"Colors?"

Little Juvia Lockser stared at the head of the house with curiosity, eyebrow arched as she clutched her little teru teru bozu doll closer to her. "What are colors?"

"Colors are, hmm, how does this old woman describe it?" The woman put a hand underneath her chin, the wrinkles lining the edges of her eyes crinkling as she thought. The little girl seated in front of her mimicked the action. The woman soon snapped her fingers, and Juvia flinched in surprise, clutching the doll tighter against her chest. "Juvia, what's this?"

She had taken the sewing set she had given the young girl last Christmas. A beautiful array of sewing threads lined side by side, sharp, shiny needles punctured neatly in a pin cushion, and thimbles of different sizes met the eyes of the young girl. "My sewing kit," she stated in response, tilting her head to the side.

"Do you see these threads?" the woman asked, and Juvia nodded. "These threads are made up of different colors. For example, this one," she picked one of the spools, raising it eye level to the child, "is color blue. Your hair, as well, is color blue."

"What color is your hair?" Juvia asked. "Is it blue as well?"

"It's not blue," the woman said in response, shaking her head. "It's purple."

"I don't understand. They look the same to me. What's different?"

"For now, my dear," the woman took the child and the doll, placing both on her lap as she slowly rocked them both, "what you see are the colours black and white. This is black," she pointed towards the doll's eyes, "and this," she ran her fingertips down the cloth of the doll, "is white. You'll only be able to see colours once you meet your soul mate."

"What's a soul mate?"

"A soul mate is a person who's made for you, I guess?" the woman laughed. "Mine was a good man, a teacher at that. Because of him, I'm able to see color. I know that your hair is blue and that my hair is purple." The woman's eyes softened and her fingers were soon playing with the edges of the girl's curled hair. "Because of him…"

"Where is he now?" Juvia did not fail to notice the way her guardian's eyes lost their light, and she knew better than to pry, but the girl's curiosity was at its peak.

"He's. . . happy, with someone else."

"But he's your soul mate."

The woman smiled weakly, placing a hand atop the girl's head of hair. "Yes, but he didn't see color when he saw me. Sometimes things like that happen. It just means he was made for me, but I wasn't made for him." Juvia's eyebrows crinkled in confusion, and the woman laughed. "It may seem confusing now, but trust me; it will make sense in the near future."

"Will Juvia's soul mate be nice to her? Will he be able to take the rain away?"

"I'm sure he will, my little child. I'm sure he will."

A week and a half later, Juvia found her guardian weeping.

A large man was in the room as well, a hand on the woman's shoulder in comfort as he spoke words of comfort underneath his breath.

"I can't believe he's dead," her guardian kept on saying, and Juvia bit her lip. The hurt in her guardian's voice was not to be mistaken. "How's Jasmine taking it? Is she alright?"

"You're falling apart and you're asking me how Jasmine is?"

Despite everything, her guardian still cared for the woman who had taken the person she loved away. Such selflessness; a woman like that shouldn't cry, shouldn't feel pain. Her guardian was very kind indeed.

"Ren," the woman said, clutching the hand of the bulky man, "I can't see colors anymore."

Juvia held her doll closer to her, tears falling from her gray eyes.

The first time she met Gray Fullbuster, she was fuming.

"Juvia is the rain woman," she said with light conviction, the never-ending drops of rain echoing her statement. "She is one of the element four."

He didn't seem to be bothered or scared by her presence, and she continued speaking, gripping her umbrella with much more pressure than she had started. "Juvia does not believe that two of the element four would be defeated as easily." She glared at the boy, observing that his hair was dark enough to be black, and he was wearing a shirt she deemed to be white. "However, do not underestimate Juvia and Aria."

"Sorry to tell you this, but I don't go easy on people who hurt my friends," He told her, returning the icy stare she sent him. "Even if they're women or children."

Blue eyes met gray in the haze of rain and fog.

His stare. Her heart skipped a beat, and it was then that she felt her cheeks redden. He speaks as if he cares. Juvia blinked, and an object on his shirt glinted against the gray mist that made up her world. What? Her heart was starting to beat really fast, and Juvia dismissed the emotion immediately, turning heel.

"Is that so? Juvia gives up then. Have a great day."

She had to get out of there.

The rain woman pressed her hand against her chest, feeling her heart pumping against her ribs. What in the world is wrong with me?

The mysterious boy followed her, speaking words that didn't seem to make sense in her slightly panicked state. She turned back, looking at him. Her eyes widened. There it was again! The flicker of the object on his chest.

"Juvia must make him hers. . . she can't take this anymore! Water Lock!"

He was too distracted to even avoid her attack, and in mere minutes, he was trapped in some sort of bubble, cutting off his breathing.

The girl outside was fumbling as if she was panicking, and Gray narrowed his eyes at her, before releasing himself from the binding spell.

