This is the first in a series of examples for The NEW Fairy Tail Writing Challenges, of which I moderate. No more entrants are allowed, but feel free to write your own fics with the prompts.

Prompt:

Pairing: Lyon and Juvia, Lyvia

Rating: K to T

Genres: Romance and either General, Humor, Friendship, or Hurt/Comfort. Somewhat fluffy but not SUPER syrupy.

Details: One-shot. We'll start with a wordcount between 1500 and 2000, author's notes and page breaks NOT included.

Extras: Include at least a brief explanation or insinuation that fits with the flow of the story about how Juvia's affection for Gray faded away.

I may or may not love the name 'Lyvia'. But anyway, the example fic for Challenge #1…enjoy! (Maybe...I think it's rather bleh, myself. XD)

Juvia shifted her weight nervously, glancing towards the doors to Magnolia's train station with a strange bubble of anxiety and excitement welling in the pit of her stomach. She wondered how much he had changed in the last two months—and she realized that she had missed him oh so much. The water mage raised her hand and twirled a lock of shining blue hair around her fingers, blushing timidly and looking down at her feet as she recalled the last time she'd seen her boyfriend, Lyon Vastia.

It had been the first time he'd kissed her, and she could have melted into a puddle of absolutely senseless water had it not been for his firm arms around her, reminding her that turning into water at that moment would be rather disappointing.

And the feel of his lips on hers had been absolutely marvelous. Juvia hadn't expected kissing to be so great, but it made her fall a little more in love with the boyfriend she hardly ever saw. Of course, their goodbye kiss last time made her a bit more nervous to see him this time than usual, but it would be fine once she was in his arms again. After her three years of unrequited love for Gray, it was only natural for her to crave the comforting embrace of the man she loved now. And because of all that time in which she was virtually ignored by Gray, she could manage being away from the man who loved her back for periods of time as long as four months if she absolutely had to. Fortunately for both of them, they had only been apart for two months at most, and she knew she truly loved him because their separation made his imminent arrival all the more exciting.

The doors to the train station creaked open gently—the hinges needed a little bit of oil—but Juvia hardly paid any attention to it until two shiny black boots appeared almost toe-to-toe with her.

"Hello, Juvia," the voice sent shivers down her spine in a good way and she turned her head up like lightning to find herself staring into the black eyes of the man she'd been pining after.

"Lyon!" Juvia beamed at him and he smiled gently back, the softness in his expression making her nervousness trickle away. She couldn't help herself; her arms immediately fell around his neck and she hugged him tightly to her. He chuckled and his arms tightened around her.

"I missed you," he said into her hair, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Juvia missed you, too," the blue-haired woman said shyly back, sliding her delicate fingers through his soft snow-white hair. Lyon pressed his lips to her forehead and her face heated up immediately, their last meeting replaying in her mind once more.

When Lyon spotted the rain woman's flushed expression, he laughed and held her at arm's length, admiring her.

"W-what are you looking at, Lyon?" she stuttered, her blush brightening.

"You," he said simply, grinning almost wolfishly at her. "No matter how many times I see it, your blushing face is always the most adorable."

With that, he leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose, lingering a few seconds longer than necessary, just so that she'd turn a fiercer shade of red. His plan worked fantastically, and she spluttered a few times incoherently to boot. The smile on the white-haired ice mage's face was positively glued in place and he could think of no place he'd rather be than visiting his girlfriend in Magnolia.

Juvia Loxar was still a mage of Fairy Tail, and it was obvious that she intended to remain as such even though her love for Gray had fallen through, and Lyon respected that. Fairy Tail and his rival, Gray Fullbuster, had showed the lovely water mage what it was like to have a family and also that true happiness could be found in a guild where everyone cared for each other rather than in a guild where the mages were simply ordered around by their master for jobs.

His girlfriend was who she was today because of all that Fairy Tail—and Gray—had done for her, and Lyon would never forget that.

The distance was rather difficult for the two of them, but they were determined to make it work. Last time it had been Juvia who visited Lyon at Lamia Scale and the time before that they had met halfway. It was obvious that there would be sacrifices to be made in this relationship, but Lyon was willing to face them if it meant he could keep holding her in his arms. Juvia felt the same way on the matter and they understood each other's feelings without even needing to speak. It just came naturally.

"Juvia's face is so warm," she stated unnecessarily, letting go of Lyon to put her hands to her cheeks.

"That's alright," Lyon said, sliding his hands underneath hers. "Mine are cool."

