Erza and Jellal
by: SmurfLuvsCookies
Erza paced as she waited for the master, anxious and intrigued as to what he would need to talk to her about in private. What is an important S-Class mission? A secret operation? Erza didn't know. Master Makarov had abruptly asked her to meet him in the upstairs area when no one was around. It was suspicious indeed.
"Hello, Erza." The mage in question jumped and turned to see Makarov. She hadn't even sensed his presence. The master could be quite sneaky when he wanted to be. It unsettled Erza, to an extent.
She wasted no time. "Hello, Master. What have you called me here for?"
"I have some...news to deliver," Makarov sighed and sat on a table, patting the space next to him. "Come sit down, my child, and I'll tell you. I'm not sure how you're going to handle this." Erza cautiously did as she was told, patiently waiting for the master's announcement. She didn't like his current sobriety. He stared at her stoically, assessing her slightest reaction. Then he cleared his throat and began.
"The Council has decided that Jellal Fernandes is innocent due to his amnesia and impressive behavior. They were suspicious at first, considering he had everybody convinced he was one of the good before the Tower of Paradise incident, so they had a mage search his memories. They were completely clean." Makarov paused, letting this sink in. "Do you understand what I'm saying, Erza?"
Erza blinked, trying to keep her face blank. "You're saying that Jellal is going to be released."
"Yes. Tomorrow." Makarov sighed. "But that's only part of the news."
"What's the other part?" Erza inquired.
"As part of his probation, Jellal has to join a guild. He's requested Fairy Tail," Makarov said. He held up his hand as Erza tried to speak. "I want to ask you this right now, Erza. Give me a complete and honest answer. Do you want Jellal to join this guild?"
Erza smiled, but it was empty. "Yes, I don't mind if he joins Fairy Tail. Jellal isn't evil anymore. He isn't tainted by Zeref. I honestly believe he's the Jellal I once knew."
"Okay," Makarov said, nodding. "I wanted to make sure that you were okay with it."
"I am."
As he got up to leave, Makarov looked back at his strongest female mage. "Erza, if he hurts you while he's here, in any way, make sure you let me know. I won't hesitate to - "
"Master, you really are like a father to me," Erza laughed. "Thank you for your concern, but I'll be fine. Tell the Council that Fairy Tail would be delighted to have Jellal as a member."
Makarov left. Erza let out a shaky breath and looked down at her hands, trying to keep her breathing under control under the pressure of her constricting lungs. Just when she'd started to forget, when she'd started to heal, he's come back to ensnare her in his web again. But this time it might be for the better.
That's what you thought last time.
Erza sighed and dropped her head in her hands. Jellal had caused her so much agony; some of it was on purpose, some of it was unintentional. But Jellal hurt just the same. Erza understood why a rose was the symbol for love. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but painful if you gripped it too hard. Delicate petals soaked in the blood of lovers' broken hearts. Erza sometimes felt that her heart was broken beyond repair, but she found that her guild, her family, was unconsciously bandaging it little by little, piece by piece. Fairy Tail would never hurt her like Jellal had.
And now Jellal was part of Fairy Tail.
The thought triggered unusual feelings in her, a bittersweet mingling of the lightest joy and the deepest sorrow. Erza realized with more than a little surprise that she was also afraid. She was afraid of seeing Jellal. She was afraid that he was going to hurt her again. She shook her head as if to clear it. Erza Scarlet, the Titania of Fairy Tail, did not get scared. Fear was an illusion, one that she would overcome.
When Jellal came tomorrow, she would be ready.
_/T.T\_
Jellal didn't feel like a free man. He still wore handcuffs, and he still had two men walking on either side of him. It was earning him a lot of stares from the citizens of Magnolia, but he didn't care. When he saw the enormous Fairy Tail guild towering above the rest of the town like a guardian, hope swelled within him. That woman, that Erza Scarlet would be inside the guild. Jellal felt his whole body buzz with excitement at this thought. He was going to be able to see her, the Erza Scarlet that now seemed to drive his very existence.
A little old man and a beautiful white-haired woman were waiting for him at the gate. His guards removed his handcuffs and stepped back, nodding at the old man. "He's all yours, Makarov."
