My first Fairy Tail fanfic! Inspired by a story I read about unrequited love. Hope you enjoy. Oneshot.

Lyon had noticed it the moment the moment she had walked into the room, but then again, he always noticed everything about her, even to the smallest details.

To anyone else, Juvia seemed the same as she always did: laughing, bright, and happy. But Lyon noticed that there was something noticeably off about her. Her gaze was a tad distant, her smile was a little too bright, her eyes were adorned with fading red rims of a recent cry, and as he looked carefully into her eyes, he could see nothing but hopelessness and dejection.

24 hours earlier

Gray stood in the street, staring at the girl he just spoken to walk away from him. His eyes eagerly roamed the curves of her body, her long hair swishing in the wind, her heels clacking on the street as they moved further and further away from him. An unfamiliar feeling arose in his chest, leaving him confused and strangely vulnerable. He felt elated, joyed, pumped so full of energy. He wanted to scream her name in the air and call her back, embrace her in his arms…

What is this?

This was the feeling of newfound infatuation, a feeling completely foreign to Gray. He breathed deeply as he finally figured out what was going on inside his heart. He grinned as he thought of when he would meet her again, how their relationship would progress, how to win her heart…

But, wait. There was one problem: Juvia. Gray felt a pang of guilt at the thought of her. The girl who had been pining after him for so many years, for reasons completely unknown to Gray, until now, until he had experienced it for himself. He felt the clutches of remorse gripping him. He had to tell Juvia, stop stringing her along, and tell her to move on. It was only fair of him to do so before he pursued this other love interest.

And so he ran down the cobblestone street, firm in his resolution to find Juvia and tell her the truth.

Juvia stood on the bridge, admiring the view of the river and sky. Ah, what a beautiful day! She turned around when she heard rapid footsteps getting closer and closer. Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was her beloved Gray-sama. He had finally reached her and was bent over, struggling to catch breath.

And meanwhile, Juvia's active imagination was picturing several scenarios and possibilities for why Gray would want to see her so badly that he was out of breath.

Maybe he's going to confess! Juvia thought with a blush.

Gray finally straightened up and looked a nervous Juvia in the eye. And there, in Gray's eyes, Juvia discovered something familiar.

There was a newfound gleam in his eyes, a liveliness much like the kind Juvia saw in her own when she looked in the mirror every morning. It was the gleam of love, the same one she saw in Bisca's and Alzack's eyes every time they looked at each other. Juvia internally squealed. Did Gray-sama finally realize his love for Ju-

Juvia's heart sank as a realization dawned on her. The newfound light of love in Gray's eyes, it wasn't meant for her. The zeal in his movements, the eagerness with which he approached life, the glimmer of hope in his expression, anything and everything caused by this new infatuation wasn't because of Juvia.

A small voice spoke in the back of Juvia's head. Well, then. Why did he come all the way here to see me?

Pity. To let her go. To tie up loose ends before Gray pursued the other woman. To finally tell her what Gray never had the heart to do before, that it was never going to happen. Woman's intuition told Juvia the reason why Gray was before her now.

Juvia blinked back tears as words started to form on Gray's lips.

"Juvia, I came to tell you-"

Juvia interrupted him. She didn't want to hear the words that would surely crush her heart and her only dignity left. "Juvia does not think she can continue loving Gray-sama anymore."

Gray widened his eyes in surprise. Well, letting Juvia down was proving to be easier than expected.

She continued shakily, "J-Juvia has. Juvia has moved on! Juvia hopes Gray-sama can forgive her." Juvia blinked back more tears that were threatening to overspill.

Gray grinned, then quickly wiped that from his face, noticing that it was totally inappropriate for the situation at hand. "Juvia, no it's fine! It's okay, really." He leaned in and gave her a hug when he saw how upset she was. "It's better this way."

"O-okay," Juvia whispered, shaken up from Gray's unexpected hug.

"Things are cool between us, don't worry!" Gray reassured. "I have to go now, see you later!"

Juvia stared at his receding figure, her heart broken into a millions pieces. Her held back tears finally fell freely and dripped onto her cheeks. It was better this way. Now Gray didn't have to feel guilty for breaking her heart, it was the least she could do for him.