Juvia let a small giggle escape and her fingers curled around his hands on her cheeks as she leaned slightly into one of his palms. This is what she'd missed for the last two months; Lyon's sweetness and the happy feeling she always encountered when he was with her.

The blue-haired woman pulled one of his hands away and brought it to her lips, kissing the chilled skin of one of his knuckles affectionately. She didn't know what prompted her to do that, and he was mildly shocked at her actions, but neither of them really particularly cared because they were finally able to see each other again.

"Where do you want to go?" Lyon finally broke their brief silence once more, linking his fingers with hers as he dropped their hands to their sides. She gently squeezed his hand back, tucking herself closer to him.

"You promised to take Juvia to that new restaurant next time you visited," she reminded him, picking up the purse she'd long ago discarded on the bench beside her and hoisting it to her shoulder. Lyon's free hand soon became occupied with the suitcase he'd brought with him on the train as he started to pull Juvia behind him.

"That's right," he nodded, smilingly. "Just let me drop this off at the hotel and then we'll head right over there."

"Take your time," the water mage insisted kindly, leaning her head against his upper arm as she fell into step beside him. "Juvia doesn't mind waiting a little while."

"Now that just won't do," Lyon responded, swinging their intertwined hands back and forth. "I could never have you waiting on me. You do enough of that when we can't see each other, so when I'm here I'll do my best to keep you busy."

"Juvia said it was fine," she said, looking up at him sternly. "You must have had a long train ride. Aren't you tired?"

Lyon winked at her, and her cheeks flushed faintly pink as he remarked, "It doesn't matter if I'm tired or not. I'm here to monopolize all of your time for this week and I'm not going to leave you idle for a single minute."

Juvia sighed but she knew it was pointless to disagree with him. She could see he was slightly fatigued from the train ride to Magnolia but he was putting up his usual cheerful and energetic façade just to keep her happy. She'd let him get away with it—this time—as long as he didn't collapse or something while they were out. The blue-haired woman knew he wouldn't, of course, but you could never be too careful. Lyon did like to push himself quite a bit, seeing as he was 29 and she was only 20 because of the incident during the S-Class Exams and he didn't want to lose her to a younger man…a man like Gray, although he would never admit it out loud.

He was foolish, thinking she still liked Gray after all this time. She'd been with Lyon for 15 months now and in all that time she had never once considered going back to her formerly beloved Gray-sama. She had decided that he was a perfectly adequate friend but honestly, they couldn't be anything more than that and she was happy to have realized it before Lyon could move on with his life and find someone else to dote upon—not that she loved him for his doting nature, but it was always nice to feel so loved.

So Juvia followed along quite contentedly as they dropped by the inn that Lyon always used to drop off his suitcase and pay for the week in advance. Just as long as she could have Lyon by her side nothing else really mattered to her.

"Lyon?"

She hadn't realized she'd spoken until he looked down and asked, "What is it, Juvia?" but she decided quickly on a rather unorthodox response for her. It took her a few moments but finally she opened her mouth.

In a tiny voice, so tiny that Lyon leaned closer to hear her speak, Juvia whispered, "Juv—um, I…I l-love you."

Just hearing her say 'I' instead of 'Juvia' made his heart race, but she really didn't have to try so hard.

"I know," he smiled at her gently, "Lyon loves Juvia, too."

She flushed and said, "Lyon is teasing Juvia!" to which he just chuckled and silenced her with a kiss. He was avoiding her halfhearted wrath but as soon as his lips touched hers for the second time she couldn't have cared any less.

It had taken a few years of painful unrequited love for her to realize that someone else was there for her, but in the end it had all turned out right and for once, Lyon got to be the hero in someone's eyes. It was a while in the making, but it was happiness. There was no more pain from unrequited love—on either side—and as it turned out, they couldn't be happier with anyone but each other.

She would always feel loved in his arms.

1684 words without author's notes and page breaks.

This is total UGH because I didn't know how to make it longer. It would have made a rather nice Lyvia drabble…but nooooo I had to make the word limit at LEAST 1500 and less than 2000 soooo…yeah. I had to make it fit my own guidelines.

Also, the brief insinuation about why her affections for Gray ended were found here: After her three years of unrequited love for Gray, it was only natural for her to crave the comforting embrace of the man she loved now. And because of all that time in which she was virtually ignored by Gray, she could manage being away from the man who loved her back for periods of time as long as four months if she absolutely had to.

NOTE: I am in fact a Gruvia fan but I lovelovelove the name Lyvia so I had to make a Lyvia pairing fic.