It had been a week since Jose Porla informed the Marchioness about the plans of the arranged marriage with the Duke of the Ice Lands and she had been packing all her belongings. Finally the next day she would go away from Storm Rock, her Castle, to the Duchy of Winter.

She had never, ever left the Castle's boundaries.

Of course Juvia knew that her March was bigger than the March of Rocks, not as big as the March of Thunder, though, but it was a piece of land that was very well located for trades with Beyond the Sea. And even so, she never left to see it.

Eighteen years between walls. She was a prisoner.

If she were true to herself, she was terrified of going away to a place she knew nothing about. Juvia dreamt for her whole life to explore the world and when she was finally leaving the house she grew up in, she was scared. What could she expect? She heard that the people from the Ice Lands were rude and ate cold food with their bare hands. Juvia even heard that when the cold was too severe and they had no food whatsoever, the Ice Land People ate their pets.

And she was going to live there.

The Marchioness shuddered with the thought and left her suitcase above the bed and walked towards her window. Looking outside she had the sight of the ocean. Storm Rock was located right above a rock, as its name informed, beside a cliff and Juvia's window gave her the full view of the grayish and fierce ocean, which combined with the grayish clouds that never leave the March of Rain.

Her life could be defined by that color: gray.

Not black, not white. The middle one.

When asked about the name of her future husband, Master Jose had told her that his name was also Gray. Gray Fullbuster.

The Marchioness almost immediately thought that it could only be a prank from destiny. Why on earth all her life would be around that stupid color? Everywhere she looked, there was it! On the servants' clothes, on the walls of Storm Rock, on the horses from the stable and on the books from the library! Even in the sky! In the sea!

'Everywhere.' She thought hopeless.

Was it too much to ask that her life was more... colorful?

She wanted to be able to see the blue sky. The yellow sun; the red roses and green grass; like the ones she read about in her gray books. She wanted to see the colorful birds from the east. The red and orange from the volcanos. The orange leaves from the Fall Forests. She wanted to see the rainbows from day and night.

But at the very moment she decided to go to the Ice Lands, she was doomed to never know them; she would be just trading the shades of gray for another boring color: white.

Juvia could picture in her mind the desert of white and such cold that could freeze her bones and she hugged her own body as if she could feel the cold coming her way.

Nevertheless, looking at the gray ocean she was calmer. Whenever she was depressed, she would sit close to the window and look to the fierce sea and it would always calm her down and take whatever problem that was on her mind away. Maybe it was the sounds of waves, or the way the water moved. She never understood why, but it made her feel not alone.

The Marchioness sighed and went back to her suitcase. Her new life would begin in the next day.

#

After three days of deeply discomfort, Juvia finally went to the deck. Since she stepped into the ship she was feeling deeply nauseated; so much that her aya forbade her to leave the dependencies until she felt comfortable enough. During the night of day one, they faced a storm and for a moment, everyone thought death was certain, but gladly the storm passed.

The trip to the Duchy of Winter or Ice Lands as it was known, would take a week by ship, while by land, almost a month, given the length of land between Storm Rock and the Avalanche Castle, where Juvia was supposed to meet her promised fiancée.

"It's cold!" Juvia said when got up from bed in the morning of day three. Her aya, Marge, offered the Marchioness a dress with long sleeves and a coat to put above it. Marge was a middle-aged woman and she has been taking care of Juvia since she was a baby.

"You don't need to go outside, girl!" Marge said in disapproval when saw the young woman going to the door after getting dressed and eating her light breakfast.

"Juvia doesn't need to go, but she wants to." The blue haired woman offered the old aya a smile. "Juvia is feeling better and if she stays another minute in here, she'll die of boredom." She opened the door and a cold wind entered the room and the girl hesitated for a moment. It was really cold.

"If you are bored, you can sew with me!" Marge said and it was all incentive Juvia needed to go out of there as fast as her feet could take her.

#

If someone had told her that she would actually like to go out and see what her new home would be like, Juvia would think that the person was crazy, but what she was seeing... she actually enjoyed it.

The Marchioness looked around and she couldn't believe that the sky was that blue, with a few white clouds. White! The clouds there were really white and looked like cotton, not the heavy clouds from Where The Rain Never Stops.

Juvia stepped between the sailors who were passing and walked until she reached the border of the ship and looked to the sea and it surprised her that it was deep blue, not grayish as the sea back in Storm Rock was. And what surprised her also, were the big pieces of ice that the ship was passing between.

The ice was so white that it made her eyes hurt a bit because there was sunlight (sunlight!) reflecting into it and they were so big, bigger than her castle if she would guess. And Storm Rock was no small thing.

"They call them Icebergs." A known voice came from behind her and Juvia looked to the direction of it with a smile on her face.

"Gajeel-kun!"

