AN: Just to remind you that Juvia is heavily pregnant, hence: hormonal. Those hormones can make a woman go havoc. HAHA Just a small update so they can address somethings.

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Gray put an arm around her shoulders and guided her inside the castle and he was shaking in anger and fear and all he wanted to do was to take his wife out of everyone's sight and hold her. But he also wanted to scream at her for hours for being so stupid.

Inside his office, Gray let her go and closed the door behind them just to turn around to look at her. "What on earth were you thinking?"

"I-" The blunette tried but he cut her off.

"What, Juvia? What would be so important for you to leave the safety of the castle? Please, enlighten me." Gray was so angry he didn't even realize he started to yell.

Juvia took a deep breath. "I told you we needed answers, that we needed to speak to your fa-"

"Don't call him that, he hasn't been anything to me for more than ten years." He hissed and he saw her look away. "It doesn't matter now. You left without telling anyone, Juvia, not even a maid to say a word after we noted you were gone! Do you have any idea what I thought? What I felt when I couldn't find you?"

Her expression softened and she took a step closer to him. "But I am fine. Both of us are fine."

Juvia's words did little to "What if you were not? You got yourself in a situation with no information whatsoever about it and with no idea of danger."

"There was no danger and Juvia had Gajeel-kun with her." Juvia shook her head. "And your..." She stopped for a moment. "Silver-sama has no plan of hurting us, he just... I think he wants to come home."

Ignoring her last words, Gray, instead, focused on her first sentence. "No danger? Do you think Gajeel could've stopped ten men or more? You couldn't possibly know if you were safe or not! You know nothing about the danger you are in, Juvia! You should've listened to me!"

Juvia looked confused for a moment. "What danger?"

"Do you really think the threats on your life stopped? The common people love you, but there are powerful families that still don't like that you are the Duchess." Gray told her, his voice still loud. "Why do you think you only go out with four or five guards at least when you go to the village? As far as I know, they could've used him to get to you."

"What?" She paled and put her hand on her stomach. "What are you talking about?" Gray's jaw was tight and she could see his words were true. "Were there attempts to...?" The way he looked at her said it all. She put a hand over her mouth and her eyes widened. "How many times?"

Calming down slightly, Gray took a deep breath. "Juvia..."

"How many times?" Juvia was the one almost yelling, then.

The Duke weighted his options and decided to tell the truth. "Four times in the past seven months alone."

"Four?" She blinked and started to walk around, worried, heart beating fast and her thoughts running wild. "You never told me. People have tried to kill me and you never told me."

"The doctor said you shouldn't exert yourself and worry too much because of the baby." Gray passed a hand through his hair. "Certainly shouldn't have said anything now."

"You never told me." Juvia whispered to herself. "People were after me while I am pregnant and you didn't tell me."

"That's not the point right now, Juvia, but the fact that you-"

"No, that's the point of everything." She stopped walking. "You don't tell me anything important, not with what is happening in the Duchy or even my own life! You... you..."

"You are pregnant, Juvia, you are not supposed to-"

"We've known I've been pregnant for seven months and we've been married for more than a year now. Not once you talked to me about something that really matters." Juvia told him. "Even about your past, you shared so and everything I do know, it was mostly by accident."

Gray shook his head. "That's not what-"

"You don't listen to me and you don't tell me anything. How could have I known?" Her eyes started to water. "Do you think that if I knew there were people still trying to kill me, I'd left with Gajeel only? Or at all? Do you think that I'd put our child at risk?"

"No, I-"

"I tried to talk to you last night and you shot me down. I tried to give you my opinion, to make you listen to my thoughts on the matter and you ignored me." Juvia rubbed her stomach, feeling the baby kick harder than usual, but paid no mind even when she started to feel hot. "Juvia went to see your father-"

"Don't call him that." Gray raised his voice.

"...your father" she said again with emphasis, interrupting him and between gritted teeth; she was having none of it "because it seemed as if you wouldn't at all. You wanted to ignore him and not talk about him, but the truth is he is here and he is not going away, no matter how much you try to forget it." Juvia dried her tears with the back of her hand. "Do you have any idea of how lucky you are? Have you thought that at all?"

"Lucky?" His face was red again in anger. "That man goes away for more than a decade, makes me think he is dead and now returns for what? For us to be a happy family? Not going to happen. I don't want anything to do with him."

Juvia shook her head. "Do you have any idea of what I'd give for my father to come back from the dead? Or my mother?" She cried. "She never even held me, I was told. Do you understand that I was never held by my own mother and I'd given the world for her to walk right through that door right now?" Her tears were blurring her vision and making her feel lightheaded, but she didn't care. "You didn't even stop to think he had a reason. I know you are hurt and I know you are confused but you can't just not at least listen to him."

