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Broken Things

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Summary: "They are of the same proverbial bloodline, that of scarred sons and desecrated daughters — an unlikely pair of broken things. They have broken together. They have broken each other. So the story goes. So they shall be mended."

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1. She is armor incarnate, conviction at its most impenetrable heights — quick to strike, quicker to speak, assuredly slow to surrender.

2. He is danger personified, calculation behind a farce of dutiful passivity — a storm of secrets, a conflict of ideals, a paradox of perception and inner truth.

3. It wasn't always like this. It began on a forgotten island, in a soulless tower, among sweat and struggle and screams...

4. There are countless children in the prison tower, shackled together by common misery, chained to one another by unspoken hope. But the blue-haired boy still feels alone.

5. She has a beautiful family in a beautiful town, and in the sunlight, it's all terribly reminiscent of a beautiful life. But the scarlet-haired girl senses night on the horizon.

6. The scarlet-haired girl is silent until her bare feet hit the shore. It's as though the rough sand against her bare skin is her first confirmation of reality. All at once, she's screaming, thrashing in the grasp of the guards, slamming her elbows into their armor. Tears streak the clean, white skin of her cheeks.

The boy watches from a cleft in the rocks, his brethren clustered about him.

"Another girl?" Milliana says.

"It's awful," Wally says. "Making girls suffer, too."

Simon stares, glassy-eyed. "A girl," he says, trembling.

"She's wasting her breath," says Shô, sadly. "She'll have more to scream about later."

The blue-haired boy, their makeshift leader, crosses his arms. "This is wrong," he snarls through his teeth. "This is all wrong."

The tallest guard draws a whip, striking his prisoner sharply on the back. Electricity leaps from the lash. The scarlet-haired girl screams louder, louder, then chokes on the noise and falls to the sand. Without a further word, the guards leave for their unholy tower.

The scarlet-haired girl sobs in the sand. She tries to stand, but in vain. Blood stains the clean, white skin of her back — the first stain of many.

Boldly, the blue-haired boy hurries to her side. He lays a hand upon her shoulder. "Don't cry," he says. "It will heal. I promise."

But the scarlet-haired girl knows that her wound will scar.

7. They wash her shirt in the ocean. The bloodstains still don't fade.

"My name's Jellal, by the way." The blue-haired boy watches the setting sun, not wanting to stare at a shirtless girl. "What's yours?"

"Erza."

"That's a pretty name. Hello, Erza."

"Hello, Jellal." And for the first time, the scarlet-haired girl smiles.

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A/N: I'm new to Fairy Tail and watching it relentlessly, so please refrain from spoilers in your reviews, if possible — I've already spoiled some plot twists for myself. Such is the curse of being late to the party, I suppose.

This will eventually be Jerza. Any contradictions with post Tower of Heaven canon are my mistakes... like I said, I'm new.

I'm working on an original novel right now, so updates on this will probably be sporadic. But I'm in love this pairing. I'm sure updates will happen in their own time.

If you follow/review, you have my utmost thanks. Any and all feedback is major encouragement for a teenage writer.