A/N: I know it's a bit late for Valentine's Day to post this oneshot, but hope you still enjoy reading this!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and its characters, Hiro Mashima does.
The sand was soft, the breeze was cool and the sky was red. Nothing seems to have changed since that day. Erza though while strolling along the beach – the very same beach at where she almost kissed him.
She let out a silent sigh, before taking out a heart-shaped box of chocolates from her bag. The chocolate was bought from Heart Kreuz yesterday when she passing by the shop on her way to the market. It was specially produced for the Valentine's Day. She told herself that she should buy a box even she didn't plan to confess to anyone because she was such a big fan of the brand.
She didn't eat the chocolate immediately after the purchase though. She kept the box in her bag and brought it along with her when she left her dormitory this morning.
It was Valentine's Day and her close friends, such as Lucy, Natsu, Gray and Levy, already had their own plan to celebrate the festival with the one they liked. She therefore went to the guild to see if she could pick a job to do but found nothing interested her. She then chatted a bit with Mira and ate three pieces of strawberry cake. When the barmaid became busy, she left the guild.
Having no plan in mind, she wandered in the streets of Magnolia. All shops were promoting the Valentine's Day that she could see flowers, chocolates, hearts and cupids everywhere. She also noticed that the city was filled with lovers who were holding hands, embracing each other or sharing a kiss. She suddenly became self-conscious about the fact that she was all alone and automatically, the image of a certain blue-haired man with whom she wished she could spend the day popped up in her head, followed by memories of their past, bitter or sweet, all coming back and occupying her mind.
Then before she knew it, her feet had already brought her to the beach. She slightly scolded herself for holding the false hope of seeing the man whose current location was unknown at the beach where they had their first reunion after seven years of separation; but she soon decided that it shouldn't hurt to spend some times at the beach.
She stopped walking and sat down on a rock. Her fingers traced the outline of the heart-shaped box, before pulling the ribbon wrapped around the box and removing the box's cover. Inside the box were six pieces of heart-shaped chocolate. She picked one and put it in her month, savoring the unique tastes of bitter and sweet of chocolate.
Even you are alone, you can still enjoy yourself. She thought.
"Erza?"
She turned around sharply at the sudden calling of her name from her back. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened in surprise as a head of blue hair and a red facial tattoo entered her sight.
"J-Jellal?" She couldn't help but ask inwardly if she was dreaming or hallucinating to see the man whom she was missing standing right in front of her now. "H-how come you're here?"
Erza didn't know it. But when Jellal spotted the red-headed while he was taking a walk on the beach, he was also suspicious that it was only his hallucination. He had even rubbed his eyes trying to get rid of what he believed was an illusion of Erza. He had only accepted that she was in fact real when seeing that her scarlet tresses hadn't faded away but reminded as vibrant as always after opening his eyes. Step by step, he slowly came closer to her, but his heartbeat raced at a much faster pace. He had to breathe in deeply to calm himself down before calling her.
It was evident to him that Erza was perplexed at his sudden appearance from the look on her face and from the way she stuttered. However, he couldn't tell from her surprised look whether she was actually happy or unwilling to see him.
"Long story." He answered her question with a nervous smile. "Mind if I sit down first before explaining it to you?"
"No, of course not!"
Feeling relived, he moved to sit down by her side, but cautiously keeping a safe distance between them.
It had come to his and Meredy's attention a week ago that the Masters of several dark guilds were going to meet at Lila, an industrial city located at the east of Magnolia. They therefore moved to Lila, attempting to find out when and where they would meet and trying to figure out if they could take the chance to defeat these Masters. However, they were misled in their investigation and were only aware of their mistake after the meeting had finished. They decided to stay at Lila for a little bit longer, just to see if there was any trace left behind from those Masters regarding their next movement, before deciding on their next destination.
Erza spoke some encouraging and comforting words to him after learning the failure of his last mission, before sending him a questioning gaze.
"You said you were at Lila. But here…this beach, is located at Magnolia, right? So why…"
"This beach is actually located between Magnolia and Lila. I come here every day during my stay at Lila. I love its sunset." He clarified and looked straight into her eyes, but didn't tell her the reason he loved the sunset on the beach was that it reminded him the sweetest moment he had with her in his life. "What about you? What brings you here?"
