A/N: i decided that it would be pretty boring if i only had this from juvia's POV. someone said itd be cool to see stuff from gray's POV, so ill try it out! every time theres a page break, the POV is switching, so please keep that in mind! im thinking of doing this for girl next door too, but i feel like its a little too far in to do that. to any readers that are also reading that fic, what do you think? please let me know! anyways, i hope you enjoy this chapter.

Serendipitous

Chapter III

"It was about time you two hooked up."

Nothing Gray ever heard before had brought him more confusion than what Cana said. They had been on a job that day, and random words escaped her lips that he didn't understand. Who did he exactly hook up with the night of that party? That was all he could think of when she started talking nonsense. It wasn't that hard to figure out—it took him about a minute. Gray's eyes had traveled from Cana's smirk to anywhere else he could look.

He remembered having sex with someone that night, and he was more than relieved when he woke up. It wasn't everyday that you woke up and your one night stand had left. All the girls he hooked up with usually stayed and tried to get farther with him, but he never allowed it. A romantic relationship was never something he was really looking for. And he knew that even if he was looking for one, he definitely wouldn't find it with some random girl that he just met. Not in a long shot.

And Gray would have never in a million years guessed that the woman he slept with was Juvia. From their night together, it was obvious that she was experienced. The way she had responded against him and met his rough movements told him just that. But he had always assumed that Juvia was a virgin, or that she had only done it one time with ex boyfriend. It had never crossed his mind that she could have had sexual encounters with other people before she fell for him.

He sure was wrong.

Gray didn't even know what to think when Cana told him that she saw him and Juvia leave together. The party was stupid, in his opinion, but Gray was in the mood to drink and found himself staying longer than he should have. His vision had gone blurry when he began dancing with a mystery woman, who wasn't really a mystery anymore. The only thing he remembered was how great she looked in that dress, and how hot their night was together. Gray didn't even question it when he found Juvia's lacrima phone in his bedroom; he just assumed that he had taken it home by accident.

And how stupid was he.

Anger had overwhelmed him more than it should have. He shouldn't have been so mad at Juvia—he could relate to what she had been feeling. But there was something about their night together that made him want more. What was it about her that he found so intriguing? Gray couldn't deny that it was pretty good sex, and he'd love to do it again. Most likely not with Juvia, though. He's tried so hard to keep his feelings at bay, because only God knew what would happen if he got closer to her. Probably everything he didn't want to happen to her.

He was relieved when she agreed to his compromise—nothing changes. Their friendship would stay the same, and nothing would be awkward. Or at least he hoped it would.

Juvia was avoiding him a lot more, and he couldn't understand why. They were on the same page, right? He of course knew that she wouldn't let go of their night as easily as he could, but it might be more simple than Gray saw it. There was always the possibility that all Juvia wanted from him was sex, and he'd finally given it to her. Kind of.

Even if Gray thought that she'd get over it, there was a thought inside him that told him that that would never be the case. She'd continue wanting him—even more than before—and there was nothing he could do about it. It wasn't that he didn't like her, he just didn't want to hurt her. He'd never be able to forgive himself if something were to happen to her.

Cana had agreed to keep what she saw a secret in exchange for all the jewels earned on that job. It was tough to agree to, but he knew he would live. Jobs were easy to get since Fairy Tail rebanded; he could get a new one within a few hours.

Thinking back on the memory gave Gray a lot of different thoughts that he wasn't in the mood for. Sighing, the man continued on his regular walk from his apartment to the guild. He soon reached the building and opened the front doors with swift motions. He immediately saw the familiar head of bright blue hair, and decided to break the awkwardness once and for all.

"Hey," he greeted.

The sudden voice had surprised her, he noticed.

"O-Oh," she stuttered. "Hello, Gray-sama."

He frowned at her forced smile.

"How've you been?" he asked, unsure of what else to say.

"Juvia has been fine," she replied, shrugging. "It's been a slow week."

Gray knew that she was talking about jobs. The mention of it reminded him why he was there—he had a job that day. His main goal was to do it alone, but it was obvious that Juvia needed to go on one as well.

