AN: I blame this fanfiction on an unhealthy amount of Doctor Who and the show's amazing timey wimey stuff.

Summary: They stayed in a bubble, suspended in time for seven years, so they knew Time Travel. But no experience would ever prepare them to have a Time Mage messing with their lives. {Gruvia} {Time Travel Fanfic} {Two Shot}

WARNING: There will be sexy times in chapter 2; nothing too graphic, but be warned. If you don't think you can handle, please, don't read it.

#

Back to the Future

Part I

#

It was weird to be somewhere and in another completely different place in a blink of an eye, especially if you were in midst of battle and then in the middle of an unknown forest. Gray Fullbuster felt more than confused once he saw himself in that exact situation, alongside with his friend Juvia Lockser.

"What the hell?" Gray looked around, waiting for his enemy to appear from his hiding place and then spotted his blue haired friend, lying on the floor. The man carefully walked towards the woman, seizing her wounds: both were worst to wear, but nothing life threatening. "Juvia." Gray called her and the woman groaned in response.

"Where are we?" She asked, still trying to understand the situation they were in and grabbing the back of her head.

"No idea." Gray helped the blunette to her feet while grabbing his side – the guy they were fighting managed to hit him hard on the ribs. "We need to find the others." Juvia was about to answer him when a very skinny man, with short blonde hair appeared from between the trees; wearing some kind of fancy brown suit. Gray immediately took a defensive posture, quickly putting himself in front of his friend.

The mysterious man waved his hand and offered them a bright smile – Gray noticed that he had wrinkles around his blue eyes when smiling. "Hello there, Gray. Juvia – looking beautiful as always."

"Do we know you?" The Ice Mage asked, barely noting that Juvia was finally on her feet.

"Not yet." The man chuckled. "Well… I know you, but you'll know me yet. This is one of the things you'll get it when you live it." Seeing the confusion in their expressions, the blonde offered his hand. "My name's Nhoj – yes, awful name, my mom's fault: she lost a bet, or something."

The two Fairy Tail mages stared at the man like he was crazy and neither made a move to take his hand, so 'Nhoj' used it to scratch the back of his head. "O-kay, that's cool too. You were much better before." He sighed. "I always like meeting people for the first time, it's all: 'Hi, nice to meet you.' In your case, though, you were 'nice to see you again'. Always surprising to meet people that already met you." He said pointedly. "Don't worry: I would be pretty rude to someone who took me to a place I have no idea where it is. Well… maybe not. I'm a little bit of an adventurer."

"You brought us here? What the hell for?" Gray snarled, eyeing the man with anger – while they were talking, his friends needed him in battle. "Where are we?"

"Oh, you are still in Magnolia." Nhoj opened his arms and stared at them as if it was more than obvious that their city was a forest. "The right question is: when are you?" the blonde's expression became darker for a split of a second, but both mages noticed.

Gray looked over his shoulder, where Juvia was standing behind him. They shared a look, which said that they had to discover as much about the situation as they could, since they were both hurt and couldn't just kick their way out. Looking back at Nhoj, the dark haired mage narrowed his eyes. "Fine. When are we?"

"x154."

There were a few moments of silence while the younger mages processed the information. They were in the past. Not only in the past, but more than six hundred years in the past; but thankfully, they were part of Fairy Tail and strangest things happened. Actually, Time Travel was a bit of a cliché for them after being suspended in time in a bubble for seven years; except that no one had traveled back that far before.

"You brought us back in time?" Juvia asked with wide eyes, stepping to stay by Gray's side.

"Yeap." Nhoj smiled.

"Why?" The blunette frowned while Gray watched the interaction between them, trying to assemble the other man's reaction to Juvia's questions and maybe catch something.

"Because it's what always happens." The blonde shrugged.

"What? Bring us back!" Gray watched Juvia step towards the man, but grabbed her wrist to make her stay put: Nhoj seemed like a nice guy, but he did take them to the past, which meant that he was powerful and they were injured.

"No can't do." The man in a suit shrugged and shook his head. "I am a Time Mage and I can see what will happen and you two" Nhoj pointed at the Fairy Tail Mages "would've died if you stayed in battle – and trust me, you cannot die just yet." He sighed. "Look, it will be just for a little while, until time is right again – right now is all… wobbly."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Gray hissed to the man.

