A Giant's Grace

Chapter 8

Grace awoke, cautiously scanning her surroundings. She appeared to be on a marble plateau. Was this where you went when you died? She tried to stand but felt a sharp pain in her leg and fell back down on her butt. She cried out in pain from what felt like a knife digging into her leg. It must have been where the cat had pierced through her skin. At least now she knew she wasn't dead.

Suddenly a colossal figure rose in front of Grace, casting a shadow over her. It was Aaden. The giant she had run from.

"No, no, no. Not again," Grace muttered to herself, knowing that she had sealed her fate. The giant was surely enraged at her. He would finally reveal his true colors.

But Aaden had a concerned look on his face.

"Are you okay? I heard you cry out."

"Fuck, no, no!" Grace was hyperventilating now. Why was the giant keeping up his facade? How did Grace even get here? Suddenly, something inside her snapped, and her rage boiled over the edge. "Why are you always acting nice?! What the fuck is your problem?! Are you trying to use my trust to manipulate me?! And why are you always here?! Don't you have things to do?! To get food?! I know you're going to enslave me! Or kill me! So just fucking get it over with!" Grace's eyes widened, realizing what she had just done. She had just yelled at a creature that had complete control over her. She closed her eyes, hoping for a quick death.

Nothing happened. She waited. Still, nothing happened. She slowly inched her eyes open, terrified of what she would see. A brief flash of anger from Aaden's eyes froze Grace's heart. But after that, he just looked hurt. Grace suddenly registered that he had saved her life. He had saved her life, and this is how she repaid him. Maybe Aaden wasn't like the other giants. Maybe not all giants were bad. After all, there were some pretty cruel, bad tinies in the history of their civilization. But most of them were just regular people. Maybe giants were like that. Feeling guilty, Grace decided to apologize.

"I-I'm sorry, Aaden." She saw the hurt expression fade from his face and his eyes soften from their pained look.

"No, I get it. You were angry, and I was kinda causing you distress."

"It was still ch-childish of me. I'm s-sorry." Realizing that she hadn't addressed the squirrel in the room, she added, "Th-thank you for saving my life."

"Anytime," he chuckled, "of course, now you're indebted to me by your soul." Grace's eyes widened in panic. "I'm just joking."

"O-oh."

"I'm sorry if I actually scared you."

"No, it's f-fine." Grace thought about the absurdity of the situation. A few days ago, she thought the giant was a cruel, horrible, disgusting, beast. But here she was, exchanging casual words, and jokes, with Aaden. Aaden had respected her boundaries. He had been kind and respectful to her. But most importantly, he had treated her as an equal.

After a shower and a meal of something called a "banana," Grace and Aaden talked a bit more. It was already late evening, meaning that she had been passed out for most of the day after the cat encounter.

"Oh yeah, so, uh, earlier, you asked me a question," Aaden initiated.

"Hmm?"

"About why I'm always here."

"Yeah."

"It's because we're on vacation."

"Vacation from eating?"

"What?"

"Why d-don't you need to h-hunt?"

"Oh, we buy food."

"Buy it? From where?"

"So, we work for someone, they pay us, and we trade that payment for food."

"That s-seems overly complicated."

"Now that I think about it, it sorta is." A silence filled the room, but this time, it wasn't uncomfortable. After a few moments, Aaden spoke up again. "I'm glad that you trust me as much as you do. It must be scary being small."

"It is s-scary. B-being around a giant." She felt a little apprehensive to admit that to Aaden. But he had saved her life. What more could she ask for?"

"Are you scared of me?"

"I...a l-little, yeah."

"I understand. Well, I don't understand, because I'm not small, but I mean I can see where you're coming from. Well, I mean—"

"Aaden?"

"Yeah?"

"I-I think I get what you mean."

"Yeah, sorry for ranting. Anyways, it's getting late. You wanna sleep here?"

"I'm not sure," Grace lied. She knew that she didn't want to sleep on the hard, cold marble. She wanted to go back to her tent, where she was warm and comfortable.

After a brief second of deliberation, Grace decided that she could ask Aaden if she could go back. "C-could I go back to m-my tent?"

"Of course. How are you going to get there?" Grace considered this. Her heart sank as she realized that she had no way to get there. "Do you...want me to carry you? In my hands? I completely understand if you're uncomfortable with that."

If she accepted, Grace would be taking a big leap of faith. One side of her reasoned that she could be crushed by his gargantuan fingers at any moment. The other side of her reasoned that if he wanted, Aaden could've reached down and crushed her by now. The second side, having a stronger argument, won.

"O-ok. Just...please be careful."

"Don't worry, Grace." A hand slid under her, enveloping her in warmth. She instinctively wrapped her arms around one of Aaden's fingers for balance. Being in Aaden's hand, contrary to her people's tales, felt soothing, like a boat rocking on a calm river. For the first time since she had met Aaden, Grace felt safe.