"I might." Gray said stubbornly.

The Duchess shook her head and tried to control her breathing, which was much faster than normal. "All I wanted to do was to help you, but you can't help a person who doesn't want to be helped."

"I don't need help." Gray looked at her and turned his back on her.

Juvia closed her eyes for a moment before looking back at her husband. "All this shows that you are in desperate need it and the sad part is that you don't even realize it." She watched as his shoulders became even tighter from tension and she frowned when the baby kicked too hard and her vision started to get darker. She had dizzy spells throughout the pregnancy, but never that so extreme and she hadn't been feeling well for a few minutes already. "This..." She breathed. "This is... not right."

He still hadn't turned around so he missed when she grabbed the chair for support. Mistaking her words, Gray answered. "What is not right is for a man to pretend he was dead and leave his son behind."

"No." Juvia's vision was almost all black and her knees were about to give in. "Gray-sama. Something is wrong." She whispered.

"What do you mean-?" He turned around and with the little vision she had, Juvia could see his eyes widen before he ran to her side. "Juvia! Juvia?" She finally lost consciousness, and the last thing she saw was his panicked face.

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If Gray ever had to pick a horrifying moment in his life at that point, seeing his wife so pale and terrified before she fainted would certainly be one of the first. They had been arguing, yelling at each other because of mistrust of both parts hidden away in acts of love. He wanted to protect her from the awful truth while she wanted to find the same for him.

Gray had picked her up from the floor and yelled for the guard behind the door opened so he could get through. The Duke yelled for someone to call the doctor immediately while he went upstairs as fast as he could while carrying her with care. He remembered seeing Gajeel's face, pale and wide eyed when he saw his friend's condition, but a moment later he was running and saying he'd get the doctor.

His thoughts resumed in one playing in his head over and over again: 'Please be alright.'

The moment he put her down on their bed, Gray sat next to her and touched her skin, feeling it so hot she was sweating, and oddly her hands were cold when he grabbed them and kissed her fingers. "Please don't leave me, Juvia. Please." He kept whispering, his eyes stinging with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry, please be alright."

It seemed like forever before the doctor finally arrived, a nurse right behind him. Gray told them they had been arguing before she fainted and once the words were out of his mouth, he was pushed out of the bedroom by the nurse, saying they needed to examine the Duchess and she'd bring him any news.

The moment the door closed on his face, Gray rested his forehead on it, praying to all the gods he knew for his wife and child to be alright.

"How is she?" Gajeel's voice came from behind him and when the Duke turned around, the tall man was there alongside with Natsu and Loke, the three looking worried.

"They need to examine her." Gray said and took off his coat throwing it on the floor, he usually felt hotter when worried. "We were arguing about why she left the castle, I told her about the threats on her life, she got angry and I got angry." He started to walk in circles. "I shouldn't have yelled at her. I... yelled at her and now she's..." He waved towards the room his wife was in and then passed a hand through his hair. "I was so worried she was missing I... I stopped thinking."

Natsu took a step closer to Gray and put a hand on the Duke's shoulder. "Gray, you were scared. Just last week Ryuu almost rolled off the bed when I wasn't looking but I caught him just in time. For the rest of the day, all I did was hold him to my chest because I was scared he'd hurt himself if I let him out of my sight. Every person reacts to fear in their own way." The pink haired guard told his friend. "You were scared and you could've dealt with it better and the next time, you will do better because you learned."

"What if-"

Natsu shook his head. "No, don't go down that road. The doctor's with her. She's a strong woman. She faced that river and came out of it fine. She can deal with the lots of you and she'll hand your ass to you once she's better." Gray nodded. "Good. Now I need to go see Lucy and Ryuu otherwise she'll come up here and you do not need my wife being overprotective of her friend, you have a lot to deal with now. I'll be back soon to know how she is."

"Thank you." Gray muttered and watched his friend leave. He, then looked at the other two men. "You can go if you need to."

"No way." Loke shook his head while Gajeel's eyes kept focused on the door, waiting.

The Duke nodded and started to walk around again for a few moments before he stopped in front of Gajeel, to address a delicate matter. "Did he upset her? At all?" Of course the other man knew well who the Duke was referring to.

Gajeel's red eyes focused on Gray and he narrowed them. "No."

"Was he rude to her?" He asked.

"No."

Gray nodded. "Did he... seem genuine to you?"

After thinking for a moment, Gajeel answered. "Yes."

"I can't possibly imagine a reason he'd give that made Juvia believe in him." Gray said and started to walk again but Gajeel's words made him stop on his tracks.

