The Little Water Mage {Gruvia}

Chapter Seventeen: Home

Gray woke up with a start, sitting straight up in his bed, or what he thought was his bed. He took in his surroundings and his eyes widened at the familiar sight.

He was sitting in one of the bed’s from Fairy Tail’s infirmary.

They were home.

He held his breath as he examined each bed and instantly became anxious when he couldn’t find the Water Mage.

He went to stand, but then Wendy walked into the room, her face lighting up at seeing him up and about. “You’re awake!”

She ran over and he stayed sat on the bed, not wanting to upset her if he wasn't supposed to get up yet. He offered a small smile. “Hey.”

She sat next to him and looked him over, nodding happily to herself. “How are you feeling? You look like you're all better.”

He blinked, finally looking down at himself. He was shirtless, as always, but other than a few small bandages, his body was only a bit sore and all together he felt lighter. “Ah...Good, actually. A bit sore I guess, but mostly lighter?”

He was confused by his own words as the young nurse giggled. “You should. Now that your magical energy has been restored. When you came back, it was almost sucked dry. It took some time to reapply it, but you should be fine now.”

He glanced down at his hand and focused his magic energy around it, instantly sighing in relief that a layer of ice had started to form around it. Oh how he’d missed it.

He blinked down at her, running a hand through his hair. “Well...Dang. How long have I been out?”

“Well, you were gone for about five hours, and when you came back, you stayed unconscious for about a week.” He looked down at her like Carla had just popped out of her head.

This wasn't making sense. In the other world, they had been there for three days, but here they were only gone for a few hours? He blinked down at her again. “A week….W-Wait.” He started to panic a little. “Where’s Juvia?”

Her smile faltered slightly but her eyes held hope as she looked forward, away from him. “When you both came back, Juvia-chan was in a far worse condition. Not only was her magic completely drained, but her arm was scraped deeply, causing a great loss of blood, and she was also bleeding internally from an unknown cause… We had to transport her to Miss Porlyusica’s house as soon as possible.”

He grit his teeth. How useless could he be? Could there have been a way to stop all of that from happening?

He shook his head. Even if there was, it couldn't help now. All he could do now was go and be at her side where he belonged.

After calming down, he looked over at the tiny blunette. “Have you heard anything yet?”

Her expression turned into one of reassurance. “A few days ago I got good news that said she would be fine with some medicine and a lot of rest, but there wasn’t any details in the note.”

He sighed in relief. “Well, that’s good enough for me…” He stood up and started to stretch.

She blinked up at him curiously. “Where are you going?”

He looked back at her from over his shoulder. “I’m going to go see Juvia.”

He reached for the doorknob when it suddenly opened from the outside, to reveal another blunette.

Levy blinked up at him before she smiled. “Oh, you’re awake! I was just coming to see you. Glad you’re finally on your feet again.”

He blinked down at her as Wendy popped up next to him, smiling at the sight of the slightly taller mage. “Oh! Hello Levy-chan!” To answer Gray’s completely lost look, Wendy gestured to the book she was holding. “Levy-chan comes over every day to read that book to you, hoping it would help wake you up.”

Gray was even more confused. “A book?”

Levy nodded, scratching her cheek. “Yeah, so, well…” He waited for her answer, not really understanding why she was suddenly so nervous.

“Well...Everything that had happened while you and Ju-chan were in the spell…” She lifted up the book slightly. “Was sorta all recorded in this book…”

He didn’t quite understand what she was getting at until the words ‘everything that happened’ echoed in his mind. He grew very pale all of a sudden, then red, and then blue. “Wait...Everything…?”

She avoided his gaze as she nodded. “Everything.”

He ran his hand down his face, suddenly having the urge to sit down before his knees gave out on him. “H-How many of you have read it..?”

She bit her lip. “Technically, only me…”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “What do you mean ‘technically’..?”

She gulped, suddenly wishing he was still passed out on the bed. “I’m the only one that has read it, but everyone may or may not have been listening in..?”

Gray wanted to curl into a ball and wither away as he felt his soul leave his body. Everything that had happened during those three days ran through his mind at a hundred miles an hour and he realized that nobody was going to let him live any of it down.

He had been quiet for a few minutes until Levy broke him out of his thoughts, worried about the look of utter defeat on his face. “Gray..? Here.”

He blinked out of his daze as she handed him the book. He held it in his hands and recognized it as the one Levy had been studying. He looked back up at her in question, and she smiled. “Why don’t you take that with you and read it to Juvia? You’re going to go see her, right?”

He blinked up at her before gazing back down at the old cover, a small smile appearing on his face. “Yeah, thanks Lev.” With that he walked past her, ruffling her hair with his hand as he did so.

With the book in hand and determination burning in his eyes, he made his way out of the guild somehow, as everyone was trying to bomb him with questions. Much like the servants did when he was a prince. Heh.

The rest of team Natsu in particular wouldn’t leave him be. They followed him out of the guild, crying, yelling, and asking questions. Eventually, he managed to slip away somehow, breathing heavily as a result.

Now he was on the road, walking towards the outskirts of Magnolia and into the woods where Porlyusica’s house was located.

He was going to see Juvia no matter what.

Even if the old hag was going to throw him out.