Somewhere along the lines of meeting Juvia, Gray had learned to tell the difference between rain weather and Juvia's rain. It's hard to explain but when her rain hit his skin, it didn't feel like water, it felt like her touch. So when it started to rain after two hours of waiting for Juvia in front of the park, he knew something wasn't right. For one, he doesn't mean to be self-centered, but there was no way the water mage would pass him up for anything. And for two, there was no way she would keep him waiting. Things weren't right with the rain but he felt Juvia through it. He felt her calling for him and so he just started to walk and somehow her rain started to lead him to Lucy's apartment and Gray unknowingly followed.

At first he felt guilty, he was supposed to meet Juvia for a dinner date and yet he found himself in front of the door of the home of one of his most trusted friend. Female friend. Random thoughts jumbled through his mind and he couldn't help but be worried that maybe something happened to Juvia and instead of trying to find her, he's going to Lucy's apartment. He pulled his hair in frustration and mentally yelled at himself until the door swung open.

"Juvia?" Gray greeted with a surprised expression.

"Gray-sama," Juvia greeted back. "Please, come in."

He did as she told and stepped inside. She closed the door behind him.

"What's going on?" Gray started to question. "Why are you here? Weren't we supposed to have dinner together?"

"Yes, but.." Juvia looked away. "Something happened."

"What? What is it?" he asked frantically.

"Lucy-san. Something happened to Lucy-san." On that final note, Juvia held Gray's hand and led him to the bedroom where she tucked Lucy in earlier shortly after she fell asleep.

"What's going on, Juvia?" Gray interrogated.

"Juvia will tell you later, but Juvia needs you to watch Lucy for a moment."

"Wait. Why? Isn't she just sleeping?"

"She's injured, Gray-sama. We're not going on our date today, but that's okay because Juvia has something to take care of. So please, watch Lucy. Her feet and knees are injured so she might have trouble getting up."

"What happened?" Gray asked with concern in his eyes.

"Juvia promises that she will explain everything later. But please, watch Lucy-san. Juvia doesn't want her to be alone when she wakes up."

Gray nodded, signaling his agreement to Juvia's request and sat himself on a chair before watching his date leave the room.

"Fucking trees!" Natsu cursed as he removed another splinter with his teeth. "Hmm...at least the rain had stopped."

Natsu really needed to invest in some high grade punching bag. However, he figured that if he could knock trees down with his fist, he would probably punch a hole in a punching bag with a light tap. He really needed to respect nature a bit more but it seemed as though the forest was the only place he could calm himself down in. He didn't like the way things are with him and Lucy. The simplicity of friendship had long crossed the boundary lines and he really believed that there was no way things could go back to the way they once were from when they were just friends. In truth, he was angry at himself for yelling at Lucy like that. He wasn't exactly known for self control but he had never treated Lucy the way he did back at her apartment. It was just that, he was so angry and unsatisfied.

Why did things turn out this way? Why was he the only one in love? She was probably on a date with that guy. He felt himself boiling just thinking about it. But that didn't give him any right to treat her like trash. She should be able to date anybody she wants but that doesn't mean that he didn't want it to be himself. He continued to mull over the situation, unsure as to whether he should apologize or not. But in truth, he had decided to give up on Lucy. Things should go back to the way before; before all this love shit happened.

Natsu was so deep in thought that he didn't even realize that Juvia had appeared until she cut his face with a quick movement of her water slicer ability. Her eyes had long gone dark and he saw the seriousness drawn on her face. She wanted to combat him.

"Juvia," he started to speak, "I don't have time for you." And he turned around so that he was no longer facing the water mage.

She hit him again with her water slicer, not even holding back for her fellow guildmate.

"What's up with you, water woman?" he asked challengingly. "You wanna fight? Fine. But I'm not holding back just cause you're a girl." He lit his hand up with his fire.

"Juvia doesn't expect you to," Juvia finally said before jumping for an attack.

