Chasing Shadows

Darkness

-Darkness

Juvia stood on tiptoes and reached for the book above her. The library was quiet and deserted, with high wooden bookshelves that lined the massive marble walls, steel tables and chairs were arranged in columns and rows. The smell of old pages and wood filled the air, and Juvia was immediately comforted by the scent and its familiarity. In between book shelves were huge black-paned windows that shone the breathtaking twilight. Orange and yellow streaks lined the sky as the sun began to set. Juvia may have stayed out too late. With a last glance to the fading light, she reached up again. Just one more and I'll head home.

She pulled the old book from the shelf farthest from the window and dropped back to her soles. Darkness erupted. Juvia's head snapped around, slightly disoriented. At one point, she couldn't see anything beyond her hands. After a few seconds, the lights flickered faintly but slowly went out again with a zap. It was probably a black out. She gripped the book to her chest and stood very still, her eyes looking around her, trying to adjust. All of the sudden the room felt very cold, the scents no longer comforting but eerie. All the horror movies she'd watched came to her mind. Juvia let out a little shriek, waiting for a giant spider to eat her or zombies to suck her brains out.

"Gray?" She called out nervously to the darkness. No response. She called out again, a little louder this time. You should've gone home, she mentally slapped herself.

" I'm here, just stay where you are, I'll find you" she heard Gray's faint voice, although she couldn't perceive where his voice came from, so she just stood still, waiting. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the blackness and she gripped the book tighter.

She could hear footsteps half-running behind her, stopping at every bookshelf, getting closer to where she was. She breathed deeply and waited more. Her imagination was running wild, creating creatures in the shadows in great detail. This was not a good time to have a wide reading background. Her mind had summoned again all the scary characters she had read over the recent years. Soft taps approached her and a warm breath touched her cheek, it nearly startled Juvia and she lost grip of the book, but managed to catch it before it dropped. Juvia heard Gray chuckle lightly. He was there but she couldn't see his face, so she groped blindly in front of her for any sign of him. His hand caught hers and he pulled her towards the window where soft streaks of moonshine lighted the books.

"You alright?" Gray asked, searching her face. His hand still held hers. "It's just a power shortage. They'll run the generators in a while, sorry I startled you"

"Yeah, it's okay. I'm glad it was you and not some brain-sucking zombie" Juvia reassured him. She watched as a strand of hair fell over his face, and with her free hand, pushed it back. The stream of light that hit his features, made his eyes bluer, icier. That and the cold air made her tremble.

"You're cold. Here" He said, pulling her into his embrace, effectively warming her body. With his arms encircling her waist, she laid the book on his chest and her forehead on it. They stood like that for a while, sharing warmth between them. Juvia breathed the familiar scent of him and looked up surprised to find his blue eyes gazing back down at her.

Years ago when they were still kids, Juvia was a little taller than him just by a few centimetres. She'd always tease him about the miniscule but significant difference and he'd just pout and yell at her to wait until they grew up and he'd surely surpass the few centimetres. Then came puberty and unsurprisingly Gray now towered over her, she had to stand on tiptoe just to reach his face. Juvia had to tip her face up to look at him properly.

They simply stared at each other. Blue orbs on green ones.

"Beautiful" He whispered slowly, a faint blush surfacing on his pale cheeks. Gray was never one to speak such words.