God Save the Queen

Before anyone asks, there's a perfectly legitimate reason why she's currently wearing a crown and bent over a map, talking strategy with her highest ranking generals.

The whole thing started when she and Gajeel took up a mission that involved protecting a rich man's son. It probably would've been a boring job it if it weren't for the fact that the boy had a very interesting hobby—live action roleplaying. Apparently, he was part of the kingsguard—knights serving under the King of Moondoor. And even though there was current hit list out for him, he just had to be at all the battles. So naturally, she and Gajeel had to tag along with him to "Moondoor" to keep him safe and make sure that nothing happened to him.

They managed to capture the guys who were targeting the man's family in the end. But in the one whole week they've been there, Juvia has managed to become the leader of her House (House Tusktide), win approximately thirteen battles, slaughter half the dreaded Golden Horde and become queen.

And ever since then she's been addicted.

The adrenaline rush is incomparable. She supposes that she gets the same kind of excitement when she goes on one of their more life-threatening missions. But this is just more fun. Everyone takes the game so seriously and acts so dramatically; it's just the kind of intense atmosphere she loves. This Moondoor thing is also kind of like this book she once read—everyone basically kills and schemes and backstabs each other to get the throne. Which is okay, really horrible, but she's a little (crazy) imaginative and there's nothing more she loves doing than living out the fantasies that pop into her head. Nobody truly dies anyway, so it's completely okay.

And besides, when she was younger, she always wanted to be a princess and get a shiny crown.

(Except, right now she's technically a queen and instead of being swept away by her prince charming, she's systematically destroying the Seven Houses of Moondoor. But well. She's isn't going to nitpick.)

She's been trying to get Gajeel to tag-team with her for ages. But he's always telling her that it's stupid and that he has better things to do on Saturday nights than play dress-up with a bunch of friendless losers. Which she knows is a complete lie because he spends most of his Saturdays holed up in his room composing new songs or bothering Levy. Honestly, she thinks that he's just mad because she's beaten his House (House Greysmith, they rule the Iron Lands) in all thirteen battles and he's a sore loser. She wants to ask Gray (because she's sure that they would make a phenomenal team and she's not opposed to him becoming her king. Or knight. Whichever he prefers). But she's sure that he'll just think it's childish and weird.

And she really doesn't need any more reasons for him to be repulsed with her.

She doesn't mind because it's nice to get away and do things by herself every once in a while. And she's meeting new people too, which is always a plus. She loves all of her friends from Fairy Tail but it's refreshing to interact and hang out with other people too.

Anyway, this week she's finally returned after being missing for five LARPing sessions. Before getting to the nitty-gritty of planning the assault against the House Tarquinius, she had to deal with resolving the attempted coup planned by Pelias (the man she left in charge of her absence). Once that's sorted out, she and her generals immediately start talking battle strategies.

She's a little surprised to find that in her absence, House Tarquinius has managed to raise a sizable army, big enough to challenge her claim to the throne. Apparently, they teamed up with the Golden Horde, which is a little surprising given the language barrier and the Horde's general revulsion towards alliances. But she's confident that they'll win because they're allied with more houses and it is almost winter. Which is very bad for House Tarquinius who's known for their use of fire magic.

(Okay, so using real magic isn't allowed and only a few people here are actually legitimate mages because honestly, who would want to LARP if they can use real magic? But they make do with sparklers and colorful powder.)

Her army's breezing through the first few minutes of the battle when suddenly; three new Tarquinius divisions catch them by surprise, just as she's winning. A makeshift wooden dragon emerges from the melee and riding on top of it is a man wearing an elaborate red armor, his helmet fashioned to look like the head of a dragon.

"Retreat!" Juvia yells, because half her forces are dead and she doesn't know how long her army's going to last with a dragon attacking them.

"It's him," whispers a soldier at her side.

"Eh?"

"They call him the Dragonrider, Firehide, Father to all Dragons. Apparently, he overthrew his treacherous sister, made a deal with the Golden Horde and hatched dragons!" the man says in awe.

Juvia blinks at him. "This is all happened in five sessions?"

Honestly, she wasn't gone that long.

Before the man can reply, the Dragonrider gives a huge laugh and sticks his chest out into the air.

"Is this all the Queen of Moondoor, head of the House Tusktide, has to offer? Surrender now and I might not turn your entire division into appetizers for my dragon," he crows.

Juvia's brows furrow. She knows that voice. And that pink hair sticking out from under his helmet is maddeningly familiar.

Oh god.

No way.

"Natsu-san!?" she yells, gobsmacked.

The Dragonrider pauses from his long list of threats to look down at her. He takes off his helmet and squints at her. "Juvia? You're the Queen of Moondoor?"

Juvia opens her mouth and attempts to sputter out a response but only undignified, unqueenly sounds are coming out.

