AN: I'm overwhelmed with the feedback! Thank you, everyone!

This chapter isn't as long as the others, sorry, but I hope it's more intense.

#

They waited for a long time outside the couple's chambers, so long Silver asked for a chambermaid to find a clean shirt for Gray and to bring a basin with water so his son could clean himself with because it was obvious Gray wasn't leaving until they had news.

Silver looked down to his son, who was seated on the floor, hands on each side of his head and he couldn't begin to imagine what Gray was feeling at that moment; if Silver's feelings of hopelessness and impotence were any indication, his poor son felt much, much worse.

Knowing his son, Silver chose not to say anything yet but he didn't leave, his presence was going to comfort him and sometimes all Gray ever needed was to not feel alone.

The chamber's door opened and Gray was on his feet in a fraction of a second, eyes wide open and clearly upset. The Maester, an old man called Benson and Ur stepped outside.

"How is she?" Gray asked. "And the baby?"

Silver's heart stopped for a second and if Gray had been in his right mind then, his would too; Ur's and the Maester's expressions said a lot and Silver felt cold down his spine when he stepped closer to his son, knowing he'd need his support.

"Gray." It was Ur who spoke, softly and with kind, but sad eyes. "You saw before all of us what that knife did to Juvia and where it hurt her." Gray frowned, clearly in confused denial but Silver could guess where she was going with it and it broke his heart. "It was a rather deep stab wound and it did a lot of damage to the child and we did everything we could, but..."

"What do you mean?" Gray managed to whisper.

Ur sighed and grabbed his hand. "I'm sorry, Gray. We weren't able to stop the bleeding and I'm afraid Juvia is having a miscarriage."

Silver closed his eyes when he finally heard the words, his assumption when he saw his lover and the Maester were correct and he never hated more to be right than at that moment. He opened his eyes a second later, stepping even closer to his son so he could put a hand on his shoulder.

"No." Gray shook his head and pulled his hand away from Ur, getting angry. "No. Try again, try to stop whatever is bleeding, again."

"Gr-" Silver tried but Gray stepped closer to Ur and the Maester, fury in his expression.

"Go and try again. Now." He said between gritted teeth. "Now. Go and try again."

Ur stopped Silver when the older Fullbuster tried to talk to his son. Instead, she looked at Gray right in the eyes and told him slowly: "It's too late now, Gray. It already happened, she lost too much blood for it to survive."

"No." He shook his head again. "It can't be."

"Gray." Ur's voice was firmer and he looked at her again. "I am sorry."

It took Gray a few seconds to process the words and Silver noticed the moment he finally accepted them as true because his shoulders dropped. Silver watched as Gray took a few steps back, eyes shining with tears. He rested his body on the stony wall, bent over, sobbing quietly, the heels of his hands over his eyes.

Silver's own eyes watered, feeling pain to see his son like that and for losing his unborn grandchild. Just a couple of weeks before they all were happy and excited and now...

"How about Juvia?" He cleared his throat and asked the Maester, who looked sad with the scene; Gray wasn't known to show much emotion and just the fact he did in those circumstances was heartbreaking. "How is she?"

"Lady Juvia's injuries are not life-threatening as they are, but what worries me is the wound on her head." Maester Benson told the Lord. "Headwounds are unpredictable. It could be just a small bump, it could be something more. If she wakes up in the next few hours, it is safe to assume she will be fine."

"If she doesn't?" Silver asked what Gray couldn't.

The Maester glanced at Gray before he told Silver: "Let's hope she does. Lady Juvia is young, healthy and the wounds aren't as severe as we thought they would be now that we stopped the bleedings. She has good chances."

Silver turned to his lover. "You said she's miscarrying. Shouldn't she be awake to...?"

"No." Ur shook her head. "Her body knows what to do and I will be with her through it, in case she needs some kind of help."

"I see." Silver gulped.

"We need to go back inside." Maester Benson told his Lord and bowed before he went back inside the chambers, leaving Ur behind for the moment.

She put a hand on Silver's cheek. "I will go take care of her." Ur told Silver, who nodded. "Take care of him while I'm in there, alright?" Silver nodded and watched as Ur glanced at Gray with pity in her eyes before she too went inside the room.

#

'If this is a nightmare, please, let me wake up.' Gray thought while he felt a few tears roll down his cheek.

