Juvia joined in everyone's cheering the next morning at breakfast when Levy made her way into the dining room. Her face turned slightly pink as she thanked everyone, the blush darkening when she looked at Gajeel. She looked slightly nervous when she sat in the seat beside him at the table, but she immediately smiled when he grabbed her hand, Juvia noticing how he gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Cute, aren't they?" Cana chuckled from beside her, causing her to jump with a start.

"Y-Yes," she replied.

"And it's about damned time," Natsu said, loud enough for the room to hear him. "I thought I'd have to deal with that tension forever!"

Levy let out an embarrassed squeak as Gajeel cursed at his cousin in Russian. Everyone laughed as the two of them continued bickering, but that stopped when Cana's and Juvia's parents came in with the food.

Juvia grinned at the broad smile on her mother's face. Being a chef, she loved cooking, so getting to cook for this many people at every meal made her incredibly happy. Cana's mother seemed to be the same way, so Juvia hadn't really been surprised when the two hit it off and became fast friends. She glanced over at Cana, who was already at work dishing herself out a large helping of eggs, and felt her face flush. I wonder if Cana thinks of us as close friends like I do.

"After breakfast, I want you to come somewhere with me," Cana said, suddenly, taking Juvia off guard.

"Where to?" Juvia asked.

In response, Cana smirked. "It's a surprise. And bring your paints." With that, she went back to eating, talking with the others as if she hadn't ever left the conversation.

Juvia wished she could act normally. She spent the rest of the meal wondering where Cana could be taking her. And why would she need her paints? She didn't know why Cana was being so secretive about it.

"Are you finished eating?" Cana asked, bringing Juvia out of her thoughts. She realized everyone was cleaning off the table, and she hurriedly got to her feet.

"Yes," she said. "Juvia is finished."

When she reached for her plate, Cana grabbed her arm. "I'll get it," she told her, "you go get your paints. I'll meet you outside."

"O-Ok," Juvia nodded, rushing upstairs so that Cana wouldn't see her blazing face. Why do I get so flustered whenever she touches me? She asked herself that, but she knew the answer. It was because every time Cana touched her, a jolt of sensation shot to her chest, causing her heart to flutter wildly. She'd had crushes before, but never had they made her all giddy like Cana did.

Telling herself not to act like a weirdo, she grabbed her bag of paint supplies and rushed downstairs to meet up with Cana. The brunette smiled when she spotted her, adjusting the strap of her teal tank crop-top. She had paired it with blue low-rise shorts and black sandals. Juvia suddenly felt out of place in her violet dress and flip-flops, and wondered if she should go change.

"Ready to go?" Cana asked. The smile she gave her made her hesitation leave in an instant, and she smiled in return.

"Where are we going?" Juvia asked. They were walking in the direction of the Alberona-Clive vineyard, and she had no idea what they could possibly be going there for.

"I told ya," she chuckled, "it's a surprise." Juvia noticed she was also carrying a bag, and wondered what could be in it.

When they reached the vineyard, and Cana led them inside the winery, she frowned in confusion. Why are we here? She followed silently, waiting to ask questions until they had arrived wherever it was Cana was taking her.

"Here we are," Cana smiled, leading her to a back room that looked like it was used primarily for storage of supplies for the shop. She stopped in the furthermost corner, where there was a small gap between the corner wall and a wine rack.

"Why are we in a storage room?" Juvia asked, rather perplexed. Are we going to clean it?

"I'm going to help train you," Cana chuckled, grabbing her hand and leading her towards the wall.

"Train Juvia?" She frowned, even more confused. "How?"

"You'll see," she smirked. "Now, make sure to keep ahold of my hand, alright? I'm going to lead you through the shadows and into the next room."

"What?!" Cana didn't give her time to really process what she had said, leading her straight into the corner. Juvia closed her eyes, waiting to walk into Cana as she hit the wall, but the impact never came. Instead, Cana brought them to a halt, chuckling again.

"You can open your eyes now, Juv."

Juvia did, gasping. They were standing in another room, one completely different from the one they had just been in. This one had punching bags of various sizes, along with what looked like several other training items. "How did—?"

"This room is built onto the cellar, but connects to the above storage room through those shadows in the corner—making it only accessible to those of us with darkness manipulation abilities. It's where dad brought us to begin training when we were little, and where we have trained since. I thought it would be the perfect place to train you as well. And if we get paint all over the place, mama won't kill us." She grinned, nudging Juvia in the side.