She is so embarrassed.

Which normally never happens because she's rarely self-conscious about the things that she does. But this is the one thing she would really like nobody else in the guild to know because she's sure that they would mock her for it. Gajeel making fun of her new hobby is okay, because she's used to him teasing her and she knows that he doesn't really mean it. But it's different when it's the rest of the guild.

Juvia flushes and clears her throat. "Well...um...yes."

"I can't believe it! You're into LARPing?" Natsu says.

"It's a dignified pastime!" she defensively says.

"No way. It's not just a 'pastime.' This is a game of war!" Natsu declares.

"Exactly!" Juvia passionately agrees. Finally. Someone who understands. Then, she looks at the dragon, her brows furrowed in curiosity. "How are you even able to ride that thing? Don't you get motion sick?"

Natsu dismissively waves a hand. "Don't be silly! A dragon isn't a vehicle!"

"Hey!" someone yells. "Stop being out-of-character!"

"Oh right," Natsu says. He puts his helmet back on. "Sorry, Juvia—er I mean your highness. But I have to roast your army."

Before she can react, sparklers start exploding from the wooden dragon's mouth and smoke starts filling the air.

"Aaaaaah!" one of her soldiers screams. "I'm burnniiiinng!"

He starts manically twitching on the ground.

"See all this carnage?" Natsu dramatically says as he gestures for the people pushing his wooden dragon to move forward. "This is what you get when you wake the dragon!""

And that is how she loses her first battle as queen.

"Natsu-san," she nervously says as she approaches him. She's changed out of her armor and is wearing her regular clothes but he's still sitting on his wooden dragon and playing with his sword.

"Oh, hey Juvia!" he cheerily says. "Nice battle out there! I didn't know you were into LARPing!"

"Yes, about that..." she says. She's trying to figure out a way to tell him that she'd like it if he not tell someone else. "Juvia isn't really...that into it. Well...she supposes that she goes to the occasional battle every now and then—''

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Natsu says. He hops off the wooden dragon and sheathes his sword. "You're the freaking Queen of Moondoor! You dethroned your tyrant uncle, took control of the House Tusktide and brought it to glory! You're a legend here!"

"Well..." she says, blushing. When he puts it that way, her being queen does sound more impressive than embarrassing.

"You're like the Erza of Moondoor! Ever since I took control of the House Tarquinius, it's been my mission to defeat all seven houses and dethrone you," he casually informs her.

"What!?" she sputters, thoroughly flummoxed. Her cheeks color and she indignantly crosses her arms. "What makes you think that you even have a chance of winning against Juvia's army anyway?"

He nonchalantly shrugs. "Dunno. Maybe because I just birthed three fire-breathing dragons that only listen to me."

"Birthed?"

"Technically, I just hatched them but I was the first thing they saw, so they imprinted on me." He affectionately pats the head of his wooden dragon. "Ptolemy over here especially loves me."

"Well...Juvia is...still the queen! And she's allied with three houses! And winter is coming and your dragons will be useless. So there," she says, a little miffed with his bragging.

Natsu looks at her as if she's stupid. "My dragon breathes fire. Fire melts ice."

"But water douses fire. And Juvia is from the House Tusktides, Stormborn and Tamer of Wild Seas. You may try all you want, but you can never get Juvia's throne!" she testily says in response.

"Bring it on! I'm all fired up!" he excitedly replies.

"Fine! I'll see you in the battlefield tomorrow," she declares.

"Okay!" Natsu eagerly says. Then, he takes his dragon helmet off and places it aside. "Hey, you wanna get dinner together? I'm starving."

Juvia gives him a blank look. "Eh?"

Natsu gives her an equally confused look. "Oh. Sorry. Are we still in-character? Cause I assumed we were already OOC since you know, you don't have your crown on anymore."

Oh.

He really was inviting her to dinner.

"Sure," Juvia says because she doesn't really have anything better to do anyway and she is kind of hungry.

"Nice. We should go to this burger joint that just opened up in town. If you finish a seven layer bacon burger, you get it for free," Natsu excitedly says.

"Juvia is sure that you can do it Natsu-san!" she encouragingly says as the two of them walk outside his tent. "So how did you get into LARPing anyway?"

"I came here because I heard talk about dragons in town. And then it turned out people were just play-acting. But you know, I stayed because I get to be the leader of an entire army and raise three dragons," Natsu says, sounding like a child who's been let loose in the candy store.

"Oh, that's nice! You must've been really good, Natsu-san. You rose through the ranks in just five sessions," she tells him. Then, remembering that they're still locked in a bitter competition for the Moondoor throne, she says, "But don't think this means our rivalry has ended."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he says, just as darkly.

She knows that it's just a game and that she shouldn't take it personally. And House Tarquinius just won one battle (a really small, insignificant battle when you take into account the grand scheme of things) so it really shouldn't bother her.

