Tempest. // gruvia au

3

     Thump.

                 Thump.

                            Thump.

    Juvia's heart thumped louder in her chest than the thumping coming closer and louder every second.

    She looked over at Gray to see his reaction. He wasn't phased at all. In fact, he perked up, raising his shoulders.

      "Darl-Gray?" She widened her eyes in terror as the house shook around her.

       "Hmm? Oh, relax. I know this house is rickety and loud, but it won't collapse 'cause the old man's walking down the stairs..." He continued, muttering under his breathe. "...as surprising as that is."

      Juvia didn't really understand, but she hugged herself, telling the broken organ in her chest to stop beating. If her darling was calm, she should be, too.

     She was surprised when a rough voice reached her. A quite short man appeared from around the corner, tottering step by slow step. Fumbling, Juvia quickly shoved the necklace bound on the leather string underneaths her dress.

    "Son? How are the camellias?"

    "Fine, Gramps. Growing in multitudes."

    "Where are the ones you brought back?"

    "I didn't bring any back."

     "Why not?"

     "Well-"

      "Because," Juvia cleared her throat, hand still on her beating heart. Although the scare was over, and it was obvious the noise was just this man's steps, she was just beginning to recover. "If you pick a flower, you are extinguishing it's life so that you can have it's beauty to yourself. But love is not selfish."

    Silence.

    Then, a soft intake of breathe, a gasp.

     Another silence.

    "What beautiful blue hair," were the words finally formulated by the old man. "azure, just like our Godess' Ocean waves after a storm."

     "Juvia thanks you. However, nothing is as beautiful or can compare to the Ocean's waves." Juvia had to look down at the elder, her voice soft and humming with a lilt.

    "Your name is Juvia? You hold a powerful name, my dear." The old man extended a shaky hand out to her, eyes thoughtful.

    Juvia nodded, glancing at the old man's hand hesitantly. Was this the same gesture Gray had shown her earlier? A shake of the hand? She slowly raised hers, fingers dancing over the man's  wrinkly ones. He pulled hers into his, cupping them gently and holding them still. Not a handshake.

    This gesture felt more personal, or nicer than a handshake.

    "My name is Macarov. Has Gray brought you here?"

    "Found her on Yubikiri mountain's cliff, with the Camellias. You don't  know her?" Gray answered from Juvia's right, just in the corner of her vision.

     The old man closed his eyes for a moment, mentally detaching himself from the room. "She is not from Yubikiri's village." Macarov opened his eyes, raising his ancient irises to meet Juvia's. Her hands began to feel sweaty in his.

     "So you have no idea where she came from? It's dangerous for some one like her to be out on her own. She's not in her right mind. Where's she going to-"

    Macarov kept staring up at Juvia, ignoring the beginning of a mini spiel. "You're quite a long ways from home."

     He knows.

     "Maybe not physically, but Juvia has had to cut all ties emotionally. Juvia has found that humans must kill their minds sometimes to manage."

     A pure smile danced across the elder's face, a smile as unchanged as a child's smile. No amount of years changed the simple things in life. "My dear, that is just a bitter reality of life."

   Gray coughed in the corner of the little room, snapping Juvia's attention away and back to him. She instinctively pulled her hands out of Macarov's hold.

    He looked awkwardly around. "I don't know much about killing your mind and that stuff, but, umm, what's the deal? Do you two know each other?"

     Macarov blinked. "I had always thought, that if the Godess of the Juvia Ocean ever cane to visit me and my humble ocean side house, it would be more climatic."

Aquarius,
He's my night sky.
I could close my eyes and connect the dots in it from memory.

A/N.

First off, if you have any suggestions, or if anything is confusing, please feel free to tell me. I want to improve this story any way I can to make it more enjoyable for you.

Secondly, I thank you if you've stuck with my story this far. I've got some great things planned, and I promise it'll get exciting.

I know this chapter was a little short, but I felt like I stopped at the perfect moment.