Author's Note: Hi guys! At first I didn't know that I would write a story. However, it changed, so now I'm publishing the first chapter ^^ I hope you will like it, although, English is not my native language and it might not be the best. You are welcomed to rate and review. Please, let me know if it's good enough ;D

This story is dedicated to my wonderful friend, who helped me a lot. Thank you soooo much, SimplyIsabelleS ! :3

I don't own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does :)

„Seeking For Answers"

Chapter 1

"It was a tiring day. Well… Not as much as it was yesterday, of course not… More like a mental torture…" – thought Erza, while walking through the Crocas alleys. "Today is a break from the Games. It was supposed to be a rest…"

She was walking and watching shops, cafes, bars and all the other attractions that the town had to offer. She was not interested in anything, even her precious strawberry cakes. Only a tub filled with warm water and a soft bed could help her. There was something preoccupying her thoughts all the time. It was no one else but Jellal. She liked dreaming about their meeting at the beach and wondering how it would have ended if he hadn't pushed her away. She really wanted to know his true intentions. Was he protecting her? Or simply rejecting? She knew that Jellal's fiancé was a fake. Only one look into his eyes could tell her how lonely he was. But… if he was lonely, then why couldn't he just be with her? Oh right… It's probably because of his guilt and so called 'redemption'. Titania had respected his decision of being only friends, although it hurt her. Their relationship was more than complicated. It was like a puzzle to solve. Always, when she was getting close to the resolve, he needed to surprise her and confuse again. Every step forward caused three steps back. She didn't like that. Not at all. But what could she do? She was so helpless when it came to love. She sighed, knowing that her body was in bad condition, just like her mind… Why was that? Oh, because of a who had unexpectedly appeared today in Ryuuzetsu Land. He should not have done that. It was not hard to get exposed there, it was so reckless of him to do so. But finally they had some free time, just to have fun. It was rare in their relationship, so she kinda enjoyed it. She even had to admit that his body was a bit distracting…. Titania was never as pleased with seeing a bare men's chest as she was that day… It worried her. She was obviously falling for Jellal more than she thought. It became a needy and heavy desire, which had to be completed… That was why Erza was really afraid of their next meeting. After all, he has touched the most intimate parts of her body! And not only with his hands!

She shook her head to get rid of her thoughts and looked around. Fiore's capital seemed pretty huge to her. Anyone could get lost here… Hey… Where was she going anyway?

"Damn. Where am I?!" She asked herself, trying to recognize the place she has been in then.

The redhead did not have any idea where should she go to find her dorm. When Erza exited the Ryuuzetsu Land, she was so focused on running away from there that she couldn't think about reality, and more importantly – on where she was running. Really?! Was she that afraid of even talking with him? It was simply, stupidly, ridiculously foolish. Scarlet looked around the area and all she saw were buildings, shops and streets. Exactly the same as everywhere.

"Where should I go now?" She wondered, desperately looking around. It was almost evening and sun was about to go down.

The requip mage was running through the alleys, trying to recognize some of the shops. She could ask someone for help, but she was too afraid of doing that. Yes, afraid. Great Titania did not really like talking with strange people. Especially in the evening. She was socially awkward.

While looking at the shops, she caught a glimpse of something. That view simply shocked her. A snowy white color…. Erza knew too well what was that. Something she had wanted since her childhood. Wherever she saw it or heard about it, she was losing control. Why did it make her act like that? Because it was a dress... A wedding dress… Scarlet immediately rushed towards it. For her, it was something beautiful and mesmerizing. Tears escaped from her eyes and a firm blush covered her cheeks as she was watching the dress, dumbfounded. Her heart started to create a rapid rhythm, which she really thought everyone could hear. How could it be so…. Wonderful? And breathtaking? She was staring at it for about ten minutes, did not even bother that people looked at her weirdly. Titania has realized now what was the reason of her sudden change of attitude. She wanted to… get married.

"Erza?" Kind female's voice waked her from her trance.

