They took a couple of places near the back, Juvia enjoying the morning light coming in through the window. Slowly other people filed into the room, some people he recognized and even knew, others stopped and chatted with Juvia, talking about their week. Gajeel set up his easel and pulled out his supplies, not much for socializing with new people outside of the shop.

"Are you a friend of Juvias?" A voice asked beside him, drawing his attention.

Beside him sat a man with long green hair, his eyes a startling light blue, wearing a simple white button up shirt and faded blue jeans. He was in the process of setting up his easel as well, taking up the last seat in the back row.

"Yeah I am, we grew up together. Names Gajeel," he introduced himself, shaking hands with the man.

"Ah the tattoo artist. Freed. She talks about you a lot, you're the one who convinced her to come in the first place," he smiled at that. "She's always such a joy to have in class, never misses. And her work is just wonderful."

"Freed!" Juvia blushes, hiding behind her easel.

"That's what I keep trying to tell her, she just needs to get her license now so she can take her place at the parlor," Gajeel easily agrees as he grins at Juvia.

"No, I-I'm not ready yet," she says, suddenly very serious. She nervously tugs on her pencil bag, and Gajeel recognizes the bleak look in her eyes.

"Hey," he says gently, putting a calming hand over her hands so she doesn't rip her bag. "Take all the time you need Raindrop." Juvia blinked at him for a moment before giving him a small embarrassed smile,

"Thank you Gaj."

"Anytime Juv," he could tell by the look on Freeds face, he knew what episode she had just avoided, and he appreciated the man not making a scene, instead, taking the attention from Juvia.

"So Gajeel, have you ever participated in a life drawing class?"

"No I haven't, but I think I get the jist of it. There's a display set up and then we draw it, right?" he asked.

"For the most part yes, it's drawing from life and each persons piece is unique. The angle is different, the light and what's visible is different. And a lot of times there are volunteer models who come in that we can draw from." Freed explained.

"Sounds easy enough," Gajeel commented as the teacher finally strolled in.

Her long brown hair is pulled up into a messy bun and her brown eyes look almost harsh behind her glasses. She pulls a red lounge chair from the corner and sets it up in the center of the classroom, before going back to the front.

"Good morning class, for those new faces, my name is Evergreen. Today we will be drawing from a model, a frequent guest of ours who has volunteered once again. Please try to be mature, or I will have you escorted out."

Gajeel frowned at that, leaning over to Juvia and whispering slightly, "Mature about what?"

But she didn't answer, and even if she had he wouldn't have hear her, too distracted by the person entering the room. Levy wore a short silk robe that only stretched to her knees, and nothing else. He caught her eye and she gave him a smile, waving slightly as Evergreen went on. Once she asked Levy to take her pose, she went and sat at her desk while the blue haired woman approached the chair.

Then her robe fluttered to the ground.

Gajeel had seen her mostly naked before, but seeing her full figure was something else. She was beautiful as she comfortably posed on the lounge chair, her hair draped over the curve of the chair and her bottom leg nearly dangled off the end. Even in the reclined position, he could still tell she was a bit thin. Her hips barely curved out, and her legs a bit thin, like the rest of the woman herself.

He hadn't realized he was staring until he felt the sharp jab of a pencil into his side, and he turned to a grinning Juvia. "You knew," he quickly whispered.

"I may or may not know Levys schedule here," she easily admitted.

"Is your girlfriend even actually sick?"

"Cana is very sick, I just used this to my advantage." she snickered, quickly ducking back to her easel.

“Levy!” Cana’s eyes moved in the direction Wendy’s voice had come from. She was sitting on her knees on the ground beside an unconscious Levy. The woman’s blue hair was singed, and her entire right side was pretty badly burned.

“Go get your mom and Rasha,” Cana told he girl, kneeling down beside her next to Levy.

She nodded, running into the house. Everyone else was beginning to stir then, and Cana let out a breath of relief. They hadn’t lost anyone. For a while there, she had been afraid they might. The group that had attacked them was strong, way stronger than she had ever imagined they would be. One thing was for sure, it had been one hell of a wake-up call.

