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~In a Blink of an Eye~

"Isn't she beautiful?" Juvia whispered to Gray, nudging him gently on his left arm as they both gaze at their daughter. He silently nods, afraid that if he let out one word, the emotions that he's been trying to suppress since this day started will all come out. And he's sure that they will all come out with a vengeance.

He realized that his confirmation was not noticed by his wife because she called out his name. But he still cannot find it in his self to speak so he merely hummed his affirmation. And that seemed to satisfy Juvia.

They are both watching their only daughter try to gather her nerves while her friends fix up her hair, make-up, and dress while the others give her a much needed pep talk. He can see that his daughter is too nervous to even notice their presence. In all honesty, he thought that he has expected this new chapter of their daughter's life. And after being with her since the rest of her life, he thought that he has done all the preparations needed and that he's truly prepared for this. But now that the time has come, he realized, he's not really ready for this. Heck, there's no way he'll be prepared for this.

He does not want to let go of his daughter.

~O~O~O~O~O~

"Congratulations, it's a girl." Polyschka handed him his newborn daughter, but not before teaching him how to carry her properly. Hold out your hands like mine. No your arms are too stiff. Yeah, just like that. Support her head. If you drop her I'll make sure you won't get to see the sun rise later, you foolish human. He mechanically followed the doctor's every word, politely ignoring the insult.

At first, he didn't want to hold her. Well, 'not' is probably not the right word. 'Afraid' is more like it. He's never held a baby this small and she seemed so fragile, making him more hesitant to hold her for fear of making a mistake and he might drop her. But the moment she was placed in his arms, all his fears and insecurities he's been pushing at the back of his mind disappeared completely and was replaced with protectiveness, contentment, and joy. Pure joy.

Gray walked towards a very tired Juvia propped up on the bed and sat down beside her. She held her arms out, indicating that she too, wants to hold her daughter whom she carried for nine months and one week. But he just tightened his hold on the baby. "Just a few more hours, dear." he told her and kissed her sweaty forehead.

The new mother tried to keep herself from rolling her eyes and held back the stream of profanities that is accumulating at the tip of her tongue. She just spent nine hours of pain just to get the little bundle of joy, morning sickness and weird cravings out of her body and she'll be damned if she won't get to hold her. Instead, she asked him to slightly lower her until she can see her face.

"What should we name her?"Juvia asked while staring down at the bundle. She raised a hand but Gray pulled the baby to his chest, thinking that she's going to snatch the baby away from him.

She rolled her eyes at that, "Relax, I just want to touch her face."

He watched his wife gently run her index finger on the baby's cheek and when she stopped, he raised his gaze to meet hers and looked for something in her eyes. And then, when he finally found whatever it is he was searching for, he kissed the baby's forehead.

"Lily."

She was his dream come true.

~O~O~O~O~O~

Heavy breathing and lusty moans were the only sound from their bedroom, coupled by the creaking of the bed. Their faces, contorted with pleasure as they desperately try to reach their release when a piercing cry of an infant blasted through the baby monitor.

"Damn it." Gray irritatingly swore under his breath as he got off of Juvia. One look at the woman now beside him and he knew that she's sharing his sentiment. Juvia sighed before swinging her legs to the side of the bed when a hand reached out to her wrists.

"I have to feed her." she said, gently prying his hand away from her wrist. He let her, but only to push her back down to the bed.

"She just ate an hour ago." he said as he slipped on his boxers from the ground without looking at her.

"But what if-"

"I'll bring here her if she is." He pressed a kiss on her forehead before walking out of their bedroom.

There, inside her crib is the six-month-old Lily. Her cries for...whatever it is has died down and now she's just sobbing.

"Hey there, Princess." he gently picked Lily up and rocked her back and forth for a few seconds before raising her to his eyes and asked, "What'cha need?"

Lily's dark, almost pupil-less eyes which she inherited from her mother clouded with tears stared right back at him and let out a whimper.

"You need to give daddy a break, Princess. I was this close." Gray held up his index and thumb separated by centimeters then used it to tap her nose, making her giggle and blow a raspberry on him.

"You laugh at daddy's misfortunes?" Lily clapped her hands upon hearing his voice and started talking in baby-language.

