Soft footsteps could be heard underneath the breeze blowing through the forest. A white gown could be seen, illuminated by the moonlight that dappled through the leaves and branches of the forest's roof. The woman wearing the gown was curiously wandering around, taking in her surroundings.

Her brown eyes were wide, mouth slightly agape as she looked around. The forest was just as she dreamed it would be! Beautiful, mysterious, never ending, free. A smile lifted the corner of her lips and she spread her arms out, twirling around in pure joy.

She didn't care that the fact she was not in her quarters back at the castle could be noticed at any given moment. She didn't care if they had already noted her absence. She didn't care, because she knew that the servants, guards, and the king would never consider her being in the forest that went past the kingdom's boundaries. They would first search the castle, then the villages within the boundaries. Then they would start all over again. Nobody was brave enough to step foot outside the kingdom's tall walls.

Losing herself deep within the forest even further, the princess, Erza Scarlet sighed. Tonight she was free. She had finally escaped the limitations of her 'home'. From this moment, she was free. Forever.

Cupping her hands behind her back, she kept walking, taking in the beautiful scenery around her. The trees loomed over her, some branches reaching low enough that she had to brush them aside. Bushes grew so large that she had to spread them apart and carefully avoid their snagging thorns.

She was beaming from ear to ear now, not being able to contain the joy within her. It was bursting from her chest, doing its best to flow out of her and be heard. She considered humming a soft tune, but was confused when she already heard singing. Had she been singing this entire time without knowing?

No, this voice she heard… it was not hers.

It was deep, smooth, and comforting. It sounded as though it belonged to a man. There was another trait to it that she couldn't put her finger on, but a feeling at the bottom of her heart told her she knew it well.

Wondering where the voice was coming from, Erza tipped her head to the side. It was ahead of her, hidden by the dark and the branches of the forest. Taking note to be as quiet and careful as possible, she continued.

Only when she could better hear the voice did Erza identify the fourth trait to put to the voice.

Loneliness.

It was loneliness that she heard. Loneliness that she could understand so well. It was what she had grown up with, it was what made her run from the castle. It was what she was feeling in the forest in that very moment.

Tears welled up in her left eye and she held her breath. This was no time to cry. Crying would drown out the sound of the singing, alert the man, who was pouring his very soul into his song, of her presence. So, swallowing her tears, Erza crept forward.

She was careful to not make a sound as she came upon the clearing where the voice was the clearest and loudest. Shivers were sent done her spine as the pure beauty of this man's voice doused her like a bucket of ice. Looking around, her eyes fell on the man sitting the middle of the clearing, his back facing towards her

He was wearing rags, from what she could tell, there were numerous holes and patched tears in the back of his tunic. His hair, was a beautiful dark blue, that fell to the base of his neck and over his ears. Even though his clothes were in terrible condition the man still seemed to care about his appearance. His hear was well kept and she couldn't spot a single wrinkle in his clothes.

Closing her eyes, Erza decided to focus on his words. She couldn't identify what song he was singing, she had never heard it before. She couldn't tell if his singing was offkey, or if was timing was off completely, but she didn't care about that at all. She found his voice to be the masterpiece. It made her see visions and colors behind her eyelids. Visions and colors that danced together, matching to the tempo he was singing. She could hear the harmony, feel it in the bottom of her chest.

And suddenly she was singing.

She noticed how his voice cracked and knew she had scared him, but that did not stop her. She didn't know the song, didn't know the language nor the words, but she harmonized. Something inside her was able to match his syllables, the consonants and vowels. Something inside her was able to sing the same words as him, cut them off at the right time.

It was as if their voices were meant to be together. As if they were destined to sing this duet in the middle of the forest. Slowly opening her eyes, Erza wasn't even startled to see the man standing right in front of her. Even though she had scared him, he continued to sing, his lips shaping the words of the foreign song he sang.

He was most definitely handsome, she noted. Even the tattoo above and below his right eye was becoming of him. His eyes were dark, much like hers, but they held a different story entirely.

Their eyes locked and the two finished the song. How Erza knew the song was ending, she couldn't. She still wasn't sure how she was able to sing along with him. Nothing about the song was familiar to her at all.

Cutting off the last note, she found herself breathless. The song left her winded and her chest heaving up and down for air. She moved to hold her hands behind her back, but was alarmed to find them intertwined with the stranger in front of her. When had he moved so close, when had he taken her hands in his?

oOoOoOo

She awoke in her bedroom, the words "What is your name?" tumbling from her lips as she sat up.

Realizing it had all been a dream, that she had never sang with a lonely stranger in the middle of the forest, Erza stood up, a tear falling from her left eye. Taking a shaky breath, she slowly walked out onto her balcony.

There she leaned against the railing, singing the song for the loneliest of people at the top of her lungs.

I've never written Jerza before and that is not okay. So, I started writing a oneshot for them… and wow ok. I'm sorry….? I'm sorry this turned into angst, I don't even know where I was going with this tbh. It just sorta happened, I guess.