"I'm about to go on a job," he told her. "You could come...?"

"Oh," she said immediately after the words left his lips. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Juvia doesn't want to be a bother," she sighed.

Gray's eyes softened. "You aren't."

She stood, then, smiling lightly. "If you say so. Juvia would love to come."

It was difficult for her to accept his offer. The Juvia from a few weeks ago would have jumped at the offer to go on a job with Gray. But the one that was just rejected by him after their drunken one night stand was hesitant. She knew that he wouldn't give up until she said yes, so she decided to accept.

The job wasn't a simple one. She was surprised that Gray had wanted to do it by himself. He was strong, but not as strong alone and without someone to back him up. Juvia had assumed he would have gotten team Natsu instead, but it appeared that he wanted her to go with him.

Which was strange—why would he want her to? After their agreement, she thought that the awkwardness would continue forever. Most of it was from her, but she simply couldn't help it. She also couldn't help feeling a twinge of pain in her chest every time she saw him. Seeing him reminded Juvia of the rejection she had to face when he barged into her apartment just a few days ago. It was one of the hardest yet simplest things she's ever had to go through, next to leaving his apartment after their drunken lovemaking.

Knowing that Gray didn't see it as lovemaking made her heart hurt. He only saw it as sex, a mistake. A night that should have never happened. What-if's most likely flooded his mind, and Juvia couldn't bare to imagine not feeling him so close and inside her.

Heat had risen to her cheeks, and she had trouble hiding it from him.

"You alright, Juvia?"

The bluenette froze. They had been walking down a familiar path for quite some time; Juvia's thoughts must have caused her to drift off.

"Y-Yes," she told him nervously.

Gray obviously wasn't buying it. He sighed and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket. It seemed he decided to ignore it for now. It would be best to just focus on the task at hand, and she sensed that he would confront her later.

They continued walking for a while, which lead to silence between the two.

"So, what is the job again?" she asked, even though she already knew. She just needed something to break the silence between them.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the piece of paper with the job assignment on it. He scratched the back of his head before speaking.

"A man's son was kidnapped by treasure hunters that want something from him." Gray sighed. "We need to get him out safely." There wasn't much to it, because the rest of the information was going to be given when they got there.

"Right."

The silence continued until they reached the city, and Juvia was just hoping they would get to the man's soon. She couldn't stand the awkwardness. It was never like this before they slept together; Juvia wishes it was still like that, but it wasn't.

By the time they reached the man's house, Gray was overwhelmed by the ringing in his ears from the silence. He wanted to talk to Juvia, but he had no idea what to talk about. It was much easier to have a conversation with her before they had sex. All he wondered was why it couldn't still be that way. He knew that it would take a while for Juvia to adjust, but he really couldn't.

Gray hadn't realized that he was knocking on the door to the house until the man answered.

"Ah, you must be the mages from Fairy Tail," he said somberly. "Thank you so much for coming, my name is Fujimoto."

Gray gave a small grin. "No problem," he replied. "I'm Gray."

"Juvia," the bluenette responded quickly after.

Fujimoto's facial expressions were a mix of sadness and anger. It must be tough to have to go through such a thing as your son being kidnapped.

"Please, come in."

As the two made their way in, Juvia took in just how large the house was on the inside. She knew little about Fujimoto and his wealth, but she didn't know that he was this wealthy.

"Would you mind explaining a little more about what happened, sir?" Gray asked.

Fujimoto sighed. It must have been painful just to think about it.

"About two or so treasure hunters tried to rob my house, but they couldn't find what they were looking for," Fujimoto explained. "So, they took my son as a way to pry it out of me."

"I see," Gray said. "What was it they were looking for?"

The man sighed once again. It was easy to notice that Fujimoto was hesitant to discuss the subject. But he knew that if he wanted his son back, he'd have to tell them everything he could. Fujimoto pulled the sleeve to his suit jacket down, revealing a watch.

"This is a magic watch given to me by my wife," he began. "It is all I have left of her."

Gray was going to ask him a question, but Fujimoto must have already known what he was going to ask.