“What the hell happened?” Jellal gaped as he and Erza ran towards them. Erza’s sword was drawn, and Jellal held his gun at the ready, which almost made Cana laugh. If they had been there—

“You son of a bitch!” Natsu’s fist met Jellal’s face before any of them could react. “If you had been here, they wouldn’t have gotten Gajeel! And Levy wouldn’t be so badly injured! Where the hell have you been?!”

“Natsu, calm d—” Before he could finish, Natsu punched him again. He seemed like he was going to a third time, but Erza clamped her hand down on his shoulder, fixing him with a hard look.

Natsu took several deep breaths, but Cana could still feel the fury practically radiating from him. She could understand his anger. None of them were trained to fight. Sure, she’d had training with her father and brothers, and they had been working on training for a little over a week, but none of that had ever been real. Their lives had never actually been on the line. And the two people who were trained, who could have helped them more than anyone else, had been gone for the entire battle. And now Levy was seriously injured, and Gajeel had been taken.

“Tell us what happened,” Jellal said. “What about Gajeel being taken?”

“A group of Etherios’s followers attacked us. They dropped out of the sky from nowhere, and then kicked the hell out of all of us. Levy is down for at least a couple of weeks with her injuries, and Gajeel was taken by Etherios’s followers when they left. Right before you two showed up.”

“They’ve been scanin’ the area,” Erza said, frowning. “They attacked as soon as Jellal and I were out o’ earshot, an’ then they retreated as soon as we made our way back. This was planned.”

“Then they must have known Lily was gone, too,” Cana spoke up.

Jellal nodded. “They’ve been watching us from somewhere nearby. Whoever is doing it is good, too. Erza and I patrol every day, and we haven’t sensed anyone.”

“Damn it,” Natsu fumed, pacing around the yard. “What are we going to do about Gajeel? It’s not like we’re in any shape to go after them. And even if we were, how the hell are we supposed to know where they even took him?”

“Lily should be returning this evening,” Erza sighed, “so we’ll plan our next course o’ action then. Until he arrives, we need ta get everyone patched up.”

As if on cue, Wendy, her mother, and Levy’s mother came running from the house then. The women both went straight to work on Levy, while Wendy carried around a first aid kit to check on the rest of their friends.

Juvia had cuts on her face and arms, so Wendy tended to those first. Natsu was next, needing a bit more bandaging than Juvia with gashes on his stomach, sides, and back. She wrapped his right hand completely in bandages too, hugging him tightly when she finished. Cana’s brothers were also looked over, but their injuries didn’t look too serious—much to Cana’s relief.

Cana smiled as the girl walked over to her. “I’m fine,” she tried to reassure her, but she insisted on checking her wounds anyways. Her left foot needed wrapped, since the top of it had been sliced open; she needed bandages on her right shoulder and arm, and more around her head where it had been busted from rolling across the ground. When Wendy felt her ribs and she cursed under her breath, the girl excused herself to go get her mother who was just finishing up with Levy.

“Bruised,” Grandine said, feeling Cana’s tender ribs with her fingers. “You’ll need to take it easy for a while, and it’s going to hurt as they heal. Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do for them, other than wrap them for you, while they heal.”

“That’s fine,” Cana said, offering her a smile, “thank you.”

“Cana!” Her father practically tackled her as he ran from the house, followed by everyone else’s parents. “Are you alright? When it got silent, and Wendy came and got Grandine, we were all worried. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I came to see if you were alright.”

“I’m fine, dad,” Cana chuckled, hugging her father back and trying not to show him how she winced as he hugged her. “Everyone is going to be just fine.”

“Wendy said Levy was injured,” her mother said, joining her father in squeezing her too tightly.

“She’ll be alright, too. Grandine bandaged her up and gave her some pain medicine, so she’s sleeping. Jellal is moving her to a bed now so she can rest.”

