Erza ran from the giant worm chasing her. "We can't fight this thing right now. We need Natsu to get here…and fast". She said to Lucy who was running right beside her.
"Are you crazy?!" Lucy shouted. "Do you actually think we can rely on Natsu of all people?!"
"Our magic isn't strong enough to pierce its armored shell. His fire should be strong enough to melt it. Then we can destroy it together." Erza stated firmly.
'Natsu…please, hurry!' Lucy thought.
They eventually reached the end of the cliff.
Lucy was holding her knees and panting as she looked to Erza for some kind of answer.
"What now?" Lucy inquired.
Erza didn't answer; instead, she requiped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor. She looked at Lucy and then stepped in front of her, the worm charging head on.
Lucy… She gripped the swords in her hands very tightly. I will protect you. She readied herself for the worm`s attack.
"Er…za? What…are you doing?"
"Distracting it long enough for Natsu to get here".
The worm was closing in rather fast. Lucy knew the best Erza could do at the moment was stall it with a barrage of swords for a few moments, and then get flung away rather roughly. Lucy didn't want to see Erza in pain. To spare her, she only knew of one way. Avoid the worm. She hadn't exactly thought it through, but she assumed it would all work out in the end.
She ran in front of Erza, turned towards her and tackled her with all her might. Before Erza could react, they were falling off the cliff at high speed. Lucy tried to grab her keys. She wanted to summon Aries for a more comfortable fall. One that did not insure their deaths. However, as uncomfortable as Erza's armor was in her face, she felt safe holding the red head with both arms. Erza on the other hand was dazed out. On the one hand, she had Lucy holding onto her very tightly, which, she enjoyed. On the other, she was expecting her imminent death. Various thoughts and events crossed through her mind. Things she wished she had more time to do, things she regretted. She was caught out of her daze when she heard Lucy's exclamation.
"My plan worked!"
Erza slowly opened her eyes. Fleuve d'etoiles, Lucy's whip, was tightly wrapped around a tree branch hanging over the cliff, while Lucy was trying to hold Erza by her waist.
'I didn't want to let Erza go…But I didn't want her to die either…And I wasn't sure how efficient Aries would be in breaking our big fall…' Lucy kept thinking to herself.
"The worm charged right at us and went over the edge of the cliff!" She stated happily.
Erza, on the other hand, wasn't as happy.
"Lucy…You do realize the predicament we're in don't you?"
Lucy tried to play the fool.
"We're hanging off a cliff! What on earth do we do now?!" Erza said, starting to stress.
"Losing your armor would be nice…I don't think I can hold you for much longer".
Erza sighed deeply and requiped into her regular Heart Kreuz outfit.
"Now all we have to do is wait for Natsu…" Lucy said unsure if he would ever come.
After what felt like hours of yelling for Natsu, Lucy's arm started to go numb. Erza was holding onto her; however both their strengths had begun fading.
"Lucy, I'm slipping!" Erza exclaimed.
"Hold on! Don't let go!" Lucy yelled "NATSU! HAPPY! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Erza closed her eyes once more. She went back to thinking about life. 'Is this how it all ends? My final moments spent holding onto Lucy for dear life? If she didn't have such soft hands, or such a sweet smell my grip wouldn't loosen! Wait…I can't be thinking about things like this right now!'
Lucy felt her grip loosening until she was no longer holding Erza. The latter fell. Fast. Her body felt a wave of coldness as her mind went completely black.
Erza awoke to find herself surrounded by her comrades Lucy, Gray and Natsu respectively.
"She's awake!" Lucy shouted. "Thank goodness…" She added in a small whisper.
"What on earth happened?" Erza wondered as she slowly started getting up while resting her palm on her forehead.
"The boys got here just in time! Gray was able to surround you with thick enough ice to break your fall." Lucy said sounding relieved.
"And it used up all of my magical energy." Gray added for no apparent reason.
"And Natsu pulled me back up to safety!" Lucy said.
"You idiot!" Erza shouted. "Why the hell would you push us off a cliff like that?! We could have died!"' ...You…could have died… ' She thought. However, her stern attitude would not allow her to show a weak side when she was supposed to be reprimanding a team member for having taken such a big risk. "Lately you've been trying to pull off these dangerous plots as if they are some bold genius plan but the reality is that you're the reason we've been falling behind missions these past few weeks". She didn't mean it. It sounded very mean. She bit her lip in frustration. 'This isn't what Fairy Tail members say…no matter the blunder…Erza…snap out of it'.
Lucy was speechless. She knew she'd been pulling them down because she wasn't as strong as them, though she didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary.
"I'm sorry. I…I just didn't want you to come in harm's way". She said looking down in shame and guilt.
"Lucy…" Erza gently caressed Lucy's cheek.
"I'm sorry…" Lucy started whimpering. "I know I'm weak. I know I can't match up to any of you. But I still wanted to protect you, Erza! We're friends, aren't we?!"
"You are. However, that doesn't justify you putting her in danger, nor does it justify pulling us back on our missions". Gray said coldly.
"Gray, don't you think that's too much?! No matter what happens or how many mistakes she makes, she's still a part of our team!" Natsu added with rage building up.
"It's alright Natsu. They're both right. Erza could have probably held that worm off long enough for you to come rescue us. I needlessly put both of us at risk…I'm sorry." Lucy stepped away from Erza's touch. The former was clearly crying. She knew of her blunders and how she had put the lovely red-head in life threatening danger.
I…Erza…I really…She wiped the thought out of her mind before it carried her away, and abruptly left.
"Are you happy now? You made Lucy cry!" Natsu roared.
"Lay off hothead. She HAS been holding us off as of late." Gray said.
"That doesn't change the fact that she's part of our team. We ALWAYS have each other's backs no matter the mistakes we make! What's happened to you guys?! You were never like this before!" Natsu exclaims.
"There are some mistakes not so simply forgiven, Natsu! She's probably learned her lesson by now anyways."
Natsu clenched his fist in anger and ran off after Lucy.
"Erza, are you alright?" Gray asked.
"I'm fine." This time, Erza was reprimanding herself for reprimanding Lucy. She knew she got carried away. But her protective instincts got the best of her. Lucy meant a lot to her. How exactly? She did not understand at the moment. But she knew Lucy was very important to her. She wanted to protect her. When she heard that Lucy had wanted to protect her instead, she felt incompetent. It was her job to protect Lucy, not the opposite! Erza needed to get things straightened out with Lucy. Apologize for her childish behaviour. And, she had to figure out exactly what these feelings she had, were.
