the rain doll found a friend
"Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet." – Roger Miller
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Juvia is not happy today. (She saw a rain doll lying in a trashcan.)
She
trails behind Gajeel-kun as they walk to the guild together – today
he's refusing to go in alone (again) - and she counts the cracks in the
cobblestones. Magnolia is a beautiful city – the air smells of flowers
and freshly baked bread.
"You're unusually quiet," Gajeel-kun
notes. She glances up at him; he's still walking with his back to her
with his usual confident swagger. His arms are stretched above him and
behind his head - more than anything, he looks at ease. Has she ever seen him like that?
The thought makes makes Juvia smile. But she doesn't say anything (because the doll was ripped and muddy and completely alone) and instead, she quickens her pace and falls into step beside her fellow ex-Phantom.
Gajeel-kun
gives her a side glance. "It's weird seeing you in the sun." His
muscular arms drop to his sides and he compares their hands. "You're
paler than a ghost."
Juvia's smile grows as she holds up her hand for scrutiny (and she tries to put the rain doll out of mind because in the end, it doesn't even mean anything, and she knows she's just being stupid but-)
He suddenly turns on his heels and starts walking back the way they came.
"G-Gajeel-kun?" Juvia stops, confused.
He doesn't turn to look at her but his arms are back up behind his head. "Did you have nightmares or something?"
"Wha...?" Juvia trails off. What's he getting at?
"You've
got dark circles under your eyes. Now, look here, rain-woman, I'm not
your baby-sitter. You need to take care of yourself, got it? I'm not
gonna go around behind you and pick up the trash." Juvia's eyes are wide
as she stares at him. Is he...? He suddenly turns back to look at her, and says, "It was raining last night at my place, too. Just so you know."
Juvia's breath catches. He's never tried to comfort her.
She still doesn't say anything but she looks at him with something new
in her eye – maybe it's respect and maybe it's appreciation or maybe
it's something a bit more, a bit deeper, something
that they never really had until they came to a guild where nakama are
family and two strangers-but-not-strangers need to stick together.
She's suddenly so happy she asked Master Makarov to help Gajeel-kun. She did the right thing, for once.
He
catches her eye for a moment before turning back again and walking away
in the opposite direction from the guild. "Get to bed on time, would
ya? How do you expect the fairies to respect you when you're falling
asleep on missions, idiot?"
Her eyes are still wide, her mouth a little slack. "Where are you going?"
He keeps walking away from her but he raises a hand in farewell, not looking back. "I'll meet you there. Forgot something."
Juvia
watches him leave, wanting to say something but unable to find the
words, and soon enough Gajeel-kun is gone and she's alone in the street.
She
notices that the puddles from last night are already disappearing in
the morning sun. Before long, there'll be no sign it had ever rained.
Juvia wonders... what exactly will Fairy Tail do to her?
(Later, when Juvia is sitting at a table in the guildhall and trying to-
well, just trying-
she sees the rain doll from the trashcan hanging behind the counter. When she asks, the beautiful one with the white hair and the too-kind smile tells her Gajeel-kun found it outside and said he thought it belonged to a member of the guild.)
well, just trying-
she sees the rain doll from the trashcan hanging behind the counter. When she asks, the beautiful one with the white hair and the too-kind smile tells her Gajeel-kun found it outside and said he thought it belonged to a member of the guild.)
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(fairy tail - juvia loxar)