Both of her parents sighed in relief. “And your brothers?” Her mother asked, releasing her to look around for them. The boys were already bounding over to them, hugging their mother tightly as she pulled them into her arms.

“You’re never allowed to do that again,” her father said, frowning. “You could have been seriously hurt. Someone could have—“

“I know, Papa,” she sighed, “but we have to. They took Gajeel.”

He cursed, pulling her back into a hug. “Then I’ll be fighting with you next time. Your mother and the rest of the parents without powers will be fine here while we go to get Gajeel.”

“But you need to—”

“We won’t need protecting,” her mother smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Etherios has already moved passed trying to harm us, especially now that he has Gajeel. Besides, do you really think Gildarts will stay here while you go into battle again?”

I sighed. “Alright. But we have to talk it over with Lily first.”

“As soon as he gets back,” he agreed, smiling and kissing her forehead under the bandages.

“Let’s all head inside for now,” Jellal announced to the group. “Everyone needs to rest while we await Lily’s return.”

As soon as they were all inside, the shouting began, starting with Levy’s father.

“How did this happen?” He shot at Jellal, fury burning in his eyes. “Lily assured us we would be safe here—that our children would be safe here! How did they find us so quickly?!”

“We believe they have someone watching us,” Jellal answered, calmly. This seemed to only make the old veteran angrier, because he got to his feet—foot—and started towards Jellal. When Rasha put a gentle hand on her husband’s shoulder, he seemed to calm slightly, but still glared at Jellal.

“Why haven’t you sensed them on those patrols you two go on every day?” Metalicana snapped. “What the hell are they for if you can’t even sense one spy?!”

“Wait,” Natsu said, getting to his feet. “Lily is out of town meeting with an informant, right?”

Erza nodded. “Aye.”

“And you two go on patrol at the same time every day,” Natsu continued, to which Erza nodded once again in agreement. “So, what if there isn’t someone in the city watching us.”

“What do ya mean?” Regin asked.

“What if the informant is a spy, but not for us, for Etherios. He would know from reporting to Lily that you two go out at the same time to patrol, and he would also be able to ensure that Lily would be away from us for a few days.”

“Khara,” Jellal cursed under his breath, leaving the room as he pulled out his cellphone.

“What will be our next move?” Juvia asked, coming to stand beside Cana. She hated the fact that she had gotten so hurt during the battle. She had started off fighting alongside the pain manipulator, but they had gotten separated in the battle. And then she got hurt like that. Cana sighed, and she felt Juvia squeeze her hand reassuringly.

“We’ll wait for Lily,” Erza told them. “Rest until we hear back from him. I’m sure Jellal is talkin’ to him now. Even if our informant was a spy for Etherios, Lily can handle himself. He isn’t our leader for nothin’.”

Nodding, everyone slowly began making their way to different parts of the house. Juvia’s parent, along with her own, went to the kitchen to start making brunch, since they had all missed breakfast thanks to the attack. Levy’s parents rushed upstairs to where Cana was sure Jellal had placed her in one of the beds, and Gajeel’s parents with them. Lucy and Natsu’s families went into the kitchen to offer help to the others as well.

With a heavy sigh, Cana sat on the sofa. “This was one hell of a disaster,” she grumbled.

“Juvia doesn’t know what you said, but she’s sure everything will be alright.” Juvia sat beside her, placing her hand over hers on her knee and smiling.

“I was just saying what a disaster all of this was,” she chuckled, turning her hand over to lace her fingers with that of Juvia’s. “But I’m glad you’re alright.”

Juvia blushed, her blue eyes bright as they met Cana’s. “Juvia is glad you’re alright as well.”

“When this is all over, I’m going to kiss you right on the mouth,” Cana smiled before kissing Juvia’s hand. “I’ve got to have something to look forward to at the end of this.”

“What did Cana say?” Juvia asked, curiously, her blush darkening from Cana’s kiss on the hand.

“Not yet,” she grinned, getting to her feet. “How about seeing if Mama and Papa need help in the kitchen?”

Juvia nodded, and with a smile, followed her.

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?”