"You—" she stared at him, astonished. "broke out of Juvia's water lock. . on your own."

He soon stripped himself of his clothing, and the conservative water mage nearly fainted as she was granted a full view of his bandaged abs. "Sorry, I don't want to frighten a woman, but you have to surrender yourself now. Otherwise, you're gonna get hurt." He placed his hands in front of him, and a magic circle appeared. "Ice Make: Lance!"

True to his spell, lances of ice escaped the magic circle, heading straight towards the water mage, but she made no move to extract herself from her position. The lances impaled themselves into her body, hitting the wall behind her.

"Juvia's body is made out of water," she explained as he looked at her, shocked. "Yes, drip, drip drop. Water Slicer!"

Thus began the battle between water and ice, both sides releasing just as much magic power as their opponent. Gray grit his teeth as another of his attacks passed through Juvia without effect. She really was made out of water, which made it that much harder to defeat her.

"You cannot defeat Juvia," she told him, shaking her head. "Just give up and hand over Lucy Heartfilia. Then we will be on our way."

"Oi," he told her without grace. "Don't give me that crap. We're already way past our boundaries, and we won't retreat. Lucy is our ally. I'll give up my life before giving her to the likes of you."

Juvia heard her parasol drop beside her, the object hitting the ground with a splash as small puddles soaked its brims. The reality of being alone struck her, and what resembled jealousy slowly began to ebb its way into her heart. Her hands turned to fists, and the familiar feeling of anger slowly began to overtake her mind.

Lucy Heartfilia was loved, cared for, and she. . .

She was pretty sure that no one would give up their life for her if she was to be sacrificed.

Under the rain, her magic was at its peak. Gray watched as the girl in front of him began to twist in what looked like pain, and he called out to her, asking if she was alright, however—

"Lucy is not to be forgiven!" Juvia shouted. A burst of hot water escaped her fingertips, directed in Gray's direction.

"Shit," Gray cursed, glancing at his skin that had turned a light red due to the impact and the heat. "Boiling water? Why the hell are you mad at Lucy?"

She didn't reply, and instead let out another burst of water, anger having taken over her senses.

"Ice make—whoa!" he dodged, eye twitching. "Damn, she's fast. My creation magic can't keep up!"

He dodged another jet of boiling water, skidding to the side of the building and regaining his balance. The boy sighed in relief, looking at how far off he was from the ground. "That was close."

The rain woman was walking over to him, face passive. "Ever since she was born, the rain has always been by Juvia's side. Under the rain, Juvia is undefeatable." Raising a hand up in the air, she screamed, "Be boiled inside Juvia's jealousy!"

What the fuck is this woman talking about? Was all Gray could think about, swiftly avoiding the attacks as quickly as he could. "Ice Make Shield!" Holding up the shield above him as some sort of defense, he asked himself why he even bothered; her water was hot enough to melt away the ice he had conjured.

"I told you already! Inside the rain is Juvia's world! No one can defeat Juvia!"

The smoke slowly began to fade, and Juvia glanced at the broken glass where the boy once stood. "He's smart," she observed, narrowing her eyes.

Gray ran as he watched the rain pour from outside of the building, shaking his head. "I've got to find a way to stop that magic, or—" water erupted in front of him, blocking his way. Too late for that.

In moments, he was sent flying in the air, the boiling hot water searing into his skin like fire.

"This will be the end for you!" Juvia shouted, sending another jet his way.

"Why you—" Gray plunged into the boiling water, his hands filled with magic, slowly freezing over the heat of the girl's magic. Juvia watched in horror as he slowly began to encase her water with his ice, until her body was covered by the freeze as well.

It was then that Gray realized: His hand was on her breast.

Juvia was red from inside the ice, embarrassment winning over anger.

"Sorry!" Gray said immediately, hands raised in surrender, releasing the girl. "Let's start over."

Juvia fell to the ground, knees catching her fall as she looked up to him, blinking twice. The object—which she recognized was his necklace—glinted, and she blinked for the third time. The mark on his chest was black, she theorized, but was somehow—lighter?

"I don't think Juvia can do this anymore," she said, shaking her head. Her heart was beating faster than normal, and she began to acknowledge the fact that it had something to do with the boy standing in front of her.

"What, you're admitting that you can't win against me?" he asked.

"Juvia. . . Juvia is stronger than Lucy. She will be able to protect you," the words leaked out of her lips without warning, and she bit her lip.

"Protect? Me?"

"Because. . Juvia—" the rain began to pound on the ground harder, and Juvia flushed. "Juvia—"

"The rain's gotten stronger," Gray said, looking up at the sky, hand held out as his palm gathered raindrops.

"Juvia is frustrated!" She said in defense.

"Man, this rain is so gloomy," the boy said offhandedly, barely glancing at the girl staring at him from behind.

