Today was supposed to be a great day. Today was supposed to be sunny, with a light breeze cooling the people strolling on the streets on this particular warm spring evening. Today was supposed to be a wonderful day. When did it get so catastrophic ? Was it when she got up from bed late and had to skip her breakfast ? Or perhaps the fact that she completely forgot her gifts for her friends at her house and only remembered it when she got on the train ? Or when the barista mixed up her order with someone else's and she could not find it in her to ask for another one because she was just too shy ? Every little incident led to this very moment. Her, staring at the dark sky with huge gray clouds making sure they poured their everything on the hard concrete, soaking everyone who had the disarray of forgetting their umbrellas. She was that person. Today was supposed to be a great day, but now, it was just one of those days when life was not on your side and decided to, quite literally, make sure you get a rain check.
Juvia did not mind the rain. Well that is not true. Juvia did not like the rain. Despite years of living in a part of the world where the sun did not like to make an appearance, despite having fond memories of going out during rainstorms just to be able to drink rain water and play in the mud, pretending to be a witch and that the rain was her doing, a breakup in a rainstorm was enough for her to doom the rainy clouds out of her heart. Even though she moved on from that guy whose name she did not even remember now, she still had trouble with the rain. Juvia sighed, resigned to get completely soaked, chilled to the bone and to catch a cold in the following days. She was ready to run all the way to her apartment when suddenly, an umbrella shielded her from the terrible fate of getting sick. She raised her eyes and she might have just caught the flu right then, because she could not believe her eyes.
A man, perhaps a bit older than her, with beautiful black eyes, the kind that made you ask yourself what you deserved to be looked at by them and made you wonder if the feeling of falling into them is real. She noticed some dark circles and never in her entire life did she imagine a person's evident lack of sleep so alluring.
He had one side of his hair slicked back while the rest of it was lazily flowing and yet still managed to look good, but his hair colour was what caught her eyes. Were they white ? Or was it silver ? She could not pinpoint the exact colour because of the dark skies and the heavy rain but she wished she could play with his hair and feel it and be able to say his hair colour even with her eyes closed. She was completely lost in him, her eyes darting everywhere on his face, to study him until he smiled at her.
"Here, please. Allow me to lend you this for your trip."
His voice was pleasant too. He had a deep voice, yet soothing and soft. She could hear the genuine concern of his voice and the way he widened his smile a bit was all she needed to snap back to reality despite the loud opposition of her brain which satisfied itself with daydreaming about the man.
"Ah! Thank you sir but you don't need to do that! The train station is not that far away from here. But thank you for the kind offer." While she said that, she was looking at him and she saw how he raised an eyebrow at the same time she mentioned the train station, knowing that it was absolutely not that close to where they were currently standing. He sighed but an amused smile was proudly sitting on his lips while he looked at her and this became her new favorite image.
"What man would I be if I let a woman walk back to her home completely drenched?"
Juvia could not believe her ears, actually she could not believe anything that was happening. She always was a fan of romance, in movies, series, she even read or watched shojos from time to time. But this… this was not supposed to be happening in real life. It felt surreal. One moment she was ready to run under the rain and the next, a handsome man was literally acting as the main character coming straight out of a fairy tale. She didn't even realise that her hand was on his until she felt it move. His touch was gentle, as light as a feather and she wondered for a few seconds if the heat she felt was because of that or if a fever was already caughting up on her. He put the umbrella in her hand and just like that he smiled and turned away, not even running from the rain but fully embracing it and walking away.
She just could not believe what had just happened to her and it took her a few seconds to come back to earth. She could not remember, even if her life depended on it, how her day started or what she did earlier that day. Only his eyes and his smile were currently present in her head and slowly a crimson blush appeared on her snow white cheeks. She needed to go back home, and quickly, perhaps she'll draw a hot bath or was it a cold shower that was required to calm her running mind ? She tightened her grip on the umbrella and finally walked under the rain, daydreaming. Never has she ever felt more like a princess whose knight in shining armor just saved from a terrible curse. If Lisanna was there, she would tell her that her idea of romance was outdated and that she needed to raise her standards but she knew that despite how he made her feel the giddiness of a schoolgirl's first crush with his gentle manners, she had next to no chance to meet him again. So Lisanna could keep her reminders for her because Juvia had every intention to fully dream of this interaction until his face faded away. She also just so happened to decide that she loved the rain more than anything in the world.
