AN: Hey guys! Here's the new story that will replace Another World! It's a little bit different because Edolas Gray is COMING to Juvia instead of the other way around. But it'll still keep the angsty elements I had in AW.

Please enjoy!

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Setting: Edolas

'Just leave me alone for once!'

Her words ricochet between every corner of his skull ever since she screamed them at him an hour ago. The sentence taunted him, and from it came a headache to accompany the already growing ache in his chest.

He obeyed her wishes, as the ever-loyal admirer he was, and left the guild to find a place where she wasn't though.

But that was hard for Gray Surge because everywhere he went, an image of her followed, teasing his fantasies evermore. Even when she was mad at him, she was all he could think about. He just wished it were the same for her. He had wished that for a long time.

For the past two years, Gray Surge has tried to woo Juvia with every fiber of his being. And despite not getting very far, he can confidently say that they are, at the very least, friends. They had their own quiet, special moments (albeit very few and far in between) and she confided in him a few secrets over the years as he did too. At the end of the day, he knew that she trusted him, even if just a little bit. And that thought alone, warmed his heart.

However, today he feels he wasn't that much of a good friend.

Juvia had just gotten back from visiting her family who lived all the way on the other side of Edolas. She didn't usually go visit them, saying things like 'how annoying they are' and that 'they talk too much'. But Gray guesses that this year was an exception. She was gone for two weeks and to be quite frank, those two weeks felt like two years to Gray. The one thing on his mind was holding her close the moment she stepped into the guildhall.

And when she finally did, Gray Surge was up and out of his seat in the blink of an eye. She looked exhausted, and perhaps he should've taken note of that, but he was determined to show her how much he missed her.

"I've missed you, Juvia-chan!" His voice sang, arms wrapping around the surprised woman's waist. "It's been too long…"

Juvia mumbled. "It hasn't been long enough…" She groaned. "Please get off me, I'm so tired from traveling."

Gray, being the ever so loyal friend, released her immediately but maintained the beaming smile on his face. "Let's get a drink! Tell me all about your trip!"

"I'd rather not." She replied coldly with a grimace, something clearly on her mind by the way her brows furrowed and lips twitched. "My parents are so bothersome."

She moved to sit at one of the tables, waving her hello's to her other guild mates in the process. Gray was quick to sit by her side.

Gray linked his arm with hers and hummed happily. "Vent to me." He encouraged.

Juvia sighed heavily, not bothering to remove the clingy man from her arm. She was way too exhausted. It wasn't because he was comforting or whatever.

"I don't want to bother you."

"Nothing Juvia-chan does could ever bother me!" His words were dripping with honey but they made Juvia feel bitter.

She scowled at him, the weight of his body on hers becoming more sickening by the minute. "You don't know what you're talking about…"

"Oh? But I know you so well! I love everything about you." He replied whole-heartedly, tugging on her arm to make her look at him. "Don't you feel the same?"

His words seemed to trigger something within her because her gaze spaced out for a moment only to return seconds later with an annoyed expression in it's place.

"You're so persistent." She finally yanked her arm from his grasp. "You claim to love me, to know me… but that's not true..." Her words trailed off, Juvia becoming highly aware of the nosy listeners leaning into their conversation. "No one knows me."

Gray, sad that his love was no longer in his arms, studied her expression closely and wondered how she could believe that. "If I don't know you, then who does?"

"Apparently no one…" She whispered to mostly herself, but Gray caught it. The sadness in her voice was also apparent, and surprised him. Sadness was an unusual emotion for the bluenette. It alarmed him.

She was about to rush off to find a place to be alone, but Gray snatched her hand hurriedly. "What's bothering you? Let me help."

Juvia snickered. "Let me go. You can help me by leaving me alone." She tried yanking her hand back but Gray tightened his grip.

"You always try to fix things by yourself but you don't have to be alone!" Uncharacteristically, Gray called her out. It surprised not only Juvia, but the rest of the guild hall that couldn't help but tune in. "I haven't seen you in two weeks, let me be there for you!" He begged. He couldn't bear to see her go through problems by herself, especially when he didn't know what was wrong.

