The day a mermaid turns 17 was a big day for any mermaid. It marked the day they could visit the world above, but more importantly, it was the age where a mermaid was considered an adult, she would now be old enough for marriage and would granted more freedom than she previously had. Naturally, because Lisanna was the daughter of King Gildarts, her 17th birthday was a grand event for all of the citizens of Edolas, especially those who were lucky enough to come to the celebration.

The celebration for Lisanna's birthday was held in the largest room of the castle; the dance hall. Beautiful decorations in Lisanna's favorite colors, white and periwinkle, adorned the hall, adding a lively vide to it. As Lisanna viewed the room for the first time, she gasped in amazement.

"Do you like it?" Erza asked with a smile.

"Erza-nee I love it!" The girl responded, flinging herself into her elder sister's arms for a grateful hug. Erza had placed herself in charge of Lisanna's party and no one argued with the scarlet haired woman, knowing how she gets.

"I'm glad," Erza said with a hint of relief in her voice as she hugged her sister back.

Releasing Erza from the hug, Lisanna looked up at her sister and spoke. "I'm going to go get ready for the party now. It's going to be starting pretty soon! Thank you for giving me such a beautiful room to celebrate in Erza-nee!"

As Lisanna returned to her room, the smile she held on her face faded, and a glint of sadness entered her eyes. "Poor Erza-nee…" She whispered to herself.

Of course, everyone in the palace knew the real reason why Erza was so determined to work on Lisanna's party. It was a distraction. Something to keep her mind occupied so she wouldn't have to think of that. Close to the date of Lisanna's birthday, was a painful anniversary for Erza. The anniversary of the day Jellal was thrown into jail for life.

Jellal and Erza were childhood friends. It was a friendship that had begun even before Lisanna was born. The two were inseparable and even at such a young age, the love they held for each other was obvious. However, Erza and Jellal were from two very different worlds. While Erza was the first-born daughter of the king, Jellal was the only son of a very poor family. Despite their differences the two got along famously, and no one opposed their friendship. As Jellal grew older and became more aware of the poverty his family lived in, he changed somehow. He felt unworthy to be friends with the daughter of the King despite Erza always telling him otherwise. At the age of 16 he realized he was in love with Erza, and he knew she felt the same way although she hadn't realized it herself. Jellal kept his feelings to himself, and tried distancing himself from Erza. He felt guilty; what would people say if Erza married a poor boy? Would they look down on his sweet Erza? The distance Jellal put between them saddened Erza, she thought Jellal didn't want to be her friend anymore. One day she discussed this with another friend of hers, Simon. This talk changed everything for Erza. Through this talk she realized her own feelings for Jellal and confronted him. They fought, it was a fight which Erza won and afterward the two began dating. This brought around a second change in Jellal. If he wasn't good enough for Erza right now, he would make himself good enough. Jellal began working. His time was divided into time spent working and time spent with Erza. A year later, when both Erza and Jellal were 17 years old, tragedy struck Jellal. Both of his parents, his only family, died. Jellal became depressed. He quit his work and broke up with Erza. For the next year or so Erza never heard from Jellal, but she never once stopped worrying about him. Her feelings for the man remained as strong as ever. Over time, Jellal grew out of his depressed state and found he literally had nothing left. Jellal became desperate and visited Flare, the sea witch in his desperate state. Flare lived outside of Edolas. She had been exiled for practicing black magic. Flare took advantage of him. Using her black magic she possessed him and caused him to commit terrible crimes. One day Jellal was captured and sentenced to life in jail for his crimes. As Jellal sat in jail, unable to return to Flare, he became himself again, as a condition of Flare's possession magic is that the one who is possessed must return to the possessor or the effects will wear off. When he realized what he had done, he was horrified at himself. He would never forgive himself and felt unworthy to do anything other than sit in his jail cell and rot. It was only now that Erza learned of Jellal's crimes. Immediately, she went to visit him but learned Jellal was never to have any visitors. Erza became depressed, feeling as though she had failed Jellal, wondering what she could've done to help and mourned her love for him. For a full week, Erza wouldn't leave her room. She sat inside unresponsive to any who called for her or tried to talk to her. Her sisters and father were deeply worried about Erza, but to their relief, slowly, over time, Erza came back to them. However, the anniversary of the day Jellal was thrown into jail always left Erza depressed.

Lisanna looked at her reflection in the mirror as she thought about this. Both Erza and Jellal deserved to be happy! She knew what she had to do, and knew who she had to speak to. Without a second thought, she left her room to find her father. After searching through the castle for a bit, she found him.

"Father, I have to ask you something." She said firmly.

"Go ahead," Gildarts said without looking at his daughter. Today was a busy day for him as well; with so much to do he couldn't give his daughter his full attention, even if it was her birthday.

"Allow Jellal to come to my celebration tonight." Lisanna said. She quickly took a defensive stance, ready to argue with her father.

Lisanna now had Gildarts full attention. He looked up at his daughter, surprised.

"Lisanna, you know he was sentenced to life in prison. Why would you ask such a thing?"

"For Erza Dad! She spent a year after they broke up worrying about him! When she finally heard news about him she learned she could never see him again! You saw what that did to her; she deserves to be happy doesn't she?"

Gildarts hesitated; when he spoke it was quietly and cautiously. "Yes, but I'm afraid seeing him again will send her back into that awful state. Even if I say yes she can only be with him for one night Lisanna, I can't change his crimes or his sentence."

"I think it would give her closer." Lisanna pressed.

Gildarts thought about it for a moment. He had a soft spot for his daughters; it was hard to say no to them. If Lisanna thought this would be good for Erza maybe she was right. Gildarts sighed.

"Fine, but just for tonight."

Lisanna smiled widely. "Thank you Father!" She exclaimed and gave her father a quick hug before dashing back to her room to continue getting ready for the party.

. . .

End of chapter 2! Thanks for reading and let me know what you think! Again, a new chapter for this story should be out every Thursday.