A clash of the elements was occurring. Fire against water. Water against fire. Two opposite elements battling against each other. Natsu had never fought Juvia before and so he was unsure of her fighting technique but he quickly realized that she was a whole lot better than he thought. But if Gray could beat her than so could he. He threw another punch to which Juvia quickly maneuvered against. She was definitely fast with amazing agility. Neither of them could land a hit on each other. He tried using his fire breath but it proved pointless since Juvia merely dodged it and even managed to put it out with her water several times. For Juvia it was the same, Natsu earned the title Salamander for a good reason and he quickly dodged her water attacks as well.

The fight seemed to last for hours. The two mage at such an equal level that their abilities remained so matched, that neither was able to give out.

"How dare you do that to Lucy-san?"

Hearing the Lucy's name caused him to hesitate, in which Juvia quickly used this opportunity to not hit him with her water, but to punch him straight in the face. It was such a powerful punch that Natsu's body shot back. He had no idea that she housed that much strength in her other than her water abilities.

Juvia was panting. The fight took a lot out of her but she didn't care. Natsu deserved another punch in the face but she figured she has to get back to Lucy.

"What happened to Lucy?" Juvia heard his voice ring out through the silence.

"Natsu should know."

"What happened?" At this point, he shot up. He was worried. He knew that Juvia hated Lucy. Or at least that's what he thought. Something bad must have happened if Juvia was willing to beat him up because of it.

"Natsu," Juvia interrupted his train of thought. "Natsu should see her for himself. Juvia is angry at Natsu because he gave up on Lucy."

"Huh?"

"Lucy never gave up on Natsu," Juvia calmly explained. Her eyes started to swell with tears. "So Natsu shouldn't give up on Lucy. Please..." Juvia started to cry. "Please...don't give up on Lucy."

With that final word, she left and went back to the apartment, leaving the fire dragon slayer to sit back in the forest amongst the broken trees.

When Juvia got back Lucy still soundly asleep. She sat silently on a chair next to the bed beside Gray and watched over Lucy like a mother watching over her child while she told Gray everything that happened from the moment she found Lucy in front of the park. When she was done, she saw a tear dropping from Lucy's eyes and she quickly grabbed a tissue from the end table and wiped away her tears.

"So even in your sleep you are sad," Juvia whispered.

Gray got up and headed towards the kitchen to make something for Juvia to drink. He didn't know exactly what happened but Juvia was a mess. Her clothes were all ripped up and her hair looked like badgers attacked it. He didn't question it since she seemed so focus on Lucy at the moment but he did convince her that Lucy wouldn't mind if Juvia borrowed her clothes. Lucy's wardrobe didn't exactly cater to Juvia's taste and so she blushed slightly when she put on the short shorts and the tank top that belonged to Lucy. Juvia wasn't the type to show as much skin as Lucy so she felt a little uncomfortable with the level of air that passed around her body. Gray chuckled lightly as he thought of Juvia and he was in the middle of putting the tea bags in the cups of boiling water when he heard the door click open. He exited the kitchen and saw Natsu walk in. And in blind anger, her launched himself towards Natsu and punched him in the face.

"What's your problem?!" Natsu shouted.

"What's my problem?!" Gray punched him again but Natsu dodged quickly. "I don't know?! How about the fact that Lucy can't fucking walk because of you?!"

"What?" Natsu was confused. What was Gray talking about?

"How do you think I feel when I have to help walk my friend to the bathroom because her feet are so badly damaged that she can't even hold herself up?! And for what?! For an idiot like you!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Natsu shouted back.

"You slanted-eye bastard! You better leave this apartment!"

"Why should I?! I come here all the time! Wait, what were you doing in her apartment in the first place?!"

"Natsu!" the sound of her voice caught him by surprise. It was her voice. Lucy's voice.

Both Gray and Natsu stopped their shouting and quickly shot a glance at Lucy who was being held up by Juvia at beginning of the hallway.

"Stop it! Stop fighting!" Lucy yelled. She took a step and winced in pain, losing her grip on Juvia. Lucy collided to the floor and Natsu watched with a horrified expression.

