The Dragon and the Princess

Chapter 12*

When everyone was done with their jobs, they all went back to the guild. Lucy went to go sit with Levy, Wendy, and Erza, while Natsu, Jellal, and Gajeel sat at a different table. Gray was nowhere to be found.

"Guys, I need your advice." Lucy said.

"Okay!" Said the girls. Lucy was just about to tell them about Natsu when Juvia and Gray came storming in.

As Juvia was sitting down, Wendy said "I smell anger and sadness. Why?"

Juvia said "I will tell you later."

Lucy noticed she wasn't talking in third person. Did that have something to do with Juvia's bad mood? She wasn't sure.

"Alright!" They heard Mira's cheery voice. "Girls, let's go to Lucy's!" All the girls stood up and left.

When they got to Lucy's house, Mira screamed. "Where are all the dresses!?!" Lucy looked worried; the demon was after her.

"They're in the closet! Calm down, please!"

"Oh, okay" said Mira, and she smiled. Once all the girls found a place to sit, Juvia started crying.

"Gray got really mad at me today!" She said between sobs. There was no 'sama' after Gray's name.

"Why?" Lisanna asked calmly, although she was certainly not calm. No one could hurt her friend like this. Juvia started talking about it.

~Flashback~
"What kind of soda do you like Juvia?" Gray asked when they were at the local super market.

"Juvia likes Cream soda" She said. Gray looked annoyed, but she didn't notice it.

She walked down to the chips and said "Gray-sama, Juvia thinks we should get potato chips!" Juvia said cheerfully.

Gray snapped. "Will you stop putting 'sama' adter my name?! I've told you a million times! And quit taking in third person. You're not a child." He immediately regretted it. "I'm leaving" he said unusually calmly. Juvia bought all of the stuff herself, and walked back to the guild alone.
~end flashback~

Erza and Mira were mad. Like radiating power mad.

"Come on," Mira said.

"We're leaving" said Erza. All the girls stood up because they didn't want their lives to end there. They followed Mira and Erza to Gray's house, and Erza smashed down the door.

"Gray, where are you!?" She yelled angrily.

"I swear if you don't come out now, I'll kill you!" Mira yelled. Lisanna was standing behind Mira, and all the other girls were behind them. Juvia was in the very back, clinging to Lucy's arm. Gray came out, very scared, and even more frightened when he saw all of the girls, with Mira in her satan soul form and Erza in her heavens wheel armor.

"You are an awful person! Juvia is not the immature one in this situation; you are!" Mira said. "Are you so much of an idiot that you can't tell how much she loves you? She'd do anything for you!" Gray still felt really bad, but he didn't see Juvia within the mass of girls at his doorstep.

"I know." He said quietly.

"Excuse me?" said Erza angrily. "We didn't get that."

Gray scowled. "I said I know. I know I'm an awful person. I know how much she loves me. I feel like shit. I feel so bad, and I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to hurt her. I'm just... Confused. I think... I know I have feelings for her. I'm still sorting them out." It was weird saying this aloud, but he didn't see Juvia, so he didn't feel especially strange saying it. Juvia was there, though, standing behind the rest of the girls, surprised and confused. Mira and Erza had gone back to their normal selves, most likley in shock. They all stood there, silent. Then, from the very back, and very, very quietly, there was a voice.

"Gray, you... have feelings for me?" It was Juvia. Gray was surprised, to say the least. He didn't know she was there, he didn't know that she had heard.

"Yeah. I do." He said

"Come out. Please." Gray said. Juvia walked out slowly, and walked to him. "I'm sorry Juvia. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm so sorry."

Juvia was crying. "It's okay, Gray." There was still no 'sama'. There was a pang of hurt in Gray's heart. He was so used to Gray-sama.

The pack of girls stood a few feet back, mouths gaping and eyes wide. It wasn't that this was unexpected, it was the fact that the girls felt like they had just witnessed a very private moment between the pair. 

Mira was the one that broke the silence. "I still can't forgive how awful you were to her." Some of the girls nodded, while some looked uneasy. 

"Juvia? What should we do?" Erza asked her. She was polite enough to ask Juvia before inflicting any pain on Gray.

"It's okay. Let's go back." Juvia said. No one questioned Juvia: it was her situation, not anyone else's.