Except that it kind of does.

The thing that nobody really knows about her is that she's a bit of a competition freak. It only really comes out when she's provoked enough or if she's really passionate about a specific game (like monopoly). And really, the most sensible thing to do would be to keep the House Tudor and House Lancaster in check because they pose a much bigger threat. But the thing is, he tainted her no-loss record, which in turn, caused a lot of dissent among her subjects.

So in the end, she really has no choice but to see him as her forsworn rival for the game of thrones.

(And she takes all of her rivalries very seriously.)

She secures an alliance with the Yorks of the Winterlands (because if there's one thing she's learned from her Unison raids with Gray, it's that ice and water are amazing together) and strengthens her defenses. She also starts wearing her crown more, because nothing boosts a girl's self-esteem more than jewelry.

The next few sessions are just a bunch of battles with other houses and some in-court drama, which she's eager to finish. She really just wants to get to the part where she has an epic, glorious battle against Natsu's house. Then, she can happily go back to presiding over jousts and weeding out traitors. Just another typical day for the Queen of Moondoor.

Finally, the gamemasters announce that the next session will be a battle against the Tarquinius forces.

The night of the battle, she and her army managed to corner the Tarquinius and the Golden Horde to a dead end (really, the perimeter of the park where their LARP session is held). There is no way he can win right now.

Juvia slips through the ranks and yells, "Natsu Tarquinius! Surrender and I may yet grant you mercy!"

"Never!" Natsu screams as he comes barreling in from the...sky? Is he flying?

No. He's not flying. But he is being carried by a small, winged creature that looks suspiciously like Happy. He comes closer and her eyes widen. The winged creature is Happy. He's wearing what looks like a dragon onesie and mask, completely with huge, curling horns.

"It's his most terrible dragon!" someone screeches.

"Happy?" Juvia says in a moment of confusion.

"Yes! Happy the Dragon! Look upon him and tremble!" Natsu yells as he lands in front of her, sword held out. Happy hovers above him and makes spewing and roaring noises while throwing bang snaps into the air.

Juvia quickly shakes off her momentary confusion to get back into character.

"You think your dragons will save you? Juvia has already killed your beloved Ptolemy!" she hisses as she draws her sword out.

It's true. She and her men speared at it until the gamemaster ruled it dead. Natsu broke down crying and refused to speak with her for a week.

"Yes! And you will pay dearly for that heinous act!" Natsu growls as he holds his shield up.

They rush towards each other, swords clashing. They slash in precise movements, dodging the other's weapons perfectly, parrying each other for dominance. Finally, she gains the upper hand by blocking one of his moves and disarming him. His sword clatters to the side.

"It's over, Natsu Tarquinius! Swear fealty to Juvia and she might spare your dragons," she says.

Natsu opens his mouth to respond but before he can, moaning sounds suddenly erupt from the side. A clatter of zombie-like creatures dressed in white start advancing towards them.

"What are they?" someone theatrically screams.

"Winter wraiths," Natsu and Juvia both hiss at the same time. Their eyes lock and they come to a silent agreement. They have to resume their battle for another time.

"This isn't the end of it," Natsu vows as he backs away and whistles for Happy. Happy dutifully descends and carries him off. He starts yelling, "Retreat!"

"Men! Fall back!" Juvia cries out.

"Aaannnd...end scene!" one of the gamemaster yells from the top of a gatepost. Everyone starts dispersing and the people who had "died" get back up and start talking about their dinner plans.

"Juviiia!" Natsu yells as he bounds up towards her. Happy is flying from behind him, looking just as excited. "Can you believe that plot twist!?"

"Juvia knows! She never thought they would bring the Winter Wraiths out this early!"

"Me too! Oh...you having trouble with that, Happy? Here, let me help you," Natsu says as he carefully helps Happy out of his dragon mask.

"Oh, hello Happy-san!" Juvia says, suddenly remembering that she hasn't greeted him yet. "She can't believe that you're Natsu's new dragon."

"Aye, sir! I wanted to be his cat but apparently there are no flying cats in Moondoor," Happy complains.

"They couldn't make a new wooden dragon in time so I got Happy here to help me," Natsu says.

"You should've told Juvia! If she had known ahead of time that Happy-san was going to be here, then she would've made him some fish rolls," she says as the two of them head towards her tent.

Yes, they eat dinner together now and she cooks. Natsu found out about her cooking skills when she bought a bento box to lunch once and insisted that she pack both of them dinner since her food is better than most restaurants. She ends up spending more but she finds that she really doesn't mind. Natsu buys them drinks sometimes anyway.

"You know, I think we should call for a truce and make a temporary alliance for the next LARPing session," Natsu says as they enter her tent and she hands him his container full of spaghetti.