His words seemed to repeat themselves in her ears, in her mind, and Juvia fell to the ground, devastated. Gloomy. Gloomy. Gloomy.

"What's the matter?" Gray asked, but Juvia couldn't hear him over the rain and the echoing of his voice in her head.

"You're no different than. . . all the others. . ." She stood up quickly, hands to the side as torrents of boiling hot water exploded from her body, her anger returning. "You're all the same!"

Gray was pushed backwards, but he placed his hands in front of him determinedly. I'll just freeze it again. Nothing happened. Shit! Is it hotter than before?

'When she's around it's always rainy and gloomy!' Flashbacks from her past began to play themselves in her memory, and she remembers everything. Making dolls so that the rain will go away. Dolls that would only be trampled by playmates who thought her gloomy. She had lived her life thinking that because of the accursed rain, she would never meet her soul mate. She was sixteen years old, and everything was still black and white. Not a hint of the colors she had heard of anywhere.

It was all the rain's fault.

"Juvia is nothing but a gloomy rain woman!" she shouts into her vortex of water. "But Phantom Lord accepted Juvia for who she is! Juvia is one of the Element Four! A Phantom wizard!"

Gray groaned as he hit the ground with a thud, pushing himself back up. "I'm not going to lose!" He readied his fist, magic gathering at his fingertips. "Not to Phantom!"

His fist met the other in a flurry, and his ice surged into Juvia, pushing her backwards from the explosion.

He even froze the rain! Such magic power! Juvia thought in surprise, hair whipping beside her head as she began to fall.

"Ice Geyser!"

Juvia screamed.

I lost. Shards of ice fell with her, and she looked up at the gray, gray, sky, frowning. She was going to die without even meeting her soul mate. Without even seeing colors. Such is the fate of the rain woman. It's all over now, everything. She blinked, twice, tears starting to form in her eyes. Juvia, like a raindrop, will fall to the ground, and scatter into many tiny fragments. A fitting end for an unwanted rain woman. She smiled, her eyes beginning to close. Farewell, my gloomy self.

"Don't let go of my hand!"

Juvia's eyes snapped open, and she looked up, seeing the face of her opponent gazing back at her. "I'm not letting you fall!" he told her.

Lying beside the person who had defeated her, Juvia opened her mouth to speak. "why did you save Juvia?"

"Beats me," he said in reply. "Anyway, get some sleep."

Why did he—

"So, finally cooled down?"

She looked back at him, eyes brimming with unshed tears. She closed them and opened them slowly.

What met her was not gray, black, or white.

"The rain has stopped?"

"Oh, it's finally cleared up!" Gray mentioned, looking up at the sky. His eyes widened as his mouth gaped open, looking at the woman lying next to her in surprise.

"The sky—" Juvia started, tears falling out of her eyes. "These are. . . clear skies. I've never seen them before." She glanced at Gray, lips trembling.

"Never?" Gray muttered, hand turning into a fist.

Juvia was trembling as she spoke. "You—You're not—black and white—I can. . see—colour—"

"Clear skies are great, huh?"

"Yes. . . incredibly beautiful."

Her greatest fear was that Gray was still unable to see color.

When she witnessed him return back to their friends, he made no sign that he was able to see differently, and this worried her greatly. Her eyes fell on the yellow (as far as she knew, it was a yellow-ish gold because it resembled the sun) haired girl who was Lucy, feeling a slight tinge of hatred towards the pretty mage.

"Ame-onna," Gajeel called, and she snapped at his harsh tone, turning around quickly.

"Gajeel-kun!" she replied, running over to him and checking his injuries. "You're alive!"

"Course I am, what do you take me for?" he told her, glaring as she fussed about him. He was pretty worn out, a few scars reopened and wounds added. "You look pretty beat up yourself."

"I'm fine, the enemy showed me mercy," her voice was soft and gentle, very unlike the harsh tone he was so used to hearing when she was around their guild members.

"And that's a good thing?" he snapped harshly, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly. The water mage unraveled his bleeding limbs, looking up at him.

"Of course! Because Juvia is still alive and the rain," she pointed at the sky, joy on her features, "is gone!"

"Ame-onna," He paused when his eyes met hers, mouth opening in surprise. "Your eyes—"

Juvia tilted her head to the side in curiosity, cocking an eyebrow.

"they aren't gray anymore. They're blue."

When Gray returned to his friends, he realized that the color of Natsu's hair was as irritating as he was, that Erza's hair was the same shade as the strawberries she always enjoyed eating with her cake, that Lucy's strands were the same hue with the sun.

It took him a bottle of beer or two to realize that the sudden change in his world were the colors his teacher, Ur, was always yapping about when he was a child. What was once a dull combination of gray, black, and white, changed into something . . . different? Everything seemed a little bit brighter, a little bit better.

"Oi, Gray," Natsu spat at him with dislike, and he replied with just as much disdain, eyes set in a steady glare. "You look weird."

