I was listening to Florence & The Machine and thinking about how I don't buy Juvia's reaction in the manga to the vision of Gray's death. I mean, look at what happened when she only heard someone THREATEN to kill Gray. Actually seeing him die? I envisioned her reaction to be a bit more extreme. And so this happened.

A single minute.

"Juvia…"

A single burst of what could have been a memory shoots through her mind—Gray, her beloved Gray, pushing her to the ground. One laser beaming forth, piercing through flesh, searing blood and bone. Then more.

A final shot through the skull.

"What was that just now?!" Lyon demands, and the expression of confusion and shock on his and face almost doesn't register with Juvia, nor does the realization that they all must have had the same vision. It flashes by once more—the hatchling, the shove, and Gray. The air around the four of them, hot with the destruction of Crocus at the hands of the dragons, suffocates and then begins to hiss.

In between the split second it takes for Gray to open his mouth and for his words to come, there is an almost deafening crack of thunder that cuts off all other sound.

No one else has any time to have some sort of reaction, because the vision has overwhelmed her, and Juvia is boiling.

Being an Ice Make mage, Gray is no stranger to the cold, but the chill he feels at seeing his own impending death is unlike any that he's ever experienced. There are too many thoughts jumbling their way through his head right now, but the most prominent one is an expression of disbelief at what he's just seen. 'I'm going to be killed?' he thinks, and he is about to repeat the words out loud when there is a roar from above that could almost drown out the dragons.

The sky suddenly seems to open up, and a torrential downpour assails the group; at the same moment that the Hatchling from the vision emerges from behind a fallen beam of wood, Gray, Lyon, and Meredy all turn to look at Juvia.

They have all seen her angry before, but nothing—not even her rage at Meredy all those years ago—has ever compared to the sight of her now. Though her body is now roiling with wrath, the water so heated that steam is rising off of her in menacing hisses, they can all clearly make out the nearly inhuman snarl on her face.

Three things happen at once. Another boom of thunder shatters the moment, Juvia's enraged shriek fills the air around them, and she rushes forward to confront the deadly Hatchling head-on.

The trio of people she leaves behind are too stunned to do anything but watch as she reaches forward with scalding hands and sears straight through it. More Hatchlings arrive to cluster around her, mouths opening to fire; Juvia's shouts turn to sobs as she flings her arms out and cleaves them all apart with her Water Slicer. Above the rain and the thunder, her voice carries.

"Not Gray! NOT GRAY!"

She is nothing less than a tempest, and all any of them can do is stand and stare as she completely annihilates every single Hatchling in the vicinity.

And although there are a million things for Gray to process about what he has just witnessed in this single minute of his life, none of them are quite so difficult for him to wrap his head around as the sight of Juvia as she is right now—an indomitable force of nature.

Then, as quickly as it began, it is over. The scalding rain begins to cool, and steam rises through the air. The thunder quiets, and Juvia stops screaming and weakly surges back towards the group. There is a pregnant pause in which the only sound is raindrops pattering against their ruined surroundings.

Meredy is the first to speak, her gaze and voice both apprehensive. "…Juvia? Are you alright?"

Juvia doesn't respond, but silently floats to a stop in front of them. Her expression is eerily vacant.

Lyon is the next to speak, snapping himself out of his astonishment at what just transpired to wave a hand in front of the water mage's face. "Juvia?" She is quiet. "Can you hear us? It's okay; the Hatchlings are destroyed." When again, they receive no response, Lyon moves to step forward but is halted by Gray.

"Juvia," he says. His voice is little more than a croak, but he clears his throat and tries again. "Juvia," he firmly repeats, and then falters for a moment at exactly what to say to her. But then he knows. "Juvia, I'm fine."

His voice is, unsurprisingly, the one that finally registers, and without another word, Juvia solidifies and collapses to the ground at his feet.