The Struggle to Let Oneself Love Another

Side Story 2: The 2nd Mission

Natsu and Juvia were standing in front of the job board inside the guild hall. They were both, closely, examining the job descriptions and the pay outs. Natsu was focusing on the jobs that revolved around getting rid of some evil monsters or wizards, while Juvia was looking for some less dangerous work, like helping someone find a lost item.

"Hmm... no not this one. That one doesn't pay enough... this one looks boring. Hey Juvia, do you see any good jobs on your side of the job board?"

"Juvia has found a few interesting ones, but a lot of these are either really simple or really dangerous. And after our experience on our first mission together, Juvia believes it would be best if we chose a simple job."

"Yeah, but the easy ones don't pay as much as the dangerous ones, plus they are more fun to do. Hmm... I'll keep looking."

"Same here."

Before looking back at the job board I looked behind myself. I saw the usual crowd hanging around the first floor of the guild hall. The only people who really stood out were Mirajane, who was walking around serving drinks and Laxus, who was standing on the second floor looking out at the crowd of fellow guild members. Mira and I made eye contact, she smiled at me and waved. I waved back and returned her smile with my own. Then I looked up and towards my right I looked over at Laxus and we made eye contact. He looked at me with disinterests, so I quickly smiled and waved at him... he quickly looked away with an annoyed expression on his face. I was about to shoot an angry glare at him for being so disrespectful, but then I suddenly felt my hand being grabbed by another. Caught by surprise, I quickly looked down at my hand and discovered that it was Natsu, obviously. At first I thought he wanted something but he kept staring at the job board. I guess he just wanted to hold my hand. I'm not sure why, but I could feel my face heating up.

"Hey Juvia look, I found the perfect one. All we have to do is help a small village that has been having trouble dealing with a rival village. It says on the back that they are constantly being harassed by them."

"How is that the perfect job for us?"

"Because I get to beat up bad guys, you get to watch me, and at the end we both get paid It's perfect!"

"Well... Juvia doesn't really like any of our other choices so okay we'll do the job you want to do. But don't think for a second that Juvia is just going to stand there and watch you engage the enemy. Juvia is not unable to hold her own in a fight!"

"Uh yeah of course you are, I meant that you would be watching me beat up the bad guys after you're done taking care of your share. Knowing how strong you are, you would probably take less than half the time it would take me."

Hmm... for some reason I couldn't help but feel that he wasn't being completely honest with me, but I decided to trust him regardless.

Crap that was a close one! Good save brain. Where would I be without you?

"So when do you want to head out?"

"As soon as possible, I want to start punching something."

"Well then let Juvia take a look at the location on the request board. Hmm... It looks like the village is located about a three hours train ride from here. It's still morning so now would be a good time as any to go. But Natsu... are you going to be okay taking the train to get there?"

"As long as you're there with me, I can endure it."

Oh man I completely forgot about the train. What am I suppose to do now? I can't get sick while I sit next to her, I may lose my breakfast all over her. No! I just have to tough it out and keep my distance. Yeah, as long as I do that the three hours will pass by in the blink of an eye.