Prompt: It's all your fault!
Gray loved his guild mates. Maybe not all in the same way, and maybe not at certain times, but he loved them. That included Juvia, despite all of her stalker-like tendencies and obsession with him.
However, right now, he's an inch away from punching her in the face and being done with it.
The water mage was clinging on to his arm as if she'd die the second she let go, and if her voice could got any louder, he'd be deaf. "Gray-sama! Juvia missed you!" She was tugging and pulling him in the direction of her table.
"Yeah, I got that when you almost knocked me over," Gray muttered. He began to push her off of him, using all of his willpower to be pleasant about it. "Let go, Juvia." He started pushing harder, but she clung on like a one of the finger trap toys he saw his pinkette give to Asuka. While it had been hilarious to see Asuka stubbornly refuse help for three hours, this was not. All he wanted to do was give Jii-chan his mission report and go home, but nothing was going his way today.
"But Gray-sama-"
He didn't let her finish, "Get off." He shoved her one finial time, and the sudden harsh action caused her to fall to the floor with a thud. "I am not in the mood to deal with you right now." The bluenette burst into tears as she ran out out of the guild, and many of his guild mates thew him dirty looks.
Gray didn't care. He walked over to their master and shoved the report into his hands. "You didn't need to be so rude, Gray," Makarov's voice was gentle, but it still made Gray angrier.
"I don't care. I'm tired of dealing with her shit!" His voice echoed across the guild hall, and anyone who wasn't paying attention before was now. "I've told her several times that I'm not interested, and she. Just. Won't. Drop it." The ice mage pushed his way through the surrounding crowd and stormed all the way back to his house. "Hopefully there will be a warm dragon slayer for me to cuddle."
It wasn't common knowledge that he and Natsu were an item. He could count the number of people who knew on one hand. It wasn't something they wanted to share with their nosy guild mates. He couldn't just blurt such a thing to get Juvia to leave them alone. It wasn't fair to either of them, and even with how annoyed he was with her shit, he still wanted to let her down easy.
Juvia had ended up in the park. Of course she wasn't actually Juvia, but that meant nothing to her master. The small corner she'd tucked herself in was conveniently tucked away from the rest of the park, and she planned to take advantage of it. "Juvia" pulled out a small lacrima, sending a quick message to Phantom Lord's X-master, Jose Porla.
"Your plan is back firing," it read.
"Then fix it."
"How, Master?"
"Like this-"
"I honestly don't know what's causing her to do that." The whispered words cut through Levy's concentration, and she sent a questioning glance at Fairy Tail's newest Dragon Slayer. "Somethin's off."
The solid script mage allowed herself to be curious, as at the very least, it would start a conversation. "What makes you say that?"
Gajeel hummed lowly, thinking about how to word his answer. "Juvia is the only person I considered a friend back in Phantom Lord." Levy poked him, prompting him to continue. "I know she swings both ways, but more of the people she's ended up with have been girls. The obsession is new, too. It's like she's trying to get in his head."
"Well, she might just be trying to figure out his feelings towards her," Levy prompted.
"No," The firm tone nearly made the smaller mage jump. She was still wary of the iron dragon slayer , "Juvia's not like that. That's the think that's off."
Levy hummed slightly and closed her book. "Then how does she normally act when she likes someone?"
"She's patient, calm even," The image didn't match anything that she knew about the water mage. "She always waits for them to come to her after she drops a couple of hints, and the second she'd rejected, she has the tendency to apologize. This is just... Weird."
A loud slam captured the guild's attention for the second time that day, "WE'RE BACK!" Natsu's joy filled shout brightened the mood almost instantly, and most were grateful for the relief. However, Natsu had always been observant when it dealt with someone's well being. The smile dropped slightly, and he snapped his head towards Gajeel. "What happened?"
"Later, pinky," He responded, "I actually want your opinion on it." The pinkette raised an eyebrow, and Gajeel caved, continuing in a language even Makarov didn't recognize, "Something's off with Juvia, and I don't think it actually has anything to do with that stripper of yours." The light melodic words sounded odd from the intimidating slayer, but Natsu took it in stride.
