Melted Ice {Natsu x Juvia}

~deathlock~

Juvia's POV

The only thing that was going through Juvia's head while Gajeel pulled her through a crowd was 'I never finished my cake...'

Gajeel seemed incredibly panicked, and it had begun slowly rubbing off on Juvia. What was going on? What was with the look on is face when he saw her hair?

Juvia stopped abruptly.

"Okay, listen. I'm not putting up with this. Not only did I not get to finish my cake, but you aren't telling me what's wrong. And-"

Gajeel exhaled sharply and yanked Juvia into the alleyway near them. Juvia quickly caught herself from tripping, then glared up at Gajeel.

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

"Quiet!" Gajeel urged, frustrated.

Juvia was so irritated, so confused, and above all, still very much hungry.

"Fine. Just tell me what's wrong."

He looked her dead in the eyes, and that's when she knew he was serious.

"Listen. That streak in your hair. When did you get it?"

Juvia was puzzled. "Just this morning, I guess..."

He nodded. "Then it isn't too late."

"Too late for what?"

"Juvia. When me and Levy were on missions this summer, we came across a girl who's hair had begun turning silver. It was a slow progression, but by the time we had arrived, it had already taken over about half of her head. We didn't know what to do. Levy tried spells to stop it, but it never slowed. Eventually..."

Gajeel swallowed, lost in through.

"When it took over her entire head, she became weak. She could no longer use her powers. At all. And then she couldn't walk. And then-"

Gajeel simply couldn't finish.

Juvia's face had gone pale, the light in her eyes disappeared.

"She didn't make it, did she."

Gajeel shook his head, eyes drawn to the floor.

Juvia wavered. She felt faint. She had to sit down.

Now crouched on the floor, Juvia tried hard to steady her breaths.

"Do you know- what it is?"

Gajeel shook his head. "There have been multiple instances, but no one knows what causes it. It's taken up the name DeathLock."

There was a long silence.

"Have- have there been any survivors?"

Gajeel looked up and nodded. "Just one. A girl."

Juvia exhaled. "How did she make it?"

Gajeel shrugged. "We don't know. We've linked it to some form of loss, or mental trauma. The girl we tried to save had lost her husband to a band of rogue wizards."

"And the one that survived?"

"The death of her mother."

Juvia was helplessly flustered. What was going on? Why her?

"Have you faced any traumatic experiences recently?"

Juvia looked down. The memories resurfaced once again. First Gray, then Natsu. The hospital. Lucy.

"No. Not that I'm aware of."

Gajeel exhaled forcedly. He turned sharply and punched the brick wall.

Juvia stilled. "Gajeel calm down. I'll be okay." Her voice cracked.

"I just can't lose anyone else."

Juvia placed her hand on his shoulder lightly.

"Listen. Do you know how she survived. Any changes in her life at all?"

Gajeel shook his head. "She attended her mother's funeral, and a day later she was back to normal. Hair was back to its normal colour and everything. But aside from that I have no clue."

It took all Juvia had to keep herself from bursting into tears.

"Listen. I'll be alright. I'll go now, get some rest. Maybe what I have is something other than DeathLock."

Gajeel blinked, then nodded. "Okay. Let me know if anything changes."

Juvia took three steps until she was out of Gajeel's line of vision, then broke into a run. Nothing made sense. Was this because of Gray? Because of all of the time she'd spent devoting her life to him just to get rejected?

Juvia sat alone on a bench, and began hyperventilating. She didn't want to die. She couldn't. Not after all she's been through.

Her heart was beating louder and louder in her chest. It was deafening. She couldn't take it.

'Breathe Juvia, breathe.'

She thought back to what he had sad. Gajeel had mentioned something about coming to terms with loss. Maybe-

Suddenly it hit her.

Perhaps if she made things right with Gray, maybe come to terms with Lucy and him, she could be cured.

Juvia wiped away the tears that she didn't know had fallen, and stood up.

She'd been through hell and back. She needed to live. For her own sake.

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