He knew it wasn't, knew Ur and Maester Benson spoke the truth and his unborn child was no longer alive and if someone had plunged a dagger into his heart it wouldn't have hurt as much.

Both he and Juvia had been so happy when they found out about their child, she glowed whenever she put her hands on her growing stomach and smiled.

Gray felt his father put his arm around him when the older man sat beside him and Gray felt slightly better to not being alone.

"I'm so sorry, Gray." Silver whispered, pulling his son closer and kissing the top of his head. "I'm so sorry, son."

"I haven't spoken to her in ten days." He told his father. "I was so angry that I... I haven't spoken to her in ten days."

Silver sighed. "Gray..."

"The last time I felt our child was ten days ago." Gray whispered, drying a stray tear off his cheek. "And now my wife is in that room, without knowing what is happening and if she doesn't wake up, she will never know I never hated her."

"She will wake up." Silver told his son.

"Yes? And will she be happy to?" Gray wondered. "She will wake up and know our child is gone." His eyes watered again after saying the words, but Gray fought them off.

"No, that will wreck her even more than it is wrecking you and she is going to need you, Gray." Silver said. "The next few days will be the worse of your lives, perhaps, and you need to stick together."

"How will she even look at me, father?" Gray asked in a small voice and Silver frowned in confusion. "I... I was supposed to protect her. I was supposed to protect them and I failed and now our child is dead. How can I live with myself?"

"Listen to me, Gray." Silver waited until his son looked up before speaking. "No one other than the people who ordered Juvia's attack is responsible for this, do you understand me?" He sighed when Gray didn't answer, just looked down again. "I can only imagine how much this hurts, son, but you will go through it."

Gray chose to stay quiet and accepted his father's arm around his shoulders once again while he waited and minutes were never so long before.

#

"You can come in now." Ur declared after ushering the maid who had helped them, out alongside with the Maester. Gray stood next to his father, who hadn't left his side since it all happened, and nodded. "I will give you a few minutes alone."

Gray took a few steps towards the bedroom but stopped next to Ur, who looked at him in confusion. With a rough voice barely louder than a whisper, he asked: "What was it?"

Ur's dark eyes softened. "A girl, she had just a thin strand of blue hair."

The knot that had loosened a little while he waited, tightened again. A girl. If everything had gone without problems, in a few months he'd have a daughter in his arms, in Juvia's arms. In his head, the image of a little girl with Juvia's blue curls made his heart ache even more and he had to fight off the tears.

He gulped. "Do you... do you think we should see her, or...?"

"No." Ur shook her head and put a hand on Gray's shoulder. "Best not, Gray."

Gray nodded and straightened his back. "Thank you."

The first thing he noticed when he entered the chamber was how cold the room was, the second was the basin with bloody rags on the floor next to the bed – his stomach turned with the sight but he stepped closer to their bed and his heart stopped for a second.

Juvia's skin was so pale Gray hesitated to touch her but he slowly sat on the bed, facing her and took her hand into his. She wasn't as cold as he expected but far colder than he would've liked; he needed to start the fire soon even though she had two blankets covering her up to her neck.

"Juvia." He called in a whisper. "Please, wake up." She didn't move and Gray closed his eyes, bringing her hand to his lips. "I'm so sorry I was an idiot. I'm sorry. Please, wake up." He sighed and remembered the last time they had been together in the room.

The day before, just before lunch, he had gone to their chambers to get some clean shirts and Juvia entered the room. They looked at each other for two seconds before Juvia looked down to the floor, hands on her stomach. Gray took the shirts he wanted and left the room.

He didn't slam the door, which was an improvement from the past few days, his anger was subduing slowly but he still couldn't talk to her. He took a few calming deep breaths and was about to leave when he heard Juvia's voice from inside.

"Don't worry, baby. It's Juvia he is angry with, not you, alright? He still loves you."

"If I knew..." Gray whispered, fresh tears falling as complete heartache took over him. He had loved that child from the second she told him about it and now it was gone. "Fuck, Juvia. I wasn't angry with you. I'm sorry you thought I was. Please, wake up." He sobbed, his body shaking as he cried. "I'm so sorry."

#

"How is she?" Silver asked when he got inside the room a few hours later, Star and Blizzard following him and crowded the room. The Maester had gone to his room to get more supplies and Ur went down the kitchen to get food for them but Gray wasn't going to leave anytime soon.

