Note: This was meant to be part of another project that fell through. I really like it so I'm posting it anyway.
"Though my soul may set in darkness, I will rise in perfect light.
For I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night"
~The Old Astronomer by Sarah Williams
When he speaks of the stars his face lights up in such an uncomplicated way, Erza has a hard time telling him to slow down. She can't quite follow his explanations of the heavens and the power he commands but when he smiles her whole world feels lighter.
His hands gesture to the bright points of light pinning back the night sky. His voice is soft but insistent in her ears. The joy he takes in the stars sooths her. Erza wishes she could capture and bottle this version of Jellal. She wants to safeguard the brightness in his eyes from the shadows that ooze in the crevices of his mind.
This Jellal is the one that reminds her of who he used to be. She loves all of him, of course, even the versions of him that are hesitant and tired; the ones that crave nothing more than a dreamless sleep and less wickedness in the world. That Jellal would throw himself into hell if it meant he could save others from it. Erza loves that Jellal, too. She loves him more and holds fast to him and tries stop the urges that would leave her with nothing but his bones.
Erza smiles and he quiets. His cheeks flush a pink she simply adores.
"What is it?" he whispers. "Am I talking too much?"
"No," Erza says leaning into his side. She leaves a kiss on his shoulder. It has been a heavy number of years since he's touched her without compunction. Since he's curled a strand of her hair around his finger and declared it the most memorable color of all.
"Are you tired?" he asks.
"I'll never be tired of your voice, Jellal."
He doesn't startle at her words. He melts. He seeps into her side and continues on with his talk of stars and the pictures they paint in the sky. Her head falls to his shoulder and his fingers twist in her hair.
She thinks maybe this is the darkness that suits him best.