Seven Days to Love You (Chapter 5)

Sounds

Compared to many of the Fairy Tail members, Gray Fullbuster wasn't really as loud and boisterous as many of his fellow guildmates. He wasn't really a loner but he also wasn't as outgoing as, say maybe, Natsu. There are days in which he will participate in the guild activities, such as drinking, fighting or whatever. But there are other days in which he would sit back and take every thing in... the sights, the smells and, more often than not, the sounds.

The first thing he would hear would be Natsu's annoying voice, that screeching nails-on-chalkboard sound that make Gray want to give the Dragon Slayer a concave face. There's was Cana's guzzling down whatever beer is available. Erza's hard steel voice was always around keeping order whenever things got out of hand. Mira's melodic voice could always be heard, even through the din of their chaotic guild, asking if she could help either by preparing food or drinks or even listening to their problems.

There was almost always a fight in the guild, usually started by the flaming idiot. Gray usually found himself getting involved one way or another. He could hear the sound of his breath in the air, the squish of his fist connecting against Natsu, the crash of himself hitting the floor after a counterattack, the beat of his heart as his blood pumped throughout his body. The ice mage loved himself a good fight.

As more and more people joined the guild, their voices intermingled with those who have been here longer. Loke would add his flirtatious charm, Lucy her idealism, and Gajeel his crudeness. Somehow, these mishmash of people were not discordant at all, creating a richer harmony that everyone could appreciate.

But there was one voice who would always stand out to the ice mage, mostly because that particular voice was almost always directed towards him.

Juvia Lockser

He remembered the first time he heard her voice. Juvia was in her own little world, saying things about love and whatnot. Of course, this was back then when her guild had captured Lucy. Gray normally wouldn't have been interested in what she had to say but being his enemy made him extremely uninterested in her ramblings. The ice mage watched and listened as his watery opponent went through a gamut of emotion, from shyness, reluctance, jealousy, despair and anger all within the space of a couple of minutes. But the thing that stuck with him all these years was her soft voice the first time she saw the sun. She was quiet, as if she was waking up from a dream. Gray thought at the time that his opponent was cute like that (but you would have to ring it out of him because he wouldn't admit it freely).

The first time Juvia called him Gray-sama, the ice mage's head just got a little swollen. Those words struck him deep in his heart. Without even asking her to do it, the fact that she held him in such high esteem made him feel a bit important. He asked why years later and she responded that he was so important to her that it behooved her to call him anything other than by that suffix. And he would have left it at that if, during the Grand Magic Games, Juvia didn't call that idiot Lyon Lyon-sama. As much as he hated to admit it, he was annoyed. She didn't call Natsu Natsu-sama or Gajeel Gajeel-sama. But here was his senior getting the same treatment as Gray was from Juvia. He didn't like that one bit.

Juvia's fantasies bothered Gray at first. She was very vocal about what she believed would happen, for example, if she cooked him a meal or gave him a gift. She imagined that he would be on his knees asking for her hand in marriage. Along the way, however, he thought it was pretty nice that she was thinking that far ahead. Gray was a guy who lived in the here and now. He didn't dwell too much on what could happen but it was kind of nice that she saw him in his life in the future. As with many aspects of Juvia, he learned to accept, and then love, that part of her. Her crazy fantasies were what made her unique.

Conversely, she also imagined that Gray was doing illicit things with other people in the guild, like that time after day one of the Grand Magic Games, which put her into jealous mode. She somehow imagined that he and Lucy were consoling each other through kisses and junk like that. Don't get him wrong. Lucy was a cute girl. But he thought of her as a sister, the same way he thought of Erza.

One time, when Acknologia attacked them at Tenrou Island, Gray had given into despair. They were fighting an honest-to-god dragon and even with four Dragon Slayers, four S-class mages and a guild master who was also a wizard saint, they couldn't even make a dent. He got scared. He thought they were going to die. But Juvia encouraged him, telling him that they were going to survive somehow, that Fairy Tail is a guild of miracles and they would be fine in the end. Those words really touched him. Perhaps it was those words that changed Gray's perspective on Juvia from being just a guild member who had these fantasies about him to a great friend who had fantasies about him. (He would return the favor to her at another time, during the fight against Tartaros.)

There was one sound that Gray would like to forget, the sound of Juvia screaming in horror. That was the day he sacrificed his life for hers. The ice mage once believed that it was a dream but her screams of his name reverberated throughout his body in a sickening manner. He knew that Juvia had already dealt with such heartache but watching her beloved die right in front of her eyes after he saved you was a terror all its own. The day after they returned from Crocus, when he realized that it was no dream and that Urtear had sacrificed her youth to save everyone, Juvia had told him about what she thought was a dream. After listening to her, Gray told her that it was just a vision sent by the time mage to save them. That was the only time the ice mage had purposely lied to the water mage. He didn't want her to hold on to such anxiety. To this day, Gray wasn't sure if Juvia believed him or whether she just accepted the fact that he wanted to relegate that event to the past.

One of his personal favorite sounds from Juvia are those she utters in the throes of passion. As much as she may be vocal about wanting him, in the bedroom, she is rather shy...well at first anyways. Gray loved to hear her squeak whenever he cupped her breasts unexpectedly or when he wrapped her long, shapely legs around his waist. He loved to hear her shudder in pleasurable agony as he began his oral ministrations followed by the breathless encouragement to receive more. There was the scream of his name whenever a particularly hard thrust hit her sweet spot. (It was during their lovemaking that he finally heard her say his name without the suffix for the first time. He had to admit that he loved it.) But the best noise she makes is the shudder she lets out after she hits her peak. And afterwards, she would tell him she loves him, which makes him want to do it with her all over again. When she fell asleep, Gray could hear her heartbeat, giving him comfort knowing she's alive.

But perhaps the best sound from Juvia is the humming she does as she cooks in the kitchen. At her legs are their daughter and son, humming along with her. If those were the last things he could hear for the rest of his life, Gray would have no regrets, simply because he had built a life with her. She had become his wife. They had wonderful children together. He couldn't ask for more.