Short Gruvia Drabble After FT 100 Years Quest Ch. 29

A/N: Hi guys! This headcanon has been on my mind ever since I read the spoilers for the latest chapter!! Even though there weren’t any Gruvia moments in Ch. 29, we got SO MANY JUVIA MOMENTS. Look at our girl acting all serious and worried about her friends, GAH I’M SO PROUD AND I’M LITERALLY FALLING IN LOVE ALL OVER AGAIN!!! I’ll never get tired to seeing so many back-to-back panels of serious Juvia. Also, home girl’s hair is ON FLEEK. <3

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“I will defeat all of them!!! It doesn’t matter if they’re controlled!” Natsu said with a smirk, all fired up. 

“It’s decided then,” Erza said. “We’ll split up and go to the other four towns. We have to stop them before they get to the rest of the orbs.”

Everyone pumped their fists into the air and cheered. With the plan in place, their hearts were filled with renewed strength and determination. They were going to save their friends and put a stop to the White Mage’s scheme. 

“So, how should we do this?” Lucy asked. 

“Easy. Lucy, you’re coming with me and Happy!”

“Aye sir!”

The blonde whipped her head around and snapped. “Don’t just decide on your own!” 

Erza nodded. “Alright, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy will go to the town on Aldron’s left hand then.”

“Juvia and I will go to the right shoulder,” Gray said casually. 

The scarlet-haired mage placed her hands on her hips decisively and said, “Then Wendy and I will each take the two remaining towns, it’s settled. Let’s go—”

“Um…”

Everyone turned their heads toward the bluenette. 

“Juvia would like to go by herself.” 

“HUH?!”

Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Wendy and the two Exceeds all dropped their jaws in shock. Were their ears working properly? Did they just hear Juvia pass up on the offer to be partnered up with Gray?! 

The ice mage looked just as startled and taken aback as his friends, if not more so. 

Juvia cast her eyes to the side guiltily, knowing that they were expecting an explanation. 

“Juvia may have escaped the White Mage’s control thanks to Touka-san, however, there’s no guarantee that Touka-san can keep this up forever. All it takes is for the White Mage to overpower her a little, and Juvia would go back to being her puppet.” 

Seeing her friends’ worried looks, she tightened her grip on her skirt and bit back the tears threatening to fall. 

“Juvia… doesn’t wish to fight Gray-sama again. Or anyone else, for that matter. So she must go alone. It’s the only way—”

A hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. 

“That won’t happen,” Gray said forcibly. His face was turned away so she wasn’t able to see his expression. “You’re coming with me this time.” 

“But—”

Gray gave a careless wave to the rest of Team Natsu as he began making his way towards the opposite end of town, dragging a flustered Juvia behind him. 

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A/N: Alrighties that’s all I have for now. I know this won’t happen obviously but seeing Juvia so serious in the last chapter really got me thinking that there might be more on her mind. Lol I don’t think I’ve ever seen her ignore *ahem* not interacting with Gray at all throughout the whole chapter! It was kind of refreshing to see. For Juvia to do that, you can really tell how dire the situation must be and how worried she is about her friends at Fairy Tail. I’m just so happy that our water goddess is finally playing a big role in the main plot! I’m still not gonna get my hopes up, but honestly, I’m already over the moon with just this.  

I don’t want to be pessimistic but...

I’m going to prepare myself for the possibility that Chapter 27 may be the last time we’ll see Juvia in action for a while. 

That isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy this chapter. I LOVED it. The fact that Gray caught on so quickly that something wasn’t right (whether it was Juvia’s behavior or the situation itself), just shows how much he knows her. No one else on the team thought twice and just brushed it off as typical fangirl-Juvia behavior. But did you guys see how Gray immediately frowned after he said he was glad to be able to see her? Coming from Gray, that’s a pretty noteworthy thing to say because it’s one of those rare times when he’s telling her his honest feelings (and not just scowling and being a tsun). That’s why he frowned. Because the REAL Juvia (or rather, Juvia under normal circumstances) would’ve blushed in the very least after hearing that reply. But as you can see, she literally stared back at him without much change in expression (her eyes were almost soulless if you ask me). This was more than enough indication to Gray that something was up.

