In Secret (Sequel to Behind the Scenes)

Homecoming

Gajeel's P.O.V.

"Juvia loves fighting with Gajeel. She just fits in so much better than with the Fairy Tail wizards. Not that Juvia doesn't love Fairy Tail! Especially Gray-Sama..." The Rain Woman trailed off, staring dreamily off into space. How she managed to keep walking without running into something, I'll never know. I was just beginning to enjoy the silence when she started up again. "Juvia knows eventually she and Gray-Sama will be able to fight in perfect sync, but there's no substitute for practice, so Juvia is happy to have Gajeel-kun..."

"Juvia." I cut her off, trying not to be overly sharp, but for fuck's sake, she'd been talking for five miles straight. Actually, she'd been talking for most of the last week. "Yes, Gajeel-kun?" She turned her bright blue eyes to me, blinking curiously. "Shut yer yap." Her mouth snapped shut and she looked forward again, walking beside me once again in silence. I heaved a sigh of relief, stuffing my hands into my pockets and allowing my mind to wander. I didn't always listen to her when she started prattling on, but she really was my only friend. Well, maybe. Would Levy consider herself my friend? I mean, we did kiss... I cut my thoughts off before I could start obsessing on the tiny Script mage. For the most part I'd managed to avoid it, and in mere minutes, I would be free of Juvia and the risk of her finding out. I turned my thoughts to the orphans instead, running over training techniques I'd planned out over the last week.

"Juvia thinks it's admirable that Gajeel-kun takes so much time with his children." With a groan I looked at the bluenette walking next to me. "They are not MY children, Juv. Don't say it like that." She smiled and clasped her hands under her chin, and I thought she was going to start going on about her popsicle again. "But, Gajeel-kun and Levy-chan would make such beauti-"

"JUVIA!" I snarled at her, stopping dead in the middle of a bridge. She didn't even seem daunted by my grimace, and I regretted once again that I'd told her about the project that had begun consuming my time. I rubbed my face tiredly, "I told ya, it ain't like that." Somehow with telling her about the training and the fact that the Shrimp was helping me, I'd managed to keep from telling her about... other things. Even so, she'd taken it upon herself to tell me repeatedly that I should be in a relationship with the tiny woman. "But... Gajeel-kun also gets flustered when he speaks of Levy-chan. Juvia knows that means that he loves Levy-chan. And your chil-"

"WOMAN!" People in the street turned to look at us as I bellowed at her, but she still wasn't showing any fear, so they quickly turned back to what they had been doing before. I smelled fear from somewhere nearby, and assumed that someone at least had sense, if not the fool I called my friend. She still had a dreamy look in her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak again. "Gajeel-kun?" With an exasperated sigh I answered her. "I swear if ya say anythin' about Levy in the next sentence, I will throw ya."

"Fine. Juvia won't say anything about Levy-chan in this sentence. But the next sentence..." She didn't even try to get away from me when I lurched forward to grab her, gripping her arms and spinning to throw her over the railing of the bridge into the river. Is she...giggling? I realized my mistake as she stopped moving before she even sank below the level of the bridge, having called the water up under her feet as she fell. The pillar of water simply flowed back to the bridge, and she stepped down and continued walking, linking arms with me and pulling me along. I dragged my feet for a moment, hoping she would give up and continue walking without me.

I really did enjoy spending time with this woman, she was a good partner to have in a fight, and the job had gone very smoothly because of her strength in combination with my own. But sometimes... "Very well, Juvia will stop now, Gajeel-kun." I shrugged her off my arm and trudged along next to her, once again enjoying silence. I picked up several whispers from people around us. Juvia's water magic was always something that attracted onlookers, and what she'd just done with it was no small feat. I stuffed my hands back into my pockets and tried not to growl at people I walked past. I groaned when I heard the intake of breath as she prepared to launch into another tangent, and scrambled for something to cut her off. "Even if Gajeel-kun's reaction just proves Juvia ri-"

"Yer new hat is stupid." I blurted out, grasping the first thing I could come up with. She'd lopped her hair off, and bought something completely different from what I was used to. She was desperately trying to catch the stripper's attention, and had decided this would do it. "Why'd ya waste yer money on that?" I asked as she stopped walking again. I glanced over my shoulder to see her pouting. "Juvia hopes Gray-Sama will like it... does Gajeel-kun really think it's stupid?" Her voice cracked a little as she started to tear up. I watched a moment before noticing the drop in temperature as storm clouds rolled in and I kicked myself. Way to go, idiot. Now she's going to flood the damn town. "Nah, Juv. I'm sure Popsicle will love it." The tears immediately disappeared, people gasping as the imminent rain suddenly disappeared, and Juvia started to smile at me. "But, yeah," I couldn't resist messing with her some more. "I think it's stupid." With a huff, she slapped my arm, but I could still see a smile lingering in her face.

We started walking again, the guildhall coming into sight. "Gajeel-kun, can Juvia..." I cut her off once again. "No, Juv. Not yet. Maybe soon." I don't know how I knew she was about to ask about meeting the kids. Probably because she'd asked at least once a day since she'd found out about them. I reached over and gave her a gentle push. "For now, go back to the guild. I'm sure yer stripper will be back soon."

"Gray-Sama?!" She quickly took off running, but stopped after only a few feet and whirled back to face me. Oh no... I glanced around, confirming that no one was around, and heaved a sigh right as her body collided with mine, her long arms wrapping as far around me as she could reach. "Juvia has missed going on missions with Gajeel-kun." I patted her back twice before dropping my arms to my sides again. "Yeah, yeah, Juv. Get off."

In mere moments, she was gone, sprinting through town towards the guild. I'd need to report in there eventually, but I knew the over achiever would take care of things for now. I swung by my house to dump shit off and noticed a note on the inside of the door. Gajeel! Welcome home! I took a deep breath and grinned at the lingering strawberries and ink I could smell. The kids missed you and wanted to do something for you. Come on by the warehouse! Hope you're hungry! Just reading the words made my stomach tighten. "Just cuz yer hungry, idiot. Food. Ain't eaten yet today." Wasn't possibly at the way she said "the kids" so easily. As if they WERE ours.

I smacked myself, shaking my head, and trudged down the street toward the warehouse. It was eerily quiet when I pulled open the door, and I froze before slipping inside, making sure it closed without making a sound. The bastards were good at stealth, especially for a bunch of snot nosed brats. But, I could usually hear movement still when I arrived. I slipped down the hall silently, lingering in the shadows. As I reached the end, the darkness to skulk in started to disappear, light streaming in through the high windows.

Once again I froze, my brain not comprehending what was going on in front of me.