"Juvia!" He called, this cased the girl to look up at him quickly. As he came into view, Juvia was staring at him with wide eyes. Once he was almost in front of her, he finally noticed her state. Not only was she in the nude, she was crying. He quickly took off his coat and draped it over her. He knew it was his Juvia, being able to see her Fairy Tail guild mark quite clearly. Wait...Did he just say his Juvia?

After quickly choosing to ignore that thought, he continued to worry when more tears ran down her cheeks. He could tell by her constant blinking that she was trying to hold them back. "Juvia, What's wrong?!"

At the sound of his question, she started to sob, mouthing off about something. He blinked in confusion. There wasn't any sound. "Juvia, did you lose your voice?" She stopped 'talking' and nodded sadly, looking down. She was so embarrassed and ashamed at her state right now, she couldn't bring herself to look up at him.

Gray wasn't sure what to do, but one thing was for sure. She needed some clothes. So for now he would just take her to the castle, no matter how much he couldn't stand it there, Juvia's well being was much more important.

He stood up, looking down at her warily as he spoke. He still wasn't sure why she was crying, and it was bothering him. Maybe it was because she couldn't speak? "Come on, I know where you can get some clothes and a meal." He noticed her flinch, but then she nodded, slowly rising to her feet. She saw that he had turned to go, and for once in her life, Juvia was thankful that he wasn't looking at her. She knew that the word pain was clearly written all over her face. She took a shaky step, only to again fall on her face.

Gray turned quickly when he heard the light thud. He bent down next to her. At first, he thought that she had just tripped, but after taking a look at her face when she rolled over, he found himself growing in worry. He helped her sit up, her eyes were closed tight and she was clearly in pain.

"Hey, what's wrong?!" Like she was going to tell you, Idiot.

She opened one of her eyes to look at him, planning to wave him off, but she found that her arms were shaking. She was still trying to overcome the fact that she couldn't use her magic. Oh, there go a few more tears. Stop thinking about it!

She sniffed and looked forward with a determined expression, again trying to stand up. Gray stood up next to her, this time watching her closely. She first went on her knees, then slowly stood. He had never seen the Water Mage so...weak before. She was shaking all over and was taking deep breathes. Then after sucking in deeply, she took a step forward. Gray's eyes widened as he watched her face change from determined to shocked pain. Her knees gave out, but this time Gray was there to keep her from hitting the ground. He gently sat her on the sand, letting her calm down before asking his question.

"Is it your feet?" She snapped her head up to him then avoided his gaze, nodding, deciding that unless he asked, he didn't need to know about the knife in her gut. She had never felt so helpless in her life, and that's saying something for the girl that grew up with only herself and the rain to count on. Never had she missed the rain more than in that moment. She started crying again. She had to stop thinking of water, which wasn't really working with the sound of the ocean right behind her.

He thought a moment before she started to cry again. He hesitated. Gray had no idea what to do. All he could ever remember was this girl's smiling face. She had never cried this much before, not in front of him anyway. He clenched his fists, finding that he was growing more and more angry with himself. He had woken up in a bed that was the size of his living room, inside a castle! He was surrounded by servants calling him Prince and paying him respect. But she...Juvia didn't. She woke up on the beach, alone, without a voice, naked and in pain, not even able to stand. She didn't deserve this. Not her. What if he hadn't decided to take a walk? For once in his life, Gray was glad that the Flame-brain made him upset.

Making his decision, Gray gently picked her up bridal style. She glanced up at him, trying to hide her pain behind a mask of curiosity, which probably wasn't working. The pain from her feet was still running through her like she had been hit by lightning, and she knew what that felt like. This was very much like that time she had ran into one of the Thunder Palace lightning orbs.

Gray made a beeline for the castle, and Juvia wondered where he was taking her. Maybe he knew where they were. She glanced back down. It wasn't like she could ask him. At least the pain from her feet was finally beginning to subside. Though the cutting edge in her gut was very much still present, she was starting to get the hang of ignoring it.

Gray glanced down at the Water Mage. She looked a little better, and less pale. Or she was getting the hang of her poker face, though he doubted that. Juvia was always an open book about everything. He was still very worried though. She hadn't started to fangirl about him carrying her. There was something else wrong. Now that she wasn't clamping her eyes shut in pain, he could see a deep sadness in them that he hadn't noticed before. Again, he was surprised because he had never seen her with such a sad look. It definitely didn't suit her. He tightened his grip on her and noticed something else. Her skin was...warm. That was strange. Usually it was cool to the touch, like water. It was one of the things he found interesting about her. He had done enough unison raids and had carried her enough to know what she felt like. He wondered why she felt different. Was it because of where they were?

He finally shook the thoughts off when they were almost to the castle. Juvia had glanced up at the giant building and wondered why they were going towards it. Then as Gray kicked open the front door, she realized that they were going there. She blinked in surprise when some of the servants came frantically towards them. They looked like her friends, but she had a feeling they weren't her nakama.

Gray ignored the small crowd as he found a chair in sight. He walked over to it, gently setting Juvia in it then scanning the crowd of worried servants. Man they were annoying. Then he saw an alternate version of Cana. Ignoring the rest he walked up to her. "Hey, this is my friend, she needs some clothes and a good meal. She's lost her voice and seems to be in pain whenever she walks. So be gentle when helping her get dressed, Kay?" She gave a saddened ladylike gasp, which did not fit her character, and walked over to her.

"You poor dear, I'll fix you up in a jiffy." Gray wasn't sure which was creepier, that Cana didn't have a drink in her hand, or that she used the words 'poor dear' and 'jiffy' in the same sentence. He mentally decided that her speech was creepier before he watched her and an orange haired Lucy carefully move Juvia up the stairs. He was worried, but a crying red-headed Natsu started hugging him, yelling with tears in his eyes. "I'm so glad that you're alright! I was so worried!!! Wah!" And thus the twitching starts again.

So after breaking out of his hold, Gray started yelling at him to never do that again. Then after being fed up with them all, he stormed off to the dining room to wait for the food and Juvia. Once he reached the room however, he regretted it. The table was so ridiculously long that it rivaled the guild's new bar, which mind you, went around the whole room.

He quickly demanded a smaller table for the corner of the room and sat at one of it's two chairs. He crossed his arms and huffed.

This place made him sick.