And THEN, my absolute favorite part: LOOK AT HOW MANY PANELS THERE ARE OF GRAY HOLDING JUVIA! He literally never let go of her, from the moment she passed out in his arms and throughout the whole “earthquake” caused by Aldron. I know it’s probably only a few seconds in “manga-time”, but just knowing that Atsuo Ueda went through the trouble of drawing them in that position so many times makes my heart flutter. I’m so happy that he took enough care to not let her head touch the ground. 

Can we also just admire how absolutely BEAUTIFUL and BADASS our cinnamon roll looks here?! Yes, even if she’s possessed/brainwashed, she still manages to look stunning. ^_^

And I’m going to think back to all these wonderful gruvia moments we’ve had for the weeks to come because let’s face it, this isn’t the first time Mashima has pushed Juvia to the sidelines by having her faint. It happened after the fight with Keyes, after catching a cold from her own rain in the Avatar arc, and at the end of the Alvarez war after Universe One. Yup, Juvia was unconscious during a lot of important fights. So I won’t be surprised if Gray tells Happy and Carla to fly Juvia somewhere safe in the next update while Team Natsu gloriously fights the Wood God Dragon for another twenty-or-so chapters. I really really hope I’m wrong, but I’m just so used to being disappointed when it comes to how Juvia’s plotline (or lack thereof) is handled. 

But I’m really thankful (and surprised) that we got THIS much gruvia at all in the sequel, and two whole chapters at that!! We’ve truly been spoiled by Mashima-sensei these past few weeks, so I’m going to try my best to not complain any more than this lol. 

In the meantime, I’ll just be here, burying my head in fanfiction because my gruvia heart can never be satisfied. :’(

The Impostor (a continuation of Ch. 26 from FT 100 Years Quest)

OHMYGOSH GUYS, I’ve been so excited after the latest chapter that I literally couldn’t sleep until I wrote my little version of what’s going to happen next!! I know we’re unlikely to get another gruvia-dense chapter after the GLORY that was Chapter 26, but I still have a full week until the next chapter comes out to dream ok? *o* 

Click here to read on FanFiction.Net!

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Lucy and Wendy shuddered as the icy waves of doom and darkness emanated from their friend's body. The poor girls who sat on either side of him could only shiver silently, unable to escape the sub-zero temperature that extended within a 3-feet radius from Gray. Neither had the courage to say anything; they could tell that it wasn't a good time.

Erza, as well as Happy, were soundly asleep against a boulder furthest to his right. Luckily, having taken Erkis' place in the play earlier had tired Erza out completely, or else she would've smashed his skull open for being so careless with his magic.

The ice mage's right leg shook restlessly as he stared intently at the bluenette who sat directly across from him. They were separated by a campfire that unfortunately illuminated the unsightly scene in front of him all too well.

Yes, unsightly was the right word.

To say that he was in a sour mood right now would be an understatement.

"U-um," Wendy said meekly, barely above a whisper. "A-are you okay, Gray-san?"

He didn't hear her. It was safe to say that at that moment, he only had eyes and ears for one person, or rather two, to be accurate.

The neglected chicken wing he happened to be holding on a skewer engulfed into flames, but even then, his eyes never left Juvia's smiling face as she listened adoringly to Natsu's exaggerated retelling of how they defeated the Water God Dragon.

What. The. Fuck.

The scorched skewer in his hand snapped in half. He didn't know if he was overreacting because he hadn't seen her in a while and was simply more sensitive than usual, or if there really was something fishy going on.

Ever since Juvia showed up out of nowhere on their train, she hadn't been acting like herself. First of all, she didn't pounce on him immediately after she found them. This part wasn't all that strange since even Juvia had her calm days. But after explaining to the team why she was there —apparently, she had taken up a solo mission close by because she just couldn't bear to be away from her Gray-sama another second— she then had the audacity to sit down next to stupid Natsu. Without so much as hugging the ice mage.

