NARRATOR'S POV

After leaving school, Juvia went on an extensive apartment hunt. But to her dismay, the vacant lodgings were more of family units then bachelor's pod.

But Juvia didn't lose her hope and decided to stroll around Magnolia. She was determined to find herself a place to reside by this evening.

That's when an idea struck her mind, "Why didn't Juvia think of this before? How can she forget this?"

Soon Juvia booked a cab and went to Portia street near the city hall.

It was the same street where she and Gajeel had rented an apartment during their school days.

Within an hour, Juvia reached her destination. As expected, Portia Street had many options within her affordable range.

It was the third floor flat of the Rose building which Juvia found as best. The owner, Mr Smith, is a kind old man who lived with his wife.

The flat was well furnished with necessary furniture. It had a small modular kitchen and spacious balcony for drying clothes and keeping plants.

Even the rent was affordable as it was just around 12K jewels per month.

After paying the token advance of 6K which she had brought along with her to the owner. Juvia departed from there.

She decided to stroll around the neighbourhood and get acquainted with it once again before going back to Gajeel's house.

There was a supermarket, Children's park down the street.

Two streets away from the park were the Magnolia Police Station. Basically, it was safe to reside all alone over here.

"Juvia is excited to live here once again."

AFTER TWO DAYS

LUCY'S POV

It was 6:30 PM and still, Natsu hadn't come back from his promise.

He promised me that he would be early today and help me make arrangements for our princess birthday party.

It was particularly hard to arrange a party when there's an excited and curious kid around the house.

"I'm back. Luce, where are you?" Natsu called for me.

I left the ribbons on top of the table so that she can't reach it and went to the main door.

There I saw Natsu carrying Nashi's gift in his arms. "Wow, it looks really big in reality. Here, let me help you."

"Thanks, Luce. Come let's show this to Nashi. I want to see her smile and jump around." Natsu said with a smile which made me smile as well.

Really, I and Nashi are lucky to have Natsu as he's such a loving husband and a doting father.

Once we went to the living room and placed her gift on the floor. We saw Nashi playing with our pet cat, Happy.

"Nashi dear, look what has papa got for you?" My voice got her attention.

Once she looked towards us, her brown eyes widened due to surprise to see a gift probably larger and taller than her.

"Papa, Mama, what's this?" She asked us as she came near the gift and examined it while Happy followed her back.

We had chuckled and in unison wished, "Nashi dear, Happy Birthday. Go ahead, open your gift."

Once she slowly opened the gift, she was speechless when she saw the princess house set right in front of her.

"What aren't you going to say anything?" I asked her with a smile.

As Natsu expected she began to jump around before hugging my legs, "Thank you, mama. I always wanted this princess house. Thank you."

I bent down to hug her and looked at her, "Thank, your papa as well. He's the one who got you this."

Nashi smiled at Natsu and then hugged his legs, "Thank you, Papa."

He lifted her up in his arms before planting a soft kiss on her forehead, "Anything for my daughter. Happy Birthday, princess."

Then we proceed to complete the rest of the arrangements before our friends arrive for the occasion.

GRAY'S POV

As I got ready for the birthday party, luckily, I bought the gift for Nashi yesterday itself.

My gift was just a two-foot-tall teddy bear which looked cute and hoped Nashi would love it as well.

I wore a casual black t-shirt and jeans along with a white jacket. It was 6:50 PM when I reached home.

Once I was ready, I went to the living room where I saw my dad watching TV with our pet pup, Bobby, on his lap.

He's a 3 weeks old Labrador. We got from the pet store on Monday.

I thought it was a good idea as it will help dad to feel less lonely while I'm at work. Since then, both of them have been bonding.

Seeing my dad relaxed brought a smile to my face, "Dad, I will take my leave. I might come late so don't go waiting for me. Just sleep after eating your dinner."

I went near my dad and patted Bobby's head which made the pup to softly groan.

"Convey my wishes and apology to the Dragneels. Bye son." My dad waved his hand while Bobby looked unmoved.

I took the gift bag and left the apartment. It's just twenty minutes from here to reach Natsu's house.

