Vows

Tapping the end of his pencil against his head, Gray leaned over the paper once more; elbow on the desk, fingers in his hair, he tugged while he thought. He'd set a lamp light on long ago, but the paper was still blank and he was still coming up empty handed. There were many moments in his life that Gray did not want to fail, but this was by far the most important decision of his life and he knew he couldn't screw it up.

He lost his shirt.

Asking Juvia to marry him hadn't been this hard—he knew she was going to say yes. The tricky part had been coming up with some kind of romantic situation that Juvia wouldn't assume was a proposal, so despite the cheesiness of holidays, he'd waited for the Fantasia Parade. They always went as the king and queen of the ice castle; romantic setting, but one Juvia would assume was not because of his affection for her. He'd snuck an ice ring on her finger during the show, waited for her realize it was there, then halted the parade and presented her with a pear shaped sapphire and diamond ring.

Pear shaped and blue like her water, and a silver band and diamond like his ice; he had seen it in passing during a mission and Gray knew at that moment he was doomed. Doomed because seeing a ring made him think of marrying Juvia and it wasn't scary anymore. He'd come back after the mission with his jewels in hand, asking for the raindrop shaped ring. The shopkeeper corrected him—it was a pear, not a raindrop. Sure as hell looked liked a damn raindrop.

He lost his pants.

Now here he was the day before the ceremony, staring at a blank sheet of paper wishing he hadn't told Juvia she could plan everything. It had been a way to get out of having to try on a million different things and to get her to run off with the girls instead of him having to deal with the preparations, but he hadn't expected the few tasks she had left to him to be so damn hard.

Writing vows, which he was trying to do now with 8 hours until sunrise, was the hardest. Juvia had been adamant they keep their vows secret so they were special, but Gray was sure she forgot what a hard time he had with words. It would be easy for her, she could probably write a novel on what she wanted to promise to him. He couldn't so much as get a word down.

He lost his underwear.

Now completely naked and staring an equally naked sheet of paper, he started to panic.

It wasn't like he could just go ask anyone what to write—this was supposed to independent and meaningful. No one else could tell him how he felt about Juvia but himself. Knowing how she would write about him added pressure he wasn't sure how to combat. Gray hated to admit it, but this damned sheet of paper was scarier than most of the fights he'd been in throughout his life. He didn't want to disappoint her with words that weren't enough, and he didn't want to risk not sounding like himself because it wouldn't mean as much.

Frustrated, Gray slumped back into the chair and let the pencil and paper lay on the desk. How the hell was he getting out of this one? His eyes turned toward the window, watching as the snow filtered by. Leave it up to Juvia to chose winter for the wedding, sheepishly telling him it was because she was worried he would strip out of his suit during the ceremony. Leave it up to Juvia to enlist Lyon to make ice sculptures for all the guild hall tables. Leave it up to Juvia to plan a honeymoon somewhere in the mountains with mineral hot springs. Leave it up to Juvia to plan every damn aspect to be something he could be proud of and enjoy.

He blinked.

That was it.

"Gray, would you like to say your vows?"

He glanced from Juvia's eyes, already crested over with tears as she finished her own vows. He had been right, she wrote a novel, though she had managed to condense it down to an appropriate size that kept it from being borderline embarrassing and instead made it emotional. It took Lyon nudging him in the back to remember he had his vows shoved in his pocket. Gray reached in and pulled out the folded sheet of paper.

Really, he didn't need it. He'd memorized everything he wanted to say last night while he searched his apartment for his missing clothes he'd stripped in the process of writing.

"You think about me first and then yourself. You consider me in all of your decisions. You've always noticed everything about me. It used to scare me, because I didn't want anyone to know me that way—but somewhere along the line I realized that I feared not having you around more than I feared something happening to you because you were. Juvia, you are a constant in my life and I know I don't tell you enough that I appreciate what you are—or that I even notice the small things you do for me. I don't think I need to make you promises today, because you already know I'm going to give you anything you want. What I need to do is let you know that I notice how your hair isn't blue, it's a mixture of blue bonnets and ocean spray—I know that you change the scent of your perfume with the seasons but always use the same soap and shampoo. I know that you like the smell after it rains but you hate the storm, you take your tea with two sugars and creamer, you prefer to bake over cooking, I know that butterflies are your favorite, that you hug your pillow and hog the blankets while you sleep. I know you are only happy when those you love are happy and can't help but want to heal those that are broken. I'm marrying the most selfless woman in the world, and I'm lucky because I sure as hell need you a lot more than you need me." He hadn't opened the paper yet. "I hope I can make you as happy as you make me."

Gray half expected some insane outburst—for her to jump from her place across from him and latch her arms around him. Instead she just smiled, a light stream of tears running down her face. He sighed and smiled back, suddenly overcome with the need to hold her not because she was sad but because her happiness was contagious and he wanted to let her know he felt the same.

"Can't I kiss her already?!" he didn't take his eyes of Juvia when he barked the order, ignoring the laughter of their friends and the mumbling of the officiant between them.

"Well I uh… I… yes. Yes. You may kiss your bride!"

Gray didn't have to be told twice.