AN: Well, as you might have guessed, this is the last chapter. Phew, this fic took me a while^^

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Lyon appears in this one ;)

Chapter 7

It had nearly been a day since they returned to Magnolia and back to their routine, and Gray felt kind of frustrated that he didn't spend as much time with Juvia. Sure, they would hang at the guild along with the others, as usual, but somehow that didn't seem enough. It felt like, even though it was for a little while, he had gotten used to being around her almost all the time.

Somehow he wanted to spend more time with her. So there he was, plopping on a chair across hers, in an effort to do so.

"Hey."

"Good morning Gray-sama!"

"How is your leg?" he asked, glancing at her still bandaged leg.

"Ever since Wendy healed it Juvia feels a lot better, though it still hurts sometimes." She saw him search in the pocked of his coat.

"Here." He placed a small vial with a thick white liquid on the table.

"What is this?" she asked curiously, examining the vial.

"It's ointment, for the pain and stuff… I got it from Porlyusica." He said, averting his eyes.

She looked up at him. "You didn't need to do that, Gray-sama..." However she was overjoyed with his gesture.

"Well, I kinda feel responsible about it..." He said, blushing slightly.

"Juvia will definitely use it!"

"You'd better! That old hag hunted me down with a broomstick."

She giggled, and then he remembered what he wanted to do. "Hey, Juvia…"

"Yes?"

He knew he wanted to spend time with her, just him and her. But he couldn't come up with a subtle way to ask.

He could ask her out. Guild mates can also spend time together apart from the guild after all… His stomach tingled at the thought of it.

"I was wondering if you'd like to…"

She was staring at him with those big curious eyes and the words were caught in his throat. How did this woman manage to make him so nervous? He wasn't nervous by nature…

"…to come on a mission with our team."

He wanted to smack his head on the table.

Her face lit up. "Juvia would love to! When her leg gets better of course…"

"Cool. Well, see you around…"

He got up and left, cursing himself inwardly.

A week passed and next thing they knew, it was the time of the year when the Harvest Festival took place and Magnolia was already in celebrating mood. Fairy Tail would hold an opening party that evening and everyone in the guild was busy with frantic preparations for the upcoming event.

"Alright! I'll definitely be Miss Fairy Tail this year!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I heard that it will be a relay race in all over the town this time…" Happy's words came to bring her down to Earthland.

"For real? I stand no chance in that… And there I was hoping for the reward. Uaah! What should I do?"

Gray listened to her rambling from the other side of the table, but didn't really pay attention. His mind was drifting a lot lately, and always around one person: Juvia.

The bluenette monopolized his thoughts, even his dreams –if he managed to get any sleep, because he was slowly turning into an insomniac.

He forced himself not to think about her and he had tried anything to keep his mind busy, from training his butt off to having the silliest of contests with Natsu, but it always found its way back to her.

And he just couldn't stop looking at her. That was in fact what he was doing at the moment as everyone, including her, was too busy helping in the preparations to notice. It had become some sort of hobby for him. To watch how she folded and unfolded her fingers every time she was nervous, the way her lips curved when she smiled…

All those little bits trailed a path to a conclusion upon which he felt utterly helpless and even terrified.

He was head over heels into Juvia.

He wondered if that's how love feels. Because, if it did, he wasn't sure he liked the feeling. As messy as they might be, he wanted to be in control of his feelings, his thoughts, and now he was losing this control in this cascade of emotions he didn't know one could feel.

But the worst part was that he had absolutely no idea how to deal with it.

"You could always talk to her." A familiar voice made him snap out of it. He glanced up and saw Erza, with a hint of a smile lingering on her lips.

He looked away to hide the blush that spread across his face, wondering for a moment if she could see through people's minds with that artificial eye of hers, and pursed his lips. "I…don't know what you are talking about."

He felt her smile widen before she spoke in a warm tone. "I think you are ready this time." She walked away, leaving him more puzzled than he already was.