For a moment, it looked like she was about to give in. There was a brief softness in her eyes as she looked down at the man who adored her. But in the blink of an eye, the love in his eyes triggered annoyance within her. What did he know about love?

"Just leave me alone for once." Her voice was stone cold as she glared down at him. She knew how cold she was being, but she was too angry to care. He would get over her rejection soon enough, like he did all the others anyways. She had one goal at the moment, and that was to isolate herself.

Despite loving her deeply, Gray released her. He might say that it's because he loved her that he let go because clearly, his presence was only making things worse…

Fast forward about an hour later and he's wandering through the woods behind the guild, asking himself if he'd ever be able to get through to his beloved. He loved how independent she was, how brave she could be, but if he were to be honest with himself, it concerned him how much she preferred to sulk alone. Negative thoughts were never good company, especially when facing them alone.

'Why won't you let me help you?'

Gray was kicking rocks aimlessly when the sound of a branch snapping caught his attention.

"W-who's there?" His imagination got to him and made him think about the terrible possibilities. Was it a territorial creature? An enemy?

Gray breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of spiky pink hair and goggles.

"You scared me…"

Natsu chuckled. "Sorry about that, I came looking for you after I saw what happened with you and Juvia. You went pretty far." They both looked around at the dense forest and the darkening sky. "How are you feeling?"

Gray looked at his best friend with a sad smile. He wanted to divulge his troubles to him, tell him all about his concerns for the girl of his dreams, but it felt selfish of him to do so. Natsu had already come out all this way to find him, it seemed wrong to burden him any further.

"Not ready to talk, eh? That's okay. I can just be present with you instead. You don't have to tell me anything." Natsu reassured him, patting his best friend firmly on the back.

He always knew what to say. "Thank you." Gray replied earnestly. "I'll talk to you about it later, but for now… let's just walk."

So they did. They walked in silence amongst the chilly breeze in the lush forest, words not needed. When the full moon peaked through the leaves above Natsu's head, an idea came to mind.

"Want to see something?"

Gray gave him a curious look. "…Sure?"

Natsu laughed at his friend's awkwardness and told him to follow his lead.

A few weeks ago, Lucy Ashley sent Natsu on a wild goose hunt for some seasonal berries that she liked that just so happened to grow in the deepest part of the woods. It was such an excruciating task really, considering how thick this part of the woods was and the fact that Natsu just really hated being in the dark by himself. But it wasn't all that bad, because he stumbled upon the most beautiful, secluded lake.

Natsu was leading his best friend there, hoping it would cheer him up. The sight definitely cheered him up when he stumbled upon it.

The lake was surrounded by a bunch of bright, nearly glowing, orange flowers that were scattered about the farther it went out so it was easy to spot.

"Where are we headed?" Gray inquired, his curiosity of their destination lightly overshadowing his hurt from earlier.

Natsu grinned back at him cheekily. "It's this cool lake I found, it's really pretty."

Gray wondered how a lake could help him feel better until Natsu pointed towards a small entrance that teased the view of an enchanting body of water.

Upon crossing through the narrow passage between two mossy rocks, Gray laid eyes on a lush opening that had a pristine, crystal blue lake glimmering in the light of the full moon. There were no trees in this tiny meadow so the night sky reflected perfectly on the clear water. It was like looking into another dimension.

It was ironic though, that as he is trying to cope with the hurt of not being able to be there for Juvia, he can't help but think about her even as he's in the presence of mother nature's beauty. The blue hue of the lake was eerily similar to his beloved's eyes, the eyes that stared him down so coldly just a little over an hour ago.

"Thank you for sharing this with me…" Gray forced a smile to his friend, hoping his gratitude was obvious, but his lingering pain was not.

Natsu had a smile on his face since thinking of bringing Gray here, but it fell the moment he saw the dullness in his friend's eyes. "Don't think you can trick me, Gray. I can tell you're still upset. You've got to let it go! She'll come around eventually, just give her space."

Gray pursed his lips as he tried to figure out how to explain his emotions. There were way too many all at once, every single one of them vying for his attention. One moment he was sad that he was rejected, the next he was worried that he made the wrong choice in leaving Juvia alone with her troubles. And for brief moments, insecurity about his role in her life would present itself. If he even had one.