"You're weird," he retorted immaturely, causing Natsu's fist burst into flames. Happy began to egg Natsu on, and Gray stood up, palm against the side of his fist. The oncoming fight was then stopped by Erza, who shut the both of them up by looking at them.

Silence fell among the group, until Lucy broke the peace.

"I just realized," the stellar mage said, clapping her hands together as she looked at Erza. "That girl, Juvia. Gray, you battled her, right?" The ice mage flinched when his name was mentioned, before nodding.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"That girl's eyes—when she first captured me, they were gray!" she recalled. "I'm sure of it, her eyes were gray! She was really scary back then. But now—" The group looked at the water mage, who was grinning happily as she spoke to Cana. "Her eyes are definitely blue."

"So what?" Natsu said indifferently, chomping on the chicken that Mira had laid out for them previously. "So her eyes changed. So what?"

Lucy sighed, shaking her head. "Seriously Natsu? You've never heard of the legend? You've never even experienced it? At all?"

"Ah, I seem to recall that," Erza interjected, playing with the icing on her strawberry cake. The redhead had always loved listening to the legend when she was a child, having heard of it from the keeper of the dorms. "I've been able to see color ever since I was young." Her eyes softened, the thought of the blue haired boy coming to mind.

"What are you talking about?" the salmon-haired boy asked, oblivious as ever.

Gray leaned on the table, popping open another bottle of beer as he listened to Lucy begin to retell the tale he had heard Ur tell him and Lyon countless times when they were children.

"See, when you were young, you couldn't see colors, right?" Lucy started, nodding as she spoke. "Everything was black and white and such."

Natsu's lips broke into a smile, "I remember now! Fire started becoming brighter the moment I met you, Luce! And food certainly became more appetizing, that's for sure, and—"

"What?" Lucy interrupted, her cheeks flushed red. "This is the first I've heard of this!"

"Yeah! It's really cool, and—"

"I'm not telling the story anymore!" Lucy said, violently shaking her head as she attempted to escape the table. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find Levy-chan!"

With those words said, she stomped off.

Gray looked at Natsu, who shrugged cluelessly at Happy when the exceed asked what was wrong.

Flame-brained idiot.

She still didn't know if Gray could see color or not.

According to Gajeel, he had seen her eyes gray when he came back from defeating "a few measly fairies who thought they could defeat me just because there were three of them." He told her that he felt weird, because he was seeing things that he had never seen before, like how her dress wasn't the same shade—he had even gone as far as to ask her if he had changed her attire, to which she replied that she didn't.

Gajeel had seen color before she had, but even if she was legitimately happy for him, she felt a bit jealous.

Although as Gajeel had been telling her these days, the legend is "fucked up" and there is "no way that blue-haired shrimp is my soul mate." She thinks it's just because he wants another chance at meeting the little bookworm; a scenario that would be a hundred times better than pinning her on a tree.

The guild was warm, and Juvia had never felt happier. The lasting chill that the rain had brought with it had finally disappeared, and she felt like a different person. She didn't feel alone anymore, because she had real, genuine friends—Lucy was incredibly nice to her (but is still a love rival!) and Erza and Natsu had accepted her, as well as the rest of the guild. Of course, there was also her best friend forever (even though he would never admit it) Gajeel and her Gray-sama.

I finally found him, San-sensei, she thought, fondly recalling the woman who had taken care of her as a child. He's wonderful.

Looking at her beloved Gray-sama sitting a few tables away from her, however, she felt a bit disappointed. A person's eyes were gray when they weren't able to see color yet, based on Gajeel's story. Sadly, Gray's eyes were still gray, and he showed no sign whatsoever of his world having shifted or changed, that way hers had.

"Yes, but he didn't see color when he saw me. Sometimes things like that happen. It just means he was made for me, but I wasn't made for him."

What if he wasn't meant for her? What if she was the only one who saw color when she saw him? Her mind was riddled with a thousand what ifs, and she didn't think her questions would be answered.

Juvia flinched visibly in her seat.

Whatever the case, she would continue on loving her Gray-sama; the person who stopped the rain and gave her light, a gift she would never be able to return no matter how many gifts she gave him. He gave her a home, accepted her despite her history, and treated her like a guildmate. A comrade.

And she was happy with that.

Cana looked at her, a hint of worry on her flushed features. "Something wrong, Juvia?" the drunkard asked, and Juvia shook her head, a smile immediately replacing the frown on her face.

"Nothing's wrong, Cana-san; Juvia's just happy to be here in Fairy Tail at last."

The water mistress looked at Gajeel, who was currently sitting on stage with his beloved guitar, microphone lacrima in front of him as he sang his trademark shooby doo bop, and she raised her fist high in the air in support for her best friend (because if she wasn't going to cheer for him, who was?).

