Once again, thanks so much to all who reviewed/faved/followed this little story. It's much appreciated! This is the last chapter, so I hope you like it!

Talking things out with Juvia, and resolving feelings were things that were pretty foreign and uncomfortable for Gray, but battling was something he understood. As all unsettled emotions momentarily dispersed, he put his fist on his palm, and yelled, "Ice-make lance!"

Streams of ice shot out at Juvia, but the ones that reached her went straight through her, and the others were cut to pieces by her water cane attack.

"That did not work against Juvia the first time, and it wont work now,' Juvia called.

Gray, anticipating her attack, spread out a giant ice shield in front of him just in time to stop her water slicer from reaching him.

However, not taking a moments breath, Juvia yelled, "water nebula!"

A burst of water came at Gray, but he froze it immediately, and, using his ice-make sword, slashed the frozen water to pieces, sending sharp shards of ice flying in Juvia's direction. Caught off guard, the ice hit her, and for a moment, Gray forgot that they were in a battle. He stopped everything, worried that he had hurt her, but when he got a good look at her, he realized that the moment the ice had come in contact with Juvia's body, it melted into pools of water at her feet.

"Not bad," he said, wiping away some sweat, "but we're in my element, Juvia," and he pointed at the snow flecked sky above them. "And I'm only just getting started." He ripped off his shirt, and shouted, "ice-make, snowflake boulders!"

Juvia looked up, and saw that the snowflakes above her head had increased in size and mass immensely, and were currently pelting down at her. "And you forget," she started, her body transforming into pure water, "That you can't have snow without rain."

She rushed upward in a stream, and Gray could see steam coming off of her, as she met the large ice boulders head on. They evaporated as they touched the boiling water, and she absorbed them. In mid-air, Juvia switched positions, and headed straight at Gray.

Gray grinned. This was what he had been waiting for. He readied himself to freeze her in her tracks. But, what had been a stream of water, suddenly turned into a massive wave, as she continued to absorb the snow around her on her way toward him. Gray, bracing himself, cried out "Freeze!" He knew at once it was no good, the water was so hot, it scorched him, as Juvia's water form washed over him, and he found himself trapped, and surrounded by water.

Holding his breath, he realized he was floating. He tried to focus, but it was boiling, and the lack of oxygen was making his head spin. And then, within the water, Juvia's torso, arms and head appeared, still transparent, a part of the water she was conjuring. She neared his panicked face, and took hold of it in her hands, her nose nearly touching his. He could feel his heart racing, and he wanted to get away from her, and yet didn't at the same time.

"Nothing can freeze my water when it's burning passionately," she explained, her voice echoing around him. Her eyes looked into his wide ones, and then flickered down to his lips. "Did you know that more than half of the human body is made up of water, Gray?" And she kissed him. Her lips surprisingly were not wet, but warm, and substantial as she parted his mouth with her own.

Gray immediately felt his body flooding with an intense warmth he had never known before. But it wasn't unpleasant, or painful. It was quite the opposite, actually. It was like sitting in front of a cozy fire, or eating deliciously warm soup after being out in the cold all day. He felt tingly all over, and as if his heart was swelling with emotion he wasn't even sure belonged to him. And then, before he could do anything, her lips had left his, and he found himself immobile. He tried to move even a finger, but found he couldn't. She had taken his body over. Her water form smiled at him as understanding swept over his face.

"I win," she said simply, and the water spell that had engulfed him, disappeared in a instant, as he fell to the ground on his back, gasping and panting.

Trying to regain his breath, he stared up at the night sky, and realized that it had stopped snowing. His heart was pounding from the intensity of the battle, and the things he had felt when Juvia flooded through him. Juvia stepped into view over him. She also seemed a bit out of breath, but otherwise, completely unharmed.

There was a triumphant look on her face. "What's wrong, did you become distracted?" she shot at him, grinning wickedly.

He knew she was mocking him, but he couldn't help himself grinning back. "You could say that."