"Why?" Juvia suspiciously says. Is this some sort of trick to let her guard down? Is he forming an alliance with her so he can strike her down while she's least expecting it?

"Because of the Winter Wraiths," he says in a matter of fact voice. "You need my dragons to beat them and I need your army."

"Juvia can beat them without you," she defensively says as she divides her meal and shares some of her spaghetti with Happy.

"Yeah, but how long are you gonna last? The Tudors and Lancasters may be your allies but they're also trying to usurp your throne. You have me and the Horde to worry about. With your attention divided, you're gonna end up spreading your resources too thin," Natsu informs her. "I think this is what the gamemasters intended to happen. All the houses are so busy fighting and backstabbing each other that they've completely forgotten about the zombies."

She looks at him in surprise. He's actually quite intelligent when he's not busy relentlessly punching at his enemies or stuffing his face with food. She's surprised that he's actually thought his strategies over. She honestly thought that his understanding of battle was beat his enemies up until he wins.

Suddenly, she feels ashamed for even being surprised.

She knows what it feels like for people to underestimate you and think you're stupid just because you voice out a few...unusual thoughts.

"Natsu's right. If you don't ally yourself with him, you're eventually gonna lose your throne and Moondoor will be overrun with wraiths," Happy pipes up.

It's not a bad idea. And now that she thinks about it, thematically it makes for a good story. Water and fire teaming up together to bring down icy supernatural forces of being.

"Juvia wants a chance to ride Happy," she tells him.

"What?"

"She wants to have a chance at a glorious entrance, riding a dragon. Give her this and the Queen of Moondoor will deign to make an alliance with you," she tells him.

"I don't think I'd mind," Happy says. He looks at Natsu, a bit of bolognese sauce sticking out of his mouth. "She'd probably be lighter than you."

"Fine. You can ride my dragon," Natsu grudgingly agrees.

The two of them shake hands and then, she suddenly pulls him closer and gives him a look of pure hostility. She whispers into his ear, "But make no mistake. When this Winter Wraith nonsense is over, Juvia will not hesitate to kill you."

Natsu replies in an equally intimidating tone, "Same goes for you."

And then, they go right back to dinner.

She's in the middle of a conversation with Mira when Gray suddenly comes up from behind her and asks her if she wants to join him on his next mission. He acts real casual about it, as if he doesn't care if she comes or not comes. But he ends up betraying himself when he starts rambling about how he thinks that the job will be done faster if they both do it and how they haven't done a mission in ages. She's not sure but that must be some sort of sign that he wants her to be there.

But then again, she could be imagining signs of his affection again. She tends to do that a lot.

It's not until lunchtime that she realizes that the mission happens on the exact same time as the big battle against the Winter Wraiths. Suddenly, she's questioning if going on this mission with Gray is such a good idea. She can leave leadership in the hands of one of her trusted generals and she did just form an alliance with Natsu so she knows that the battle is in good hands. Her troops might lose morale with their queen missing but she's sure they'll understand once she explains it to them. She's going on a job with the love of her life after several weeks on not going on missions with him. And who knows? Perhaps this will be the mission when Gray will finally confess his undying love (okay, perhaps not undying love, maybe affection at the very least) for her. She can't miss that chance! Surely, they will understand.

And if not, well, there's nothing they can really do about it. She is still queen.

But this will cause uprisings, she's sure. Her absence might cost her the crown. Her mind is suddenly in a whirl. She really, really, really wants to be the queen. Almost as much as she wants Gray. She tries to mull everything over, tries to figure out what's really important. The throne or Gray?

After a few seconds, she decides to pick Gray. Love in the end, after all, is more important than power and a shiny crown.

But how will this affect her alliance with Natsu? Will he be angry with her for abandoning him? Then, she shakes her head. No. That's silly. Abandon is such a heavy word. This is just all just a game anyway. And he still has his dragon. He'd probably do the same if Lucy invited him—

"Stormborn!"

She's pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of Natsu's loud voice.

(And yes, they've started calling each other by their Moondoor titles. Don't look at her like that. It was Natsu's idea.)

He's barreling towards her table, Moondoor map in hand. Gray and Lucy look up, their brows ticking up in confusion on the map. Gajeel, on the other hand, is still absorbed with his bowl of nachos.

"Firehide," she coolly says. A few weeks ago, she probably would've been embarrassed if someone found out about her new hobby. But now, she hardly cares. She's never really been good with hiding her obsessions anyway.

"Stormborn? Firehide? Why are you calling each other that?" Gray says.

"Um...Natsu? What is that?" Lucy says.

"It's the map of Moondoor," Natsu says, as if that explains everything. "Look, I just have some last minute suggestions for tonight's battle."

"Battle?" Gray says, looking concerned. "And what the hell is Moondoor?"