"Well, she smells like Jose's magic did, so I'm going to assume it has something to do with that." The words sounded far more natural from form Natsu, but it didn't offset the shock factor from the guild.
"How did you even-" Gajeel had reverted back to Fiori, "You know what? don't tell me. Just help me fix this mess." The iron dragon slayer headed to the back of the guild, ignoring the flabbergasted looks plastered across everyone's faces.
"Why?" Natsu countered, "You're perfectly capable of doing so yourself."
"Oh for the- Stop being difficult!" Gajeel shouted across the guild, "Your as bad as you were when we were kids."
"No," The pinkette began as he headed to meet the pissed off slayer, "I'm worse." The slight upturn of his lips was promising something, but his guild mates couldn't pin point it.
Gajeel snorted, a small bark of laughter escaping his lips. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"
"The outcome was never in doubt."
"Did you seriously just-"
"Yep," Natsu made sure to pop the 'p', and something about the noise brought the guild out of their thoughts. "The second you let me know you could speak Collo, you doomed yourself. If I don't have to speak Fiori, then I'm not going to, so get used to it. Besides, bad pop culture references, puns, and the language itself are the least of your worries. Let's help your friend, yeah?"
Juvia hated Jose. She could say that without a single inkling of doubt. She had refused to attack Fairy Tail, and of all things he could have done, he knocks her out and locks her in his basement? She was going to kick his ass when she got out of here. The anti-magic chains dug into her skin, restricting all of her movement.
"What is he even doing?" Jose hadn't been down here in days, and she was starting to worry. Maybe the guild was gone. Maybe they'd lost, which wasn't all that unlikely, considering their opponents. Maybe they'd lost, and now none of them knew where she was or how to free her. "Maybe... No. I won't die down here. I'll find a way out before that. I've gone longer without food."
It wasn't common knowledge, but Natsu was more that capable of being stealthy. Really stealthy, actually. He had to force himself to makes noise as he walked so as not to scare people.
In this case though, it was a good thing that no one knew about it. He watched the screen over Juvia's shoulder, gradually growing angrier as he read. A wisp of dark colored magic cured around the water mage, catching the pinkette's attention. "It looks just like Jose's shade magic. Can he use it to create illusions?" The question went unanswered as Juvia forced an angry look on her face and began walking to her home. "I don't think that's right. She still smells like a person, too. There has to be another answer." Natsu didn't hesitate. He started running back to the guild in hopes that Lucy and Levy were still there. "I have to have an answer before I can ask the real questions."
When the pinkette burst through the door, several people startled. He swung his head around frantically, and smiled when he found who he was looking for. He shouted a phrase in the odd language he was speaking earlier, and then headed to his team's table, which currently only hosted Lucy and Erza.
Gajeel followed him, an irate Levy in toe. "The hell did you want me to bring Levy for?" The iron dragon slayer seemed to be beyond annoyed.
"What do you know about shade magic," Natsu blurted. "Like, what are all of the things you could do with it, probable or not?"
The question caused a few eyebrows to be raised, but Levy answered none the less, "I believe it can only take people's magic from them and act as a barrier. I'm not sure it can do anything else."
"Natsu," Lucy asked, "Where is this going?"
He ignored her. "If that person isn't using magic when the shade touches them, then wouldn't the magic have to be-" he paused, glancing at Gajeel, "siphoned-uh, what even is that in Fiori?"
Gajeel looked like he was going to strangle the pinkette, "How the fuck should I know? You've been speaking this dumb language longer that I have."
"Fair enough, It would have to be- um," Natsu paused for a moment, "taken directly from their magic container, right?" The three girls gaped at him, "No? Okay, well that's a bust. I have no idea what's up with Juvia, then. Sorry, Gajeel."
Natsu turned to leave, eyes down to the floor in shame, but Erza reached out to pull him back. "No, no, that makes sense, but what does that have to do with Juvia? What does any of this have to do with Juvia?"
The pinkette turned to Gajeel, "You didn't tell them?" Gajeel shook his head, "You're useless. So long story short, Gajeel noticed something was off about Juvia and was talking about it to Levy. When I interrupted, I mentioned that what I thought was just the residue from Jose's magic hadn't left from her smell, and coupled with the fact that she wasn't acting anything like Gajeel remembered her to act, we figured something was off. I followed her, and I needed an answer to that question before I could explain what I think."
