A/N: Hi miinnaa! Sorry for the long wait! Thanks for your reviews! Here's the next chappy, enjoy~ ヽ(^o^)ノ

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is not my property.

Chapter 8

"Now, stop crying Juvia."

"But…" she sobbed as she tied a piece of cloth around his body. "But it is Juvia's fault for not waking up. And now Gray-sama is injured because—"

"I said don't worry about it." He tried to stand up, "It's just a little—", then he felt pain. It was stinging his body. He wanted to think it's just a little cut, but he knows the truth. If she had not interrupted the attack of the intruder earlier, his whole body might have been cut into two right now. "I should even be thankful to you because you saved my life."

"No." She shook her head, "Juvia was too late. Gray-sama is now hurting so much."

"I said I am fin—", he knew he couldn't handle it. He fell down to his knees and tried his best to endure the throbbing ache.

She ran to him, "Gray-sama shouldn't push himself too far. Since Gray-sama and Juvia already finished the job, they can just rest here for a while."

"But I don't think it'll be good for me." He looked at his wound, "I might suffer from blood loss and worsen my condition further."

"Actually…" she took out a small bottle from her pocket, "Juvia has been practicing healing magic with the aid of water. Unfortunately, she had a hard time perfecting it and managed to do only a little." She then opened the lid and started manipulating the water inside it. "It will sting a bit but this will be good for Gray-sama's health."

Seconds later, he gave her the go-signal, indicating that he is ready.

She slowly brushed it against his wound and he couldn't help but close his eyes because of the pain.

"If it is hurting, it means the infection is being cleansed. It will help clean the wound and at the same time, stop the bleeding. However, it cannot close the cut. Juvia is sorry…" She looked terribly sad.

He tried opening his eyes, "It's okay. I will be fine in no time… For now, let us stay here first like what you said." He looked at her, "I'm counting on you."

She felt motivated, and so she smiled. She had nothing on her mind but the thought of curing the love of her life. She is saddened enough with the thought that she caused it. If she had just snapped out of her dream as early as he kept on tugging her and saying "Juvia, wake up", she would have assisted him in the fight. Now, it is her turn to return the favor and ease his pain even just a little.

She viewed him but it seemed like he was looking at the direction where home is. "C-can Juvia ask what Lucy and Gray-sama's plans are?"

"Well…" he answered though feeling discomfort, "We've decided that we're staying together 'til the baby is born. After that, we don't have any plans yet. But right now, all I have to do is protect her."

"Oh… So, where is Gray-sama staying?" she prayed that she wouldn't hear him respond 'in Lucy's place' because who is she kidding? Of course she is feeling jealous over what happened to them.

"In the attic in Lucy's apartment. It's quite small but I'm okay with it."

In other words, they are almost staying together. Technically, one can say that they are living under the same roof. They just have different rooms but still, they are basically living together.

She understands the situation and she is trying her very best to not feel envious but it is very hard for her. She has always loved the guy ever since. But she doesn't want to show how she is feeling jealous because she doesn't want to be seen as the villain. After all, it isn't her fault that she fell in love with him.

When was it that the lover is considered the wrong one anyway?

All she feels is that she loved him first, but why is it that the conditions are always against her? Gray is with Lucy in Team Natsu, they practically know each other before he met Juvia, and now they are forced to stay together. Wherever she looks at, the odds are always at Lucy's side, however there is something she knows that the Celestial Mage couldn't top her against – and that is the depth of her love for him.

Somehow, she is still hoping that maybe, her love will be enough to bring them together… no matter how blurry her path to him is.

"U-hmm…" she hesitated before finally asking, "But if this didn't happen, Juvia means if not for the sake of the child, Gray-sama wouldn't have gone through all these troubles, right?"

She avoided his gaze as much as she was afraid to hear his response. What if he says that he's starting to learn how to love the Celestial Mage? What if he says that right now he already has feelings for her? She was afraid that her path to him might transform from being blurry… to nonexistent.

He sure was taking too long to respond. And so, she decided to look at him.

Now she understood why he didn't answer – he was already asleep. Perhaps, it is because of too much pain.

And at that moment, she realized how much better she felt without him answering her question, without him hearing even a bit of it.

.

.

"Will you be okay now, Lu-chan?"

"Yup! Thank you for coming with me! I'm sorry for all the trouble." She bowed her head.

"Don't worry about it! Ja` I'll go now!"

She bid the Solid Script Mage goodbye as she entered her room.

She placed in the fridge the food that she bought and then turned the lights off. She looked up at the ceiling, wondering… wondering about how the Ice Mage is doing.

She knows that they will probably be back by tomorrow and somehow, she doesn't feel excited at all. She feels that there must be something that happened between him and Juvia. But she shouldn't care… After all, who are they to each other?

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Hang in there, darling…" she touched her belly, "I'm sure he'll be back for us — for you."

To be continued…

A/N: Sorry if you see mistakes! I'm sorry too if there are no GrayLu moments in this chap, but I assure you that this is necessary for the story's plot! See, I want to give a different mood to this fanfic compared to my other GrayLu fics! Please feel free to review, thanks! \(◦'')/