Gray sped down the street, his burden lifted. Letting down Juvia was easier than expected, and he was glad that he didn't have to break her heart. He looked up at the sky as he felt a plot on his head. It was raining.

Juvia sat in her room alone in the Fairy Hills female dormitory. With some effort, she had finally got it to stop raining a little while ago. With a sigh, Juvia told herself that it was time to let Gray-sama go. She stood up dejectedly and went over to the wall to take her Gray portrait down. And one by one, she gathered up all of her Gray things, the Gray pillow, the Gray towel, the Gray body scrubber, and she tossed them all into a black bag.

Erza and many of the other girls residing at Fairy Hills suddenly burst into Juvia's room.

"Juvia-san!" exclaimed Wendy.

"Huh? What is it?" Juvia asked, confused about all the commotion and the excitement the girls were displaying.

"In celebration of the guilds' victory against the dragons and the eclipse plan failing, the king has invited all the mages to come to palace tonight to celebrate!" Erza announced enthusiastically.

All the other girls squealed, thrilled at the prospect of attending a ball and feast at the palace.

"Juvia, the girls are going to town to shop for dresses to wear tonight. Come with us!" Levy exclaimed.

Everyone stared at Juvia expectantly, awaiting a reply.

"Uh, Juvia does not think she will be going to the party at the palace tonight." Going to the palace sounded fun, but Juvia's love life was just torn into shreds, and she wasn't up for going to any celebration, even if it was at the palace. And besides, she didn't want to dampen anyone's mood with her sadness.

"EHHHH?" all the girls exclaimed.

"But Juvia, it's not everyday that ordinary citizens get invited to the royal palace!" Lucy said.

The other girls chimed in with their protests as well until Erza help up a hand to stop them.

"Juvia, is there something wrong? Why don't you want to go to the ball?" Erza asked.

"Um, nothing's wrong! Juvia is just feeling a bit tired, that's all," Juvia replied.

Levy nodded. "We did just have a huge battle yesterday with dragons and all."

"Is that all? That's no excuse for a Fairy Tail mage!" Erza said. She interlocked her arm with Juvia's and dragged her out the room and into the hallway.

"Uh, but Juvia-" she weakly protested.

"No but's! You're coming with us!" Erza said. The other girls whooped and nodded their agreement.

"O-okay," Juvia said feebly.

And so Juvia reluctantly went. She browsed the shops, got her hair done, and got dresses with the other giddy girls of the guild. Nobody noticed the sadness in her eyes or her true mood. She hid her broken heart and played that part of a normal Fairy Tail girl.

Juvia arrived later that night with the other girls in front of the palace. The girls eagerly shot through the doors of the palace while Juvia lagged just a step or two behind. Juvia stepped through the grand doors and would have been awestrucken at the sight before her if she did not have her mind on other matters. The room was a beautiful gold with brightly lit, high hung chandeliers. Tables covered with the most delectable meals emitted a most enticing smell. Mages clad in the most extravagant and beautiful of outfits danced and circulated the warm room around her. But to all these luxuries, she paid no mind.

Lyon stood on the upper level of the ballroom, completely and utterly bored. He rested his arms on the railing, wishing that something of interest would happen when someone familiar walked through the doors. Lyon's heart rate picked up as he recognized Juvia, wearing a floor length azure blue dress donned with several white ribbons and jewels. He smiled. She was truly a sight to behold. He cocked his head to the side. Something was amiss. Juvia was not her usual self. He watched her suddenly stop in her movements as she stared at something on the other side of the room. His eyes followed her gaze and found Gray, standing there with another woman. So that is what's hurting her. He looked back to Juvia, and his heart throbbed when he saw the immeasurable amount of pain in her eyes. A feeling that he was all too familiar with: the pain of unrequited love.

Juvia froze when someone from across the room attracted her attention. It was Gray, and by his side was another woman. Normally, Juvia would have felt jealousy and pure rage, but seeing the happiness on Gray's face, Juvia simply stayed put as her heart sank a little deeper. She stood there, quietly watching the pair, until Cana bumped into her, snapping her out of her reverie of self pity and wishfulness.

