Dreams are fickle things. Dreams can lie. Dreams can disappear like mist as the sun rises, as though they never existed. Dreams are fake. And yet it was dreams that haunted Juvia's every waking thought as she laid in bed, eyes wide, breathing harsh, and tears in her eyes. She was tormented by the images that her mind had conjured up while her body lay dormant. Nobody was torturing her, no, this pain what her own mind had brought her.
How cruel, she mused to herself. I bring my own pain. I do this to myself.
With a heavy heart and tired eyes she once again made an attempt to sleep.
One week. Only one more week. One week, 1 hour, and 37 minutes. She had been counting down the days like a repetition for the last month.
As Juvia made her way to the Guild Hall she kicked an unlucky pebble that was in her line of walking while simultaneously letting out a deep sigh that lingered in the cool Spring Magnolia air. The trees were shaking in the breezy air and the sound of people talking could be heard throughout. They were laughing.
Everybody was so happy.
It was annoying... Thunder crashed across the sky to match her mood. Rain began to fall...
"Man, looks like its going to rain. This sucks I was planning on spending the day swimming. Wow, this really make me depressed. How gloomy." A man said as he looked up at the sky, hands shielding his eyes from the sun as he spoke to what she presumed was his girlfriend.
Juvia's eye twitched at his comment and she let out a sound resembling a growl. A passing women who heard shot Juvia a look of horror before quickly scurrying off in the opposite direction. Juvia's head hung as though from the weight of something great and she let out a saddened sigh.
"Drip, drip, drop.."
Nothing could seem to make her days any brighter. Nothing could seem to wake her from this nightmare.
"Why do you look so gloomy Juvia?" The culprit was in the flesh, the one and only Mirajane. In response Juvia only sank deeper into her seat at the bar as the rain outside changed from a drizzle into a steady, strong pitter patter against the Guild Hall's roof.
"Drip, drip, drop..." Somebody, please, she seemed to beg just wake me up, save me!
Juvia returned home in a downhearted mood. She made herself a salad and attempted to read a book that she had started three months earlier while she softly poked at her food. With a groan of resignation she made her way to the bathroom to prepare for bed. After a bath and changing into an oversized grey shirt with a pair of cotton underwear she walked to the bedroom before laying in bed and pulling the duvet over her head.
Once again Juvia woke with a start, one hand over her pounding heart, as the other felt her wet face from the tears she had shed. Her breathing was coming in erratic breaths and she let out broken sobs. The cries of someone who was heart broken. Her face slowly crumpled in despair as she dropped her hands before bringing them around her knees as she turned over into a fetal position. Her mouth parted as heart retching sobs forced their way out of her mouth. Her head quickly snapped up as the ringing of her bedroom door could be heard swinging and hitting into to the wall as it was slammed open.
In its place was the reason for her tears. The reason for her melancholy emotions. The reason it was pouring outside. The reason she couldn't seem to breathe.
It was Gray Fullbuster.
Lightning clashed against the dark night sky, lighting her bedroom up and illuminating him.
His face held a storm of emotions. His hair was in a disarray. His clothes looked frumpy. He had bags under his eyes and he seemed to be out of breath as though he had ran here. But it was him.
It was Gray.
Her breathing sped up in complete and total relief. He was here. She could finally wake up.
He quickly made his way to her as she did the same, pushing the blankets off her as she crawled to the edge of the bed, before sitting on her knees, hands reaching...
Reaching...
Before they tightly gripped the soft fabric of his shirt. His hands firmly held her face and he roughly smashed their lips together. His lips moved in perfect synchronization with hers. Juvia could taste the salt from her tears in the kiss and taste him. His taste reminded her of when you eat a peppermint and drink ice cold water. She moved her hands from his shirt to the back of his neck and she tugged on his hair. Gray lightly tugged at her bottom lip in response. They were a war of emotions and they conveyed it to each other in each touch of their lips. Gray prodded at her bottom lip with his tongue and Juvia's mouth opened to him. He began molding his tongue with hers in a dance of love and despair. Juvia let out a shaky moan as she attempted to get closer to him. Slowly their kiss came to a close. He gave her one last peck before bringing their foreheads together. He brushed his thumbs up and down her cheeks in a comforting motion.
Juvia's eyes began tearing up once more as she threw her arms around his neck and brought him in for a tight embrace.
"Your here. Your here!" She repeated, almost sobbing in complete and utter disbelief.
"I'm here." He said simply while laying his head in the crook of his neck. He pulled Juvia up by her forearms before she wrapped her legs around his waist. He then sat on the bed as he held her close to his heart.
Juvia sat up out of breath. Her hands shook in remembrance of her dream. All she could see was his face now. Her hands stretched out to feel the other side of the bed but it came up cold and void of anyone. Her thoughts flashed to what she thought had been real life. He wasn't here. She was alone. She began to cry as she tightly gripped the sheets that had pooled around her.
"Juvia?" A voice called in a concerned voice form the bedroom doorway. She looked up and what she saw stole her last breath away.
"Gray?" He made a move towards her as she flipped her light on her bedside table on. It wasn't a dream, he's really here! She thought to herself. She noticed that his clothes were different, he had changed into a pair of black joggers and his torso was bare and he looked as though he had just gotten out of the shower. He sat on the bed next to her and pulled her into his arms from behind. He nuzzled his face in her hair and let out a sigh that could only be described as made of pure happiness.
"I'm home." His voice was soft.
"Yeah you're home. It's been so hard without you here. I swear I cant function properly if I don't have you by my side. I'm so lost."
"I know, I feel the same way. The whole time I was on the mission Natsu kept hitting me for as he called it being a, 'Sad Snowman.' I feel like I don't how to live when your not their to keep me going. Does that make me crazy?"
"If it does than I can say with confidence that I am 100% crazy, my love." She said as she covered his hands with her own
"Why were you crying when I came in?" His arms tightened as he spoke.
"It was a nightmare. I keep dreaming that you go on the mission and never come back. That you die. That I lose you, Gray. I dream that I never see you again, every night that you're not with me. And everyday that you're gone I live my nightmare, because you don't come home." Her eyes began to fill up with tears as her lips trembled.
"Juvia." The one word held so much emotion as he spoke. His voice nothing but a broken whisper.
"How do I live without the sun, Gray? Its impossible. Nothing can live without a sun. Nothing." Her voice cracked at the end.
"I'm here now and I don't ever want to leave your side again. Juvia can I tell you a secret?"
"Of course."
"I dream that when I come home you've given up on waiting for me. That I was gone for too long." His eyes lets out soft, slow tears.
"I will always be waiting. Forever. That's a promise, my love."
"And I promise that I will always come home to you."
"I love you Gray."
"I love you Juvia, with everything that I am. And I also love how you look in my shirt."
"It was comforting." She spoke with a giggle.
With that they lay down together. He pulled her into his arms as their legs tangle together. He smells like icy mint and feels perfect against her. Her husband is finally home. And for the first time in 1 month, 2 days, and 27 minutes she dreams.
She dreams that he never leaves. She dreams that were together forever.
For the first time in 1 month, 2 days, and 27 minutes she sleeps and knows that come morning she will wake up. Juvia knows that her sun will rise and she will finally escape the darkness that held her for so long.
She smiles at the thought. He promised he would always come home she told herself. And she knew if she ever had deceitful dreams again, she could hold onto the truth.
But that's the thing about dreams.
They lie...