Author's Note: This story is a combination of several ideas that have been churning in my head for months. It's basically my attempt to turn the tables on Gray. ^-^ As always, I hope you enjoy reading this, as much as I did writing it. ^_^

Gray and Juvia had found themselves out together, on what could only be called a date, although neither of them had called it that aloud. Gray had asked Juvia, who had said yes to the outing before Gray could even get all of the words out. He had felt the stares, and heard the amused murmurs around them at the guild when he had invited Juvia, but he didn't care. He was a man on a mission, and he would not fail again.

And that's how he came to be standing on an abandoned road that night, staring into Juvia's dark eyes with their faces inches apart. He slowly and intentionally crept closer, trying to close the distance between them. He could feel his heart racing, and he hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt. He could see Juvia, too, was leaning closer, her lips slightly parted, and her own face tinted pink. They were so close now, that he could feel her breath mingling with his own. And then suddenly, just as he was about to reach for her cheek with his hand, in order to bring her lips to his, Juvia's eyes widened, and she turned swiftly out of his grasp. She backed nearly ten feet away from him in what could only be described as sheer panic.

"A-ah!" she said, her voice shaking. "It's getting late, Gray, we should head back. Yes. It's very late." She sounded like she was half laughing, half crying, as she spoke to herself more-so than to Gray, who stood dumbfounded in the middle of the road.

Not again! Gray thought in frustration, as he watched Juvia's head dart around, seemingly terrified of meeting his eyes. The star-strewn sky watched over them, and it was as if Gray could feel every single star laughing at him.

"Uh, it's not that late," Gray said, scratching his head as he watched the blue-haired woman fiddling nervously with her bag.

"Don't be silly, Gray-sa-uh Gray, we have to get up early tomorrow, we're having that official welcome party for your father at the guild. There's lots to do. Yes, Juvia will be going. Good night!" And without a backwards glance, Juvia hurried off.

Gray could do nothing more. His hand was left hanging in mid-air, a failed attempt to call her back over to him, but the words didn't come soon enough. She had now disappeared down the road, and out of sight.

Gray breathed in deeply, and then ran his hands through his spiky black hair, dismayed over another failed attempt. What was going on? Gray just did not understand why this was happening.

Over the last two weeks, Gray had made an effort to engage Juvia romantically. He had made up his mind, and was now in full pursuit of this girl. And he wanted to do things right, but he was being cut off at every turn. Why things were turning out this way, he just could not fathom. If anybody had told him two weeks ago, that kissing Juvia Lockser would be such a difficult task, he would have laughed in their face. This was the girl who took a simple challenge aimed at a rival, and turned it into a proposal for marriage. This was the girl who clung to him, and used any and every opportunity to get close to him. This was the girl who wanted him to spank her, for crying out loud. Was that all just talk? Or maybe, she was fine when she was the one in pursuit, but when the tables were turned, she got scared?

Gray sighed. Whatever the problem was, Gray was reaching his wits end. He could not take it anymore. It had become more than a matter of setting things straight between them. It had now also become a matter of pride. He was going to kiss that girl, if it was the last thing he ever did. Gray looked out into the silent night, and thought back to that talk he had, had with his father Silver, the advice he had been given, and the decision he had made that day.

Nearly two weeks ago, Gray had been sitting with Silver under the shade of an oak tree. Juvia had insisted that Gray and his dad spend more bonding time together, in an effort to catch up on the years they had spent apart. Their relationship had been somewhat strained, as both had previously thought the other had been killed during Deliora's attack on their village when Gray was still quite young. Their paths on how to deal with this grief over the following years could not have been more different. While Gray had been rescued by Ur and Leon, and later joined Fairy Tail, Silver had come to his senses under the rubble, only to find his wife's dead body, his home and town in ruins, and his son missing. He had thought Gray's body must have been so utterly destroyed, that it was no longer recognizable. He swore vengeance on all demons from that day onward.

Silver quickly realized, after much travel and study, that one of the only methods of killing a demon, was to have powers equal to them. The quickest road to this, was to become one himself, and studying in the ancient art of demon slaying, for supposedly only a demon could slay a demon. He joined Tartarus soon after, despising himself, and those around him, but growing stronger all the while. He had nothing left in the human world to live for, other than revenge, and so he drank in everything Tartarus could offer him, and further detached himself from his past life, while never letting go of his original intent. He had never been on Tartarus' side. They were merely a means to an end as far as Silver was concerned. He would use them, learn as much as he could, and then, when the time was right, he would cut off the demon's head from within it's own den, and then take himself out along with it. However, that was before he knew what had truly become of his son.

Silver had no idea Gray still lived, and was now an accomplished mage from one of the most famous guilds in Fiore. It was only when Tartarus waged war on the human world, that he had come into contact with the son who so resembled him. With this reunion, Silver again had a reason for being, and a person worth protecting. However, he had still taken a very destructive path, helped cause a lot of harm to the world and his son's friends, and was now an enemy of humanity. Gray's realization that his father was now a demon, a creature that Gray both hated and feared in equal measure, was obviously a painful truth to swallow. But, when Silver explained himself, and his despair, and helped turn the tide in Fairy Tail's favor against Tartarus, Gray had embraced his dad, welcoming him back into his life once more.

However, things were still quite awkward between them. They were a lot alike, but that in itself was the main problem, because neither was very good at expressing themselves. Juvia hoped some time alone might rectify this issue, and so, after preparing a lunch for them, she saw them off from the guild with a cheery wave. Silver had thanked her for the food, and they made their way to a field not too far away, where they could supposedly have a pleasant father-son chat. Several minutes of silence passed between the two, before Silver happily started up on a particular topic.

"So, Juvia-chan told me that she's in love with you."

