Year X780 · Late Summer
Location: Magnolia → Mission Route
Ren (15) · Juvia (13)
---
Morning in Fairy Tail arrived the same way it always did—too loud, too early, and with at least one argument already in progress.
Ren was halfway through breakfast when a job request slapped onto the table in front of him.
"Escort," he read aloud. "A-rank. Short route. Border village." He glanced up. "Easy."
"…Ren."
Her voice was softer than the chaos around them, but it threaded through the noise like rain through leaves.
He turned.
Juvia stood there, hands clasped together, bluebell pendant catching the light. She looked… different. Straighter. Less like she might disappear if someone looked away.
"…Yes?" Ren said.
She hesitated. Not from fear—more like she was choosing how to ask.
"…Guild Master said," she began carefully, "…that new mages usually go on their first missions with someone experienced."
Ren nodded. "That's true."
She took a breath.
"…Juvia would like it… if that someone were you."
The words landed gently—and with weight.
Around them, the guild did what it always did: Natsu argued with Gray, Happy hovered with a fish, Mira laughed behind the bar. No one noticed the small moment unfolding at the edge of it all.
Ren studied Juvia.
Not her magic.
Her posture. The way her eyes stayed steady, even if her fingers fidgeted.
"You don't have to ask," he said finally. "I was already planning to take you."
Her shoulders loosened instantly.
"…Really?"
"Yeah," he smiled. "First missions shouldn't be lonely."
Something bright crossed her face—quick, uncontrolled.
"…Then Juvia is ready."
---
They left Magnolia before noon.
The road was familiar to Ren, comforting in its predictability. For Juvia, it was something else entirely.
She walked close at first, steps measured, as if expecting the ground to shift beneath her.
Ren didn't rush her.
They talked instead.
About small things.
"What kind of missions does Fairy Tail usually take?" Juvia asked.
"All kinds," Ren replied. "Some dangerous. Some boring. Some turn into disasters even when they're supposed to be simple."
"…This one will not become a disaster," Juvia said firmly.
Ren chuckled. "Let's hope."
As the forest thickened, the air cooled. Moisture gathered instinctively around Juvia—thin mist curling near her boots.
She noticed and stiffened. "…Sorry."
Ren raised a hand. "Don't apologize. Just… breathe."
She did.
Slow. Even.
The mist thinned, settling instead of spreading.
"…It listens more now," she murmured.
"It always did," Ren said. "You just didn't trust it."
She glanced at him sideways. "…You trust it?"
"I trust you."
That made her quiet for a while.
---
The escort itself was simple.
A merchant caravan bound for a border village—nervous but well-armed, more afraid of rumors than reality.
"Rain Witch," one guard whispered when he noticed Juvia.
She flinched.
Ren stepped forward calmly. "She's with me."
That was all.
No argument followed.
They walked beside the wagons, Ren alert but relaxed, Juvia observant—listening to the land, feeling shifts in humidity, distant pressure changes.
"…There," she said suddenly, pointing toward the trees. "…Something moves."
Ren focused.
Bandits. Poorly hidden. Amateur.
He smiled faintly. "Good catch."
The ambush came fast—and ended faster.
Ren disarmed the first attacker with a blunt strike. Juvia raised her hands, rain forming into controlled streams that knocked weapons away without injury.
She didn't panic.
She didn't overreach.
She guided.
When it was over, the bandits fled, soaked and humiliated.
The merchant stared at Juvia in awe.
"…That rain," he said. "…It didn't hurt."
Juvia blinked. "…Juvia did not want it to."
Ren watched her reaction—surprise, then quiet pride.
There it is, he thought. The moment it clicks.
---
They made camp that night beneath a clear sky.
Juvia sat by the fire, knees pulled in, staring at her hands.
"…Ren," she said softly.
"Yeah?"
"…Today… Juvia was not afraid."
He poked at the fire. "That's big."
"…Juvia was afraid she would disappoint you."
He looked at her then, really looked.
"You didn't," he said simply. "Not once."
Her breath hitched.
"…When Juvia joined Fairy Tail," she admitted, "…Juvia thought it was borrowed time. Like the rain stopping before it starts again."
Ren shook his head. "This isn't borrowed. You earned it."
She smiled—small, genuine.
"…Juvia thinks she understands now. Why new mages go with someone else first."
"Why?"
"…So they learn they don't have to be alone."
Ren felt something settle quietly in his chest.
"That," he said, "is exactly it."
---
They returned to Magnolia two days later.
The guild hall doors slammed open with familiar violence.
"We're back!" Ren announced.
Happy zoomed over instantly. "Aye! Did the rain explode anything?"
"…No," Juvia said politely.
Gray blinked. "That's disappointing."
Mira clapped her hands happily. "How was your first mission, Juvia?"
Juvia straightened.
"…It was calm," she said. "…And successful."
Makarov smiled from his seat. "Good. First steps taken properly tend to lead somewhere."
Juvia glanced at Ren.
He nodded once.
Later, as the guild noise swelled again, Juvia sat at a table surrounded by laughter, food, and voices that didn't fade when she spoke.
She touched the bluebell pendant.
Her rain stirred—content.
And somewhere deep inside, something new took root.
Not love.
Not yet.
But certainty.
Her journey had begun.
And she had not taken the first step alone.
---
End of Chapter 62 🌧️🛤️