Here's chapter 2 already! When I opened my mailbox this morning, it was full with Fanfiction mails. That made me really happy! I'm glad you liked it.

Enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 2

Stubborn

Erza kicked the door to her bedroom open. She let herself fall down on her bed.

"Oww." She mumbled when her sore body hit the bed. Her wounds from the fight with her new bodyguard hadn't been treated yet.

"Erza! What happened?" Lucy asked worried when she entered the room.

Erza told her everything that happened. In the meantime Lucy cared the wounds.

"Where is he now?" The blond mage asked after the story was finished.

"He's getting told what he has to do. Apparently, he's going to guard me 24/7, so he's not only going to protect me. He'll also be some kind of a butler." Erza sighted. "This really isn't anything for me."

"I know, Erza. But this way you'll be safe." Lucy answered.

"But I already hate his attitude!" Erza grumbled pissed off when she remembered how he had spoken to her. He even called her 'little girl'.

"Hehe, he did sound like someone with quite an attitude. But what's more important: was he cute?" Lucy asked excited.

"I was wondering when you were gonna ask that. He…" Erza thought back. She remembered those eyes that send shivers down her spine. "I don't know, well, I do know, he is good-looking, but there's something about him…" Erza tried to explain.

"What do you mean?"

"He has got this big tattoo on his face and it is kind of creepy."

"On his face? Sounds painful!" Lucy said while she thought about what it would feel like to have a needle poke your face over and over again. "Talking about painful, how are your wounds feeling?"

"Much better thanks to you." Erza smiled at the blond girl.

"If only Wendy was here, she would have healed you in no time. But she isn't coming back until the day after tomorrow."

"I'm fine. I'll let her look at it when she's back."

"Good, but now I have to go. They probably need me in the kitchen." Lucy said while she looked over at the clock.

"Say everyone hi for me." The princess said when the blond girl left the room.

Lucy closed the door behind her. When she walked down the hallway she saw a tall man walking towards her. 'That must be him.' She thought when she saw the spiky blue hair. When they got closer to each other she could see his face more clearly. 'Erza was right, he is good-looking, but the tattoo is kind of eerie indeed.'

Mystogan gave the blond maid a little smile while he walked over to Erza's room. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." The voice of the princess sounded.

"Hello, princess. How are you feeling?" Mystogan asked when he entered.

"Fine." The short answer sounded.

"Someone seems pissed." Mystogan chuckled. That comment only made her even more pissed off.

"Am not." She lied. She gave him a dirty look anyway.

"Don't give me that look. We're gonna be together all the time, wouldn't it be nicer if we got along, Princess?" The blue haired mage answered while he leaned against the door. The smirk was still faintly visible around his lips.

Erza took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Okay. But first of all, don't call me princess. My name is Erza."

"All right, Erza-san." Mystogan nodded.

"Just Erza." She corrected.

"Okay. Erza." He answered. "You're quite different than other nobles I've met."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know many noble men or women that let their staff call them by the first name. Let alone that they have a real conversation with them. And you fight alongside your people. I respect that."

"Well, I'm just another human. Just because I'm a princess doesn't mean I'm better than others."

"Sadly, there are only a few who think like that, prin… Erza." Mystogan smiled while he tightened one of the bandages around his arm.

"Why are you still wearing that outfit?" Erza asked. "Those clothes don't really look comfortable, if you ask me."

"Actually they are very comfortable. These are my traveling clothes, I didn't have the time to change yet." Mystogan explained. "Oh and by the way. I already told your father, but I don't do uniforms."

"Quite the attitude indeed." Erza mumbled.

"I can hear you, you know." Mystogan chuckled.

"I know, but I'm right, aren't I?" She said nonchalantly.

"Maybe." Was all the answer she got.

"So. You're going to be around all the time now." Erza sighted after a short silence.

"Yep. I'll follow you around like a shadow, everywhere you go."

"At least I'll be free of you when I go to sleep." Erza said.

"Actually not. The king gave me an order to guard you while you sleep. Since he got the threat that the enemy wants to kidnap you, he wants you to be guarded especially then. When you're asleep, you're the most vulnerable." Mystogan said raising a finger.

"But… When do you sleep then?" Erza asked confused.

"I've mastered Sleeping Magic. Due to that magic I myself require very little sleep, so I'll rest when you're training or something. Then there are enough other people around to protect you." He explained.

