The Strength of Human Love (Inspired by 394)

The Strength of Human Love
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The guild known as Fairy Tail is normally loud and boisterous, filled with merry-making people having a good time. Today wasn't one of those days. Though they were happy to be alive and well, the atmosphere was rather somber.

To start with, there really wasn't much of a guild, just some undestroyed furniture and a couple of barrels of alcohol. It was destroyed by Tartaros when they declared war on Fairy Tail. Second, many of the guild members were dealing with personal issues.

Elfman had guilt over being enslaved by the demon woman and hurting both his little sister and nearly blowing up everyone in the guild. Lucy was depressed because she had to give up her first spirit, Aquarius, in order to summon the Spirit King and save everyone. Erza was compartmentalizing her dual feelings of anger and pity towards Minerva and trying to care for Jellal who had crushed his own eyes in order to defeat Oracion Seis. Natsu was pondering his meeting with Zeref and the deeper implications that the vision of the dark mage entailed. And Gray was dealing with the return and subsequent death of his father, Silver.

As said Ice Mage looked around the remains of the guild, he could feel the crushing weight of depression that seized his guild, his family. It didn't feel like they were victorious. It was almost pyrrhic in scope. But Gray Fullbuster knew that this was only temporary. Wounds will close. Aches will dull. The guild will be rebuilt. Sadness will be replaced with joy. And everything will turn out alright with time.

The dark haired got up from his chair (actually, an ice-make chair because most of the other chairs and tables were obliterated in the assault) to stretch his legs. Gray casually looked around the guild and realized that there was one person missing. In a twist of irony, it's the one person that he had expected to be around him at a time like this.

Juvia Lockser

When Gray thought about it a bit, he realized that he hadn't seen her since they got separated in the eight way battle between Fairy Tail and Tartaros. At the time, he chalked it up to trying to stop the machinations of Mard Geer and the threat of E.N.D. Now that everything was over, the fact that Juvia wasn't around bothered him. He had come to expect her presence over time.

Gray made a decision. He'd find Juvia. No one deserved to be by themselves after going through what they did.

The fact that the Ice Mage didn't know where to start looking didn't bother him in the slightest. Juvia was, at heart, a creature of habit. Considering that she was as depressed as the rest of them, he knew that she wasn't at the girls' dorm. The water mage would want to be in a place where she could be alone. Plus, due to the nature of her element, she was probably somewhere near water. Luckily for Gray, there was only one body of water in Magnolia...the river.

Following the path of the river gave Gray some time to think, specifically about the woman he was going to see. Juvia had so ingrained herself into his life that it was he often forgot that their friendship was only over a year old and not longer. She evoked many feelings in Gray: joy, humor, awkwardness, nervousness, annoyance. But more importantly, the ice mage felt an overwhelming need to protect her. Sure, he would do the same for any one of his nakama. In fact, he did for Lucy when Phantom Lord attacked the guild and for Erza during the Tower of Heaven incident. In fact, he had actually saved Juvia twice. He had nightmares about the second time.

Gray was probably one of the few people who knew the truth about that day. It wasn't a dream or a vision from the future that everybody saw. It was time reversing itself for one minute. That one minute changed everything. It was the difference between being alive and being dead. The fact that he died saving Juvia complicated things. Though the ice mage would never regret doing what he did to save his nakama, seeing the tears fall from her eyes hurt so much. He didn't want to see them ever again.

Gray wasn't sure if he would have accepted Juvia's feelings even if he hadn't nearly died. Although what he felt towards the water mage was completely positive, love was something he knew he wasn't ready for. Love requires being completely open. And as much as he was open in the physical sense (considering that he couldn't go a day without becoming fully nude at some point), when it came to his emotions, he built walls of ice around his heart. Although some have melted thanks to the efforts of his nakama in Fairy Tail, especially Juvia, the highest, thickest walls have yet to tumble. Gray wasn't sure if he wanted them to fall anyways. To be so naked emotionally...the black haired man knew that he still had some open wounds that have yet to heal. To get involved with someone meant risking his heart to be hurt and that was a commitment he wasn't ready for...yet.

And then, there was his father. It had been so long since the death of his parents that Gray had nearly forgotten what they looked like. Seeing his old man... shocked doesn't even begin to cover it, especially when he realized they were on opposing sides. Fighting Silver was probably the toughest thing he ever had to do. He was torn between joining up with the man who was his flesh and blood and protecting the family he had come to love. But the choice was clear. Fairy Tail was more important that familial bonds.