"This, right here" the blonde man pointed to the couple, to himself and then to the forest around them, "is a fixed point in time: you two need to stay here until I meet you."

"So, we will just trust you and stay in x-one-hundred-fifty-fucking-four?"

"Yes." Nhoj said nonchalantly. "The next time I see you two, I won't know you because I haven't met you yet."

"Excuse me?" Gray frowned.

"He's a Time Traveler: he doesn't meet people in the same order they meet him." Juvia said slowly, staring at the older man to see if her theory was right.

"Ah, a girl after my heart; that's why I've always had a crush on Juvia: she gets me." Nhoj winked at Juvia and the Water Mage blushed while Gray rolled his eyes in annoyance. "She's right, though. I only know you two now because you came and talk to me."

Gray frowned. "But how did we know how to…?"

"Timey wimey stuff. Don't worry about it." Nhoj waved his hand to dismiss the subject. "When you do find me, tell me to get you to two weeks after you left. Don't forget: two weeks. It's the amount of time you always spend away."

"Will you believe us?" The Ice Mage asked.

"I came back to get you, didn't I?" Nhoj winked at them before clapping his hand one time, excitedly. "Now…. Gotta go! Places to see, people to meet."

"Wait! What will we do here for two weeks?" Gray asked as he saw the man turn around to leave.

"Oh no, you got me wrong." The blonde did a complete 360. "You won't stay here for two weeks. You need to come back to your own time after two weeks I took you." The younger mages tried to talk, but Nhoj didn't let them. "Get comfortable, kids: you'll stay here for a while. And, you should have a plan before people find you in about…" he looked down to his wrist, where there was no watch whatsoever "fifteen minutes: remember that this is the x-hundreds. Behave like them." He waved good bye. "Ta."

"Wait a minute…" Gray stepped closer to where the man was, but in a blink of an eye, the older mage was not there anymore.

"He's gone." Juvia whispered and touched Gray's forearm. The couple stayed in silence for a few moments. "What do we do now?

Gray had to blink a few times to gather his mind together. He had been in battle ten minutes before and now he stood with Juvia more than six hundred years in the past. They were both injured – gladly nothing that could kill them – and with no money or much information about that time.

"Okay." The Ice Mage cleared his throat. "Okay, if we believe in him what do we know about the x-hundreds?"

"Women did not show this much of their bodies." Juvia pointed to her own; her dress was torn apart in many places, including somewhere really close to her breasts. They definitely should get her dressed properly before people thought she was a wanton.

"And I am sure men didn't wear these kinds of clothes as well." Gray looked down to his flowery shirt, cargo pants and boots. Seeking in his brain any other information he might have about those years, Gray paled considerably when one though came to mind. "We need to find somewhere safe. As fast as we can."

Juvia noticed his distress. "What is it?"

"Dragons." Gray whispered. "This is the Dragon Era."

"Oh." Gray saw the blunette pale as well, recalling their encounters with dragons, while putting hand over her mouth.

"Dragons use us as food and Zealconis told us that there were many wars before a dragon give humanity Slayer magic." The Ice Mage walked closer to a tree and leaned in, the blunette following his actions. "We don't know if our friends will even know what happened to us, or how to bring us back – if they can, that is. And only the gods know when and if we'll see that crazy bastard again."

"So, we're stuck in x154." The Water Mage sighed after helping Gray sit on the floor (she knew he was hurting) and joined him after a few seconds-

"For now." Gray groaned in protest when the pain on his ribs made itself known. "At least Zeref isn't even born yet. If we had to deal with that man again, I'd be really pissed off."

"Agreed." Juvia chuckled but stopped when her head throbbed in pain, the couple stayed in silence for a few moments. "If what he said is true, Gray-sama, people will find us soon. Maybe we should have a story to tell them to why we look this way."

The Ice Mage nodded. "Let's say we were attacked by… I don't know. What are filthy dark guilds called around this time?"

"Road thieves?" Juvia suggested.

