What?! I'm updating a story that isn't "Seeing Alternate Versions of Earthland", "Battle for the Multiverse" or "Protecting the Past"?! What is this sorcery?!

Yes I know I suck at keeping up with updates with all of my other stories. But I refuse to abandon this story and all the other ones. No matter how long it takes, I will finish these stories!

And with that, I present you another chapter for this story.

Enjoy, or not, I don't care you all have your opinions.

Everything belongs to their respective owners.

Chapter Seventeen: Getting Comfortable with One Another

Juvia looked out of the window of the train she and Natsu were in, looking out at the view as the land went by. The Water Mage was simply enjoying the scenery as they pass by, waiting for their arrival at the town where the client is located at. It was a bit farther away from Magnolia, so the blue haired woman figured that there was a good chance that she and Natsu would have to stay over for the night at the town, and then do the job tomorrow. But she would have to see when they arrived and get more information from their client before seeing if that would be the case or not.

"It's a nice view here," Juvia spoke up, before looking ahead of herself to the seat in front of her, "Don't you think so Natsu?"

However she widened her eyes for a moment before smiling to see the sleeping Fire Dragon Slayer across from her. She forgot that the pink haired male fell asleep a few moments later after the train started to move. But hey, at least he was like this and not feeling sick and complaining like how Gajeel would act when he was on a transportation when they went on jobs. Remembering those times with the Iron Dragon Slater got her to giggle slightly, finding how the way he acted during being on a train hilarious.

A moment later though a frown appeared on her face as she looked back outside through the window, the news from earlier in the day still haunting her mind, though who could blame her?

It was still hard for the Water Mage from Fairy Tail to believe what she and everyone else learned about what happened to Jura and so many innocent people. The idea that some monster out there was able to cause all of that damage and loss of life yet still be at large with no clues about what it is or where it is was hard to believe. The woman couldn't even figure out what kind of monster it could be. Does this creature have some kind of Magic? Was it some mutated animal? Or was it some horrific person?

Juvia shook her head franticly for a moment to try to ease herself.

'No more thinking of that Juvia. This job is to help get our minds off of all of that, not to dwell about it further.' Juvia thought to herself, trying to remember that this was why she wanted to go on a job in the first place. To get her mind off of all of that tragic news and confusion about the freak responsible for it, unaware that the one responsible was right across from her sleeping.

Before she could think about anything else, she heard the voice of one of the train pilots being heard through the speakers throughout the train, informing the people in the transportation vehicle that they would be arriving shortly at their destination. Hearing those words got Juvia to smile again, glad to hear that they were about to arrive.

'Maybe I should go ahead and wake Natsu up then.' Juvia thought to herself with her smile still present, seeing that they were about to arrive she might as well wake the sleeping pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer up.

As she turned to look back at the still lying down pink haired male, the blue haired woman smile faded as she then saw how Natsu was slowly moving around in his sleep. While normally Juvia wouldn't feel like that was caused for concern, since people move in their sleep sometimes, the small grunts emerging from the still sleeping Dragon Slayer that sounded like he was having trouble got her to be worried.

"Natsu…?" Juvia spoke up with worry, seeing how Natsu seemed to be getting more frantic while still sleeping, concerning the Water Mage even more, "Natsu," She spoke up again as she managed to get up from her seat to head over to the still unawaken pink haired young man, getting more worried from seeing how he seemed to be struggling about something up close, "Natsu!"

It was in that moment did the train came to a stop while Natsu's eyes shot wide open before he sat right up in such hurry that Juvia fell back onto her own seat, though Natsu didn't seem to notice as he was breathing rather hard which the blue haired woman noticed. He was sweating a little bit as well that Juvia also saw, with him not noticing or paying attention to her presence as he tried to ease himself. Seeing this made the Water Mage even more unsettled.

"Natsu…?" Juvia once again spoke up in a small and worried tone towards the now awake Fire Dragon Slayer.

Hearing her speak got Natsu to freeze for a moment with his eyes widening once more before he turned towards her to see her worried and puzzled expression. He was still breathing hard slightly, but it did look like his breathing was slowly going back to normal.

"Juvia?" Natsu spoke up, with Juvia being able to sense how tired he sounded despite resting for the whole trip, "What's wrong?"

'Juvia should be the one asking you that Natsu.' Juvia thought to herself, but wanted to say that to him instead.

However she didn't get the chance to or say anything similar to that before Natsu noticed how the train wasn't moving. Seeing this made him get a chance to quickly change the subject about him as he looked out of the window to see the town of their job right outside.

"Oh, we're here! Come on Juvia, can't let the client way too long for us can we?" Natsu told and ask her with a forced smile, which unknown to him Juvia saw right through.