Gray nearly choked on his ham sandwich at the abruptness of the embarrassing statement. Silver slapped him on the back with what Gray thought was unnecessary force, but recomposed himself, as he took a large gulp of water. "And?" Gray coughed out, trying to sound indifferent, but he could still feel a blush creep across his face nonetheless.

"And," Silver pressed on mercilessly, "she said that you rejected her. Is that true?"

"What of it?" Gray countered, not meeting his father's steely eyes.

Silver let a sigh escape his lips. "Why? Do tell, so I can better understand my son's inner workings," and he pointed to his head, and made a swirling motion with his finger, a wry smile on his face.

"I have my reasons," Gray said vaguely, wishing his dad would just drop it already. Ever since Silver had come back into his life, he had been surprisingly meddlesome. And not out of fatherly concern, in Gray's opinion. It seemed like Silver's newest ambition in life, was to make Gray as uncomfortable as possible, and especially when it came to Juvia. His father had taken to the water mage immediately, and had become greatly interested, and to Gray's displeasure, deeply amused by Juvia's blatant affection for Gray, and especially Gray's reactions to her unending pursuit of him.

"Juvia says it's because she is something you don't like. Or, at least, that's what she said you had told her."

"That's right. So?" Gray asked, a bit harshly, as his irritation became elevated at the reminder of his own words of rejection.

"I find that hard to believe," Silver replied, still quite casually, almost as if he was quite enjoying his son squirming under his interrogation.

"Believe whatever you want," and Gray, abandoning the leftovers of his lunch, got up to leave, having had enough.

"Listen, brat, I understand you far better than you'd like to think I do."

His back to his father, Gray rolled his eyes, but he stopped walking away at these words.

"It's obvious to anyone with half a brain that, that girl is dear to you. We're entering a dangerous time in all of our lives right now. I just don't want you to have any regrets. Because, I can tell you first-hand, living with regrets… it isn't really living," he finished heavily.

Gray turned back to him, and the rare, serious expression on Silver's face somehow annoyed Gray even more than his usual teasing one. "Do you have any idea how many people I've lost?" he asked suddenly, a cold intensity to his voice, as he stared down at his father. "Not just mom, but my teacher Ur, and her daughter Ultear. I watched them all disappear, and I'm still here because of them. I refuse to put Juvia in a position where she feels the need to…" Gray trailed off, shaking his head.

"So, you're trying to protect her, is that it?"

"What's wrong with that?!" he asked angrily.

"You're an idiot, that's what's wrong," Silver replied, and there was a humorless smile on his face.

"You think I'm funny?!" Gray spat at his dad, anger bubbling over. "You think it's funny to watch people suffer and die for you? I wont put her through that. I refuse to lose her, too!"

"And what makes you think you'll have a say in it?"

"What's the suppose to mean?"

"I've seen the two of you during battle, remember? You told me yourself, everyone in your guild thinks of each other as family. And you're trying to tell me that girl wouldn't give her life for you, just because she doesn't happen to be your girlfriend?" Silver laughed, but not mockingly. Rather, there was a pitying look on his face.

Gray could feel something heavy sink into the pit of his stomach, as he let his father's words wash over him. He stood there, limp with realization.

"I thought… if I could just… push her away…. Make her angry at me, she wouldn't want to…."

Silver sighed. "Yeah, I think that's a pretty lost cause. In case you didn't notice, that girl is crazy about you."

Gray said nothing, but he could feel the heat rise in his face again.

"She told me, you know, that you had already saved her several times, and in more ways than one, apparently. You sure go through a lot for something you don't like-"

"Oh shut up!"

'In my opinion," Silver continued calmly, ignoring his son's fury, "the best way to keep her as safe as possible, is to keep her as close as possible. If she's always by your side, she's easier to protect." Silver shrugged.

At this reasoning, Gray could feel his anger draining away. He stared at his father, who continued to smile casually up at him.

"Just an idea," he added, before taking a bite of a brownie Juvia had prepared. "So good," he proclaimed, impressed.

Gray hesitated only a moment, before walking back the few feet to his dad, and his half-eaten lunch. He sat down again to finish his sandwiches.

"Do you love her?" Silver asked nonchalantly.

Gray didn't answer immediately, and instead chewed his food with unneeded focus. He could feel his dad's gaze on him. Then, he nodded curtly.

"Great, it's decided. You have to let her know!" Silver said happily.

"I-I can't do that!" Gray burst out in panic.

"Why not?"

"Because, she'll probably pass out, or something. Or maybe she'll think I'm proposing, or who knows what! Her mind works differently from ours, old man. Telling her that, can not end well."

"Hmmm," Silver pondered, crumbs from the brownie coating his chin, and making him look far less fearsome than he normally did. "Well, there are ways to get a point across, other than words."

Gray raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Like what?"

"How about just grabbing her and kissing her?" Silver said enthusiastically.

"A kiss?"

"A kiss, or as it had been in your mother and I's case, several, plus a few other things," Silver grinned suggestively.

Gray shook his head, as if trying to get the images out of his mind. "Stop! I get the idea."

"So, you'll do it?"

Gray imagined himself kissing Juvia. Truth be told, it was a scenario he had played in his head many a time before. But, he had never seriously considered acting on the urge. However, his dad, despite his many other flaws of reason, did help him come to a conclusion he had been struggling with for weeks. He did love Juvia. He did want to protect her. He did want to be with her. And most importantly, he wanted her to know this. As his dad had said, he didn't want to have any regrets.

