I wonder how my beloved prince is doing today. He just came back from a job with his team, including that bimbo Lucy. I would have followed, but Lisanna pulled me away from him to go on another job. I tried to ditch her so many times to go check on Gray-sama, but she always managed to keep me there with her! Now we're finally back at the guild and I'm just waiting for my darling Gray to come through the doors. I can't wait to see him!

The guild doors are opening! Is it them? I can see them coming through the door, Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Wendy and...

"Where's Gray-sama?" I ask when they come up to the bar.

They look at me, and then look down at the ground.

"What happened to him? Tell me how my beloved Gray is!"

Erza looks up solemnly.

"He's badly hurt from our job, and he needs time to recover. For now, you should probably leave him alone." she explains.

I stare at her, stunned at the unbelievable news she said. No... it is unbelievable. There's no way my prince could have been hurt badly.

"That's not true, Gray-sama just can't be hurt, he can't!"

"Juvia, I know it's hard to belive, but he was." Lucy says softly.

"If it's true, then tell me what happened to him!"

"The Count stabbed him very close to his heart. He also got hit in the head hard by the back of the sword he used. He's going to be fine, but it'll take a while to heal. I healed him the best I could, but he still needs time to rest, it won't heal in just one day. I'm going to go back there every day, though, so he could heal faster." Wendy says.

"Don't be foolish, child. Do you know how much magic power you use up when you heal him just once? If you go every day, you'll sap out your magic power until you're as bedridden as your ice friend, you should know that." Carla tells her.

"But, if I don't, Gray won't heal properly. I have to check on him every day!" Wendy whines.

"You shouldn't push yourself, Wendy."

Gray-sama was hurt that badly? But how? It's just not possible. If he's hurt, he must need me by his side, he can't be left alone. I'm sure my darling Gray is pleading for me to go right now.

"Please come, my dearest Juvia. I cannot be left here alone. Please come and comfort me with your wonderful words, my one and only love."

Oh my darling Gray, you must be so lonely. I will come and stay by your side at once!

"Where is Gray-sama now?" I ask flatly.

"He's at his home, resting in bed." Erza answers while Wendy and Carla are still bickering around.

"I have to go see him." I say, "My darling Gray is waiting for me!"

"But you can't! He needs to rest." Lucy argues.

"No! I have to see him!"

And I run out the guild. My prince is waiting for me! He needs me by his side. He needs me there to help him heal.

I stop at his doorstep. The door is locked. I turn myself into water and slip through the cracks. A locked door won't stop me from seeing my dearest prince charming. I continue running through the house until I reach Gray's room.

"Gray-sama!" I call and I run to his side.

"Juvia? What are you doing here?"

He's lying in his bed, bandages covering him where he has his wounds, but his blanket is completely off of him and on the side of the bed.

"What do you think you're doing without a blanket? You'll get cold!" I pull up the blanket, but he stops me with his hand.

"I'm an ice wizard, do you really think I'll get cold?"

"I guess you're right... But you're covered in wounds, so right now it doesn't matter if you are an ice wizard or not, you need to cover up!" I pull the blankets again and this time manage to get it to his neck before tucking him in.

He struggles a bit, but then calms down and gives in to my reasoning.

"But, why are you here?" He asks weakly.

"I came to check on you. I was sure you needed me to take care of you, so I came right away, my love."

"You didn't need to come, I would have been fine on my own." he says stubbornly.

"Don't be like that, you need someone by your side to take care of you. Here, let me get you some water." I say, and then walk out of the room.

Now, where is the kitchen? Ah! There it is! I walk into the kitchen and look through the cuboards until I finally find a glass. I take it out and fill it with water using my magic. Gray should drink my water to heal better, normal water from the faucet won't do anything because mine is filled with my eternal love for Gray! I run back to his room.

He's coughing a lot. And it's really hard. It almost sounds like he's choking, but I can definitely tell that he's not.

"Here, drink this." I say handing him the water.

He takes the water from my hand, his fingers brushing mine. Hah~. They're so soft, I want to touch his fingers forever. Then he drinks the water and he stops coughing!