Gajeel suddenly perks up at the word "Moondoor."

"No fucking way!" Gajeel says as he turns to looks at Juvia. "Salamander's playing—''

"Shhh!" Natsu says. "I'm not done talking! I think we have better chance if you move your archers back and your broadswordsman to the west. And then you can come in with Happy—uh, I mean my dragon from the north."

"Okay, what are you guys talking about!?" Gray incredulously says.

"And why are you talking about a battle? Shouldn't you tell Master about this?" Lucy says.

Gajeel opens his mouth to speak but he's again cut off by Natsu. Natsu gives Lucy an incredulous look. "Why would I tell master about the winter wraith invasion?"

"Winter wraiths? What?" Gray says. "It's months before winter. And I'm pretty sure they don't exist—''

"Oh, for fuck's sake! They're talking about LARPing!" Gajeel bursts out in annoyance, looking happy to have finally spoken.

"LARPing?" Gray and Lucy say in unison.

"It's live action role playing," Happy helpfully explains. "It's like theater except it's all improv. The setting is in Moondoor where seven houses are in constant battle for the one true throne. Juvia's currently the queen."

"Queen?" Gray splutters.

Juvia's cheeks redden. "Well, not a real queen..."

"Natsu's the new leader of the House Tarquinius! He's ultimate dream is fight Juvia and beat her!" Happy supplies.

"Yeah, cause she's like...the Erza or Laxus of Moondoor," Natsu says. "But right now, we're in a shaky alliance because of the ice zombies."

Lucy and Gray still look confused. Gajeel on the other hand, looks monumentally upset.

"I can't believe you!" he furiously says. He gives Juvia a childish pout. "I say no once to joining you in LARPing and you've gone and replaced me?"

Juvia sighs and calmly tells him, "She asked you more than once! And no, Juvia has not replaced you Gajeel-kun."

"Oh yeah? Then why do you keep hanging out with Salamander? Why do you two have nicknames for each other? I want us to have nicknames!" Gajeel whines.

"But you're the one who told Juvia that it was lame to call each other by our Moondoor names!"

"That's just because I didn't want to keep referring to you as 'your highness!'"

"Wait? Gajeel played Moondoor?" Natsu says.

"Yes. He battled for the Greysmiths."

"Heh. The Greysmiths suck."

"Shut up Salamander! That's only because of the seasonal fall drought! If those dumbass gamemasters did not give us a drought, I would've totally won the Battle of Castamere!" Gajeel defensively says.

"You were the one leading the Battle of Castamere? I heard about that one. They all said that Juvia kicked your ass good—''

"Okay!" Juvia says before an argument can escalate between the two of them and they end up in a fistfight. "We all get it! Gajeel-kun would've won if it weren't for drought."

(He most absolutely wouldn't have. She had a contingency plan in case the gamemasters decided to take the drought away.)

"So, what do you think about my new plan Juvia?" Natsu asks her after having a silent staring contest with Gajeel.

"Natsu-san...Juvia has something to tell you. You're going to have to fight this battle without me," she tells him.

"What!?"

He looks a lot more disappointed and betrayed than she expected him to be.

"Juvia has a very important mission on the same day," she tells him.

Gray suddenly looks guilty. "I mean...it's not hat important—''

"But we already made all our plans! Did logistics! This is the most important battle of the century!" Natsu sputters.

"Juvia knows but—''

"Are you really just going to leave your people behind while winter zombies start killing people? What kind of queen are you?" Natsu demands.

"It's only one battle!" Juvia insistently says. "She'll be there for all the other battles!"

"But...but I can't lead seven houses and an entire army by myself. Not everyone trusts me," Natsu says. He's doubting himself, she realizes. Which is a bit surprising because he always seems so confident. "I'm not you, Juvia."

"Natsu-san, you'll be fine! You're a good leader!" she reassuringly tells him. "There's a reason why people supported you even though you managed to kill—''

"Kill?" Lucy chokes.

"—your treacherous sister. People look up to you and trust you. And not just there. Also, in Fairy Tail," she tells him. If she's going to be honest, she's a little bit envious of him. He's respected in and out of Moondoor.

Outside of Moondoor nobody takes her seriously. Not even in Fairy Tail. They all think she's a flaky, lovestruck, scatterbrained idiot (okay, she supposes that she is one on some occasions). People accept her for who she is and respect her but nobody looks up to her in the same way they would look up to Erza or Laxus or how she used to be back in Phantom Lord. Suddenly, she's tempted to pick being a queen again. Then, her eyes flit to Gray and his extremely handsome profile.

And she decides that he's definitely more important.

"But...but..." His voice drops into a whisper. "This is our thing."

"Natsu-san...Juvia will just miss one battle. And besides, she really, really wants to go on this mission."