"My wife died in a house fire a few years ago," he said. "My son and I were the only ones that survived. Nothing inside the house was able to be saved, and this watch is the only item I have left of my wife."

"Wouldn't you rather have your son, other than a watch?" Juvia asked out of pure curiousity.

"I thought you might ask that," the man laughed lightly. "Before I give them my watch, I want to consider all of my options. I planned on passing this down to my son so he could have something that belonged to his mother. I know he doesn't remember much about her."

"Juvia understands," the bluenette frowned. "What is your son's name?"

Fujimoto gave a small smile. "Rowan."

"Well, we promise we'll get Rowan back to you soon," Gray told him. "Any idea on where the treasure hunters are located?"

"They aren't far from here," the man told them. "I know that they are in the city, and they don't do a good job at hiding themselves."

"Do you know what any of them look like?"

"Very little," he replied. "One of them had an eyebrow piercing, while another one had green hair. It's possible that there was more than two, but it was hard to tell.

"That's more than enough description," Gray said confidently. "We're staying in a motel a few blocks away from here. We will contact you with updates on the situation."

"Ah, thank you so much," Fujimoto smiled, sighing in relief.

After saying their goodbyes, Gray and Juvia quickly left so they could check into their motel and start a plan. And deep down, Gray knew that this job wasn't going to be easy.

"How should we go about this?" Juvia asked, sitting on the edge of her motel bed.

Gray's eyebrows knitted together. "I'm not sure," he replied. "We should start with asking around town to see if anyone knows about the treasure hunters."

Juvia nodded, looking directly at him. His eyes had hovered towards his feet, and it was obvious that he was deep in thought. Immediately after they stepped inside the room, he removed his shirt. It was typical Gray, but seeing his bare chest gave her a different feeling than before. All it did was make her want him again even more, but Juvia knew that that wasn't going to happen. Gray made it very clear that their night together was a mistake, and there he was acting like nothing happened. It infuriated her.

"We should go ask around right now," Juvia suggested, trying to get her mind to stop thinking about that. She needed to focus on the mission.

Gray looked up at her. "It's late, I doubt anyone is gonna want to talk at this hour."

"We could at least try," the bluenette frowned.

"Or we could go to sleep now and get a head start in the morning."

She knew Gray was right, but Juvia felt the need to do something.

"You can go to sleep," she told him before standing up. "Juvia is going to get some leads. You are welcome to join her."

Gray's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "No way,"

"Why not?" Juvia sighed.

"We aren't splitting up," he said. "It could be dangerous to go alone, and we can't risk anything bad happening to either of us on the mission."

Juvia crossed her arms and huffed. "You are just saying that because Juvia is a girl."

"What? Why would you think that?" Gray asked before groaning in frustration. "Look, it doesn't matter. I know that you're powerful and you can handle yourself, but we don't know this city. We don't know what these treasure hunters are capable of."

She had to admit that she agreed, but Juvia couldn't stand wasting a whole night. "Then why won't you go with Juvia?"

"It's been a long day," he replied simply. "We both need a good night sleep so we can begin our search tomorrow."

"Juvia supposes…" she whispered. "But it still feels wrong just sitting here doing nothing. We have to do something!"

Gray sighed. "I want to do something, too, but it wouldn't be smart to do anything right now. We need to think through this carefully and plan out everything we're going to do."

There was a moment of silence before Juvia spoke again. "Well, Juvia has thought through it and has decided that she will be looking for leads tonight—with, or without you!"

She stood from the bed and walked towards the door, but Gray was quick to get in front of her.

"I won't let you," he told her. "You're going way too over your head. It's too risky for you to go by yourself."

"Then come with Juvia!" she yelled.

"We can't go out there yet!" Gray yelled back. "Look, you're being stubborn about this. I promise we'll head out first thing in the morning. Please, just promise me that you'll stay here and get some sleep."

Juvia knew that he wasn't going to change his mind. "Fine."

She walked over to her bed and sat down, facing away from him. She could feel Gray come up behind her, and melted when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"We'll find Rowan in time," Gray reassured her. "I promise."

Juvia knew that they would, because she planned on going out there tonight. It could be dire to the mission, and she didn't want to regret not going against Gray's wishes.