"He didn't say why he left. Juvia said she didn't want to know, that is your business with him, not hers. All she wanted to know was if he were here to hurt you and threatened to send me to kick his ass if he did, even by accident." Gajeel was so proud of his friend he could barely hide it.

The Duke looked at him in surprise, blinking a few times to process the words before he couldn't help it but to let out a breathy laugh. "She's something, isn't she?"

"And you better not forget it." Gajeel told him. "After she is better, we need to talk about how you forgot to include me, her personal guard, about the threats on her life and how absolutely stupid that was."

"I thought you'd tell her." Gray confessed.

"I'd certainly would've protected her better." Gajeel looked pointedly at him.

Gray sighed. "It seems as if I'm making all the wrong choices in each turn." He shook his head. "She is right, I need help."

Loke put a hand on Gray's shoulder. "All you have do, is ask, Gray. You are not invincible, but you are hard to reach sometimes. Whatever you need, just say the word."

The sting in his eyes Gray wouldn't admit it, but it actually felt good. He could do that, just like Juvia said: she was right, they didn't communicate as they should and he was at fault at that. He opened up a little bit and his friends came to his aid.

He only needed Juvia to wake up so she could help him.

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The moment consciousness finally returned to her, the Duchess was slightly confused when she opened her eyes and saw her husband seated next to her, on the edge of the bed but facing the fireplace quietly while slowly caressing her hand with his thumb.

"Gray-sama?" She asked, confused.

His head turned her way so fast she worried he hurt himself, but then he was cupping her face with one hand, his eyes wide. "Juvia! How are you feeling?" He didn't even let her answer, just looked over his shoulder. "Nurse, she's awake. Could you call the doctor back in?" Juvia tried to look at whom he was speaking with, but he caught her attention once again. "How are you feeling?"

Juvia thought for a moment. "Tired." He nodded and when she tried to sit up, Gray was quick to help her by adjusting her pillows and when she reached for the glass of water on her bedside, he grabbed it and handed it to her. After taking a sip, Gray took it and placed it back. "What... What happened? It's all a bit fuzzy."

"We... we were arguing, and then you fainted." Gray told her quietly.

Widening her eyes and getting paler as she remembered what happened, her hand went straight to her stomach. "Did Juvia fall on her stomach? Is the baby alright?"

"It is fine, I caught you before you fell on your stomach." He assured her and she nodded. "But the doctor said that it was probably the stress that took its toll on you, Juvia, and I am so, so sorry." Gray told her. "I shouldn't have yelled at you, we shouldn't be fighting and-" He looked away from her.

"No, no, no, Gray-sama." She put her hands on his cheeks to bring his face back towards her. "I am sorry I worried you. Juvia acted like fool; for all she knew he was here to kill us. But Juvia didn't think it through and I really shouldn't have left like I did. I really didn't know it was so serious and even if weren't I really should've thought it better."

"And I'm sorry I kept it from you." He put a hand over hers and kissed its palm. "I thought I was protecting you, but secrets always come out and they ruin things if we are not careful. You were right, we need to talk, we need to share and I promise to listen to you now even when I think I can't. But you will need to help me on that, I am awful with it."

Juvia shook her head and pulled him closer so their foreheads rested on one another. "Both of us were in the wrong and you will need to forgive me as well." She whispered. "We tried to help each other without talking first and it was a mess." She stopped for a moment. "When we got married, we promised to stand next to each other and Juvia promises she will do her best. She also promised to help you rule the Duchy and Juvia wants to do that as well. You can't keep me in the dark if Juvia is to do just that."

Gray nodded. "I was so scared when I couldn't find you. I thought they had tried again and succeeded." He whispered. "And when you fainted, all I could think about was how I can't lose you." He put a hand on her stomach. "Neither of you."

"We are not going anywhere." Juvia told him and gave him a chaste kiss on his mouth.

"The doctor is coming up to tell you not to stress yourself." He said.

"Well, what stresses me is when my husband thinks he knows best when he really doesn't." Juvia started with affection and he offered a small smile in return. "We will learn, but for that to work we can't make decisions on our own."

"Agreed." He was the one to kiss her that time and there was a knock on the door. Gray regrettably stopped the kiss. "After the doctor talks to you, we will have a conversation like adults." Juvia nodded and Gray yelled for the doctor to get in.

Juvia smiled at her husband and caressed her stomach where the baby kicked and thought about their fight and how they both needed to trust each other more.

She'd learn and so would he. She was right there to help him after all.

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AN: Well, they overcame another crisis. The next chapter we will focus on Gray and Silver. :)