By morning, the storm had subsided, and Juvia had managed to drag Gray's unconscious body onto the sandy beach, gently laying him in the warm sunlight. He felt so cold.

"He's freezing," she thought. "Dear Lord, please warm him. Please let him live."

She prayed that she had arrived in time. While other merpeople might have been indifferent to someone like Gray, Juvia believed that he, regardless of being human, deserved to survive. He had as much right to life as any creature beneath the sea. Pressing her ear to his chest, she checked for a pulse. To her immense relief, his heart was still beating, and she heard him take a breath. He was alive.

"Thank God," she thought.

Juvia brushed the wet hair away from his face and gently caressed his cheek. This was the closest she had ever been to a human. A million questions swirled in her mind, but she could see he was in no condition to talk—not after the harrowing nightmare he had just endured. He needed rest, time for his body to recover from the storm. So, Juvia offered him the only thing she had to give.

"I'll sing to you," she whispered softly into his ear. "Music has always helped me heal. Whether you're happy, sad, scared, or worried, a song from the heart can provide the strength you need."

She chose to sing a cherished song beloved by both humans and merfolk—a lullaby that conveyed deep love and compassion. It was a melody she remembered her mother singing to her long ago.

"Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby.
Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay,
And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow.
Bless you with love for the road that you go.

May you sail far to the far fields of fortune,
With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet.
And may you need never to banish misfortune.
May you find kindness in all that you meet.

May there always be angels to watch over you,
To guide you each step of the way.
To guard you and keep you safe from all harm.
Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay."

Instead of drifting off to sleep, Gray was awakened by the most enchanting and beautiful voice he had ever heard. Slowly, he opened his eyes and gently pressed her soft hand to his cheek. Who was this angel serenading him with such a pure melody?

"May you bring love and may you bring happiness.
Be loved in return to the end of your days.
Now fall off to sleep, I'm not meaning to keep you,
I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, lai-lay.

May there always be angels to watch over you,
To guide you each step of the way.
To guard you and keep you safe from all harm.
Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay."

His vision was slightly blurred, yet he could clearly see the maiden before him, who possessed the most enchanting blue eyes in the world. Captivated by her gaze and her soft singing, Gray felt utterly entranced.

"You're real," he murmured, dazed. "I thought you were just a dream."

"You're going to be fine," Juvia reassured him, her gaze tender. "Just rest. You've been through so much."

"What was that song?" he breathed. "Sing it again, please."

He had never heard anything so beautiful in his life.

"I can't," she replied softly. "I must go now."

"Wait. Don't leave," he pleaded weakly. "Stay."

In a surge of desperation to keep her by his side, Gray did something that took Juvia completely by surprise. In a dreamlike haze, the delirious prince lifted his head and kissed the mermaid softly on the lips. It was Juvia's first kiss, and in that instant, something profound stirred within her—more than joy, more than happiness; it was love.

Panther Lily arrived on the scene and, upon witnessing the two kissing, felt a wave of sheer terror wash over him.

"Oh my God! This can't be happening!" he thought in a panic. "I can't be seeing this! Someone please tell me this isn't real!"

When Gray finally pulled away from Juvia, he lost consciousness again. Juvia longed to stay by his side; the thought of leaving him now felt like pure agony. Yet, she realized that disaster would surely follow if she didn't leave immediately. The distant sound of approaching voices sent a chill down her spine. She dreaded what might happen if those humans discovered her presence.

"Prince Gray!" a voice called out. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

Juvia and Lily quickly submerged into the water just as Lahar and a woman with a dry towel emerged from behind the rocks. They both felt immense relief to find the young prince alive and unharmed.

"Gray!"

"Oh, Gray, thank goodness!" the woman exclaimed, rushing to him.

Gray stirred, sitting up and rubbing his head. Before he could fully comprehend his surroundings, the woman draped a towel over his shoulders.