She giggled, and took a seat next to him on the ground, and lay down so that they were both now staring up at the stars. They didn't say anything for a while, until Juvia finally broke the silence.

"So, was this enough of a challenge for you, Gray?" she asked quietly, and he turned to look at her in surprise.

Was she talking about what he thought she was talking about? She was blushing again, and that seemed to confirm that it was not just the battle she was referring to. So, she had understood what he had meant in the medical ward after all.

She turned on her side to face him, propping herself up on her elbow. Looking a bit embarrassed, as she played with a wet blade of grass on the ground, she said, "look, Juvia knows that she comes on a bit too strong sometimes... or a lot of the time," she conceded, sighing. "Juvia just doesn't believe in playing games. If she feels a certain way, she... No," she corrected herself, "I can't help it. I'm just an emotional person, and if there's someone I care deeply about, I'm going to let them know," she stated seriously, still talking to the grass. "If I've learned anything, it's that nothing good comes from bottling up your feelings. But, most importantly, I want the person I care about to be happy, even if that happiness isn't found with me..." she trailed off.

Gray stared at her as she finally met his eyes again, and there was a fierceness there as she balled up her hand into a fist.

"However, no matter what, I'll always rush to your side, because, we're not just guild mates... You saved me first, and I will never forget that. You saved me from the rain in my heart," she said intensely, and her eye's sparkled with unshed tears.

Gray once again felt the warmth engulf him from the inside out, as Juvia abruptly raised herself up from the ground.

"Anyway," she started awkwardly, dusting the wet grass from her legs. "We have a job to do tomorrow, se we should get some rest. It's probably really la-"

He cut her off by standing up to grab her hand. She looked surprised at his touch, as he pulled her towards him, and into a kiss. She was still just as warm as she had been within the water, but was also soft, as he felt her press up against his own body. His hand cupped her face, and he felt her arms wrap around his neck, as the kiss deepened.

They pulled away after a minute, to breath in the cool night air again, and Juvia looked up wonderingly into Gray's smiling face, her eyes shining. "Gray..."

Gray scratched his head embarrassedly, and seprated himself from Juvia. "I reckon we could get at least a good six hours of sleep before we head off again," he said, avoiding her gaze, and heading towards the fire.

He heard her make a small sound of agreement, as she followed behind him. As Gray lay out his own sleeping bag, and Juvia got into hers, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, Juvia?"

"Yes, Gray?" she said, smiling across from him around the dancing flames of the fire.

"Would you do me a favor when we get back to the guild, and let Mirajane and Erza know that we talked, and that everything is ok between us now?"

Juvia blinked confusedly. "Um, sure," she said.

Gray felt another weight lift from within him, and with his heart a million times lighter than it had ever been, he said, "Good. Thanks," and he wished the confused Juvia a good night. But, just as he was about to close his eyes, he remembered something else. "Hey, the bet! You never told me what it was you wanted," he said, looking over at her again.

She smiled a little too excitedly for Gray's liking, and said mysteriously "Oh, Juvia will think of something," before turning on her side, and wishing him a good night as well.

Gray's feeling of uneasiness was slowly creeping back, but he decided that he'd worry about it tomorrow. Within minutes, he drifted off into a deep, dream-filled sleep that involved a water woman chipping her way through the ice.

The End

I hope you guys liked it. ^^ My intent with this story was to stay as faithful to the character's personalities as possible, while still making a situation where, if the story had a slightly more romantic focus, could possibly happen. With Gray and Juvia, I think the biggest barrier is that Gray is overwhelmed by Juvia a lot of the time. It's not that he doesn't like her. He's just more easy-going, while she's so intense haha! Although, I do just want to smack him upside the head sometimes, just because Juvia is my fav character, and to say that Gray could do a lot worse than Juvia would be an understatement. Speaking of which, as you may have noticed, I left this story a little open-ended, and I've actually already started writing a bit of a sequel to this. So, let me know if you guys are interested in a continuation, and thanks again for reading! ^_^