Should the worst happen, and either he or Juvia didn't make it through this war, did he really want Juvia to never have known how he really felt about her? To die, without having kissed, or touched, or been with Juvia? The prospect of either of them dying was a horrible thing to consider, but the idea of doing so with those unexplored feelings never connecting was admittedly far worse. And as his dad said, it does make more sense to keep her by his side, rather than at a distance.

He then thought about how he'd initiate a kiss, and how she'd respond. All the scenarios Gray had thrown at Silver passed through his mind, but he found that he didn't care that much anymore. That if any of those things did happen, he'd deal with it. In fact, he now felt an affectionate amusement picturing Juvia's reaction to him kissing her. He smiled to himself.

"Yeah," Gray finally replied.

"Good decision, son!" Silver chuckled heartily. "By the way, while you were lost in your own little world over there, I ate your brownie."

Gray looked down at the empty wrapper that had contained his brownie, and then back up at the his dad, scowling.

"You snooze, you lose."

After his talk with his dad, Gray embarked on his attempts to let Juvia know how he felt. Truth be told, he thought kissing Juvia was going to be three things: awkward, embarrassing, but also pretty simple. Well, he got the first two right. However, trying to kiss Juvia had turned into some kind of mental and, at times, physical obstacle course.

He first attempt started well enough. He had asked Juvia to join him on a small job he had chosen. He figured, by the end of the day, he'd have accomplished his task, and have a nice bit of compensation from completing the job to boot. Juvia even seemed much calmer and more rational for some reason. She had even dropped the "sama" from his name, although she still slipped into the more respectful title every now and again, and was being altogether more relaxed. Gray took this as a very good sign, and did everything in his power to encourage her in this change of attitude. In fact, he quite liked her this way, and it made him calmer as well, which was good, because he needed to be calm for what he was planning to do.

After they had completed the job, and had secured their payment, they headed back to the guild. Gray asked if they could stop for a bite to eat before making their way back into town. When Juvia had agreed, he decided a good way to lead into his eventual intent, was to let her know that he was pleased with Juvia's behavior that day. So, as they walked, and ate the hotdogs they had bought from the vendor, Gray spoke up.

"Hey, I noticed you're calling me just Gray now."

"Oh," Juvia started, before blushing slightly. "Yes, well, Juvia thought, we've known each other for a while now, so…"

"Yeah, exactly," then he realized that she looked a bit worried. "No, it's a good thing. I like it!" he assured her.

He saw her let out a sigh of relief. "That's good," and she smiled at him. "Juvia wants you to know, it's because Juvia thinks of you as a very good friend, Gray, and not because she respects you any less," she explained seriously.

Gray laughed a bit. "Don't worry, I didn't think that at all. I'm glad you feel we're close now," and he smiled at her, too.

"Yes….D-do you think we are close?" she asked nervously, not meeting his eyes, as she took another small bite of her hotdog.

This was good, Gray thought, anticipating what he was going to be doing soon. Yes, Gray was very hopeful with the mood at that point in time. Oh, but how quickly everything started to go awry.

"We could be closer," he said in a low voice.

"Huh?" Juvia looked at him, a furious blush rising to her cheeks at the look Gray was now giving her. "Closer?" she said breathlessly, still clutching at her seemingly now forgotten hotdog, her eyes locked onto his.

Perfect, now to go in for the kill. He moved in towards her. She seemed frozen in place, although Gray used no magic to keep her so still. It was clearly just her sheer amazement at what seemed to be about to happen, that was holding her motionless. Gray's target was within sight. Just a few more inches, and….

"Aaaah!" he could feel the mustard burning his eyes, as Juvia had shoved the remainder of her dinner into his face.

"Gray-sama! Oh my goodness, Juvia is so sorry! She doesn't know what got into her!" she said in panic, trying to wipe the mess off his face with napkins.

"Water!" Gray yelled, as the mustard continued to sting.

"Yes!" And Juvia immediately supplied the water in overenthusiastic amounts.

Gray arrived back at the guild that night, thoroughly drenched, and his clothes stained with mustard, which Juvia volunteered to clean for him. With many more apologies from the blue-haired mage, they went their separate ways, back to their dorms. Gray lay in bed later that night, still wondering what on earth happened. Did she get really nervous, and that's why she tried to assault him with her hotdog? Did she get so entranced, that she forgot she was holding it?

Gray sighed resignedly. He'd have to think of a fresh attempt now. He was not pleased, but he shook it off, and eventually fell asleep.

A few days had passed since the "hotdog incident," and Juvia had already returned Gray's clothes freshly laundered, and with more apologies. Gray waved off her words, insisting that it was all fine.

After much prodding from Silver for information, Gray told his dad about his disastrous first attempt. Silver had a good laugh at Gray's expense, but then had an idea. He wanted to invite Juvia over to his new house that he had just moved into during his relocation to Magnolia in order to be closer to Gray and the guild. He thought they could have a private dinner, just the three of them, and then, when the mood was right, he would slip away, leaving Gray and Juvia alone. Gray initially didn't care for this plan which would give his dad an even more meddlesome position, but after some thought, he acknowledged that the idea had merits, and agreed in the end.

When Silver invited Juvia, she was thrilled. She beamed, and insisted that she would prepare all the food, as a welcoming gift. Silver, having taken a liking to Juvia's cooking, was fully on board with this arrangement. And so, the night of the dinner came, and Juvia arrived at Silver's house, which was a small, but homey wooden dwelling. She found the two Fullbuster men waiting for her inside, round kitchen table already set. They noticed that Juvia bore not only food, but two nicely wrapped and ribboned packages. She was dressed in a cute, white dress, and matching floppy hat.

"Ah, Juvia-chan! Welcome, welcome!" Silver said jovially, ushering her inside, and taking a great whiff, as he helped her with her things. "Mmmm, it smells good already. And what are those?" he asked, pointing to the presents in her hand.