Talk to her; that would be the normal thing to do, but they both weren't the definition of normal, and the situation was beyond normal as well. And tell her what?

He was never good at expressing himself this way. She was the opposite, always showing her feelings, and making it seem so easy. It was as though she had 'I love you' carved with neon on her forehead. At least that's how she used to be. That didn't seem to be the case anymore. But maybe she was better off without having to put up with him and his issues. After all, she deserved someone who would return her feelings before she decided to let go of them.

Meanwhile, Juvia was helping Levy in decorating the guild hall. The latter opened a box full of small lanterns. "We'll hang them on the wall and at the party they'll be lit up and light the place." she explained.

Juvia sighed excitedly. "It's going to be so pretty!"

"So how is it going with Gray?' Levy asked, handing her a lantern.

"Juvia thinks she is getting the hang of it! Of being Gray-sama's friend, you know…" She stretched her arm and hung the lantern on the wall. "Juvia would say we've gotten closer."

"That's great, Juvia!"

"It's good!" Then her smile wavered as she remembered something she wasn't sure she should be happy or sad about. "He said…he's interested in someone."

"HE DID?!" It came out so loud that a few heads turned to their direction. Levy laughed nervously. "Nevermind! We're just talking about what we're going to wear tonight. Ahaha!"

When they drifted back to what they were doing, she turned to Juvia and whispered "Did he say who?"

"No, Juvia didn't ask…" Juvia muttered.

"It could be you, y'know!" As long as she remembered, Gray had never talked about his personal life. Now admitting himself something like this, and to Juvia of all people… That meant business.

Juvia sighed. "But possibly it's not Juvia…"

Ever since he threw that bomb, she had been debating a lot about it. What hurts more; rejection, or the regret for giving up on a battle that possibly wasn't lost yet. She kept thinking about it and still she couldn't tell for sure. So she decided to wait and see, even if that would take longer than she would be able to pretend that her feelings didn't exist.

Levy remained silent. She wished she could tell her what to do; Novels were all about following your heart, but real life was not a novel.

Master Makarov walked on the stage and cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "Listen up, everyone! It's been seven years since Fairy Tail properly celebrated the Harvest Festival!" Then his voice dropped an octave as he muttered, "Well, kind of. Last time Laxus decided to make his little revolution and-"

"Geezer!" Laxus protested from the crowd.

"Alright alright! What was I saying? Ah right! Anyway, it's been a long while so we gotta make a dynamic comeback and show 'em what we're made of! So let's party Fairy Tail style!"

The crowd burst in cheers that echoed all over the guild hall.

"That's the spirit! Live it up! Live it up!"

Gray walked past the people, scanning the place to find the others, when he heard a familiar high pitched voice. "Wendy!"

"Sheria!"

He sighed; if Sheria was there, then the rest of the gang was too. He turned around and indeed saw Lyon walking in, followed by Sherry and Jura.

"Whoa, look who's here!" Natsu shouted.

Lyon went straight to Juvia, "Juvia-chan, it's been a while!"

"Lyon-sama!"

Gray scoffed. Lyon-sama, my ass… Why the hell does he also get to be sama? Was it his idea or she did sound a little too happy to see him?

He held her hands in his. "How have you been?"

Juvia shook her head. "Good! You?"

"Good! All the better now that I see you."

Gray felt like he was going to puke.

"Would you like a drink, Lyon-sama?"

Was that a giggle? He didn't catch the rest of the conversation. Jealousy was boiling in his blood and pounded fast in his head. He wanted to jump in the way and tell him to back off.

But he had no right to do that. He was late, terribly late. And maybe that's the way things should be.

He couldn't stand to watch them being so thrilled with each other's presence, nor could he afford to stay there gaping like an idiot, so he walked away.

Gajeel walked on the stage and started to sing, making everyone cover their ears at the unbearable sound and yell at him to come down, while Cana had a drinking contest with anyone that dared challenge her.

