Ice-Cold (Gruvia Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Chapter 22: Crossing Paths

By the time this chapter is posted, I will have finished all my final tests! So I can return to my normal updating routine! Yoooosshhh!!

Hopefully you guys enjoyed the last chapter! It's nice to see Juvia smile again, am I right?

Please enjoy Chapter 22!

Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail. I simply own this fanfiction and some characters.

Lucy could feel Natsu's head slightly stir in her lap. She flinched in fear that he might be waking up. But to her relief, he fell back to deep sleep as he lay there. Lucy sighed.

The team was riding a wagon throughout a certain portion of the journey, using Natsu's unconscious state as an advantage. He'd been sleeping soundly for the past two days. However, he wasn't the only one.

Gray was also unconscious as he occupied an entire seat. His only company was Wendy, who sat beside his head, checking on him from time to time.

After the two had fallen unconscious after their fight, Lucy ran to fetch Wendy and the Exceeds, who helped transport the boys to the inn, where Wendy took care of them.

Lucy and Erza shared what they had witnessed with Wendy. The poor girl was terrified of what she'd heard. This has come as a shock to the entire team, and they were curious as to the whereabouts of Gray's incident, but they decided that finding Juvia was more important. Well...one could beg to differ whether they unanimously agreed.

Erza clenched her fist as she met Lucy's eyes. "Lucy-

"Don't, Erza. It can wait," the blonde replied sharply. Erza narrowed her eyes. "Aren't you worried for Gray in the least, Lucy?" Lucy looked at her sympathetically. "Of course I am. But I feel that finding Juvia comes first. Why can't you see that?"

"I understand that, but Gray's condition is unheard of!" the redhead replied. "You saw what happened to him, Lucy! Aren't you concerned?! We should be getting help!" Erza wasn't even aware that her voice was gradually rising.

"You're forgetting the whole reason we're out here in the first place!" Lucy shot back, her temper also rising. "We can't get distracted from our mission!"

"I haven't forgotten Juvia! But Gray's condition is our problem that's at hand! We need to do something about him first!"

"And what happens if we're too late because of that?!"

"What makes you think we'll be too late?!"

Wendy sat with Carla and Happy as the three individuals watched in fear and sadness as the two women fought. They'd never argued like this before. Or rather... they'd never even argued to begin with. The situation was now promoting conflict within the team. Wendy stood up briskly and pushed the two screaming girls away from each other with all her strength.

"Stop fighting!" she screeched. Lucy and Erza gasped at the harshness in the sweet little girl's voice. Then they looked at each other in realization. They were instantly filled with remorse. 

"I...I'm sorry Lucy... I don't know what came over me..." Erza apologized sincerely. Lucy shook her head. "No. You're right. We can't be ignorant of Gray's dilemma either."

"No, that's no- I mean we- we have to search for Juvia first! After all, that was the mission to begin with!" Erza replied.

"But you weren't wrong! Something's happening to Gray, and we need to look into that, too!" Lucy argued in frustration. "That will distract us from the our task, Lucy! Why won't you get that?!" Erza retaliated.

As the mages began bickering again, Wendy just sighed. "Erza-san! Lucy-san! We're doing everything we can! We've been searching for Juvia just as we were supposed to, and I've been watching over Gray. He'll be fine for now, and should be waking up very soon," the young dragon slayer said. "Let's try to keep our arguing to a minimum. Please," she pleaded.