No fear
Chapter six
The last person that Juvia was expecting to come and visit them was Gajeel. He had a newborn and he was focused on him and Levy, not like she could blame him. That's his son and she's an auntie. A very shitty one as she's barely ever around, choosing to hide from her problems like an absolute coward.
Still, he had knocked at the door and then refused to enter, choosing to talk to Juvia from outside of the house. The water mage smirked with mirth in her eyes as she leaned in the doorway, staring up at her brother.
"Aww, is Gajeel-kun scared of the Salamander?"
The iron dragon slayer grunted as he crossed his arms over his chest with a simple of his head. "Nah, just respectful. From one dragon slayer to another, you don't go into another one's domain without their permission."
Juvia scratched the back of her head in a muddled fashion. "But whenever Wendy comes here, she doesn't wait outside. She comes right in with the rest of them."
"Wendy hasn't gone through dragon puberty yet, so she's still seen as a hatchling. A hatchling is a baby dragon. She's like a child and they're allowed in every dragon's domain. On top of her being a hatchling, she's a female. She has a bit more leeway being allowed into his domain. It would be a different story if she were of age and you were a dragon just like her. She wouldn't be allowed in because as the Salamander's mate, this is also your domain and she wouldn't want to disrespect you. Still, if you told him that you weren't happy with her around, she wouldn't be allowed in even now."
Juvia nodded as she understood it. It was quite funny knowing that Gajeel above all people didn't want the rage of a dragon to attack him. But dragon business was always something that Gajeel took very seriously. She remembered him saying that he always felt closer to being a dragon than a human, but he had found his purpose in life once he had mated with Levy. It was extremely sweet.
"So how's it been? Honestly, I was shocked when the kid told me that Natsu had taken to you as a mate. Never saw that one coming."
Juvia snickered. "You and I both. I always thought that Lucy would be the one to fill that position, but I guess I'm just a convenience for now."
Gajeel raised a studded eyebrow. "What's that supposed ta mean?"
Juvia shrugged as she moved her right foot in circles on the floor. "Well, I was the only one who wasn't scared of seeing Natsu in this state. Apparently, he appreciates my lack of fear and sees it as a sign of strength and that's why he chose me. But that doesn't matter, right? When he's finally out of this state and he's back to normal and he can choose his mate in a more stable condition, it won't be me, right?"
Gajeel stared at her, as if reading the look in her eyes. He could tell that a mate was what she needed and that Natsu was the perfect person to fill that role right about now, but he could tell that she also wasn't ready to hear the truth, so he nodded his head.
"Right. Luckily, it's not like he's made anything permanent when being with you, so you won't be stuck with him anyways. Always know that a dragon will give you a choice whether or not you want to be mated with them. We'll never just mate without your consent, even if that's what our bodies want. It has to be a mutual understanding."
Juvia leaned back, not realising that she had leaned in to hear Gajeel's answer and she nodded her head. She wasn't really sure what to feel right now, whether or not she was relieved by that answer. It would've been nice to be Natsu's mate for real, but she wasn't sure if she could handle that position, not when she's such a fuck up. He deserved someone way better than her.
Gajeel stared hard at her face as she seemed to be looking at something else and he made a comment. "You look a lot better than usual. You seem to be getting more sleep."
Juvia lifted her eyes as she stared at her best friend. She didn't realise that he had been watching her whenever she thought that he wasn't. It was easy enough for her to hide the bags under her eyes with her water magic and people would be none the wiser to realise that her skin was actually sagging due to lack of sleep behind closed doors. She averted her gaze when she couldn't handle the harsh glare on his face.
"I guess I have been," came her soft and weak response. Gajeel just sighed in frustration.
"You never want to talk anymore, you just keep hiding away. While I'm here, is there anything you want to tell me?"
He was giving her a choice before he took that choice away, because knowing Gajeel, he had been watching her for too long self destruct all by herself. He had probably been letting her do whatever she wanted to with giving her the option to come to him. As soon as it had gone on for too long, he was taking a stand. Juvia knew she had been too careless with herself.
"Nope, not really. Gajeel-kun has so much on his plate, so helping me out with any problems is stupid. How can you leave Levy-chan with the baby anyway? You should probably head back-"
"They're fine, I left them to have a nap. I've cleaned the house and pretty much have nothing to do. Lily is there to help Levy if the baby wakes up. Besides, Levy was the one that told me it's time to come and talk to you. We've been letting this shit slide for a bit too long for both of our likings and now it's time to put a stop to it."
Juvia scowled. "What do you want from me, Gajeel-kun? To tell you that I have nightmares everyday to remind me of how much of a failure I am? To tell you how everyone laughing at me all those times when Gray used to reject me left me with voices in my head laughing at my every turn? These are my feelings, I did this to myself and therefore it's only me who can fix me. I don't want to bother you, Gajeel-kun."
The man sighed as he uncrossed his arms. "You're not a bother to me, ame. You're loopy, insane, stupid, but never a bother. You're my partner in crime, the only one who can truly be annoying with me and go along with my stupid plans when Levy just wants to be the voice of reason. You're my best friend, but more importantly, my younger sister. You gave me happiness, Juvia."
The girl who was so close to tears stared up at him in shock as he grinned. "Don't tell me you didn't know."
"W-well, how? I haven't done anything good for you, Gajeel-kun-"
"You spoke to Makarov for me. You remembered me out of everyone in Phantom Lord. He told me about how you went to his office to give a formal apology, head to the floor and everything. You then asked him if he could talk to me to get me into the guild. You gave me a home, Juvia. You used to come and feed me daily, despite me trying to get you to never come back and go and live your life, you always thought about me. You're the one who gave me the advice to get close to Levy somehow and to become friends with her so that I can show her how sorry I am. You winked at me when Levy got called as a candidate for the trials. You signalled that that was my chance at a second chance and what happened? She's my mate. You gave me something I never thought I would ever receive, a fuckin' family! You did that for me, ame. No one else did."