Juvia couldn't say anything else before Natsau tried to act like his normal energetic self as he went on to exit the train before it could start up moving again. Seeing him take off on his own into the town got Juvia to snap out of her worry for him for a moment as she got up from her seat.

"Wait for Juvia!" Juvia exclaimed as she followed the Fire Dragon Slayer right out of the train and into the town outside.

A few minutes later, the two Mages from Fairy Tail were now walking down the streets of the small town where their client was located. Looking around as they went down the slightly busy streets, both Natsu and Juvia had frowns on their faces when they saw just how many guards were present through the town. They even saw a leader of a squadron giving orders in the park as they passed by it to remain on high alert throughout the whole day and night.

"It looks like the whole town is on high alert like Magnolia…" Juvia trialed off, remembering how many guards and soldiers were now stationed in their city due to the monster that was loose out there, despite the culprit being right in front of the blue haired woman.

"Yeah…" Natsu agreed as he too trailed off, getting angry by whatever the beast that was causing it, not knowing that it was in fact him the one the nation was now on high alert from. While at the same time being worried about doing this job in case he lost control again, not to mention the nightmare he just died.

Hearing how tired and quiet his tone was got Juvia to look back at the pink haired male with slight worry. The Water Mage was wondering if something was bothering him, remembering how he seemed to struggle while sleeping and the way he woke up not even a few minutes ago. Was the news of what happened with this new threat out and about in Fiore the reason?

"Natsu?" Juvia couldn't stop herself from speaking up, wanting to ask him if something was making him distressed. Hearing her speak got Natsu to stop moving as he turned around to look at the concern looking Water Mage.

"Yeah Juvia?" Natsu asked her, hoping that it wasn't about when she saw him wake up earlier in such a frantic manner. However his hope would go down the drain as Juvia went on to ask him.

"Are you alright? You look like you were having trouble sleeping before you woke up." Juvia couldn't help but ask him. Sure the two didn't talk much or hang out with one another compared to their own friends, but he was still her guild mate, and she wanted to see if something was bothering him.

Natsu widen his eyes with a bit of fear, something which didn't go unnoticed by Juvia before he managed to smile back albeit by force in hopes to ease the concern the blue haired woman had. Though, he couldn't help but feel nice how she was worried for him.

"Yeah I'm alright. I just had a nightmare that's all." Natsu informed her, hoping that she wouldn't think too much of it and just let it be. However this did the exact opposite as Juvia widened her eyes from hearing this.

"A nightmare?" Juvia asked him with more concern than before. That was odd to her, in Juvia's eyes Natsu would be the last person to have nightmares about anything considering who he was and his personality. She frowns as she looked at him once more, "Would… you like to talk about it?"

"No," Natsu answered with a serious tone a bit too quickly, getting Juvia to be surprised by the fast and strict answer, which Natsu himself seemed to realized as he calmed down, "I mean… don't worry. It's nothing major to be concern about."

"If you're sure…" Juvia found herself saying, getting Natsu to feel a bit mad at himself to see how hurt she seemed.

"Juvia, really I'm fine. If I'm bothered by something I'll let you know about it, okay?" Natsu asked her, hoping it would be enough to cheer her up.

It didn't do too much, but it seemed to have worked somewhat as Juvia smiled back at the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer, feeling a bit better by his answer, but only for a little bit as she was willing to drop it for the time being.

"Okay." Juvia told him with her smile on her face, getting Natsu to blush slightly from seeing her smile. Thankfully though, the Water Mage didn't seem to notice it.

"Well, anyway, let's head to our client shall we?" Natsu asked her with a smile, though again it was a bit forced to which Juvia noticed, but was willing to not say anything about it for the time being.

Juvia nodded, and with that the two continued to head down through the town towards their destination.

'SOMETIME LATER'

"Whoa…" Both Natsu and Juvia muttered as they entered the room in the small hotel they were planning to stay at for the time they were here.

After meeting up with the mayor of the town who was the one who sent out the job request informed them more about the troubles they were having with this dark guild, the two figured the best plan of action was to wait until early morning to head out and make quick work of the dark guild causing havoc to this town. With that, the two Mages went out to get a room to one of the small hotels present in the room. Getting a cheaper one for the both of them to afford, they then headed to their room where they would be staying for the night.

But apparently the room was still very nice despite the cheap cost. There was a small kitchen, a small living room with a table, a couch and a chair, and a large bed out in the open not to far from the living area. Near that was a door that led to the bathroom. All in all while the room overall was small it was still pretty nice.

However while Juvia marveled at the room as a whole, Natsu then noticed the one large bed present in the hotel room.

"Uh… Juvia?" Natsu started to say to get her attention, a small blush was on his face as he spoke up.

