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He was standing on top of a giant bolder, frozen in place, in the wreckage of his town…
The wall of his childhood home had collapsed and crushed both his parents.
His mother was …he had no idea where… he could only see one of her shoes few feet away from the wreckage that was their house.
His father was few feet away, he had a large slap of stone on top of him, which had crushed the lower half of his body, but he was still conscious, barley, his face pained.
Silver tried to speak, but only incomprehensible half words came out.
He ran to him “Father..hold on!”
He tried to push away the stone, his tiny hands ached from the effort but he could not move it an inch, he eventually gave up and for three agonizing minutes he watched life slowly drain from his fathers’ face.
He was too scared to even go look for his mother, there was no use, all was lost.
He could hear the giant demon still rampaging through the town, cries of pain and despair were carried by the winds, heard only by a helpless child who could not move, he felt numb, he couldn’t even wipe away the tears streaming down his face.
He felt a droplet of water hit his shoulder, followed by another on the back of his head, then another and another… soon heavy rain was pelting him, drenching his small frame and tattered clothes.
He looked up at the sky, but it was clear of any clouds, right as he remembered it that night….
Gray blinked.
The scene in front of him dissolved, the night sky -which was clear just a minute ago- was now full of dark angry clouds with rain pouring down like buckets.
‘Where am I?’ he wondered
Then he heard it, a small whimper and the soft whispers of “no, please” in that unmistakable voice, he looked to his side and saw Juvia, her face in her hands, her body shaking with quite sobs. It’s been a long time since he’d seen Juvia crying, and he’s never seen her this distraught.
“Juvia!” he called out to her, but it didn’t seem like she could hear him. The loud crack of thunder that followed went unheard too.
Gray looked around, still disoriented but determined to figure out what got Juvia this rattled.
Few feet away stood a woman dressed all in black looking at the crying Juvia with a bored expression. He didn’t remember who she was, but he remembered bits and pieces of fighting her, he couldn’t remember why.
Was it her magic that got him to see these terrible memories?! Was she doing the same to Juvia?!
Gray gritted his teeth so hard he felt they might snap. If it was her magic, she was going to pay.
No one makes Juvia cry and lives to tell the tale.
He felt his demon slayer magic surge through him, dark marks snaked their way across his face, and a large pillar of black ice consumed the dark clad woman jutting in every direction. He let his magic recede, dropping the unconscious woman on the ground, he only now noticed her comrade who quickly dragged her and ran away.
Gray vaguely remembered fighting the other guy and the mission they were on, but the continued sobs coming from Juvia drew his attention, he had expected defeating the enemy would break the spell, but it seemed the water mage had not escaped its clutches.
“Juvia?” He asked softly. No answer, just more sobbing.
“Juvia?!” He repeated, this time in a louder panicked voice, which seemed to do the trick.
Juvia looked up, tear stained face and red, puffy eyes met his own.
She blinked few times, seeming lost. “Gray-Sama?…what ..happened?”
Gray kneeled beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, it was just this women’s magic, it showed us sad memories, but it’s done now”
Juvia still seemed confused, she looked back and forth between him and the direction their enemies ran off “sad memories?” she asked softly.
Gray was taken back by her question “Yeah…what did you see?”
Juvia seemed to panic at his question, she shook her head “Nothing, Juvia didn’t..” she started, but seemed to realize that lie might not work so she amended “Juvia can’t remember what she saw”.
He narrowed his eyes, it was so unlike Juvia to lie to him, but he decided to let it go, if she wanted to talk about it she would. Instead, he got up and offered her a hand.
“We should go back to camp and reconnect with the others”
Juvia stayed mostly quite the entire way to camp and for the rest of the day, which had the effect of making Gray too worried to sleep. He spent the night listening to the steady voice of rain and the occasional thunder which seemed to go on forever.
The next day as the team headed back to Magnolia Juvia was all cheer and joy, which did not fool Gray one bit. Oh she was the most upbeat she’s ever been, laughing extra hard at every joke Happy made, pointing excitedly at everything they passed on the road and acting very bubbly at the guild welcome party when they arrived.
But it did not escape Gray that the rain did not stop. How she kept steeling glances out the window, or how the cheerful mask slipped every time one of their guildmates brought up the weather.
Gray couldn’t sleep for that night either.
The rain outside had not slowed at all, it continued to patter against his window as lightening served as the only source of light throughout the long night.
He waited patiently until the break of down, then he got up, wore the first shirt he could find and headed out, towards Fairy hills.
He had had enough, he was going to get to the bottom of this.
