Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and its' characters, Hiro Mashima does.
Jellal had run down the long stair leading to the basement for ten minutes now. He was told that Erza, Gray and Natsu had went down the basement to chase two demons, and he followed them because there was this ominous feeling of something bad could have happened to Erza kept swirling in his chest.
Another five minutes of run, and he finally reached the end of the stair and met with a broken double door. Loud noises of people screaming and fists fighting from behind the door could be clearly heard.
He quickly went through the door and found Gray and Natsu being viciously attacked by two demons. He was ready to help them but was stopped by Gray before the golden ball of magic power gathered at his hand could be thrown at the enemies.
"Jellal! Leave these bastards to us and take Erza away!" Gray shouted at Jellal while barely dodging an attack from a demon. "She was tricked and fell unconscious!"
Hearing the bad news about Erza's condition, Jelall's blood ran cold immediately and his anger was being ignited. Yet, despite the strong urge he had to beat the demons for hurting Erza, he understood that he should listen to Gray's instructions and put Erza's safety as his first priority now. Suppressing his frustrations, he looked around to find the redhead and spotted her lying at the right end of the basement.
Jellal ran over to Erza, blocking an attack sent to his direction in the process. He downed on one knee when he reached her side and his heart ached, seeing the red and purple bruises on her exposed skin that was not covered by her now tattered amour. Leaning forward, he slid one arm under her back and another under her knees intending to pick her up in bridal style. But now the distance between his face and her chest was close had Jellal noticed one thing.
Erza's chest wasn't moving like his during breathing. Her chest was stillness.
Erza wasn't breathing.
Fear washed over Jellal the instance he was hit by such realization.
"No way." He gasped in panic, and realized that Gray and Natsu had severely underestimated the seriousness of Erza's injury.
Drawing back his hands from underneath Erza's body, Jellal frantically searched for her pulse at her wrist and neck but couldn't find any. He immediately placed both hands on her chest to give her chest compression.
"I won't let you die Erza!" He cried out with shaky voice; sweat gathering at his forehead and tears welling up in his eyes. "Come on, Erza, you can do it! You can't die now! There are lots of things you need to know but I haven't told you yet!"
And he just couldn't stop himself from spitting out words from his heart, words he knew Erza wanted to hear but he refused to say before her heart stopped beating, in between his desperate attempts at resuscitating her.
"I don't have any fiancée. I lied to you. I'm sorry." His hands repeatedly pressed down on her chest hard and fast.
"You are the only one I have ever fell in love with." Teardrops fell one by one from his eyes and slipped down his cheeks. "But I rejected your love because I didn't think that I deserved you in my life. I never intended to hurt you."
He stopped the compression on Erza's chest and wiped the tears away from his face.
"I'm sorry.'"
He leaned down and pressed his month against hers to force air into her lungs. He never could have imagined that having his lips on hers would be that bitter and painful. After giving two breaths, he immediately returned to work on pumping her heart.
"Erza, I love you. I really do. Do you hear me? Don't die…please…"
But after ten or so minutes, he finally accepted that neither the resuscitation method nor his confession could bring Erza back to life. Sadness and regret flooded over him, twisting and squeezing his heart with the most painful way possible. His hands dropped to his sides and his eyes fixed on Erza's dull and lifeless face; tears streaming down his face like waterfalls.
"How could you leave your beloved comrades? How could you leave me?" He asked helplessly, but soon disapproved these questions by shaking his head. "No, no. It wasn't your decision."
He slowly raised his head and looked at the demons who were still fighting with Gray and Natsu at the other end of the basement with piecing gaze; his sorrow quickly turned into rage.
"It was you who took Erza's life!" He roared while standing up. "I'll eliminate you for killing Erza!"
The news of Erza's death shocked the Fairy Tail mages immediately.
"Erza's dead?" Gray turned to face Jellal and asked disbelievingly with widened eyes while hitting one of the demons with another ice made weapon. "Are you kidding me Jellal?"
"No way Erza will die!" Natsu shouted angrily, striking another demon with fire dragon fist at the same time. "She's one of our strongest!"