She nods her head in Gray's direction, hoping that Natsu will get the message. He's even more obtuse than Gray when it comes to matters of the heart but this time, she hopes that he'll get what she's driving at.

It takes a while but Natsu finally gets it. His eyes widen and his mouth forms a little 'O.' He suddenly breaks into a smile and he scratches the back of his neck as he says, "Ahhh, you're right. It'll be totally fine. You should go on your mission. I'll make sure to win the battle for you."

"Thank you Natsu-san," Juvia tells him.

He gives her one last grin before rolling up his map and calling Happy over, saying that they need to prepare. Then, he walks away.

If it weren't for the concerned look on Lucy's face, Juvia would've honestly thought that Natsu was okay.

She and Gray are sitting on the train station and she cannot stop fidgeting. She's already called Natsu up to ask him if he's genuinely okay with her missing out the Winter Wraith battle and she even left him and Happy plastic containers full of his favorite meals. He told her he was fine with it but she can't help but feel that he's lying.

And the more she thinks about it, the more she realizes that it's horrible of her to not be there. Not only because she's basically abandoning her subjects but also because she's abandoning Natsu. He's right. Not everyone trusts him. The other houses who are vying for power might use this opportunity to turn on him, eliminate one more claimant to the throne. He's been growing stronger these past few LARP sessions which means that he's posing as a threat not only to her but to the other Houses as well. No wonder why he seemed upset with her. And he's nervous too. This is his first time leading so many people against a major battle. He probably would've felt better if she was there.

She ditched him even after she promised. And she feels so awful.

Even if she did it because of Gray.

And well. It sounds horrible but a night in Moondoor sounds more exciting than going on this job with Gray. The super important request that's perfectly suited for the two of them? Turns out that a rich candy shop owner wanted them to make him his own personal winter wonderland. On most days, she would've been happy to spend time with Gray. But right now, she really just wants to kick butt and fight alongside Natsu instead of toiling over a fantasy land for an overgrown man child.

"Juvia?"

"Yes, Natsu-san?"

Oh no.

Oh no.

She called her beloved Gray-sama by a different name. They haven't even been dating yet and she has made the horrendous faux-pas of calling him another boy's name.

"Gray-sama! Juvia didn't mean to! She's sorry! She was just busy thinking about—''

"The Winter Wraith Battle?" he says. He gives her a vaguely amused look. "I know."

"Juvia feels so bad," she moans as she buries her face in her hands. Now, she's offended two boys who are important to her.

"You know," Gray says as he carefully peels her hands away from her face. "If you didn't want to go on this mission with me—"

"But Juvia wanted too!" she protests. She cannot have Gray thinking that she's no longer in love with him, just as he's starting to show interest in spending time together.

"—you could've just told me and I would've been okay with it," Gray tells her.

"But—''

"I completely understand. Your kingdom needs you," Gray seriously says. She blinks at him, trying to catch any sarcasm in his voice. When she realizes that he completely means what he's saying, she flushes.

Because it's just so sweet. She knows Gray. She knows that he probably thinks LARPing is the most ridiculous, childish thing ever. But he's being so serious about it because he knows that to her, it's not ridiculous.

"But you said you need Juvia for this mission," she tells him.

"I...um...may have exaggerated. Really. I'll be fine. I can do the mission on my own," he mumbles, looking mortally embarrassed to admit that he overstated mission details just so she'll come along with him.

She tackles him into a hug.

He starts wheezing and blushing like mad.

"Thank you so much Gray-sama!" Juvia says as she stands up. The battle will just be starting right now so if she hurries, she still has time to make it to the climax.

"Good luck!" he yells after her. "Tell me how it goes afterwards!"

He even wants to hear about it.

He's sharing interest in her hobbies that he's not even really interested in.

Like what a real boyfriend would do.

"I wanna hear all of the stupid things Flame Brain does! Cause I'm sure he'll do a ton of them!" he adds.

Of course.

This isn't about him wanting to learn more about her hobbies.

This is just about his rivalry with Natsu.

She sighs. Well. At least she still has her crown.

She doesn't get the awesome dragon entrance she wanted but she does manage to arrive in the battle scene in a fairly dramatic manner. She's got her best armor on and her shiniest sword. And for good measure, she's also wearing her crown. So when she bursts forth from a rank of soldiers, she manages to get the attention of nearly anyone in close proximity.

"It's the queen!" someone shrieks.

"The Queen has returned!" another yells.

Everyone looks so happy, which she expected. From what she knows, morale had been low because of her absence and team cohesion has also been shaky because they don't trust Natsu or her second in command. They're currently losing but her presence just might turn the tide of the battle to their favor.

"Juvia!" Happy yells. He's currently buzzing around Natsu who's engaged with a winter wraith, throwing pop rocks and waving around sparklers in lieu of breathing fire.