He chuckled at his daughter's actions, "But that's okay. Daddy loves you so much anyway. It's hard to get angry at my sweet angel."

Juvia, who was listening to the one-sided conversation through the baby monitor, heard heavy footsteps in the hallway so she quickly shut her eyes and pretended to sleep, an action that she has perfected for a year much as she loves her husbands, there's no way she'll have 5 rounds with him without taking a nap or rest.

She felt the bed shift right beside her and she opened her eyes to see her husband cradling a wide-awake infant on his arms before handing their daughter to her. Gray had an irritated look on his face, just like the one he had after they were interrupted but she knew that he's just keeping up with his image.

Little did he know that she heard everything he said through the baby monitor.

~O~O~O~O~O~

"Daddy?" His four-year-old called out his name while tugging on the sleeve of his shirt that surprisingly is still on. He mentally screamed profanities (he had to, or else he'll get reacquainted with the couch courtesy of his now brave wife) and opened one tired eye and pat her head to let his daughter know that he's awake and is listening to her to spare himself the trouble of spending his precious reserved energy he needs to get his ass up to his and Juvia's bedroom and pass out to the bed. But his actions backfired on him because his daughter jumped on his side and started hitting him with the pillow.

"Daddy! Wake UP!"

He grabbed the pillow before it hit him again, reprimanding his daughter, "Lily! You don't hit people with pillows!" Gray loves his daughter. He loves her as much as he loves his wife but there are things that he just can't let slide and as much as he loves her, she needs to know and show respect to her parents and everyone older than her.

"I'm sorry." Lily's lips started to tremble and she started sniffling. He looked down at his daughter as she tried her best not to cry and when he has confirmed that she's truly sorry and not just acting, he scooped her in his arms and hugged her tightly.

"Daddy forgives you."

He just doesn't want her to grow up spoiled.

~O~O~O~O~O~

"Here, Daddy!" Lily held a piece of paper to the man in front of her, with his eyes closed and his face supported by his elbows resting on his thigh. When she got no response from the said man, she shook him awake. She remember her daddy saying that you shouldn't hit someone with a pillow but he never said anything about shaking someone until they wake up.

Gray's eyes snapped open, his instinct on alert before realizing that it's only his daughter who woke him up from his precious sleep. He looked at the girl sitting with him on the carpeted floor, holding out a piece of what seemed a paper with unidentified shapes and figures. Lily crawled towards him and started to point at some things on the paper.

"This is Mommy right here, and this is Lily, and this is Daddy right here holding Lily's hand!"

No matter how much he tried to look for anything that looks like a faced or even a stick body, all he can see are irregular lines and circles here and there.

"It's beautiful, Princess."

He stuck her artwork on the fridge.

~O~O~O~O~O~

Cries and sobs were the first thing he heard since he stepped foot inside his house after coming back from his week-long mission. He silently wondered what the drama is all about until his eyes landed on the calendar.

Right.

It's Lily's first day of school.

He heard Juvia's voice, telling her that she needs to go to school and she'll make new friends and she'll be late if she keeps on crying. Another series of crying followed after that. Usually, he'd reprimand Lily for exhibiting such actions but today is not the day to do so. His daughter is entering a new chapter of her life and they will practically throw her to an unfamiliar environment so she can learn. That doesn't really sound like a good idea but it needs to be done.

He opened the door to her bedroom and when her eyes found his figure, she ran towards him, burying her head on his legs, blabbering words he cannot understand. Juvia sent him a look that clearly said 'Sorry you have to see this'. He merely shook his head and bent down to carry his daughter.

"Why don't Daddy go with you to school today?" He said, grabbing a handful of tissue on the tissue box Juvia was holding and using it to wipe her cheeks and her nose.

Lily sniffed, "Really?"

"Yes, really. But just for today. You have to be brave, okay?"

Lily, after thinking about it, nodded her head and finally smiled.

"Now say sorry to mommy for giving her trouble." He handed her to Juvia who quickly wrapped her arms around the toddler.

They walked towards the school, her hands in her Daddy's big ones.

Caffeine, willpower, and his love for his daughter was what kept him awake for four hours.

~O~O~O~O~O~

"That is way too short." Gray said as he stared at her shorts.

"Umm...yeah. That's why they're called shorts."