Ok fine, he'll admit that to outsiders, her behavior didn't seem out of place at all. Perhaps to the rest of Team Natsu, it just looked like Juvia was holding back more than usual and keeping her feelings in check. But they didn't know her, Gray did. The two of them had been separated for an insane amount of time. She surely would've missed him just as much as he missed her, if not more. But to his utter disappointment, other than a few polite acknowledgments and gentle smiles his way, Juvia had, for the most part, ignored him.

And now, as they're settling in for the night, the water mage had once again plopped herself down beside flame-brain. Even when there was a huge vacant spot next to Gray, which he had purposely kept free just for her.

Juvina-sama's words echoed in his mind.

"Don't think she will wait for you forever, lover boy!"

He shook his head to get rid of any unnecessary thoughts. No, there was no way she moved on already. They had been through too much; they literally died for each other. And besides, even if Juvia finally got tired of waiting for him, it was ridiculous that she would choose the pink-haired idiot over him, of all people.

And yet…

"Wow, Natsu-san is so powerful!" Juvia giggled. "The Water God Dragon didn't stand a chance, huh?"

The dragon slayer let out a boisterous laugh, his head doubling in size at the compliment.

It took Gray everything he had to not plant his foot in Natsu's face right then and there.

He glanced over at Lucy, who had been sitting quietly at his left. The celestial mage's eyes were also glued to the unlikely pair across the campfire.

Shit, even Lucy looked worried. And this made him worried because if anyone was an expert at reading these types of situations, it was her.

The blonde emerged from her thoughts when she felt like she was being watched.

"W-What…"

"Nothing."

"So you noticed too, huh?" Lucy gave a forced smile and tried to sound cheery. "I didn't know they got along so well!"

Gray said nothing.

An elbow nudged him in the chest. "Don't tell me you're jealous?" Lucy winked at him.

He scowled and looked away, knowing that a blush was making its way to his face. "Shut it."

"Oh? You're not even going to deny it?" Lucy laughed and this time, it was genuine. "You've come a long way, Gray Fullbuster."

Gray grunted but smiled back. "Stop, you're starting to sound like Juvina-sama."

His friend, now more relaxed, looked back towards Natsu and Juvia happily chatting away. "Alright, since you're having such a hard time, I'll be generous and help you out before you freeze us all to death."

Wendy and Charle, who were currently cuddling close to the fire after Gray had unknowingly unleashed his cold wrath, turned to Lucy and gave her their best look of gratitude despite shivering.

"Um, Juvia!" the blonde called out. "You and Gray haven't seen each other for a while, I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do. Why don't we switch spots? Natsu here doesn't know when to shut up once you get him started on dragons."

"Hey I don't talk that much!"

The bluenette looked startled for a second as if realizing something. "Ah yes, Juvia indeed has missed Gray-sama so much!" She turned to face the ice mage and gave him her best, loving smile. "Juvia can't wait to hear all the stories Gray-sama has to share, later."

Later?

Gray's heart fell. Lucy, Wendy, and Charle looked on with shock. Heck, even Natsu's jaw dropped slightly at her response.

Without sparing him another glance, the water mage turned back to the dragon slayer. "Please continue, Natsu-san. You left off at a most exciting part!"

Natsu let out a nervous laugh and reluctantly continued. In turn, Juvia shifted closer to him until her bare knees pressed snuggly against the clueless man's thigh.

Very. Snuggly.

The campfire froze.

Everyone turned their attention to Gray.

"Hey ice princess, what's your deal?!" Natsu immediately blew a mouthful of fire at the block of ice, restoring the heat a little.

"Gray?"

Lucy peered up at her friend cautiously, but couldn't see his eyes as they were hidden under his bangs.

She noticed his tightened fists shaking and digging into his thigh, and placed a comforting hand over his white knuckles.

The girl jumped when the ice mage suddenly grabbed her wrist instead and tugged her closer.

"Sorry, Lucy," Gray said under his breath. Confused, she followed his line of sight until her eyes landed on the bluenette. The dots quickly connected as she realized his plan.

So Gray was going to test Juvia's reaction. Lucy relaxed slightly and tried to play along. By now, Juvia's love rival senses would've been tingling and any minute now, she'd probably fly across the fire to put herself between them.

However, to their surprise, the water mage didn't even notice the fact that they were holding hands. She couldn't have, because she never once looked their way.