"Very good, gentlemen. Thank you very much," the man said, flashing them a grin. As they turned to leave, this Makarov character became sober and gave Jellal a good assessment. Jellal blinked under the pressure of the man's gaze, but he kept his face expressionless. Finally, the old man spoke. "I am Master Makarov, the guildmaster of Fairy Tail. This is Mirajane. We are here to welcome you to our guild."
The one called Mirajane smiled at him sweetly.
Makarov looked at him sternly. "There are a few rules you need to follow in order to join Fairy Tail. The most important thing is that we are a family. Every single person in that guild is your family, whether you like it or not. You will treat them as such. If you hurt another member, you will be immediately expelled, is that clear?" The master said this with such intensity that Mirajane frowned down on him with worry. Jellal gulped, and nodded in ascent.
"Secondly," Makarov continued, "In correspondance with your probation, we have supplied you with an room inside the guild. You won't have to pay rent, but you will still have to pay for all your meals like the rest of the guild." Jellal nodded again, knowing that this was one condition of his freedom. He was completely confined to Fairy Tail for a year; he couldn't even take missions outside of Magnolia. It was a relief that he wouldn't have to pay rent.
Makarov gave one of his trademark grins. "Then welcome to Fairy Tail, my child."
_/T.T\_
Erza's hands were shaking.
Lucy frowned at her companion, tugging on Natsu's shirt to get his attention. She nodded towards the Titania, who seemed lost in her own thoughts. Natsu's pink brows came together, but he didn't say anything to Erza. Instead, he turned to Lucy. "Just leave her alone, alright? She's probably nervous about Jellal."
"Jellal?" Lucy said, her eyebrows shooting up.
Natsu gave her a look. "Didn't anybody tell you? He got out of jail on good behavior, and now as part of his probation he's joining Fairy Tail."
"What? Why didn't I hear anything about this?" Lucy shrieked, looking about as if the ex-criminal might be lurking around the shadowed corners of the guild.
Natsu shrugged. "Everybody knew. I thought that you did too."
"Aye, Lucy, you're really out of the loop," Happy remarked.
"Shut up, you stupid cat!"
Gray sighed and leaned his chin on his fist. "I'm kind of worried about Erza."
"When did you get here...?" Lucy said, recoiling from the ice mage's sudden appearance.
Gray pretended not to hear her and continued. "I mean, I wonder how she's taking his whole thing. I'm not particularly excited about it, but I guess I'll be nice to the guy since he's Erza's...uh...well, you know."
Erza sighed and dropped her silverwear, turning to give them a glare. "I can hear you, you know."
The four of them trembled in fear at the Titania's irritated scowl, but their terror was interrupted by a few figures entering the guild. One was Master Makarov and one was Mirajane. The other was a tall man with blue hair and a tattoo running down the side of his face. It was Jellal Fernandes.
Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Happy all simultaneously turned to glance at Erza, but she was nowhere to be seen. They gaped at spot she'd just occupied two seconds before. "Where the hell did she go?"
Unknown to the rest of Team Natsu, Erza was huddled in the corner of a random room in the back of the guild, her breath coming out in shallow gasps. What was that? What was that, Erza? What happened to those hours of mental preparation? It did no good. The moment she layed eyes on Jellal, she bolted out of the dining hall. Why, why had she done that? Her firm resolve had crumbled to dust in an instant!
Tears stung in her eyes. She curled into a ball like she used to when she was a girl, hiding from the rest of the world in her solitary corner. She was afraid, so afraid, more afraid than she'd ever been in her entire life. No, that wasn't true. She remembered being this afraid once, when she found Jellal chained up in the displinary room and possessed by Zeref's evil. Only Jellal could make her this afraid.
She knocked her head against her knees and clenched her fist. I, Erza Scarlet, refuse to be afraid of anything! Nothing will stop me, nothing will send me into hiding! Stand up, Erza! Show them that you are not afraid! You're not a little girl anymore, so just stand up already!
But Erza Scarlet did not stand up.
_/T.T\_
"There you go! You are now officially a member of Fairy Tail!" Mirajane said happily, stepping back and allowing Jellal to replace his shirt. She caught one last glimpse of the black Fairy Tail insigna on his left shoulderblade before the fabric hid it from view. He turned and gave her a sincere smile, which caught Mira relatively off guard. After all the bad things she'd heard about Jellal, she'd expected him to be nearly as difficult as Gajeel once was. But if Erza loved him, than he couldn't have been very bad at all, right?