He heard from Cana that Juvia had sacrificed herself so that the cards mage could continue.

"Are you serious?" he had said, tossing his shirt over to another table. "She's a water mage! Those things were made out of electricity!"

"Serious, serious," Cana replied, waving a hand over her face while nodding. "A water mage who wanted to be accepted in Fairy Tail. Stupid girl, right? She's didn't have to do that, she's already part of Fairy Tail in the first place. I mean, seriously, compared to Gajeel, she's practically an angel. She didn't even do anything wrong in the first place, aside from kidnap Lucy."

Gray didn't respond, and instead tossed his feet over the barrel beside him. He watched as Cana downed another bottle, releasing the tip with a delighted look on her face. Gray sighed. Cana did have a point. Juvia was only acting for what she believed was right, and had never really done anything wrong to deserve hate.

But—he glanced at the water mage seated beside Gajeel—she seemed to be enjoying herself anyway.

"Say, Gray?" Cana asked, interrupting his thoughts. He grunted in reply. "I forgot, Mira was asking if you wanted to be the prince in a Fantasia float."

"Prince? Me?" Gray scoffed. "No way. She can asked flame brain to do it, I'm no prince, as cool as I am." Cana snickered. "No pun intended."

"That sucks," the cards mage commented. She suddenly opened her mouth, and her voice rising to several octaves, shouted, "JUVIA! WANNA BE A PRINCESS IN THE FANTASIA PARADE?"

"Eh?" the water mage nearly spit out the tea she had just been drinking. Gray was actually a little glad she had enough decency to actually approach Cana and speak normally. "Cana-san, is something the matter?"

"Mirajane asked if you wanted to be a princess in the Fantasia parade," Cana repeated. She was twirling her beer bottle in one hand, watching as the liquid swirled in its place.

"J-juvia? A P-p-princess?!"

Gray watched as her expression turned from neutral to unrivalled joy in a matter of seconds, her blue eyes sparkling in delight as she took Cana's free hand between two of hers, nearly jumping in delight. "Are y-you serious Cana-san? Mirajane asked Juvia to be a princess? Oh, she has never been a princess! It's going to be wonderful! Juvia would absolutely love to!"

"Too bad for you this ice mage doesn't want to do it," Cana said, shaking her head as she slapped Gray on the shoulder blade. "He would've been your prince." Gray glared at Cana openly, opening his mouth to protest, but Juvia beat him to it—

"Gray-sama would have been the prince?" Juvia placed her palms on her cheeks, squealing. "But that is too good to be true! Imagine," and the blue-haired girl was off to la-la-land, giggling and grinning.

"Too bad he doesn't want to," Cana repeated, louder this time. Gray was about to tell her off for trying to guilt-trip him, but Juvia interrupted him (again).

"Gray-sama doesn't have to do it if he doesn't want to," Juvia told him, smiling softly. "Juvia is happy enough as it is. And Juvia will do anything as long as it makes Gray-sama happy!"

"Yeah yeah. Just come to Mirajane later and tell her ya wanna do it. And tell her Gray's not up for it either."

Juvia nodded enthusiastically, waving her hand goodbye as she bounced over to Gajeel, surprising the dragon slayer as she squealed beside him. She looked so delighted just to be able to play the part that Gray did feel a little guilty for not wanting to play her prince.

"Cana," he stood up, walking over to the shirt that he had discarded. "Where's Mirajane?"

The parade soon found Gray Fullbuster beside a beaming Juvia Lockser, the latter looking happier than she had ever been before and the former hiding a smile as he watched the blue-haired mage marvel at the crowd, atop a float that his ice and her water created.

The itchy prince suit was a little worth it.

Edolas was. . . weird, to say the least.

Natsu had finally discovered what happens when you meet your soul mate (the dense idiot), and what it meant for him and Lucy. The two were still not discussing it, however. So as he watched Lucy Ashley and Natsu Dragion wrestle, he couldn't help but think back to his own story.

"Why are you not wearing anything?!" a surprised voice said behind him, and he turned around, an extremely clothed version of himself facing him. "It's cold! And that's my body you're showing off!"

"I'm an ice mage, I'm used to the cold," he told himself—really weird—eyeing Gray Surge from head to toe. "I'm guessing you're the opposite of me."

"Do you have a Juvia in your world too?" Gray Surge asked, smiling. "Juvia-chan's wonderful, isn't she? Did you stop seeing color the moment you met her as well?"

Oh.

Oh.

He never really gave it much thought, but he had started seeing color after his fight with Juvia. It took a little longer to process, but when he stared at the sky, it wasn't the usual white or gray. It was a lighter shade, a pretty shade that shined with the sun.

When he had looked at Juvia's sleeping figure, he noticed that her hair was a darker version of the sky, and he figured they were the same color.

