Forgive me for last chapter. I don't know if anyone noticed, but I accidentally switched Juvia and Levy's roles in the story. I made Levy into the witch when it was supposed to be Juvia. I'll try not to switch their roles again. (>.<)
~~~
Lucy's POV:
After going back to the cottage, Natsu carried me to where the couch was, and Juvia was getting the fire started. I could see how worried Petunia was, not being able to come with us on the rescue mission to save Erza and Gray. She walked up to me, and I hugged her with all of my might, which was really weak.
"You're freezing, Lucy," Petunia commented.
Juvia got the fire started. "Don't worry, she should be warming up pretty soon. In the meantime, can someone help me get some firewood, so we can keep the fire burning?"
"I'll do it," Natsu said. "How much firewood do you need?"
"Just a few," Juvia answered.
The two of them went outside to go get some firewood for the fireplace. I felt a lot better being near the fire. It warmed me up a little.
"Hey, thanks for saving us in time," the red haired girl, Erza, said. "I owe you my life."
"Same here," Gray said, sitting down to the left of me.
Erza sat to my right. "What's your name?"
"Lucy," I answered, "and this is Petunia," I said, petting my cat's head.
Erza smiled. "Well, thanks again for saving us. I don't know how I can ever repay you."
The door opened, and Natsu was carrying all the firewood he gathered, while Juvia was picking up the firewood he dropped accidentally. He placed the firewood to the side of the fireplace and sat down close to the fire with everyone else.
"Hey, Gray? Do you have a moment?" Juvia asked. "There's something I need your help with."
Gray nodded. "Sure, what do you need help with?"
"Just follow me," she answered.
~~~
Author's POV:
Juvia and Gray were outside the cottage, walking deep into the woods. Gray was skeptical about where she was taking him, but she seemed rather harmless to him, so he let that thought slide.
The both of them were far away from the cottage, not being able to see it with their eyes. Gray was oblivious as to what was happening, but when he saw a fist coming towards his face, his immediate reaction was to dodge it.
"What was that for?!" Gray asked, surprised by Juvia's attempt to hit him.
Juvia held a stick directly at Gray. "Don't move."
Gray laughed. "Or what? You're going to throw the stick at me?"
Furious by his words, Juvia pointed her stick at him and zapped it. The zap was just centimeters next to his face, but it missed, and it directly hit the tree instead, causing it to fall onto Gray. However, he was able to avoid it, but with barely enough time.
"Say something like that again, and I won't miss this time," Juvia said, emitting a threatening tone.
Gray couldn't process what was happening. "Did I do something to upset you? If I remember correctly, I don't recall doing anything bad to you, so what's your problem?"
Juvia scoffed. "Problem? I think you know very well what the problem is."
"No, I don't," Gray said. "Would you care to elaborate for me?"
Juvia walked around him, her wand still pointed at him. Gray was being extra alert, knowing Juvia's agenda for him. He just couldn't understand what she got so riled up for.
"I'm not falling for your tricks, wizard," Juvia spat. "I know who you are, and you'd be a fool to think that playing dumb would let me put my guard down."
Gray immediately put his hands up in surrender. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. If I wanted to hurt you I would have done it by now, sweetheart."
Juvia flushed, unsure if it was in anger or embarrassment. "Do you know how much pain your father put me through?" Gray noticed that her hands began shaking a little. "Do you have any idea how much the population of the witches declined because of him?"
"What are you talking about?" Gray asked. "As far as I'm aware, although I never thought of my father as a good man, what could he have possible done that it almost severed the witch population?"
Juvia tried her best to stay calm and collected, but she couldn't seem to stop the hatred that was boiling up inside her. "Oh, your daddy must really seem like the perfect lord, but deep down, I know that he's nothing, but a cold-blooded murderer, and I won't stop until justice has been served to my family!"
Juvia was about to cast a spell again, but not before Gray ran up to her and attempted to grab the wand from her. He held the hand that was occupied by the wand, but he was so distracted on the wand that he had a late reaction when her other arm was about to hit him. Luckily, his fast reflexes was enough to grab the other hand in time. Gray squeezed Juvia's hands tightly, making sure that she wouldn't be able to zap him again. Juvia yelped in pain by Gray's strong grip, which made her drop her wand accidentally.
Gray loosened his grip on Juvia's hands. "What did my father do?"
Juvia's eyes were becoming watery. "H-He... my parents..."
Without telling him the answer, Gray's eyes widened, now understanding the whole story. It all made sense by the way she was acting that he didn't need to hear what his father did.
He already knew.
"He killed your parents... didn't he?" Gray asked.
Juvia looked down at her feet. "My real name is Jubia Rokusa," she murmured. "Does that ring a bell?"
Gray nodded. "Jubia Rokusa: the daughter of the late Head Witch and Head Wizard..."
~~~
I'm inactive as hell, but hopefully this chapter makes up for it?
I'm sorry. *cries*
~TheKonfusingKK
