TRISTFUL. GRUVIA

PROLOGUE

EDITED: 7.02.18

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Hiro Mashima!

HEADS UP: This book is currently in the slow process of editing due to a slight improvement of writing style and plotting! After all, I wrote this when I was 12, and there is a lot that I can do to make this story better.

☽

g.f —

"Gray-sama, Gray-sama!" A certain voice cheerfully panted once again. It was the voice I discouraged, the one that I have been trying to block out ever since I had laid eyes on her.

Juvia's voice.

No matter how many attempts I have taken to ignore her, it was just nearly impossible to do. She was always somewhere in the background, always near me, always bothering me. I could never recall a time that she hadn't been stalking me.

Bluntly speaking, her strange habits- they could become very irritating, my patience always running on the edge of a cliff when surrounded by the familiarity of Juvia's call for me.

Could she ever just leave me alone?

Her hand reposed on top of my shoulder, a gentle tug pulling it slightly back and forth, forcing me to take a glimpse towards her direction, which was to my most reluctance.

Juvia intensely peered into the depths of my eyes, the common expression that was flushed of pure imagination for a possible future between her and I, exchanging into a face that would be perceived as emotionless.

Those pupils filled of love, hopes, and dreams, she used to always envision, had abruptly lost its touch. The happiness that was once there, had vanished in an instance. She was now practically unreadable, like a book that was sealed under a secret lock. Perhaps you could name it a cold stare, with a gaze as hollow as hers.

To be met with this fresh dose of emptiness - it was so implausible to ever believe it as an actuality.

Shivers ached my spine, slowly snaking and coiling around the delicacy of my skin. Weakness built up, rising as I continued to make eye contact with her, her and her sudden change of personality.

My mind thrived of curiosity, all of that wondering and waiting causing a slight anxiety. The silence and anticipation that worsened the fractured conversation between us only added up to the issue that was bothering, my head pounding in response to the mess that occurred.

Since when did I ever become this vulnerable?

I took a deep breath, trying to remind myself that I was overthinking this, that I needed to calm down. Whatever she was planning to tell me couldn't be that big of a deal, regardless of the fact that she was most certainly taking forever to push the discussion forward.

"Gray - sama, Juvia asks of you to take incredible consideration of the following," she spoke, face still glued onto mine. Shock utterly confronted me, my mind trying to comprehend not what was said, but how it was said, for the abnormalities of the tone that mended into her words frightened him.

I nodded, my impatience praying that she would just say what was needed to be spilled, before I would completely be engulfed of the confusion and trauma that was already drowning in my thoughts, before I would lose the last pieces of my sanity that remained.

The blunette inhaled a whiff of air. "Okay," she began to convey, "would you do whatever it takes to save me, to take that extra step into protecting me?"

Juvia looked away, her azure pupils glistening against the reflection of the sun that beamed in the sky. It was almost as if she were hesitant to face me any longer, it was almost as if she were hesitant to articulate her affection when met eye to eye, which was peculiar, because she had always been the courageous one when it came to admitting feelings, to love.

After a few seconds, she finally said, "I would, because I love you."

A gulp fell down my throat, my chest tightening. I felt this unidentifiable uneasiness from the atmosphere, my mind clueless of how to reply to such an inquiry.

One half of me - my truthful side - suggested to say yes, we were comrades after all. But the more practical side, overruled. As much as I wanted to, knowing Juvia, she would misinterpret that answer, her fantasies persuading the girl that I had romantic feelings for her, even though I didn't. She was just a dear friend. Although, saying no would hurt her feeli-

She sighed, starting to head out to the guild entrance. "It's fine..I guess you don't feel the same way. When you do, let Juvia know. I'll always be waiting for you, Gray-sama."

A pit began to form in my stomach, the knots that brewed inside perpetually twisting and turning as her footsteps trailed farther from where I stood. She left me to stand alone, to be immersed in these feelings of disturbance, a loss of control, and a longing for a certain water mage to come back, to somehow handle these mixed emotions, all by myself.

The door slammed shut, my body stiffening as the moment replayed through my head. For some odd reason, it didn't make me feel. The way she would make me feel speechless, intrigued, by the sound of a single phrase, drawing my lips to a closure, the way it would intrigue me to dig deeper, to make me willing to one day understand, the way the guilt would press into me, the agony burning within.

How could I not feel at least a vague ounce of perplexity?

I leaned against the table counter, my mind frantically searching for an answer, for a resolution. There had to be one.

Let it go, it was just a silly little thought Juvia had planted into your head, my conscious advised.

But how could I let it go - even if I dared to endeavor, I would eventually end up at rock bottom again, because deep in my heart, I knew that I was afraid.

Afraid of you, Juvia.

Afraid of us.

And as the time flew by, it would only become more of a concern.