Gray was on the second floor, resting his forearms on the wooden edge as he gazed down at the guild hall with no particular interest, when he felt a pat on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Lyon.

"Hey." he muttered indifferently.

"Didn't see you all night." the other ice mage said as he leaned his back against the railing, arms crossed under his chest.

"Missed me?" he joked half-heartedly.

"Ew no!" Gray chuckled weakly at his reaction, but he didn't fail to notice that his fellow disciple was not in a particularly good mood. "How's it going?" he asked.

Gray shrugged. "Same."

He sighed. Ever since they were kids, it was always hard to tear words out of Gray. "Well...what about Juvia?"

He peered at him with the corner of his eye, before averting his gaze. He didn't want to talk about the situation with Juvia; it was something he kept sealed within the safety of his mind, where thoughts ignited more thoughts and undisclosed emotions which always seemed to lead him to an impasse, but whatever, It worked out for him somehow, it was nobody's business, and he didn't intend to share it with anyone.

"You know," Lyon started, as he turned to rest on his forearms, "I didn't back out for you to do nothing about it."

He finally looked at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Gray…I know you have feelings for her."

"You know nothing." He scoffed to hide his embarrassment and the undeniable truth in those words. "I'm not having this talk with you."

"It's there! I can see it, I'm sure you can see it, actually I bet other people can tell too. So why don't you tell her already?"

He clenched his jaw. As much as Lyon's persistence irritated him, hearing it so bluntly by someone else made everything much more tactile, and so painfully real. He watched the white haired man almost glaring at him now, demanding the goddamn reason why he's been holding back all this time, why he hasn't been honest with her and himself as well.

As if he could understand.

Then again, maybe he could relate more than he had thought.

His mouth parted and the words slipped out almost like whisper as he muttered "…not safe…"

Lyon's brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"I'm afraid, alright?" he yelled, startling Lyon. He didn't bother to keep his voice low as it wouldn't reach down at where everyone else was anyways. "Ever since I remember myself, I'm losing people I care about! And it hurts. Big time!" First, it was the loss of his parents. Then Ur gave away her life because of him. Ultear, the only one closer to a motherly figure he had ever since, did the same. Anyone who dared care for him, or he deeply cared for, had left his side to the point that sometimes he even thought he was the one to bring them misfortune. He remembered the job he had with Juvia the previous week. It was a simple mission, yet she got in great danger just to protect him.

"I've had enough of it and I'm not going through that again." he blurted before looking away.

Lyon remained silent for a while. When he had decided to talk to him about it, he took a few guesses on how it would go; best case scenarios, worst case scenarios... But he certainly didn't expect the emotional outburst that had just transpired. He couldn't blame him though. Ur's death had taken its toll on him as well, and he knew better than anyone how that must have felt for him.

It took him some time to think what he was going to say before he spoke again. "Alright, um… look over there."

Gray followed his gaze down at the first floor and looked over his guild mates chatting and laughing. Somewhere among the crowd he saw Natsu and Lucy in the middle of a rather clumsy dance with him stepping on her foot every few seconds; a few meters away he spotted Erza and Wendy eyeing sneakily the array of desserts on the buffet; at the other side Cana was sprayed on a table, laughing her heart out, completely drunk as she was.

"You care about them, right?"

He was slow to catch up his question but nodded when he did.

"And we both know they care a lot about you too." Lyon added. "And, see? They look very happy to me."

Gray looked back at him and he knew he was getting his point. "Bad things happen, but that's not all there is in life, and you can't let those define what you're going to do with it."

Gray didn't speak, contemplating what he was saying and Lyon felt like they were in the middle of a session with him in the role of the psychologist. Truth be told, he never expected he would be giving Gray life advice. But, well, he owed him one. "Look, I've lived a good seven years more than you, so I'm gonna tell you this, and you can take on the advice or trash it. Love, or call it whatever you want, is a good thing. It feels really nice. Embrace it, don't push it away. Because by staying on the safe side, you're losing something far better."