It was around 7:30 when I reached there. The main door was decorated with balloons and LED lights.

I waited outside after hitting the doorbell. After a few seconds, Lucy opened the door and smiled at me, "Oh Gray, finally you have arrived. Everyone has come. Kids are getting restless. Come in.."

"I'm sorry, Lucy. Got home a bit late. Come let's not keep those kiddos waiting." I entered the house after closing the door.

"It's alright. How's uncle doing? Didn't he come with you?" Lucy asked as we entered the living room.

"Dad's doing great now. He conveyed his wishes and apology. Where's Na...." Before I could complete my question.

My eyes caught the sight of the woman with whom I wanted to clear out things. She looked beautiful as ever. The way she smiles can certainly brighten up anyone's mood.

"Gray, why are you still? Come let's go in." Lucy smirked.

"Lucy, how come Juvia's here? Did she come here just for the birthday party?" I asked without faltering so that Lucy doesn't catch my astounded look.

Lucy smiled at me and asked me to bend down a bit then whispered in my eyes, "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

I rolled my eyes at her and kept looking at Juvia who still didn't know I was in the same room as her.

"Lucy, I don't want to ruin her mood like the last time at Lyon's wedding. Here give this gift to Nashi and convey my wishes." I handed her the pack but moved out.

But someone caught hold of my wrist and made me stop, "Look, Lucy, I don't..."

I turned to face her and it was none other than Erza. "Gray, where do you think you are going?"

I was happy that Erza has finally decided to talk to me, "It's alright. You guys enjoy the party. I don't want to ruin her mood with my presence."

"Believe me you won't. Come kids are waiting for the party to begin. And Gray try talking to her casually if you happen to be alone with her."

Erza advised me which made me think for sometime before agreeing to it.

"Hey kids, look who has finally come?" Erza exclaimed and the kids jolted towards me and hugged my legs.

"Welcome Uncle, now we can eat cake." Their greetings made me chuckle.

"Yeah, we can start the party now. And here Nashi, Happy Birthday Dear. May God bless you with everything you want.." I gave her the gift and patted her head.

"Thank you, Uncle Gray." She smiled and went to her mother while the other kids followed her.

Again my eyes wandered towards Juvia's direction and this time she directed her infectious smile towards me which made my heart skip a beat.

Without me knowing, my face began to heat up and I responded with a smile.

Once the birthday party commenced, the Dragneel parents' were busy with cake cutting and plating.

Erza and Levy were helping out Lucy in arranging plates and feeding their kids while Juvia was distributing to Jellal and Gajeel.

'I should speak to her at any cost tonight.' I was determined to make it happen.

When she came to me and displayed the tray which had cake and few savoury treats.

"Thank you, Juvia."

"It's okay, Gray-Sa...Gray...Enjoy the treat." She said with a smile.

"So Gajeel, when did Juvia get here?" I subtly tried to inquire.

"Since when did you start caring about her?" Gajeel taunted me.

"Okay Gajeel, just calm down. Gray just wanted to know whether she's here just for tonight or not? Am I right?" Jellal sounded casually clearly grasping my true intention.

"I don't know. If you want to know, just ask her. Not that I'm stopping you." Gajeel said and diverted his attention back to his son.

After a few minutes, I saw Juvia entering the kitchen alone while others were busy entertaining their kids.

JUVIA'S POV

I excused myself and went to the kitchen to make plating arrangements for dinner which Lucy-San told me to begin once it's past 8:30.

As I was taking out the plates from the cupboard, I felt someone's presence behind me and it was none other than Gray-Sama.

He looked nervous. We kept on staring at each other until an awkward silence began to form between us.

I decided to break that and asked, "Is there anything Gray wants from here?" I asked casually.

"I want to talk to you, Juvia."

As soon as he blurted out these words, my heart began to beat rapidly.

I knew we were gonna talk to one another when we are surrounded with our friends. But I never thought we would be doing this alone, especially initiated by him.

"Oh!" That was all my response which made him raise his eyebrow.

"That's it. That's all you got to say, huh?" Gray-Sama asked before chuckling to himself.

