Lost And Found

Untitled Part 1

Juvia stalked Gray from a distance. This wasn't exactly new to him, but her still wondered why she did it. He'd told her multiple times that she could just come over and talk when ever she wanted to. He'd thought that his words had gotten through to her. Obviously not. Gray sighed as his head the bar, having finished his third drink that day. Juvia stared at Gray, starting to blush as she flickered between reality and her fantasy world where she and Gray would be together for ever. She knew it would never happen, he'd always turned down any attempt she made to start a relationship, but the girl could always use her imagination. There was no harm in that. At least not if she didn't act on it. Her blush died down as she forced the thoughts from her head and concentrated on the real Gray that was sat on a stool at the bar. Juvia built up her confidence and started to walk over to where Gray was. The bluenette didn't watch where she was going, instead focusing on her feet and making sure she put one in front of the other without missing a step. To Juvia, it seemed like an eternity, but in actual fact, it only took a couple of seconds for her to reach Gray. She cleared her throat, attempting to gain his attention. She got nothing. The rain woman coughed a bit louder. Still nothing. Her usual smile turned into a slight frown from being ignored. Juvia placed her hand gently on Gray's shoulder. The ice mage shot up, startling the bluenette and causing her to jump back and let out a small yelp. He looked round at her, without much interest before turning back to face the bar. He exhaled loudly.

"What?" Juvia took a second to put her words in order. "What?" Gray's voice got a bit louder.

"Juvia was wondering..." he knew exactly where this was going and cut her off before she could say anything else.

"Pass"

"But Gray-sama didn't..."

"Pass". She kept trying to get him to listen but to no avail. It took her a few minutes before the message finally got through to her, and that was only because he had told her to go away. That was something he had never done before. He'd turned her down time and time again, that she'd got used to. But he had never flat out told her to get lost. For the first time in a very long time, Gray had managed to hurt her emotionally. There wasn't really much she could do about it now, so she shrugged it off and tried to continue on with the rest of her day.

Despite her best efforts to block out the events that had unfolded earlier in the day, Gray's words still nagged at the back of her mind. He had been so much harsher than what he usually was and she didn't have a clue why. The day seemed longer than most, and Juvia sighed in relief when it finally ended.

The next day, Juvia got into the guild bright and early, just like always. And, just like always, she watched the clock as it counted each second that went by, patiently waiting for Gray to come in through those large, wooden doors. 9:00. She knew that Gray always came in at 11:00. Two hours left.Even though the clock kept track of the time for her, she couldn't stop herself from mentally counting down how long was left until the raven haired mage arrived. She tried to devise a song to pass the time. She wasted about half an hour with that but come up with a single word, so she gave up. It was one of the only times she had ever given up on anything. The bluenette started clucking her tongue, mimicking a clock, as each second ticked by. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Juvia took her eyes off the clock for what seemed like a couple of seconds, but when she turned back, it read 10:59. The clock continued to count seconds as it drew closer and closer to the eleventh hour. The water mage resumed her countdown. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. A small smile appeared on her lips as she thought about Gray. 4. 3. 2. 1. Her head bolted round to look at the large doors. No one came in. She watched the doors for a minute and sighed when they didn't open. The bluenette glanced at the clock. Just past 11. The doors swung open to reveal Team Natsu walking into the guild hall. Juvia didn't care if it was only a couple of minutes, Gray had never been late before. She leapt out of her seat and made her way over to Gray, attempting to cut him off on his way to the bar. He seemed to be spending a lot more time at the bar than he usually did. She quickened her step as she got closer to Gray.

"Don't even start. Not today". The rain woman stopped dead in her tracks. Was that really Gray-sama? She didn't believe it was him and walked forwards a bit more. The ice mage turned to face her. "Didn't you hear me? I'm not in the mood for your usual crap". Tears threatened to spill over Juvia's lower eye lid as she listened to Gray's words. Blunt. Straight to the point. Hurtful. After a moment or two of stunned silence, she turned on her heels and ran out the doors that Gray had came in through minutes before.