Erza averted her gaze from him and crossed her arms in front of her chest, as if she was struggling to come up with an answer. He was about to tell her it was fine if she didn't want to tell him, but then she spoke up.
"I guess I was hoping to meet someone who could accompany me when I came here." She smiled a shy smile but there was a shade of bitterness in her eyes. "You know, it's Valentine's Day and my friends were all occupied. I was wandering on the streets alone and it felt a bit…lonely."
Jellal's instinct told him that Erza was actually referring to him when she said someone. It made him feel bad. She felt lonely on this festival of love and wanted him by her side even though he was never her lover in the first place. But he had never considered spending the day with her. It was not that he didn't want to, as for God's sake, he loved her with his whole being that he desired to be with her all the time. It was just that he didn't think he had the right to keep her with him, especially when this festival was aiming at celebrating the romantic love between two people and a romantic relationship with her was all he struggled to avoid in observance of the rule of his guild.
"But I'm happy now that I meet you."
Erza's words brought Jellal back to reality from his deep thought. She had turned her head to look at him again with a satisfied smile on her face this time. He found her look even more gorgeous under the soft light of the setting sun and his heart together with his determination to stay away from her seemed to dissolve in her heartfelt smile.
"I can stay with you till the end of today, you know, if you want me to."
He offered, thinking for once that it really didn't hurt to spend Valentine's Day with her if it meant that it would make her happy. It would actually make him happy too, of course.
For a moment, she seemed to be surprised by his offer that she simply stared at him expressionlessly. But very soon, her smile returned before giggles broke out from her lips.
"Yes." She whispered while moving a bit closer to him. "I'd love to have your company for the remaining of the day."
He was about to ask her if there was anything she wanted to do, when she rested her head on his shoulder. He then knew there was no need for asking and naturally wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
Erza had never expected to meet Jellal on Valentine's Day, not to mention to have him actually stay with her on the beach to watch sunset together once again. She really couldn't ask for more, as she knew it was still not the appropriate time for them to make confession to each other. But she figured that she could still share with him what she had in her hands, just as a little gesture to thank him for sharing his time with her.
"Hey, Jellal."
"Yes?"
"Would you like a piece of chocolate?"
Jellal looked down, meeting Erza's chocolate brown eyes first before seeing the heart-shaped box of chocolates held in her hands in which one of the six pieces of chocolates had already been consumed. Knowing the tradition of Valentine' Day, he briefly wondered if she brought the chocolate while thinking of him, but quickly decided that he should just simply accept her generous offer and not to pry into her reason of buying the sweet.
"Yes, thanks." Jellal smiled a grateful smile and picked one.
It made Erza feel happy as she watched Jellal putting the piece of chocolate in his month and tasting it with such an appreciative expression on his face because frankly, he was actually the only one to whom she would want to give her Heart Kreuz chocolate. She then noticed that his lips were sticky with some chocolate. Would it taste differently on his lips…
"E-Erza?" Jellal was startled when Erza suddenly kissed him at the corners of his lips.
"I-I…" Erza stuttered and face flushed, being evidently embarrassed by her own impulsive action and was trying hard to explain it to Jellal. "I-it's…it's only for thanking you for accompanying me today."
"You…you are welcomed." Jellal felt unsure about the truthfulness of Erza's explanation, but he acknowledged it anyway, not wanting the situation to become more awkward than it was with him asking her more questions. "You know I'm willing to do anything for you."
"Yes, I know, I appreciate that, really." Which was an honest reply; but Erza would never asked Jellal to do something he didn't want to. "Thanks again."
They then fell into silence and averted their gaze from each other. But in their hearts, they knew that they should treasure this rare encounter between them that not talking to or not seeing each other was not what they should do.
"The chocolate tasted really good." Jellal was the first one to break the ice.
"So would you like to have another one?" Erza held up the box of chocolates in front of Jellal again, asking.
"Could I?"
"Sure!" Erza chuckled. "Let's finish the box together."
Jellal nodded with a smile and picked one chocolate. Erza followed to pick one too.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Jellal." Erza said softly before putting the chocolate into her mouth.
"Happy Valentine's Day to you too, Erza." Jellal replied with an equally soft tone and then ate his own chocolate.
They both did have a happy Valentine's Day, indeed.