Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
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Steadfast
She looks at him with wild eyes and dishevelled hair. He has met many new faces — some have just changed with time, others are entirely foreign — however the young woman in front of him is the only stranger he sees.
Even though he's known her for as long as he can remember.
It's not entirely physical. Her hair is still fire red (not scarlet, that's somebody else, in another universe, with a story not his, but belonging to a boy and a girl with struggles that he'd rather not think about) and her eyes the same colour.
But they do not sit right with the image of the little girl with a full smile and big dreams with whom he formally associated with the name Erza Knightwalker.
During a meeting in which he is asked a hundred and one questions by his father's closest personnel before his coronation his gaze continuously flickers back to her. She doesn't seem to move, not even blink. Even in the quickest of glances he picks up on something different about her. She's taller, younger than what she looks and the fine scar running across her pale face makes his stomach flip when he truly notices the damage for the first time.
...
He gives her the promotion second hand. Leaves the important news to someone whose name he has forgotten, to someone he does not know whether to trust or not. One more cross against his name for the world's worst friend couldn't hurt. Much.
He thought it would make her happy.
The reply is fourth or fifth hand. The former Captain of the Royal Army's Second Division has earned a fearsome reputation and the people of the castle have yet to decide whether her furious "WELL HE CAN TELL ME HIMSELF," or their new ruler is scarier.
Although, eventually, she did agree to take over Pantherlily's old position.
Erza had barely turned eight years old when she told him she wanted to join the army, an idea he was not very fond of.
She was tiny and delicate and err… too cute, for a lack of a better word, to be a warrior.
"Everyone in my family is apart of the army, it's in my blood," she smiled. "I'll become strong and protect you, Jellal."
He looked directly into her eyes and said with no hesitation, "I'd take a bullet for you." The look on her little face evaporated into one of shock before morphing into a look of anger.
"Listen here," she scolded, pointing her finger like his mother would. "You are the prince. It is the job of the army to protect you, and the king, and make sure you don't get into trouble."
"No, the army protects the people of the Kingdom, Dad's got it all wrong. And the King exists for the people, not the people for the King." The look she gave him would have curdled milk. And when she started pouting after he gave her a hard glare, he couldn't help but laugh.
"That one's always had a temper," his father would say.
However, he took her little hand in his and made her promise to protect their home.
...
She never uttered a single word to him for months following his return to Edolas.
Even when they were alone in a 'meeting' about reforming the Kingdom, he did all the talking.
At some point in the years they were separated, something in Erza had snapped, changed her into a cold, cruel hunter and again, quite recently, he suspected, into something somewhat insane and filled with anger.
Her eyes were wide and pupils tiny whenever he was around. And she was trembling. Her body was racked with small trembles whenever they were close together. They probably seemed worse because she was fighting so hard to hide it, desperate not to show anyone her weaknesses or let them see her at her most vulnerable. That, or she was desperate to pounce on him and kill him.
He saw straight through it.
She didn't look healthy. The silence was killing him. He couldn't concentrate, couldn't think about anything other than her. He was scared that his only friend would end up killing herself.
"Erza," he whispered, awkwardly and timid as though she were the royal and he the out-of-place servant. Their eyes met and in that moment along with the hard rise and fall of her chest, her breathing deep, he saw the girl he used to know screaming in silence.
"Maybe you should take a break for a while. Take things easy, everything will be alright here. I'm sure Hughes or Sugarboy will watch over things," he forced a smile and reached for her hand. His fingers barely touched her, lighter than a feather, before she jerked away, protectively placing her hands in her lap.
"Jellal…" It was almost there, not even a whisper, barely mouthed, like the passing of a gust of wind. He had finally gotten her to speak. His name of all things. Although, such an achievement made his heart wrench and throat constrict. Now he was the one unable to breathe.
It was by far the most painful thing he had ever experienced.
He wanted to make things better for her, surround her with people who would love her and make her laugh and smile again and be happy…
There was only one place possible.