She turned to the source of the voice only to find her formal rival, standing in front of her and looking worried. The girl was wearing a long black dress, which was complete opposite to the one she just saw. Yet, she looked great. As always.

The Fairy Queen found herself crying, so she immediately wiped away her tears, not wanting her guildmate to notice. Still, the woman had noticed, but before she could react, Erza hushed her with a question.

"Mira… What are you doing here?" the redhead quickly asked, quite relived, though. She was not alone anymore.

The oldest Strauss did not seem to be in a good mood as well. However, she smiled kindly and crossed arms on her chest, sending Erza a teasing glare.

"I should be the one asking." She said "Everyone wondered where you are. What are you doing so far from the dorms? We were planning on doing a party for every friendly guild here. But, since you were not there… we postponed it on later"

"Party?" Thought Erza. She couldn't remember hearing about any party. They did not tell her before she had escaped from the Ryuuzetsu Land…

"Is that so?" She frowned a bit. She was not in the mood for that. "Sorry Mira, but I don't feel like partying today."

Scarlet looked away for a while, as if she was searching for someone. "I wonder where he is now…" She thought again, still staring somewhere indefinable. It was weird. One part of her wanted to see him. But the other would do anything just to avoid the bluenet.

Mira quickly spotted her friend's sad expression and smiled sadly, knowing what could she be thinking about.

"Erza… Is everything alright? You don't seem well… Something bothers you, doesn't it?" Asked Strauss hoping for her friend to open up a bit. They were not too close, yet they still had some kind of strong bond. Was it because of their previous rivalry? Probably…

"Mira… It's nothing… Really" Lied Erza, sending her friend a forced smile.

"You were crying over a wedding dress… It's not normal…" finally said white headed girl.

She was right. Crying over little thing was not normal. At least for Titania. Was she so desperate to the point of crying over a stupid wedding dress?! Wait, scratch that. It was a beautiful wedding dress.

"Okay, you got me." Admitted Scarlet, looking at the ground gloomily. Mirajane knew her very well. Better than she thought.

Silence fell on them, as they both were thinking about something. White headed girl tried to come up with a good idea of making her friend feel better. She had something to tell Erza, but she was afraid that she would hurt Titania even more than she already was. Luckily, she had more preferable plan.

"Hey! What about a strawberry cake? It will surely cheer you up!" Suggested Mirajane, hoping that Scarlet would not be able to resist.

A little blink of approval appeared in the redhead's eyes. But instead of agreeing, she said something else.

"I don't think so Mira…"

Even a strawberry cake could not do and Strauss felt simply helpless. But then she thought about it again, and improved her plan a bit. She needed to tell her what she had wanted to say earlier. This time, the Requip mage would agree. She had to.

"I see... Well, I wanted to buy you as many cakes as you would want to eat. Besides, I've had a talk with… Mystogan, when you abruptly exited the Ryuuzetsu Island. It's not really important, more like something you should know… But, If you're not in the mood for the gossips, then I guess… see you later…" stated Mirajane, as she bid goodbye to her friend and started to walk in the other direction.

Erza's eyes wide opened. "J-jellal?! Something I should know?" Erza immediately changed her mind and ran towards her formal rival.

"Mira, wait !" She shouted, wanting to know what another S-class mage's had on her mind.

In an instant, white headed girl stopped and turned to her friend. She knew it would work. From the beginning Mirajane expected that the problem, which made Erza act as she acted, was him. Jellal Fernandes… Previously, he was with her in the Fairy Tail B team, pretending to be Mystogan. He was not in it too long, but she had some kind of opportunity to get to know him better. In her opinion, they both seemed to like each other. Jellal did not talk too much and he often looked like he was swinging in the clouds. While doing that, she always found him staring at Erza all the time. Even Juvia, Laxus and Gajeel had noticed that. One time, Strauss had wanted to play a matchmaker and had asked Jellal about Erza. He had said nothing, but "She's only my childhood friend". He had been so convincing that Mira could have believed in his words. Yet, she could not have believed the look in his eyes, which had told her the truth. She was more than just a childhood friend to him. However, they both were hurt, because they could not be with each other. Even one simple talk was a blessing for them. The little demon felt sorry for her friends, so she decided to set them up. Aside from the lack of time, Erza and Jellal had improved their relationship and that was probably the matter in Erza's bad mood case. The Ryuuzetsu Land… Mira saw them together there, doing kinda perverted things. Why the heck had he groped her breasts if they were only friends? And… Why had she not slapped him for that? It indeed looked like an accident, but… a desired accident. Strauss was more than sure that the two had a strong chemistry. Unfortunately, she did not know what had kept them in their distance, much to her curiosity. She really wanted to know… Mira liked those kind of things.