The next couple of days, Juvia did everything she could to pass by the place where she met the handsome stranger. When she mentioned it to her friends, they teased her a lot and told her that she was one lucky girl. Erza, one of her best friends who just happened to really be into romantic tropes, muttered how lucky she was to have lived her fantasies and grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her so hard she forgot her name for a second. When she told Lisanna, she was unsurprisingly telling her that she should be more careful with strangers no matter how handsome they were, making Juvia shift uncomfortably in her chair because she hated whenever she would lecture her as if she was six. But this came from a place of love so she never resented her for looking after her.
She told her friends that she would try her luck in finding him and everyone, with the only exception being Erza, warned her against that type of behaviour. Lucy told her that she would get sad if he never appears again, Lisanna told her that only insane people do that type of thing and Levy said that she was putting herself at risk. She listened like the kind girl she was but decided to turn a blind eye to the potential danger and felt that she needed to fulfill her fantasy.
But after days of constantly making sure that his umbrella was in her bag if she ever ran to him again, or how she would wait half an hour to the same spot waiting for a sign of him, she never saw him again and soon enough, the excitement she felt the first time she went back to the spot she met him was forgotten and she was back to her usual routine. Lucy was right, the disappointment she felt pierced her heart a bit more every time he didn't show up. The umbrella was no longer in her bag, but carefully wrapped in a pretty box in her closet and soon enough, became a quick distraction for when her work day had been tiring.
A few weeks later, she was hanging out in a terrasse with Lucy, talking about a new book they both started, but really her friend was the one who got very fond of it, Juvia was never really into detective stories. So, there she was, twirling her straw in her iced coffee, playing with the numerous ice cubes in it, listening to her friend ranting about how there was a spelling mistake in her favourite sentence of the book, which Juvia found amusing. While she did enjoy the book too, she was not that crazy about it to write a letter to the editor about it, but Lucy was.
Juvia was teasing her about it, bringing her drink to her lip when someone knocked their table which made her spill some of it on her dress. She sighed upon the hideous washed out brown splattered on her dress while Lucy was trying to find something in her bag to help her with that. The culprit of her fashion disaster turned to her and offered a tissue.
"Sorry 'bout that. Take this." Juvia glared at him, ready to be as mean as possible but quickly accepted her fate and took the tissue from him, it's not like he did it on purpose.
A tall guy with dark hair and dark eyes too. He was quite handsome, and normally Juvia would submit to the pretty privilege and say that it was nothing, but this was a dress she bought only yesterday and which was very expensive too. Lucy quickly got in a heated argument with the stranger while Juvia uselessly tapped on the stain despite it not going away. In fact she made it worse. Juvia tried to get her friend to let it go and that she would just buy something for it before getting home, not liking the curious glances they were getting from other customers or strangers that were walking in front of the cafe, when she heard another man speak up behind them.
"What mess did you get yourself into, Grey ?" That voice… It sounded familiar. She turned her head to the newcomer and she just could not believe her eyes.
The handsome umbrella man, as Erza called him, was just in front of her. She gave up on her fantasy to see him and ask him out and get married immediately after the first date considering how she could not find him. She just sat there, her eyes threatening to fall out of their cavities, not knowing what to say or what to do with her hands.
The black haired man, Grey as he was called, groaned and apologised again. And that was only then that her knight in shining armor looked at her. He first raised an eyebrow and then his smile got bigger. Did he recognise her ? God, she was mortified at her unpleasant look today ! If she had known she would have dressed up more ! Did she still have some lip gloss on her lips ? God, her hair was not done as usual today, why did she decide to try a new hairstyle today ?!
"Why, fancy seeing you here again." It was enough to silence her brain for a moment and instead pure dopamine was coursing through her veins. He did recognise her ! She was on cloud nine and nothing could have made her happier than him at this moment. She was about to get up and thank him for the umbrella when he actually kneeled in front of her to examine the stain. Between Lucy's giggles and Gray's groans, she was just thankful she was still sitting or else she would have fainted. Not that he could see her legs or anything, her dress was down to her ankles and not transparent but he was so close to her and he was kneeling ! Who does this ? Her entire face was bright red and she could only nod when he asked if he could help remove it, she just hoped he was talking about the stain and not the dress.
"Don't worry. I'm used to getting rid of stains. Although the one I have trouble with is right behind you." His voice was so soft and yet so deep. Juvia could die at any moment and she will absolutely have no regrets in her life.
Gray's insults could be heard in the background, only making the stranger smile even more. Lucy took the opportunity to also insult Gray and mock him and if she wasn't so enamoured by the man in front of her, she would have teased Lucy and her cute banter with the tissue guy, the last time she was that energetic with was with her ex and that's exactly how their relationship started.
