A/U: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! By the time this is published, Valentine's Day will probably be over, but oh well. I celebrated with chocolate ^_^! I was planning to make this a bit longer, but it took me longer than I hoped to write this and I have to go to sleep now. If this reaches 15 reviews, I'll add a few more chapters with possible lemon.
It was Valentine's Day. She'd spent the day with Mira, eating pastries and chocolate, watching cheesy romantic comedies, doing their nails and hair, talking, and just having a girls' night in. Levy and Lucy were both with their dates, Natsu and Gajeel, out doing cute things. Mira had a boyfriend, Laxus, but he had been unexpectedly delayed on a mission and wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Both Erza and Mira, whose friends were out doing other things with their loved ones, were lonely and decided to hang out.
They had watched just about every cheesy, romantic comedy there was available. They had done each others' nails and hair, and talked about everything. From the most innocent questions, like "Who was your first kiss?" to the most naughty inquiries, they'd talked about it all. They read pervy magazines and novels together, giggling. They'd sat in the sauna and joked. They talked about how they'd spent past Valentine's Days and at this point, it was getting late. The sun was going to set in about half an hour.
Erza sighed nervously, but grinned afterwards. Little did Mira know, Erza had made certain arrangements to get Laxus back to Magnolia early enough for the couple to enjoy the last few hours of Valentine's Day together. "Why do you smile, Erza?" Mira asked, also smiling. "Thinking about Jellal shirtless or something?" She asked, giggling.
"Hey! Shush!" Erza replied, cheeks red as she smashed Mira with a pillow. Mira easily waved off the injury of the pillow that would have sent Natsu out the window, howling with pain. But Erza frowned, wondering if Laxus would be able to make it in time to catch the sunset with Mira.
Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Mira smiled happily. "Does she know that Laxus is here to surprise her?" Erza wondered, shifting nervously. The girls bothed rushed toward the door, nearly tripping over one another to answer it. "Hey!" screeched Erza. "I ordered a surprise visitor to see you! I get to answer the door to invite him in!" She pushed Mira into the wall, hoping to slow her down. The wall cracked, but Mira quickly sprinted past Erza, unfazed by it.
"What?" asked Mira. Her brow was wrinkled in a confused manner. Erza invited someone over? But what about the guest the she-devil had invited over without Erza's knowledge? "Stay here, Erza!" Mira cried, transforming into her most powerful Satan-Soul. She pushed the redhead into a bathroom and bolted it sealed with her magic, the redhead yelling iin anger. Mira quickly transformed back, made sure her hair looked fine, and answered the door.
It was just who Mira hoped it would be. It was the surprise visitor she had invited over. Jellal. He was dressed in a black bathing suit (think the one he wore in OVA 5) with a white T-shirt pulled over it. He held a boquet of roses, all the deep scarlet of Erza's hair, and a heart-shaped box of chocolates. He looked unsure and fidgety, obviously embarrassed. "Mira, are you sure this is a good idea? I hurt her.." He asked, eyes intense.
"She forgave you long ago, Jellal. Come on. It's Valentine's Day!" Mira exclaimed, pulling the boy into the apartment. He stumbled in awkwardly, expecting to see the the Titania waiting for him inside. Instead, Mirajane smiled. "Excuse me for a moment. I'll go get Erza."
Then, he heard angry yelling. He made out the muffled noises to be something along the lines of..
"HOW DARE YOU LOCK ME UP? I JUST WANTED TO SURPRISE YOU, MIRA!" There was the sound of swords being summoned. He thought he heard a door being stabbed, possibly by a weapon Erza summoned?
"Erza, I don't know what your talking about. But someone is here to see you. I'm unlocking the door now."
There was a muffled groaning as Erza sighed in protest, annoyed, for being locked in a small room for so long. Erza instantly came out of the door. He then heard a small yelp. "Ow! Why are you brushing my hair, Mira?" Erza whined. " I can do it myself, you know!" She said, grabbing he brush out of Mira's hand and brushing it herself, while the other girl giggled. As soon as Erza was done, there was a more audible yelp. "Keep my clothes on!" Erza whined.
Jellal's face reddened. Was Erza into.. that kind of love? He'd heard about girls' love before. And to think that she was naked in a room right by where he was..
"Mira! Why are you making me dress so formal?! Whoever's at the door isn't important for me to have to do all this for!" Erza whined. Jellal winced.
"Shut up! The person will hear you!" Mira cried, tugging a lacy bra onto Erza, with matching panties.
"God Mira, whats with all the fancy underwear your putting on me?!" asked Erza. Jellal got a nosebleed.
"I told you, shush!" Yelled Mira. She then shot a glare so evil at Erza, the latter could only roll her eyes and remain silent instead of protesting.
A minute later, Mira came into the room with Jellal in it, a grumbling Erza behind her. As soon as Erza saw Jellal, her cheeks rivaled her scarlet hair in color. "Er. Hi, Jellal. Did you hear any of that just now?" She asked, fidgeting. She was dressed in her normal blouse and skirt, but it was easy to see that it was new, freshly washed and ironed.