"Do all dragon slayers care this much for their friends?" Lucy teased, and both of their faces went bright red. "So what's this theory of yours?"
"Well, based off the rules of basic magic, if it has to be taken directly from the magic container, then couldn't it get inside the container, and then the body and the mind? What if Jose's using one of his shade's to control Juvia? I mean, they never caught him, so it's possible."
"Did you come up with that by yourself?"
"Fuck off."
It had taken a few hours to do, but they came up with a safe way to get the shade out of Juvia's body, after telling Master, of course. "I'm so tired." Natsu pushed open Gray's front door while rubbing his eyes. "Snowflake, you here?" He left his sandals by the door, opting to walk around barefoot instead. A small giggle escaped his lips, "I'm going to scare the shit out of him if he isn't paying attention."
Turns out, the pinkette didn't have to worry about startling his partner. Gray was passed out asleep in the arm chair with the TV on at low volume. Natsu smiled and leaned over the back of the old chair. He pressed a kiss to Gray's forehead, following it with a few to his cheeks. Eventually he ended up in the ice-mage's lap, and Gray, who was semiconscious, was returning the kisses. "If you sleep in the chair you'll complain about crick in your neck all day," Natsu whispered.
Gray huffed and kissed Natsu's forehead, "You gonna stay?"
"Yeah. Happy's staying with Wendy and Carla tonight." Natsu stood up and helped Gray out of the chair.
"I don't plan on moving for couple of days," Gray muttered.
Natsu sighed quietly, "I wish I could let you." Gray nearly fell off the stairs as he faced the pinkette. "It's a long story, but basically, Juvia's acting the way she is because she's being mind controlled by Jose. We think. I'll tell you when we're both functional."
The ice mage was gaping at him. "You can just drop a bomb like that and not expect me to ask," he muttered.
Natsu glared at him, "I've explained this at least three different times today. Let me sleep." He pushed his way passed the raven headed boy and into the bedroom. He flopped onto the bed, rolling the covers around him as he curled up.
Gray followed him and wrapped his arms around the pinkette as he snuggled into him. "Fine, but you're telling me first thing in the morning." Natsu only hummed in affirmation.
This morning was going to be hectic. When Natsu explained to him what he and their team had planned out, his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "I'm sorry, we're doing what today?"
"You heard me. It's the fasted way to get a reaction strong enough from her to activate the spell we created," even Natsu sounded unsure of himself.
"It's insane! It's a brand new spell that's never been tested! What if it kills her?"
"It won't. Master helped us with it, and I can count on one hand the people who actually know. Everyone else will just assume it's a part of the plan."
Natsu was shaking. "He doesn't want to do this either." He captured the smaller male in a hug.
"It actually might make the idea of us being even more unbelievable. They'd think it even more impossible. Maybe they'd even-" He was mumbling now, but Gray didn't have the super hearing it would take to understand it. Instead he just held onto him.
This was going to be nerve racking for both of them. "Hey."
"Hm?"
He didn't know much of the language, but he knew enough to make the slayer smile. "I love you."
"Love you, too." They'd be okay.
Everyone was gaping at them. Natsu had plopped down into Gray's lap without hesitation, and the ice mage hadn't done anything about it. He'd been sitting there for at least fifteen minutes, yet Gray had done nothing. The only one's who seemed to know what was going on were Erza, Lucy, Gajeel, Levy, and Master.
They'd put together that something was going on, but they hadn't figured out just what it was yet.
Once Natsu had caught a group of them staring, he'd mouthed the words "Act surprised," and Juvia burst through the door.
That when all hell broke loose.
Juvia had frozen in place. The person she's seen as Gray-sama's rival was cuddling him like a lover, and Juvia was pissed. "It's all your fault!" she screamed, "It's all your fault that Gray-sama doesn't love Juvia! She kept seeing Lucy-san and Erza-san and all the girls that follow him around as love-rivals, but you. It's you."
The second the bluenette lunged for Natsu, a rune cage appeared around her. Natsu hopped off Gray's lap and walked over to it. "You're sure this will work, Jii-chan?"