Juvia sniffed and wiped her tears as she looked away from him, a small smile dancing on her lips. She never knew that Gajeel saw things that way, never realised that he was appreciative of her input in his life. They were destructive together, destroying lives and at the same time, destroying themselves. Juvia had hope at the time that Gray would be hers and that's why she filled Gajeel up with hope to come and join Fairy Tail. The moment her hope had been dashed away, she became like her former self, minus the rain.
"I didn't realise you saw it like that."
Gajeel chuckled. "I can't keep inflating your ego everyday, ame onna. I'm sorry if I've made you feel like you can't come and talk to me anymore about anything."
Juvia's head pinged back into his direction with something akin to horror on her face. "What?! No, don't blame yourself, it's all my fault! I was the one who stopped communicating with you, it wasn't your fault! And now you have a son, there's no time to worry about me! Have some faith in me, I'll try and get myself better some time."
Gajeel watched her closely, as if to find the lie in her sentence. When she didn't look away from him, he gathered that she really wasn't lying and that she was more than happy to actually try this time around. He nodded in satisfaction before he could see Natsu coming up behind her. He seemed pretty tamed and Gajeel knew that the only reason why that was is because he's already mated and therefore could afford to be around Juvia.
He watched as the fire dragon slayer's arms encased Juvia and pulled her towards his chest. Gajeel had to stifle a laugh as Juvia yelped out in shock.
"Natsu!"
"Mate is...confused."
Juvia waved her hand, her cheeks glowing. It was so embarrassing to be seen like this by Gajeel! "Yeah, yeah, but at least I'm not upset, right? I was just talking with Gajeel-kun and finding out how his baby is doing!"
Natsu glanced up at Gajeel as if he didn't really care for him before he nodded his head, acting cordial. "How is your hatchling?"
"Strong and healthy."
Natsu grunted at the news and Juvia gave them both a deadpan look.
"What?"
"What?"
Both of the dragon slayers questioned at the same time. Juvia shook her head as if she should've expected this. "Is that how you describe how he's doing?"
Gajeel shrugged. "Salamander is more dragon than human right now and that's all that he cares for. Anyways, I'm heading back now. Salamander, you sleepin' at all or what?"
His arms tightened around Juvia as he nuzzled her hair before responding. "I sleep when mate sleeps."
Gajeel nodded. So Juvia was getting more sleep than usual which still wasn't enough and Natsu was getting less sleep. "Makes sense. Juvia, I think you should consider being Natsu's mate full time. You guys suit each other. Just make sure that you treat her well, otherwise I'll have ta come back here and fuck you up in your own domain."
It was weird seeing Natsu in this state actually smile at someone else. All his teeth were on for show as he grinned in a dragon-like manner. While Juvia had received nicer smiles, it was better than Gray receiving a strangle.
"Thank you, Black Steel. Your blessing has been received."
Juvia frowned. "Eh?"
Gajeel laughed his weird laugh and Natsu did his equally weird laugh too, but it sounded way deeper than usual. Juvia crossed her arms, not liking that she had been left out of the conversation, especially when the conversation was about her. Still, there was no point dwelling on it, not when she knew that they weren't going to elaborate and tell her anything. Seeing Natsu get along well with Gajeel over Gray was shocking. Maybe it was because they're both dragons and Gajeel understands the rules unlike the members of his team that aren't Wendy.
Gajeel just said his goodbyes and walked off as Natsu released Juvia as he then reached out for his hand and he tugged her into his house, closing the door behind him. He had been showering when Gajeel came round. She had made sure that the water was running on cold, just so that she could lessen his dragon force magic a little bit. She figured that it was probably because he was running such high magic that he was in this state in the first place. It poured out of him in waves and she wanted to shut those waves down as quickly as possible.
"So, what do you want to do today?"
Natsu looked over his mate with a smile. "Today we hunt, so I can cook dinner for mate."
Juvia pulled her hand out of his so that she could clap with some joy in her face. "Yay, I can't wait to eat your food again!"
Natsu watched her with amusement in his eyes, although his eyes were glued to the way her chest bounced up and down. Juvia pretended not to see his eyes following her breasts' every movement. "Mate enjoys my cooking. Why didn't mate say anything before?"
Juvia shrugged her shoulders as she started to tidy up around the place to keep her preoccupied a little bit. Natsu always had a habit of helping her out which always made her want to run and tell the girls what he was doing. It was so weird watching act so domesticated, as if she hadn't seen him punch one of the biggest war gods out of existence. He was also known to be quite the slob, so having him help her was a pleasant surprise at all times.
"I didn't really think you did it that often or even liked cooking for others, so I didn't want to force you to do something that you never really do."
Natsu stopped folding the blankets and trotted over to her as he stared down at her face. Before, Juvia would've felt slightly uncomfortable, but she now decided that she liked it when he watched her like this. She liked having his full attention and having his eyes on her. She also felt breathless whenever he gazed down at her lips and she wondered if she should push him to kiss her.
"Mate can always ask me for anything," he stated huskily. Juvia felt like she had been shot by Laxus' lightning as desire shot through her spine from the way he spoke. He was in her personal bubble, invading her space as his voice rumbled into her ear.
"B-but you cooked for us last year, I wasn't able to ask you for anything even then, right?"
There seemed to be a grumble coming from the back of his throat as he shook his head. "Wrong. Mate has always been able to ask me for anything. Always."