"Asleep." Gray answered passing a hand through his hair, getting more and more nervous; it was almost dusk and Juvia was still unconscious. He watched Blizzard approach the bed slowly and sniff Juvia's face. "Blizzard." The direwolf stopped what he was doing and sat next to Gray's chair. "You and Star arrived just in time." He petted the direwolf's soft fur. "If you hadn't run to her, no one would have arrived in time. At least now she has a chance." Blizzard bumped his nose on Gray's hand in affection and he almost smiled.

"I cleaned them before they were allowed inside, everyone else was too scared and with reason; from the neck down, the man who attacked Juvia was in shreds." Silver said and when Gray looked in his direction, saw his father petting Star.

"Good for him." Gray said, anger in his voice and Star tilted her head, most likely confused with his unusual tone "If he hadn't died and I had put my hands on him, he'd wish he were because I wouldn't have been so quick." Gray wasn't a cruel man, never were but after what happened, after knowing their child was lost because of that man, Gray would've been cruel. He glanced at his wife and then looked back to his father. "Do we know who sent that man here? Or how he got inside?"

Silver sighed and shook his head. "We will have more answers when Juvia wakes up and tell us what happened." The older Fullbuster stepped closer to the bed his daughter by law rested and looked at her. "The Maester said she has a good chance to wake up."

"I'm afraid she won't." Gray revealed his fear to his father, eyes back on the still form of his wife. "Knowing what happened... it will break her heart."

"She is a strong girl." Silver told him.

The door opened and Ur asked for the wolves to be removed from inside and after a whistle from Silver, both Star and Blizzard went out of the door. Silver had pulled Ur outside for a few minutes before he noticed Juvia's face move a little.

His breath got caught in his throat as he waited, hoping it hadn't been a trick of the light that made him see it. Juvia's brow furrowed, eyes fluttered and Gray finally released his breath.

"Ur! Ur, she's waking up!" He yelled, getting up to sit next to his wife. "Juvia? Juvia, can you hear me?" Ur got inside, followed by his father but he paid no attention to them. "Juvia?"

"Hm?" Her eyes were still heavy but he was certain she had answered to him and he could almost cry in relief.

Silver gently pulled his son away so Ur could step closer to the blunette. "Juvia, can you hear me?" Gray walked to the other side of the bed to have a better look at his wife and saw her heavy eyelids closing but she nodded. "Good, darling." Ur was relieved. "Do you need anything?"

Juvia's brow furrowed even more and she whispered: "Water."

Silver was faster to get the goblet and the water jug by the fire and Gray helped Ur when she needed to put Juvia seated. Gray pulled Juvia closer to him long enough so Ur could put a few pillows behind the blunette so she could seat. Only then Gray saw her left shoulder was bandaged, her left arm folded on her chest and also restrained so she couldn't move and tear the stiches up, presumably.

Juvia sipped the water and seemed to be slowly gathering her surroundings as her consciousness returned. She looked at Gray and then Ur followed by Silver, confused and winced in pain, putting her hand on her temple where she had a deep wound. "It hurts." She was getting more and more confused by the second. "My shoulder too. What happened?"

Gray's eyes widened. He wasn't ready to tell her, in her mind she was still pregnant, with their baby growing inside her safely and in just a few seconds, that would be shattered and replaced by the horrible reality.

"You were attacked." Ur told her slowly. "Don't you remember?"

Frown getting deeper, Juvia stayed in silence for a moment. "At... at the godswood? There was a man there with a knife."

"Yes." Ur nodded.

"He stabbed my shoulder." Juvia's mind was clearing up. "He..." Gray saw the moment she remembered where the man hurt her next because she got even paler, her eyes widened, looking down to herself and her hand went straight to her stomach. "He... He... Oh, gods." Juvia's breathing became faster and faster. "He hurt me here." Her hand was above the bandages and when she looked up, terrified and her eyes were watering. "Tell me the baby is okay, please. I... I can't feel it. Oh, gods, I can't feel it. You have to check to- to- to- see if it's hurt..."

"Juvia." Gray finally spoke, knowing it should be him to tell her and her attention went to him. Gray's own eyes were stinging with unshed tears. "The baby was hurt during your attack." He saw her gasp and his next words were so difficult he almost couldn't utter them. "It led to a miscarriage."