"What, Erza? Did you change your mind?" She asked, smirking and feeling satisfied because of her victory. It was easy. Wherever Jellal's name (or either Mystogan's) was mentioned, Erza was going nuts.

The redhead crossed arms on her chest and looked at her formal rival with a defeated expression.

"It's not like I want to know what Mystogan had said" She mentally facepalmed herself for letting this words slip out of her mouth. "I mean… Okay, I got lost here!" She declared, frowning and staring at the ground. At that moment, she looked like a child who did something bad and had to be punished by her parents. It was a really funny view.

But, one thing confused Mirajane. How could she have gotten lost if her dorm was close to the Ryuuzetsu Land?! Where had she been going?! Or what had she been thinking about?! Oh… Answer could be easier than she thought…

"Lost? Erza… How could you get lost?! Your dorm is even closer to the Ryuuzetsu Land than mine!" She laughed "Oh, my… I'm really worried about you... Now, come with me, to the bakery. I was supposed to buy a cake for my friend. I can also get you one if you want..." stated white headed.

"Only one?!" blurted out Titania. She loved strawberry cakes so much that she was not pleased with less than two.

Strauss laughed at Erza's reaction. She totally expected that from her. The demon knew about Scarlet's obsession over strawberry cakes since… always? Yet, she did not really know why it was so dear to her. It's only a cake…

"Okay Erza, two cakes." Sighed Mira. "But, in one condition….. You'll tell me the truth…. Deal?" She Asked, glaring at Erza with her convincing look and encouraging, sweet, friendly smile. Was it a manipulation? Or simple kindness?

The readhead started to think it over. Two cakes are really tempting, but…. If she told Mira what was the problem, the next day literally everyone would already know about it. Why? Oh… because Mira couldn't choke in. She loved messing up with love life of her friends so much. Why then did not she have her own?! Still… the cakes were sooo tempting. Oh great. It's the end of her.

"Deal." Agreed Titania after several minutes of thinking.

White headed jumped in excitement and started to leading the way to the nearest bakery. It was quite a long way, but none of them was bothered. They were absorbed in a talk, or rather unavoidable confessions. At first, Erza was afraid of telling her friend about the feelings she held for Jellal, so she remained quiet, waiting for Mirajane to speak.

"C'mon Erza… Tell me, what's the matter." Insisted her formal rival. She obviously wanted to help her red headed friend.

After a moment of hesitation, Titania finally gave up. Even if Mira would not keep it as a secret, it did not really matter, since everyone probably knew about her weakness for Jellal, including him…

"Okay… The matter is that… I…" She started shyly and kept on walking along with her guildmate. "I care about Mystogan… "

Fairy Tail's barmaid was not surprised with Erza's confession. She actually wanted her to say that, but expected it to be a little more… accurate? Scarlet cared about all her friends, yet, Mystogan was not like all of them. He was more than just a friend. And the white headed will make Erza admit it.

"Tell me something I don't know.." Mira smirked. It reminded Titania of the good old times of their rivalry.

"Hey ! You're not being yourself !" Readhead chuckled. "Where is the kind Mira? I miss her already…"

They both laughed as they were getting closer to the bakery. It was only about a quarter mile away.