Despite that, it was really difficult to put what Gray felt into action. Perhaps that's why his old man lied to him, telling him that he was actually Deliora. The demon was the bane of his existence, the source of all his pain. If Gray could hate Silver as much as he hated Deliora, it would be easier to take him out. Even though the Ice Mage knew it was a lie, he chose to believe it because the alternative was much worse...that his own father wanted to kill him.

It took all of his cunning but Gray was victorious. He was able to create a vambrace made of ice to launch the stone he took from the Land of Giants fast and hard enough to easily make a hole into the body of his father, effectively ending the threat.

After being defeated, Silver explained why he did what he did. It didn't surprise Gray that his father's motivation was revenge. Maybe it ran in the family. He then told his son about how he gained the power to kill demons and his ultimate plan, to destroy Tartaros from within. Silver also explained that when he learned that Gray was alive, his revenge had dissipated. Without revenge fueling him, his old man asked the younger Fullbuster to kill him.

Logically, Gray knew what had to be done. This man had hurt or killed many people. He wasn't even alive. He was a walking corpse. Gray knew that. But he couldn't do it. Despite the fact that he knew that his father had died long ago and the man before him was just a shade of his former self, he couldn't deliver the finishing blow.

His old man understood. It's not surprising. Now, instead of asking to be killed, Silver embraced his son. Before he disappeared, he not only passed on the power to defeat E.N.D., he passed on his feelings as well.

The Ice Mage's thoughts were interrupted when he finally found who he was looking for. Juvia was sitting next to the river bend, watching the water run its course. Her legs were curled to her chest and, even from the distance where he was standing, he could see that she was depressed. Gray didn't want to interrupt her train of thought so he approached her as carefully as he could. When she didn't register his presence, the black haired mage sat down next to her.

It took Juvia a moment to register that someone was next to her. When she turned around, a part of her wasn't surprised at who it was. It was the one person she really didn't want to see now. Paradoxically, he was also the one person she loved more than anyone else in the world.

"Gray-sama." Juvia whispered softly before turning her head back towards the river, her face becoming unreadable.

"Are you okay, Juvia?" Gray asked. A stupid question, to be sure. But he wanted her to tell him if something was wrong.

Juvia shook her head.

"It's okay to feel sad, Juvia." He proffered. "Even though the day is won, it doesn't feel like a victory. But at the very least, don't be sad all by yourself."

With that Juvia started to cry.

Gray's eyes widened in a panic. He could handle happy women. He could handle sad women. Hell, he could even handle angry women. But he couldn't handle crying women, especially if he was the cause of their tears. Juvia was no exception.

"Did I say something wrong?" He asked, his voice climbing a couple of octaves higher due to worry.

"Why does Gray-sama want to be around Juvia?" Gray was asked in return. He could hear whimpering in her voice.

"You're a good friend." The ice mage answered her.

"No she isn't." Juvia responded. "She is a bad person."

"I highly doubt that but what makes you say that you are a bad person?" Gray pressed.

Gray could see sparkling tears stream down Juvia's cheeks to her chin and dropping like rain.

"Because it's Juvia's fault that Gray-sama's father disappeared." She admitted.

Her statement hit Gray like a sledgehammer to the face. Of all the things that Juvia could've said, this was by far the least likely. His feelings about his father were still very raw. And he had to admit that it hurt even now to think of him.

"What do you mean?" Gray asked, not trusting his voice.

"Juvia was contacted by Father." She explained. "She doesn't know how but it must have been telepathy or something. He asked Juvia to defeat the necromancer. But the necromancer told Juvia that it was because of him that Father was..." At this point, Juvia bit her lip.

"Reanimated." Gray answered for her. A part of him found it somewhat humorous that Juvia would call his old man Father.

Juvia nodded. "Father also told Juvia that the necromancer was controlling the chairman who was trying to activate FACE." She continued. "If she was able to stop the necromancer, the magic pulse bomb wouldn't activate. But that would also mean that..."

Gray started to piece together what his old man asked Juvia to do. Kill the necromancer and FACE wouldn't activate. But it would also result in his death... or re-death as it were. Knowing Juvia as he did, he figured that she tried to think of a way to both stop the demon and save his father at the same time.

