, trying to find a pulse. Juvia squeezed Lyon's hand in apprehension – when did she grabbed his hand anyways? – as they waited.

"He's still alive." Chelia said and Juvia let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. "The wounds are deep, but I think that I can save him."

"What? How?" Juvia asked as Lyon stood up, hearing the other dragons approach, he changed his arm into a blade once more.

"She's also a Witch." Lyon's explained.

"Lyon-sama…" Chelia said with apprehension. "Maybe I can…"

"I have faith in you." The man said and Juvia didn't pay too much attention to what was happening other than the fact that Gray was still alive and Chelia could save him. The blunette grabbed the other woman by her shoulders.

"Do what you can to keep him alive. Once he has Juvia's blood, he'll heal. You just need to keep him alive! Can you do that?" Juvia asked and when Chelia nodded, the blunette kissed Gray's forehead, whispering that she would be right back and then, she got up, putting herself in front of both Gray and Chelia.

Seeing that there were more dragons than before and they seemed to regroup to attack them. Drying the tears she had no idea she was shedding, Juvia stood next to Lyon, eyes hard and focused on the enemy in front of her. Gray had taught her that she wasn't supposed to despair, she needed to get out of the situation while protecting both Chelia and her unconscious Armor.

"Lyon-sama. I am going to wear you and we will take down the rest of those dragons, do you understand me?" She told Lyon without taking her eyes off the dragons, and roughly drying her tears with the back of her hand.

Lyon nodded. "Yes."

"We are going to protect Chelia and Gray-sama." The blunette said between gritted teeth, suddenly feeling very angry about the whole situation.

"We will." He nodded and then started to glow, changing himself into an armor and surrounding her. Unlikely Gray, Lyon's armor form had a black cape with white fur around the collar, the pants were leather and very tight, there was no shirt, so, thankfully she wore her one piece underwear. The boots were also black and not as long as the ones she wore with Gray, but they were the right size. Her hair was tied back on a long plait falling on her back. She wore white gloves much like the ones she wore when Gray was her armor. Another difference was the weapon: Lyon turned himself into a long sword. She gripped the handle and raised it a few times, testing its weight and then swinging it around as if she had always done it. Juvia was accustomed to using a spear, but that would be fine as well, she was very good in adapting.

"Good." She narrowed her eyes and attacked the dragons. They were not living another day, not after almost killing her Gray-sama.

#

When Gray came to, he was inside a tent and was hurting all over, but for a person who thought was going to die, he was in a much better shape than he expected. He must've made a sound, because the next thing he knew was that Juvia was fussing over him.

"Gray-sama?" She asked, relief clear on her voice. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alive. Fine? Not so much." Gray groaned in pain while trying to sit, Juvia immediately helped him sit and then he looked down to his chest and saw the bandages. "Wow."

"We almost lost you." She whispered and Gray saw her eyes get wetter. "Chelia almost didn't save you. You are still in danger, you know?"

The Armor nodded, feeling that he was just healed enough not to bleed to death. "How did you guys won against the dragons?"

"You scared us. A lot." Juvia touched his hand and squeezed it. "Chelia thought that she could try to save you but for her to do that, we had to keep the dragons away. So…" She trailed off and, after a moment, he understood what had happened.

Juvia had worn Lyon.

His Juvia had worn that sneaky little bastard!

"You wore him?" Gray asked and took a sharp breath when pain hit him – apparently, Juvia was right and he was still in a pretty bad shape. "Why the fuck…?"

"You were unconscious and we needed to keep you and Chelia protected…"

"But you wore him!" Gray said between gritted teeth and breathing through the pain.

"Well, we couldn't get your vote on the matter, could we? We did what we had to." Juvia shrugged. "It's too deep." Juvia ignored his upcoming answer and said after checking the wound on his ribs, concern obviously showing in her expression. "You need Juvia's blood." Gray groaned in annoyance, he hated to look weak in front of her, after all he was the one supposed to protect her and there he was and she even had to wear Lyon out of all people! Fuck, he was bleeding and concerning his Master.

"It's just a graze." The Armor said between gritted teeth.