"Thank you," he said, straightening out his attire self-consciously.
"It's not trouble at all," Mira said, nodding and wheeling around to attend to her duties as a barmaid. Jellal blurted her name and stood there awkwardly when she turned back around. He glanced up at her almost shyly, his fists opening and closing at his sides. "Do you know where...um, where Erza is?"
"Why, I have absolutely no idea," Mirajane answered, gazing about the guild for the Titania's presence. She noticed Natsu's feiry pink hair and urged him over to the bar. "Natsu, do you know where Erza is?"
"No, I haven't seen her since Jellal came. She bailed as soon as she saw him." Natsu cocked his head to the side as Mirajane made subtle gestures for him to shut up, since the Salamander obviously hadn't noticed that Jellal was within earshot. "Something wrong, Mira? Gotta twitch in your neck?"
Mira sighed and slapped her forehead, blatantly pointing at the newfound guildmember. Jellal was too lost in his own swirling vortex of utter disbelief to pay any attention to them. She bailed as soon as she saw him, she bailed as soon as she saw him, she bailed as soon as she saw him...Jellal gazed at his hands in befuddlement. He'd come all this way to see his Erza Scarlet, and she ran away when he walked through the door! Why?
"I mean, it wasn't like she was fleeing or anything like that! She probably just had to go to the bathroom really bad!" Natsu said frantically, trying to console Jellal. Mirajane dragged her hand across her face, because Natsu really wasn't helping any.
Jellal suddenly looked up at Natsu, his raw emotions plain on his face. Natsu froze and stared back at the other mage for a long moment. Then his face became set in determination and he clapped a hand on Jellal's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll help you look for her."
After a while, the whole guild was searching for their missing Titania. Anyone who had flying abilities even flew around Magnolia, but there was no sign of Erza. Surprisingly enough, it was Elfman who finally discovered her form curled up behind some boxes in the back room. He paused for a moment to take her in, the girl who was once his sister's rival. That wasn't this woman in front of him. The fierce, sometimes frightening, cake-loving, fearless, invincible Erza was not here in front of him; this was a broken piece of her, a physical being left behind while the rest sailed off on a voyage across a sea of thought.
Elfman shook his head to clear it. He could feel his old poetic self from the old days coming to the surface, but real men didn't read poetry...in public. He glared at the back of Erza's still form and hardened his resolve. Then, trying not to quake in terror, he nudged her with his foot.
She didn't even turn around. "Go away."
Elfman gulped at her frightening tone. "N-no."
"I said go away," she hissed, rolling over to shoot him a piercing glare. Elfman felt his blood run cold (besides Evergreen, Erza was probably to only woman who could do that to him with just a single look), but he stood his ground and returned the glare at full potency. "I said no. Everybody is looking for you, and you still haven't met the new member."
"I have," Erza sighed, sitting up and tucking her knees in. She looked up at Elfman like a lost child seeking help. It was pitiful to see the Titania fallen like this, but Elfman was her nakama and she knew she could trust him not to kick her while she was down. "Please don't make me go out there, Elfman. I'm so scared, I don't want to see him. I thought I could prepare myself, but...I'm just so scared." Erza placed her head in her hands and stifled a sob.
Elfman could feel rage building up inside him like a tropical storm. "Are you kidding me?" he practically screamed, causing Erza to look up in alarm. "You are Erza, the Titania of Fairy Tail! Fairy Tail mages don't hide from fear in corners, and neither to real men! No, real men and Fairy Tail mages fight their fears until they can beat them down and never be afraid again! That's what real men and Fairy Tail mages do!"
Erza gaped up at Elfman. "Fight my fears...?"
"Yeah!" Elfman roared, galvanized into manliness (or his opinion of it) by his speech. "Real men fight with their fists!"
Erza was too busy basking in her epiphany to notice him.
_/T.T\_
Natsu shifted awkwardly beside Jellal, who was staring down at his hands with the look of someone helplessly and desperately lost. After searching nearly every inch of the guild, they still hadn't found Erza. Jellal was beginning to lose hope that he would ever talk to her again. Had he really cut her that deep? To the point where she couldn't even look at him without taking flight?