Silence followed until Gray looked away. "It doesn't matter anymore. She…doesn't feel this way now."

Lyon stared at him for a few moments, before he burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" he pouted.

"Sorry but-" he fought back the laughs that were still coming, "Sometimes you make me wonder about your brains, Gray. You really think that this girl." He pointed at Juvia with his eyes, "is over you?"

Gray looked at her too. As though she felt their gaze pinned on her, Juvia turned around. Their eyes met and she flashed a wide smile, waving her hand happily towards them. He was still proceeding what was going on, but remembered to nervously wave back at her.

"In case you didn't notice, she's smiling for you. Idiot!" Lyon murmured while smiling at her, acting like they were having a casual friendly talk instead of a very serious conversation that it actually was.

When she drifted back to her activities, the white haired man turned back at him and furrowed his brows, prompting him to say or do something.

He debated for a brief moment before he spoke. "Then…what was that when you came in?"

"Ah, that! Yeah, we've become good friends you know."

Gray raised an eyebrow.

Lyon rolled his eyes at his disbelief. "It's not meant to be me, but you. Now go before I change my mind!"

He didn't wait for him to finish his sentence. He rushed to the staircase and run down the stairs, noting to thank him sometime, if things went well. He almost stumbled at the last step and cursed out loud when he saw the crowd of mages suddenly cluster even more, making it impossible for him to walk through and he wondered what all that commotion was for.

Meanwhile, Mira placed a huge disk on the bar and people coiled around. "Fortune cookies for everyone!"

Gajeel mumbled something about it being stupid and reluctantly took one. He crushed the cookie in his hand and read the note that was inside. "Everyone has a soft side. Maybe you should show yours more. What kind of bullshit is that?"

Juvia patted his shoulder excitedly. "Way to go Gajeel-kun, that was amazing! It's Juvia's turn now!" She took the cookie that was on top and pressed between her hands. She unfolded the piece of paper and read the quote out loud. "The greatest risk is not taking one."

The greatest risk is not taking one… she repeated in her head and as the words rolled in her mind she realized it was just what she needed. It might be a sign, or it might be a total coincidence, but it was all it took to shake the doubt away. Just when did she lose faith in the power of her feelings? They changed her long ago, they could change his mind as well. As long as that might take. And maybe that that day was not that far away. All she had to do was take the risk. Then again, he might reject her. So what? One more turn down to add to the list. She wasn't new to it after all. It didn't bother her before, and she couldn't let fear hold her back, not now at least. She could worry about it again later on, but now she just knew she had to try.

She pushed her way through the people, and her eyes roamed around to find Gray. At some point she found a path where the crowd was not that thick and eased in, until she bumped on him.

"Gray-sama!Juvia was looking for you,"

"Hey, um…wanna go for a walk?" he asked.

She grinned widely. "Sure!"

They walked the rest of the way out together and strolled down the road. Gray had no idea what he was going to say, but he was sure it was going to suck majorly, so he thought it should at least be at some nice place and he subconsciously led them towards the park. They remained silent for several moments.

"Juvia wants to tell you something."
"I need to tell you something."

Gray rubbed the back of his neck. "You go first."

"O- Okay!" She thought it might be better not to go all out at once. "Well, there's the parade in a couple of days... Would you like to do something with Juvia? Like the last time! Please?"

"Sure, we can do that." He gave her a questioning look. "Is that…all?"

"For now, yes! It's Gray sama's turn now…"

"Alright…" He stopped walking, causing her to stop as well. She was looking up at him, hands folded behind her back, sending a pinch in his heart, making it skip beats to the point he thought he would have arrhythmia by the end of it and he felt like the gears in his head had stopped functioning. He didn't know how to begin; he didn't fully comprehend this mysterious emotion himself, how was he supposed to tell her about it? He just rushed to find her without thinking what he was going to say.