"The day road thieves can make a number on us, it's the day I'll be completely out of my game." Gray was cranky: he hated being in a situation where he knew little about. Plus the fact he was in pain didn't agree with his mood either.

"For now, they will have to think so. We can say five men did it." Juvia suggested and the man groaned. "Six, then. Big and strong." This time he groaned in agreement and they fell into silence, both trying to figure it out what to do next. After a few minutes, they heard voices coming from in between the woods. Juvia grabbed Gray's hands on hers, squeezing it. "We will be fine." At least she hoped it sounded better than she felt.

"Of course we will." Gray scoffed, but didn't remove his hand from hers, taking the small comfort of not being alone.

#

As it turned out, Magnolia wasn't much of a city yet, just a village with a few cabins and shops, but not near the amazing city it would turn out to be in six hundred years. Gray and Juvia managed to convince the men that they were robbed and attacked a few hours before.

Not sure of what they would find once they met the village's leader, the Ice Mage pretended to need help walking to keep Juvia as close as possible; these were dark ages and as much as he could easily fight fifty men at time, they also needed somewhere safe to stay during the time they waited for Nhoj's return.

The village's leader was a big and large man with brown small eyes and dark hair called Mirak. He took a moment to look at the young couple, took in their appearance and heard their story about being mugged. When asked about their families, Juvia stepped in and told him that their families died of an illness a few months before, and since there was nothing else there for them so they wanted to seek somewhere else to live.

The blunette even managed to squeeze a few tears out, and for a moment, Gray was impressed with her acting skills – he helped as much as he could, looking down on her, sad, but aware enough of their surroundings to bolt if necessary.

"We can help you and your woman." Mirak said after Juvia 'calmed down' and Gray felt his cheeks grow warmer. "If you two are looking for somewhere to stay and if you help out with the village, we'll let you stay."

"I am very good with hunting and my…" Gray hesitated a bit before continued "woman is good with… erm… fishing. We will help as much as we can."

"Good." The village leader nodded. "You can stay at my stable tonight, I have a vacant booth." His brown eyes hardened. "But if you two bring us trouble, we will kick you out."

"We won't bring trouble." Gray said, hoping that he was right, but knowing deep down that trouble always found Fairy Tail mages, it didn't matter in which point in time.

"I'll send my daughters with bandages, a blanket and some clothes for you." The older man nodded to one of the hunters who found them in the woods. "Take them there, Kire."

"Thank you, Mirak." Gray said respectfully, trying to be in the older man's good side.

They followed the man called Kire to the stable, where there were three horses in their booths while the fourth one was empty and that's where they would stay the night, apparently. Gray could see the confusion and the blush in Juvia's face, so, he knew exactly what she was going to ask as soon as they were alone.

As expected, as soon as they were sure Kire was gone, the blunette whispered loud enough for him to hear (which wasn't too hard, since they still were close to each other, even though the Ice Mage stopped his pretend of leaning on her). "G-Gray-sama, what…?"

"Look," he whispered as well "this is more than six-hundred years before our time, and even though they don't seem like barbarians or something, this is a time when women who are alone are considered prey. You are young and pretty, they can use you for much more than slavery, and I don't think they will let us stay together just because we are friends, so, yeah: while we're here, I'll let them call you my woman so I can protect you, okay?" Juvia nodded with wide eyes: she hadn't thought about it. "If anyone asks, we got married a few weeks ago. Don't wander off alone, and let's try to keep our magic to ourselves as much as we can; magic was not well seen until they needed it to contain the dragons. Agreed?"

"Yes." The blunette nodded.

"At least we don't seem like prisoners." Gray said with the same low voice. "We will have to spend the night in a stable, but they don't seem like they will hurt us."

"We can't trust an assumption, though." Juvia whispered back at him. "We need to keep our guards up. They seemed to believe in us, but…"

"We never know, yes." The Ice Mage finished her sentence.

"Sorry to interrupt." Two girls entered the stable; the older seemed to be fifteen and the younger, not more than ten; both looked like Mirak with their brown eyes and dark hair, but with much softer facial features. Gray took a step back away from the blunette while Juvia smiled kindly to the girls.

