A/N: I was feeling kinda down so I decided to write this. Sorry if there are any mistakes. Originally I was going to do an extra scene, so if you want to read it let me know and maybe I'll do a part two. Enjoy!
It was raining that day. She remembered it well.
The day started out just like any other. She woke up, requiped into her armor, then went to the guild for her regular breakfast of Mirajane's strawberry cheesecake. Since it was raining, the other members of her team probably wouldn't want to go on a mission, but they would choose one for tomorrow so they could leave bright and early. It was Erza's turn to pick the mission. Upon entering the guild, a chorus of "Good morning!"s and "Hey Erza!"s echoed through the quiet guild hall-it was always quiet whenever Erza walked in. But soon after sitting down, the regular chitchat and occasional argument or fight swept over the guild and ended the silence. Usually Erza would get annoyed and break up fights, but today she felt...different. Like something was off. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.
But she didn't need to sit around thinking for long. Suddenly, the giant doors to the guild flew open and there stood a pair of soldiers, from the Council. Their white and blue capes flowed behind them as they walked in the guild as if it were natural for them to be there. The guild's atmosphere shifted. Everyone became silent and worried for what was to come next. One of the men gazed around the room until his eyes landed on her.
"Erza Scarlet," the man said in a crisp, ordering tone. If the guild was silent before, it was now a barren wasteland. Not a single sound could be heard as Erza slowly rose from her chair and paced toward the soldiers.
"We need to speak privately with you," the other man said when Erza approached. As she followed them to one of the smaller rooms of the guild, Erza's mind became panicked. Her mind raced, her thoughts were jumbled, she had no idea what had happened. "Sit down, please," one man said as he gestured to a chair. She hesitantly obeyed and took a seat. She tried to calm herself down, but she knew that there was nothing that could be done.
She watched their mouths move open and close but she stopped hearing sound after the first sentence they had spoken. Her entire world collapsed, time froze, if she were standing she probably would've fallen over. Only one thought was going through her mind now.
Dead.
He is dead.
Jellal is dead.
But that's impossible! He couldn't just be gone like that! Not after everything he-they-have been through. She would never get to see him again. Never get to hear his voice say those three little words that she's wanted to hear all her life. She would never feel his arms around her. Would never see his smile ever again. He was gone. Just like that. They killed him because of his crimes. Crimes that he never would have intended to do. Crimes that he devoted his entire life to atone for. His life that was gone now.
The two men left the room, the same facial expressions, the same walk, the same confidence that they walked in with still shown. They didn't care that he was gone. Maybe they were even happy.
Erza sat completely still; her back was frozen to her chair. First came the shock, then came the grief. She ran out of the back door of the guild where no one could see or hear her. She ran out to the forest and collapsed onto the ground. The water poured, and poured, drenching her entire body along with the scarlet hair that he loved so much. She looked to the sky. The rain mixed with her tears and she realized that the sky was crying too. Mourning the loss of someone who should not have died.
She stayed in the forest long enough for the rain to clear up and her tears to dry. But the pain stayed there.
That was exactly one year ago. Some people say that time heals all wounds, but they're just optimistic people who've probably never dealt with this kind of loss. Erza woke up, like any other day, but she didn't get out of bed. She didn't requip into her armor or go to the guild hall. Not today.
She heard a familiar tapping noise. Slow at first, but then it got faster and louder. She looked out her window already knowing what she was going to see. The rain seemed to be pouring harder than it had any other day for the past year. And for the first time in one year, Erza allowed herself to be like the sky. She held her head up high and let the rain fall once again.
