Titania's Trauma

Chapter 9

Everyone sat at a huge round table of the restuarant outside the spa. This was unusual for the members of Fairy Tail to be sitting and barely talking to each other in hushed tones, but Erza guessed that was because Natsu and Gajeel, who usually triggered the fights, were still unconscious with their heads lolling on the table.

It was also a fact that Fairy Tail had been charged for the repairs of the men's changing room which had led to Erza going on a murderous fit to rip out everyone's head. They could only imagine what would happen to them after they returned to the guild and the master saw the numbers.

The guys had narrowly escaped Erza's wrath with the help of the girls and Gray, who had whispered something in Erza's ear which had miraculously calmed her down, or at least as calm as Erza could get. Little did they know that Gray had pointed out that it would hardly make Erza's secret-revealing mission any easier with the guys half dead or paralysed.

So they had gone for dinner, at Erza's command and were now uncharacteristically quiet, not daring to meet the Titania's eye.

Gray Fullbuster found the whole situation nothing less than histerical. He had never thought Erza would be the one to reveal their secret. He was so sure that in the end Erza would somehow drag him to do it for her that he had a hard time believing this was all real.

Nevertheless, Erza's helplessness was priceless to watch. Every few minutes or so, she would clear her throat or start to say something, but would eventually close her lips thinking better of it.

Gray knew his girlfriend was struggling, it was hard enough to say it to the girls and Juvia, but it was rare to see Erza like this. She was usually either rock solid or worse than a new-born baby, there was nothing in between.

And for the first time Erza was neither threatening nor fragile. She was nothing less nor more than an ordinary teenager who was having a complicated love-life. The thought made Gray laugh.

He glanced at Erza, who had her face screwed up in concentration. The other girls seemed to be enjoying the Titania's dilemma as much as he was. They would occasionally stare at him with a mischievious smile and when caught in the act, would busrt out in silent giggles.

Gray tried to ignore the fact that Juvia hadn't showed up. He might not reciprocate her feelings for him, but she was still a member of the guild, a member of his family and he cared about her no matter if she started hating him from now on.

He knew Juvia was delicate and needed to be handled with care or she would break and cry for the rest of her life. He turned towards the window and saw it splashed with rain. It had been a sunny day, until the sudden downpour. He knew every drop of water was Juvia's tears.

Guilt drenched through Gray at the thought of Juvia crying somewhere, all alone. He wanted to look for her and comfort her, like anyone's family would, but what could he say that wouldn't hurt her more than he already did. Plus, it might lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.

Maybe he could send Lucy or Wendy to look for her. Maybe Erza could go along with them and talk to Juvia. It was important that Juvia heard them out and understood everything, otherwise, the rain would never sieze and Gray knew Erza wouldn't be able to live with it.

In many ways, Gray wondered, Erza and Juvia were alike. Both had a tortured and haunting childhood which had left them both permanently scarred. Both could be broken at the slightest touch and Gray had seen them both broken and tried to fix them. Both had fallen in love with him because of that.

But that's where their similarities end, thought Gray. While Juvia cried and her rain let everyone know of her tears, if it had been Erza, she would have stayed strong and made it look like she had never fallen in love. She would have cried in a corner, hiding her tears behind her armor. That was just how Erza was. She would never let anyone she cared about see her crying, because she knew her tears would would not make her loved ones smile.

Erza was always crying. But only in the inside. On the outside, she would smile and make everyone smile with her.

Erza just needs to let Juvia see that smile, thought Gray, and Juvia will realize that everything's gonna be okay and she can fall in love again. He doubted Juvia actually loved him in the first place. She obviously cared for him, no doubt about that, but that's a different kind of love. Juvia was more obsessed with him and there was a fine line between love and obsession. She had been hated and neglected by people so much that the first time anyone was ever nice to her she thought it must be love.

Gray had thought that after she joined the guild and saw how everyone could like her, she would get over her obsession with Gray and realize that what she felt wasn't love at all. But that hadn't happened. If possible, she was now more obsessed than she initially was.

Juvia deserved someone who would love her back, something Gray could never do. His heart belonged to Erza since he was 10 years old. Since the first time he found her crying by the river bank. But that story is for another time. Right now, he needed to worry about the water-mage.

Maybe he could get Mirajane to do a bit of match-making and find Juvia someone new. Then again Mira's match-making ideas didn't always work out like she planned them.

"....right, Gray?"

Did someone take his name? Right, someone was talking to him, but he was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even realize it.

"What?" he asked, looking around the table to see who was talking to him.

"I said, I am worried about Juvia. And I was wondering if someone should go and find her," said Lucy.

"You're right. I was thinking the same, actually."

"I should go," said Erza, in a low tone. "I am the reason she's not here anyway. And all the sudden rain's..."

She broke off. Everyone knew what the rain meant.

"Take someone with you," said Gray.

Erza looked like she wanted to protest, but then thought better of it. Lucy, Wendy and Mirajane volunteered to go with her and the four of them left through the door and into the rain.

-X-

A/N-

Two chapters!!!!
Can you believe it?

Hope you all like it and vote and comment as always <3 <3 <3