"Thanks Juvia." he just thanked me!

"Of course. Is there anything else you need my darling?"

"No, thanks. I'll be fine." he answers.

"Very well then. I'll stay here beside you, to keep you company."

"You don't have to do that. I'm better off on my own. Besides, Wendy used her healing magic on me, so it's not that bad anymore."

"Don't be like that, I'll stay with you until you get better, all right?"

He looks at me for a while. He's not sure whether he wants me to go or not, that means he wants me by his side! I'm so happy!

"Fine. I guess a bit of company won't hurt." he says.

"Of course my darling! I'll stay by your side, you won't be lonely with me, I promise!"

From there on, I stayed with my beloved Gray. Everyday, Wendy came by and healed him more, even with Carla arguing against it. I stayed by his side, making his meals and feeding them to him. However, three days after he came back from the job, I was being summoned to the guild.

"Good morning Wendy!" I greet while letting her in.

"Good morning Juvia! How are you?"

"Very well. Gray-sama told me he's feeling better since you started healing him. The wounds are still pretty bad, but they're healing very efficiently." I tell her.

"That's great!" she says, and then walks into Gray's room to give him his daily healing.

"Thanks." my prince says. He's always been such a nice guy! Especially towards me!

"Hey, Juvia?" Wendy calls while I look at her, "Apparently you got a request to go back to the guild, someone wants to see you there."

"Oh really? Who asked?"

"They made me promise not to say. They said it was supposed to be a surprise." she answers.

An unknown person asking me to come back to the guild? That's strange. But I can't just leave Gray-sama here alone, he needs me here with him.

"I'm gonna go home, okay? Using this much magic energy really is wearing me out." Wendy says.

"Sure, you go rest." Gray says.

I still don't think I should leave. He's still badly hurt, I really should stay here with him. I can't just leave him alone.

"It's all right, you can go." he says.

I can't leave him here. Maybe I should tell Wendy that I said no.

"Juvia, I said you can go if you want."

"Huh?" I look towards him, "I thought you were talking to Wendy." I say.

"She already left, and she's going home. If you want to go check out what's goin' on at the guild, then go ahead. I'll be fine on my own for a while." he says with a smile.

"But... I," I'm choking up.

I feel something warm but somehow cold running down my cheeks. Suddenly water splashes on my hand as the trail the warmth turns only cold. Am I crying? I don't want to leave him here alone. More tears run down my face as I look at him, he's still smiling such a sweet smile. I don't want to leave it behind for a second.

"Don't be like that," he says while reaching a hand to my face, "I'll be fine on my own, and you can come back whenever you want. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

He wipes away the tears I made. One more falls down, but he wipes that one too.

"It's okay, you can go." he says calmly.

I pause ubsure as to what to respond. Finally...

"All right, if you're really okay with that, then I guess I'll check who it is. But you will be okay like you said, won't you?" I ask.

"I promise."

I look down and then slowly walk away, towards the door. I'm leaving Gray here alone, is that really all right? I open the front door and close it behind me, smelling the fresh air. I look up at the blue sky. Well, it's no use turning back now. I walk down the road to the guild hall. Who's asking me to come now? Don't they know that I need to stay with Gray? Well, I'll go see what whoever it is wants and then go back to Gray right after.

I walk up to the guild doors, but before I can open them, I get pulled to the side. Someones dragging me to the corner of the guild hall. I look up to see who my kidnapper is.

"I reckognise that white hair." I mutter very quietly.

At the other side of the guild hall, we stop. I stand almost against the wall and the tall man in front of me.

"Lyon-sama? What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I came to see you again, of course. It's been a while since we last saw each other." he says.

Not long enough, obviously.

"What do you want Lyon?" I ask.

"I wanted to ask you if you wanted to have dinner tonight? Just the two of us."

"Huh?"

"It'll be a nice night, don't you think?"

"But, Lyon, I cannot. I have to stay with Gray, I can't go anywhere else." I tell him.

"Ah yes, that's another reason why I came. I heard you were the one taking care of Gray, so I came to ask how he's been."

"He's slowly healing, now I really should get back to him." I answer.