Once Gray had settled into his bed and fallen asleep, Juvia made her move. She tried her best to be as quiet as possible, but the motel was old .The floorboards creaked as she walked and it caused the furniture in the room to wobble slightly. Juvia looked at him, sleeping soundly in his motel bed. She wanted nothing more than to curl up next to him and be enveloped in his warmth, but she knew that it would never be wise to do that.

Turning around and walking back towards the door, Juvia managed to successfully make it out of the motel room without waking Gray up. She shut the door quietly behind her and quickly made her way out into the city's streets. There were a lot of people out at this hour, most likely because it was a weekend. Parents had probably hired babysitters so they could spend a night out together. Several adults scattered across the sidewalks, and Juvia knew that she needed to ask around before Gray woke up and came looking for her.

She tried asking every person she saw, but she mainly came up empty handed. A few people had known who she was talking about, but they didn't know where they were located. Juvia decided to ask people lurking around in the alleys. It was dangerous, but she knew she could handle herself.

"Excuse me, sir?" Juvia said, approaching a man that was leaning against the alley wall. "Would it be alright for Juvia to ask you a few questions?"

"Ask away, darling," he replied, taking a long drag of his cigarette.

"Are you familiar with the treasure hunters in this city?"

The question had peaked his interest, Juvia noticed. "Yes."

"Really? That's great!" she said. "Do you have any information on them?"

"Yes," the man said again.

Juvia wait patiently for him to continue, but he didn't seem to be responding. After a moment, she noticed that two other men had approached her from behind. She noticed that one of them had green hair. Juvia gasped, knowing that one of the treasure hunters had green hair. She looked back at the other man, who had moved his bangs away from his face to reveal an eyebrow piercing. Her eyes widened in fear, but soon began to think about a way to get out of this.

"I think the real question is, sweetheart," the man with the eyebrow piercing said, throwing his cigarette butt on the ground and crushing it beneath his boot, "what information do you have about us?"

The bluenette knew that it would be hard to get out of this, but soon thought of a plan.

"I do…"

"And?"

Juvia stepped back, feeling her back press against the wall. "Water Slicer!"

Gray woke up in a jolt, but he was unsure what had caused him to wake up. He immediately looked towards the bed next to his, finding it empty. His immediate emotion was fear, followed by worry. What the hell was Juvia thinking? Why would she go out there, even after promising that she wouldn't? Gray concluded that she was an idiot with a death wish before rushing out the door to their motel.

It took him a while to find her, but a feminine scream had lead him into an alley. Even if it was difficult to figure out, Juvia knew that she was facing against the treasure hunters. Puddles of water could be seen throughout the alley, as well as dripping from the walls. He knew that she tried to fight back, but they must have bested her. And after approaching the fight, he could see why they did. It was three against one, and even if they weren't mages, a lot of treasure hunters were known for taking down mages without the use of magic.

He could see that one of them was pinning her down—he had an eyebrow piercing, just as Fujimoto described. Another one had green hair, as expected, while the third person was bald with various tattoos around their shaved head. Gray was quick to interfere with the fight, and managed to take the tattooed hunter by surprise. The other two then noticed his presence, and the green-haired hunter immediately came after him. He managed to knock him down, but he knew it wouldn't be for long.

"Get off her!" Gray yelled towards the hunter with his eyebrow pierced, but it was clear that he wasn't moving.

The two hunters had quickly gotten back on their feet and cornered Gray.

Groaning in frustration, Gray took his stance. "Ice-Make: Lance!"

He noticed that Juvia was struggling beneath the hunter's hold, and focused all of his energy on getting her away from him. It made him angry when he saw that the man was getting a little too close to her, but he didn't expect anything less from them. The only thing he could do right now was get Juvia out of there.

Gray finally managed to get the two on the ground again, and he knew they wouldn't be up for a while—he froze their feet and hands against the cement.

"You," Gray growled. "Get off her."

As he approached the hunter, the man snickered. "I see the water lady has a boyfriend," he teased. "I'm so scared."