"Erza…" Mirajane begun, trying to find proper words. "Are you… In love with him?" She asked, this time turning to her friend and looking her straight in the eyes. It was a serious look. Like… It was something important for the oldest Strauss… Like… Jellal's life was important or something… Wait. What if she had a crush on him?! No! It could not be true! Jellal did not even talk to her! Wait again. What if he did?! Oh God, she's becoming another Juvia. But… They indeed had been talking and Mira said that she should know about it… Oh no…

"Don't try to tell me you like him!" Screamed the requip mage. "He's mine!" she yelled, before she could even realize what had just slipped out of her mouth. Oh God…

The demon looked at her, shocked about what she had just heard. But on the other hand… She made Erza admit her feelings! Another victory.

"Umm…. You're not serious, right?" She chuckled lightly. "Don't worry Erza… I'm not going to steal him from you! I…. I actually asked you about him, because as I said earlier, I was talking with Mystogan about you and wanted to know how do you feel about him… Since I already know his opinion…"

"Oh really?! Please tell me, what did he say?" Erza screamed in excitement. She really needed to know. His feelings were sometimes difficult to figure out. Especially with that stupid mask.

"Calm down Erza… It's…"

Bump! Before she could finish her sentence, she bumped onto someone. They bounced from each other and Mira almost fell on the ground. Before that could happen, the man caught her with his hand and accidentally pulled a little closer. A tall man, who was wearing a long, dark coat and a navy blue golf underneath it. He had red pants and black shoes. Blonde hair and a scar on his eye. It was no one else, but…. Laxus.

"Hey, watch out next time, Mira. It could have ended much worse…." Stated the grandson of Makarov, still holding her in his arms.

"Laxus?" Asked surprised Erza. What was he doing here? She thought that it was too far away from the dorms and no one would bother to come here. Besides, why was he embracing Mirajane? It looked… weird. Like they were in love or something.

He turned his head to see Titania. "Erza, what are you doing here?" He blurted out, surprised and a bit abashed. He had to get rid of her. Quickly. The lightening dragon slayer did not have any idea how would he do that, until he recalled something. "Oh, and Mystogan told me that he is searching for you like the whole Crocas. Seriously. You should meet him, he has something important to say."

When she heard those words, her heart started to thump. She didn't know that Jellal was so desperate to find her. It made her lose her balance. The man she was avoiding had been looking for her… She had to calm down… Do not let her emotions win… But… It was really hard to stay sane, hearing, that Jellal wanted to see her…

Before the accident in the Ryuuzetsu Land they could talk normally. After they had done some odd and obscene things there, her body was trembling when she even heard his name. Jellal, of course had not done it on purpose, yet, she still was anxious. It seemed like her feelings for him developed. Not only in a stronger love, but also ac intense desire. At all costs, Erza wanted to avoid their meeting, because she was afraid that if she only heard his voice, she would crave for his luscious lips and strong hands… And that was not right. He would not allow her to even touch him and break a poor Scarlet's heart… Again... What did he want from her, then?

"I-is that s-so?" She stuttered, blushing madly, having her cheeks in exactly the same color as her hair. It did not escape Laxus and Mira's attention.

"Oi Titania, you're not blushing. At all." Dreyar teased her, laughing.

Mira bashed his left arm, sending him a warning glare. Laxus was surprised, but quickly apologized to Erza. For the redhead it was something rare and unexpected. Why did he obeyed Mirajane so easily?

"What happened to you Laxus? You're tamed by Mira?" She took her revenge by telling what she just noticed. It made white headed giggle, but the blonde felt offended and quickly growled at her.

"Very funny, you little redhead brat! Better be a good girl or else I'll bring Mystogan here and you'll shut up! I don't know how he's doing it, but when the damn bluenet is around you, you're not the scary Titania anymore, haha"

She had to admit, it shocked her. Was it that obvious?! Even Laxus knew?! Well… Lately, they've been pretty good friends, so they probably talked about… some things… Maybe about her? Nah… Jellal had more important things than her. But… Laxus was a pervert. He liked to babble mainly about girls and their boobs… Ughhh…. How could Jellal be friends with him? And why exactly him?! However, she was still wondering what were the major subjects of their talks.