"Father told us to bring blankets and some medicine for your husband." The younger girl said, shyly as her sister put the blankets down over a chair, while she pointed with her head to the tray in her hands, which contained a few bandages, a pot of tea and a glass. "This is scally tea, for his wounds."

"Thank you…" The Water Mage took the tray from the younger girl's hand.

"Miranda Necasi." The girl answered with pride. "And this is my sister Natalie Necasi. Our father is the village's leader."

"Oh, I see." Juvia chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Miranda and Natalie Necasi." The blunette smiled to both of them, seeing the young girl seemed to like surnames. "I am Juvia Lockser and this is Gray Fullbuster."

"Aren't you two married?" The older of the two, Natalie, asked in confusion. "Shouldn't you have his last name?"

"She does." Gray answered instead of the Water Mage – who was turning into a very bright shade of red. "It's… hm… We got" he coughed "married just a couple of months ago. She's not used to it yet."

"It is very new." Juvia shrugged. It was the truth anyways; they have been 'married' for two hours and if Juvia wasn't so tired, she would've been freaking out. But she felt sore and with a headache threatening to split her head in two – she was hit a little bit too hard before Nhoj brought them to the past. And looking to Gray, she knew he needed to rest as well.

"I see." Natalie giggled in a way that made Juvia blush even harder; it was obvious that the girl thought they were still in the honeymoon phase. "Come on, Miranda. They want to be alone."

"That's not…" Gray tried to say – also blushing –, but both girls were already leaving the stable. "…what we… oh, never mind." He walked towards the chair which contained their new clothes. The fabric was rough and would mostly likely scratch, but Gray didn't care. He took his new shirt, but left the pants alone: his were in good shape still. He grabbed Juvia's new dress as well and handed to her – it was also rustic and with a green shade, long sleeved and should cover her figure nicely (Gray didn't like the way some men stared at her. "Here. You should cover yourself." She took the dress and watched as the Ice Mage turned around. "Change now. It's better during the night, less likely to have people around."

"Thanks." Juvia whispered, cheeks still rosy. The Water Mage stared at Gray's back for a moment before taking her dress off. It was weird, changing with him a few steps away, but it was necessary. Plus, she knew the man wouldn't look (even if she had nothing against it). Perhaps the next morning, after resting she would think about it properly, but for the moment, she just wanted to lie down for a bit. "You can turn around now." The blunette told him and Gray did exactly that and he saw the dress was a little loose. "Juvia needs to look at your wounds, Gray-sama." She told him gently. "Just wait a moment." She grabbed one of the blankets and covered the floor. "Sit down."

Groaning and with no intention of fighting, Gray did as he was told. He watched as Juvia grabbed a flannel and the bandages before settling in front of him. With the flannel, she began to clean his skin the best she could, paying attention to the cuts. "Gray-sama?" Juvia called and the Ice Mage hummed in acknowledge. "This is a little swollen, you should use..."

"Not here." Gray whispered and then touched her face lightly. "We are not alone right now." He looked towards the door, where underneath it they could see a shadow. "Whoever it is, just arrived to keep an eye on us."

Juvia bit her lower lip and leaned towards his touch, eyes closed. "We should keep watch, then. Discretely."

"Yes, we should." Gray leaned over so their foreheads touched – to anyone watching, they were just a couple of loving fools when in reality they were communicating (and to tell the truth Juvia was enjoying the contact a little too much).

Hating herself for prying away from his touch, Juvia got up to fetch the tea to her friend. She heard of scally, a weed which relaxed the muscles and make whoever drank, sleepy and it was exactly what Gray needed at the moment. "Here, drink this."

"What was that again?" Gray accepted the cup and smelled the sweet scent.

"Scally." The Water Mage answered. "It will make you feel a little better."

The man shrugged and drank it, making a face with the sweetness – he never were too fond of it – but accepted the second cup Juvia poured him; they didn't have their time's medicine or magic to heal, so he had to take whatever they got to heal.

"Sleep. Juvia will take the first shift." She pushed him to lie down as gently as she could and even though Gray didn't want to, he found himself lying on the floor.

"No, I…" The Ice Mage tried, but the woman shushed him.