"Fine, I wanted to ask. How are you, Juvia?" He asked sincerely.

"Juvia's doing great. How has it been for Gray? How's Uncle Silver? Hope he's also doing great." I asked him back.

"We are fine. Dad just recently got recovered from a heart attack. And he has shown nice improvement since then. Well, I was wondering, did you shift here to Magnolia?"

Gray-Sama asked the question he was desiring to since the start as Gajeel-Kun said.

Then, I told him everything about shifting my base back to Magnolia and also about my current job.

"Oh, I see. That's great. Students are lucky to have such a talented swimmer as their instructor. This job actually suits you, Juvia. Anyways, welcome back." Gray-Sama said with a blush.

One way I was happy that he's okay with my reappearance and is actually welcoming back.

But my inner conscious is citing out, 'He's the main reason you actually left this place.'

I shook my head in denial to remove those awful thoughts before my mouth blurted them which might actually hurt him.

"Juvia is ready to teach her students everything she has learnt in swimming. Well Gray,....." I hesitated to ask him this question.

'Don't ask Juvia' My thoughts were voicing their opinion.

But nevertheless, I decided to ask, "Didn't your fiance come with you?"

I did see Dianna today at school but didn't speak to her as Erza-San told me to avoid distance from her.

"No, she's busy it seems. Well, that's it, it was good talking to once again. Before that, thank you for the treat.
I mean today's savoury tarts and those sweet vanilla buns and choco cookies which Gajeel fed us with few days back.
It brought back certain happy memories."

Gray-Sama said with a wide smile which made my heart skip a beat.

'Oh!! That's why, Gajeel-kun asked me to make extra. But Gray-sama correctly guessed it was my recipe.'

"Thank you, Gray," I responded back and didn't know what else to say until Natsu-San interrupted.

"Well, if you both have done talking, can you start arranging the dinner?" I was embarrassed and began to arrange the plates while Gray left the kitchen.

After finishing dinner, once it was time to go. Gajeel-Kun and Erza-San offered to drive me back home.

But I didn't want to bother as their house was in the opposite direction of my apartment. Moreover, it's just half an hour from here by walking.

"Juvia can manage, Gajeel-Kun, Erza-San. Thank you for your help. Well, Juvia will take her leave now. Bye, everyone. Good night, kids." I greeted everyone before leaving the Dragneel residence.

As I kept walking down the street, at the right turn, Gray-Sama was standing.

"Gray?"

"Oh Juvia, what are you doing here? I was just attending an office call." He told me his reason.

"Juvia was going home. Where's your place, Gray?"

"I live in Sunny Mark Street, opposite to Magnolia Children's Park. What about you?"

"Juvia's apartment is in Portia Street. One where she used to live during her school days. Okay bye, Gray. Good night." I bowed down and began moving.

I didn't know from where I got this confidence to maintain a minimum conversation with Gray-Sama but I'm thankful for that.

"Juvia, if you don't mind, can we walk back together?" His request once again made my heart skip a beat and it abruptly made me stop on track.

Gray-Sama, now stood in front of me and asked once again, "If you don't mind, can we walk together? See, it's not safe for a lady to walk alone at night. As a policeman, it's my duty to keep my citizens safe."

After thinking for some time, I agreed and began walking towards our place.

Throughout the small time frame, we talked about certain relevant matters but nothing conversed regarding our past.

Gray-Sama made sure I was feeling comfortable around him and didn't probe about my personal life.

Once we reached his street, he flinched for a moment as if he was battling his inner thoughts.

"Anyways, it was good to meet and spend time with everyone. Juvia is really happy. And before Juvia forgets 'Congratulations' Gray for getting married." I said without breaking the words.

When I told these words, I could sense a part of my already broken heart once again got shattered.

Gray-Sama had a blank expression on his face. I think he didn't expect me to actually wish him.

"Good night, Juvia. Get back to your apartment safely." That was his response before he went back into the building.

Again due to my utterance, when I thought we could start again as friends, things ended right there.

'Now Gray-Sama must think Juvia is trying to get back into his life by being friendly.'

Soon I went back to my apartment and decided to make things clear between us the next time when we meet again.