"What? You're speaking bullshits! Did he said something like that about me?" She asked, curious.

"Aside that he thinks you have really nice boobs and ass… nothing…"

When she heard that, she thought it was time to murder them both. Laxus for telling it to her, and Jellal for ever saying that to him! How could he do that? Her sweet, caring and gentle Jellal? Why did he say something so unseemly and naughty?! Was he not, perhaps, innocent?! And now, his opinion is screwed in her mind… But still, she felt flattered that he appreciated her assets. Although it could be a lie.

"WHAT?! You're lying! He wouldn't say that. He's a gentleman. You should learn from him!" Erza yelled, defending Jellal, but still surprised about what she had heard. Hmmm…. What if Jellal actually did not grope her by accident? She needed to know more about him, because it seems like he had changed.

Dreyar only smirked and sent her a wink.

"Okay, okay, he is a gentleman. Yet, you can't change the fact, that he's also a man. And guys are often perverts!" Grandson of Makarov laughed like he wanted to convince her of thinking differently of her childhood friend.

Mira remained silent through the whole talk, which was more similar to the quarrel. After some time, they both were tired of this, so they just fell quiet. White haired girl was the one who broke the weird silence.

"Guys, I promised you both a cake, let's just go to the café and please don't fight about such a stupid things."

For Laxus, it would be a great opportunity to have a date. He wanted to spend time with only Mirajane, though. However, he could not order Erza to go home, so he just nodded and waited for her response.

Titania was aware of that, so instead of agreeing, she said:

"Sorry, but all I want is to go home. I recognize this place, so I'll be able to find my dorm" Scarlet smiled at them and sent knowingly wink to Laxus after looking at Mira. He responded to it by smirking and bidding her goodbye. "Oh, and don't forget you owe me two cakes Mira. Have fun on your date!" She chuckled, leaving them alone.

The requip mage could swear that she heard Laxus cursing her. It was funny that he did not want to admit his liking for Mira. The redhead helped them get together and was happy for her friends. Yet, she felt a bit jealous. Erza's relationship with Jellal was still the same. They were only friends, while Titania wanted to settle down so badly. Of course, she could find another man, but that was useless since she wanted him… Her first and (as she hoped) last love.

She was walking through the more and more familiar avenues. Everything started to be clearer now. It was just easier to identify some places and shops and her way to the dorm seemed to be much shorter. But before she reached it, Scarlet's imagination began to create new possibilities about her and Jellal. Oh, how she wanted to hear his voice and look at pretty bluenet's face, yet was afraid to face him. Was it not foolish? Her heart had been very hopeless lately. If feelings towards the fugitive could dominate over her senses, it was not good for Erza's health. She had to forget about him and live on. But fate was too cruel and always made them cross their paths. Even so, it only caused pain of no hope for being together. What had she ever done to the world that everything in it literally was laughing mockingly at her? Titania did not know. Maybe Laxus was right. She was not so scary and invincible when it came to love. However, even if painful and unfulfilled, still, their love was…. Beautiful. Something light and heavy, so pure and tainted, close and distanced. All of those at the same time. Erza often wondered if he knew about her true feelings for him. After all, she was the one who made the first move in their (almost) kiss, by touching his cheeks tenderly. Jellal only obeyed redhead's will to kiss him. Until he pushed her away. Was the bluenet aware of a sore in poor Scarlet's heart? One part of her understood his decision, but the other could not stand it. Maybe if he defeated Zeref, Crime Sorcière and it's rules would cease to exist? It was the only reasonable answer, obviously aside of a chance that Jellal in fact did not feel anything for her. But then why was he searching for Erza? She had been more fidgety than ever. Congrats, Jellal, no one but you could make requip mage act like that.

The Fairy Queen could see her dorm now and she felt relived. Finally, some rest. She was excited about a warm bath and some blissful relax. After all, she should be in a good condition to defeat every rival tomorrow on the Grand Magic Games. Also, she had to clear her mind and focus mainly on the tournament. Which meant no stress and no effort aside the Games and… no Jellal. He was only distracting her from the most important things. When it would all end, they might spend some time together. Unless he would have to go and seek for redemption with his guild. Seek…. Something was in this word, which made Erza think about it. Was this their answer? Maybe instead… they should seek for an answer… But where?