"A surprise," Juvia said, smiling up at him. "They are for after dessert."

"You spoil me, Juvia-chan," he said, laughing happily. He left Gray to Juvia, and began to open the packaged, and still warm meal Juvia had prepared.

"Thanks for coming, and doing all this, I really appreciate it," Gray said in a low voice, as his dad lay the various food items around the table.

Juvia shook her head. "It's my pleasure, Gray. Juvia is very happy to have been invited."

They then all sat down to eat, and Silver, as always, teased the two a bit.

"This is delicious, Juvia-chan. Every bit of it," he said, as he stuffed his mouth full of mashed potato. "You're going to make someone a lucky man some day, aye, brat?" he said, playfully elbowing Gray in the ribs.

Gray and Juvia both blushed at Silver's comment, and Gray hesitated, before making a noise of agreement.

Juvia heard him, and blushed even more fiercely at this.

Silver laughed at her delighted, but embarrassed expression. "You see that, Juvia, the way to a Fullbuster man's heart, is through his stomach!"

Juvia giggled, and Gray looked away, beginning to seriously regret letting his dad interfere like this.

After dinner, Juvia brought out a gorgeous, snow-white, strawberry shortcake, with individual strawberries rimmed around the frosted top, and one centered in the middle. Silver eyed it in delight.

"There should be more than enough for leftovers," she said, as she sliced through it to serve them.

"Juvia-chan, you are an angel. Never forget that."

Juvia laughed. "Silver-sama is too kind," she said, handing him a plate with a slice of cake on it.

Silver didn't hesitate to dig in, as Gray thanked Juvia for his piece. "Oh my… heaven on a plate," Silver said, seemingly in ecstasy.

Gray groaned, "Chew before you speak," he reprimanded, before taking a slice himself. "That's… really good."

"Really?" Juvia said eagerly.

Gray looked at her, and her happy face caused heat to rise into his cheeks. He nodded, and returned his eyes back to his plate, as he heard her sigh.

"Juvia is glad."

Gray took another sly look at her, and saw her smiling contentedly while taking a bite of cake herself. His heart skipped a beat.

Silver looked from one to the other, and smirked, but said nothing.

Once they were done with their cake portions, Silver and Gray both having indulged in a second slice, Juvia wrapped it up, and placed it in Silver's refrigerator. Then, she headed towards the armchair, where she had placed the wrapped packages earlier, and held one of them out to Silver.

"This is for you, Silver-sama, for all the help you gave us during the fights with Tartarus," she said gratefully, as she handed it to the burly, dark-haired man.

Silver opened the package to find a gorgeous, cobalt blue cloak.

"Your old one was so torn up, Juvia thought maybe you'd like it…. Do you?" she asked nervously.

"Like it?" he repeated, running the smooth material through his fingers. "I love it," he said sincerely, giving her a big smile.

Juvia's eyes lit up, and she smiled warmly back, before handing the other package to Gray.

"And this is for Gray." Juvia started to speak again, as Gray unwrapped the package, to find the same cobalt color material within. "When Juvia took Gray's clothes home to clean them, she noticed that Gray's coat was very worn. She patched it up the best she could, but she thought, maybe Gray would like to have something different to wear, every now and then," she finished shyly.

Gray held up a handsome, long coat, that felt both resilient, and luxurious. Gray said nothing at first, he merely studied it, taking in the vast amount of detail, and work that obviously went into making it. There was fine silver embroidery work on the cuffs and collar.

"Juvia hopes it fits alright," she said, still obviously a little jittery.

Gray pulled his arms through it. The silk lining inside felt nice and cool against his bare arms, and Juvia moved closer to pull at the material, so that it sat correctly on his shoulders.

He watched her fiddle with the fitting for a few seconds, before staring up at him.

"What-what does Gray think?" she asked quietly. "I-if it doesn't fit right, Juvia brought a tape measure with her, so she can go back home and fix it."

"It's perfect," he said. "Thank you," and he gave her a tender sort of smile that made Juvia's whole face turn pink with pleasure.

"Well," said Silver, hooking his new cloak in place, "the color looks better on me, but I guess Juvia's superior creations would suit even a brat."

"What did you say, old man?" Gray started, his fist raised.

Silver stretched pointedly. "I think I need to walk off some of this excellent food. I'll be back in a bit. Clean up for me, will ya, kid? Juvia-chan did more than enough for today."

Juvia waved her hands, as Gray scowled at him. "Juvia would be happy to help clean up," she insisted.

"No, Gray will do it. But you can stay and watch if you like," he winked, before exiting the house, and closing the door behind him, leaving the two mages alone.

Gray huffed in annoyance. "Lazy old fart," Gray said, not troubling to keep his voice low. Then he noticed Juvia staring at him. That's when he became uncomfortably aware of the moment his father had created. This was his chance. Still annoyed, but also grateful for the opportunity, he carefully took off his new coat, and hung it on the back of his chair, before collecting up two of the plates, and heading to the sink.

Within seconds, Juvia had joined him with her own plate. "Juvia can wash her plate."

"That's ok, Juvia, the old man's right. You did more than enough."

"Then, Gray will wash, and Juvia will dry?"

She looked hopeful, and like she really wanted to help. He studied her for a second, before giving in. "All right, sounds good."

Juvia smiled happily, and they started cleaning up. It was quick work, as they talked about Silver, and how Gray was adjusting to having his dad back in his life. "He's too nosy. Always trying to get involved in my business."

Juvia, drying the last plate Gray had handed her with a dish towel, laughed.

"What's funny?" Gray asked seriously.

"You sound really happy."

Gray blushed, as she stared at him knowingly.