"Thank you for the thought," Juvia mumbled, "but Juvia's powers aren't something she will be able to use in a fight. Spreading paint on a canvas isn't going to be able to protect anyone in a real battle."

"Have you ever gotten paint in your eyes?" Cana asked, looking serious.

Juvia nodded, wondering why she was asking.

"Did it hurt?"

Again, she nodded. "Yes, but—"

"Then you already have one way to use your ability," Cana told her. "I'd say temporarily blinding our opponents would come in handy quite a bit. If you've never trained to use your gift in battle, you have no idea what you're capable of."

"Juvia doesn't have unlimited access to her powers like you or the others, so she would only be in the way," Juvia sighed.

Cana placed her hands on Juvia's shoulders, smiling at her. "What happens if we're fighting in the desert where there isn't any water for Natsu to access? What happens if we're fighting inside some concrete building with no earth for Lucy to use? What happens if someone throws up a flare bomb, lighting the entire room until there are no more shadows for me to manipulate? We all have our weaknesses, Juvia. Being able to only use the paint you carry with you is yours, sure, but you can overcome that. We can figure out a way for you to carry larger amounts of paint into battle once we get there. For now, let's focus on actually using this beautiful gift of yours to do some damage, alright?"

Juvia nodded, unable to keep the blush from creeping up her neck and covering her entire face. She knew Cana had never been in any kind of real battle before, but the way she spoke, so full of confidence in everyone, Juvia felt she too could actually fight. She wanted to protect her loved ones, and Cana's words made her feel like she could.

"Ready to start, then?" Cana asked her. After Juvia nodded, she went over to one of the practice dummies. "I'll show you a few moves using my shadows, and you try to copy them with your paint, alright? Once you've got some of those down, we'll work on things you can do with your paint that I can't do with my shadows."

Juvia watched in awe as Cana faced the practice dummy, throwing her hands out towards it and causing her shadow to move like whips around her, striking the dummy so hard it fell over.

"Think you can try that?" Cana stood beside her, watching as she took paints out of her bag and opened them.

"Juvia will try," she said, determined. She had opened all of her paint tubes and laid them on the floor around herself. She knew she would have to do something different when they went up against Etherios, because there was no way she'd have time to open up several tubes of paint in the middle of battle.

"Focus on the way my shadows looked, and try to mimic that with your paint. Once you do that, I'll teach you how to whip the tendrils around like I did."

"Juvia can already so that somewhat," she said. "She used to practice independent painting by doing that. And to let off stress." She closed her eyes, feeling the paint within the tubes and pulling out several different colors to use. She formed them into whips like Cana had done and twirled them around her.

"Now try attacking the dummy," Cana instructed. She had set it back up and stepped beside Juvia again, waiting.

Juvia threw her arms out, willing the paint to move towards the dummy. She envisioned it as Etherios, imagining his cocky smirk as he had threatened her family and friends. When the paint made contact with the dummy, it knocked it across the room, sending wet paint flying in every direction. Cana dipped back into the shadows by the wall to avoid getting splattered, but Juvia felt the wet paint cover her dress.

"That was incredible!" Cana cheered, appearing in front of her and pulling her into a tight hug, despite the paint covering her.

"Juvia didn't realize it would hit so hard," she giggled. She pulled the paint from her and Cana's clothes when they separated, putting it back into one of the tubes. She quickly did the same with the rest of the wet paint in the room, not wanting to let it dry. That was another one of her limitations—she could only manipulate wet paint.

"Since paint is a lot denser than the shadows I work with, I'm guessing there's a lot more damage-power behind your attacks than I have in mine. That means you don't have to use as much force when attacking as I do. That's good. You'll use less of your energy that way and be able to fight longer." She paused, smirking at Juvia. "I'd say you've got that move pretty much down, so let's move on, shall we?"

"Juvia is ready to learn more," she smiled, a new sense of determination filling her. After that first success, she was confident that she would most definitely be able to play a part in the upcoming battle.

{WIFEY DID SO GOOOOOOOD!!!! JUVANA FEELS!!!! So we're getting close to the big fight. Some things still need to be worked out and, god none of it is good. Someone needs to take these children from us. Like. Right now. Before it's too late.}