Beyond the memory

Summary: During a festival, Juvia fainted inexplicably. To understand her sickness, she will have to relive her deep memory.

AN: I do not own Fairy Tail.

It is my first attempt to write in English. It's not my first language, I tried to do my best but I'm sure there are some mistakes. So if you find any mistake, please, let me know and I will fix it!

It is a translation of one of my stories but any constructive criticism is welcomed!

I hope you will enjoy this!

Chapter 1: Meeting in the rain

Until now, it was a nice day. Gajeel and Lily were gone on a mission with Levy, so Juvia had joined the Team Natsu. Fortunately, their mission had well ended – no much buildings destroyed – and they were on the way back in the middle of the afternoon. They reached the town of Ipomea in the early evening, but they couldn't manage to catch a train to Magnolia. The next train was planned for the following morning.

Then, they went to the hotel and in the hall, Wendy saw a billboard about a festival which would take place that night. Reluctant at first, Gray and Natsu were convinced to come with the girls.

Immediately, Natsu and Happy went to the food stalls and the others watched acrobats and dancers. Erza's eyes sparkled in front of a theatre stage and she grasped an actor, asking to play a role as well. Feeling danger, Gray walked away to a drink stand. With so many people, the weather was too hot for him and he tried his best to not stripping in the crowd.

"Do you know this?" the man asked when Gray took the drink. "It's a specialty produced with our orchards."

It was cold and sweet, with a taste of fruits and grilled hazelnuts.

"Gray-sama..."

Of course.

Like always, Juvia was beside him. She had his jacket in her arms. When did he strip it? He took his jacket and to thank her, he passed his drink to her.

"Want to taste?"

He regretted his act in the instant seeing Juvia's face in her daydreaming world. He waved his hand before her, she woke up and blushed. Hands shaking a little, she closed her eyes and took a sip of the drink.

Her eyes widened and she looked at the glass with surprise. The seller seemed worried by her reaction.

"Miss? Anything wrong? Don't you like it?"

She shook her head.

"No, no... It's good but..." She took a second sip, eyes closed longer. "It's good, really. But Juvia feels nostalgic... and a little sad."

She seemed lost in thought, eyes fixed on her drink.

"Juvia? Are you okay?" Gray asked, surprised with her strange behaviour.

She was startled and looked at him strangely then she blinked and her face was normal again.

"Yes! Juvia is fine. We should join the others, Gray-sama"

The evening went on cheerfully but Juvia didn't laugh so much with her friends. The feeling was still here and now she had a headache and felt nauseous. The drink was not the cause, she was certain. It was deeper. Sometimes, she thought she saw Gray looking at her with a worried face. But it was probably her imagination.

Suddenly the crowd froze, people went on the side of the street to create space in the centre.

"What's going on?" Natsu asked.

"It's the parade" a man answered. "Artists will go down the street before stopping on the square and giving a last show."

Adults took their children in their arms or on their shoulders for a better view. Juvia raised her head and saw other people on balconies with large baskets.

"They are there!" a shout went up.

Like after a signal, on the balconies, hands went to the baskets and threw its contents on the crowd.

"Oooh! It's beautiful!" Wendy exclaimed. A shower of white and yellow flowers, like little stars, was falling on them.

Yes, Juvia thought. It was beautiful. But why was she so sad? Why did she want to cry?

She felt something brush her hair. She turned and saw Gray with a flower in his hand.

He held his hand out towards her and explained with a light blush on his cheeks. "It was in your hair."

She blinked and for a brief moment it wasn't Gray leaning towards her but a man with brown hair, little glasses and the warmest smile she had never received.

But the vision disappeared replaced by Gray's astonished face. Then her vision was burred with little black spots, her hearing declined and she fainted in the ice mage's arms.

"Wendy!" he shouted, freaking because this faint wasn't the normal faint with red cheeks and hearts in her eyes.

The young Dragon Slayer tried to apply her magic but she soon shook her head. Juvia's body was fine and she had nothing to heal. They carried the unconscious water mage to the hotel and alternately they stayed at her bedside during the night.

The next morning, they took the first train to Magnolia to go to Polyuska as quickly as possible. A few minutes before the arrival of the train, Juvia woke up and Lucy, who was by her side, took her hand.

"Juvia? How do you feel?"

The water mage seemed confused. She watched the worried faces of her friends before raising a hand to her chest.

"Juvia ….feels a sting… here." She finally answered. Then a tear rolled down on her cheek

"Juvia. What is happening?" Lucy asked softly.

