Summary: Gruvia reunion, set towards the end of Alvarez arc. After losing Juvia, Gray is consumed by darkness and goes on a rampage against E.N.D. Only one person has the ability to stop him, but will she succeed?

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, but damn if I did you can be sure that it's gonna be 90% Gruvia on every page.

"Gray…sama?"

Juvia stood motionless at the sight in front of her. A dark figure that looked like Gray howled and screeched to the sky, fists clenched in rage. Patches of black painted the majority of his torso, and the colour of blood replaced the once calming blue of his eyes.

He was completely devoured by the darkness in his heart.

Already harbouring severe injuries, Natsu barely dodged Gray's punches. Lucy, Happy, Wendy, and Carla watched on with worry, knowing better than to interfere in the battle between the two best friends.

"This can't be…" Lucy cried. "Natsu… Gray…"

Up until now, they had been pretty evenly matched. But the more Gray gave in to his curse, the more his powers amplified. If Natsu doesn't knock the ice mage out right now, this could be the end for him.

"Gray, get a grip on yourself! I don't want to fight you like this."

Gray responded by kicking him square in the jaw. The dragon slayer swore under his breath and brought his arm back, preparing to use one of his strongest moves. He didn't want to have to resort to this… but if he didn't, Gray in his state of mind would without a doubt bring harm to anyone who gets in his way of defeating E.N.D. And if anything were to happen to Lucy…

Natsu shook his head. No, he won't let that happen. With eyes ablaze, he readied his stance.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia's voice pierced through the air, stopping Natsu in his tracks. The ice demon slayer ceased his growling, and for a microsecond, his eyes flickered to blue.

The blunette dashed across the rubble and restrained him in a crushing hug.

"Please… stop. Natsu-san is your friend."

In that instant, Gray stood still. Juvia shivered against the body in her arms that felt colder than ice itself. Tears welled up in her eyes when her fingertips grazed the rough and bloodied skin of his back. How much pain had he gone through since the last time they'd seen each other?

"Ju…Juvia…?" Gray managed to mutter. But his voice had taken on a deeper, raspier tone as a result of trying to fight the curse earlier.

She looked up at the man who is her everything. His face may still be contorted into a scowl, his eyes may be a completely different colour, and half of his face may be covered in disturbing black marks. But he was still the person who took her rain away, gave her the opportunity to make friends, fall in love… and died over and over for her.

"You're…alive."

As soon as those words fell out, the relentless curse took ahold of him once more, this time it came back stronger and stained even the white of his eyes black. Juvia winced when she felt something cold and sharp dig into the flesh. Gray writhed in her hold and clawed at her back, growling to be released.

"Juvia, get away from him!" Natsu screamed.

The water mage only held on tighter.

"Yes, Juvia is alive! And this time, she won't leave you no matter what." Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks, mirroring the blood that's trickling across her back. "So please…."

She just wanted her Gray-sama back. The same Gray-sama who would stiffen up and grumble whenever she nuzzled up against him, the same Gray-sama who would sweat profusely whenever he catches her naked, the same Gray-sama who would rather kill himself than harm her.

She had been selfish. How could she think that sacrificing herself for Gray and letting him live to grieve over her would be for the best? All this time, he had thought he lost her forever. To have so many loved ones give away their lives to protect him… he must have beaten himself up over how useless he felt. All she did was add to the body count.

"Juvia is sorry, so sorry." she cried. "If ever faced with death, she will make sure to come back a thousand times—no, a million times, so she could stay by Gray-sama's side for the rest of her life!"

Gray stopped trying to break free, and his panting gradually stabilized. His ice claws pulled out of Juvia's flesh and disintegrated into loose shards, and the human hands that were revealed settled gently on her bloodied back.

"Juvia…"

The black marks on his torso and face retracted, and tears formed in his now icy blue eyes.

"You came back," he stated softly.

Relieved, she said, "Juvia never left your side in the first place, Gray-sama."

Upon hearing that, a sob escaped him and he brought her small frame closer, holding on for dear life. And for the second time in his life, he bawled shamelessly into Juvia's chest, almost child-like.

She reached over and cupped his tear-stained cheek with her hand, wiping the wetness away tenderly.

"Everything will be okay now. Juvia promised that she'll live for the ones that she loves." A smile spread across her face. "Don't let anyone say that Gray-sama is doomed to suffer never-ending misfortune, because Gray-sama will always and forever be surrounded by friends who love him dearly."

Gray's own large hands covered hers that were still holding on to his cheek, and a serious expression settled on his features.

"Juvia. I promised you an answer."

Her mouth formed an o shape briefly before beaming at him happily. "It's okay Gray-sama. Juvia knows your answer already, especially after she felt you kiss her before losing consciousness."

Startled with his mouth gaping like a dying fish, Gray pulled back from her embrace and looked away, blushing furiously.

From nearby, Carla sighed and rubbed her temples. "See? What did I tell you, she imagined the whole thing of course."

A small "eep" from Wendy made Carla look over with curiosity. "What is it Wendy?"

The blue-haired girl pointed a shaky finger at the couple before them, and the Exceed followed her line of sight to see Gray kissing Juvia passionately.

Her jaw dropped, horrified and beyond shocked. When did those two—? Whipping her head back to the sky dragon slayer whose face was redder than a tomato, she yelled, "Wendy, close your eyes!"

Natsu just watched the display before him with a deadpan face.

"Well well, so this is what it takes for Gray to finally be honest with her," Lucy mused with a smile.

"Aye sir!" Happy said.

Natsu suddenly turned back. "Hey Lucy, let's kiss too!"

"YOU BLOCKHEAD, DON'T SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT SO CASUALLY!"

A/N: Aww, Lucy only said that because she wanted Natsu to kiss her spontaneously too. ;) Anyway, I had fun writing this! Poor Gray, I just hope he'll finally be able to tell Juvia how he feels when he sees her again. Because if anything, Gray needs to learn that life doesn't wait around for us to overcome our inner tsundere.

And as always, reviews are very much appreciated! ^^