The man had long black hair and a few piercings on his eyebrows, nose, chin and ears. The other piercings were hidden by the large black coat he was wearing. His eyes were red like blood and his face was a little scary, making most of people afraid of him.

And the sword he always carried tied on his waist didn't make him friendly either.

But Juvia was never scared of him. He was the closest thing Juvia had to a friend.

Even though they were very different, she was a Marchioness and he had a doubtful past, they got along almost since the very first time they met. Jose Porla put Gajeel Redfox in charge of Juvia's security since then. Of course, he was going to the Ice Lands with her.

"I see you can be on your feet now." He teased her with a smirk on his face.

"Shut up!" Juvia slapped his arm playfully when he came to stay by her side. "You know Juvia never traveled before."

"It's your own fault." Gajeel shrugged. He was leaning his back on the border of the ship casually and looking up to the sky, while the Marchioness was looking to the big pieces of ice in front of her with adoration. Icebergs, he said they were. "I told you to get the hell out when you wanted to, but you were too much of a chicken to do so."

Juvia giggled with it. He was the only person that could make her laugh like that and also the only one to call her anything other than Lady or Marchioness. Usually she would be very embarrassed with cussing, but she learned that it was Gajeel's way to be, so she didn't complain; she liked the company.

"Now Juvia's traveling." She shrugged.

"Yeah. To marry god knows who." He growled. Since the moment the news of her marriage reached his ears he disapproved and wasn't even trying to be subtle about it. "And people say that I am the crazy one."

"Let's not start with this again, Gajeel-kun." Juvia sighed. "The engagement is already a fact."

"Yeah, but..." He turned to be leaning on the border with the front of his body instead of the back. "You never even met the guy. What if he's an old pervert? A disgusting man?"

"Then Juvia will need to adapt to it. The people from the March need a good life and if Juvia can provide that by marrying him, so be it." She shrugged again and Gajeel looked like he was about to strangle the determination out of her body. "And you know what, Gajeel-kun? It sounds like you are worried about Juvia..." She teased him and he rolled his eyes.

"Stupid. It's my job to protect you."

"It's your job. Sure." She smiled to him and looked back to the Icebergs. Everything was so quiet. There wasn't any wind so they were using the paddles and it was the only sound between those gigantic pieces of ice.

"People say that when you see an Iceberg," Gajeel started after a few minutes of silence. "The part above the sea is just the decoy. The real Iceberg is underneath the water and it is about ten times bigger than the piece you can actually see." The Marchioness looked at him in question, because it sounded like he was talking about something else entirely. "Don't let what you see deceive you, Juvia. Because what you know, is what they want you to know. Always ask yourself if whatever is told to you is just the tip of the Iceberg or it is something ten times bigger than what you know."

"What you mean?" The blue haired woman frowned in question.

"Just keep that in mind." Gajeel stared at the woman for some time and then looked back to the sea. The ship was already leaving two Icebergs and they could see the Icy Ocean fully. The Marchioness was confused with his words, which was good, because that way she wouldn't forget about it. "Are those whales?"

Juvia exclaimed excited when saw the big animals and they dropped the subject.

#

When returning to his own room in the ship after spending hours talking to Juvia about whales and other animals which she could find in the Duchy of Winter, he was tired. The girl would look for any information about the land she could get! They talked about some customs of the land, such as eating the pets (which was a lie) and freezing while sleeping (true if you were stupid enough to sleep without clothes and outside).

Gajeel chuckled to himself. Juvia talked so much nonsense that was actually very entertaining.

He suddenly tensed as Master Jose appeared in front of him, coming from one of the rooms and Gajeel's hand was immediately on the sword he always carried and even though he was a subordinate of the man, he didn't rest in his presence. Not for a second.

"I could've cut you, old man."

Jose's eyes narrowed with that and he stared to the other man for some seconds. "If you try to tell her about my plans again..."

"I didn't." Gajeel growled. "We were talking about Icebergs."

"Call it whatever you want, boy." Jose said the word as if was an insult. "You are only alive because I want you to, because I need you to keep an eye on her when I leave. Only for that reason. Don't make me regret my decision."

Gajeel's eyes widened for a moment and then he felt the anger arise. "Do not threaten me, old man." Gajeel's grip on the sword was even stronger than before. "I am not a kid and I sure don't cut like one."

"I am not threatening you." Jose offered him a creepy smile. "You know who I am threatening. You don't know everything, Gajeel. I am inclined to let Juvia be because I have leverage over you but I don't have to in order to get what I want." The Marchioness's Chief of Guard narrowed his eyes. "And you have been around long enough to know what I can do."

Master Jose continued to walk and Gajeel punched the wall in frustration. If he hated anyone, was that man.

And if he hated anything, was to be powerless.