Love In The Ice - A Gruvia Story [COMPLETE]

Love In The Ice

"Those freezing hands aren't your fault

They carry scars from long before
Afraid to love someone,
You turn your back on the other side of the words...

Like ice, the embraced heart slowly starts to thaw

For anyone to be loved by someone,
Makes life in this world shine
If it was me, I'd make your heart warm once more
With eternal tenderness"

#

The first time he saw her, she was leaving the ice rink as his team was going in to train. Her azure hair was what caught his attention, because the moment she stepped out, she let it loose from the tight bun and a mess of curls fell and almost reached the middle of her back.

He lost sight of her when the rest of his team passed by him, all very excited and yelling, as usual. The thought of the mystery girl slipped from his mind and he didn't give a second thought.

That was until a couple of months later, one of his friends' girlfriend, Lucy Heartfilia, appeared with a girl who worn the most unusual clothes he's ever seen someone go to a party with – a dark blue dress with fur by the collar and end of the sleeves and some weird hat, hair curled at the end in an unusual hairstyle – and introduced her as Juvia Lockser.

Everyone said their 'hellos' and 'nice to meet yous', but for mostly of the conversation, the new girl stayed quiet, seated at a couch, looking around as if she wanted to get out and he couldn't actually blame her; she did look quite lost at the party, the only person she knew was Lucy and the blonde was a social butterfly. Taking pity on her plus the fact that he wasn't really in a partying mood, Gray sat next to her and she looked surprised to see him. "Sorry, I'm just not in the mood to party. I was actually studying when the idiots I call friends barged into my apartment and dragged me here."

"Oh." She said, in a small voice. "Juvia will just... sit quietly here, then."

"Nah..." He shrugged. "I just don't want to speak to them. You look in need of company, though."

"Juvia looks that pathetic, huh?" She groaned.

He smiled and took a sip of his beer. "Just a bit out of place. Where exactly did Lucy find you?"

"Trying a dress for my next performance." She sighed "The next thing I know, she is giving me advices to what I should wear, then grabbed me to have lunch, called a few times to meet up and tonight..."

"That's Lucy, alright." He chuckled. "What exactly are you performing?"

"Juvia is a Figure Skater." She told him. "The next performance is in three weeks and Juvia needed a new dress."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "I play Hockey."

She narrowed her eyes and gasped. "That's where Juvia knows you from!"

"You've seen me in the games?" He asked, rather smugly – he was, after all, one of the best players that season.

"Oh, no. Juvia has seen your team kick the Figure Skaters out when it is time for your practice and we are still there. They are not the... kindest when we are training when they arrive."

He groaned. "Sorry. There are many idiots in my team." He stopped for a moment, noting her blue hair and the mention of the rink. "Oh, so it was you I saw the other day at the rink. The moment the guys appear you just vanished."

"They can be jerks with us." She shrugged. "It doesn't matter Magnolia University's Skater Team is one of the institutions that has the most trophies and medals in the country."