"He called Father a puppet, Gray-sama." Juvia cried. "He said that Gray-sama and Father would kill each other and then he would use your bodies for research. Juvia got so angry that she charged in without thinking and that's when he caught her. Then he taunted Juvia to kill him, knowing that if he died, Father would die as well."

Gray had no idea how much pain Juvia was in. The choice was painful, especially for her because she had feelings for him. Killing the necromancer meant destroying his old man. Not killing him meant that Juvia would be killed. Gray's eyebrows went up so high, they were obscured by his hair. He didn't hear the account of the battle but to hear that Juvia was in danger of being killed frightened him. He had no desire for her to get hurt, especially for his sake.

"She couldn't do it, Gray-sama." Juvia cried. "She couldn't find a way to save Father for Gray-sama."

Gray couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Juvia by her shoulders and embraced her tightly, resting his chin on the top of her head. Her hot tears soaked into his coat but it didn't matter. He let her cry. And as he did, his own tears fell into her hair.

"How did you survive?" Gray asked, desperate to know.

"He took Juvia's body into his own." She answered. "Juvia didn't want to kill him, even though he was the cause of Gray-sama and Father's suffering. But she didn't want to die either. She wanted to live. So Juvia turned into water and expanded, destroying him from the inside out. But that meant that Father..."

Gray stroked Juvia's long blue hair and made faint shushing sounds. "It's okay." He whispered. "It's okay."

"Forgive Juvia, Gray-sama." She begged over and over again.

"There's nothing to forgive." Gray answered. "You did the right thing."

Juvia continued sobbing into Gray's chest as he continued trying to assuage her tears.

"I told the mage that he couldn't sever the bonds between humans." Juvia told Gray. "That even if the form changed, feelings will remain in the human heart because that is what Juvia believes is the strength of human love. That Gray-sama and Father's feelings would reach each other regardless."

Gray closed his eyes in an effort to stop his tears but they fell anyways. He nodded. "They did." He choked back a sob. "It reached me."

Juvia's sobs became softer. To hear that Gray's feelings got through made her a little happy.

"You did what I couldn't." Gray spoke after a while. "You gave my old man peace. Thank you, Juvia."

Juvia nodded.

After a moment, Juvia's tears stopped. She slowly removed herself from Gray's embrace. The water mage tried to make some distance between them but the ice mage gently put his left hand on her shoulder and pulled her close. Together, they water the river run its course together.

"Feeling better?" He asked Juvia.

"A little." Juvia answered.

Gray turned a bit to see Juvia go back to watching the river. Of course, she wasn't okay yet. None of them were. They have been through so much in the past couple of days. It would be a while before they reach some level of normality. But at least they didn't have to do it alone. Together, they'd get better.

There was a part of Gray that wanted to physically show Juvia that everything would be alright. He had already hugged her. A kiss perhaps.

But Gray squashed that thought as soon as it popped up. The last thing that she needed right now was false niceties, especially while she was down. While his feelings about the woman next to him were more positive than negative, it didn't mean that he loved her. Sure Gray liked Juvia and he cared about her. Maybe there was something a bit deeper than that. But it wasn't love, not like she loved him. Juvia deserved a full examination of his feelings...when they were emotionally sound. Right now, a hug will do nicely.

A curious thought crossed his mind. "Did my old man say anything before...you know..." He asked.

Juvia was unsure how to respond.

"He asked you to take care of me, didn't he?" Gray asked.

Juvia wouldn't lie to him. She nodded slightly.

A small smirk crossed his face. That his old man would say something like that to a woman he hadn't met spoke volumes. He trusted Juvia.

"It's okay." The ice mage said. "How about this. You take care of me and I'll take care of you. How does that sound?"

Juvia looked into Gray's eyes. He could see her blue irises staring at him with many emotions he couldn't identify at the moment. But all of them were positive.

"Juvia agrees." She answered after a beat.

With that out of the way, the two of them continued staring at the river, sure that they were on the right road to recovery.

The strength of humans doesn't lie within their physical might. It isn't in the magic they employ. It's not their cunning either. Their strength lies in their heart, their emotions, their feelings, their love. It is their love that allow them to connect with one another, creating bonds strong enough to overcome adversity and break through even the barrier between life and death. And no man, beast, or demon can sever such a bond. This is the strength of human love.