"Whether it is your tears or the rain outside, they are just forms of your innate water magic.
What proper mage cannot even control their own magic? Little girl, you are still far from working hard enough."
Looking at Sorano, who was calmly comforting and guiding her, Juvia took the silk handkerchief with trembling hands. Her nose twitched and she almost burst into tears again.
Ever since she was small, wherever she went, the rain followed. People started calling her "Rain Woman."
As that nickname spread, countless people who were already sick of endless gloomy days began to hate and resent her.
In the end, even Juvia herself began to hate her own power.
Only this white haired big sister in front of her not only did not despise her because of that ability, but was seriously giving her advice.
"Juvia... Juvia is so happy... uuuwaaah..."
This time she finally could not hold back the surge of emotion in her chest and cried out loud.
But unlike before, her warmed heart did not trigger a flood. She cried like a normal person, two hot streams of tears sliding down her cheeks.
"Geez, what a sensitive little thing. Just how much have you been holding in, huh."
Sorano clicked her tongue and sounded annoyed, but her body was honest. She got up and sat beside Juvia, gently rubbing her back.
Juvia was moved all over again. Still sniffling, she threw herself into Sorano's arms, hugging her tightly, her chest full of warmth instead of rain.
Kabe could only stare, mouth half open, at this scene overflowing with girl on girl bonding, feeling something inside him crack.
'Hey, hey, what is this? Consoling Juvia should clearly be the protagonist's job here.
Stop stealing my scenes!'
...
Even though there had been a small incident, it did not stop the three of them from smoothly becoming friends.
...
"Eh, Sorano, you and Kabe are going back to Magnolia to join Fairy Tail?
That is such a shame, Juvia thought we would be able to spend more time together.
But if you have to go back, then as a mage of Phantom Lord, Juvia cannot travel with you."
Juvia poked her fingertips together sadly, face full of regret.
Sorano glanced curiously at Kabe, puzzled.
"Is the conflict between Phantom Lord and your Fairy Tail really that serious?
You are both legal guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore, right?"
"The grudge between us goes way back."
Kabe crossed one leg over the other and looked at the still blank faced Juvia as he slowly explained:
"It started over a hundred years ago.
Back then, Phantom Lord's predecessor, Azure Skull, used violence to rule Magnolia for a long time.
It was not until Fairy Tail's first Master and their companions arrived and destroyed Azure Skull that the town was freed.
The Azure Skull Master fled, and later founded Phantom Lord specifically to stand against Fairy Tail.
With that history, saying our two guilds are mortal enemies is not an exaggeration."
Listening to his simple explanation, both girls finally understood that their guilds had such a long grudge between them.
"A hundred years, huh. That is about when the earliest magic guilds started forming.
No matter how you look at it, both Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord are old guilds with long histories."
As Sorano sighed with emotion, Kabe nodded with a sense of pride, as if sharing in the honor of belonging to a "big name" guild.
Juvia, having only recently joined Phantom Lord and having felt little real warmth from its cold, ruthless atmosphere, did not feel much attachment yet.
Compared to her own guild, she was starting to feel more interested in Fairy Tail, where these two came from.
After struggling internally for a long moment, she finally gathered her courage and spoke, nervous and afraid of being rejected.
"Um... could Juvia go with you to see Fairy Tail?
Juvia promises, absolutely, she is not going there to gather information. Juvia just purely wants to... to look around."
"You want to come with us?!"
Kabe was so surprised his voice went up a few notches.
From the day Fairy Tail was founded, it was said no Phantom Lord mage had ever stepped into their guild hall. For Juvia to say this took some guts.
But that just made it sound even more entertaining.
The thought of leading Juvia into the guild and then telling the old man about her Phantom Lord identity... the look on Makarov's face alone made Kabe want to laugh.
So without thinking too much, he nodded under Juvia's hopeful gaze and agreed cleanly.
"Alright, I am fine with that. Go change your ticket, and later you can ride the same train with us back to Magnolia."
"Y yes! Juvia will go right now!"
Juvia jumped up in excitement and ran off to find the conductor to change her ticket.
Sorano, meanwhile, just stared at Kabe's sly grin, completely unable to tell what he was plotting.
She had no idea what kind of storm this one impulsive "visit" to Fairy Tail would stir up.