"No, it's not." Juvia sighed. "This time you really need it, Gray-sama. And you need a lot. It has only some that Chelia could do. You need Juvia's blood."

He thought it over for a moment and the burning on his side was actually hurting like a bitch and Juvia's blood would certainly help him heal; by the time he was finished, it was most likely that his wounds would be closed. Plus, the blood loss was making him dizzy.

"Fine." Gray answered when he started to see dark spots dancing in front of his eyes, the blood loss taking a toll on him. He was about to reach for her wrist to do their usual blood feeding, Juvia pulled it away and he looked up, confused of why she had done it and frowned when he saw her pull the turtle neck of her one piece underwear down. "Juvia…" He sighed.

"You need it a lot and fast; feeding will take too long by the wrist." She sat by his side and pushed her blue hair off of her shoulder, showing him her neck and Gray gulped; he never fed from her from her neck and he worried about the consequences: they already felt too good whenever he drank from her wrist, her neck would be too intimate, too… dangerous. "Come on."

Gray hesitated for a moment, but thought about healing so he could be fit to protect her again. Maybe the hot feeling wouldn't happen and he could drink without wandering his thoughts to much more pleasant actions. The Armor sharpened his canines and leaned in dipping his teeth on her creamy white skin and, as expected, she tensed in discomfort before sighing when the bittersweet flavor of her blood hit his taste buds and then, there it was: the heat was flooding through his veins, one of his hands went to the other side of her neck as Gray drank her blood like he had been in thirst for days.

He thought that he was in trouble with his own situation, but when Juvia raised her hands to his hair and moaned his name, Gray was a goner.

Carefully the Armor lowered his Master to the sleeping bag, covering her body with his – the pain forgotten while their bodies were pressed close together – a hand resting on her hipbone as Juvia clung herself to him, whispering: "Take what you need, Gray-sama."

Gray could feel her blood working on his wounds, could feel the heat on them closing, but paid no attention, because at the moment all he was focusing on was the feeling of Juvia's nipples hardening and touching his chest from under her one piece, the way she opened her legs so he could settle in between them and, by instinct, he did. Her legs wrapped themselves around his hips, pulling him close to her own hips and when he felt her hot center (even through the layers of her underwear and his hands, he could feel it so tempting) he started to suck harder on her neck, her taste getting better and better as she got more aroused and Gray wondered how she would taste in the middle of passion while he sunk his teeth on her.

Feeling that his wounds were healed, Gray stopped sucking her blood and retreated his canine, his mind was almost clearing when she cupped his face and, in the spur of the moment, Juvia crashed her lips with his and something inside Gray just roared in relief. Her lips were so soft and perfect against his, her body pressed against his felt so amazing that there was nowhere else he'd rather be than kissing her. He coaxed her mouth open and when their tongues met, he couldn't fight the way his hips started grinding on hers or the moan that escaped his lips when they had to come up for air just for a moment before he took a look on the blush on her face, her swollen lips, raggedy breathing and dip in again, capturing her lips with his once more.

He shouldn't be doing that, he should've fed and not letting his hormones and feelings get in the way; but fuck, it felt good. Juvia put a hand between them and caressed his abdomen, both the part that was covered with bandages and the ones that were not while Gray moved the hand that was on her hips to caress her side, going up to her ribs and just before reaching for her breasts, Gray pulled himself from her.

"We… we can't." He breathed, gathering all his will to remove his body from over hers.

"But we want." Juvia tried to pull him back to her, but Gray shook his head.

"No." He gave himself a quick look over and saw that his wounds were indeed closed, which meant that he took too much blood form her to heal. "You need to eat something. I took too much of your blood."

"Gray-sama." She whined, still a little dazed. "Come here to…"

"I am not interested in any of this, Juvia!" Gray practically roared and with that, his Master's eyes widened in shock with his tone; he never had spoken to her that way before. Gray, on the other hand, didn't even think about it, only got up from the floor and snarled at her: "I'll see what I can find for you to eat. Stay here and rest; I mean it." And then he left the tent, leaving his Master inside.