"Juvia?" Natsu says, his face lighting up. "Don't you have a mission or something with Droopy Eyes?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Firehide!" she says. "Juvia, Stormborn, master of the House Tusktide, Tamer of Seas, Queen of Moondoor would never abandon her kingdom."

"Or her frieds," she adds, just for good measure. She joins his side and together the two of them start slashing and hacking at the Winter Wraiths, shielding and parrying for each other whenever necessary.

"Hey Juvia?"

"Hm?"

"I just want you to know..." he says, breath winded. "In the case that either one of us doesn't make it, that I'm glad you decided to come here. And that I'm sorry we didn't start hanging out or talking sooner. Because I really have fun when I'm with you."

Juvia looks at him, a little stunned because Natsu's being uncharacteristically sweet right now. Well, actually he's sweet all the time, sweeter than Gray at least. But it's usually in that oblivious, accidental kind of way.

And he didn't call her 'Stormborn' so she knows that he's not just saying this to stay in character.

"Natsu-san..." she says. Before she can continue, a Winter Wraith emerges from out of nowhere, tackles Natsu to the ground and bites him. Outraged, Juvia instinctively kicks him and slashes him from the back. The wraith gives a loud wheeze, twitches for several seconds, before promptly lying slack on the ground.

"Natsu-san!" she shrieks as she kneels beside him. She carefully removes his dragon helmet and sets it aside.

"Juvia..." Natsu weakly says.

"Natsu-san," she says as she places a palm on his cheek and cradles his head.

"My legs...I can't...feel them..." he chokes out, his voice raspy.

"Juvia knows," she says, her voice a little watery.

"Tell that bastard...who bit me...that I'll see him in hell," he says as he hacks out a dry cough.

"He's already there, Natsu-san," she tells him.

"Go on. Leave me. I'm not...going to last much longer. Don't...don't let Happy see me like this," he mumbles.

"This is all...this is all Juvia's fault. If she hadn't...if she had just come," she says.

"It's not your fault," Natsu tells her.

"But—''

"Stormborn...it's gonna be okay." He coughs again.

"Okay," she squeaks out. And oh god, tears are starting to leak from her eyes. Natsu's dying and it's all her fault. He won't even able to achieve his dream of beating her and taking her throne. "Juvia can't leave Natsu-san like this. What will she tell Lucy?"

Tears are streaming down her face and her voice is scratchy and uneven.

"Give Lucy...this," he says as he shakily unties his scar and hands it to her. "Tell her...tell her...that I'm sorry. And that I wish that...we could've gone on more adventures together."

She sniffles as she takes the scarf. "Juvia will tell her."

And okay fine, she knows that he's not really dying and this all just play acting.

But she can't help herself. She can really get caught up in the moment.

It's not her fault she easily gets emotional.

He takes her hand and pats it. "Win this for us, okay?"

She wipes at her tears. "Okay."

Then, his head lolls to the side and he stills. Happy seems to have noticed Natsu's death and swoops down and crashes on his chest. He clutches at his master's shirt and dramatically screams, "Nooooooooo!"

"Don't worry, Happy. Juvia will avenge your master," she tells him. Then she stands up and rushes forward, feeling impassioned. She will not let Natsu die in vain. She will live so that she can give Lucy the scarf and his final message. Wraiths come at her from left and right but she doesn't even care. She slashes at them, slowly eliminating them one by one. And even when she loses her sword, she just smacks through them, punching them on the face or kicking them to the floor.

When she finally meets the Wraith king, she doesn't hesitate. She grabs a wayward sword and runs it through his chest.

For the first time since she became queen, victory feels hollow.

"Wow, they really went all out with your funeral Natsu," Happy says. The two of them are currently sitting a good distance away from his funeral pyre, unaware that she's approaching them.

"Of course," Juvia says. "Only the best funeral rites shall be given to a hero of Moondoor."

"Juvia! You're supposed to be presiding over the funeral ceremony as queen," Happy says as she stands beside them and offers up a batch of her famous cookies.

Natsu quickly grabs a fistful and stuffs them into his mouth. "Yeah! You're supposed to be giving a speech! Don't tell me you've bailed out on that too!"

"Of course not!" Juvia says, flushing. Honestly, is he ever going to let that go? She showed up for the second half didn't she?"She's not there because she abdicated her throne."

"Hah?" Natsu says, expelling half-chewed chunks of cooking form his mouth.

"Yes. Juvia quit Moondoor," she tells them.

"But why?" Natsu says.

"You're the queen!" Happy adds. "I thought you enjoyed wearing a crown and ruling an entire kindgom."

"Yes she did enjoy it but...Natsu-san died and well...Juvia thinks she wouldn't enjoy Moondoor half as much if he wasn't there. So she decided to give up her crown so the two of us can find another LARP setting," she tells , he can come back as a different, minor character. But somehow, that doesn't feel the same.