"She's not breathing anymore!" Jellal wailed. He raised his right hand and started swiftly drawing a round magic spell in the air with two fingers; dark aura was forming around him at the same time. The last time he tried to cast this spell was to kill Erza but luckily he failed and since then, he hadn't cast it again. After all, it was a forbidden magic due to its terrifying power.
Gray and Natsu also released all their remaining magic power to prepare the final blow at the demons after hearing Jellal's confirmation on Erza's death.
"You are going to die in our hands!" They declared to the demons in a fury simultaneously while their tears kept falling down their faces which had turned red due to burning anger.
When the combo attack from Gray and Natsu successfully knocked the demons on the ground, Jellal had also completed his spell.
"Abyss Break." He muttered with a deep down cold voice.
.
.
.
.
.
Jellal fell to his knees beside Erza after the spell had swallowed the demons' flesh and blood leaving only their skeletons dissolved into a pile of gray sands on the ground. Soon he felt shaky hands placed on his shoulders and heard Gray and Natsu sobbed loudly at both of his sides. He looked down at Erza's face.
"We have avenged you." He said with a small voice and stroked her cheek tenderly. He then slid one hand to the back of her neck and wrapped the other around her waist to pull her up and hug her. His head moved to the side of hers and he buried his face in his favorite red tresses. His body started trembling as he couldn't stop himself from weeping again for losing the love of his life.
"And I'll always love you even you've gone." He whispered into her ear as if she could still hear him and held her corpse tighter and closer to his body. He hadn't expected to feel a throb from her chest when her front was pressed against his.
Jellal leaned backward and looked at Erza's chest with a puzzled frown. When he found her chest was rising and falling at a slow and steady rhythm, his eyes opened wide in shock.
"E-erza?" He called her uncertainly, raising his head to look at her face intensely. He still couldn't believe that he would find sign of life from her again and didn't know what response he was expecting from her.
When Erza's eyelids twitched, looking like she was struggling to open her eyes to see who was calling her, Jellal's heart skipped a beat before the its' beating rate changed to an abnormally fast pace due to excitement. His hand wrapped around her waist moved to grab one of her hands tightly instead.
"Erza, you hear me? It's Jellal. Wake up, Erza!"
Jellal restrained himself from shouting at Erza but to speak gently to her despite that he felt really impatient to see her opening her eyes again. He didn't had a slightness clue on why she would return to life all of a sudden, but what truly mattered to him now was that she was alive and so the reason could be figured out later.
Gray and Natsu, who had calmed down a little bit from their sobbing over losing Erza, eyed Jellal worriedly when they came to notice Jellal's attempt at waking up their dead comrade.
"Jellal, it's…it's…" Gray was the one who spoke up. He tried to act rational and to bring Jellal back to his senses, but found it extremely difficult to speak the truth which actually still sounded unreal to him. "It's no use. She…she had gone."
"She returns to life."
Gray and Natsu opened their mouths wide but failed to say a single word and glared at Jellal like he had gone mad again, being perplexed by his response which sounded absolutely insane to them. But Jellal wasn't aware of their reactions to his announcement on Erza's latest condition as he had his attention focused on Erza.
"Erza, opened your eyes, would you?" Jellal asked with a pleading tone, leaning his head down and touching Erza's forehead with his; several tears running out from his eyes dropped on her eyelashes and fell down her face.
It was then Erza's eyelids finally fluttered open.
Jellal felt a new wave of emotions take over him as he witnessed Erza waking up from her supposedly eternal sleep. His heart could be beating three times faster than usual now being fueled with strong feelings of relief, happiness and gracious, and he briefly wondered if he would have a heart attack as a result. But he would gladly accept such fate if it was the cost he needed to pay for having Erza back on earth from heaven.
"You really come back, Erza." He whispered to her with a gentle and loving tone.
And he couldn't stop himself from grinning happily but all the while kept crying with joyful tears at the same time. It made him felt stupid, and he cursed his inability to handle the sudden change of emotions from anger and sorrow to excitement and happiness.
