Date

"Water…cane!" A tired Juvia cried as she moved her arm in a circular motion to whip.

Using his Lightning Body, Laxus effortlessly dodged her attack. Within a blink of an eye, he was behind her.

"You shouldn't let your guard down." He said with a sly smirk.

She giggled, "Who said my guard was down?"

Plop!

When he turned around, his eyes almost popped in surprise. There was an army about fifty Juvias surrounding him.

"Water…clones!"

Heh, not bad. He thought before getting into stance.

"Multiple water slicer!" The Juvias exclaimed as they aimed at him.

"Nice try!" He said as he jumped mid-air.

Suddenly, ten Juvias were formed from beneath him. They all shouted in unison, "Water…cane!"

"Ha! I got you now!" The real Juvia pointed. Her hands raised as she attempted to control her clones.

"Heh." He flashed a grin.

The water whips held onto his leg and attempted to drag him down. However, before he could be brought down, a surge of electricity passed through his leg through the water and to the clones, inevitably dissipating them. Juvia gasped, she had to think of something sooner before he comes after the real one. She was already running out of magic energy.

Using his rapid speed, he managed to dissipate all of the clones, leaving the both of them on the field. Juvia sucked in her breath, preparing to create her water shield but was stopped by the large fist that punched through it. Her eyes widened; she almost stopped breathing. Here she was, face-to-face with him. She couldn't believe the amount of power he was emitting at the moment.

With a smug expression on his face, he pulled back his fist and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Never leaving her anxious eyes, he said, "We're finished for the day." She felt so small, not just physically either. He certainly lived up to his status. Nodding, she turned towards her picnic basket that was lying 50 ft away.

Laxus' idea of a date was training. She didn't like it, but she understood. After all, he was a man that valued strength. She supposed that he'd want his date to be strong too, or he wasn't the romantic type. Probably both. She remembered her first attempt at making a simple picnic date for the both of them. It ended terribly. But due to her idyllic views on romance, a date is still a date and should be treated as such so she persisted. Even if she didn't like him romantically, she could at least try to make it a bit romantic.

On her powder blue blanket, she took out the food and plates from the picnic basket and began to set everything.

Laxus stood there in slight awe. He hadn't expected a picnic; he just wanted to train her for their future S-Class missions. He didn't expect an actual date, no less a rather romantic-looking one. Maybe it was just him and this was actually all innocent. However, knowing her reputation for being dramatic and slightly delusional, this could pose as a future issue.

Let's hope she doesn't fall in love with me, he thought with a shudder. He didn't want to be Gray 2.0.

Juvia looked up to face him, a sign that she was finished, and flashed him a tired smile as she motioned towards the food with her hand, "Please, come sit and eat." A bit reluctant, Laxus sat across from her and grabbed a sandwich set on his plate.

She watched intently as he took a bite with hesitance. He kept his look of indifference like an impenetrable mask. She internally giggled at him. Even while he's eating, he's still acting tough.

"You must not be used to picnics," she observed.

"Huh", he asked, a bit caught off guard, "what are you talking about?"

"Judging from your actions, I'm assuming this is the first time you have ever been to a picnic. Or you're afraid of me. Either way, you're being extra cautious," she replied. He didn't know if it was her tiredness or his actions that made her speaking voice tinge with melancholy.

Just before he could answer, she continued, "It's okay, I understand. You were not expecting me, me neither."

He stopped eating and finally asked, "What is your deal with Gray anyway? Why do you always follow him around?"

Juvia smiled wistfully as she thought of the man in question, "He took away my rain." Thinking about it, tears welled up in her eyes.

Laxus' expression went from confusion to nervousness as she started to cry. 'Fuck', he thought. He closes his eyes, muttering, "Er…what do I do?"

Juvia sobbed even harder to the point that clouds became a dark overcast and it rained. Once she took notice of this, she looked up at her confused partner and began to sob even harder. "J-J-Juvia's sorry. Juvia didn't mean to bring the rain again!" She continued to cry harder in third person.

She internally slapped herself for speaking in third person. It was a habit she has been trying to break since the Grand Magic Games as part of her Juvia 2.0 look. Though, she found it hard to break. Whenever she got upset, she would do it. She was beginning to make Laxus' head spin as it rained harder and the ocean's currents became slightly irregular. Her power, he remarked to himself.

"Uh…don't cry. Please, don't cry!" He almost pleaded. He never knew what to do during a situation as this, especially on a date. With a deep breath, he came closer to her and gave her an awkward pat on her back. I'll kill Mira and the old geezer for this!

"Hmm…" She realized that the usual standoffish man was trying to comfort her.

All at once, the raining ceased, the sky cleared, and the ocean calmed. She sighed and shook her head, looking up at him. "Juvia—I mean, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do this."

He looked at her in slight bewilderment. If this is what she can do while sad, could you imagine her enraged? "It's okay," he said in an even voice.

Her eyes went from him to their surroundings. Everything had gotten wet, from the blankets to the food. She bit her lip and blushed apologetically. "I'm sorry! I'll clean this up right away."

She leaned over and put everything away into the basket before standing upright. When she looked over at her larger partner, she realized that, he too, was soaking wet. She buried her face into her hands and nearly jumped in shock. "I-I'm sorry you got all wet."

He shrugged, "Whatever, it's no big deal."

"Yes, it is! I ruined our date and you got wet! Come over and you can take a shower. I'll clean those for you right away." She insisted with her hands clasped together in front of her chest.

Laxus paused for a minute. She seemed harmless, but he knew that something like this would be considered more than that if other people saw. Normally he wouldn't care, but being seen leaving her apartment would cause speculation. And his personal life was something he liked to keep away from the guild for as long as possible.

He took a deep breath, putting hands in his pockets, "Okay, fine."

"Yay!" She jumped before linking her arm with his and almost dragged him along. He was a little surprised by her sudden touchiness.

"Just don't fall in love with me." He thought he kept it to himself but she heard him.

Looking up at him, she flashed a smile. "Don't be silly! My heart belongs to only one man, Gray, and no one else." Her voice was alive and cheerful. "Now come on. I don't want you to catch cold."