He looked away, flustered. He then caught sight of his new coat again. "Hey," he began.

"Hmmm?" Juvia said, turning her back to him to add the last dry dish to the pile on the counter top.

"About that coat, I do really, really like it," he said, coming up behind her.

Juvia turned to find herself nearly sandwiched between the counter and Gray, who had moved dangerously close to her.

"Everything today was so much better because you were here," he said honestly.

"Gray-sama…." Juvia said, forgetting herself again in the sheer delight of his comment.

He lowered his face closer to hers, and he saw that she made a similar movement. Inches away from her, he studied her pale skin, and her slightly pink lips. The brim of her wide hat grazed his hair. This was it. And then... it wasn't it.

Suddenly, Juvia's eyes, almost closed seconds ago, shot open, and she moved her head hurriedly back, while grabbing his own head with her hands.

"Wha?" Gray was completely bemused.

'"Tape!" Juvia shouted.

"Tape?" Gray questioned, her hands still clutching at his scalp.

"Yes! Measuring tape," she said hurriedly, rushing away from him, and towards her bag on the other side of the room, where she pulled out a long roll of tape dotted with numbers. "Juvia brought it, right? Because… yes! That's why Juvia was so close. She wanted to measure Gray-sama's head!" she announced, nodding her head emphatically, as if agreeing with herself.

"Why?"

"Because, Juvia is making Gray a hat to go with his new coat!" She went near him again, and wrapped the tape around his head more times than was necessary to get a measurement in Gray's opinion.

She glanced quickly at the number she had measured, clearly in a huge rush to move away from Gray. "There, ok!" Juvia said, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Well, Juvia better get back now. She needs to finish that hat. Gray will have it tomorrow. Um… goodbye!" and she gathered up her bag, and nearly ran from the house, leaving a thoroughly confused Gray in her wake.

Gray simply sat there for several long minutes, replaying the last bit of interaction in his brain, before banging his head on the counter, and succumbing to his failure once again.

Little did Gray know, that on the other side of the small house's front door, Juvia was also replaying a particular moment, as she stewed over what she had just done.

Over two weeks ago, Juvia had been out on a job with Gajeel, and somehow the topic of Levy had come up.

Juvia smiled at Gajeel, as they sat on a grassy hillside, eating lunch, and said, "When are you going to tell Levy-san how you feel, Gajeel-kun?"

Gajeel spat out his mouthful of water, as Panther Lilly chuckled at his side, sipping happily at his kiwi juice.

"What the hell?"

"It's obvious you really care for her, you know? Juvia is very sensitive to matters of love," Juvia said frankly, as she helped herself to another bite of vanilla pudding.

"Mind your own damn business," Gajeel said with irritation.

Juvia had a calm smile on her face that Gajeel didn't like one bit.

"Anyway, are you really in a place to talk?" he half growled at her.

Juvia felt a small jolt in her stomach at this comment, and her smile became a little sad. "Because Juvia was rejected, right?"

Gajeel looked over at her, and seemed to immediately regret what he had said. He struggled for a bit, before saying "It's your own fault for falling for that pervert in the first place." This was apparently suppose to be words of support.

"Gray-sama is not a pervert!" Juvia said furiously.

"Gray-sama… How do you expect things to work out with this guy, if you keep putting him on a pedestal?"

"He's not on a pedestal, " Juvia insisted. "Gray-sama has just done so much for Juvia, she wants him to always know how much he means to her, that's all."

"I'm pretty sure he's gotten the point by now, Juvia," Gajeel said wearily. "Guys don't like girls who get all sappy over them like that." Looking at her agitated expression, he went on, "I really don't know what the hell happened with you."

"What do you mean?" Juvia asked, taken aback.

"You've gone all soft since we joined Fairy Tail. What happened to that scary rain woman?"

Juvia glowered at him. "Juvia doesn't want to be a scary rain woman anymore! That's just how people saw Juvia, but that's not who Juvia is," Juvia insisted angrily. "And Juvia is not soft, she's happy! Being with Gray-sama makes her happy. And Juvia doesn't think there's anything wrong with that."

Gajeel shrugged. "If you say so, but I think you'd have an easier time with the nudist bastard if you had more of the confidence you use to have."

"Confidence…." Juvia let the word wash over her.

"And maybe knock back on those delusions of yours. If you spent more time in reality with him, rather than lost in some fantasy, you'd make more progress. That's all," Gajeel finished, his tone shifting slightly from indifference, to mild sincerity.

Juvia watched the iron dragon slayer finish up his meal, thinking about what he had just said. "Reality, huh?" she said in a low voice, a small smile creeping to her face.

"Couldn't hurt," Gajeel replied back through a mouthful of kidney beans.

Juvia looked warmly at him. "You're a good friend, Gajeel-kun."

"Don't I know it," Gajeel agreed.

Juvia went back to her own food, as they slipped into a comfortable silence, until Juvia spoke her thoughts aloud once more, "Juvia thinks Gajeel-kun should ask Levy-san out on a date."

This time, Gajeel choked on his bread. "Cut the crap!" he shouted, as Juvia and Panther Lily laughed.

As Juvia walked back to her dorm after the fiasco in Silver's house, she thought about everything Gajeel had told her that day. When Gray had invited her on that job with him, she did her best to put nearly all of Gajeel's suggestions into practice. And it all seemed to be working. But then, as they had headed back to the guild that night, it somehow all went horribly wrong. She had tried so hard not to get ahead of herself, and to try and focus on the reality of the situation. She desperately focused on not letting herself get carried away, or reading too much into Gray's kindness towards her.