Gray Surge was still talking. "It's okay even if I lost the ability to see color when I met my Juvia. It was worth it." He was grinning with pride, and Gray felt icky just by looking at his counterpart.

"I didn't lose the ability to see color when I saw Juvia," Gray said, shaking his head.

"What?" Edo-Gray looked positively outraged, his eyes growing as wide as saucers. "That's impossible! Why—My Juvia-chan—even though she would never admit it, she lost her ability to see colors when she saw me too—we're soul mates, in the other world—why—"

The heavily-clothed mage looked disappointed, seeking out the world's Juvia. "Juvia-chan!" he said sadly, calling out to the girl. "The other world's Gray said that he didn't lose his ability to see color when he saw his Juvia. But we're soulmates, right?"

Edo-Juvia looked at Edo-Gray, before brushing him off, waving her hand goodbye as she headed towards the mission board.

"She usually does that," Edo-Gray told Gray, shaking his head. "I don't mind."

Gray felt his body begin to glow, along with Natsu and the others. He almost smirked at the sight of Edo-Gray's disappointed face. "I didn't lose my ability to see colors when I saw Juvia," he reiterated. "I gained it."

In a flash, Gray Fullbuster was gone.

Gray Surge beamed. He and Juvia were soul mates after all.

She could've been Gray's partner had he not been chosen for the S-class trials as well.

Now, Juvia would have gladly partnered up with Gajeel, but he had set his sights on "setting things right with that shrimp" and she happily stepped aside—because for once Gajeel was, in his own words, "setting things right."

She would have partnered up with Cana, but the cards mistress was also chosen for the trial.

Lisanna was kind enough to be her partner, and she felt very comfortable working together with the white-haired girl. Despite this, something wasn't right.

Their magic wasn't really compatible, and she winced as Erza unleashed her wrath upon them. She knew Erza wouldn't really let them off easily just because they were girls and they were her guildmates; that wasn't the requip mage's style.

So, while sighing, the water mage followed Lisanna and Erza to the medical tent. She really wanted to see her Gray-sama because 1.) she was very worried for his well-being and 2.) she wanted to cheer him on because number one doesn't exactly work out because Gray was extremely strong. She didn't even plan on entering the test anyway—it didn't matter whether she was S-class or not, as long as she was beside Gray.

Gajeel, however, vehemently disregarded her sentiment, saying she should be happy the guild even considered her S-class. He said so while pouting.

She had volunteered to help search for Mest and Wendy (even though she was sure that the both of them were safe) just so she could sneak a peek at Gray. It was a little underhanded, and she flinched when Erza volunteered to join her as well. Polite as the mage was, she agreed, and the two set off to search for the missing duo.

Disappointingly, however, what they saw was a very very beat-up Levy, and she and Erza took it upon themselves to search for Gajeel.

And although she was worried for her Gray-sama, she was a lot more worried about her best friend, and according to Levy's story he wasn't doing so well.

Even though Juvia wanted to carry Gajeel back to the base, Levy had volunteered, and she smiled inwardly. Looks like the two were getting along more than ever. Maybe the soul mate legend wasn't really wrong after all.

"A shrimp like you shouldn't push herself so much."

"Says the one who can't even walk."

"Shit, this is a pain."

It wasn't wrong. Definitely not wrong. Juvia knew that her best friend had never used that tone on anyone; Levy was special.

Juvia wants to see Gray-sama.

Erza had set off a signal flare. She knew that in a few minutes, she would be able to see him once again. Juvia almost never saw Gray, especially since he was part of Team Natsu (Gray told her he hated the team's name because it meant that he was Natsu's underling) and the squad was always going on adventures. The short moments with Gray were to be well-spent and stored in her mind, where she would re-live them whenever she was feeling gloomy.

On their way, however, this pink-haired girl who was barely into puberty decided to intervene.

Her blades were strong enough to penetrate the magic that kept her water body steady. With one strike, she was able to feel pain as the blades impaled her. Sensory blades, the enemy said. They were able to detect pain and where she was weakest.

She fell far too early.

But when the girl spoke of hating Gray Fullbuster and spoke his name alongside kill, Juvia Lockser snapped.

To hell with those sensory blades.

"Never forgive?" her voice was dark, returning back to her days of Phantom Lord. "That's Juvia's line." She felt stiff, and oddly calm. A drop of water skidded from her forehead to the side of her face.

It's raining.

"Whose life were you planning to take again?"

She heard Erza flinch in what resembled fear beside her as she walked towards the enemy, body swinging from side to side and anger escaping her features.

"Calm down, Juvia!"

"Calm. . . down? This woman is aiming for Gray-sama. And for something so unreasonable." She looked at Meredy, her eyes uneasy. Meredy's eyes were gray. "Do you think—"

Hell unleashed.

"Juvia can stay calm?!"