"And I can see through your shirt. Go change."

"Ugh! Give me a break." Lily said, not even sparing her father a look as she applied lipgloss in front of the mirror beside the door.

Gray pinched the bridge of his nose at his daughter's rebellious actions. When she started to move towards the door, he grabbed the knob and glared at her.

"Lily, you're not going out wearing that."

Fourteen-year-old Lily rolled her eyes at her father and went back up to her room and came out after minutes, dressed in skinny jeans and button-up polo shirt with three buttons undone, showing off cleavage.

"There. Happy now?"

"Ecstatic." He deadpanned and moved out of her way so she can go to school. It still looked indecent to his eyes but it will do. It's four times better that what she had on first. And there is no way he'd allow her to go out wearing something that only prostitutes and hookers wear.

Because he raised her a world's better than that.

~O~O~O~O~O~

He heard giggles when he passed his daughter's room while he was looking for his wife, along with other voices before they broke out into laughter. In the kitchen was where he found his wife, preparing sandwiches

"Juvia."

Juvia paused on her task, looking up to her husband and smiled at him, "Gray-sama. You're finally awake."

He bent down to kiss her lips, his ear picking up the sounds of numerous footsteps before standing straight.

"Lily's friends are here?"

"Yes. They're studying...I think."

The footsteps started to grow louder and this time, are accompanied by voices. He saw his daughter leading her friends to the front door.

"Mom, my friends and I are going outside for a while." Lily said as she started to unlock the door and let her friends go out first.

"Be careful." Gray called out to his daughter. Lily looked for his voice, not expecting him to be awake but smiled nonetheless.

"I will. Bye, Dad."

He wondered when she started calling him 'Dad' instead of 'Daddy".

~O~O~O~O~O~

"Lily, darling, open the door."

"Go away, mom. I don't wanna talk."

Juvia stood in front of her only daughter's door, worry etched on her beautiful face, her motherly instincts kicking in. She doesn't know why her daughter's crying but she wants to comfort her. If her daughter lets her, that is.

"Lily, please."

"Let me do it, Juvia." Gray whispered to her before banging on the door.

"Lily! Open this door right now!"

"Go away, dad! The last person I want to talk to is you."

He motioned for Juvia to step back. And she did but then she realized what her husband's intentions are for making her step back so she grabbed his arm and frantically whispered, "What are you doing?"

"Trust me on this, Juvia. Let me handle her."

If she didn't succeed having their daughter talk to her, then there is no way Lily will open up to her father. That's what Juvia thought. But thinking back on the days when she was still young, their daughter spent a lot of time with her father than with her. And it did bother her whenever young Lily would talk about anything and everything to her husband. She and her daughter are close, but not as close as the father and daughter used to be.

So she just nodded her head and walked away to let her husband talk some sense into their daughter.

He waited for his wife to turn around but he did not expect her to walk away. It's more convenient, her thought, because it'll give the two of them more privacy. And then, he crashed his body to the door.

Lily's head shot up from the pillow when she heard her door bang loudly, as if someone is forcefully opening it. Then it hit her. Her dad's really trying to open the door. But before she can do anything to keep her dad out of her room, the door opened. Or, more like, its hinges were torn off and it fell down. But despite the cruel way her father treated the door, it touched her. She's touched to know that her father still cares about her despite their constant arguments. She raised her teary eyes to her father's and just broke down.

"He dumped me, Daddy!"

And with that she poured her heart out to him, just like she once did back when she was young.

He hunted the bastard down and made him pay for making his princess cry.

~O~O~O~O~O~

Gray is filled with rage. The rage that he's feeling came close to that of when Deliora killed his family.

His daughter has done a lot of stupid things, but not as stupid as this.

All logic and common sense and parenting 101 left him as he called his daughter's name.

"Lily! Where the fuck are you?!"

A voice which sounded like it's coming from the living room answered, "What?! What did I do now?"

"What the fuck is this?" he asked as he held up a ziplock with powdery substance on her face. He saw her face turn pale and it confirmed his fears.

"You went into my room?! How dare you!" She said as she tried to snatch the ziplock from her father's grip but he quickly pulled it out of her reach.

"How dare me? How dare me? How about I ask you. How dare you bring this fucking shit into my house?"