"You are injured and need rest." She put the teapot and the cup away. "Juvia can't sleep right now because of her head, but you can. Don't worry, Juvia will call you in a few hours." She sat by his side again and told him quietly: "Sleep, Gray-sama."

"Wake me up in a couple of hours." He mumbled, already sleepy and closing his eyes. Whatever scally was, it was clear it made him sleepy and the part of his brain that was still aware of his whereabouts noted to never take the damn thing again.

"We'll be alright, Gray-sama." He heard Juvia tell him while caressing his hair. It was nice, he decided, as sleep enveloped his mind.

"I sure hope so." He managed to say before unconsciousness overcame him.

#

"You didn't wake me." Gray mumbled when he finally make out where he was. It was confusing, but he soon recalled the last day's adventure and that he and Juvia were now in the past.

The blunette chuckled with his tone of offence. "You needed to rest and Juvia couldn't sleep just in case she did have a concussion, so it would be a waste to wake you up for nothing."

"Thank you, but it was silly of you." The Ice Mage groaned when seated, but it wasn't as bad as the other day; he was just sore and in a day or two he would be better. Maybe the scally helped after all, even if it made him sleepy.

"It's alright, Juvia will sleep tonight, though." She pointed to a tray not too far from them. "The girls were kind enough to bring us some food. It's just bread and wine, but it's nice enough; Juvia already had her part."

"Yes." Gray's stomach growled. It didn't matter what it was, as long as it was eatable. "I am starving." He accepted the piece of bread Juvia offered him and ate happily.

"Are you feeling better?" She asked and he nodded, taking a big sip of wine – which was strong, but thankfully not enough to make them drunk – and the woman sighed in relief. "Good. We need a plan, Gray-sama."

"I think that we can't do much until we have somewhere permanent to stay." The Ice Mage informed her. "You heard Mirak yesterday: we need to contribute. I know how to hunt; I do have some talents I can use."

"And Juvia can fish with her own talents." She followed his line of thinking, choosing not to talk about their magic as well. "But this is a fishing village as far as we could see."

"Yes." Gray agreed. "That's why my hunting would bring us an advantage." He ate another piece of bread. "We could trade for things we need."

"Good thinking, young man." Mirak said from the stable's door, while eyeing the couple with an amused stare. "You look much better than yesterday; but I guess that cleaning up and a nice night's sleep in a beautiful woman's arms can do wonders." Both younger mages blushed hard as the man laughed. "Still getting used to it, I see."

"Thank you for helping us last night." Gray got up from the ground with a pained groan; his ribs bothered a bit yet and he chose to ignore the older man's remark. "You took a leap of faith."

"I did put men outside to watch you, though." Mirak pointed out.

"Understandable." The Ice Mage nodded. "We are outsiders."

"I'm glad you understand." The older man nodded. "And I've met many bad people, nasty human beings and real scum: I know when I'm looking to a bad person. Yesterday, all I saw in your eyes were confusion, and desire to protect your woman," Mirak gave Gray a pointed look. "which I completely understand. You, young man, just want somewhere to have a life with your wife."

"I…" Gray felt Juvia get closer to him and nodded to the Village's leader. "Yes, that's what we want."

"There's an abandoned house about half an hour north, by foot, close to the river that you two can use." Mirak told them. "No one wants to move so far away of the Village – the previous owners were an old couple who died last year with no heirs, but the house is strong – and the earth is not fitting for a large harvest, but a small garden can be arranged and you can grow some vegetables."

"Thank you." Juvia offered him a smile. "You are being very kind."

"Well, our village needs some young people to keep things fresh!" The older man shrugged. "Plus, I can't send you two away with nowhere to go, no money and with no family to turn to. Who knows, maybe you can find a home here in our village."

Gray hesitated, knowing deep inside his heart that their home would always be back in Fairy Tail and in their own time, but Mirak didn't know that. "Maybe we can."

"Good, good." The village leader grinned. "Now, shall we look around the town? I can show the house later."

In its early days, Magnolia was a fishers town and pretty much just a small village close to the ocean, with no pavement streets and a few shops – it was nowhere near the big city they knew, but no less beautiful on its own rustic way. People stared at them as both walked by Mirak's side, which was understandable, since the village couldn't have more than one hundred people and they all seemed to know each other.