Lucy was thoroughly freaked out at this point. And Gray was getting desperate.

In one swift motion, and a little more aggressively than he had intended, Gray threw his arm around Lucy's shoulder and slammed her body into his. This earned a loud squeak from the celestial mage. Wendy's face turned red, and finally, Natsu and Juvia paused their conversation to see what's up.

The pink-haired dragon slayer was the first to react.

"GRAY!" he roared and shot up from the log he was sitting on. He then pointed an accusing finger at them. "What do you think you're doing to Lucy?!"

Gray ignored him and continued to direct his piercing eyes at Juvia. No one can tell except probably Lucy, but he was fuming right now.

Suddenly, the hair on his body stood up.

Although it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, Gray could've sworn he saw a flash of irritation across Juvia's face. But it hadn't been the look of jealousy like what Gray was expecting. No… it was a look of annoyance directed at him for interrupting her conversation with Natsu.

She can't be serious….

Just what the hell did he do? Was Juvia actually giving him the cold treatment? Was this all because he went on the 100 years quest without considering her feelings?

Ok, that kind of made sense. But regardless, this was still out of character for Juvia no matter how angry she was with him! And Gray knew her more than he would admit. The girl who proved that her love for him was strong enough to break even Invel's Ice Lock was not someone who would play mind games with him. Like water, Juvia's thoughts were transparent and people can read her like an open book. She was refreshingly simple in the sense that she spoke her mind and behaved in ways that felt right to her. She displayed her heart for all to see, believing that there was no shame in telling someone how much she loved them. Juvia was different from Gray.

So why then, is his woman cuddling up to his best friend and—more importantly—not losing her shit over the fact that he literally has her "self-proclaimed" love rival practically sprawled across his lap?!

Another second passed, and Juvia was making no move to do anything about their compromising position. However, just as Natsu was about to march over and start a fight, Gray stood up, making poor Lucy lose her balance and fall on her stomach.

"It's getting late. Let's call it a night."

"HUH?! Oi popsicle head, I'm not done with you ye—"

"Natsu, stop!" Lucy snapped as she tried to pull the fire dragon slayer away. "You've done enough for one night, now let's go get some sleep!"

The blonde all but shoved Natsu into the boy's tent.

"Wendy, Charle, do you think you two can manage carrying Erza to her bed?"

"Don't worry, Lucy. We'll take care of it," Wendy said with one arm already under Erza's shoulder. She seemed relieved to finally escape this 'adult drama' that had unfolded a few moments ago.

As the crew slowly retired to their respective tents, only Juvia and Gray were left.

"It's been a wonderful night, Gray-sama," she smiled at him brightly. "Juvia will see you tomorrow!"

"Wait." His hand shot out and pulled her back.

"Hm?"

His eyes were pleading. "What's with you? You're acting different."

"Am I?"

"Yes, you are," Gray stressed. "It's been a long time since we've seen each other, and you're treating me like a stranger."

"You're worrying over nothing, Gray-sama. You can never be a stranger to Juvia."

There it is, that fake smile again.

The ravin-haired mage narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Juvia," he leaned over the wooden fence that stood along the edges of the hill, and stared off into the faded landscape as dusk settled in. "Has that scar healed yet? I still feel awful for accidentally stabbing you that day."

The blue-haired beauty had a troubled expression on her face. "Gray-sama, Juvia will be sad if you keep blaming yourself. It was nothing more than an accident, and the scar is healing just fine."

"Oh really?"

Her skin crawled when he turned slowly, eyes glowing bright red in the dark. His arm and the majority of his broad chest was covered in disturbing, black markings. She backed away.

"Gray-sama? You're scaring Juvia—"

In a split second, his long fingers were around her neck and she found herself choking.

"Your acting was pretty good there, almost had me fooled," the devil slayer seethed. "Too bad it just wasn't good enough."

She struggled and clawed at his tight grasp.

"You're not Juvia. So who the fuck are you? Some sort of shape-shifter?!" he bit out threateningly and released his hold just enough for her to be able to talk.

"Please… Gray-sama…" Her tear-stained face twisted in pain, and almost immediately, Gray released her.

