A/N: Before you think that I stole this from YouTube, I didn't. I'm that person with the username 'BavarianDonut222'. Lame name, huh? Ohohoho.
"Erza has been locking herself up in her room for days." Lucy said as she blinked.
Gray rested his chin on his right hand as he swirled his glass in a bored manner.
"I've decided! I'm going to bring Erza out of her room!" Natsu exclaimed.
He stood up, his face firing up. Gray glanced at him and diverted his attention to his glass again. Natsu rushed to 2nd floor despite his awareness that non-S-class mages aren't allowed there.
"Hey, Natsu! You might just anger Erza!" Lucy exclaimed.
But Natsu is already far in the 2nd floor.
"Hey, Gray, aren't you going to do something about it?" Lucy asked, diverting her attention to him.
"I don't care." Gray murmured under his breath.
Lucy did a questioning look and spoke again, "The truth is not only Erza is the one acting weird since we came back from the mission about Oracion Seis. You are acting weird too lately, Gray."
"I was?" Gray asked half-heartedly. "I'm acting normal."
"You aren't." Lucy said.
Just then, an explosion was heard upstairs. Lucy automatically thought that it's connected to Natsu. Or Erza. They saw Natsu walking on the stairs, starting to go down. He's frowning, probably because of Erza.
"Didn't I tell you?" Lucy said.
"Man, Erza is so grumpy. Is she experiencing something about adolescence?" Natsu said as he sat down beside Lucy, slumping on the chair.
Lucy's sweat dropped and said, "That's not probably it."
"What's with her? She's been like that since our last mission. If she doesn't come back to normal soon, I'll be forced to go on a job without her." Natsu said grumpily.
Lucy is obviously against that. "Natsu, I wouldn't want to go on a job if we're not complete. I guess that applies to you too, right? And, Gray?"
Lucy looked at Gray to get an approval.
"I don't really care." Gray said.
Lucy finally made up her mind that something is DEFINITELY wrong.
"Aw, Lucy, these droopy eyes over here said that he doesn't care. It appears that we can go on a job after all." Natsu said.
Lucy pursed her lips.
What the heck is going on? Erza is locking herself up and Gray is acting so grumpy!
Lucy wants to ask what the matter is but she thinks that he won't give in that easy. She tried anyway.
"Gray, what's the matter?" Lucy asked.
Natsu did a confused expression.
"Nothing. Didn't I tell you already that I'm acting normally?" Gray said, not even looking at Lucy.
"Do you know why Erza is like that?" Lucy asked.
"I don't know. Why should I know anyway?" Gray said. "Maybe you can ask that Jellal guy about it."
Right now, I can here Sherry shouting "It is love!"
Lucy, even if not gaining a boyfriend even once, had a feeling that Gray is… jealous… Well, Lucy's quite the reader, you know.
"Did something happen during the Oracion Seis mission?" Lucy asked.
"Nothing. I was with you guys all the time, wasn't I?" Gray replied.
Natsu is just listening on in the conversation, not being his usual destructive and loud self.
"That's true but…" Lucy didn't finish her sentence anymore.
This is all futile.
I wonder… Should I ask Erza instead?
Lucy excused herself as Gray and Natsu started bickering at each other. Again. Lucy told Mirajane that she will just go upstairs to talk to Erza and not to steal an S-Class Job poster.
She knocked on Erza's room.
"Who's there? Is it you again, Natsu?" Lucy heard Erza say.
"N-No. It's Lucy here." Lucy said.
Erza didn't respond anymore.
"Um, can I come in?" Lucy asked.
Erza thought about it for a while but later on, she came up with an approval. Lucy felt happy about the permission. She slowly opened the door and went inside Erza's room. Erza is in her pajamas while sitting on her bed.
She's hugging her knees to her chest.
"Erza, what's wrong?" Lucy asked.
Erza didn't answer her question. Lucy fell silent. And thus, a dead air started.
Lucy decided to speak again. "Erza, why are you locking yourself up in your room?"
Erza gazed at her. "Jellal…"
Lucy did a questioning look but then returned to her serious face again.