After walking around for an hour or so, they started to walk towards North and during the way, Gray heard what Mirak talk about all the nice things about his town, while Juvia walked a little bit behind, taking in the beauty of the forest with the river running on their right side and also memorizing the path they took.

The house Mirak talked about was a small cottage, located in a glade close to the river – about fifty meters away – and just as the older man said, it seemed to be holding up quite well and even had a small stable, big enough for one horse. The grass around it needed to be cut, but after, the place would be rather pretty.

Of course, the cottage was dirty after being left alone for a year and there was a hole on the kitchen area ceiling, but apart from it, the house was livable and had furniture. There was only one room other than the bigger area – not even big enough to put a grown up's proper bed. The other room was big enough to have two distinct areas: the kitchen (which thankfully contained some sort of stove) had a small table with four chairs, and the bedroom – with a double bed, a chest to keep clothes in, and a fireplace.

"This will do to you, isn't it right?" Mirak asked with a wide grin.

"Yes, of course." Gray answered with a nod. "Will we ever be able to repay you?"

"I think you will." The older man shrugged and offered them the bag he had been carrying. "There's food for today, I'm afraid that's all I can spare. You won't be hunting a deer for a few days, but will be better suited for hunting a rabbit or something in the morning."

"Thank you, Mirak." The Ice Mage thanked the other man with honesty. "I will repay you as soon as I can."

"Don't worry about it." He waved it off. "Where the world will we end when we refuse to help the ones in need?"

#

Juvia convinced Gray that they needed to use magic to clean the house and even deadly tired; she used water from the river to clean the bed mattress (and put it outside to dry even after she used water magic to remove it all), the ground and the furniture while Gray went out to find some wood to make a fire later and something to cover the hole in the ceiling and thankfully found it.

The cottage would need another scrub once Juvia rested, but for the night, it was good enough. There was another dress and another shirt and pants inside the bad Marik gave them (thank the gods: they were really low in the clothing department) and Juvia went to take bath in the river by the end of the afternoon, changing her green dress to a light blue one.

After washing the used gown, Juvia put it to dry outside and told Gray – who made a fire for them – that he should go take a bath himself, that the river was nice. They didn't have much to eat, so it would just be the scally tea for them both that night.

When the Ice Mage returned, bathed and with different clothes, Juvia told him to put the dirty ones close to the door so the next day she could take care of them.

"You want to give me the sleepy tea again." Gray smelled the sweet scent and frowned.

"To both of us this time." Juvia put a cup in front of him and not for the first time that day the man saw how tired she really was. "You need to rest too, Gray-sama, to completely heal." He tried to argue, but the blunette shook her head and raised a hand to stop him. "If they wanted us dead, they would've killed us back in the village. Both of us need this; the best way of protecting ourselves is to be healthy to fight."

The logic was sound, he had to give her that. "Alright, you are right." Gray drank his tea and watched as Juvia did the same. He poured them another for good measure – they were not have trouble to sleep that night, not when they were so exhausted. "In the morning I'll do as Mirak said and see if I can find some rabbits. Only the gods know how long we're going to be here. Could be ten days, could be ten months."

"Yes." Juvia sighed. "We need more clothes and by the way the air is cold, winter will come soon and Juvia knows you don't mind cold, but…"

"You do, yes." Gray finished his tea. "And I do mind the cold, I'm just more resistant: I can last longer than you, that's all. We will need to prepare for winter. So many things to do…"

"We will get it right." Juvia finished her own tea and gathered their cups. "But for tonight, we need to rest."

"Yes, sure." The Ice Mage got up from the chair and took his shirt off (he liked to sleep naked and knew that it was better to stay with his pants on, but he just couldn't stay with a shirt on) and grabbed a blanket to be a makeshift pillow, throwing it on the floor next to the bed. He was halfway on kneeling when she felt a tiny hand envelop his.

"Both of us need proper sleep and on a proper bed." Juvia told him quietly and then pulled him towards the double bed.

"I don't mind sleeping on the floor." The tea was working, because he just let her lead him.