"So…remember you said the other day that we…are friends?" he asked nervously.

Her smile dropped. "Yes, Juvia said that… But-"

He chuckled at how ridiculously impossible that option sounded to him now. "Well...screw that!" he blurted out, startling her. That didn't sound the way he wanted, but he had made a start, clumsy as it was and there was no turning back. "It's not enough for me. I want more, so much more, I-" he ran his hand through his hair, all those suppressed emotions were burning his chest as they were finally being adressed.

Juvia wanted to slap herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating, but her heart that pounded so fast in her chest that she thought it would pop out of her ribcage at any minute felt too real.

"You make me feel funny, right here…" he placed a hand over the left side of his chest, "I really don't know any other way to tell you. I l- lo- …Dammit! I love you!"

Her breath was caught in her throat and she covered her mouth with her hand as she stared at him with those wide cerulean eyes. It was hasty and she barely made sense out of the words, but she heard it. "C- Come again?"

He was almost panting because of his racing heart. "Sheez, you're gonna make me say it again?" he asked in a low voice, although a faint smile tweaked his lips.

She nodded with a small laugh, fighting back some tears that gleamed in her eyes.

He stepped closer and his hands placed on her waist as hers slid up on his shoulders. He thought this was getting too cheesy for his taste, but it happened to wrap up what he felt just perfectly. His eyes traced hers as he sucked in a deep breath. "I love you, Juvia."

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at him, amazed and insanely happy.

"I didn't say that to make you cry, you know…" he muttered.

"It's just," she sniffed, "Juvia is so happy! And Juvia loves you too! I love you!"

Gray chuckled at her reaction and rubbed his thumb across her cheek, wiping the tears. "Good."

His fingers brushed some stray blue locks behind her ear and tangled in her hair. He slowly leaned forward and watched as her lids lowered, hooding her eyes. He gently pressed his lips on hers and her eyes shut close as she melted into the kiss.

As much as she had dreamt and fantasized about this moment, it exceeded all of her expectations. It was beyond amazing and she could feel fireworks busting in her stomach while he pressed his lips more. It was salty from the tears, but Gray couldn't care less, savoring the addictive feeling he has been denying for so long. His tongue swept across her lower lip and she parted her mouth. Her hand reached up and cupped the back of his head as she tilted her head, deepening the kiss, their tongues colliding in a slow rhythm.

They parted, and he rested his forehead on hers; she was glad he was holding her because her limbs had gone numb. "I'm sorry it took me so long…" he whispered.

Juvia looked up at his dark blue eyes and smiled. "Well, better late than never."

He chuckled softly and guessed she was right.

"Gray-sama?"

"What?" he asked silently, while his hand trailed the line of her jaw.

"Can you kiss Juvia again?"

He smiled widely "I was planning to."

But before he knew, she had pulled him in a long, tender kiss on her own.

She craved for this moment for so long, and he made her wait for what it felt like ages, but it was so worth the wait.

The end

AN: So this is it... I hope you enjoyed it and I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

Thanks for sticking with this story and for all your reviews! It took me lots of time to write it and your nice words made it all worth it! I'd like to give a hyper-extra-mega thank you to those who commented on my writing (7HeartAndSoul7, xxKaiyaxx, xxKelseyLovexx, Neliel Von Schweetz), because english is not my native language and I don't even read much, like, the only books I've read are the princess diaries series, Harry Potter and some Sophie Kinsella novels, so hearing that someone actually likes my average writing makes me feel that I've accomplished something.

I debated whether I should have Gray say the L word, but I wanted to make a story where Gray would love Juvia as much as she loves him so there you go! Hope it's not too OOC. What else um...I found the quote of Juvia's fortune cookie on the Internet.

Now let's all wait for the big Gruvia development that Mashima has in store for us! I hope he's not just trolling us hehe