Worth Is Measured In Love

Chapter 12

Gray still did not remember his life before finding Juvia in the snow that night. It bothered him very much, no matter how hard he racked his brain or dug deep into his subconscious, he just couldn't bring back any memories. Jellal had tried to help me remember when he got older but none of his treatments helped. The Crimson Lethe was a very powerful drug. Just one sip could wipe out a third of your memories forever and Gray had taken exactly six drops the night Jellal gave it to him. He really didn't mean to give the boy such a large dosage, but Gray had been throwing a dreadful and violent fit, he wouldn't hold still long enough for Jellal to properly measure how much he gave him.

The fits and flashbacks had ended but Gray still had dreams and nightmares of the past. That's what bothered him the most about it all. Instinctively, he knew those dreams were connected to his old life but because he couldn't remember, he didn't know what on earth they meant. It's truly a great struggle to have a large part of your life, a large part of yourself, just erased with seemingly no way to bring it back.

But that didn't necessarily mean that Gray was not happy with his new life. Jellal took care of him and educated him. He gave him excellent advice and was a wonderful confidant. However it was Juvia who probably made him the most happy, because she had a very special a way of seeing things. Ironic, considering that technically she couldn't see at all but in matters of what was really important in person. In matters of a person's heart and their soul, she could see better than anyone he knew. While others thought that he was a freak show to mock or perhaps pitied, she viewed him as a perfect equal.

Someone who had lost so much as a child and then had to grow up with an awful affliction. She knew that he was no less human than she was. No less a lost child, no less a pained soul, and no less a dreamer. This made him care for her more deeply than he knew, and at times could act very aloof toward her, but in truth she was the dearest person in his whole world.

The two of them were almost inseparable, especially when they were children. What a struggle it was for Jellal to keep them a part when a situation required it. Such as when Gray once became ill with measles at age ten and three years later when he insisted they stop sleeping together in the same bed. Eventually they understood his reasons and accepted the change, but some nights Gray or Juvia would sneak into the other person's bed. Usually if one of them had a nightmare. It was always innocent of course, they just lay side by side and talk about their hopes and dreams until they fell asleep.

Though the best way you could see the nature of the relationship, was to watch them on stage together. The way he looked at her, the way she listened to him, the way they would move, laugh, and dance together. Not a word was spoken on the subject but it couldn't have been more obvious. They loved each other. But no one knew in what way. Did they love each other as brother and sister? Or as husband and wife? Only time would tell.

"How much did we make today?" Juvia asked him as he was counting up the money they had collected during their performance.

"Well math and numbers hasn't always been my strong suit." Gray said. "But I'd say that we've made the perfect amount needed to buy a two months supply of food."

"Wonderful." She said. "So, shall we begin planning our next act? Or help Jellal with his elixirs?

"Neither. Not tonight."

"Why not?"

"Aren't you forgetting what day it is?"

"Yes it's Sunday. It's also the first of the three-day fair in honor of England finally being freed from King Faust and in honor of England's new queen."

"Yes but this day in particular marks something much more important."

"Really? What?"

Gray suddenly burst out laughing.