----
Juvia sat alone on a bench under a tree in the Fairy hills’ gardens.
Her eyes were fixated on a large tree leaf nearby, where raindrops pooled, one after another, every few seconds their weight grew too large for the leaf and it got dumped all at once..
Every time it did, she took a steady deep breath, willing her thoughts to calm, whishing her troubles can be discarded like that gathering water.
She had woken up early this morning with one goal in mind after all…
She had to make the rain stop.
She heard soft footsteps approaching and braced herself, she recognized his steady pace without looking, and she prepared to brandish her best smile. When she looked up her heart skipped a beat, Gray was looking extra handsome that morning, his deep green shirt soaked in rainwater and clinging to his body, his dark hair plastered to his face.
As usual, he was always too stubborn to carry an umbrella!
“Juvia…Umm…Erza told me I can find you here” He said, passing a hand through his hair looking awkward.
Juvia didn’t know if she was supposed to answer that, but he did seem worried and Juvia wanted more than anything to sooth his concerns.
‘If only Juvia had stopped the rain…’ she internally admonished herself.
“Yes, Juvia loves sitting in the gardens, even when the weather is not ideal” she followed that with a laugh, desperately trying to pretend the rain was not a problem.
The raised eyebrow he gave her said it wasn’t working.
“Do you mind if I join you?” He asked, walking up to stand by her bench.
Juvia shook her head “Of course not, please”
She then scooted over, giving him enough space to sit on the bench without having to stick to her, which he didn’t seem to care for as he sat next to her, his leg brushing hers.
There was an awkward silence for a few moment, Juvia went back to watching the leaf, but it was too hard to concentrate with him so close.
“That magic..” he started, looking ahead into the horizon “ It showed me the day my parents died, It felt so real too, as if I was transported back there, I haven’t thought of that day for a while now, so it was..it was hard, you know? to face all that again”.
He looked at her giving her a reassuring smile and she almost melted.
She knew what he was doing, he was telling her what he saw, so she’d open up too.
She hesitated. Normally,she had no problem being an upon book when it came to her feelings, she'd jump at an opportunity to tell her beloved all about it! but this?
It might change the way he saw her..it certainly changed the way she saw herself.
But he was being vulnerable -which she knew he hated- so she had no choice but to tell him, he deserved to know.
“Juvia saw the day her father...the day she lost her father” She said very softly.
“Your father?” He asked, shocked.
She nodded “Yes, Juvia must have forgotten all about that day until that spell unlocked it”
she paused, a single tear steamed down her face but she quickly brushed it aside. She considered dropping the subject there. She had told him what she saw, did he really need to know the details?
Gray didn’t say anything, he only gave her a reassuring nod.
‘ Juvia knows his past…he needs to know hers ’ she thought before closing her eyes and allowing herself to relive that moment.
Juvia stared out the window, watching the heavy rain pelt the street outside, voices from the other side of the room drifted to her.
“You can’t just leave her here” An older woman was saying.
“I either leave her here or on the street, you chose!” a man retorted, angry and terse.
“Can I ask.. what is it really that is wrong with her?” A younger woman, standing close to Juvia asked quietly. Juvia could feel the women’s soft gaze on her.
“No idea” The man answered “Her mother died about a year ago, and ever since she’s been practically mute, though doctors say nothing is wrong with her…oh and it constantly rains around her, some sort of latent magic ability she can’t control or whatever” his tone was nonchalant, but Juvia could sense his pain and anger permeate the air.
“Constant rain?” Asked the older woman “I’ve never heard of such magic”
“Mr. Lockser, this must be a difficult situation” said the younger woman in consolatory tone “But we do not take children with living parents and even if we did how can you just abandon your daughter?”
“I’d rather die than have her around, I’ll do it you know?! I’ll kill myself then you will have to take her, is that what you want?” The man said, his voice now lower but menacing.
“No please” Juvia heard herself say in a soft barely audible voice, the adults must have heard it anyway because the room became eerily quiet.
The younger woman came closer and placed a hand on Juvia’s shoulder but when she spoke, she addressed the man “ You child can still speak, she’s just in shock, can’t you be more patient with her?”
“No..I’ve ran out of patience” The man said, this time his voice was pained and not angry at all, which brought tears to Juvia’s eyes.
“She’s your problem now” The man continued “ I don’t ever want to see her again”, a second later Juvia heard the door slam shut.
“No please” she whispered again.
