AN: I really seem to have a sadistic streak going for Juvia at the moment. Short thing written up in twenty minutes.

Revised: 11/07/14

Juvia Loxar was well known for her unrequited love revolving around a certain ice mage.

Infamous for it, perhaps.

Many shook their heads with a small smile when they witnessed her antics involving Gray. Others laughed. Meanwhile, some simply watched with vague interest on how the situation would pan out including the pair.

But nobody seemed to realise just how much unrequited love pained the water mage.

Because that's what it was.

Love.

Juvia had experienced crushes before, fleeting infatuation for others in her early teenage years. So she knew the difference between such shallow feelings and her emotions regarding Gray. As obsessive and amusing her antics were, she really did love Gray Fullbuster. He was the one who had cleared the skies for her, the one who had been the first step towards a happier life within Fairy Tail. And she could never thank him enough for what he'd done in helping her find a life that allowed her to smile brightly.

So yes, some may chuckle at how vocal she was of her love for him, or how she stalked him, or acted obsessive... but she didn't care. This was her first time experiencing love, experiencing such a strong and deep emotion that connected her to somebody else, so even if she did go overboard on this new found emotion, she didn't care.

But of course, then time passed.

And what had once been blissful happiness soon became painful.

She had always held onto the hope that one day Gray would return her feelings – maybe not with as much vigour, but she'd wished he'd at least like her to some extent. That some hint of infatuation would surface which she could tightly grasp onto.

But it never happened.

And that was when she turned to crying herself to sleep at night, all the fantasies she had involving her and Gray in love became painful to think upon. Because that's what they were – fantasies. Not real.

And they never would be.

"Juvia wishes she was not in love with Gray."

Lucy glanced up from her book, meeting Juvia's gaze across the table. "Hm?"

Continuing to stare downwards as she drew invisible patterns on the wooden surface with her finger, the water mage shook her head lightly. "Nothing, Juvia is mumbling to herself."

"Oh… Okay." Lucy replied unsurely, sending her an odd look. She paused for a moment before offering an earnest smile. "But if you ever need to talk Juvia, don't hesitate. We're friends, right?"

Juvia nodded as the blonde returned to reading, blue eyes wandering over towards Lucy. Despite the kind offer, Juvia knew she would never speak to her about her thoughts, because Lucy couldn't possibly know how she was feeling or sympathise with her. She hadn't experienced unrequited love, the man she liked - a certain dragon slayer - was quite clearly head over heels for her too.

"Oi, Juvia!"

"Huh?" Eyes widening at the voice, Juvia lifted her head only to find none other than Gray – a half-naked Gray at that – standing there with hands on his hips as he stared down at her. Before she could even say anything else, he was speaking on. "That mission you mentioned a while ago, I just saw it and need the money, so fancy going together?"

Gray… wanted to go on a mission with her?

He grinned. "What'd you say?"

Instead of smiling, or swooning, or any other form of floundering, Juvia found herself feeling… empty.

Because no matter how much she wanted to believe otherwise, she knew the offer was nothing more than what it was: a job. There was no underlying meaning to it or subtle hinting at 'something more', Gray was simply asking her as a friend to join him on a mission.

And it hurt.

She wanted to move on, to forget she ever had these feelings for the ice mage and discard them from weighing her down further. But then he'd go on and do something like this, that try as she might, would end up making her heart flutter when he sent a grin her way, and those feelings she tried to quench down would resurface.

"Juvia?"

Realising she had said nothing, she forced a smile. "A-Ah… Sorry Gray, but Juvia is too busy at the moment. Maybe another time, thank you for the kind offer though." Standing up and giving a small bow of the head in his direction, she turned and walked off, intent on putting as much distance as she could between them.

"Hey, when did Juvia stop adding 'sama' to the end of your name?" Lucy asked.

"Hm?" Realisation dawning on him, when Gray realised that yes, she no longer used the honorific, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh... Huh, I don't know, never noticed..."

Leaving the guild behind as she walked down the moon-lit streets, Juvia leaned against the wall of a nearby building, head tilted back as she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, the cold air engulfing her lungs.

She hated unrequited love.

Reopening her eyes, the young woman suddenly found tears prickling at the corner of her eyes and blurring her vision.

And she hated Gray Fullbuster.

Tears finally escaping, she lifted her hands to rub at them, only to result in more falling as she cried, and cried, and cried some more.

Hated him because she loved him so much.

But even that couldn't compare with how much she hated herself for falling in love with him to begin with, for being unable to move on.

Hiccuping, Juvia squeezed her eyes shut, sniffling as her body shook with her sobbing. How many more nights would she spend crying over the man who'd never love her back? How many more months, or years, until she could move on from this unrequited feelings?

"Juvia wishes... she never fell in love."

AN2: 11/07/14: I feel like I can now admit that back when I wrote this, I was experiencing some heart-break from a rejected love, and since I had no idea what to do, I took to creating this small thing at the time to write out my feelings. So the emotions Juvia's portrayed as feeling here, are the ones I felt back then. It feels kinda silly looking back at this now. (^_^;) But I'll keep it up...