A tinies heart

Ch. 9 - Meeting again

"Thank you for your help sir," Ana smiled and began to wave. "Have a great day."
The older man waved back before he turned around and walked out the entrance. She turns her stare back at the giant laying on the ground. He was watching the sky, his eyes lost on the clouds passing by. Her eyes wandered there too, seeing dark clouds floating their way.
They had been there for the entire day. Meeting many of the regular visitors, the old man and earlier on the little girl. She had just come by for a short visit to tell Ana that she was gonna go on a family vacation so she would be gone for a month. Ana was surprised the girl wanted to share that and it made her very happy.

Due to the many hours that had gone by, she was hungry, thirsty and tired, and she guessed he was too since haven't seen him eat anything since they had met. At least there were blackberries around the area for her to snack on so she wasn't starving. What could even get him full in this world?

A raindrop landed on her head. She focused her sight on the air and saw more falling down. He noticed too and started standing up.
"Come on, I know a cave nearby we can stay in for tonight." he said, laying his hand ready for her. She looked at him weird, her eyes narrowed down, before sitting on his palm. He lifted her up and let her stay in his hands while he walked. Her confusion continued along with her stare on him. He caught her a few glances before answering.
"It will only take some minutes before we arrive."
So it's for convenience and not for comfort... makes sense.

It kept pouring down, getting worse by the second and he ended up soaked. He pressed her closer to his chest and used his fingers to cover Ana. She felt his beating heart and deep breaths vibrate through her body. He was shaking like crazy from going up and down the terrain so she clutched his shirt with both hands to feel safer.

The giant slowed down. He came to a stop and she felt him getting lower. His fingers uncovered revealing an enormous cave, must be big even for his standard. She gripped his thumb as it lowered to the ground. Ana got off and looked to see his expression. He was gasping for air, looking at the ground but not her.
"I'll start a fire..." was all he said before going back outside.
She sat down hugging her legs trying to keep stay warm, but also comforting herself. Loud snaps of trees being plugged off the ground filled her ears. The noise got worse when he began snapping them into smaller pieces. This led to a pile bigger than any building she had seen in person. He reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a metal box, which she soon realized was a lighter. Ana scrambled behind his legs as she heard the click, then the whoosh as the fire engulfed the trees.
"Relax, it's not gonna attack you," the giant laughed as he picked her up and sat her on his palm. She was meters from his face. A smirk was plastered all over while he leaned back, relaxing his body.
"Of course it wouldn't be scary for you, you idiot! You're not the tiny one being dragged around!"
Her eyes widened as the final words filled the cave. His own narrowed on her face, piercing through as his fingers rose around her, ready to trap her. Shocker, a giant doesn't like being called an idiot. She pinched her fingers behind her back, almost regretting bursting out, but refused to stop here. The only weapon she had against him was her own words.
"You're not the one that risked their life saving a giant. You're not the one who sacrificed everything for this! "But why does it matter? I can't go home, even if you return to your world. The police are after me. My parents are properly worried sick. I can't even explain what happened, they are gonna think I'm insane and for what? To help you, your ungrateful jerk!"

She was shaking like crazy, but it seemed like it wasn't shown through her voice. His eyes looked like they were filled with guilt. They didn't look at her, just the ground taking in her words. His fingers had lowered again, but his hand was still at the same height.
"I hate you," came out as she turned around. It was like a whisper so she hoped he didn't hear it.

There was silence. The firewood cracking filled the awkward silence as both looked away from each other.
"I'm sorry Ana,"
His voice was deeper, lower, almost hoarse. She snapped her eyes back at him. His face screamed sorrow, from his darkened eye to the faded grin that was strong enough to soften her expression.
"I'm sorry I took advantage of your kindness. I just want you to understand that I have never met anyone like you. Someone so selfless willing to risk everything for a stranger, a giant no less. It seemed unreal, like you were faking something. I kept thinking that there was a secret motive behind it all. That was just an excuse to justify for myself what I did to you."

He paused for a moment before saying:
"You are an incredible person Ana, and I'm so happy that I met you in this world."

The words echoed in her head. Nobody had ever said anything like that to her.
"And I'm sorry that I made that person cry,"
"What?"
It confused her for a second until she felt her face. It was warm with a long string on both sides where her tears were falling. She felt embarrassed by that as it meant her outburst wasn't as empowering 'as it felt. He chuckled and smiled at her while she was drying her eyes. It wasn't a mocking one like before but a warm and comforting one. One she hasn't seen him do.

"How about we start over?" she offered with a hand and a smile. "My name is Ana,"
"Pleasure to meet you Ana," he returned, smile and finger meeting her hand. "I'm Alan,"
"I promise you Alan, with any means I can, I will find your crystal and get you home." she said, smiling in determination.
"And I promise you Ana, I will find a way for you to return home too."