The blue-haired girl released unbridled fury, her true powers resurfacing. She was powered by her emotions, anger and fear and love. Juvia's feelings were her fuel, her strength to carry on. Underneath the rain she was strongest, and the water that surrounded her became her domain.

"Erza, leave this to Juvia!" she shouted towards the redhead. "Find the others—Mest and Wendy." She paused, opening her mouth to continue, "And Gray-sama as well."

And when Meredy released another flurry of blades, she sent Tartaros her way.

Gray let out a shout as something unfamiliar burned itself on his wrist, and he looked at it the moment the light disappeared to check if he wasn't cursed.

What the hell is this? He thought, looking at the heart shaped thing that had decided to engrave itself on his skin. This isn't the time—

Before he could continue his train of thought, he placed a hand on his head, feeling lightheaded. What the fuck? A slash of pain on his left arm—shit, this isn't going to last now, is it?

The person he was following turned around, and he grit his teeth and attempted to stifle the shout that threatened to escape.

And of course, with luck on his side, he suddenly felt as if his body was thrown around like bricks. "W-what in the world—"

"This is it," Meredy was saying triumphantly, and Juvia glared at the sight of her as both panted in pain, "Juvia, Gray, and my senses are linked as one. Now no matter which one of us dies—"

Juvia's irises dilated in fear—

"Gray will die too! This is the dead end of despair. This is the dead end of Gray's life!"

"But you will die too!" Juvia said in protest. Her eyebrows wrinkled in worry, clutching her bruised arm with her other hand.

"The three of us can do nothing but die." Juvia could feel the warmth of Gray's back against hers. She couldn't bear to lose him. "Now that I am linked with Gray, I have no need to fight anymore!" the pink haired girl declared, blades appearing in front of her. "All I need to do is kill myself."

"Stop!" Gray-sama, I'm sorry! Gathering her water to her palm, she hit her thigh, screaming in agony. Meredy fell, her blades following soon afterward.

The water was cold against her body, and Meredy was speaking, but none of that seemed to register in Juvia's head. "You still plan on fighting death?!" the pink haired girl screamed. Juvia gave no reply.

"The three of us can live! Even when fighting our opponents," she looked down, clenching her fists, "Fairy Tail wizards do not take their lives!"

"Naïve fool!" Meredy shouted, her voice nearing the point of insanity. "I'm going to kill Gray for Ultear's sake!"

"Not as long as Juvia is here!" she shouted, and she meant it. She trudged over towards the young girl, encasing her small figure. "You have happiness too! You have people precious to you too! Your eyes are gray, did you know that? You haven't met your soul mate yet. You shouldn't die yet. You have to live!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Live! Juvia will live too! Juvia will live for the people she loves! If you have love, you have to keep on living!"

Gray was tired.

He had just lost seven years of his life—well, technically, he didn't lose them as he didn't even age, but still. It was weird walking around the guild with a no-longer-a-child Romeo and a small child that was supposed to be Alzack and Bisca's daughter. Now they were also participating in some sort of arena like roosters in a cockfight.

To add to his confusion, his pathetic excuse for a brother actually looked like he had met the love of his life. What's worse—said love of his life was Juvia.

Gray didn't even know if Juvia began seeing color when she met him—but she did proclaim countless declarations of her love for him so he figured that she did know, she just didn't want to talk to him about it (most likely because he didn't want to talk about it either).

"Seven years and I'm still better than you, Gray. I'm practically your senpai," Lyon taunted. Gray glared at him, because well, the bastard deserved to be glared at.

"You're an old fart," Gray said, shaking his head.

"But pray-tell, my idiot brother," he took Juvia's hand in his, and Gray's eyebrow twitched in anger. Just what in the world was he doing to his nakama? "Why did you hide this beautiful flower from me all this time?"

"I didn't hide her because she probably chose not to show herself to you," Gray retorted, taking Juvia's other hand and pulling her towards her, causing the girl to squeal. "Juvia is my nakama, not yours."

"That's for Juvia-chan to decide, right Juvia-chan?" Lyon asked, Looking at the water mage. Juvia blushed. She actually blushed. Traitor.

"U-uum, Lyon-san, I'm sorry that Juvia came in the way of you and Gray's relationship," the girl said bashfully, and that was when Gray realized that she had completely taken everything the wrong way. Again. "So she should probably go now."

True to her words, Juvia left, waving a hand goodbye to the two ice mages.

"Gray, can you see colors now?" Lyon questioned, crossing his arms over his chest. When Gray didn't reply, he continued. "I'm assuming you can if you don't answer me."

"Yeah, whatever, I don't need to tell an old fart like you."

"What do colors look like?"

Gray looked at the usually proud silver-haired mage, who looked genuinely curious. His eyes fell on the eyes of his so-called brother, only to see that they were a very dark gray.

"Seven years and you still don't know what colors look like?"