"Don't worry, man. She'll come around eventua - " Natsu began, but he was interupted by a loud crash from the back of the guild. Everyone turned to lay eyes on Erza; furocious and ready for battle. Elfman quivered by her side, utterly confused by her sudden change in behavior. One minute she was breaking, and the next she was swarmed with a menacing aura and shoving him aside to get to the door.
She raised one gauntlet-adorned hand and pointed directly at Jellal, glaring intensely. "Jellal Fernandes," she boomed with authority, "I, Erza Scarlet, hereby formally challenge you to a duel!"
Jellal blinked in perplexity, pointing at his self. "Me?"
"Yes, you!"
"Why?" Jellal inquired, cocking his head to the side imploringly. Was this the way all Fairy Tail members handled their issues? By fighting it out with their fists? It seemed rather...barbaric, if you asked him. Primal.
"Don't ask why!" Natsu interjected, yanking him off the bench and pushing him towards the ominous Erza. "She's asking you to do something for her! Just do it!"
Jellal nodded and cleared his throat as he looked at the passionate Titania. "I accept."
Erza smiled, and drew her sword.
"WAIT!" Master Makarov cried, silencing everyone with his thunderous tone. "Take this outside. We can't afford another new guild right now."
Muttering and mumbling, the entirety of Fairy Tail shuffled out of the guild and onto a convenient grassy field located right outside Magnolia. They surrounded Erza and Jellal in a circle, already attempting to make hasty bets on the winner. Jellal stared at this determined Erza in awe, marveling at her confidence and her shining armor and her long scarlet hair that blew in the wind. She was magnificent.
Likewise, Erza was trying to control her haggard breathing. Elfman was right; she needed to prove to herself that she could defend herself against Jellal, physically and emotionally. There was no better way to do that than a fight. When two people fought, it was like a desperate dance for survival. You got a glance into the person's soul. Still, the sight of Jellal's composed figure in the sunlight was enough to send both chilling fear and burning desire through her.
Mirajane stepped between the two fighters, glancing between them curiously. This ought to be interesting...without further adieu, she raised her hand in a referee type manner and announced, "Fight!"
_/T.T\_
There was nothing primal about fighting Erza. She was stunning when she used her powers, and each blow was powerful and destructive. Jellal often found himself transfixed by her gracefulness and knocked to the ground soon after. A few minutes in, it was easy to see who was going to win this fight. That didn't mean Jellal went easy on her, though. He fought his hardest, but Erza seemed to have something to fight for.
Finally, Jellal was thrown to the ground and he couldn't get back up. He raised one hand in the air, signalling Erza to stop. "I give up," he wheezed, sitting up on his elbows and shooting her a grin. "I'm completely drained of magic power, Erza. You win."
There were cheers all about, but Erza only had eyes for the one she had beaten. She was almost drained too, but that didn't stop her from grinning back at him. Jellal was defeated, and he was hers again. She had nothing to worry about anymore. She probably didn't have anything to worry about before. And, although the thought of seeing him every day still made her stomach flip, she felt that she could officially accept him as one of Fairy Tail now.
She exquipped back into her usual armor and walked over to him, holding out a hand to help him up. The feel of Jellal's hand sent a thrill through her entire body, but she ignored it. Just because Jellal was good again didn't mean that she wanted to go back to the way things were before the evil twisted him; that is, warped and complicated. Jellal didn't have any memories, so they could start anew. This battle was a representation of that. A new beginning, a new story entirely.
Erza looked earnestly into his dark eyes and asked, "Would you like to go get some cake?"
"Certainly, my treat," Jellal laughed. Cake...he never would have guessed that Erza had a soft spot for cake of all things. He wanted to learn everything about her, and he wanted her to teach him about himself. He was starting from the foundation, but he was going to build a strong relationship with this woman. He could feel it in his veins as he walked back to the guild with her, leaving the others behind. He stared at her peaceful face as she closed her eyes and breathed in the cool evening air. He wanted Erza Scarlet to always shine brighter than her armor, to soar to the greatest heights like a shooting star and never worry about plummeting back down to earth. He wanted to love her, and he wanted her to love him. He didn't know how long that would take, or if it would ever really happen. But he had plenty of time to figure all that out.
Right now, he was just focused on treating Erza to her cake.
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