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She always walks along the shorelines with his heart in her hands.
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tides come and go, but you never stay.
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The tide had risen.
The brisk ocean breeze swept against Gray's cheeks as he looked over the pier. Darkness had fallen, and the temperature had dropped.
He shoved his hands in his pocket and breathed out puffs of white. It was the first night of the new year, and halfway through winter. He glanced up. The stars shimmered in the night sky as they met their companion, the moon, after a long awaited encounter. Gray couldn't help but chide himself over the person he'd become. Before, he wouldn't have spared the sky a second glance.
He stared out into the shoreline, the sound of waves crashing on to one another filling him with tranquility. Gray made his way down the oh, too familiar path he'd become accustomed to for the past three years. His shoes crunched the sand underneath him as he made his way to the spot farthest away from the pier. Away from people. Away from his normality. Away from his reality.
The sea breeze tamed itself and became soft, calm and serene. The sand and clams underneath him shimmered, letting him know it was time.
She walked along the shore, not noticing him yet. He admired her from afar, his dark gaze subsiding from their usual intensity. He breathed in the saltines of the beach, as she approached him.
Like each and every time they met, she always astounded him with how ethearly beautiful she was. She wore the same silk blue dress from the day when they met. It dragged behind her, but didn't leave any marks on the sand, just like her steps. There was a glow around her, like she was a star of her own. Her azure hair whipped around her face, being caught in the wind. The odd gemstones she collected in her spare time entwined in odd sections of her hair. Her eyes reminded him of the ocean itself. They twinkled in delight when they met his. Her rosy lips twitching up into a smile.
"Juvia thought you wouldn't come," she approached him, her face becoming clearer with each step.
"I didn't think I would come either," Gray responded honestly.
Juvia came to a stop in front of him. "So, why did you?"
"I'm not sure," Gray told her. "My feet dragged me here."
Juvia gazed at him, her expression perplexed. "Did they drag Gray-sama to the beach, or to Juvia?"
Gray breathed in only to be overwhelmed by her scent. She smelled like the deep ocean. "I don't know."
Juvia hummed at his answer. She reached with her hand and slowly ran her fingers at the edges of his hair. Gray held back a shiver. "Your hair, it's gotten shorter since we last met."
"It's been two months," Gray took a step, putting distance between them. Juvia took her hand back. "I've cut it many times."
"Has it really been two months?" Juvia whispered, her eyes reflecting her disbelief.
"It has for me," Gray replied, a bit of hostility in his words. "Although, I wouldn't expect for you to know that."
Hurt flashed across Juvia's eyes, making Gray's stomach twist in guilt. "Time for me is difficult," she mumbled, her smile dissipating into a frown. "One second for me is like a day for you. It is difficult for Juvia to keep up. All she knows is that she she misses you whenever you're not with her."
Gray stayed quiet, looking away. He wasn't sure how to answer her. He'd come with a purpose, but he wasn't certain how he would carry it out.
"If Juvia's math does her right," Juvia continued, ignoring his silence. "Today marks three years since she met Gray-sama."
"You mean three years since you saved me from drowning?" Gray reminded her. It had been a late night, a yacht party for his friend Natsu's birthday, he'd been drunk, there'd been a storm and he'd fallen overboard.
"When she saw you, Juvia couldn't let you die." she smiled as she remembered the night. "Such a strange man, with such odd features; she fell in love with him."
Gray gave her a dry laugh, shaking his head. "You talk about love so easily, yet you don't know anything about."
"Juvia doesn't understand," she gave him those blue, innocent eyes that always had him cave in.
"You never understand," Gray gritted his teeth. He took his hands out of his pockets and fisted them to his side. "Love isn't as simple as you set it out to be in that head of yours." Gray glared at her, making Juvia veer back, surprised by its intensity. "It's been three years since we met, Juvia. I was twenty four back then. I'm almost twenty eight now. Time for you might not be a big of a deal because you've lived through centuries, but time for me is priceless and sooner or later I won't be able to do this anymore."
"Gray-sama won't come to see Juvia anymore?" Her expression was heartbroken, like he'd just ripped the rug right from under her feet. "Why?"
"Have you seen yourself in a mirror?" Gray raised his eyebrows at her. "Have you seen me? I'm getting older, while you don't age at all."
"Gray-sama is still young—"
"—I won't be young forever." he cut in, his voice breaking slightly at the end. He was getting older, but Juvia looked like she had back then; diaphanous and timeless. To him, she still looked like she was in her early twenties. "Have you thought about that?"
Juvia's saddened expression gave him the answer. "She has," she sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. "But there is nothing she can do."
"Yes, there is." Gray refuted back, reaching for her warm hands. He took them into his cold ones. "Come with me. Become human, I know you can."
Gray hated sounding so desperate, but ever since he'd met Juvia, something inside of him had changed. He'd never spared a woman a second glance, he always had one night stands, and he'd never chased or fought for anyone. He especially didn't believe in love, but with Juvia, there was a sliver of possibility that he might experience what it really was.
Juvia sighed and squeezed his hands. He'd known the answer already. He'd asked her many times before, and it was always the same. She shook her head. "Gray-sama knows Juvia can't do that." Gray tried pulling his hands out of her grasp, but she held on tight. "Please understand. Juvia doesn't belong in the sea, she is the sea. She is the waves, the shore, the breeze and the tide. She'd do anything she could to go with Gray-sama—"
"—then come with me!"
"—but her leaving would mean destroying the entire life underneath the ocean," she explained desperately. "It would create chaos and max distraction for both the sea and human world. Doesn't Gray-sama see? Without Juvia, the sea would grow angry and take it out on the humans."
Gray gritted his teeth and he felt the sudden helplessness hit him. "Then what do I do? I need you more than the sea does."
Juvia let go of his hands and cupped his cheeks in her palms. He hadn't realized that tears had made their way into his eyes. She gazed into them, the same agony he felt was reflected in her own azure orbs. "We will find a way." she gave him a broken smile. "Love always finds a way, and I love you."
Gray took a shuddering deep breath in and took her into his arms. The excruciating pain of being without Juvia was like death itself, but when he had her in his arms it was like he was at peace with himself and the whole world. He wondered if that was how love felt like.
"We'll find a way," Gray declared, pulling away to meet her eyes. "I will come here as many times as I must to free you, to get you to come with me."
Juvia's eyes danced in the darkness of the night, the soft glow of the sand reflecting in her eyes. "Juvia believes there will be a day when we really come together, forever."
Gray was suddenly overwhelmed by hot emotions in his chest, and he knew he couldn't wait. He pulled her close and kissed her gently. Her soft lips met his in an embrace, not missing a beat. He pulled away and met her eyes. "Juvia, I—"
—and she was gone, just like a puff of smoke. His arms were empty, but his lips still had her lingering warmth against them, proving that she was real, and that she'd been there.
He'd promised her he'd find a way for them to be together, but he didn't know how he was supposed to keep it when he only had such little time left. Maybe he'd been selfish to want her to give everything up to spend the rest of his life together. Gray looked down at his watch. It was time for his medicine.
He glanced over his shoulder before he made his way back. The sun was coming up, its rays warming the frigid breeze. It'd be a while before he saw Juvia again.
The tide had fallen.
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A/N: Thank you for spending some of your time reading my angsty stories,
Lots of love,
Annabethlove