Their short master had climbed down from the second floor with a grimace plastered across his face. "I hope so, brat."
"That's great and all, but what the hell is going on?" Mirajane had made her way over there from the bar, and she looked just as angry as Juvia, who was suspended in the air.
Lucy, Erza, Levy, Gajeel, and Gray all looked at Natsu, "No. Screw all of you. I'm not explaining this again."
"You're the one who actually figured it out," Levy reasoned, and Natsu glared at her.
"Jii-chan can do it," The pinkette didn't wait for a response before he bolted out the door, leaving a gaggle of gaping guild mates in his wake.
The old man looked a bit off put by the stares that were directed at him now, but he had a job to do. "Well, uh, I'm not exactly sure of all the details myself, but I'll do my best to reiterate what I was told yesterday..."
Juvia didn't know what to think anymore. The basement she was in was dissolving around her, and with a start she realized that it wasn't even Phantom Lord's basement. It was the one her parents used to lock her in when she misbehaved. "Where am I really?" The area around her was darkening, and she felt like she was floating. "Or maybe... No, Juvia. This isn't like the other times you've almost died. This is different."
The darkness was surrounding her and squeezing her insides.
Everything felt cold.
Juvia hated the cold.
It reminded her too much of the rain.
Fairy Tail watched on amazed as dark magic was slowly being pulled from Juvia's body. The black tendrils were being torn apart by their master's light magic, but about halfway through, she began to spasm.
Gray had to freeze her in place.
After about an hour, no other black magic escaped her body, and they too Juvia to the infirmary.
Now it was just a matter of waiting.
"So, Gray," Cana asked quietly, "You want to tell me why Natsu was sitting in your lap earlier?" The sly card mage was smirking at him, and it took most of his will power not to blush.
"We needed to get the most violent reaction possible out of Juvia the second she saw us." It was the excuse they'd agreed on, and Gray had to admit that it was a pretty damn good one, "By doing that, she didn't notice the spell, and it brought all of the darkness to the forefront to be pulled out."
Cana raised an eyebrow, but she didn't bother to comment again. In fact, everyone seemed to just accept it how it was.
He still wasn't telling them the truth.
After Natsu and Gray had both left the guild, conversation exploded:
"How do you think he got Natsu to agree to sitting in his lap in public?"
"What do they mean 'Natsu's the one who figured it out.' He's dumber than a box of rocks!"
"Do you think they're actually going to tell us instead of being secretive?"
"How'd they figure out what was going on with Juvia?"
"What did the girls have to do with this?"
"How'd they drag Gajeel into it?"
Most of the conversations overlapped, making it difficult to tell them apart, and others, that were being discussed by the louder members, were prominent. No one knew what to think about what was going on, but their master had made it clear that he wasn't explaining the rest until Juvia was awake, which could be anytime.
Before they realized, an entire week had passed, and Juvia was still completely unconscious. Natsu and Gray had taken a a mission with their team, so asking them was out of the question, and Levy had gone on a mission with team Shadow Gear. Gajeel was the only person left they could ask, and no one wanted to poke the bear, or rather, dragon.
They could wait.
When the water mage finally awoke, it was early in the morning a week and a half after she fallen unconscious. She had stumbled down the stairs to the ground floor, nearly knocking herself back unconscious. Gajeel ended up helping her to a table in the back, and everyone else was told to stay away for the time being.
"How are you feeling, Juv?" he asked quietly. She just shook her head and took another sip of water, "Do you know what happened or do I need to explain it?" She made a vague motion with her hands, and Gajeel took it as a go ahead. "Jose got to you at some point. We're not entirely sure how, but it has something to do with his shade magic. He was controlling you somehow, and you were basically acting like a stalker towards one of Fairy Tail's guild members."
She looked at him appalled, "Ju- Fuck- I need to apologize." She zoned out partially, murmuring under her breath, "I thought I dropped that dumb habit?"
"You did, Gajeel affirmed, "but Jose used it while he was controlling you. I thought you had just hit a rough patch again, so I didn't mention it. I'm glad you're okay Juv." He leaned forward and ruffled her dirty hair affectionately. The blunette was practically his sister, and he be damned if he let some messed up, power hungry freak destroy that. "You can go take a shower in the back room. I'll bring you some clothes, yeah?"