However, before she knew it, she found herself again imagining an unbelievably thrilling scenario, where Gray was leaning in for a kiss. Realizing just in time what she was doing by leaning into him like that, and how ridiculous she must have looked, she managed to distract him, but at the cost of making everything much, much worse. She then had mistakenly shoved her hotdog into his face. Things had simply spiraled downwards from that point. And tonight, even though she found herself in another blissful moment alone with Gray, her mind acted of it's own accord once more.

She wondered dejectedly what she must look like to him in those moments: the silly girl, with the glassy stare, leaning into an imaginary kissing scene. Juvia, you are such a fool, she thought ruefully, as she arrived at her dorm. Gajeel-kun was right, no wonder Gray-sama doesn't like you.

Silver arrived back at his house an hour later. He noticed that only a tiny light shone inside. He thought to himself if they had perhaps vacated his house for more private surroundings in which to enjoy each other's company, or if he was about to walk in on an interesting display.

He grinned to himself, before slowly opening the door, and calling out in an obvious, and loud voice, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything!" But, as his eyes met the scene before him, he realized quickly that he needn't have bothered with such precautions. Instead, he found his kitchen dimly lit, and his son sitting at the table alone, with a nearly empty plate of what had once been a beautiful strawberry shortcake. One lonely piece remained upon it. Gray sat there, fork in his hand, his mouth stuffed with cake, frosting staining the sides of his face. He chewed slowly, his eyes blankly staring at the wall opposite him.

"Uh…What happened?"

At his father's voice, Gray painstakingly turned his head. "I don't want to talk about it," he said in a hollow sort of voice.

Silver grimaced at the empty look in his son's eyes. Then he seemed to realize something. "Wasn't that my cake?"

Gray said nothing at first, and instead shoved another large chunk of fluffy cake and whipped frosting into his mouth almost defiantly. "Not anymore, " he said thickly.

Silver's eyes narrowed. He closed the front door behind him, and passed through the room. Just before he entered his bedroom, Gray heard his father say, "I hope it goes straight to your hips."

The next day, as Gray sat at a table in the guild, still dwelling on the disaster from the night before, Juvia rushed in bearing the "hat" she had mentioned previously. As she pulled it out of her bag, Gray saw what looked like a blue amalgamation of crochet, fur, and perhaps paper mache, shaped into what could loosely be described as a hat, but it seemed more like a furry garbage pail to him. Gray wondered if she had created it during a crazed stupor.

He wasn't far off. Great bags hung under Juvia's eyes, as she had stayed up all night, trying to finish the hat she had conjured up to Gray in her anxiety, all the while dwelling on her mistake, and worrying what he had thought of her. In her hysteria to leave Silver's house, she had quite forgotten what size she had measured for Gray's head. As she placed it on him, it fell right over his eyes, only stopping as it reached the tip of his nose.

"Oh! Ah, well…. Gray will… grow into it!" she said, hopefully, still a little hysterical.

"I doubt that," Gray said flatly, as Natsu and Happy, who sat across from him were howling with laughter.

Gray raised the brim of the hat up to see Juvia's eyes swimming with tears. "Juvia will fix it, Gray-sama!" she said in a rush, clearly distraught.

Gray put out a placating hand. "No, it's fine, Juvia. Thanks. I'll find a way to make it work. Anyway, I've got to go, I just remembered I have something I need to do."

The truth was, Gray wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, since he saw Reedus eyeing him far too often while he painted. He didn't want the image of his wearing this hat preserved forever on canvas. Once he got home, he dumped the thing on the floor, and threw his coat on top of it, so he wouldn't have to look at it. Sighing, he wondered what his next move should be, and if maybe he was approaching things the wrong way. Maybe he needed to be more direct.

That's when he had decided to ask Juvia out on a date, without actually calling it a date. It went well enough. Really well, actually, and they both had a fun time at a carnival that had come to town. But, of course, once they were again inches away from each other, hovering on the moment when Gray finally thought it was going to happen at last, Juvia had impeded him once again.

Even the next day, at his father's party at the guild, things turned out the same way. Just when he thought everything was going well, with Silver playing match maker, Gray ended up leaning into a fresh attempt with Juvia, only to find himself falling right through her, and nearly chipping his tooth on the edge of the bar. She had activated her water body, in what she nervously claimed was a practice in self defense. Gray spent the rest of the night icing his mouth, and not wanting to speak to anyone, as he sulked in the corner alone.

Gray had nearly had it. He didn't know what to do anymore. Surely she liked him? No, she didn't like him, she loved him. She told him so. She even told his father the same thing. So, what on Earth was going on?

"Juvia," Master Makarov called her up to the bar. "I need someone to deliver this for me," he said, holding out a white envelope. "You're not getting ready to go out on a job, or anything, right? Could you take it to Yajima?"

"Yajima-san? At his restaurant, you mean?"

"Yeah, you know the one?"

"Yes, Juvia knows."

"Good, let him read it, and if he has a reply, wait for him, and bring it back."

"Yes, master," but just as Juvia turned to go, Gray cut in.

"I'll go with her."

Juvia's eyes widened, as she turned towards Gray in surprise.

"She'll be back in less than a day, Gray, she's just delivering a letter," Makarov said, eyeing Gray suspiciously.

"Yeah, but the last time anyone from our guild went there, they ended up getting attacked, right? Better to be safe than sorry. You don't mind, do you, Juvia?" Gray asked casually.

"Uh, no, Juvia doesn't mind," both excited by the prospect of being alone with Gray again, and also terrified about what tricks her mind will play on her this time.

"Good, we'll be back soon, gramps," Gray waved aloofly behind him, and with that, the two departed.

They arrived quickly at Yajima's restaurant. He did have a reply, but he said he couldn't give it that day because of how busy the restaurant was, so he instructed the two mages to leave, and he'd send it with his own carrier later that week. They heeded his request, and headed back for home.