"I hate it already."

.

"You're going to the training area with those wounds? Are you crazy?" Mystogan said.

"Yeah. Being hurt doesn't mean I can't train. By the way I, or should I say 'we', are going on a mission the day after tomorrow. That's why we have to train." Erza said casually. Mystogan just shook his head. Suddenly he heard a rustling sound from a tree nearby. Mystogan acted quickly and threw a beam of magic at the place where the sound came from. A person fell from the tree.

"OWW! Why the hell did you do that?" a voice sounded.

"What are you doing in that tree?" Mystogan asked while he pulled the guy from the ground. A chuckle sounded behind his back.

"Let him go, that's Loke. We have this game from when we were kids: we try to attack each other when the other one doesn't expect it." Erza chuckled.

"Who the hell is this, Erza?" Loke asked angrily while he smacked the hand away that was holding him.

"My new bodyguard." Erza said annoyed.

"So you finally found one?" He asked while looking at the blue haired guy. "I'll get you back for that."

"I'm sure you will, Loke." Erza laughed while she walked further to the training area. When Mystogan caught up to her she chuckled. "I don't know how he does it, but Loke always seems to sneak up on me without me noticing. You might actually come in handy after all."

"When did I become a kindergarten teacher?" Mystogan asked.

"Oh come on, you must have fun sometimes."

"… It's been a while since that happened."

Erza spend around 3 hours training, although she was badly hurt, she still won most of the training matches. She decided to take a short break and sat down under a tree.

"So, what's this mission we'll be going on?" The deep voice of Mystogan sounded.

"Shouldn't you be resting while I train?"

"I don't any at the moment. So, the mission?"

"We're going to check the borders. It's been a while since Desierto attacked, so we expect it to happen anytime. And in the meantime I'm going to look for someone." Erza answered.

"And who is that someone, if I might ask?"

"Nosy much, mister bodyguard?" Erza chuckled.

"No, I just like to know what kind of dangers you put yourself into, miss stubborn."

"He's a childhood friend of mine. He went missing almost two weeks ago when he went on a mission." Erza said. Worry could be clearly heard in her voice.

"I'm sure we'll find him." Mystogan said. Somehow it did make Erza feel better.

"Well time to start again." Erza quickly said, trying to shake the remaining feeling of worry away.

"Shouldn't you calm down a little? You're shaky on your feet. And some of your wounds opened up." Mystogan judged.

Erza just stood up and went back to her training. After another two hours though, she started to wobble on her feet.

"Princess, you're overdoing it. You should rest! Your wounds opened up again." A girl said worried.

"No, I can take it. I…" before she could finish her sentence she blacked out.

.

When Erza finally woke up it was already dark. She was lying in her bed.

"H- How did I get here?" she asked still a bit dizzy. She looked around and saw Mystogan sitting next to her bed.

"You fainted, miss overdo-it." He mocked. "All of your wounds opened up again."

Erza looked down and saw that she had clean bandages on.

"D- Did you…" She asked a bit shocked since changing her bandages meant having to take of her clothes.

"No no no! I just brought you here. The blond girl did, I waited outside." Mystogan quickly said.

"Okay. Thank you for bringing me here."

"That's my job." The blue haired mage smiled. "Now go to sleep. You need it." He stood up.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"I'll be outside of your room. Call if you need me."

"I won't."

"Somehow, I knew you were going to say that." A light chuckle escaped his mouth. He started walking towards the door. When he almost reached it, he turned around again to face the princess.

"Can I ask you something, princess?" He asked.

"Erza." The scarlet mage corrected again.

"Erza."

"Yes, you can ask something." The girl smiled.

"Why do you hate having a bodyguard so much? I get the feeling it goes much deeper than just not wanting to be followed around all day." He asked. Erza stared at him. After barely a day, this man already figured that much out about her.

"I… I'll tell you some other time." She whispered.

"Okay. I understand. Good night, Erza." Mystogan turned to the door again and grabbed the knob. Then Erza's voice sounded again.

"Mystogan?

"Yes?" He said without turning around. Erza continued.

"Why did you want to become my bodyguard?"

Mystogan just stood there for a few seconds, his back still turned at the princess.

"I'll tell you some other time."

He stepped outside and closed the door.

I'll be adding a new chapter as soon as I've written it... which will probably be pretty quick, since I have vacation at the moment!

Let me know what you think!