Juvia kept staring at him for a long moment, eyes shining with tears and he saw in her expression the disbelief and horror she was feeling. She shook her head.

"No. Juvia felt it earlier today." Juvia said and looked at Ur. "Tell him he's wrong." Juvia asked the woman, pleading. "You- you- you told me I wouldn't feel it sometimes. You to-told me." Tears fell from her eyes.

Ur's voice was soft when she spoke. "I am sorry, Juvia, but Gray is telling you the truth."

The blunette shook her head and Gray saw her fingers dug into the skin of her stomach. "You are lying." She looked in his way. "Why are you lying to me? This is cruel."

"Juvia, I am not lying." He grabbed her hand and sat closer to her. "I am sorry, but it is the truth."

"No." She pulled her hand away from his and hit his shoulder as if by doing it, she could avoid the truth. "No." She did it again a few more times, crying, hitting him stronger and Gray let her before he wrapped his arms around her when he saw her try to free her other arm, but she fought him off. "No. You are lying!" She screamed, pushing him away, but Gray didn't let her knowing she needed him and if he didn't, she could burst the stitches. "No, let me go." She started to scream to be let go a few times. "You are lying! Give me back my baby! I need my baby, I can't feel it." She fought him even more but Gray tightened his arms.

She looked up to him, eyes already swollen because of her tears and there was despair in her expression. "Please. Please, I need my baby back. I will do anything." She begged in desperation and Gray wanted to cry because there was nothing he could have done. "Please, Gray. Please. I need our baby back. Please, I can't lose it. Please, please, please."

It was hard, but he managed to say: "I'm sorry, Juvia."

She hid her face on the crook of his neck, screamed "No!" and Gray knew it was the moment she finally realized it wasn't a nightmare, it was the moment reality sank in because she went lax for a moment and Gray thought she had passed out until he felt her hand stop trying to push him away. Instead, her arm was around him, her hand clawed his back and the most terrifying scream came from deep inside her; the sound of a mother who had just lost her child and it chilled Gray to the bone.

The sounds she was making, Gray never heard it before; they weren't human. It was the purest sound of agony and pain he had ever heard. It sent shivers down his spine, it broke his heart all over again and Gray imagined the hall carried the sound throughout the castle because he could swear the only sound in Winterfell at that awful moment were Juvia's screams of despair and a howl coming from outside the window – in the back of his mind he recognized as Star's.

Gray held her tight, a few tears falling and his feeble whispering 'I'm sorry' onto her hairline drowned by her screams would never leave his mind.

It wouldn't leave the minds of anyone in Winterfell.

#

Gray was exhausted.

Juvia had screamed and cried in his arms for such a long time he could barely feel his arms with how tight he held her but he didn't mind. If he could, he would've stayed like that for even more time but the Maester needed to examine her wounds.

"Juvia." Gray whispered and she could finally hear him, since her screams turn into quiet sobs a few minutes before. "Maester Benson need to take a look at you." He had told her. "Your wounds are bleeding."

He waited and Juvia's arm loosened around him and he finally lied her back onto the pillows. She looked like a mess, eyes swollen, tear stroked face, a large gash on the side of her head and the picture of pain and sorrow.

Gray was got up from the bed to let the Maester work, when she grabbed his hand and at that moment he realized how young she still was because she looked like a scared little girl, hurt and confused.

"Don't leave me." She whispered, voice rough after so long screaming in agony. "Please."

"Never." Gray sat back on the bed, that time with his back on the headboard and an arm around her shoulder, careful not to put any weight on her shoulder.

The Maester removed the bandages, cleaned the wound on her shoulder, wrapping it up again but when he started working on the wound on her stomach, neither of them could look at it. Juvia cried while the Maester cleaned the wound and Gray had his eyes close tight.

Thankfully Maester Benson was quick and finished as soon as he could. He gave Juvia a cup with a sweet-smelling liquid and Juvia drank it without even noticing, it appeared, her eyes were fixed on the fireplace and it felt as if she was deep inside her mind.

"This will help Lady Juvia sleep, my lord." The Maester told Gray, who nodded. "Perhaps I should leave some for you?"

Gray shook his head. "No." He needed his mind clear. "Thank you, Maester Benson. You can go eat your supper, I will stay with Lady Juvia for now."

"Sir-"

"Maester Benson." Gray said with a firm voice. "Please."