They chatted relaxedly all the way back, and both Gray and Juvia's spirits were high as they headed down the shopping district in Magnolia. It was busy, because it was just passed noon, and everyone was out buying groceries.

That's when Juvia brought up the topic of Silver again. "Silver-sama being back in your life makes you really happy, doesn't it, Gray?"

He stopped walking to look at her. Her expression was gentle.

"I don't know if happy is the right word, but… yeah, it's weird, but a good kind of weird, you know?"

Juvia nodded, smiling. "He really loves you."

"He has a funny way of showing it, though," he said, a touch of annoyance in his voice.

Juvia laughed. "I think you too are a lot alike," she said, wandering over to a display of freshly cut flowers.

"Don't insult me," Gray said, as Juvia giggled again.

"Juvia means it as the highest of compliments… to him," Juvia finished, not meeting Gray's eyes.

Juvia meant to keep walking passed the store and nearby alleyway, and onto the next street lined with more shops, but her hand had been caught. Gray was holding onto her. She turned back to face him.

"Thanks," he said simply, as he moved closer to her, still holding onto her hand.

"For what?" Juvia asked, her voice caught in her throat at his touch.

"For letting me tag along today, even though you didn't need me to. I just… I wanted to spend more time with you," he said, moving even closer.

Juvia's heart was racing, and her mouth was hanging slightly open. "Juvia was very glad that Gray wanted to come. Gray is always looking out for her. It makes Juvia feel so..."

Gray smiled at this. This time, he was going to make it happen. He could feel it. The familiar feeling of leaning in, her breath finding his, and then -

"Ow!" Gray said, as Juvia's forehead suddenly slammed into his own. Did she just head-butt him?

"What are you doing?" he asked her in outrage.

Juvia, her facing burning, explained in a high, panicky voice, "Gray looked like he might have a fever!"

"Eh?! Fever?"

"Yes! Juvia was simply trying to make sure, by pressing her own forehead up against his, to test the temperature," she said quickly, still pressing her forehead to his, without looking into his eyes, as if they were two young deer testing their strength.

"You didn't press it, you slammed it," Gray replied, annoyed.

"Juvia is sorry!" she said, separating herself from him, as Gray let go of her hand. She then pressed it, too, to Gray's forehead. "No! Just a mistake! You feel quite cool. Well, we should really head back to the guild now. Master Makarov will wonder what's happened to us." Juvia said in a rush, and she turned, and seemed about to dash away again.

But Gray had, had enough. "I'm trying to kiss you damn it!" he shouted so loudly, that passersby and shop owners turned to stare.

Juvia stopped in her tracks, and turned back around, as if her body was moving in slow motion.

"Huh?" she said, looking into his eyes, utterly shocked.

His face was burning now, and he lowered his voice. "Don't… don't you want me to?" he asked extremely self-consciously, his eyes not quite meeting hers, for a new fear had popped up, in that maybe she didn't?

Juvia was at a loss. "Kiss… Juvia? Really?"

"Yes, really!" he said, a bit of his exasperation resurfacing again at her perplexed expression. Hadn't he been obvious enough?

"Why do you think I asked you to join me on that job? And why do you think the old man invited us both over, and then left us alone? He was trying to set us up. And that's why I asked you on a date to the carnival the other day."

"Gray didn't say it was a date…" Juvia said slowly, still in shock.

"I thought that was obvious," he whispered furiously at her, aware that people had started to stare again.

"And… that's why Gray wanted to come with Juvia to deliver the letter today? He's trying to seduce Juvia?"

"You…!" Gray started, blushing at how she had phrased his attempts. "You don't need to say it like that!" he insisted. "I was just trying… trying to kiss you."

"Why?"

And her question was so painfully earnest, that it made Gray sad. It had finally hit him that even through all her own pursuits and delusions, that she never really thought them being together was possible after all. He looked into her face, and she seemed so confused, which made his heart hurt even more. Had the rejection caused this disconnect? He knew he needed to rectify it, and there was only one way.

"Because…" he hesitated briefly, and then, "I love you." He let the weight of those words sink in, for both of them. Things had turned out like this after all.

But, Gray needn't have worried about any of the reactions he had previously anticipated from Juvia at this admission. For she did none of the things he thought she would. Instead, it was worse.

"You said that Juvia was a thing you didn't like," she said softly.

His suspicions were now confirmed. "That's not what I meant… Losing people important to me, is the actual thing I don't like."

"Juvia doesn't understand," she said, shaking her head slowly.

He took a deep breath, and plowed on, talking more to the ground, than directly to Juvia, because it was easier that way. He hoped he could get across what he needed to, without screwing things up. "I didn't want you to care for me anymore. I thought, if you stopped caring, I could keep you from doing something dangerous. I almost lost you during the dragon invasion, you know? And the only reason I'm still here is because of Ultear, and now she's gone. And Ur's gone. And my mom…. I just don't want to lose any more important people. And you…" he stopped to look at her. "I never want to lose you. I need you the most. You're the most important."

Juvia gave him the tenderest of expressions at these words, her eyes shining with tears. "Oh, Gray... And here Juvia thought there was no way you could be even more wonderful," she said, her voice shaking, as tears spilled down the sides of her cheeks.

"Huh?" It was now his turn to be confused.

"Gray," she started seriously, clasping his face with her hands, "do you remember what you told me when we first met?"

His brow still joined together, Gray cocked his head slightly to the side, as if struggling to recall.

"When I asked you to hand Lucy over, you told me you'd rather die, than do so. I didn't understand that then, but I understand it now. I would give my life for you in a second if I thought it would save you."

Gray looked downcast at this proclamation, but Juvia went on.