"Yeah?" Juvia asked him with a smile on her face, already enjoying how nice their room was despite the overall smallness of it.

"…There's only one bed." Natsu pointed out.

Juvia blinked as she looked back at the large singular bed in the room. She blinked once more before she moved her head around to see if there was another bed with none other one in sight. She then blinked for a third time before her face went completely red.

"HUH?! WHY IS THERE ONLY ONE?!" Juvia shouted. They weren't informed if there were going to be a bed for each of them or not. Did the hotel's desk receptionist just assume they were a couple or something?!

A hand was placed on her shoulder, getting her to snap out of her shock and embarrassment about this happening to see a small smiling yet also embarrassed Natsu looking at her.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'll take the couch while you take the bed. Does that work?" Natsu asked her, not wanting her to share a bed with someone he knows she doesn't have feelings for, no matter how much it hurts for him to admit that.

Now normally Juvia would be all down for this, after all in her eyes the only one who she would be fine with sharing a bed with is her Gray-Sama. However, remembering how troubled Natsu was at sleeping earlier with something clearly plaguing him even if he wouldn't tell her what it was, she knew that he might need the sleep better than what a couch could provide. And she knew that he wouldn't let her sleep on the couch either, so while embarrassing, she made up her mind as she turned to look at him with a serious expression.

"No, we can share the bed." Juvia told him, though while she looked confidence in her decision on the outside, she was feeling all embarrassed and nervous on the inside about this.

Hearing her say that got Natsu to be taken back by it, thinking that she wouldn't be fine with doing that.

"Are you sure? You don't have to do that if you don't wish to." Natsu assured her, wanting to convince her that she didn't have to force herself to do this.

"Yes I'm sure, besides it only for one night right?" Juvia replied back to him, and reminding him that after tomorrow they would head back to the guild and continue on with their lives.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Natsu responded with a small smile, getting over the surprise that Juvia would be alright with them sharing the bed.

Figuring he would check on the bed to see how it felt, the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer made his way over to the large bed before falling down on it face first. A content smile and sigh emerged from him as he felt the softness of the bed.

"Ah… this feels nice." Natsu muttered in content.

Juvia raised an eyebrow before she too made her way over to the large bed and simply fell onto it. The moment she did she herself couldn't help but sigh in joy from how soft the feeling of the bed was.

"Ah… this does feel nice…" Juvia muttered to herself, enjoying the feeling of the comfortable bed as it pushed the embarrassment about sharing it with Natsu to the back of her mind.

"Right?" Natsu asked her with a smile, before he turned his head to the ceiling with a large smile on his face and with his eyes closed, "Maybe I'll be able to sleep better this time…" Natsu without thinking muttered quietly, thinking that he was saying that to himself.

Sadly though unaware of it, Juvia heard him spoke those words, getting her to sit back up and look at the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer with slight concern once more. Natsu wasn't getting good sleep even before on the job? Even before they found out what happened with Jura and all the other innocent lives lost?

'He's been having trouble sleeping?' Juvia thought to herself, surprised and worried to hear her guild mate and friend apparently having trouble getting sleep even before all of the recent stuff that's been going on. She didn't like it, no one she knew should be feeling down or troubled. But Natsu didn't seem like he would be fine with opening up to her on what's bothering him, but she still wished that she could do something to help cheer him up from this.

And with that, an idea did form before not even a few moments later did a sinister grin appeared in her eyes. Making her way over to Natsu on the bed, the pink haired male would be caught off guard before the blue haired woman would then proceed to jump on him.

Natsu would have shouted and ask what she was doing if it weren't for the intense laughter he was emitting due to the blue haired woman without warning proceeding to get hi mto laugh by tickling.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA JUVIA STOP!" Natsu shouted while laughing hard, with for some reason hearing him filled with laughter made Juvia feel warm in a good way, happy to see him all happy and filled with laughter and not quiet or being troubled about something.

However she would be caught off guard when Natsu managed to turn the tables on her, getting her to then be the one being tickled by the now sinister smiling yet joy filled Natsu as he then heard her laughter.

"NATSU HAHAHAHAHAHA CUT IT OUT!" Juvia laughed out loud while trying to tell him to stop only for him to keep on going. He didn't know what prompt Juvia to start this, but he wasn't going to be the only one laughing out loud.

This would keep on going with each of them getting control over the other to make the other laugh uncontrollably, and Juvia liked that. It helped ease any trouble that may be on their minds for the time being. Right now, they were two friends simply having fun.

There we go, chapter done. Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter, and if not, then shoot me.

Anyway, what did you all think? Good? Bad? Let me know.

See you all next time, whenever that will be.