His heart beat heavily in his chest from the adrenaline. Shit, what if he was mistaken? What if—

A chilling laugh escaped the water mage's lips. With a hand still massaging her neck, she gazed up at him with a smirk.

"I'm impressed, I didn't think you'd catch on this quickly. You're not as dumb as you look."

Gray froze and his blood ran cold when the unfamiliar woman in front of him confirmed his worst fears.

"I'll ask you one more fucking time," he rasped out as his whole body shook with barely restrained rage. "Who are you? And where the hell is Juvia?"

"Who I am is not important."

The woman stepped towards him. "But your sweet little Juvia…" she took his hand and placed it over her heart, "is right over here… Gray-sama." She whispered the last part tauntingly into his ear, and Gray realized that he had escaped a crazy dream only to end up in a nightmare.

UPDATE! A World Without You: Chapter 4 - In Your Presence

Click here to read on FanFiction.Net!

Summary: Two years had passed since Juvia’s death. During a solo quest, Gray caught sight of a beautiful woman with blue hair; her resemblance to the water mage was uncanny. Who is this mysterious girl, and why is she living in seclusion at an abandoned church?

A World Without You

Hi everyone!! I’ve started a new Gruvia fanfic series recently and thought I’d post the chapters here too. This idea has been in my mind for years now. It’s set after the Alvarez War but with a twist. ^-^ I hope you’ll enjoy!

Click here to read it at FanFiction.Net!

Summary: Two years had passed since Juvia’s death. During a solo quest, Gray caught sight of a beautiful woman with blue hair; her resemblance to the water mage was uncanny. Who is this mysterious girl, and why is she living in seclusion at an abandoned church?

PROLOGUE

He collapsed under the weight of Zeref’s magic.

Gray cursed under his breath as his bloodied knees hit the rough, rocky plains of what was left of Magnolia.

They were so close. It took him and friends almost everything they had to defeat the rest of the Spriggans. But by the time Zeref finally showed his face, everyone was absolutely spent. No one had the spirit nor energy left to face the strongest dark mage in history.

Gray scanned the battlefield in front of him. Lifeless and battered bodies littered the dusty landscape; Zeref’s whirlwind of powerful magic left none unscathed in its path. He was currently in some possessed state after Gray knocked him unconscious. But dark energy was flowing ominously over his body like a tornado.

The rest of Team Natsu was nowhere to be found; they had all separated during their previous battle with the Zeref’s armies. He was now left with Juvia. They were the only two still conscious, but were definitely in no shape to fight. Gray glanced back at the water mage to see her holding her left arm in pain. She was covered in bruises from head to toe, and could hardly stand straight.

It was at this moment that Gray Fullbuster felt like the world’s biggest loser. How did years and years of intense training and dangerous quests lead to this? He couldn’t even hold his ground against Zeref, much less defeat him.

“Gray-sama, watch out!”

Juvia’s voice broke him out of his thoughts, and he looked up in time to see a dark, shadowy creature emerge from Zeref’s unmoving body and headed at lightning speed toward him.

His eyes widened in shock, barely having enough time to reflexively cover his face with this arms.

But whatever that attack was, it never came. Instead, he felt the ground beneath him rumble and vibrate.

Gray slowly preyed open his eyes and saw Juvia standing in front of him, arms outstretched to shield him from the creature. Huge geysers shot out from the hardened soil and merged into a strong shield made of water. Fear gripped his heart; everything about this situation made him uncomfortable. She was just too damn close to that monster.

“Juvia!” Gray called sternly. “Get back, you won’t be able to hold it off for long!” He’s never seen her use this skill before, not even during the six months that they’ve lived together. And he knows that it’s not going to take any regular attack to finish this thing off. It came out of Zeref’s body after all.

Gray is by no means a quitter. But he had enough sense to know that the best chance of them getting out of this alive was to run away and regroup.

If she heard him, then she must’ve ignored him. Juvia knew well enough that they wouldn’t be able to escape far with their injuries. This dark creature was a manifestation of Zeref’s bitterness and hatred for the world. It wouldn’t stop until every available, living thing in its path was eliminated.