She got up sluggishly, but a firm hand steadied her. Cana had made her way over to their table, a pile of what looked like her own clothes in her hand. "I don't know how stable you are, Juvia, so I'm going to stand outside the door. I brought some of my looser clothing for you to wear until you get back in your own." Cana pulled her away gently, and Gajeel sent a reassuring smile to his blue haired friend.
It wasn't until after she was clean that Juvia bothered to ask. "Juvia h- shit- I have a Fairy Tail mark. Did... Did I join while I was being controlled?"
Cana nodded, "I guess you don't know then," she muttered. "Phantom Lord's been destroyed, and Jose is on the run. You and Gajeel were accepted in to Fairy Tail afterwards, because Master didn't want to leave you on your own."
Juvia felt like she was going to cry, "That... was kind of Makarov-san." The water mage's voice was quivering, so she willed it to stop. "He didn't have to-"
Cana cut her off, "Yes he did. He's the master of Fairy Tail, and one of our rules is not to leave anyone on their own unless it's truly what they want."
"But I caused so much trouble?"
Cana came up behind her and pulled the bluenette into a hug. "You're one of us now. That means you're family, so even if you find a new path, you'll always be one of us." She didn't bother to stop the tears anymore.
"Have I really found a family?"
Natsu's team got back later that day, and Gray immediately moved to other side of their group at the sight of the blue haired mage. He eyed her carefully as she approached, but she stayed a few feet away. "You're, Gray, right?" She asked, and the rest of his team went elsewhere. The blue haired mage bowed deeply, "I sincerely apologize for what I did while under Jose's control."
"She can't remember any of it?" Makarov had anticipated a much, as Gray hadn't. "It's... No, it isn't okay, but it wasn't you doing it. You have no reason to apologize. Just forget about it, Juvia." He pushed past her, and over to the rest of his team, "Just so you know, You're explaining this mess Natsu."
The pinkette spat out a phrase in his odd language far too fast for even Gajeel to catch before switching back, "Why me?"
"Because you figured it out."
"You understood the explanation."
"It was your plan that fixed it."
"It was your problem I fixed."
They had gradually gotten closer and closer until they were forehead to forehead, and Gajeel decided to do the unthinkable. "Just kiss already. Literally every one here knows anyways." They shot apart as if a bomb had gone off between them, and neither one of them would look at each other. "You're gayer than Sting and Rogue." Several guild members, namely a certain group of girls with a shipping problem, nodded or admitted to it.
Natsu gave Gajeel the flattest look possible, "I thought we promised not to bring up those two assholes. Like, ever."
"You're ignoring what I said," Gajeel responded.
In almost perfect unison, Natsu and Gray responded, "That's because you're being an ass."
After a round of giggling from them and the guild, they finally got back on track, "Okay, so I'll explain the whole thing this time, and only once, so listen. Ga-"
Gajeel decided to push the last button,"You're still ignoring it-"
"Fucking hell." Natsu grabbed a butter knife from Erza's plate and jammed it between Gajeel's fingers. It sunk through the wood like quicksand, the thunk resonating throughout the room,"YES, okay? Gray and I have been a thing for a long time, now piss off. As I was saying,"
They all decided it was probably a bad idea to interrupt Natsu again, so they waited until after to embarrass them.
Needless to say it ended up with half of them frozen, and the other half burned in some way.
Words: 4,416
Holy hell, guys. This one was long, and it still feels like I could have made it longer and or better, but I do not have time right now. It is near the end of the school year for me, and I have two AP tests in less than a month, finials, and the school literary magazine, which I am an editor for, publishes in two weeks. Oh, and prom, which my mother is forcing me to go to (I'm not a social person, guys), is Friday. I kind of want to die. However, I will promise you this: I will try to write in any free time I have. I can't promise a steady publishing schedule for the next while, but I will try.
Also, "Collo" is short for colloquial. It the colloquial, or common, language for inhumans to speak.
As always:
Constructive criticism is always welcome, and if you find a typo, don't hesitate to point it out!
Reviews/comments are my 90% motivation.
Love you guys,
-Jinx