Lyon shrugged, shoving his hands inside his pockets off-handedly. "Not my fault I haven't found her yet."

"You still can't see color and you're proclaiming you love Juvia?"

When Lyon looked at him then, Gray stiffened. "It's because I really do."

"Idiot, you haven't even known her for that long."

"Why are you so against this anyway? It's not like—wait," Lyon paused, snapping his fingers in realization. "You saw color when you first met Juvia, didn't you!"

"I didn't—wha—I didn't say that!" Gray sputtered.

"Judging by your reaction, I'm correct!" Lyon said valiantly. "No matter, it's not like Juvia saw colors the moment she met you—"

"She did!" Gray interrupted angrily, recalling Lucy's story.

"That's still not going to stop me," Lyon countered. "I'll have Juvia's heart, Gray! She's not going to wait for you to tell her you love her forever!"

Gray's hand was warm.

She could feel power surging from his touch. She placed a hand over the one he rested atop her shoulder, standing up and gathering her strength. This unison raid, she was going to give it her all. With all her might, her power, and her love.

She wasn't going to let down her Gray-sama.

Their powers united.

She could hear bursts of water and ice erupting from all over the artificial town, and soon enough, Lyon and Chelia were defeated, the latter mesmerized with the power the water mage and the ice mage had displayed.

The both of them exhaled in relief, and Juvia smiled as she panted. They won.

"When are you going to let go of my hand?" Gray asked, gesturing towards their intertwined fingertips.

"Never." She hugged his arm in response, and although he protested, he didn't let go of her hand.

She held his hand until they returned to the stadium, and only let go when she sensed that Gray was starting to become a little awkward because of their closeness.

Gray smirked at Lyon's form.

"You lost."

"You didn't even agree to it, so technically I didn't."

"Still lost."

"Do you love her?"

It was a sudden question he wasn't expecting. First Erza, and now Lyon? Gray turned around, dismissing the question entirely.

"If you love her, Gray, I'll step down and let her go."

He paused in his step, before continuing to walk the path back to their temporary headquarters. He wasn't obligated to answer that question.

Not to his pathetic excuse of a brother.

Mini dragons were attacking the city of Fiore.

She was still bruised from their previous battles, arms covered in bandages and cheeks plastered with band-aids. As bruised as she was, she continued to fight, releasing the last of her water reserves and exhausting her magic to the best she can.

"Juvia!"

Meredy was running towards her, pink hair flowing behind her back as she pushed rocks out of her way to get to the blue-haired mage. She wasn't as beat up as she was, but her clothes were tattered and torn from what Juvia assumed was fighting with the creatures.

"Meredy!" Juvia called, meeting the panting girl. "What are you—"

"Have you seen Ul?" the sensory mage asked frantically, interrupting her question. "I got separated from her!"

"I haven't seen her, but—"

A dragon set itself towards the both of them, a gleam of light shining from its mouth. Juvia gasped.

"Look out!"

In mere seconds, Gray was on top both of them, pushing the two down towards the ground and successfully avoiding the beam of white light.

"Don't lose focus!" Lyon shouted, freezing over the dragon that had dared attack Juvia and Meredy. "This is a battleground!"

"Sorry," Meredy told Lyon, a hand underneath her chin in guilt. She looked up at the silver-haired mage, before blinking twice. "What—"

Lyon blinked back at her, and Gray watched as his somewhat brother's eyes slowly began to cloud over, tinting a dark blue. When he glanced at Meredy, what once was gray began to turn a light pink.

Before realization could dawn on him, he turned to Juvia, face set in a frown.

"Juvia," he said seriously, looking down at the red-faced mage. "Juvia, I want to tell you something."

What could it be? Juvia immediately thought, her imagination beginning to run wild. Perhaps he is going to tell Juvia that he did see colors when he met her! Or perhaps he's going to confess his love?! What will Juvia say?

"W-What is it?"

"O-Oh, it's not important. . ."

"It may be important to Juvia!"

Meredy sighed, shaking her head. "I can tell this involves a huge misunderstanding."

What should I do? Juvia felt pale and warm at the same time, and she placed her hands over her mouth to avoid from squeaking.

"Juvia!"

Juvia turned, eyes meeting a flash of light—it would be too late to release her magic now—what could she—before she was pushed towards the ground, the all-too familiar hand that belonged to Gray roughly thrusting her shoulders—

When she spun around once more, she was met with the sight of a beam passing through Gray's torso, successfully impaling him. Her mouth trembled as her pupils began to dilate, the feeling of fear spreading itself through her body like electricity.

Tears appeared in her eyes, and she couldn't even feel herself move. Before she could gather her strength, though, a few more beams shot the ice mage's already wounded body. . .

And a final blow to his head.

His body hit the ground with a thud. The blood-curdling scream of the water mage echoed across the land.

She couldn't see colors anymore.

might post a sequel! Read and Review :)