Juvia was fighting side by side with Gray... "Gray, I'm sorry, I... I can't keep this up much longer!" "I know Juvia. I'm sorry for pushing you so much." "..." "Juvia?" Juvia had passed out on the ground due to a lack of magic power. Gray picked Juvia up and ran with her in his arms. He knew that without her, he absolutely could not win, and if he died, no one would be there to take care of Juvia afterward. She would die. Juvia slightly opened one eye and saw her beloved Gray running with her in his arms, the enemy not far behind. She tried to speak but found that she was in such bad shape she couldn't even do that. Gray heard her attempts in speech and told her that it was alright and she needed to rest. He hushed her and held her tighter. Oh, Gray, she thought I'm so deeply sorry for letting you down! Juvia! Why must you be so weak in the time your beloved needs you the most! I wish I could be strong like you Gray. Then I could protect you instead of falling to the ground, entirely at the mercy of the enemy. Juvia eventually passed out again.
Juvia woke up one day later, she was in the hospital with Gray sitting next to her. His eyes were red. Was he crying? "G-G-Gray" he looked up. "I'm sorry" Tears started dwelling in her eyes "I'm so so sorry." "For what?" He asked "For not being strong enough to continue in battle. I dropped to the ground unconscious completely at the enemy's mercy! I let you down again! I don't deserve to call you my beloved." He wiped away the single tear that she had shed. "Don't sweat it." He said "If anyone screwed up it's me. I'm the one who pushed you so hard that you're in the hospital right now! Even Porliusca was so overwhelmed by how bad you were, that they had to bring in Wendy and Shelia! You do deserve to call me your beloved, but I don't deserve your love. I've pushed you away at every attempt you had to just impress me. I'm sorry Juvia." Juvia saw his eyes getting redder by the second. It was obvious he had been feeling this guilt the whole time he's been waiting for her to wake up.
The next day Juvia was released from the hospital but told to get lots of rest. Gray took her out in a wheelchair, thanking the doctors as he walked out. "You really don't have to do this," Juvia said, blushing. "I made a promise to you Juvia. I promised you that from now on, I'll take care of you." "But, you don't owe me anything. I made a mistake in a battle, I use too much of my magic power. That was not your fault, it-" "It is my fault Juvia!" He yelled, stopping the wheelchair and turning her around to see him. "It's all my fault!" He ranted on and on about how it was his fault. Juvia tried keeping in her tears, but eventually, she gave in to emotions. She started sobbing and he stopped talking. "You can't blame yourself for everything that happens to me when you're around! I could have stopped at any moment and told you I couldn't do it. I didn't! It was my mistake and my mistake only! I can't stand to watch you be so upset." He took a step forward. Juvia was fully prepared to be yelled at. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. "Neither can I, I can't stand you being upset either." Juvia needed to take a moment to take in everything that was just happening. Once she had cooled down, she slowly wrapped her arms around him. I can feel his warmth. Even though he's an ice wizard, he is still warm inside. "Juvia." Gray said quietly "You have to understand, you do so much for me. I feel that since I'm always such a jerk to you, I have to protect you. And when you get hurt on my watch, I'm not doing the most important job that I've ever taken on." He hugged her tighter. "When you're close to death, and I can't do anything about it, I feel like I'm failing you, I feel useless." He started sobbing quietly. "Gray Dear, your not useless. And when I'm close to death, if you just sit there holding my hand, then trust me, you're doing plenty. That tells me that my beloved Gray is here, and I can't die."
They had an awkwardly long hug. Then they slightly broke the hug. Arms still wrapped around her, Gray put his forehead against Juvias. Gray put one hand on one of her cheeks. He was about to crash his lips into hers when Natsu, Lucy, Levy, and Gajeel came running towards them. "Gray, Juvia!" Lucy called, "How did the job go?" Blushing, Gray said, "Well, considering Juvia's in a wheelchair, not so good." "Oh my god, Juvia!" Levy cried out. She grabbed her hands "What happened to you?!" Gray was about to say something when Juvia shot a Don't You Dare look. Then she turned back to Levy smiling and said: "Well, let's just say, long story short, I ran out of magic power." The six of them set out to go back to the guildhall. Gray still felt guilty, but he couldn't bring himself to continue arguing with Juvia. Someday he would tell her the truth, someday.