"I don't know, I don't know" Juvia repeated with more tears falling.

In Magnolia, they went immediately to Polyuska's hut, Juvia supported by Erza. The healer welcomed them in her usual way; Juvia was laid on a bed and others – except Wendy – were ejected from the house.

While her friends waited outside, Erza went to the Guild to report the event. Inside the hut, Polyuska asked few questions to Juvia to know her actions and her feelings before her faint. Juvia told her about the strange taste of the drink and about the vision of the unknown man.

"Hum…It could be a hallucination caused by the drink" Polyuska thought aloud."But if Gray is fine… Have you really never seen this man?"

"Yes...No... I can't give him a name but... He was a little familiar... as if I had met him a long time ago. But he wasn't in Phantom Lord and there were no men at the orphanage."

"A long time ago, heh?" Polyuska repeated pensive.

At this moment, the door burst open and a very upset Gajeel stepped into the room.

"What happens to Sprinkler?" he bellowed. "Titania said she fainted!"

"Gajeeeeel!" Levy implored behind him.

The others stayed in the entrance for security and watched the healer's reaction. She was trembling with anger.

"Be quiet! My house is not a mess ! My patients need calm! They don't need a jerk appearing out of nowhere and bawling like a pig! Out!"

"No!" Gajeel shouted "I'll stay here until I know what she has!"

They faced each other for a long time but in the end, the healer gave up with a sigh.

"Do what you want! Humans are so stubborn!"

Taking this as a permission, the others came in and Lucy asked shyly "Do you know what she has?"

With another sigh, Polyuska replied while selecting some vials with old labels "Maybe. I'm not sure. I think she had blocked old memories and one of them broke and crossed the barrier. Now her mind is clouded. To settle this, she had to revive her deep memory."

"Is not too dangerous?" Levy asked with concern "If she had blocked her memory, they could hurt her."

"Not necessarily." Polyuska turned to Juvia who had remained silent until then "But the choice is yours. Do you accept the risk?"

Before answering, Juvia closed her eyes and once again she saw the face of the unknown man and his smile. She felt a pang in her heart and the melancholic feeling increase. He did not want any harm. She wanted to know who he was.

"Yes. Juvia is ready"

Polyuska nodded and cut a strand of blue hair.

"Hey" Gajeel protested but Polyuska's glare silenced him.

With Wendy's help, Polyuska made a potion, and with Juvia's hair and other ingredients she made a mixture. She put it on Juvia's forehead and cleavage.

Then she watched the assembly and asked bored. "Will you all stay here?"

They nodded in synchronic. The old woman sighed again and asked Juvia if she was okay with that.

"You'll revive your deep memory. You could even see things before your birth. I extracted your essence from your hair. It contains a part of your history. It connects you to hidden things. Intimate things. I'll follow the events from this lacrima" She pointed out the globe on her desk. "Do you agree with your friends watching?"

"Yes. I don't want to hide anything to them."

"Good. Drink this. You'll sleep deeply and you'll be able to access at your past."

Juvia drank the potion and immediately she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Few minutes after that, the lacrima began to shine and all eyes turned to the image appearing inside it.

###

When the image became clear, they could see a figure of a man crouching at the edge of a flowerbed. He was in a park with a lake below. It was peaceful, with chirping bird and duck calls.

"What the fuck?" Gajeel grumbled "Why should we watch this guy planting flowers?" But Polyuska scowled at him and he remained silent.

The brown hair man stood up and wiped the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. His face was friendly with blue eyes behind little glasses. He looked at the sky which was now covered with clouds. Then he put his tools in his satchel and went down the path to the lake. The rain began to fall and his pace quickened.

He saw a belvedere next to the lake and he went to shelter under his roof. With a sigh of contentment, he brushed his hair with his hand to dry it. Hearing a noise, he froze before turning slowly.

Beside him was a young woman looking at him with a gentle smile. She had long blue hair and stood straight like a lady but her posture was softened by her warm smile.

"Juvia?" Lucy whispered with the same surprise like the others.

The young man blushed and stammered. "So...Sorry. I... I didn't see that there was someone here."

The woman shook softly her head still smiling. "Don't worry. It's okay." She offered her hand to him.

"Alma Sonata."

He went to take her hand but saw that his hand was wet and covered by dirt. Blushing even more, he passed his hand over his shirt to take off the dirt but couldn't clean it totally. With a crimson face, he took her hand shyly before giving her his name.

"Jim Lockser."

AN: If you like the idea, please tell me.

I hope my English was good enough. I'm a bit nervous.