He rolled his eyes before punching the other man square in the jaw. As he toppled off of Juvia, Gray quickly pulled Juvia onto her feet and dragged her out of the alley.

"We have to follow them, Gray-sama!" he heard Juvia protest as they got closer to the streets.

"No," he said angrily. "I'm not going to let you risk your life again."

"Juvia had it under control!"

"No, you didn't." Gray snapped.

"But they could lead us to Fujimoto's son!" the bluenette retorted. "We have to take this opportunity while we're ahead."

Gray thought about it for a moment, and decided that it would be a good idea.

"Fine."

And just like that, they were off.

Even if she was stupid for going out there when she shouldn't have, Juvia was glad that they got a lead. It would be better go after them now rather then go back to the motel and come up empty handed the next day. And she was determined to return Rowan to Fujimoto by sunrise.

Juvia had immediately took off running once Gray gave his approval. She knew he'd come around eventually, and she was glad that it was now. The fight she had gotten into had taken a wrong turn and the treasure hunters overpowered her. It was unwise of her to go into the alleys alone, but Juvia knew that there was something in there that would lead them to Rowan. She was right after all, and she just hoped Gray would thank her later.

As they managed to get closer to the treasure hunters, Juvia noticed that they entered a building. There was a hidden door that lead into one of the buildings, which she assumed was their headquarters. She was going to barge in there without thinking before Gray stopped her.

"We need to find another way in," Gray said, and Juvia nodded in agreement.

After searching around the door for a different entrance, the bluenette pointed towards a vent. It was small, but it she would fit in it.

Gray frowned. "You can't go in there alone."

"Gray-sama," she sighed. "Juvia has to do this. For Rowan and Fujimoto."

She noticed that he was hesitant, but Gray agreed. "I'll have to find another way in, but until then…"

"Communicate with Juvia through the lacrima."

He nodded, taking out his lacrima. "Here, I'll boost you up."

Once Juvia got the vent open, she was swiftly able to climb up into the vent with Gray's help. It was a tight fit, but Juvia managed to travel through the vents in a crawling position. After about ten minutes, she heard Gray talk to her through the lacrima.

"I'm gonna go inside and cause a distraction," Gray told her.

"Okay," Juvia replied. "Be careful, Gray-sama."

"You too."

She was able to pinpoint exactly when the distraction happened, because she could hear yelling coming from an opening to a different vent. She looked through the door to see Gray, who appeared to be throwing items across the room. Juvia giggled quietly before continuing farther into the vents. It would be easy to tell where Rowan was because the openings to the vent had a small window for her to look through. After looking through most of them, she saw that all of the treasure hunters in the building had went into the main room where Gray was.

Now was her chance. She could get Rowan out safely and take him back to his father. Juvia wouldn't fail—she couldn't fail.

Juvia finally came across the room that had Rowan inside, and was quick to kick the door off of the vent. She pushed herself out of the vent before collecting herself back onto her feet. She saw that Rowan was tied to a chair, a piece of cloth tied around his mouth.

"I'm in," Juvia whispered into the lacrima.

"You most certainly are."

The bluenette's eyes widened, her body turning around so she could see the man behind her. It was the treasure hunter from before, the one with the eyebrow piercing.

"So this is why you wanted to know about us," he said, smirking. "I'm Ronnie, and you are?"

"You must not be very smart," Juvia hissed. "Juvia already told you back in the alley."

"Feisty."

Juvia noticed his smirk growing, and she began to get more and more nervous.

"Juvia? What's going on?" she heard Gray say into the lacrima.

She didn't waste any time; if she wanted to get out of this alive, she needed to attack.

"Water Nebula!"

Ronnie was pushed back against the wall from the force of her attack, and Juvia used that time to untie Rowan.

"Hello, Rowan," the bluenette said softly. "Juvia is here to help you. She will take you back to your dad. Can you get in this vent for me, please? It is the only way out of here."

Rowan said nothing, only nodded. Juvia boosted him up into the vent, and looked down towards the ground where Ronnie lied.

"Water Lock!"

Once the treasure hunter was trapped inside her water lock, Juvia climbed back into the vent and began leading Rowan towards the exit. She was incredibly anxious the whole way back, and the anxiety reminded her to check on Gray.

