Rain Doll .3

sunshine

"There is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." - John Ruskin

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It is night-time and Juvia is looking up.

She does that a lot now (now that she can see the sky), and she can't get over how beautiful the stars are.

She's outside the guildhall with everyone else – with her 'nakama' – and she doesn't think has ever felt so at home for a very, very long time.

It's such a pleasant night. So warm. When she thinks nobody is looking, Juvia smiles wider than she ever has before.

She thought wrong.

"Are you a fan of the night sky, too?"

Juvia stiffens at that voice, but she still looks round – the girl is sweet and beautiful and far took kind (and Juvia almost drowned her less than a month ago).

Lucy Heartfilia beams at her. "I absolutely love the stars. Well,"– she laughs and it's warm and lovely and carefree (and everything that Juvia is not) –"you could have guessed that." She winks and wiggles her hips to make her keys (keys that Juvia left in the street) jangle. "I am a celestial wizard, after all."

Suddenly, Juvia feels cold. An unwelcome shiver runs up her spine and she can't look her in the eye, she can't, she can't–

Lucy seems to understand and instead wordlessly looks up with that wide eyed gaze of hers. She doesn't notice the stare she's receiving from the blunette.

This girl is his team-mate – his most precious nakama. Her hair is sunny, her smile is radiant, and she's friendly and open and read like a book. (The complete opposite of the rain woman, Juvia thinks bitterly.) This girl has faith in her friends, and has found a family in her guild, so much so that she ran away from home... Juvia is confused because isn't that a selfish thing to do?
But Lucy Heartfilia isn't selfish, she isn't, because she forgave Juvia (and Juvia cannot forgive her for that).

For the first time in her life, Juvia understands how it feels to drown; the weight of her guilt is crushing her.

"Juvia?" Lucy's looking at her again with that sunny smile and she almost looks away, but suddenly the girl's hand is around Juvia's wrist and she's trapped. She accidentally flinches at the contact - she's scared because Lucy's smile is gone and Juvia knows what's going to happen now, she knows, she knows–

"I hope you won't judge me because of my father," Lucy blurts out.

What? Juvia is taken aback; she stares at the blonde girl with round eyes.

Lucy is blushing now – she's let go of Juvia's wrist, instead fingering the handles of her stellar keys self-consciously. "I-... It's kind of embarrassing. I don't know what you must think of me, but I..." Lucy laughs nervously, her hand rising to the back of her head unconsciously – Juvia noticed earlier that that's what the Salamander does, and it makes her wonder... (because who could be more suited to each other than those two?) Lucy continues, "You should know that I'm not sorry for what I did or how I acted, though. It's not the best introduction, but I..."

Lucy turns and clasps Juvia's hands in her own, and the rain woman is so shocked she jumps. It makes Lucy laugh and all of a sudden, she's lit up again like the sun and Juvia can't stop wondering what magic could make a smile like that.

"I love Fairy Tail, Juvia. I would do anything to protect it. It's my family"– there's that word again, they're always saying it, Juvia notices fondly –"and I love it with all my heart. Every single member is dear to me." Lucy watches her intently as she says this, and Juvia is suddenly very aware of the hands holding her own. "Fairy Tail is really special, Juvia. You'll see."

Juvia is breathless, and – she notices with such surprise that she's blushing!? (Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the Salamander and Gajeel-kun and him watching the two of them, and the blush intensifies because he is looking at Juvia-!)

And then Lucy's let go of her hands and she's staring back up at the sky and pointing out the constellation for Aquarius because she thinks Juvia would like that one. The rain woman has never met another girl so special, and she thinks she understands why he treasures her so much now.

And Juvia is sodamnjealous. (But right now, that hardly matters at all.)

And now Lucy is laughing at something Natsu has done as she runs to him, to her best friend.

Juvia laughs as well, and follows–
(because he is there and he is shirtless!)
–because Lucy had misunderstood, she misunderstood in the sweetest, sweetest way, and she had forgiven Juvia, she welcomed her to her family, and now, Juvia can understand why the whole guild was willing to sacrifice so much to protect this sunny, lovely girl, and now–

She doesn't know how it happened, but–
now Juvia understands more and more what makes Fairy Tail so right for her.

She feels more at home than ever (and she hopes she is because she doesn't want to leave.) And she wants something else, something she didn't even know about until now.
Juvia hopes that someone like Lucy - someone with so much sunshine in their soul - would concede to being friends with a rain woman.

She glances up again at the stars, and smiles.

(She might might might be healing.)

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(fairy tail - juvia loxar)

www.fanfiction.net/s/9793833/3/Rain-Doll

Rain Doll .2

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.)

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(fairy tail - juvia loxar)

www.fanfiction.net/s/9793833/2/Rain-Doll