I try to walk away, but he puts an arm over my shoulder and pulls me closer to him.

"Well, if he's healing, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I took you out for a while." he says.

"Lyon-sama, I already told you that I can't. I need to go back for Gray."

"Oh, but I'm sure he'll understand, and besides, it's not like his health will get any worse if you're gone for a few hours." he insists.

"I already said no!" and I run away.

I run from Lyon and all the way to Gray-sama's home. It's pretty far away, I don't know how he walks that everyday. But I still make it back there. Fairy Hills would have been closer, but I wanted to see Gray, I can't bare leaving him alone any longer.

I go inside and look up at the time. I've been gone an hour? Is his house really that far from the guild? And I know that I didn't spend that much time with Lyon. I go and look out the window. He didn't follow me, that's good. Now I can be with Gray, just the two of us.

I hear heavy coughing coming from his room. I run inside to see what's wrong. He wasn't coughing like this yesterday.

"My beloved Gray! Are you all right?!" I ask, going to his bed side.

"Juvia. I didn't think you'd come back this soon. What happened at the guild?" he asks, with a smile again. He coughes a bit more.

"Hold on, let me get you some water first," I say, then I pick up his glass and refill it with my magic.

"Here, drink this." I say. I tilt his head forward a bit to let him drink the water.

"Thanks." he says, once again resting his head on the pillow. He keeps smiling at me, not shifting his gaze anywhere else.

"Is there something you want to tell me, my dear?" I ask.

He raises his hand upwards and reaches for my face. He gently places it on my cheek as I blush a bit.

"Not necessarily. I'm just glad that you came back." he says, still smiling. And I smile in return.

"Of course, anything for you, my darling." I say.

He drops his hand on the bed and he starts sitting up, but loses his balance a bit along the way. I steady him with one hand around his back, but the other is gently placed on his chest.

"You should rest Gray-sama. Lie down a little longer." I say.

I slowly bring my arm down to lead him back to his pillow. However, he starts getting up again, removing my hand from his chest. Then he shakes his head.

"No. I don't need to lie down, I feel more at ease now." He says.

"Don't say that, you really should be lying down." I tell him.

I attempt to release his grip from my hand in order to place him back on his pillow, but he just holds it tighter. He stands up in front of me. I look up at him, confused as to what on earth he's trying to do.

"Juvia..." He's says.

"Yes my love?" I respond.

He raises his free hand and faintly drags his nails under my chin. He rotates his hand when it gets beneath my lip so that the skin of his fingers gently graze my cheek. They climb higher up and finally lands his palm on my cheek, resting his hand on the side of my face. I can feel my face redden as he does so, heating up the more he presses his hand against my flesh. I let my head weigh itself against his warm palm. We look each other in the eyes, Gray fixing his as if he's admiring something within mine.

"Juvia, I'm really glad you came back so soon. It's not that I don't want you at the guild with everyone else, I was just... lonely. You were beside me this whole time, it felt strange when you left, I felt... empty. It was quiet in the house... too quiet. You weren't there to comfort me." he says.

I stare up at him, flustered at what I'm hearing. Am I imagining this? Is this really happening.

"Not to mention, the water from the faucet doesn't exactly taste right," he chuckles, then smiles sweetly and calmly, "At least, not compared to yours."

"H-huh?" I stutter.

My heart... it's beating so fast. Just breathe, Juvia. This is just like the first time you two met, just stay calm and breathe. But I can't do that very well! It's beating faster than the first time.

"Juvia..." he says softly.

He trails his hand over my cheek and through my hair, the other climbs higher up my arm.

"Please..."

Suddenly, He pushes the back of my head into the warmth of his chest, tugging my arm with the other hand to keep me closer.

"Stay with me. I need you by my side, to take care of me."

He releases his hold on my arm, but wraps it around my lower back and holds me tighter.

"Please." he almost sounds desperate.

I smile genuinely, but he can't see it since my face is burried in his chest. I, in turn, put my arms around his lower back.

"Of course, anything for you, my dear. I'll stay here, I'll protect you, no matter what."

"Hm. Thank you." he whispers.