"Juvia! There you are!"

Juvia quickly washed the sorrow from her face and replaced it with a smile. "Cana!"

"I just tried the most delicious pastry over by the tables over there! You have to try it, before Erza eats it all!"

"Okay," Juvia said, reluctantly allowing Cana to lead her away from her safe spot in the corner. As they made their way over to the room, Cana grabbed a few glass off the trays of passing waiters, downing them quickly as she went. Juvia tried her best to sidestep the dancers, but Cana was already quite drunk and clumsily crashing into a few people.

They finally made their way to the food buffet table, and Juvia sat the wobbly Cana down in a chair.

"Perhaps you should take a break from the drinking?" Juvia suggested.

"Hah! This is nothing!" Cana shouted.

"Nothing, huh? How about another drinking contest?" a voice spoke.

Cana and Juvia looked up to find a drunken Bacchus standing next to them.

"You're on!" Cana said.

Juvia sighed. This wasn't going to end well. She moved away, not wanting to be too close to the disaster that was sure to follow. She made her way over to Erza who was busily stuffing herself with the immense amount of sweets and strawberry cupcakes at the table. Juvia was about to reach and try one for herself when Erza's wrist shot out and stopped her. Juvia shivered as Erza glared at her with menacing eyes, her mouth filled to the brim with food. Juvia quickly backed away and made a mental note to herself not to ever mess with Erza and her sweets.

Juvia spent the rest of the night wandering around. She interacted with the other partygoers when she had to, trying hard to smile amiably at everyone who greeted her, but the smile never quite reached her eyes. After a few hours, most of the guests were now extremely drunk and full of energy. Tired of putting up a pretense for so long, Juvia drifted to the center of the room, not quite paying attention to where she was going until a silver haired mage put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her. It seemed that they were the only two sober ones left at the party.

"Juvia," Lyon greeted.

Juvia did her best to put on a smile for Lyon as well. "Hey, Ly-"

Lyon pulled her out of the way from a flying chair thrown by the fired up Natsu, who was screaming something about fights, which was followed by proclamations of manliness from Elfman. Soon, a scuffle ensued and it seemed like the entire throng of guests were about to join in the fight.

"It seems that things are about to get wild in here," Lyon said distastefully, annoyed that a chair almost hit Juvia. "Shall we go somewhere else?"

"Yes," Juvia said, relieved to finally be away from all the zealous partygoers.

They wandered the hallways of the palace, and Juvia actually felt much better without the prying eyes of others around, and Lyon wasn't bad company. Lyon, in turn, was trying his best to cheer Juvia up. He had watched her all night, watched her hide her heartache, watched her fake her happiness for the sake of everyone else. But despite her seemingly joyful demeanor, she couldn't fool Lyon.

The pair came upon a deserted room when Lyon finally spoke up. It was time to confront the matter at hand.

"You let him go," Lyon stated.

Juvia flinched slightly at his forward approach. Of course, she knew who he was talking about. It surprised her that someone actually noticed what was wrong with her. She swallowed hard before she replied, "Yes." Juvia next expected him to ask why. After all, she had faithfully and unwaveringly loved Gray for over seven years.

"You left him with someone else."

Juvia looked down at the floor. "Yes."

"You loved him."

A teardrop plopped onto the carpet below them. "Yes."

Lyon's eyes softened. "Then why?"

"I want him to be happy," Juvia whispered almost inaudibly. So I let him go. Because he'll never be happy with me.

Lyon watched helplessly as sobs racked through her body, all her resolve and strength shattered. Lyon stepped forward and took Juvia in his arms, letting her cry in his chest, letting her unleash the feelings that were pent up and hidden in her for so long.

There was no speaking after that. Lyon looked down at the heartbroken girl before him. He knew how it felt to yearn for another from afar. How it felt to watch them desire for someone else. How it felt to be overlooked and never loved in return.

Lyon embraced Juvia more tightly. In a way, he shared and understood her pain, for he had done the same.

I am actually a Gruvia shipper, but I've also always admired Lyon. And the readers can decide who the other woman Gray fell for was. Leave a review, it would be greatly appreciated!