"Juvia does." She kneeled on the bed and moved to the left side, just as Gray sat on it. "Don't worry, Gray-sama… Juvia have shared beds with a man before and she behaved herself." The Water Mage chuckled.

"What? Who?" Gray looked over his shoulder, just to see the woman lying down on her claimed side of the bed.

"Gajeel-kun." Juvia patted the side that was supposed to be Gray's and said man was glad that the only light inside the cottage came from the fireplace and even so, it wasn't the best light: he was blushing with the sight, even when he knew she had no malice. Not that time. "When we were tracking Dark Guilds, it was better to sleep together for protection."

With a groan because of the dull ache coming from his ribs, Gray finally settled on the bed – it wasn't exactly fluffy, but was soft enough for him to let out a moan of appreciation. He was so achy.

"I see." The Ice Mage said. "I had to share beds with people too. Most of them were kickers. Are you a kicker?"

"Juvia never heard a complaint, so she'll say no. You'll have to tell me later." She chuckled and Gray smiled in the darkness. The stayed in silence for a few moments. "It's been a day and Juvia already misses our friends." The blunette whispered; Gray could feel the crack of her heart as she said the words for the simple reason that he felt it too.

"Me too." He answered her with a voice as low as hers. "But you heard Nhoj, we will return."

"I know." Gray felt Juvia turn and face towards the other side. "It doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt all the same."

#

It took them three months of mutual frustration for him to kiss her. The fact that he woke up with her snuggled on him for about ninety days straight was not helping the Ice Mage to think less perverted thoughts.

She would wake up first every morning to do her own chores and Gray always felt her weight being lift from his chest or how she gently unwrap his arms from around her body.

Every night they would sleep in opposites sides of the bed, but in the morning, there they were, tangled in each other. The Ice Mage pretended not to wake up and she never uttered a word (he appreciated that, since he didn't know what to do with the fact that he was a snuggler, apparently) about it.

After three months on their own, they were feeling much more at ease in each other's presence. Before going to sleep they would sit outside staring to the sky and sharing stories about their friends, about missions they took, about missions they would like to take.

Some nights, Gray would use his magic to make miniatures of the members of Fairy Tail and those were silent nights, both hurting too much to say anything. But they were coping. They were together, at least. They came from the same time, they knew and missed the same people; they understood each other.

Their cottage looked much better after they cut the high grass of the glade – Juvia asked for Gray to leave the part where there were a few flowers growing – and now there was rope for clothes to be hanged and a shack Gray made so he could have a place to take care of his hunt.

With the deers Gray caught during those three months, they had managed to trade its meat for provisions such as food and clothing; the real merchant being Juvia – she said she got the ability of bargain for being a girl who liked to buy clothes "Some girls might not learn how to have a worthy shopping spree by paying less and taking more, but Juvia did.", the blunette would say with pride. She made deals with the owner of the market, so, as long as they kept giving him meat, they had income of other essentials.

But even if they were doing fine, it didn't mean Gray wasn't getting frustrated with their situation.

He wanted to go back to his time, wanted to take a mission and fight friendly with his friends. He wanted to drink a beer from his own timer other than the sour ones from the x-hundreds. He wanted to be able to freely perform magic. He wanted his life to be normal again.

He wanted not to feel normal to wake up during the night with her on his arms and just return to sleep after tightening his grasp on her. He wanted not to feel those stupid butterflies on his stomach when he made her laugh (those had been increasing for a long while now, but they seemed to be more and more frequent).

He wanted the old normal, because the new normal was turning him into someone ridiculous.

That end of the afternoon Gray decided to join Juvia on the river while she used her magic to catch a few fishes for their dinner after he arrived from the village – everything looked so not like home that made him even more frustrated than usual. She would raise her dress to her knees and watch the water to see when a fish would pass by so she could catch it. She was humming happily when he arrived, a basket with one small fish by the shore.

"Hi, Gray-sama." She looked over her shoulder with a smile on her lips, but when the Water Mage saw his troubled face, the smile faded and worry overcame her features. "What is it? What's wrong?" Juvia started to walk towards him.

"I want to get back." Gray passed a hand through his hair. "This is too different of everything we know, Juvia. We don't belong here."