Erza felt like she had woken up from a long and deep slumber when she opened her eyes. It took a moment for her eyes to focus for her to recognize the crying face hovering above hers was Jellal's. She then registered that she was in Jellal's hold when she felt his hot body warming her cold one. She tried to figure out why Jellal would react so emotionally when she woke up, and what had led her to fall into his embrace. She remembered that she carelessly stepped into a trap set up by the demons and felt all her energy being sucked away in an instance. But she had no recollection on what happened afterwards.
Her hand slipped out from Jellal's grasp and moved up to his cheek to brush his falling tears always with her fingers before she opened her mouth to ask him for an explanation on the circumstance she was in now. It always made her heart ache when seeing people she loved crying for her.
"What…" Her voice came out weak and hoarse. She paused and swallowed to moisture her dry throat before continuing. "had happened to me?"
Before she received Jellal's answer, she heard two more familiar voices screaming her name in excitement and asking "How's this possible?". She then remembered that Gray and Natsu were with her when she fell into the demons' trap and realized that was why they were here now as well. But her attention to their conversation turned back to Jellal when the warmth and pressure she felt on her forehead disappeared.
Jellal had raised his head to look at Erza better and was caressing her cheek wet from his tears with his free hand. He finally managed to hold back his tears having been soothed by Erza's touch on his face.
"You…you had died." He informed her, a shade of sorrow flicked across his still watery eyes. "But you suddenly returned to life after we killed the demons."
"Did I?" Erza asked incredulously. "But how-"
"I don't know how. But I guess we can try to figure it out later." He looked deep in her eyes with love and care. "What's matter is that you are alive now. Are you feeling all right?"
Erza focused her mind to feel if there was anything strange about her body.
"I feel nothing strange. I only feel tired and pain from the wounds, but that's normally how I would feel after a fight. So I guess I'm fine."
Jellal let out a relieved sigh hearing her answer.
"Good to hear that, Erza!" Having moved closer to Erza, Gray commented with a small smile on his lips.
"And don't scare us like this again, Erza!" Standing up and crossing his arms, Natsu said with a serious face.
"I'm sorry for making you worry." Erza replied sheepishly.
"N-not y-your f-fault, Erza!" Gray stammered nervously, not being used to hear their Titania to apologize to them. He then stood up and turned to look at Natsu. "Hey, stupid flame brain! Don't make Erza feel bad about something she had no control over!"
"What? How would I do that to Erza? I was only trying to tell her that we don't want to lose her again! Don't accuse me for something I didn't do, stripping princess!"
Although Erza appreciated Gray's and Natsu's concern on her feelings, she felt the urge to stop them from bickering with a growl like she usually did. She tried to get up from her current position, but Jellal held her tightly preventing her from moving and interfered in the quarrel between her team mates before she did.
"Gray, Natsu, maybe you two should go to check if there are still demons who haven't been defeated yet and give your help to those who are fighting. I'll take care of Erza from here."
Gray and Natsu gazed at Jellal uncertainly before directing their gazes towards Erza, silently asking for her views.
"Just do what Jellal asked you to. I'm fine with him by my side." Erza confirmed.
"Okay." Gray released his grip on Natsu's vest and glanced at Jellal. "I trust you with Erza, Jellal."
Having received a firm nod from Jellal, he then turned to walk to the exit.
"Let's go, hothead."
"Don't order me around! You ice freak!" Natsu shouted at Gray angrily and looked at Jellal before going. "Make sure nothing bad happen to Erza again."
"I'll."
"So," Erza started after her comrades had left the basement leaving her and Jellal alone. "is there something you would like to talk to me in private?"
Jellal took in a deep breath. Erza knew him too well.
"Yes."
He had calmed down from the swirling and extreme emotions he experienced from Erza's dramatic death and resurrection. But there was something still tugging at his heart. It were the memories of him regretting for not telling her his love for her when he found her dead and spilling out everything only when she could no longer hear him. It was a confession made at the worst time and under the worst circumstances possible. But now Erza had miraculously returned to life that she could hear him once again, he wouldn't let go of such precious opportunity to rectify his mistakes.
He locked eyes with Erza, gazing into her eyes affectionately, and she looked back into his eyes expectantly.
"I love you, Erza. I always have."
