Why Juvia and Gray are meant for each other

We often say that Juvia seems to be tailor cut for Gray, and I wanted to dig a little bit more into that! So I decided to compile the elements of their character and the dynamics of their relationship which indicate that they are in fact the perfect match for each other, and that it couldn’t have been any other way. Some of them are just interesting little details while some others make, in my opinion, the ship’s very essence.

1. The affinity between water and ice

Which undoubtedly makes them at least combatible as teammates. That alone is not automatically enough of a reason for them to become a couple, right? However, it’s because of this very combatibility that we got this wonderful moment:

The touch on her shoulder, the hand holding, melding their magic in Unison Raid that proves the unspoken bond they share, the bright smiles neither could suppress, it all happened because the nature of their magic allows them to be stronger together than they are separately.

Also, we know that Juvia is able to boil water. There’s little of the story left to tell, but I’m still inwardly hoping that maybe we’ll see her be able to freeze water as well in the future. That could expand their teamwork even further and grant more power to both.

2. Gray likes to appear cool, and this is exactly the impression he elicits from Juvia

A side of him wants to impress people, it even says so in his personal data. And then we have Juvia, who admires him like no one else. Ain’t it funny how we see young Gray refer to himself as Gray-sama, shortly after Juvia was introduced in the series and started adressing him with the same honorific?

Some of her antics have made him uncomfortable, yes, and certain people like to believe that he’s turned off to her altogether because of it, but they seem to forget that Gray actually enjoys getting attention, and if anyone could give him constant gratification in that aspect, that’s Juvia. I wouldn’t be surprised if part of the reason why Mashima decided to give her the quirks of a fangirl (beside the humor of it) was to hightlight exactly that.

3. Juvia lives for the ones she loves

Gray has been surrounded by pain and loss since he was a child, but Juvia will be the exception and put an end to this vicious circle of death. He’s been shutting himself close out of fear of losing more people he loves, but Juvia will live for him, and make him shed this fear completely. Gray has come to believe in it too, for now he’s openly incuding her in his plans for the future.

4. They complement each other:

Gray and Juvia seem to be opposites in several aspects. She’s very body conscious, he strips. She’s very vehement at expressing her feelings, he is rather constipated. She’s enthusiastic, he has quite a laid-back personality. That’s why it strikes the eye whenever we see how much they’ve brushed their habits and other traits on each other.

Juvia has become more confident in her skin, while Gray has become more expressive, reminding a lot of Juvia’s cheerfulness, and this shows how close time has brought them. They are in total sync.

But that’s just the cherry on top. The impact they’ve had on each other runs much deeper, which brings me to my next point:

5. They help each other grow emotionally

This is precisely why I find the arguments that gruvia (as a fictional pairing) would make an unhealthy relationship completely ridiculous.

When Juvia was introduced into the story, she had no faith in human bonds, or love. It was the kindness she saw in Gray that she had never experienced before, which cleared the skies and changed her mentality. The guild has definitely contributed a lot as well, but the turning point was her encounter with Gray. She bloomed from a girl with depression into the bundle of joy she is today. This is so inspiring. For someone who grew up among people that always casted her aside and left her behind, she could harbor serious trust issues and yet her faith in human love and Gray above all is impregnable, even in the direst situations.

Gray, on the other hand, has been extremely hesitant to indulge in his emotions due to the fears and trauma the past has left him with. He puts on a tough façade and keeps the people he deeply cares about at a safe distance. But Juvia is stubborn, refuses to leave him be no matter how he tries to discourage her, and always finds a way through his defense.

Her pure displays of affection warm him up, help him leave the sorrowful thoughts behind and focus on the bright side of things instead

He carries deep sorrow inside his heart, but he is too private of a character to share it with others, and never makes a big deal out of it. Yet he had a complete breakdown in front of Juvia. She slowly but surely became the person he trusts the most, enough to reveal such a vulnerable side to her. He went from struggling to conceal his pain to sobbing in Juvia’s chest, and it’s all because she stayed at his side and took an immense burden off his shoulders, despite any rejections and frigid responses he’s given her.

Gray needed a push to embrace his feelings, and Juvia is persistently giving him that push. If it were any other girl, that put her pride above, that didn’t care enough to go so far for him, or gave up after the first few bumps in the road, Gray would have never opened up. Friends and guildmates are cool, but without that kind of affection she offers him so selflessly he’d be alone, with a shell of ice around his heart. Gray acknowledges that, and this is why he so sincerely confessed how grateful he is to her.

And saved up for last since it’s the main theme of the arc we’re marching into:

6. She is the light to his darkness(?)

Gray posseses demon slaying magic. On top of it, he has absorbed Memento Mori, which is a curse and as such, it feeds on negative emotions. Thirst for revenge – which pretty much defines Gray’s character arc – is one of them.

All those make him more exposed to darkness, which he might be tempted to resort to. He did say that he has some tricks up his sleeve after all, and it’s highly possible he was referring to Memento Mori.

Juvia though, is a constant reminder that love is powerful, that love can mend, that love is a form of magic, all while everything shows that the One Magic essentialy is love. This very emotion is her drive in life, where she pumps her strength and positivity from. This is why Silver asked her to take care of Gray. Because only love can keep him safe from the traps lurking with the power and the task Silver himself entrusted him with.

Another important detail to note is that, in the alternate timeline that gave birth to Evil!Rogue and has now been overwritten, Gray was most probably tainted by darkness, which resulted in him killing Frosh in the process. We might never know what exactly transpired in that timeline, but we do know that in the current one, Gray spend 6 entire months with Juvia. We could assume that her presence in his life might as well have been a catalyst that prevented him from walking down the wrong path :)

In any case, this arc revolves around love and the power it has to dissolve darkness, so as a representative of love, we can expect Juvia to have a key role in it. It’s time for her to ultimately fulfill her promise to Silver and save Gray, if or when he stumbles xD