The woman’s grip on her shoulder tightened. “Don’t worry child, he’ll be back, he just needs time to cool off, I’m sure of it”
‘That’s a lie’ Juvia thought to herself, as the tears started flowing down her face and only the words “Please no” escaped her lips over and over again.
“And Juvia never saw him again” Juvia said, finishing her story.
She looked at Gray and was surprised to see tears glistening in his eyes. She herself wasn’t crying, retelling that painful memory has just made her more angry than sad.
Gray’s hand reached up to the top of her head, and he pulled her in a sort of awkward side hug where she got to lean on his shoulder with his chin resting on top of her head.
She felt the air get a bit warmer, despite the fact his damp shirt was making her soaking wet as well. She closed her eyes and willed herself to relax.
There…she has told him, now he knows!
He knows she drove her own father to leave…
He knows she was so ashamed of the memory she buried it…
A minute passed before he pulled away, though only slightly, to look at her face.
“Are you OK?” He asked.
Juvia nodded, it wasn’t exactly a lie, but part of her felt if she said it, she’d be lying to him.
“Do you think your father is still alive?” Was his next question, and that one took Juvia by surprise.
“Huh? Juvia has no idea...maybe? Does it matter?”
Gray shrugged “Just trying to understand how you feel about this whole situation…and you know, in case you want to search for him, I’ll help you…but only if you promise I can kick his ass if we find him”
Juvia shook her head emphatically.
“Juvia does not want to find her father…even if watching Gray-Sama beat him up would be so much fun!”
She resisted the urge to go into fantasy land imagining how that would look like.
“Is something else bothering you then…I can sense you’re not telling me everything” He asked and moved slightly away from her.
“it’s just…” she huffed, lost for words.
He says he wants to know how she felt, but did he really want to know?
“It’s just that Juvia has always been alone before joining Fairy Tail, and she wants to believe it’s her true family”
Gray gave her a puzzled look. Ok, maybe that was too vague.
“Juvia…Fairy tail is your family, that doesn’t change if you find out you have living relatives?”
He was frowning now, looking deeply confused.
Juvia looked down, unable to meet his eyes.
“Juvia knows…it’s just…the rain, what happens if…” she trailed off, unable to say it, she hoped he’d understand.
She felt him stiffen by her side, perhaps he did?
“Juvia? Do you think that…are you afraid Fairy tail would - that I would - abandon you? because of some stupid rain?” he asked, his voice laced with pain and a little bit of anger.
She wanted more than anything to reassure him that it was not the case, that she knew that he was too kind to walk out on her, that everyone in Fairy tail would withstand so much for her sake.
But that wasn’t true was it?
She was in fact scared , irrationally maybe, but she was!
She stared ar her hands which were in her lab fiddling with her skirt “Juvia is…sorry... She knows Gray-Sama is not-“
She was about to say ‘not like father’ but she caught herself, that sounded gross! “ ..not that type of person” she finished awkwardly.
She looked up to him meeting his gaze once more, hoping to convey to him how her fear had nothing to do with how much she trusted him “ You just don’t know what it’s like to live with constant rain, it’s very frustrating, and I wouldn’t want to subject you or anyone else to that nuisance”
Gray was quiet for few long painful seconds, his look was unreadable.
Eventually, shook his head “You’re right…I don’t know what a life with constant rain is like”
He looked away and Juvia could swear a faint plush dusted his cheeks “I just know a life without you would be much worse, unbearable even”
Juvia felt her own face grow ten shades redder. She wrapped her arms around his, and buried her face in his shoulder.
“Gray-sama is so kind!” she said, giddy with emotions.
Gray cleared his throat before sheepishly adding “And …um..I’m sure everyone in the guild feels the same”
Juvia smiled fondly, tightening her grip.
“Juvia too wouldn't mind a life of rain if she could have you by her side, Gray-Sama” she said shyly.
“And the rest of the guild…of course” she added, giggling at how flustered he seemed by her statement.
She closed her eyes enjoying the moment, she thought of the mother whose death broke her, of the father who walked out on her, the countless foster families who returned her to the orphanage and the many peers who avoided her company growing up. She remembered long afternoons watching other kids play from afar, remembered going on long missions back in Phantom lord so her guildmates wouldn’t grow tired of her…and then she allowed herself to imagine the future, married to her beloved Gray-sama with 10 kids of course! But more importantly, happy and surrounded by her friends…never alone again.
It doesn’t matter what other blood relatives she once had…Fairy tail was the only family she had, the only family she needs.
She looked up to see Gray looking at the sky, lips turned up in a most alluring smile as the sun rays hit his handsome face.