"So I still have a chance to beat you!?" Natsu excitedly says.

Happy shakes his head and gives an exasperated look. "She just gave up her crown for you and that's all you can say?"

"What? I really wanted to become strong enough to beat her," he says, confused at what Happy was getting at.

"It's okay, Happy-san. It wouldn't be as fun without Nastu-san. Really," she says.

"If we're going on another LARP setting, can it be one where we're all ninjas?" Natsu asks her. He sounds like a child asking his mother for a puppy.

"Hmmm..." Juvia says, frowning a little. Ninjas really don't sound like a setting where she can wear huge, glamorous dresses. Or be swept away by the man of her dreams (yes, she's still holding on to the hope that Gray will join at least one LARPing session with her—one where he's her knight in shining armor or prince). "Juvia doesn't think that will be too exciting—''

"Are you kidding me?" he says, outraged. "We get to throw shurikens around! And it will be in the feudal era so you can wear really fancy kimonos."

Okay, she does love kimonos.

"Well...Juvia will think about it," she says. Perhaps she'll become a very powerful daimyo.

"Awww man. But I'm gonna miss Moondoor," Natsu says as he takes a bite out of one cookie. "Great victory speech you made back there by the way. Really inspiring."

"Thanks," Juvia says as she beams at him. "Although...your message to Lucy while you were dying was also pretty amazing. It was so romantic..."

She wonders if Gray will ever have a message like that for her when he's dying.

She wonders if he cares enough about her to die for her.

"Juvia?"

"Huh?"

"Were you having another one your Juvia Dream Sequences?" Natsu asks her.

"What?" she says, confused.

"It's what he calls the moments when you zone out and start thinking about something else" Happy explains.

"Oh." Well, she supposes that, that's at least better than what Gajeel calls it. He calls it her "Crazy Time." She clears her throat. "Right. So what were you saying?"

"I was saying that I hope I'll never have to say that. Lucy would be really sad and I don't like it when she's sad," he says.

"That's really sweet of you, Natsu-san," she tells him.

"Yeah," he says.

"Maybe you should've invited Lucy," she says as she gives him a teasing smirk.

Natsu suddenly bursts into laughter. "Are you kidding me? No way! Lucy is not into this kind of thing. She wouldn't get it. She'd probably think it'd be stupid or something. I'd bring Erza but she'd probably beat everyone senseless in five seconds and take the crown."

"Hmm. That's probably true." That's also the reason why she never invited Erza.

She's way too good.

"I mean, Lucy's the funnest person I know but she takes things way too seriously sometimes! There's no way she would go all out when we play!"

Juvia vigorously nods her head. "Gray-sama is the same! He would never have understood the importance of a dramatic battle scene."

"Can you imagine the two of them? Natsu!" he says, his voice reaching a higher pitch as he imitates Lucy. "Why is everyone cowering in fear at your dragon? He's made out of wood and spouting sparklers!"

"Juviaaa," she says, deepening her voice to make it sound like Gray's. "There is no way I'm going to wear this shield. It's made out of plastic."

The two of them burst out laughing.

Now that she thinks about it, as perfect as Gray is, he would probably make for a boring LARP partner.

"Yeah! You know, to be honest, I really can't picture doing this with anyone else," Natsu says.

"Juvia too!"

Happy suddenly gasps. "You two liiiiiikkke each other!"

"Ridiculous!" Juvia says, looking offended. "She would never betray Gray-sama for another!"

She ends up arguing with the cat for a few minutes while Natsu polishes off what's left of her cookies. Then, Natsu says, "So what? Ninja LARPing?"

She mulls it over for a second.

"Yes. Ninja LARPing."

Author's Note: So this is all just shameless ridiculousness. But I definitely think that Natsu and Juvia would into LARPing because they are humongously huge hams. Just watch Juvia whenever she gets into one of her love rival rants/fantasy sequences. Or Natsu when he became the "king." I think that out of everyone (barring Erza because she tends to take everything seriously, even the silly things), they would be the most likely to bond over this kind of activity. Like Gajeel would probably grudgingly descend into dorkitude and enjoy it but he would die before admitting it out loud. And Gray and Lucy would probably either not get it or think that it's childish. Like I could imagine them pointing out all of the silly things happening or not completely getting into the game. The bit where Natsu and Juvia make fun of Gray and Lucy isn't meant as a jab to their characters. I just wanted to point out how similar they are (they're both straight man of the group) and they usually have the same reactions to crazy things happening to Team Natsu (like watch how they both respond when Erza says she'll destroy the moon hahaha).

Also, Moondoor was taken from the Supernatural episode, LARP and the Real Girl and the game is a shameless, cheap knock off of the Game of Thrones.

As always, leave a review or tell me what you think if you have the time :)

Thanks for reading!