"The point is, you went into my room without permission!"

"No! The whole point to this fucking conversation is you're using drugs! And the question is why?" He asked as he opened the plastic and froze the abomination inside before taking it out and then crushed it. He sincerely hoped that it's not what he thinks it is. That it's not drugs and his daughter is not an addict but the stricken look on her face as the frozen pieces fell down on the carpeted floor was the evidence he needed to know that it is, or now was, drugs.

At first he was in denial when he first saw the powdery substance. He thought that it just looked like the ones he saw from a group of thieves he had to take down a month ago. He was the only person in the guild who can take that mission for the drugs have a specific reaction to ice. So when he saw how the powder reacted from freezing it, he nearly lost it.

"I'm 18! I'm an adult now! I have every right to do whatever I want!"

"Well what the hell were you thinking? Oh right, sorry. You weren't thinking. Because you were fucking high!" he shouted, his hands shaking from anger.

"If all you're gonna do is nag me about everything then guess what? I'm leaving!" Lily ran towards her bedroom, ignoring her father's shout, "Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you yet!"

"I told you, I'm leaving the hell out of this shit!" she hefted her bag to her shoulder before walking out of the door and slamming it behind her.

After so many years, tears ran down his cheeks and he asked himself where he went wrong.

~O~O~O~O~O~

Tears are streaming down Juvia's face as she stared at her daughter's disheveled appearance. She cut her once beautiful blue hair which she inherited from her mother and was replaced with a choppy, uneven bob cut and has lost its shine that it once had. Her favorite shirt that she made Gray pick for her before now has holes and tears in it and is stained with mud and she also lost a lot of weight. She could see her bone poking through her skin and her tear-stricken face mirrored her mother's.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

Lily wiped down her cheeks as she continued to stare down at the ground.

"Lily, what happened to you?" She did not answer because she knew that if she did, she'd cry even more.

"Juvia, I have leave for my mission now." Gray stopped on his tracks as he saw someone standing in front of his wife. At first he did not recognized who that person is, but when the person lifted her head up, realization hit him. It's his daughter.

"Dad-Daddy. I'm sorry." He, unlike his wife, did not say anything. He merely stared at his crying daughter. When he did not reply, his daughter ran to him and kneeled down and clutched his pants. He had a brief flashback on when she was still a toddler and asked for his forgiveness. He just stared at her.

And, just like what he did years ago, he grabbed her by the arms, lifting her back to her feet and hugged her tightly. And she hugged him back, just as tight as her father's.

Now, his life is once again complete.

~O~O~O~O~O~

"Are you ready?" he asked his daughter as they both sat in the vehicle, waiting for her signal. He mentally asked himself the same question and he immediately came up with an answer. No. He's not ready. There's no way he'll ever let go of his precious daughter, his precious princess to some guy he's only known for three years. But he knows that he has to.

Lily played with the hem of her long, white dress, "Am I making the right decision, Dad?" He wanted to roll his eyes at that. She and his husband spent a year to plan and prepare their wedding and now she's asking if it's the right decision? He wanted to roll his eyes at that. But he didn't. Because he knows that he and his wife will leave this world before his daughter, and he wants someone to take care of his precious daughter.

"From my point of view, no."

"Dad, you always say that when it comes to him."

"I told you that he's a trash and he's not good for you. And what did you do?"

"I…stayed with him."

"Why?"

"Because I love him." There used to be a time where only he and his wife get to hear those words, but he had to accept the fact that there's a new person whom she's going to say it to someone else.

"There's your answer."

Lily smiled up to her father before nodding her head.

He got out of the car first before helping his daughter out of the car, his wife and the bridesmaid taking care of the dress and the long, long train.

"Are you ready?" He once again asked but this time, she nodded with certainty and took a deep breath. And with that, he led her towards the door and walked her down the aisle until they reached the altar.

"Thank you for everything. Thank you, Daddy." She whispered and placed a kiss on his cheek, her eyes brimming with tears. He desperately wanted to wipe her tears away but the veil made the task impossible. So he merely kissed her back on the cheek and kept himself from crying.

And then, he turned to the guy who is soon to be his daughter's husband and finally gave his daughter away.

But she still remains as his precious daughter. His precious princess.

And he will love her, forever and eternity.

~End~