Once he was outside, he took a deep breath to calm himself. He turned out to be right: feeding from her neck had been a mistake, not he was too well aware of how wonderful it felt to have his real body pressed on his and how well she kissed with those pretty lips he had dreamt about a few times.

Gray sighed and looked around, noticing that Lyon and Chelia were not too far away, sitting by a fire; the man stared while the pink haired girl cooked something and they were close enough that they probably heard what happened inside the tent.

There was no way to deny it, so, he just walked towards the Hunters, who were in silence. Gray sat by Lyon's side.

"Hard man to kill, you." Lyon said nonchalantly.

"Thanks to Chelia." Gray answered, looking towards his friend's Master, who was stirring some kind of soup. "Thank you."

The girl smiled. "You're welcome." She grabbed a plate and poured some soup on it. "Juvia-san and Lyon-sama did a nice job."

"So I've heard it." Gray chose not to look to his friend, because he knew Lyon would have the silliest smirk on his lips. "Juvia was the one who finished healing me, though. I took her blood and now I am good as new, but I took a little too much, she's exhausted."

"And heartbroken." Lyon said just loud enough for Gray to hear and he had to contain himself to not punch the other man.

"I came out here to grab her some food." Gray ignored the white haired man and kept talking to Chelia. "Could you…?"

"I'll take it to her, Gray-san." Chelia walked grabbed the plate and walked towards the tent and once she was inside, Gray sighed.

The men stayed in silence for a few moments before Lyon spoke once again. "Get your shit together, man." Lyon scratched the back of his head. "You didn't see the way she was when you were hit, when she thought she lost you. She fought like a devil, Gray. She pushed me to the limit because she knew that if we lost, you would die.

"Don't bullshit me and tell me that you are not interested – yes, we heard you – because it's just that: bullshit. Get your shit together and get the girl, otherwise someone else will and you'll regret it until the end of times. I know because it happened to me. I am over it now, but even so it hurt like a bitch to see her with another man." Lyon paused. "And if I noticed that she's amazing, it won't take long before someone else does too."

#

The trip back was silent and even though Gray supported Juvia's weight, still worried about the amount of blood he took and honestly she looked paler than usual, they were distant, unlike the way they were during the trip to the forest. Once they were back at the inn, Gray put her on the bed, and she just rolled to the side, her back to him and even though he wanted to reach for her, he still had to go get the Bounty for their work. He whispered his intentions to her and when she nodded, Gray left the room, staying about an hour away and when he returned, Juvia was up and gathering their things with a smile on her face as if nothing happened and after a few moments of looking at her warily, waiting for her to explode, Gray relaxed.

Juvia was the kind of girl that would see the bright side out of everything and maybe she understood why he had pulled away, why they couldn't get into anything more than what they had at the moment. He hoped she understood.

#

Even when things appeared to be back normal, Gray could feel that something had changed between them and not for the best. She would still talk to him like always, she would still smile to him, but her eyes wouldn't sparkle as much and being the one who talked about their feelings, if she wanted to talk to him, he would know.

A month passed by and he would still catch the scent of her perfume on the pillow next to him a few times a week, so he knew that she'd still sooth him after a particularly nasty dream and when he woke up she was usually out of their bedroom, much to his annoyance and when she wore him, they were out of sync just a little bit, but she'd put it together fast enough, but Gray noticed whenever she worn him.

The confrontation about that night happened a month after their shared kiss.

Gray and Juvia were having dinner at an inn a couple of days away from Magnolia when someone approached their table once they had finished eating. "Gray-san?" Both Juvia and her Armor looked up to watch the newcomer: a woman around the same age as them with thick straight blonde hair that fell to her waist. She had beautiful grey eyes, thick eyelashes surrounding them. She also had a cute nose and pink pouty lips. "It's me, Elisa!"

Juvia frowned and stared at Gray and noticed the exact moment he recognized the woman. "Oh. Hi." Gray eyed his Master by the corner of his eyes before returning his attention back to the woman. "How have you been?"

