Juvia Lockser was born with impaired hearing and bullied mercilessly in grade school because of it. Years later, Gray Fullbuster, one of her former tormentors sets out to make amends.
Will Juvia be able to love again? Can Gray ever forgive himself...
After school I decided to do something I never thought I would do; I was gonna face Juvia. My failed attempt at suicide hasn't stopped me from wanting a chance at closure. I know it sounded selfish, but maybe seeing Juvia again would put my thoughts at ease.
When I finally got to the Community Center I asked the front desk which room the sign-language class was held in. The woman kindly pointed to the left and said that the room number was 104. After walking past several doors I found room 104 near the end of the hall. I took a deep breath and pulled out the notebook Juvia had dropped all those years ago from my bag. The front cover was smudged and the pages were slightly wrinkled, but Juvia's initials were still visible on the top of the page. Just as I was about to open the door, I heard someone say the name "Juvia" which made me turn around to look.
That's when I saw her.
Everything happened in slow motion. The girl's light blue hair fell in thick waves past her shoulders, rather than it being tightly curled at the base. She still wore the Russian-styled hat but was stylized with a light-colored butterfly clip. Everything about her was familiar from her face, hair, and to her eyes. This was no doubt Juvia Lockser.
"Juvia!" I called out as I placed my hand on her shoulder.
She turned around and gave me a puzzled look.
I took a deep breath before continuing. "H-Hello-Do you remember me? We were in elementary school together. I'm Gray Fullbuster."
Juvia's eyes widened slightly when she heard my name and didn't seem to know how to respond. She attempted a smile but it immediately turned into a frown as she stared towards the ground. After a moment, Juvia turned away from me and ran down the hallway.
"Where are you going!? Please wait!" I exclaimed before chasing after her.
Juvia ran down the nearest staircase and gasped when she saw me catching up. When I got to the top, I saw Juvia kneeling on the floor as she held the railing to hold herself up. I ran over to her and grabbed the railing to her attention. The sudden vibration made Juvia lift her head and she reluctantly stood back up.
"H-Hey..." I stammered, slightly out of breath from running.
My gaze shifted around the hallway before I remembered why I had come there in the first place. I held the notebook out for Juvia as she looked at it curiously.
"I-I came here to give you this. You left this behind..."
Juvia gasped when she saw that I had used sign language and immediately responded back using her hands.
"W-What's that? How do I know sign language? From a class."
I held out the notebook again towards her and she hesitantly took it from my grasp.
"I don't even know if you ever wanted to see this again."
Juvia's face became somber once she laid her eyes on the book. Memories of heartache and frustration flooded back to her as she brought the notebook close to her chest.
Gray awkwardly ran his hands through his hair before he pointed to himself and then to Juvia. "I was wondering-Can me and you, Juvia. Can we be friends...?"
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