Thank You Juvia

Getting Ready

"So, why do you love Gray so much?" Levy asked as she began rolling Juvia's hair up in large curlers.

"He stopped my rain." she answered, confusing Levy.

"What does that mean?"

"Well uh, Juvia was a rain woman. Rain followed Juvia everywhere and people hated her for it. But after Gray-sama found me, the rain stopped. Juvia still doesn't know why. Juvia thinks it is true love." she answered, making Levy giggle.

"That's a beautiful start to your love story Juvia." she said as she finished putting Juvia's hair in the curlers.

"Juvia thinks that in a way, Levy stopped Gajeel's rain." the water mage added. Levy blushed.

"I wouldn't go that far." she said shyly. Juvia turned to face her new friend.

"No! Juvia means it! Juvia was worried about Gajeel-kun. He was very dark and scary but after joining Fairy Tail he's become easier to be around and I think its because Gajeel has Levy-san!" she explained, making Levy blush even more.

"He kissed me last night." Levy admitted, desperate for some advice from someone who knew Gajeel. The admission made Juvia smile and clap her hands.

"And then?" she asked, wanting more juicy details.

"That was it. I guess he thought I was still drunk." Levy said before leaning back and laying out on the floor of her apartment.

"Does Levy want more than kissing?" Juvia asked.

"Yes." Levy groaned, unafraid to admit what she wanted most.

"Then Levy needs to go for it!"

"I tried! I climbed on top of him and he pretty much pushed me away. Do you think he's scared or something?" Levy asked, unable to come up with another explanation.

"Gajeel-kun still doesn't believe that he's good enough for anyone. Juvia thinks that Levy-san should be very honest with him."

Levy nodded. She agreed. The only issue was that she didn't have the bravery to come right out and tell Gajeel how she felt.

Gajeel sat in the guild hall, disappointed by the lack of people there. Both Wendy and Lucy were no where to be seen, leaving Gajeel without anyone to ask for advice. Suddenly someone sat down next to him, making him groan and roll his eyes.

"We heard that you went on a date with Levy." Happy said, to which Natsu nodded eagerly.

"So?" Gajeel said, looking away and feeling annoyed.

"So, what happened? Levy wasn't at Fairy Hills last night." Natsu said, having heard from Lisanna that Levy was no where to be seen.

"She had a few drinks, didn't want to get her in trouble so she stayed at my house." he answered simply, though he didn't even know why he bothered to answer at all. Natsu sniffed Gajeel.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" the Iron Dragon Slayer asked angrily as he moved away from Natsu.

"Making sure you're telling the truth." he said simply. Gajeel was repulsed.

"I don't need you sniffing up my personal life."

Natsu grinned. "I'm just curious!"

Gajeel stood up and walked away. "Go sniff up bunny girl or something." he said before going outside and sitting out there. He had only been in that spot for a minute before someone else came up, likely just to annoy the crap out of him.

"Gajeel? Are you okay?" Lucy asked. Gajeel sighed and leaned back.

"Maybe. I mean, I should be." he answered cryptically.

"Anything I can help with?"

Gajeel was silent for a moment before answering. "She deserves better than me. She deserves someone who has never hurt her."

"Ah." Lucy said in realization before sitting down next to him.

"I don't think that matters to her."

"It matters to me." he snapped back. Lucy nodded.

"So you need to forgive yourself. Maybe look at treating her right and loving her as a way to redeem yourself? This is all for you. Levy has already forgiven you and moved forward. So you just need to figure out what you need." Lucy advised. Gajeel thought about it. The idea of redeeming himself by being good to Levy sounded like something he could do. He would probably do it anyway.

"Thanks Bunny Girl." He said before ruffling her hair, barely noticing Lucy's sound of protest, and leaving to clean up before his date.

Levy and Juvia stood in their underwear, staring at the large selection of dresses in front of them. Juvia had stormed through the closets of every girl in Fairy Hills who wore the same size as either of them and demanded to see everything they had to pick from that was suitable for a date.

"Too many choices Juvia." Levy said, still overwhelmed by the over thirty outfits she now had the choice of.

"Juvia agrees." was the girl's response. More girls in Fairy Hills wore the same size as Juvia, making her selection three times as big as Levy's.

The two girls looked at each other and laughed. "We don't have enough time to try on everything Juvia! Why did you get all of this!" Levy teased.

"Juvia wanted to see what else there was!" she insisted, still laughing.

Levy began going through the outfits, wondering what would be good. She picked up a long blue dress that had a silver bow around the waist.

"Perfect."

"So, where are we going for dinner?" Levy asked as she walked alongside her date.

"Ah, well. There's a place right next to the performance hall. If that's okay?" Gajeel said, uncharacteristically nervous in a way that made Levy giggle.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"Are you nervous?" she asked in a teasing tone. Gajeel stopped and turned to face her.

"Yes. Because tonight is going to be perfect and I don't want to mess up." he said seriously, surprising the blue haired girl.

"O-oh?" she asked.

"Yes. I will do everything possible to make tonight perfect. Got it?"

"That sounded like a threat." Levy pointed out, laughing a little. Gajeel rolled his eyes.

"Come on shrimp. Its time for dinner." he said, taking her hand.

Juvia's dress was perfect. Blue, as always. Long, like a sophisticated ball gown. Her hair was long and flowing and a white flower was pinned above her ear. Juvia didn't want to be too confident, but she was sure that she'd never looked more beautiful.

But that didn't seem to matter.

The poor girl had been sitting outside of Kardia Cathedral, like Gray's note had asked, for over an hour. Gray hadn't shown up.

"Juvia's been stood up." she whispered to herself sadly while trying to hold back her tears.