"I am fine." Elisa answered while Juvia narrowed her eyes, of course that even the woman's giggle was cute. "Haven't seen you around." She said, putting her elbows on the table, and showing her cleavage to the man, and by the way she was inclined, Elisa half blocked her vision of Gray, but from what the blunette could see, Gray was rather uncomfortable. Juvia gripped on her fork so hard she thought it broke for a moment there when Elisa started to play with the fur of Gray's coat collar. "You were one of the few that pass by here that were really worth of my time. These other men are so boring. And ugly. You…" Elisa whispered, leaning closer to Gray. "You were one of my best. Want to try again?"

It took Juvia a moment, but she finally caught on on what Elisa was talking about: at some point they had shared a bed and the blonde woman was more than expecting another performance.

"I…" Gray's cheek were slightly pink as he made eye contact with Juvia for a moment before staring back at the other woman, trying his best to not look towards her cleavage. "I am here on business."

Elisa giggled. "Weren't you also here on business when we…"

Juvia couldn't listen to them anymore; she could feel the known sting on her eyes and she knew that the tears would fall and she didn't want him to see it, not at that moment. She got up and without taking a look back, she walked away from the table, covering her mouth to suppress a sob until she was outside of the inn. She thought she heard Gray call her name, but paid no attention as she ran towards the nearby trees, hiding behind a particularly big one and only then, she released the tears and sobs she was holding back.

"Juvia!" She heard him call her name a minute later and by the looks of it, he was walking around, trying to find her. "Fuck!" He swore. "Juvia!" He sounded angry and worried and Juvia felt bad that she was making him feel that way, but she only need a moment to herself, to get her mind around the fact that she thought it wrong, she thought that he was not interested in any sort of relationship with women, but Elisa had been the proof that she was wrong. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she be what he needed?

"Finally! Why the fuck…?" Gray's voice came from her left and startled her. "Juvia? Are you crying? What the…?" He tried to reach her, but Juvia took a step away.

"I'm fine." Her voice broke while she dried her tears with the back of her hands. "Just needed some air." She cleared her throat. "If you and Elisa want some time…" She said between gritted teeth and it finally dawned to him what she was hurt because of her discover that he had bedded the bar wench.

"What?" He asked, trying to reach for her once more, just to have her took another step away from him. "Juvia!" He was getting more and more frustrated. He was trying to explain himself, but the stubborn jealous woman wasn't letting him!

"She wanted a do over, didn't you hear?" Juvia had to dry her tears once more, because she didn't seem to stop crying. "Juvia will make herself scarce if that's what you…"

"I had a life before you!" Gray yelled. "I teamed up with other people to get Bounties, I went to bars and I met girls and sometimes when they liked me and I liked them, we went back to my room. I was a normal guy living my fucking life, Juvia! So yes, we will probably meet some of those women along the way, because they were things that happened for one night along the road. This fucking road we are in right now!

"You don't have a say on what I did with my personal life before I even met you. If I still picked up girls shamelessly in front of you, we would've been having an entirely different conversation right now. But I don't! Ever since I met you, I haven't even looked at other women, so, stop it!"

"Why you pushed Juvia away that day after the dragons, then? You said that you were not looking for that kind of thing!" Juvia said just as loud as Gray had been. She had kept that question inside for almost a month and now that they were letting it all out, the Master blurted it out. "You wanted, Juvia could feel that you wanted her and you not only pushed her away, but we also had been slightly out of sync since them. What it that about? Your body wanted but your mind didn't because it was me? If Juvia was blonde perhaps you would've done it? You seem to have a type. Or maybe it's not even that, maybe it's just because it's me!"

Gray couldn't believe her ears. "Juvia…"

"It hurts, you know?" Juvia dried her tears with the back of her hand but they kept falling. "If you never showed interest in anyone else, at least the problem was that you were not looking for it and I could live with that, but you do, you like girls and girls like you back and you acted on it! You just choose not to be with me."

He tried to reason with her. "You are my Master. I am with you all the time."

"Not the way Juvia wants you to." They stared at each other's eyes for a moment before the blunette speak again. "Fine. If that's your only reason for not accepting what we clearly have, we are breaking up right now. I am no longer your Master and you are no longer my Armor."

That comment actually hurt his feelings, so, between his gritted teeth, he said: "Stop it."

