Firefall || Fairy Tail

45 : f a m i l i a r . f a c e s

||~x~||

Amber recognized the rain long before they found the Rainwoman who was causing it. Her chest ached at seeing her old friend so broken. She was also incredibly worried now that they had gotten her inside and found that she was sick from standing out in the rain for so long.

"She's burning up." Wendy sat down on the stool beside Juvia's bed.

Carla stood awkwardly to the side as her clothes dried, "Of course. Everyone knows you shouldn't spend so much time standing in the rain."

The others looked around, even asking if Juvia had been living in this house or this village on her own. Natsu sniffed the air, "I'm picking up a faint whiff of Gray, too."

"Is he hiding from us?" Happy asked.

"No." Juvia continued to stare up at the ceiling, "You asked if I was living here alone. In truth, Gray and I shared it. Just us two."

A faint smile pulled at the corners of Amber's lips. She knew how happy that had made the Water mage, but it also just led her to more questions, especially when Juvia explained the sudden change in Gray's behavior before he disappeared.

"I'm sorry," Wendy whispered.

Natsu also chimed in, "What kind of a jerk up and leaves like that?"

Amber raised a brow as Lucy squinted at him, "I can think of one."

"At least I left behind a will."

Happy nearly rolled his eyes, "Pretty sure that was just a note."

"Still," Lucy put her hands on her hips as she fully turned to face him, "you took off one day without so much as a warning. How do you think that affected me?"

Natsu's body went rigid as he prepared himself for what he was about to hear.

"Honestly, it made me feel..."

But Juvia cut her off, "Do you have to flirt with him in front of us?"

"I'm not flirting!"

Amber couldn't help the faint smile that came to her lips, 'Kia would be teasing the two of them relentlessly right now.'

As happy as the thought was, it also brought an ache in her chest.

"I promise I'll find him. For you and the rest of us. We're gonna get everyone back together." Natsu's declaration pulled her back into the room. "And I ain't stopping until we're a guild again."

||~x~||

The girls all stood under the house's overhang as they let Juvia have some peace to try and get some sleep. Natsu had stepped out into the rain again, staring off.

"I hope some rest will help her feel better."

Amber rested a hand on Wendy's shoulder as Carla stated what they all knew, "Finding Gray would be far more effective."

Lucy felt guilty, "I tried my best, but I wasn't able to keep tabs on him."

Amber turned to comfort the other girl as well, but stopped when her gaze passed over the pink-haired Dragon Slayer who was standing out in the rain. His posture, the way he was staring off into the distance in thought, it clearly reminded her of a sight she had seen many times before.

Happy looked up at his friend, "You're being unusually quiet over there, Natsu."

"Just thinking about our next move." He paused, letting the rain continue to wash over him before he turned back to the rest of the group. "We're gonna pay Sabertooth a visit."