"Jellal…" Erza spoke softly and smiled shyly at Jellal with reddened cheeks, feeling her heart melted at his confession which was long overdue. She was going to tell him she loved him too, but he put two fingers on her lips to tell her not to say a word and let him finish what he had prepared to say first. She nodded to show her understanding and he smiled thankfully at her before his fingers retreated from her lips.
"Me having a fiancée is only a lie to keep you away from me because I didn't think that I deserved someone as beautiful and as righteous as you in my life. I'm sorry for lying to you without taking your thoughts and feelings into consideration. I regretted deeply for my decision of pushing you away when I found that you had died. But now you are alive, I'm not going to allow this regret I felt which was a pure torture to have the chance to come back into either one of our lives. I'm not going to hide the truth from both of us anymore. I'm truly deeply in love with you, Erza. I know that I'm still not the best person for you, but I promise that I'll do everything I can to become the one who deserves your love and trust. So, I wonder, would you be willing to grant me this privilege of loving you and taking care of you as your lover?"
Erza raised her hand to wipe away the happy tears which had welled up in her eyes when she was listening to Jellal's confession.
"Idiot. You are the perfect one for me. I love you." She told him, a loving and contented smile gracing her lips. She placed one hand on his wrist and slid the other to the nape of his neck. "Be my lover, and love me with all of your might."
She gently pulled his head towards hers with her slightly shaking hand on his neck, slowly closing the distance between their faces. He wrapped both arms around her body to pull her into a tight embrace before he dipped his head to capture her approaching lips with his.
Closing their eyes, they relished in the marvelous sensations rose from having their lips pressed together, moving along each other and nipping at each other. But being driven by the desire to taste each other better, they soon parted their lips and engaged their tongues in a slow dance.
And for Jellal, to feel Erza passionately responding to him in their kissing in this moment was an exceptionally wondrous experience. He had sealed lips with her for the first time not long ago, but it was only an unsuccessful attempt to resuscitate her. Now, he knew how it should feel to have his lips on hers when she was full of life force and would be able to go pass that tragic moment.
They withdrew their tongues bringing their kiss to a stop when air in their lungs ran out. They were both panting and their faces were red from excitement.
"It felt really good." Erza whispered.
"It was amazing." Jellal added his comment and mindlessly licked his lips.
His action caused Erza to look away from him because it made her want to start another kiss with him.
"Anything wrong, Erza?" Being clueless on what Erza was thinking, Jellal asked with concern when finding her didn't look at him all of a sudden.
"N-nothing." Erza lied and changed the topic. "I think, we should leave here now."
Jellal nodded with agreement.
"Your wounds needed to be treated." He released his hold on her and let her sit face to face with him. "I could carry you, if you don't mind."
"Thanks, but I think I can walk by myself."
Knowing Erza's strong character, Jellal decided to follow her will instead of pushing her to accept his offer.
"Sure, if that's what you prefer." He stood up, pulling Erza up with him at the same time. "But don't force yourself too much."
His reminder was exactly the same as what she had told him during the Grand Magic Games, and so Erza thought she wasn't in the position to say no.
"I know." She gave him an assuring smile.
He took off his cloak and wrapped it around her body which was not protected by armor anymore before holding her hand in his.
"Let's go."
Bringing the memories of his confession and their first kiss along with them but leaving his nightmare of losing her with deep regret behind, Jellal and Erza left the basement, walking side by side and hand in hand.
A/N: After I wrote the drabble "Regret" in which Erza had died and Jellal was heartbroken (posted in "The Red String of Fate), some people asked what Jellal's reactions would be if Erza returned to life after death. I don't want to write a continuation to "Regret", so I decided to write a separate one to show Jellal's reaction to Erza's death and resurrection. And this is the result.
I hope the above explanation justifies why I didn't write any fighting in the story becoz fighting is not my focus (but I also admit that I don't know how to write fighting). But it probably don't justify why I didn't explain how Erza returned to life. Okay, so I did think about the explanation on Erza's resurrection. But I couldn't find the right place to insert it in the story. The idea is that the trap was set up by Franmalth to suck away the power and soul of people who invaded Tartarus' HQs and stored it someway for his future use. Erza returned to life when the "store room" was destroyed by some other FT mages.
I hope you enjoy the read!