Before Jellal could answer, Mira intercepted. "So, Jellal's here to take you on a date. Happy Valentine's!" Mira yelled, pushing them both out of the apartment. Once she did, she sank to her knees, her back to the door, and smiled. Being a matchmaker was hard work.
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"Ano.. hello Erza. Happy Valentine's!" He said, thrusting flowers into her hands.
She blushed and smiled. "Oh.. thank you." She said, sniffing them. "And I really like them." She added.
"C'mon. Let's go," Jellal said, one hand gripping her shoulder and the other gripping her waist. Before she could ask, he used Meteor to transport them to a part of Magnolia she didn't know very well. She knew that it was mostly country here.
"Wha?" Erza exclaimed, faltering out of the grip of Jellal. Sunset was just starting, and she was confused. "Okay, so first Mira fancies me all up, and then I see you at the door, and now we're at some part of town I don't know.. Really.. What's happening?" Erza asked, frowning. She wondered if this was some kind of trap or something.
Jellal blushed. "Er, Mira said you were lonely and wanted me to take you out for Valentine's Day. Meredy agreed."
Erza nodded. "That makes more sense.." There was an awkward silence. "So, where are we?" She asked.
"On our way to the beach, to watch the sunset together." Jellal mentioned, blushing. "I know it sounds cheesy and all, but I didn't really know what else to do because it was just such short notice and all the restaurants would be booked-"
Erza cut him off with a single finger in front of his face. "I'd love that." She said, and they both grinned. They walked wordlessly to the beach, and Erza requipped into her black bikini when they arrived. Jellal could barely contain herself, nearly gawking at her figure. They sat down on the beach, watching the last of the people there leave.
They were alone. Birds chirped, and frogs croaked, and fireflies flew, and they were alone. "You know, the last time we were alone on a beach together, with the sunset and all-" Erza murmured, staring at the sunset. She was going to continue, but she was cut off by the look on Jellal's face. He stared down at his feet, wordlessly.
But he managed a small smile and Erza asked, "Fiancee, huh?"
"Erza," he sighed, staring at the woman who was so dear to him. She couldn't meet his eyes, blinking away tears. "I hurt you. I killed Simon. I can't." He said, staring at his feet. There was another silence.
"Jellal." Was all Erza could manage. She looked away.
"You need to forgive yourself. That wasn't you." She whispered.
Jellal couldn't meet her eyes. "If it wasn't me.. why do I get nightmares every night? In every single one of them, I either kill Simon or you. Ever since my memories returned, I got them. Every night. I couldn't control it, but I did it." He said. His voice shook and tears pooled in his eyes. "Why is it that I can't live with myself? Why is it that in my dreams, I've killed Simon hundreds of times, and it won't stop? If it wasn't my fault, why haven't I stopped sobbing at night? Why, Erza? Why? He was yelling, then.
"Jellal!" Erza scolded, hands on her hips. "You can't keep doing this to yourself!" She raised her voice. Jellal just stared at the sunset, which was blurry from his tears. He thought she'd yell more, but she didn't. "You can't, Jellal.." She whispered. "Pleae, stop. You didn't kill him, Zeref did," she murmured soothingly. "Please.."
"All I'm saying," Jellal said, "is that you deserve someone better."
"Well, I want someone worse!" Erza yelled with tears in her eyes, shifting from sitting facing the sunset to sitting on her knees, holding Jellal's shoulders. But she felt a small prick of pain, and fell on top of Jellal. A thorn from a rose had stabbed her.
Awkwardly falling on him, she blushed. She immedeately started to rise, but Jellal gripped her shoulders, showing her it was okay to stay. And she did.
She started leaning into him, and he closed his eyes. For so long, he'd hurt himself and was so on guard. He wanted to give himself a break. And finally, he did. Their lips touched, and as soon as that happened, the entire world was blocked out from him, besides that one woman who meant so much. The Earth had vanished, and the sunset didn't matter. He gripped her shoulders tighter, and she stroked his hair. Electricity coursed through his veins, and he smiled when they kissed. As the kiss was finally broken, the sun had set and it was dark.
"Happy Valentine's Day." Erza whispered, pecking another kiss on his lips.
She giggled, and Jellal smiled. "Happy Valentine's Day.." He replied against her lips.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
There was a knock on the door. Mirajane, in the middle of a nap, groaned but managed to drag herself up. She was still in her pijamas, and she rubbed her eyes as she stumbled towards the door, throwing a bathrobe over herself. 'What time is it?' she thought, sighing. She opened the door to reveal a Laxus as equally exhausted as she was.
"Room for one more?" Said Laxus, smiling weakly.
"Laxus- Ho-how?" Mira stuttered, suddenly wide awake.
"Erza made some arrangements, and it took a bit longer than she'd planned, but there are still a few more hours of Valentine's Day left before it's over," He said, pulling out a huge teddy bear as he blushed. He normally wasn't a lovey dovey type, but it was Valentine's Day and they needed to make up for lost time.
Mira smiled. "Come on in," the girl exclaimed. "I'll join you in a second."
Laxus limped in, from injury from a mission or from tire, Mira didn't know. But once he was out of earshot, Mira stared into the sky. Tears in her eyes, she said "Thank you, Erza."