"Do you know why Erza is like that?" Lucy asked.
"I don't know. Why should I know anyway?" Gray said. "Maybe you can ask that Jellal guy about it."
"Jellal? What happened to him?" Lucy asked.
Erza hugged her knees tighter and murmured, "Please leave me alone…"
"I can't, Erza. I have to help you. As a fellow guild member, teammate and friend." Lucy said.
"Just leave… Please…" Erza said.
Lucy didn't budge. A teardrop fell from Erza's eye. Then, another. Then, another.
"Lucy, I don't want anyone seeing me like this… Please, just leave…" Erza said.
"No. Not now that I saw you crying. You're obviously problematic." Lucy said.
Erza continued to cry on her knees. Lucy remained silent.
"Are you… sure that you want to know…?" Erza asked.
"…Of course." Lucy said.
"Jellal…" Erza started. "He's going to die soon…"
"Huh?" Lucy said, not believing her ears. "How?"
Was all she could say. If you were Lucy, what will you say anyway?
She sniffed. "Just when… Just when I met him again… He will be taken from me so soon…"
Lucy asked, "How will he die? No, most probably, how did you know for sure?"
Erza looked at Lucy as her tears fall down from her eye. "The Council… gave him an execution order…"
"What?" was all Lucy could say.
Erza continued crying. Lucy sat beside her. "Erza. Who is Jellal for you?"
Lucy is not completely thinking straight when she asked this. I mean, why the heck would someone ask something like this when talking about death and dying?
Erza looked at Lucy in a questioning way. "Jellal… I… I loved him…"
"Loved?" Lucy repeated. "Mind changing the verb into present tense?"
Somehow, for readers, the sentence Lucy just said destroyed the serious atmosphere.
"Why would I…? It's true that I loved him… I don't have feelings for him anymore or whatsoever…" Erza said, wiping her tears.
"Really? So, why are you moping here, all alone?" Lucy asked.
From where did Lucy get the courage to ask the almighty Titania these questions will remain unknown.
"I don't know…" Erza replied, her tears came into a halt.
"When the time comes that you will feel depressed, all you need is a trustworthy company. I swear." Lucy said and smiled.
Erza smiled back at her. "Thanks… Lucy…"
Gray's POV
Erza has been locking herself up for god-knows-how-long because of one reason. It's because of that guy – Jellal Fernandes.
I hate that guy. I really do. Just a mere mention of his name angers me. How dare he make Erza cry?
And most of all, Erza cries – all by herself. It's all because of that guy Erza's forced to hide herself. Like, when she's sad, she will not be willing to tell anyone.
She handles everything herself. I know that even if it's her, she's still a human, a girl, who can reach limits too. Erza's trapped in the past because of him – just because of him. He caused her a lot of troubles, yet Erza still sheds her precious tears for someone as horrible as he.
Know what, that guy doesn't deserve Erza's tears. Or Erza herself. Erza's affection should go to someone who will take care of her; someone who will not hurt her; someone who will never ever make her cry; someone who will protect her.
Affection? Oh, didn't you know yet? It's so obvious that Erza likes that stupid guy. I mean, what did she ever see in that guy? That guy who makes her cry?
It's so ironic, isn't it? Anyway, I'm pretty sure that Erza isn't a masochist so I really can't see a reason for her to like that stupid excuse for a life.
It annoys me to know the truth. Erza is a great woman, beauty, brains, name them, she got them. She's so perfect. Well, I know that there's no such thing as perfect but Erza… She's close to being perfect.
She got flaws too. Well, anyone does, right? Her flaws – she can't get over that guy, she cries for someone who hurts her and she can't open up even to her own friends and guild members.
I can understand it when she cannot open up to ALL of the Fairy Tail members but… How about me…? I'm always there for her… But I think she never even considered me as something more than a guild mate or a team member.
I would be happy to know if she considers me as a friend or best friend but that guy… How does she look at him? Is he really that great… compared to me…? What does he have that I don't…?
Why is it that despite the things he has done, she can still overlook it like that…? Does she really LOVE him…?
Am I… going to suffer from… unrequited love… forever…?