"Gray-sama…" Juvia sighed. "I know this is difficult for you, but it isn't on our hands."

"Do you? Do you know?" He didn't mean to snarl at her or to sound heartless and harsh, but there were the words.

"We don't know how long we are going to stay here, Gray-sama. So yes, we need to make a life; we did not stop living just because we stepped back from our time." The Water Mage told him. "We need to move on."

"I miss home too much to just move on."

"Juvia does too. They were your friends longer, but it doesn't mean Juvia doesn't miss them just as much." The Water Mage's eyes watered. "If Juvia is glad that she's here with you? If she's glad we are having some time alone? Yes, she is; you know she is. But she misses them too. She misses Gajeel-kun, and Cana-san, and Lisanna-san, and Natsu-san, Lucy-san, Levy-san, Lilly, Happy, Master… She misses all of them too. They are our family. But Juvia has faith that we will come back to them sooner or later." Gray stared at her while a few stray tears fell. "So, while we are here, Juvia will continue her life until it is time for us to return and she will not feel bad about it." She turned around to leave, but returned to catch the basket with the one fish she caught. Before going back to their cottage, she told him. "You need to find something to make you feel sane while you are here. Don't let it go to your head."

He returned later that night; Juvia guessed that he spent the rest of the afternoon and the beginning of the night by the river to cool off, like he usually did when too stressed or just to be away from her for a few hours. The woman was already lying on the bed when he entered the house, she didn't even stir – even though she was awfully relieved he was home. She chose not to confront him about their earlier discussion, it would only make him close up even more. Before, she would press him for answers, but now, after those three months they spent together almost without a break, she knew better how to handle him.

The blunette heard the door close and then, after a few moments, footsteps. She heard a chair being pulled and silence for a minute – in which she guessed he was taking his shoes off. Gray carefully joined her on the bed, putting his arms around her the best he could, which was new (even if they woke up tangled in each other every morning, he never consciously wrapped his arms around her to go to sleep).

"I'm sorry I was an idiot. It won't happen again." Gray whispered and hid his face on her hair.

Feelings aside, Juvia raised a hand so she could put it on his hair, petting a bit. "Are you hungry? There's food on the table."

"Thank you." He answered, knowing that it was all good between them again, but made no move to get up and fetch said food and Juvia was torn between being happy that she was surrounded by his warmth or sad that it would be all she would ever have from him.

"No problem." She turned her body so she could face him. The woman offered him a small smile. "Juvia knows it's difficult."

"I… I am glad that I am not alone." Gray told her.

"Me too." She touched his cheek with tenderness and his eyes fluttered close with the contact.

Just like that it seemed like something shifted between them, as if there was a burden being lift from their shoulders. The air between them changed the skin under Juvia's hand heated up and when Gray opened his eyes, she saw a resolve in them… she saw something she couldn't name, but always longed for.

Maybe it was her who moved first by pure instinct, or maybe it was him; neither could tell. All they knew was that their lips were pressed, their hearts beating faster and their minds were blank for a moment. With the contact, both froze but as soon as their minds began to work again, their lips started to move together.

Juvia's hand, the one that touched his cheek remained in place as she put the other over his guild mark. Gray's hands, though went to grab her hips to bring her body close to his. The Ice Mage was no expert on kissing, so, he followed instinct (he seemed to do a good job if the way Juvia kissed him back with enthusiasm when he coaxed her to open her mouth).

It wasn't at all weird to kiss Juvia in that manner; if anything, it felt like sanity was finally returning to his mind, that he was being grounded once more. It felt normal.

When they came up for air, somehow the Ice Mage was half on top of her, their legs tangled while he rested his forehead on hers while catching his breath. Juvia remained with her eyes closed for a few moments before finally open them. The Ice Mage could see that she was happy but also confused by his sudden kiss.

Not to leave anything left for her to wonder, Gray kissed her again, much softer that time – he took his sweet time to make up his mind, but once he did, there was no stopping him.

"What does it mean, Gray-sama?"

"That I found something to make me sane."

#

AN: Next week: the second and final chapter, the one that will finally make sense (I hope).

01/20/2014 ~ BonneyQ