"Gray-sama! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied immediately. "How about you? Is Rowan okay?"

Juvia sighed in relief. "Juvia is fine. She is leading Rowan through the vents and out of the building."

"Good," Gray said. "The treasure hunters chased me around the alleys for a bit, but I lost them. I'm back in front of the vent."

She said nothing else due to the fact that she was close to the entrance of the building.

"Rowan, you will need to jump out of the vent," she told the young boy. "My partner will be ready to catch you."

Once Rowan was down and out of the vent, Juvia was able to jump out as well. She felt Gray's hands support her as she regained her balance. For the first time in a while, she genuinely smiled at him. It almost felt like things were back to normal between the two, but Juvia knew that their relationship was far from normal.

"We need to get out of here before the treasure hunters come back." Gray told them.

Juvia nodded as she began racing down the alley. After picking Rowan up, Gray followed closely behind her. It didn't take long for them to reach their motel room, and Juvia was more than excited to call Fujimoto with the news. As soon as she checked Rowan for injuries, the bluenette was happy to see that he wasn't hurt. It was good that the treasure hunters didn't do anything bad to him—all they really did was tie him up.

"Fujimoto," Gray said into his lacrima. "It might be dangerous for you to be at your home right now. Please meet us at our motel—we have Rowan, and he is okay."

From the quickness of the phone call, Juvia could guess that Fujimoto was rushing to get to the motel.

"That was a pretty stupid stunt you pulled back there," Gray said to her, taking her out of her train of thought.

Juvia sighed nervously. "Juvia is sorry."

"It's alright," he told her. "You did a good thing, though. We might have never found Rowan if you had actually listened to me."

"Maybe Juvia should stop listening to you more often."

The two of them laughed, feeling comfortable in each other's presence. Juvia felt like they would be okay, and that their friendship would soon return to normal. She was glad to see it happening, but she was also yearning to be with him in a romantic and intimate way. Even if she always wanted that, she couldn't help but want it even more.

After a few moments had passed, it didn't take long for Fujimoto to knock on their motel room. The reunion between the father and son was heartwarming, and Juvia felt accomplished and proud of herself. Gray was also smiling, which told her that she did something right. As Fujimoto and Rowan broke their hug, he approached the two mages.

"Thank you so much for bringing my boy back to me," Fujimoto told them, putting his arm around the young boy's shoulders. "Here is your reward. And, please, if you need anything in the future, I'd be happy to help you."

"Thank you, sir," Juvia smiled.

"Actually," Gray interrupted. "It might not be safe for you to return to your home. The treasure hunters may be looking for you and Rowan, so I would suggest staying in this motel for the night."

"Ah, alright," Fujimoto nodded. "And what if they come back?"

"Not to worry," the bluenette assured the man. "We will be sending some of our guild members to their headquarters tomorrow to arrest the treasure hunters. They will not be bothering you anymore."

Juvia could swear that she saw tears in his eyes. "That's wonderful."

The father and son had left their motel room, and made their way to get their own room. Juvia and Gray were left alone, but the silence wasn't awkward—it was comforting. She could feel Gray's eyes on her, but she tried not to look in his direction. She felt exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.

"Juvia," Gray said, approaching her.

She turned around, meeting his eyes. "Yes, Gray-sama?"

"Good work today," he smiled genuinely. "If it wasn't for you, we probably would have never gotten Rowan out of there."

A blush crept its way onto Juvia's cheeks. "I-It was nothing."

"Well, it sure was something."

Juvia smiled, nodding.

They stood like that for a few seconds, before she felt Gray's lips against hers.

A/N: cliiiiiiffffhanger! please dont hate me…. SO, this is the longest fic chapter ive ever written? im so proud of myself omg. i hope you guys liked it!

thank you so so so much to IrishDreamer4, z, Baby pink 'n Baby Blue (i always love reading your reviews, thank u so much! and your username is very nice imo), cheese, and Guest for leaving a review!

btw, what do you guys think is going to happen later in the story? i'd love to hear your predictions! anyways, till next time!