But Juvia was on a roll and now that she had finally spoken her mind, she wasn't going to stop. "What are you so afraid of? Why can't you just…?"

"Because I can't give you what you want. Not yet, dammit!" Gray stepped closer to her and pretty much yelled in her face. "Those girls, they stayed along the road and honestly? I forgot about most of them because they meant nothing. It was a momentarily relief but I never committed to any of them; they all knew that it was just for one night. You don't deserve that because you are fucking special to me!" Apparently, when confessing his feelings towards his Master, Gray wanted to scream them. "But I can't be what you deserve, not yet and I am not going to commit to you while I am not whole again because you don't deserve half, you deserve the whole thing.

"I am working on that, I am trying to be as together as I can to try this with you. But I am not complete just yet." He lowered his voice. "Do you know what I am? I am a broken man using you as a crutch to keep standing and fighting and you don't need to support my weight. Just a month ago, you had to wear another Armor to save my life while I was unconscious; I couldn't protect you even sacrificing my life for you. I still have nightmares and you have to get in bed with me for me to calm me down, like I am a little kid. You don't deserve that, you deserve someone that…"

"Oh, Gray-sama." All frustration she felt during the past month vanished just like that. He had been pushing her away not because he was fighting not to like her, instead he was trying his best to get a better hold of his feelings and be better. Juvia stepped close to him and cupped his face, making him look to her. "You are exactly what Juvia wants, and she's pretty sure that she's the one who doesn't deserve you. No, listen." The blunette said when he opened his mouth to argue. "You are the bravest man Juvia ever met, you are a survivor, you are a warrior but you are also kind and you feel things deeper than you let it on because you are afraid of getting hurt again, of losing what you built during all these years.

"You say that Juvia doesn't need to support your weight, and that's where you are wrong. We are Master and Armor, we are linked and by this, we are supposed to have each other's back no matter what. Whatever else might happen between us, we are already in this together. You want to protect Juvia? Juvia wants to protect you as well and this won't change, no matter if we are just Armor and Master or something else. You support my weight and I support yours and that's what is like to be in a relationship." She stepped closer to him, her hands still cupping his face and he put a hand over hers.

"I never had this deep of a connection to a Master. Or a woman." He stared directly at her eyes and she smiled kindly.

"Good." Juvia nodded softly. "Me neither, not at this level. We can learn as we go."

"I still can't give you everything, Juvia." He could feel his heart beating faster as she tip toed.

"I know." She whispered, their lips very close. "Just give me what you can. Juvia can complete with herself what you can't give just yet." And before she could say anything else, Gray had pulled her closer and crashed her lips on hers, finally doing it without his mind clouded with the blood feeding and that kiss was sweet, it was a promise. When they parted, he had her arms around her frame, their breaths mingling to one another's. "We don't have to commit to anything you don't want. All Juvia wants is that you try."

Gray thought for a moment before raising a hand and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and all he felt that moment was happiness. He wasn't worried, he wasn't in fear, he wasn't in alert. He was happy, hidden behind a tree a few meters from a nasty inn and with the most beautiful girl he's ever seen in his arms, telling him that she wanted to have more with him than just an Armor x Master relationship and to him, nothing else seemed more right.

"We can try." He told her. "I know when I am beaten, and you tired me out. I won't run anymore." Juvia pushed him lightly on the shoulder, playfully and he laughed, kissing her once more. That woman, who had squeezed her way into his heart… maybe he could do this with her, maybe she was what he had been needing his whole life and he didn't know.

Only time could tell and, well… he was curious to know where they could go.

#

AN: So, here it is. I didn't get into much detail of how they met because Yuuba wrote that part and you can find it on her Tumblr. This is not the canon story, it's just my version of it and as I suck in fighting, I focused more on their relationship other than anything else..

This might have a second (small) part, but we never know.

(I would like to thank the person who send me that FanMail at Tumblr – sorry, I delete it after I answer it – that encouraged me to talk to Yuuba. She's Brazilian, if you are reading this, obrigada e por favor, se identifique pra eu te agradecer propriamente. Desculpa por esquecer seu nome, tá?)

07/06/2014 ~ BonneyQ