Prompt: Home
From Gruvia Week 2020
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Do you ever know those places where you can travel to and call home? Not the ones you see every day but the ones that when you see them, you are taken back and wonder how time has passed.
The stepping stones were just like she remembered. Dusty and the middles has become worn from the dirty boots of many generations of children. She could hear the laughter echo through the hallways even when she wasn't apart of it.
A cold chill kissed her spine as her feet involuntarily brought her closer. She didn't think that this place would still be standing, it had been abandoned long ago, just like her.
"Juvia?" Grays voice came from behind. They were on a mission in a village that she barely remembered but the sight of her orphanage brought her back to the start.
She didn't respond as her eyes raked over the rusted drain pipes and wooden boards that would collapse at any moment. A thick band of caution tape had wrapped around the no unsafe building.
"This was Juvias home." She whispered and he stood by her side. She couldn't tell if she ever had a pleasant moment here or maybe she could lie and it would be ok.
Gray looked back at the place. It's terrible condition now showed clear water damage, and he had a small insite of why. His eyes tilited up as he saw the sun slowly fade and light clouds filled the sky.
"Juvia?" He asked again and this time his hand slipped into hers.
"They hated me." Her lips quivered. "This never once was a home, just a house to shelter an unwanted girl."
The look in her eyes, it was practically unbearable. He had never seen such sorrow and pain swirling on her face and it hurt him to see her like this.
He pulled her under a tree as the droplets fell from the sky, burying the pain of her past with puddles and muddy grounds.
"No one could ever hate you." He kissed the top of her head. "They couldn't see the brightness in you and they missed out."
Even though those words made her heart lighten she knew that the coldness of the others still lived on.
It hurt to see where she had grown up and she couldn't forget the heartbreak of each couple passing her by and choosing someone else. Child after child, they all came and went, but like the place itself, she was a permeant member.
She can clearly remember the night she escaped and ran away from the place. No one ever bothered to find her, no one cared.
And that memory brought tears to her eyes and then she looked at Gray.
He was staring at her with a soft expression. His thumbs rubbed circles on the back of her hands and he wiped away the tears that came flooding onto her flushed cheeks.
She never had a home before, until him. Every since FairyTail, it was only then that she ever felt truly wanted. The thought of him always running to find her or be by her side during a mission made her lips curl into a tight smile.
The way he would kissed her lips softly or they would dance togther, stuck in their secret world, that was home.
Juvia shook her head and looked up at Gray. "Gray-sama is right. Juvia has a home she loves that replaces all the pain." She kissed his cheek and grabbed his hand. "Let's continue with our mission." A good distraction from what was in front.
She began to pull away when his eyes kept scanning over the old orphanage. His hand tightened and a feeling in his gut made him speak.
"Juvia"
Her feet stopped and she turned around.
"Yes?"
It was a topic they hadn't discussed since the night they found out. He felt his heart speed up but her hand in his made him relax.
He thought about it long and hard and wondered why he never brought it up sooner.
"Maybe we could adopt." He said.
Her mouth fell open and for a second he got scared that he said the wrong thing.
Adopt. Adopt. Adopt.
Juvias eyes lit up and a giant smile broke out on her face as she ran back to him and her lips quivered.
"Gray, you mean that?" She asked and he nodded before pulling her close.
"If we can give just one child the loving home they deserve then it will be all worth it. A family doesn't have to be blood, it can be founded and pieced together."
She nodded and hugged him again. "Juvia thinks that sounds like a wonderful idea."
He took her hand and they began walking back on their path. Her tears were long gone as she thought about adopting a baby and starting a family. A family she chose and made. A family that will always have a home.
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