Gruvia Week 2016

Sounds

It was a little-known fact that Gray hated warm weather. Now, you might be asking: Shouldn't it be obvious? He's an Ice Mage!

And while you may be right, it was still widely unknown only because Gray was so good at hiding it. So when his team (plus Juvia and Wendy) took a job that meant they had to travel to a part of Fiore with the climate of a rainforest, he tried not to show how mad he was about it.

"Isn't this exciting, Gray-sama! It's been ages since Juvia has seen a rainforest!"

"Have you ever been to this one before, Juvia?" Lucy asked while she held Natsu's scarf back as he leaned out the window. Now, to an outsider, it may look like she's helping her friend while he's sick. But don't be fooled. Because if you looked closer, you'd notice that Lucy had a death-grip on the scarf. The last time Natsu had ridden a carriage, he had decided enough was enough, and jumped out the window. So as a result, Lucy was now in charge of making sure they didn't lose any team members while travelling.

"No, but Juvia has been to a few other ones. They're absolutely stunning!" The Water Mage gushed. Gray scoffed. "Does Gray-sama not agree?" He cursed internally. He didn't mean to be so loud.

"No, no. I'm sure they're great. They're just not my kinda place, you know?"

"Why not?" Happy asked.

"...Really?" He looked at the feline, who thought for a minute.

"Oh! Is it because there's no fish?" Gray mentally face-palmed. He was not in the mood to deal with this today.

"Yes, Happy. It's because there's no fish there." He answered sarcastically. Happy gasped and shook Natsu's arm frantically.

"Natsu! Natsu! Did you know Gray likes fish? He should come fishing with us next time!" Gray tuned out the mindless chatter and looked out the window for the rest of the trip.

...

"Okay, let's go in teams." Erza was leaning over a map. Happy, Natsu, and Lucy, you guys go north. Gray and Juvia, you take the south. Wendy and Carla, you two come with me. We'll check the west. Everyone meet back here in an hour so we can all check the east." Everyone agreed and set off on their assigned paths.

Gray was still in a bad mood. There was an obvious scowl on his face as he trudged through the brush, occasionally tripping on a root. Juvia, on the other hand, was having the time of her life. Her neck was craned up as she studied the canopy, her feet somehow managing to avoid every root and sinkhole. "Isn't this amazing?" She asked. Gray snorted.

"Yeah, sure." Juvia looked at him.

"Is something wrong?"

"No of course not. Everything is great." He said dully.

"Juvia doesn't believe you." She said with a blank expression.

"What? I'm serious!"

"No you're not." She told him. "Gray-sama doesn't like the rainforest, does he?" He was about to protest, but he decided it was pointless.

"Fine. You got me."

"Why doesn't Gray-sama like it?"

"It's the heat." He said simply.

"The heat?"

"Yeah. I don't like hot weather."

"But there's so much more to the rainforest than the temperature!" He thought back to the roots he had been tripping over.

"Try me." She thought for a moment, before coming up with an idea.

"Come with Juvia!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him through the forest. He stumbled over roots and his own feet as he tried to keep up. When she finally stopped, she turned to him. "Now Gray-sama needs to close his eyes."

"What?"

"Just do it!" He watched her for a moment, before giving in and doing as she asked.

"Okay. Now what?"

"Just listen." He cocked an eyebrow but stayed quiet.

It started off slow. First he heard the rustle of leaves as the wind blew. He could heard a waterfall from somewhere around him. Birds were squawking in the canopy above, and he could hear monkeys chattering excitedly. It was like a symphony without a conductor. Every part doing its own thing, but still managing to make music. He opened his eyes. She was smiling at him.

"Well?" She asked. He hated being wrong, but he couldn't lie to her.

"Okay, maybe it's not so bad." He admitted. She grinned, and tackled hugged him. "Whoa, Juvia!"

"Juvia knew Gray-sama would love it!" He chuckled to himself, as he regained his balance.

"Yeah, I guess you did." He placed his hand on her head fondly. "But we'd better get going before Erza hunts us down." He stated as she laughed.

Maybe warm weather wasn't so bad.