TRISTFUL. GRUVIA

EPILOGUE.

j.l — 

Smiles - they wash away so easily, like the shells that lie against the sea shore. They drift, without a single care, floating on top of the waves of melancholy that crash upon its wilted happiness, until they are frozen entirely.

I missed those days in which I was able to wear a content expression, I missed those days in which the ocean was in a tranquil state. The present was now only filled of an endless thunderstorm, an endless drizzle of trauma that haunted like a ghost, seeping through the doors of Fairy Tail, seeping through the corridors of my drained heart.

None of us were returned to our normal selves, ever since the death of Gray Fullbuster - Lyon, who was now filled of regret of his fraud actions, Erza, who felt truly guilty for his death. He was a fellow comrade, a fellow friend, a fellow lover (in my perspective, at least)... And it hurt like hell, for all of us, to draw back to the conclusion, that his presence would no longer stand alive. Especially on this particular moment, the day of his scheduled funeral.

My eyes remained fixated onto the ground, the seat being no comfort to my worn being. They refused to meet the eyes of another, the fear of the shame that would be brought upon my responsibility for his fatality preventing me from directly looking at their broken faces.

Maybe if I wasn't so helpless, so clueless, maybe if I wasn't so caught up in my fantasies of my unknown future, then maybe he would've still been here today.

It was all of my fault..

"Juvia, it is your turn to speak," Master Makarov announced, interrupting my melancholy position of mind.

I reluctantly nodded, forcing my haggard footsteps to tread onto the podium. I had never planned a speech, for I was unsure of what I would have to say, for I had no words that could compare to how sorrowful I felt. But perhaps, I would be driven into winging it.

I impeded a deep breath, in preparation to confront the crowd of people that silently sat before me, and began to talk.

"Gray Fullbuster, as most of you already know, was someone who was quite dear to me. I had cared for him so much with an unquestionable passion, a passion a bit too strong to the point that he had began to hate me. But despite this, our relationship had seemed to take an interesting spin..

We had fallen in love with each other without knowing it, and our future was destined to be one that would have us together. As you can all obviously tell though, that future, didn't exactly happen... We found ourselves sulked in a drop of darkness, both of us with our very similar problems that we were struggling to handle.

One of us, helplessly soaring in a sky full of shielding colors that masked away from reality, while the other, wistfully witnessing life tear apart right before their eyes. Who would have ever expected our blindness to get the best of us? Who would have ever known that the changing of our fate lied in the hands of a single mistake that pulled us apart?

Yes, I know that these words must be painful to hear, and I can feel that same agony too, as it slides out of the mouth, as I saw it happen through the perspective of my very own lenses. But after all, not all things seem to end in a fairy tail. Sometimes, we are left to have a love that is-"

He brushed his hair back casually and asked, "I was uh, wondering if you would like to take a job with me since Natsu, Lucy, and Happy went to do one without me."

I was locked in place, a mist of that memory, the memory of the words that would have soon shatter us, rising a sense of regret over me. My lips trembling, I muttered, "I-I'm sorry, I can't do this.."

And with that, I ran.

Ran, from the spotlight that reflected an unwanted aura.

Ran, from the companionship of my failures, of my relentless pain filled of guilt.

Ran, from all of those feverish memories of him, of what we used to be.

Sometimes, we are left to have a love that is tristful - deeply, yet romantically melancholy.

☽

First of all, I would like to apologize if you didn't like the ending, or if you felt like this lacked any Gruvia at all. Personally, I found this storyline fitting and I wanted to twist itup a bit. So again, sorry.

Also, if you are wondering why Juvia didn't die from the monster, while Gray did, it is because he was weakened by the damage that he had been exposed to the first time he encountered the monster. I know I didn't clearly explain this, so I just wanted to give you guys a precise explanation.

- Calista