"Luce," he started to call out to her as he got to his feet and headed towards her to help her up.

"Don't touch her!" yelled Gray. Natsu looked back at him. "Don't you dare touch her. You've done enough."

Natsu ignored Gray and continued with his earlier task but was beaten to it by Juvia who was already helping Lucy onto a chair.

"Luce..." he tried to say once again.

She looked up at him. Her eyes were filled with sadness and they pleaded to him.

"Why didn't you stop?" she cried out. "I ran after you. I called out your name. Why didn't you stop?" she asked again.

"I-" he didn't really have an explanation for this. Instead he stuttered and just stood there staring at her in silence. Lucy looked away disappointingly.

"Go away," she said firmly.

"Luce! I'm sorry!" he apologized.

"Don't call me Luce! Leave!"

He wasn't sure about what to do. On one hand, he wanted to just wrap his arms around her and hugged her tightly and beg for her forgiveness. But he was afraid. He was so afraid that she would never forgive him. That she would push him away. Lucy had already become so distant from him since she got back. The heart that he had been able to touch ever so slightly had been locked away and he couldn't bear for her to drift farther from him than she already has. So he obeyed her with a nod and left without another word. When the door closed behind him, Lucy started to cry again. She had spent the entire day crying. She figured that she would run out of tears but with Natsu, she would never shed enough.

"Lucy," Juvia said comfortingly.

"I'm sorry," Lucy apologized. "I'm sorry for being like this. I'm sorry that you have to take care of me."

"It's alright," Gray assured. "You're our friend."

"Gray-sama?"

"Yes?"

"Could you please get some more antiseptic? Juvia will need to clean Lucy's wounds again later."

"Alright." Gray agreed and headed out the door. "But if I see ash-for-brains, I'm not holding back."

When Juvia heard the door click closed, she turned to Lucy.

"Juvia is sorry," she said apologetically.

"For what?" Lucy asked.

"Juvia told Natsu to come see you. Juvia didn't realize that Lucy didn't want to see him."

"It's okay, Juvia."

The silence that followed their short conversation was awkward but in a way it was pleasant. Sometimes being in the presence of silence between friends is a gift given. Words don't always have to be said for there to be understanding.

"Neh, Lucy?" Juvia asked again.

"Yes?"

"Juvia knows that it's strange for her to say this, but-" She paused awkwardly to see how Lucy is reacting to her. When she saw the hint of curiosity in Lucy's eyes, she continued. "-But Juvia doesn't believe that everything is lost."

"What are you saying?"

"Lucy is crying because of Natsu. Because you care about him. Maybe your tears are are not a sign of sadness but the result of you starting to love him again."

Lucy was unsure of what to say back to Juvia. Juvia could either be right or wrong when it came to this. She contemplated the matter for a while. On the outside it looked as if she was angry at Natsu for leaving her but in truth she also caused herself to be in this situation. She didn't have to run after him. She could have just let him leave on his own. But...the look in Natsu's eyes when he saw her in front of her apartment wasn't that of anger. When he yelled at her, it wasn't out of anger at all. It was out of...sadness. She knew that Natsu felt strongly for her. It was obvious with the way he acted towards her since she came back. However, she couldn't be cruel to him and reciprocate his feelings for her no matter how much she wanted to. So why exactly did she chase after him?

Lucy's eyes widened in shock as she started to come to a realization. She chased after him because she wanted to explain things. She wanted to show Natsu that what he saw was just a misunderstanding. But why? Why not just let Natsu think that she was on a date?

Because maybe just maybe she wanted Natsu to still love her even though she didn't love him. She wanted him to still follow after her, to still take care of her, to still be there for her. How could she be so selfish as to want something as this? How could she wish for such a thing? Lucy really believed that she was the most despicable human being on Earth. She selfishly wanted Natsu to love her, to give his heart to her. His heart belonged to only her while her heart remained untouched by him. That was what she wanted. Lucy couldn't help but sadly smile with tears running down her reddened cheeks at the realization. Since when had she become such a monster?