The older man nodded after a few moments and mumbled he'd be back soon. Gray kicked off his boots without letting go of his wife and put his feet up on the bed. He kissed the top of Juvia's head, one hand caressing her hair and the other firmly holding her hand.

"I would have given my life for this to never have happened." Gray told her. "I am so sorry I wasn't there, I'm sorry I wasn't faster, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

The blunette didn't say anything at first. "I keep thinking I'm feeling it." Juvia whispered after a moment and Gray stilled the hand on her hair for a moment. "Juvia's mind is playing tricks because she gets hope a miracle happened."

"Juvia, Ur was here with you when..." He couldn't finish. "I'm sorry, but there won't be a miracle."

"I know." She sniffed and they stayed in silence for a few minutes before she asked, quietly: "Did you see it?"

"No." Gray whispered back. "Ur thought it would be better if I didn't." He hesitated, not knowing if he should tell her or not. "She told me what it was, though."

Juvia's body stiffened and she looked up. "What was it?"

"A girl with blue hair."

Her eyes watered and she nodded, her head back at resting on his shoulder. "Sapphire." She whispered.

"Sorry?"

"It is what Juvia would have called her." The blunette whispered, tightened her hand on his and sniffing. "Fullbusters name their children after colors."

"We do." Gray felt the lump that was constant inside his throat that day, tighten; their lost child had a name at last. "Sapphire is a beautiful name."

Gray kept caressing her hair until he felt her hand loosen on his and her breathing become even – the medicine the Maester gave her finally took and Gray stayed next to her for a few minutes more before he got up from the bed after removing one of the pillows from behind her.

Juvia looked as if she had been to a battle and in a way, she did. A battle they lost, sadly but the war was just beginning.

Gray's heart was burning with rage, things weren't supposed to happen that way but as they did, they couldn't change it, they couldn't go back and undo it, but they could fight back and they would.

Whoever called Juvia's attack, whoever killed their Sapphire, would pay.

#

The Maester kept giving Juvia the medicine so she could rest, since whenever she tried to sleep without it, she had nightmares that made her move too much and it was fundamental she'd stay still because of her stitches.

Gray slept whenever he could but he also was plagued with dreams of running towards his wife and never arriving at time. He dreamt about multiple stab wounds on her stomach, her blue eyes pale and wide as she looked into nothingness, he dreamt of blood.

The day the bannermen arrived in Winterfell, Gray and his father had already put some pieces together and the only explanation to Juvia's attack was that one of their bannermen had informed either Jose Porla or Invel Yura about calling the banners. It would be easy for either of them to find the timing odd and figure out Juvia's betrayal.

Both of them would pay for it.

The Hall was filled with the Lords and Ladies of the North and of course by then they all knew about what had happened to Juvia, how she had lost their child after she was attacked.

"My Lords, my Ladies." Gray said from behind the desk at the far end of the Hall, his father next to him, Silver had agreed to let Gray have the lead that day. "Thank you for coming to Winterfell." He looked around and saw some of the Lords nod his way. "I know that moving your armies in such hurry is chaos, but I am glad you all arrived here safely.

"The reason I called you here is because one of the bannermen of House Fullbuster has been conspiring to kill my family and just a few days ago, he managed to take my unborn child away from me." Most Lords' eyes widened – they had thought some Southern lord had called the attack, most likely. "The culprits are Lord Jose Porla and Lord Invel Yura."

Whispers bloomed around the Hall as the names sank in, most of them knew both men in question.

"Isn't Jose Porla your wife's uncle?" Lord Redfield asked.

"Yes." Deciding to not leave anything as a secret, Gray braced himself for his next revelation. "My wife was the one they sent to kill us." A stunned second of silence followed by a loud outburst almost made Gray get a headache but he let the men and women have their moments of outrage. "My Lords." Gray had to say a few times to get their attention again. "Trust me, I was more shocked than any of you."

"Are you saying Lady Juvia is a killer?" A man with red hair and beard whom Gray recognized as Lord Ashleigh, said.

"No. I told you she was sent here to kill us by her uncle. She couldn't do it and confessed to my father and me." Gray explained. "She could have done and no one would be the wiser, no one would have seen it coming. She chose to tell us the truth. I was angry when I found out about my wife's part in this plan, I admit, but trust me when I say she never really meant to hurt us, unlike her uncle. Lord Invel wants the North for himself, he wants to be Warden of the North. Knowing my wife had betrayed them, they orchestrated the attack."