"Maybe you could join a guild. You would love it at somewhere like Fairy Ta–"
She stood abruptly, knocking her chair backwards which let loose an almighty screech against the hard flooring. Her face crinkled with ferocity, and he never felt any smaller in his life.
"I'd rather work for you, your majesty," she spat before leaving him alone, feeling as though he was a young boy recently arrived in Earthland again.
...
One step forward was rewarded with a thousand back.
It wasn't long before her hair grew out again, cascading down her back like a waterfall of blood as she walked through the palace. He always picked up on the little things.
He would try to be polite, say hello whenever they would pass by each other in the long, high roofed corridors (he hated it all. Everything his predecessor had built was exaggerated and overdone for no reason other than for decoration and the flaunting of power). Even the smallest of smiles, he prayed, would put a dent in her psychological armour.
Eventually, he became fascinated with wanting to know this stranger, because she obviously was a completely different person these days. The only thing familiar about her was the stubbornness she had been gifted with at birth. Or by fate.
Over time, the sharp looks of fury lessened and disappeared. But she was still uncomfortable with his presence.
He purposely arranged for her seat to be moved closer to his own in meetings. And in time he garnered the courage to request her to stay at the end once everyone had been dismissed.
Silence loomed for a moment and he used the instant to study her, pick out the details he missed, or never had the chance to notice thoroughly.
Erza's lips were parted. And her shivering was getting worse by the second so he forced himself to speak, not wanting to break her anymore.
"I'm sorry." For everything.
Her eyes were glazed over, tears posing the threat of falling.
"You left me." It was faint, and not an accusation. It was the truth.
"I know."
"You left and you never told me. You left and you never came back," she continued, voice raising. Still quiet, but enough to echo against the high walls.
Jellal deserved this. Deserved to be told the extent of his actions, to be told about how he destroyed her.
"I loved you," she pressed, pain evident as she strained the words. Of course she did. She was his best friend. His only friend. And vice-versa. But he had left without a word. Without a goodbye. He thought he was keeping her safe. She would have nothing to do with his plan, nothing that his father could use to stop him. So that evil man couldn't use her against him.
The truth was, however, he did nothing to deserve her friendship.
"I love you," he answered, not knowing what else to say.
He was waiting for her to rip into him, for her temper to snap. He had no right to call her his most important person. He had not meant the words in a romantic sense, but he wanted her, needed her, to know that he did care, that she was what he had missed the most.
She answered by crying. It was worse than any stabbing from her spear. And never had he felt so guilty before. Now, he truly was speechless, terrified that he would make things worse with the slip of his tongue.
"Why?" she screamed. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say anything? You didn't even say goodbye." There was nothing left he could say or do. Nothing would change the way she felt. Nothing would change the past.
Suddenly she was out of her seat and in front of him, long arms outstretched, feminine hands gripped on his shoulders and nails digging through his clothes and cutting skin. "And why them? You sided with that stupid guild. What is so special about them? Another world or not, I killed several of them. I hunted them down. Why shouldn't I kill you too? You're one of them."
Her breathing was rough and hard and her knees gave way. She slumped down to the floor, fingers still locked tightly and tangled in his clothes.
She was wrong though. Mystogan was a member of Fairy Tail. Jellal was not. And even then he was separated from them, never got close, hiding from them and putting them to sleep. Mystogan was the mask for a coward. Nothing more.
"What is so special about her?"
Jellal leaned down until he was directly in front of her. Put his hands on her arms she had no choice but to look up. Her lips just centimetres from his own.
"Nothing," he whispered. Not to him, anyway. Erza Scarlet was none of his business. "She's not you. Erza, I never saw her as you."
For the first time in years, he let out a sigh of relief and happiness as the little girl he once knew looked him in the eyes and smiled.
extra: it's been a while since I've written a fanfic. And my first time writing Fairy Tail. I can't wait to write more.