The day before Christmas, Erza Scarlet-Fullbuster decided to stay in the Cancer Awareness: support group center with the cancer patients. She did not feel like going home this time, especially it was the day before Christmas and she should be spending her Christmas eve at home. It was unusual for her to feel like not going home during a special occasion. All she knows is that she just want to spend this day with her cancer patients and disabled patients at the hospital later.
As she roamed her eyes around the place, all she can see are those fatally-ill patients. Poor them, she thought. If only I could do anything to save them from dying.
Erza has been a very compassionate person ever since she was a kid. She once dreamt of being a doctor to cure those ill people, and now she is about to become one in just a few more years after she finish her residency.
"Dr. Erza," she was awakened by her thoughts when she heard a husky voice beside her. "I picked these for you", a 14-year-old boy said and gave her a handful of different kinds of flowers. "Oh, Romeo. Thank you!" She gasped in surprise, showing appreciation.
"Do you like them?" Romeo, 14-year-old boy with brain cancer, asked. "Of course, I do. But Romeo...I told you that I'm too old for you already." She said, giggling. "You know...I think you should give these to Wendy instead."
Romeo suddenly glanced at the blue-haired girl along with the other cancer patients. "To her?" He wondered as his face turned red.
"Oh, come on, Romeo, you like her, don't you? Giving flowers to me won't hide your feelings for her." Erza chuckled.
The boy could just scratch his head in confusion of what he should do and follow. "But father told me that I'm too young for love. He told me I should wait for the right time for me to fall in love."
Erza sighed, "Romeo,". "When is that perfect time you're saying? You could lose Wendy anytime, right? And we could lose you anytime if the operation will not be successful. I suggest you tell her you like her, before it's too late." She said, giving the ill boy a smile. "Okay, I know that you should follow your father than me. But it's just an advice. For me, with Wendy and your condition, I think there should be no boundary in expressing feelings."
The boy looked back at the young beautiful bluenette girl who was terribly ill as him." Until, he finally thought of a decision. "Okay, I'll do it." Romeo sighed scratching his head nervously, then he took the flowers from her hands back. Erza along with a smile on her face, watched as Romeo nervously walked towards to Wendy Marvel, a 13-year-old girl with stage three lung cancer.
Erza couldn't stop herself from smiling as she watched Romeo. "Uhh...Wendy...these are...for you." He said shyly to the girl as he showed those flowers for her. The other ill teenagers squealed like a die-hard fan girl, more like as if they're watching a live celebrity couple showing affection to each other in public.
"Umm...thank you." The bluenette smiled at her as she took the flowers from him, with her face as red as a tomato already.
"What's going on, Erza?", asked Lucy Heartfilia, a famous celebrity, broadway actress, part-time singer and a model, who happened to be a volunteer at the cancer support group and Erza's best friend since childhood. "Oh," Lucy gasped surprisingly as she spotted the two. The blonde couldn't help, but smile, reminding of herself how she found her first and last love Natsu Dragneel who's currently her fiancé.
"They're cute, but don't you think they're too young?" Lucy asked, still wondering if young love for cancer patients are acceptable or reasonable rather. Erza started to wonder as well. "I know, but...with their case right now, we're not sure if the perfect time for their love will come." Erza said with a blank expression in her face. "I mean, after all every one of us who was born in this world do have the right to find a special person - a love one. Especially, them, who only have limited days in this world."
The patients suddenly noticed the famous actress who just entered the room a while ago. "Miss Lucy!" They exclaimed and approached her and formed a group hug.
"Okay, okay, I know you all missed me so much! Stop I can't breath!" Lucy says, gasping for air as she was being pressed and squeezed in the middle.
Those ill people...the smiles on their faces are priceless. Even though they're dying they're still able to manage themselves to be happy during their remaining days. It was the right thing to do anyway. People like them who already know that they're on the verge of falling to their deathbed. There's no point if they feel sad, but if they spend time with their friends, family and loved ones as well as normally spending their every day lives instead.
"Do you have a new story to tell us?" The girls asked Lucy. Since Lucy gets to experience to play different point-of-views in a story as an actress, she was the one who always tells stories to those patients. She tells stories not to entertain, rather to motivate and inspire those people who could never have the chance to look and experience some obstacles in life.
"I want a high school romance!", a hopeless romantic teenage girl who stopped going to school due to cancer, squealed.
"A high school romance, seriously, Jane?" Lucy giggled, along with Erza and the others. "Will you tell us about your new stories?" Another girl requested. Followed by the others who already sat on the floor and ready to lend their ears to whomever will tell the story.
"Sure," Lucy nodded. "A new story, but I'm not the one who'll tell...Erza will." Then, the blonde smirked at her red haired friend who isn't even prepared to tell a 'based on true events' story.
The redhead's eyes widened, "What?!". Lucy giggled and even told the cancer patients, "Ask her to tell her how she met her second love, I mean great love and knight in shining armor!".
"Erza, will you tell us about your great love?" Wendy asked, sitting beside the redhead.
"But...it wasn't a nice story. It's...too painful to hear." Erza's voice cracked with an obvious sadness in it.
"Erza, come on...just tell them. You had a great high school love story." Lucy
"Yes, Erza, will you please tell us? Please?!" The cancer patients pleaded. The redhead could only sigh and nod.
"We don't mind if it's a sad one. We just want to hear. Please?" Wendy pleaded again.
Erza finally thought of an answer, "Sure, I will." Erza figured out maybe sharing it to some people she knows won't be bad at all. After all, she told herself she finally moved on over her ex-lover.
"Yay!" They all exclaimed in excitement.
"Go on, Erza. Tell them about your 'knight in shining armor'." Lucy giggled, elbowing her best friend.
"Okay..." Erza sighed before starting her story, and everyone remained silent and ready to listen to her story. Before she could even start, everything started flashing back in her mind. Those annoying, happy, sad and painful times with her so-called great love.
"I was seventeen years old when I met Jellal Fernandes. Lucy just said, he was my knight in shining armor, he is but not literally as in he wears that kind of clothes or saves me from some bad guys. Knight-in-shining armor because he was able to lead me in the right path. Because of him I was motivated to move forward and continue reaching my dreams. And because he was able to change me by taking me away from bad habits such as drinking, smoking, partying on school nights and getting into some gang fights or bets. Because if he didn't came into my life perfectly on time, something worse could have happened to me and I wouldn't be probably right now standing in front of you all. Anyways...Jellal is not the kind of man every girl wanted to have, he was different, totally different. It was the reason why I easily fell in love with him..."
Erza took another deep breath before continuing her story to the part wherein everything began. "You all know that I was just eighteen when I got pregnant and married. It was so early. You're all probably wondering why. There's actually a reason behind it. Before I got pregnant and married Gray Fullbuster who happened to be my first love...as well as the man I chose to leave for Jellal. Okay, you may all think of me as a slut and a two-timing bitch. That I broke up with Gray for another man, and now I am married to him because I let him get me pregnant. But there was a reason why. Jellal...unfortunately, I haven't heard anything about him for the past seven years. I haven't receive any letter from him. I just woke up one day and realized he's gone. I have no idea if he's dead or just playing with me, but at the small note he left in my bedroom before he was gone. He said that he always loves me and all I need to do is wait for him to come back no matter what happens. Even though I'm married, there's small part in my heart longing for him. Wishing that one day, at the perfect time, I'll cross paths with him again like when I first crossed paths with him..."
Seven years ago...