Lord Greaves got up from his seat. "An attack inside the castle is highly unlikely to have had happened without help. How can we be certain Lady Fullbuster isn't still aiding them? She was sent here to-"

"My Lord." Gray said with anger and in a loud tone. "You are in my castle, under my roof as a guest. Do not speak another ill word about my wife, your Lady, or I won't answer for myself." Gray's voice was pure ice and there wasn't a sound inside the Hall. "Four days ago I held her as she screamed for our lost child for hours so don't you dare say another word." Lord Greaves paled and sat back down slowly while Gray took a few calming breaths

"My wife was naïve, she was hopeful it never came down to choose between her uncle and us; she didn't want to start a war between our Houses, but when the moment of the truth arrived, she showed more courage than I have seen in many men I know." Gray looked around the Hall. "She knew we could have her punished, we could have had her killed for treason but she chose the honorable path. She showed more integrity in just one single moment than some people show during their entire lives. And what do they do about that? They sent someone to kill her, a pregnant woman, and a threat on my family is a threat on me.

"That attack killed our child, that attack tore my wife's heart out from her chest and I was helpless. I never knew they would attack us in our home like that." Gray's voice started to get stronger with each word. "They need to be reminded once again how the North won't take this murder." Some of the Lords started to nod. "They need to be brought to justice. They need to see for themselves how winter is coming for them, how the North is coming for them." The Lords were muttering in agreement. "They need to be reminded to not mess with us, because our memories are long: the North remembers, and always will."

With chants of 'The North remembers', the Lords rose up from their chairs, raised their goblets with wine, most of them nodding Gray's way. He looked over his shoulder and saw his father, still seated, looking at him, proud as ever.

Silver nodded his son's way and Gray's gaze returned to the Lords, raising his chin, knowing he was doing the right thing.

#

Gray arrived in their chambers and was surprised to see his wife awake, seated on their bed and looking at the fire. Whenever she was awake, her eyes were a bit unfocused because of the medicine the Maester gave her, it felt as she wasn't entirely there but when she looked at him when he closed the door behind him, Gray could see no trace of that in her eyes.

"Hi." He whispered, stepping closer after taking off his heavy cloak with furs.

"Hi." Juvia whispered back.

Sitting on the bed facing her, Gray took her hand on his. "How are you feeling?"

"It still hurts, but Maester Benson said Juvia didn't need the medicine anymore if she didn't want to. She didn't want to, it made her mind get foggy."

Gray nodded. "That's good, you are getting better but even so, you should rest."

"Juvia has rested for the past four days, she wants to talk to you, now."

"Yes?"

Juvia's eyes watered but she didn't cry. "I am sorry." Gray was confused. "It was Juvia's secrets that led us to lose our child. I... I should've taken care better care of Sapphire, but I couldn't and I'm... I'm sorry." She started to cry and Gray put his arms around her as she hid her face on the crook of his neck. "I'm sorry."

"Juvia, no." Gray kissed her temple. "Oh, gods, please don't think that. How can you think you were at fault in any of that?" He pushed her away gently and put his hands on her cheeks. "You did the right thing, you did what you could and no one other than the people who wants us dead is at fault here." He paraphrased what his father had told him four days before. "Stop thinking that, please."

"It hurts so much still, Gray-sama." She sobbed softly. "We loved her so much and now... we couldn't even bury her." Their faith didn't have a proper ritual for stillbirths but Gray knew his wife, he knew she'd need something to hold on to.

"I... I did something and I hope you do not get angry with me." He told her softly and Juvia frowned, a couple of stray tears falling from her eyes. "I couldn't... I couldn't let her be far, I know you would have hated it. I asked for her to be placed in my mother's tomb. My mother was the kindest person I knew and she would have had been overjoyed to have a granddaughter. Since they couldn't meet in life, I am sure they met after it. I believe my mother is looking after Sapphire and I hope you can get this comfort as well, knowing they are together."

Juvia looked at him in disbelief before she started to cry again. "You didn't let her be alone?"

"I didn't let her be alone." Gray's eyes prickled with tears and then Juvia was crying on his shoulder one more time.

"Oh, thank you." Juvia sobbed, her whole body shaking with it. "Thank you. I was so afraid she'd be alone."