As she was walking and obviously thinking about Jellal, her eyes spotted a dark cloaked person, who seemed to be suspicious. The unknown passed by Erza's dorm, looking at it for a while. Who the hell was that?! A thief?!

The person turned around to the side of the dorm and looked at it again. What's wrong with him or her?! It looked like something was going on. Maybe that "something" was in her dorm? Oh God…. Scarlet felt exhausted and did not have neither strength nor will to deal with any kind of trouble. Unluckily, she had to.

Suddenly, after watching redhead's dorm, cloaked creature started to run. Probably, because of a fear of what was in that dorm. What had caused that sudden escape?! Or maybe… Who?

Titania did not know why she did that, but she found herself chasing the mysterious being. It scared the crap out of that person, who turned out to be a women, which Erza recognized by the way she was running.

"Hey you! Stop!" shouted Scarlet, doing her best to catch the girl.

It really was strange, normally the redhead would not be running after an unknown person for no reason. There was something evil about this girl and Erza was sure of it. Dark aura… And mysterious behavior… Was it possible for her to be the source of a mysterious magic that Jellal had been searching for? What if the bluenet wanted to talk with Scarlet about that girl? She had to do everything to catch her and bring to Jellal. He would be proud if it truly was the source!

"I said stop!" Erza yelled again, demandingly. The girl was running faster and faster, which made Titania almost lose a sight of her. However, redhead did not give up and also increased her speed.

All of the sudden, the cloaked girl disappeared in kinda looking like portal, magical big hole.

"Damn it!" Cursed The Fairy Queen, panting heavily. "What the heck was that?" She wondered and just remembered that she could have used her Flight Armor to be faster and catch that person. Then why did she not do that?! More like she could not use her magic near that girl. Some kind of protection? It had to be a great mage. Otherwise, it would not be that hard to catch and defeat her. Especially for an S-class mage. Something really was wrong…

"I should go back to my dorm and check if everything's okay." Thought Erza, while quickly heading there.

She had to admit, the today's incidents worried her. Everything seemed to be weird and unexpected. She did not know what was the cause of all of those. Maybe the answer was in her dorm? What… Or who has been there to scare the powerful, cloaked girl so much?

Erza felt a chill down her spine when she was getting closer to the dorm. For the first time since the Games she was scared. The redhead did not have any idea what should she expect. She was now sure that Jellal wanted to talk about mysterious magic when he was searching for her. "Where is he now?" She wondered. What if something bad happened to him?! No! It was impossible! He was a wonderful mage… He was….. Her hero…. And a hero was (obviously) always winning. But then, that question which had been haunting her was 'What if?' And she started to worry again.

Running at the highest speed and requipping to her Flight Armor, she was nearer her dorm. Finally, she reached it and with a little bit of fear, she stepped inside.

It already was the evening and the sun had gone down, which made the dorm quite dark. Erza felt like in some kind of horror, but quickly encouraged herself and tried to find anything. After all, that girl could be a plain thief with a teleportation magic. And maybe she had not done or stolen anything from Erza's apartment?

Titania was still in her Flight Armor, so she prepared herself for a possible sudden attack. Yet, there was not any. The redhead, wanting to see everything clearly, decided to turn on the lights. "Okay… Calm down…. You will do it" She tried to comfort herself, reaching for the switch. "Three….Two …." Erza counted in her mind. When she thought: "One !", she rapidly turned on the light.

The view she spotted was enough to give her a heart attack. Scarlet totally did not expect it! She was aware of everything. A thief, a murderer, everyone and everything! But not that…

"J-jellal?" She stuttered, while her heart was beating faster than ever.

And there he was, sitting on Erza's bed and smirking teasingly at her…. "It's going to be a long night….." She thought.

So, how was it? Good or bad? Should I continue? ;D