Til the last drop

Eight

"She was fine before I left," Gray exclaimed pushing off Lyon, "I am here you can leave now," He ordered sending glares at his friend.

Lyon crossed his arms upset, "Something isn't right— there's no reason why she is like this," He mumbled under his breath, "Are you sure she was okay before?" He questioned the ice mage.

"Yes, I spent a lot of time with her the past week," The mage exclaimed a bit frustrated that he couldn't be alone with her, "She would of told me if she wasn't feeling good,"

Lyon looked at him with a serious tone he said, "Would she have told you?"

Gray broke eye contact and moved his vision towards the water mage. She was peacefully sleeping— well thats what he would like to imagine, "Just leave," he muttered under his breathing turning his back away.

Lyon sighed before excusing himself out of the room. At that moment he reached out to grab her hands. Softly pressing a kiss on one and walking out of the room.

Gray looked around waiting for a second before he gently placed his hand on her cheek, "Wake up," he whispered softly, "What happened after I left," he wondered to himself. A knock was heard on the door causing him to move his hand away, "Come in,"

Levy popped her head inside before opening the door wide, "How are you holding up?" She questioned taking a step towards him, "I know it must be hard to see her like this,"

Before he can answer her questions he looked at her directly, "How did this happen?" He started, "Gajeel won't say anything,"

Levy rubbed her fingers on her temples before taking a deep breath, "I was with Juvia when she fainted— the master and I were having an argument and out of nowhere she was screaming in pain clutching on to her side. We ran towards her to help and tried to calm her down but the pain was unbearable that she lost conscious ," She explained, "We managed to bring her in here and called Polyurisca to come,"

She was in pain? Was it the same pain she felt a few days back, "Have you heard anything from her?" Gray questioned as Levy shook her head.

"I actually brought new sheets for Juvia," She motioned down towards her hands. The ice mage grabbed on to them as he insisted he would change them out, "Its sweet that you are taking care of her," Levy commented.

"She saved me so many times its the least I can do," He mumbled before taking a seat back onto the chairs.

"I can send someone to send food for you. I doubt you have eaten anything since u got here," She excused herself as he remained silent. She noticed how he was just watching her intently, "Your here by her side because you care for her," She blurted out.

Those words caught his attention making him look up at Levy, "I care about everyone in this guild,"

She shook her head, "Not the same way. That one time Lucy got ill you only visited her and same with Erza but Juvia you haven't left her side," She explained, "I think its time for you to stop denying it," was the last words she said before heading out the room.

"Juvia is in a coma?" Wendy questioned as she took a seat with the guild master and the healer, "I can heal her and she should be fine after a nap," She reasoned.

Carla nodded in agreement.

"Juvia's condition can't be healed because its a curse," Polyurisca explained, "If we try anything it can cause her more harm than good. Levy actually brought me this orb," The older women held it out, "This is Juvia's life span at the moment,"

"How did she get cursed?" Wendy questioned in shock.

"The smaller it gets the quicker she loses her life," Carla muttered in disbelief, "There's nothing to save her?"

Makarov sighed, "With a curse theres always a thing to break it. We aren't that for Juvia,"

Wendy remained quiet still processing the information, "Is this one of those true love kiss spells?" She asked.

Carla shook her head in disbelief, "Come on child, this is the real world thats only in stories," She scolded.

"Actually," Polyurisca interrupted, "That is the thing to break it," She informed the two as both look at one another dumbfounded.

"Gray" Both stated at the same time receiving nods from their elders, "No wonder Gajeel blamed Gray for it," Wendy exclaimed putting the pieces together.

"One thing that doesn't make sense is how she fell in a coma," The exceed said looking at old women, "If she felt immense pain shouldn't she have woken up after it went away,"

"I put her life on pause," The old women answered, "We didn't know if Gray was going to come back and we figured it was better to put her in a coma instead of draining her life away by sadness and tears,"

"Well Gray is back so you can remove it," A voice stated catching the others off-guard.

"Erza? How did you make it back so quickly?" Wendy questioned.

"We were able to find someone to drive us back," She shrugged," I was in the room with Gray earlier and he didn't know anything so I came here," She crossed her arms.

"Who cursed her?" Lucy questioned following behind Erza.

The guild master sighed defeated, " So much for it being a secret," He looked over at his children all worried, "As long as Gray isn't here I will explain everything," He stated in a serious tone.

"I will go keep him occupy," The healer insisted as she opened the door only to reveal the dragonslayer.

"I knew there was something going around here," Natsu pointed a finger at the old man, "I had been hearing all the whispers the past few days between you and Gajeel," He crossed his arms.

Lucy rolled her eyes and motioned him to close the door.