Her name was Ur, the castle's primary maid and housekeeper. Since the death of Gray's mother, she had also taken on a maternal role, nursing him back to health when he was sick or injured, offering gentle encouragement, and imparting advice on how to be a gentleman—everything a mother would do for her son.

"You just love making my heart race, don't you?" Ur said with a teasing smile. "Look at you, soaking wet. What am I going to do with you?"

"Huh... Wha..." Gray mumbled, scanning the area for the last person he remembered before losing consciousness. "Where... Where did she go?"

"Who are you talking about, dear?" Ur asked, her brow furrowing with concern.

"There was a girl, Ur. She saved me. She pulled me from the surf and was singing... She had the most beautiful voice and the most enchanting eyes."

"You took quite a tumble, my boy," Lahar interjected, dismissing Gray's account as a mere hallucination. "Just a trick of the mind or perhaps an old memory—your mother singing a lullaby over your cradle."

Ignoring Lahar, Gray stood up abruptly, searching desperately for the maiden who had rescued him. But she was nowhere to be found, as if she had vanished into thin air.

"Gray, be careful!" Ur cautioned, her voice laced with worry. "You might faint."

"Who was she?" Gray kept asking himself. "Where did she come from? I have to find her."

"You need to rest, Gray," Ur urged. "After that Godforsaken storm, the last thing you should be doing is rushing around."

"She's right, milord," Lahar agreed. "Come, let us take you back to the castle. You need to recover properly."

"With a hot bath and bed rest," Ur added.

Gray wanted to protest, but he was too weak. Reluctantly, he allowed his servants to guide him over the dune and back to the castle.

"I'll find her," he declared, leaning on Lahar for support. "I'll find her and thank her for saving my life."

"It seems you've hit your head harder than we thought, Gray," Lahar said skeptically. "Or perhaps you've swallowed too much seawater."

"I know what I saw, Lahar. I didn't imagine her. She was real," Gray insisted.

"Of course she was," Lahar replied, humoring him. "As real as a mermaid on the rocks."

Meanwhile, from her perch, Juvia watched her beloved prince disappear into a world where she could not follow. A wave of sadness washed over her. She longed to join him in the realm of air and trees, sand and grass—a world of humans.

"I don't want him to go," she sighed. "But at least he's safe now."

"He kissed you," Panther Lily said nervously. "He kissed you! How could you let him do that? Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

Having received her first kiss from Gray, Juvia was now bound to love him forever. This was troubling—very troubling. Once a mermaid fell in love, there was no turning back.

"Gajeel is going to annihilate me!" Lily panicked. "Can you imagine the fury that merman will unleash when he finds out? It'll be floods and storms all over again! I still have nightmares from the time I washed ashore in Trinidad during the typhoon of 1743!"

But Juvia barely heard him; her thoughts were consumed by Gray.

"I wonder if I'll ever see him again."

"Absolutely not!" Lily insisted. "After this, you shouldn't ever go to the surface again! We're going to forget this ever happened! What Gajeel doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Forget? Forget him?" Juvia gasped at the suggestion. "Oh, Lily, I don't think I can. I don't want to."

"You must. For my sake and yours, forget him. Forget that he kissed you, forget that you ever laid eyes on him."

"That's impossible. The moment our lips touched, my heart became bound to him."

"You have to try to break that bond."

"Can that even happen?"

"If you really put in the effort, yes, I believe it can."

"But what if I can't?"

"You must. If you don't, you'll never be happy again. And your brother will kill me. You don't want that, do you? You know how he gets when he loses his temper."

Juvia knew Panther Lily's words were wise. Her brother wouldn't accept friendship with a human, let alone love. She must have been foolish to think she could have anything with the human prince. They were from entirely different worlds. She couldn't walk in his realm, and Gray would perish if he ventured into hers. It would be best to heed Lily's advice and pretend they had never met. Unfortunately, matters of the heart were never that simple.

After this chapter we're switching gears for awhile. So far you've seen how Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Juvia's story starts out, now you're going to see how Erza, Jellal, and Wendy's story begins.