Confessions

The war against Zeref and the Alvarez Empire was finally over.

Fairy Tail had won.

But at what cost?

The Master had died. Innocent lives were taken, cities were destroyed, the entire nation was in ruins, and wounds had been left on the wizards who had bravely fought. Some would heal, some would never heal. They were all left with scars that would never fade away.

Gray was one of them.

He sat among the rubble of what once was a old, huge and proud building, as he gazed intently at the three people who sat just a few feet away from him.

"Really, Wendy-san….!" Juvia tried to reassure the younger girl, who was extremely worried over Juvia trying to get up and walk, since the injury that had almost killed her wasn't healed yet. "Juvia is fine, she's had worse!"

"The last time you attempted anything as strenuous, you collapsed and fainted," Carla sniffed. "Give me one reason why Wendy should allow you to get up."

Juvia flushed and looked down. "Juvia will be more careful this time…."

Gray got up slowly, ignoring the sting from his numerous wounds and limped over to the trio, who stopped their bickering and looked up at him in confusion.

Juvia cocked her head to one side. "Gray-sama?"

"Is there anything you need, Gray-san?" Wendy asked politely. "Have your wounds perhaps reopened?"

"No, everything's fine," Gray waved off her concerns. "I just need to have a word with Juvia. Alone."

"Ah, of course," Wendy got up hurriedly, Carla following suit. "Come, Carla, let's go check up on Erza-san's wounds."

"Right."

Gray watched the two until they were out of sight, before sitting down beside Juvia. Now that he had a closer-up view of her, he took the chance to observe her keenly.

Her face, arms and legs were with bruises, small cuts and minor injuries. There were bandages wrapped around various parts of her body, most notably, her torso. Her normally impeccable hair was stained with dried blood and her clothes were ripped and torn almost beyond recognition, just barely preserving her modesty.

"Gray-sama?" Juvia's voice brought him out of his reverie.

"How are you feeling?" Gray asked abruptly, shaking his thoughts away.

"Much better, thank you," Juvia smiled at him. "How about Gray-sama?"

"I'm fine," Gray replied. "Listen, Juvia….."

"Yes?"

"Remember when I told you that I'd give you your answer after the war ended?"

Juvia's pale cheeks were instantly stained with crimson and her eyes widened in shock. Gray raised an eyebrow almost mockingly at her.

"Don't tell me you forgot?"

"N-No!" Juvia stammered. "J-Juvia would never!"

"Good," A ghost of a smile formed on Gray's face. Clearing his throat, he spoke once more.

"When we first met, we were enemies. I remember that day quite well, y'know? You were pretty badass and you were fighting me as if your life depended on it. I honestly thought I was gonna lose for a second there, 'cause you were awesome.

"Then you joined Fairy Tail and my life instantly turned upside down. I knew about your feelings for me…I'd have to be as stupid as Natsu not to, after all…but I wanted to ignore them. I thought it'd be a slight infatuation, I told myself it'd go away. But I was wrong.

"I found it kinda annoying at first," Juvia flinched slightly and Gray paused. She however, motioned for him to continue and he did.

"But your showers of affection, your stalking…..and everything, really, started to grow on me. We started to get to know each other better, we trained together, fought battles together, took jobs together…..everything really. I couldn't understand why you loved me so much. I couldn't understand how you could be so brave to declare your feelings for someone and not get hurt if they rejected you."

"Juvia was hurt," The water mage interrupted softly. "Every time Gray-sama rejected her, she was hurt. But Juvia loved Gray-sama too much to let him go."

Gray chuckled. "That's a lot like you. I, on the other hand…"

He clenched his fists, "I was afraid. I was afraid of loving someone that way, of letting them get close, of losing them, because that's what happened to everyone else I loved. I was afraid of the pain. I was afraid of the sensation of loss it would leave me with.

"And then you came. I did my best to keep you at a distance, but I failed. I began to get to know you more, and I began to want to know even more about you.

"On Tenrou Island, when Ultear attacked you, I was angry," Gray drew in a deep breath. "But more than that, I was afraid. I just couldn't lose you, no matter what. And when Lyon was flirting with you I was so irrationally jealous. I didn't have any idea why I was feeling that way, because it was never supposed to happen, I was never supposed to fall in love with you."

"Gray-sama-"

He didn't let her finish. "When the dragons attacked, in the future that was supposed to happen, before Ultear saved us all, you saw it too-I pushed you out of the way so that I could take that hit for you. I would've done it again, even if I didn't know what was going to happen. At that moment, it didn't matter what happened to me, I just had to save you.

"I don't blame you at all for Tartaros, I never did. Because not only did you save me, and help Dad to move on-you also told me the truth, even if you were afraid of me hating you after that."

"Juvia could have never lived with herself if she hadn't," She murmured.

Gray let out a rough laugh. "See, that's the thing about you-you're so honest. And selfless. You cared more about my feelings than your own.

"During the six months we lived together-I think that's when I realized it. I had been in love with you the whole time and I didn't even know it.

"When I had to infiltrate Avatar and leave you all alone-it hurt like hell. I couldn't stop thinking about you, I couldn't stop wondering and worrying about whether you were okay or not. I was so relieved when we finally reunited.

"And then…..the war. You nearly died so that I could live, Juvia," His voice was quieter now. "I never felt more like dying than at that moment. I cursed myself a hundred times over for not telling you while I could, for being such a coward, for not being able to save you."

Gray glanced at the bandages covering her stomach. Juvia followed his gaze and winced.

"I almost lost you. So I'm not going to wait anymore, Juvia."

He placed one hand over hers and looked her in the eye.

"I'm not sure when…..or how…..but somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you, Juvia.

Juvia stared at him for a while. Then, she looked down and her shoulders began to shake as tears coursed down her cheeks.

Gray panicked. "Wha-What are you crying for?!"

"Nothing," Juvia sobbed. "Juvia-is just-so happy!"

Gray laughed lightly as Juvia flung her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder. That was the old Juvia, alright.

He took hold of her chin, tilted her face up and their lips met.