Gray dried one tear from his cheek and kissed the top of her head. "She was loved while she was here, and she is still loved wherever she is now."

"I can't believe you did this for me." Juvia looked up to him – to interrupt an eternal rest could be seen as sacrilege and he had interrupted his mother's so Juvia could have the comfort to know their daughter had her own eternal rest close by.

"I believe you will find out there's little I wouldn't do for you." Gray's eyes were soft when he gave her a sweet kiss on the lips. Sadly, he needed to talk to her about his plans. "Juvia, I will be riding south in a few days to fight your uncle. He needs to pay and so does Invel."

Juvia's expression hardened and she nodded. "What they did is unforgivable."

"He is still your uncle." He pointed out carefully.

"The moment he conspired and got our daughter killed, he wasn't my uncle anymore." Juvia told him. "Juvia lives for her family, but he is no family of mine anymore." The blunette rested her back on the pillows again, wincing and Gray helped her. "What about Gajeel-kun? Have you heard anything about him?"

Gray sighed. "He is in your uncle's dungeons. No one knows exactly what happened, but apparently, they had a disagreement and Jose threw him there. I'm thinking he became aware of your uncle's plans for you and didn't agree."

"Gajeel-kun would've never hurt Juvia." She told him. "You can trust him." Gray nodded and got up to take off his heavy clothes. "Uncle won't meet you in an open battlefield, he isn't a good fighter and is a coward."

"I know." Gray sighed. "We are hoping-"

"Juvia knows how you can enter the Twins without being noticed." Juvia said and Gray turned to look at her, surprised. "She has lived there all her life. Remember when we met and we talked about exploring? Juvia and Gajeel-kun explored the castles when we were little." She raised her chin. "There's a way to get inside and Juvia will tell you how. Juvia can't let Uncle get away with his crimes."

#

"You do whatever the Maester and Ur tells you to." Gray told his wife and he sat on the bed facing her. "Please, be careful."

The Lady offered him a small smile. "Juvia is the one who should be telling you to be careful, you are going to a battlefield, she's the one who should be worried."

Gray knew she was right, but he would worry for her just as much as she would for him. It had been a week since Juvia's attack and the loss of Sapphire and although Juvia was healing physically, she still cried herself to sleep while he held her and the maids told him she spent most of her days staring at the chamber's fire, with a hand over her stomach.

Ur had told him it was normal, she was grieving, but it worried him especially since he was going away for months when their loss was so recent.

"I am sorry to leave so soon after..." He caught himself before he said anything else, the wound still fresh. "I wish I could stay."

"Me too." Juvia took his hand to hers and kissed the back of it. "But you have to go before my uncle gets too prepared."

Gray nodded and got up from the bed. He was going to kiss her and leave, but instead, fear he never saw her again filled his heart and before he knew what he was doing, he sat back on the bed, took her hand and said: "I love you."

Juvia's eyes widened in surprise and confusion. "Gray-sama, what-?"

"I want for you to know just in case I fail to come back." He told her, his heart beating insanely inside his chest he wondered if she could hear it. "That's why I was so angry when I learned about why you came here for: because I had let you take over me, take over my feelings, over my life and I hated to have lost so much control. I was terrified how much you meant to me, I was terrified how much power you had over me. I acted like a child, Juvia, having a tantrum. It was stupid and ridiculous of me. I was mad at you at first, but after I was mad at me and I thought this feeling would make me blind, would be a burden, but it isn't. I was wrong. Loving you didn't make me weaker, it made me stronger. Made us stronger."

Clearly moved, Juvia's eyes watered. "I love you too. More than you can imagine." She whispered, a hand on his cheek and she kissed his lips lightly. "Please, come back. Don't make me lose you too, Juvia wouldn't be able to take it."

"I will come back." He kissed her. "And when I do, I will tell you again."

Juvia nodded and dried a tear from her cheek. "Juvia would like to hear it again."

"Good." Stealing one last kiss, Gray got up from the bed and without looking back, grabbed his sword and left the room. If he had looked back, his resolve would shake. If he had looked back, he would've held her again.

If he had looked back, he wouldn't leave.

#

AN: I'm so sorry for this. Congratulations if you reached this far: I know I probably lost 3/4 of the readers after this, but it had to happen. Next chapter (which hopefully will be the last) we'll have some happiness, I hope.