"And I would do the same for Lucy, and Natsu-san, and Erza-san, and Cana-san, and everybody in the guild, because they are family."

Gray still looked upset, but said nothing.

Juvia smiled, her eyes kind and understanding. "However," and she paused, to bring her face closer to his, so that she could look directly into his eyes, "if there was a way for me to save someone, and live, Juvia will always take that route. Gray, you gave Juvia a precious gift. Juvia felt like she had only just started living on that day we met. As if Juvia's life had just begun with that blue sky."

Gray stared at the water mage, who's voice was soft, but determined.

"So, you see, Juvia would never just throw it away. Not if she can help it. And Juvia will always fight to live, because she loves everyone in Fairy Tail…. Because she loves Gray, and she wants to be able to be with him for as long as possible," she finished, a large, heartfelt smile on her face, because Gray was finally smiling, too.

"Oh," was all Gray could say, because he was too overwhelmed with affection for the woman in front of him. He didn't think it was possible, but some of that dread and worry that had been building up inside him for so may weeks had been eased by her words. They were things he needed to hear directly from her.

Juvia let go of his face, and pulled away a bit. "Juvia feels even more ridiculous now, thinking it was all in her head" she said, laughing at herself. "She thought for sure that Gray would never try to kiss Juvia, but all of these days, he was trying, and he didn't give up, even though Juvia acted so silly," she sounded absolutely smitten at this revelation.

At her words, Gray was recalled to his original objective.

"So…" he started, breaking her out of her revelry, "can I kiss you now?" he asked, his tone jokingly impatient.

Juvia looked at him in surprise, but then laughed, and nodded her head, her smile from ear to ear.

Gray, also still smiling, closed the gap between them, their lips parting, as they finally met each other's passionate embrace. Apparently it was not just their magic that worked well together. After a minute or so, they separated briefly, and only to restock on oxygen, their eyes surveying each other excitedly, before Juvia properly pounced on him. Gray toppled backwards from the force, and other than the pebbled street scraping his back a little, he didn't mind the position at all. They resumed their blissful kissing session, the sun shining strongly down on them, until the outraged and shocked voices in their vicinity became too numerous to ignore. When they finally broke away from each other, to survey their surroundings, they realized that there was a shadow now hanging over them in the form of a police officer.

"Uh-oh."

Master Makarov walked into the guild in dignified silence, followed closely behind by a thoroughly humiliated Gray and Juvia, who had just been sprung from the local jail.

"You each owe me 10,000 jewel for the fine," Makarov stated calmly.

"Yes," they agreed in small voices, as they felt the eyes of the guild members boring into them.

"Good, then we wont mention it again," he said, making his way to his seat on the bar.

"The hell we won't!" Cana said with relish. "I totally knew something like this would happen if they ever got together."

"Picture this, if you will," Erza started, setting the scene for the rest of the guild, many who had yet to hear the details. "Gray lying naked on the ground, with Juvia on top of him, kissing furiously, in the public shopping district, in the middle of the day."

"Oh my," Lucy gasped, a giggle escaping her lips.

"Kids move so fast these days," Silver said, almost reminiscently.

"Perverts," Gajeel said in disgust.

"Apparently, the report said, they were taken in for lewd behavior and indecent exposure," Mira explained, an amused, but apologetic smile on her face as she looked at the two.

The offending couple hung their heads in shame, Juvia's red face clashing with her blue hair.

"Juvia doesn't understand what was so wrong," she said honestly, addressing the hardwood floor. "Juvia was covering Gray, so it should have been ok."

"I'm pretty sure that made it less ok, Juvia," Carla said sternly, picturing the scene, Wendy blushing furiously at her side.

Cana laughed again, and took another swig from the barrel in her hands.

"So, Juvia, how many grandchildren will you give me?" Silver asked suddenly, sidling up to the couple.

"Don't go making those kinds of decisions!" Gray shouted, embarrassed, as several people laughed.

Juvia, however, was unruffled, and replied back matter-of-factly, "Juvia will give you thirty."

This time, Silver laughed, too.

Gray's mouth hung open, but he recovered enough to stutter, "t-that's impossible!"

"Don't underestimate Juvia!" Juvia said indignantly, as Silver slapped his son on the back again, still chuckling.

"Gotta love a girl with ambition, aye brat? And," he started, leaning close to a still stupefied Gray, and whispering, "if nothing else, it'll be fun trying," he said with a wink.

Gray could think of nothing to say to this, but it didn't matter because Juvia flung her arms around his waist at this point, and hugged him tightly, before looking up into his face."It'll be nice to have a family, Gray," she said earnestly, her face shining with happiness now.

Gray smiled softly at her, and then surveyed the room full of laughter. He beamed warmly at his friends who had always been there for him, and his dad who had come back into his life, before turning back to the woman in front of him. He put his hands on her face, and just before they kissed, said, "we already have one."

End

Author's Note: *Phew* It was nice to get all those ideas down, and (hopefully) into a cohesive story. My last story was a love letter to all the Gruvia development in the GMG arc. So, I guess this story is how my head compensated, and made sense of Gray's rejection. ^^; Also, as you can tell, I'm pretty hooked on the "Silver is Gray's dad" theory. And if he is, I'm almost positive he'll be a Gruvia shipper, because it would be funniest that way. Poor Gray. He's so outnumbered hee! ^-^ Anyway, thanks so much for reading!

P.S. In case anyone was wondering how long Gray was naked before they got caught by the cop, it happened just after Juvia gave permission to be kissed. Although, it would have been hilarious if he had stripped prior to that, and they had that serious/heartfelt discussion while he was entirely nude, so if you'd like to imagine it that way, too, be my guest. ^_~