The man took Gray's tissue and put on a product he had searched for in his bag and he gently pressed on the tissue on the stain. She felt the cold on her thigh but overall, she didn't mind. Well the situation was insane and never in her life would have she thought that this kind of behaviour was romantic but here she was, loving every second of it. He was focused on her stain, which actually did start to disappear, and she took the time to observe him more.
His face was immaculate. Not a scar, not a pimple, nothing. And if she could touch it, she was sure it would be as smooth as her own skin. The only disturbance in his face was the deep dark circles under his eyes, evidence of sleepless nights, but she found them to be really attractive. It deepened his gaze and made her want to dissolve in his eyes.
His hair was not like last time, he styled it differently. Today they were a bit more rebellious than last time, which meant that he might be on his day off. They smelled good, it made her not only want to dive right into it and try to find the exact fragrance it made her think of but she desperately wanted to run her fingers in his hair. Would he be the type of man to like it ? Would he find it relaxing if he ever rested his head on her thighs ? Would he find it ticklish ? She had so many questions and the fact that it was right there for her to find was pure torture. This time around, she was able to also observe his hands and they appeared to be as smooth as his face. The only exception was that a few scars could be seen and she wanted to trace them and listen to his stories of them. This was bad, Juvia thought. How could she act like this with a man she didn't even know his name!
"Were you able to safely go home last time? I do hope you used the umbrella I gave you, I would feel guilty if a pretty girl like you caught a fever." He did it again, he called her pretty and despite knowing how cliché it was, and probably the disgusted face of their respective friends to this over the top scene, she thought that he was sweet and cautious, just like last time. If she ever found the courage to ask him out today, she would never wish for anything more in her life, ever. And she liked the attention anyway so he could call her any pet names he wanted. He quickly glanced at her and that made her realise that she forgot to answer him.
"Ah yes ! I did use it but you truly shouldn't have. Did you catch a cold ?" At first she wanted to tell him that she waited for him for a few days but decided against it, he might find it uncomfortable or worse, find her weird. She will not throw away this miraculous chance, it might be her last.
"I did not, thank you for your concern. I'm used to cold temperatures and my body runs rather quite hot so really it was no bother at all. I'm glad to see you alright." Did he just say that his body is hot ? Juvia's mind was racing and she couldn't help but imagine them both cuddling during the cold temperatures. He stopped using the tissue and took a napkin from her table to ever so gently remove any excess of his product and gave her a smile.
"There. You will need to wash it out at home but at the very least the stain is almost invisible to see."
Juvia didn't really care about the stain anymore. She was even tempted to create a lot more of them all over her dress to force him to stay with her and take care of her for the rest of the day. She smiled too, trying to fix her frantic heartbeats.
"Thank you and I apologise again for the trouble. I promise I'm not mad at your friend and neither is my friend." She frowned in the direction of Lucy, trying to make her apologise too, but she was nowhere near their table. In fact, neither was the friend of her charming stranger and as she was about to call her, she received a text from her. "Have fun with your date! And stop looking at him with your mouth wide open, have some dignity!". This time she couldn't help the little groan and thought that Lucy was the devil in person. She glanced at the stranger who also received a text, probably from his friend and he raised his head at her with a smile on his face.
"Well, it looks like we've been abandoned by our friends. Do you mind a little company?" Was he asking her out ? He was ! She answered him with such thrill in her voice it also made him laugh.
"Not at all! Please have a seat!" He sat down in front of her, taking off his jacket, which gave way for her to ogle at his arms and body. God, he was everything she ever wanted. He looked at her with such sweetness in his eyes she had enough sugar for the day.
"My name's Lyon. Lyon Vastia." His pinky finger grazed hers and somewhere deep inside her, a spark appeared and waited to be fueled and to burn more. But for now, the wave of warmth she felt running though her body when he touched her hand was enough for her to know that she owes Lucy a year's worth of books. She felt bold enough to return the touch and interlock their pinkies together and smiled.
"Please, call me Juvia. Nice to see you again."
Hi !
As much as I love Natsu and Juvia together or Laxus and Juvia together, if there is one pairing of her that I find incredibly sweet it's Lyon and Juvia. He is such boyfriend material and a literal green forest to me, of course he should have more spotlight. There isn't a lot of stories about them, even less where he is not in an unrequited love with her, I hope my story will bring comfort to Lyvia shippers !
I do apologise for any spelling mistakes or any mistakes at all, and hope that you'll like the story !
Lots of love,
Dash.