"You don't understand," Gray chose to say. It was the easiest response he could come up with.

Natsu moved to the edge of the lake and plopped down tiredly. He sighed heavily as he looked up at the night sky exasperatedly. "I know I said that you didn't have to say anything." Natsu turned to look at his friend and gave him a serious look. "But I realized now that you're acting just like Juvia."

The weight of Natsu's words sunk in, and Gray frowned. He was right. He was being a hypocrite.

"I'm sorry, I just…"

Natsu held a hand up to stop him. "I get it, it's hard. I won't push you to talk now, but do know that I'll make you speak eventually. For now, I just want to make sure that you understand that I'm here for you whenever you need me. Even with-"

"Even with Lucy pregnant?" Gray finished his sentence and smirked at the sight of bright pink spreading across his friend's face. He sat beside him.

"Y-yeah." Natsu curled his arms under his knees and rested his chin atop them with a shy smile.

The whole guild was already aware of Natsu and Lucy's incoming child and had been for a month. The couple had only been an official pairing for a year and the pregnancy came as a surprise, but Lucy, being the forever vivacious women she was, accepted the challenge quite happily. Natsu was also excited, despite being very nervous and scared initially.

"Thanks." Gray smiled. "Really."

Natsu shrugged. "It's no problem. You're always there for me, so I'll always be there for you."

And as if Gray wasn't just rejected earlier that evening, a wide smile spread across his face, mirroring Natsu's. The pain from earlier was dampened by the feeling of gratitude for his best friend.

"Let's take a swim!" Gray suddenly beamed, remembering where they were. He wasn't usually one to do spontaneous activities, but he thought tonight could be an exception.

Natsu was caught by surprise, wondering how Gray could suggest taking a dip when he was covered in so many layers. Wouldn't it take a long time just to strip down into his underwear?

"Um, maybe tomorrow? It's getting kind of late." Natsu stated, looking up to see the full moon almost in the dead center of the sky. "It's almost midnight. I'm pretty sure Lucy would want me to driver her home soon." Natsu stood up and inched closer to the entrance they walked through about half an hour ago.

Gray sighed. His friend was right.

"Okay. Let's go then." Gray stood up and was about to follow him when he noticed his shoelace being undone. He tsked. "Go ahead, I'll be a minute."

"Alright, be quick! We don't need you getting eaten by a forest beast." Natsu teased.

Gray laughed as Natsu disappeared past the exit.

Gray went to tie his shoe and thought about what he would do if he saw Juvia when he returned. Would he continue giving her space? Or try his luck again? He honestly had no clue.

Realizing a few minutes had passed, Gray stood up quickly, not wanting to be too far behind Natsu.

Unfortunately, Gray lost his balance and fell backward into the lake with a big splash due to his hurried movements.

"Dang it!" Gray exclaimed, thoroughly soaked. The weight of his clothes made it hard for him to get out and he started to panic a little. "Oh no. Natsu!" He called out to his friend, hoping he wasn't too far gone.

Gray gasped and started struggling to get out of the water even more when he saw the blue liquid start to glow with a bright light. Something in the water changed because he suddenly felt heavier, it was as if something was pulling him down. He felt his hands begin to quake in fear and his breaths came out a little more labored as he tried to keep his mouth and nose above water.

"Natsu!" He tried again, but failed.

Gray was beginning to sink in the surprisingly deep lake and wondered why this had to happen to him. He started to imagine Natsu and how he would feel if he found his dead body in a place he brought him to. He pictured his darling Juvia, and how much he wanted to proclaim his love to her one last time. The last thing he thought of before everything went black were the harsh words she yelled at him that led him out of the guild in the first place.

At the very least, he would leave her alone completely, once and for all.

/

This took me about three days total to write. I already have an idea of what I want for the next chapter so hopefully I get it done soon. I have a doctor's appointment (I might need surgery) this week and I'm taking three summer courses so I need to finish those assignments this week before the weekend because I'm going on a weekend trip. Needless to say, this week is busy for me.

So, I plan on getting chapter 2 out by at least next weekend. Follow my twitter for updates, I post a lot about gruvia lol ( dokiwrites).

Please please please leave a review. I enjoy reading them so very much.

Have a great week guys!