Not even looking back once, Juvia continued to summon more and more water from the ground. The powerful streams became steam as soon as they made contact with the shadow. It appeared like the body of the monster was so scorching hot that it melted anything that touched it. However, every time it made impact with Juvia’s water shield, the shadow also shrunk in size.

The problem is, this was the first time Juvia attempted this powerful spell. And with every second that passed, she could feel her body disintegrating cell by cell. Her fingertips and toes were the first to disappear.

She bit down hard on her chapped lips to prevent a gasp from escaping.

It’s happening. The tragic side effects of using this particular magic… she was scared. But even so, if she could protect the person she loved and buy him some time until Natsu and the rest of their friends arrived, it was worth it. It didn’t matter what happened to her.

After all, Gray was in much worse condition than she was. During their battle with Invel, he had pretty much taken all the damage in her place, and had spent most of the fight trying to get her out of harm’s way.

“Juvia, for fuck sakes—” Gray grunted and used every ounce of energy left in his body to pull himself up. “Stop it. You’re in no shape to defeat him right now! Let me handle this—”

“No!” She let the strange, insurmountable magic wash through her being. The geyser shield she created pushed back further on the screeching shadow monster. “Juvia will take care of Gray-sama…”

“Idiot!”

Desperate, Gray limped towards the blue-haired mage and fell. He cursed his useless, broken legs.

The water shield, beautiful and surreal it may be, started to give in to the force of the shadow. Gray held his breath. A crack formed in its perfect, crystalline surface.

“Gray-sama.”

He froze, his blood running cold. There was something in her tone that scared him.

“Words cannot express the joy Juvia has felt getting to know you.”

Crack.

The shield finally broke, sending millions of sharp water fragments into the air.

“Stop talking nonsense!” Gray screamed desperately. “Listen for once and get back here!”

“Please allow Juvia to protect you one last time,” she said, her voice shaking slightly.

“Don’t give me that bullshit!” Gray spat out. “I don’t need your protection—”

It was at that moment that he noticed her arms were gone. So were her feet. Since when? Was she… evaporating?!

“Juvia, your…” he trailed off, almost in disbelief. With every ounce of his willpower, he used his forearms, all bloodied and disfigured, to pull the rest of his body towards her to close the distance. His eyes must be playing tricks on him. That had to be it.

The flow of her magic stopped. And with the last surge of water, it enveloped what was left of the shadow completely and engulfed it. Both elements simmered into nothingness.

The blue-haired mage finally turned around, and the scene that greeted Gray stopped him dead in his tracks. The setting sun gently shined behind her, giving off a holy glow… she was so breathtakingly beautiful. But her flushed, tear-stained face held a number of concerning expressions: guilt, regret, longing… love.

“Please don’t be scared, Gray-sama,” she said softly. At a frightening pace, the spell’s effects claimed the bottom half of her body and continued its ascent. Her flesh flew away as tiny, glistening particles.

“What’s happening…Juvia? What’s happening to you?!” He shrieked, feeling the onset of a panic attack. Gray threw himself forward but fell again in a failed attempt to stand up. What struck absolute fear into his heart was the peaceful look on Juvia’s face. She didn’t seem alarmed by what was happening to her, as if she had already accepted her fate.  

Then, she had the audacity to smile. And she gave him the most beautiful, serene smile he’d ever seen in his life.

“There’s no reason to be sad. Juvia will continue to live… through you.”

“NO!” He pushed off with his broken leg once more and flung himself up with his arm outstretched, trying to grasp any part of her that was still visible. “Who said you can do that?! I won’t let you, you’re going to stay right here dammit!”

His hand went right through her body, and he suddenly felt ill. No, this can’t be happening.

More tears flowed down her cheeks as she felt her torso disintegrate and become one with the air. “Juvia's life… will forever and always belong only to you, Gray-sama.”

He screamed.

And screamed… until the last strand of her blue hair evaporated into little orbs of mist… until his voice grew hoarse and sound could no longer come out. Until his eyes became bloodshot from the painful stinging of tears, he screamed. No matter how many times he waved his arms frantically at the space where she just stood, all that was left of her was the cool breeze and a hint of water vapour on his fingertips.

Juvia was gone. Forever.

And she never got to hear his answer.