In A Heartbeat
—because if he could, he would. And he'd do it in a heartbeat. AU

Fake Symphony

He didn't kill me.

And the thought itself was enough to drive her mad from just delving too much on it. She expected him to kill her right on the spot; the very moment she failed to give a proper response, but he didn't. And she couldn't help but wonder why.

Was it because he's different compared to those bloodthirsty, heartless, psychotic German bastards? She dismissed the thought immediately. After all, she had clearly seen how the blue-haired demon shot three Polish captives without a moment's hesitation and second thoughts. So why would—rather, why did he spare her? A woman of no value in society and an inferior being no less? She ran her long fingers through her auburn hair and sighed.

No, I'm thinking too much. He's no different from the rest because he's a German. A German military scumbag.

She focused on what she was doing right now and instead of having her mind occupied by the said soldier whose actions were nonetheless inexcusable and incomprehensible, she worked her way through the empty restroom.

Calling the Germans ruthless and sadistic was an understatement. Erza found herself eating burnt bread—if she was lucky enough to get rations, working for almost the whole day straight until her fingers bled, sleeping and being contained like sardines in a tiny room with few bunk beds and a whole other different things that would be rightfully coined as maltreatment and forced labor. It was at the second week in Monowitz that she got assigned to clean the toilets.

The redhead was thankful that she only got something menial such as scrubbing and mopping the dirty tiled floor. She checked herself on the mirror when she noticed her reflection playing tricks on her. The grimy and stained glass showed her current state—the noticeable dark rings around her eyes, contrasting her pale complexion, her fingers caked in dirt, the apparent mess of her auburn hair and the obvious loss of weight. In the previous years, her friends would always tease her about how chubby her cheeks were, but now, the only thing evident on her face were the cheekbones that seemed to protrude through her skin.

Erza ran her hand along her jaw line, measuring how it had become so prominent all of a sudden during her first two weeks in the labor camp.

Barely two weeks and this is the result. She shook her head, discarding her mind with all the mundane worries.

"What I should be worrying about is how to survive…" the female captive wiped her sweaty forehead with the blue and gray striped shirt she was wearing. Despite the cold weather, all the work she had been doing was burning and tiring her out at an incredible pace. She wondered how long she'll actually last if the torture continued day after day.

Erza reached the far end of the restroom and settled for cleaning the corners. It was when she noticed that the tiles beneath her seemed to move at the moment she glided the mop along it. She repeated the action once more and really felt the tiles produce a slight rocking motion. She experimentally placed her foot along it and tested if the material could hold her weight.

The tile shifted.

The redhead cautiously glanced at the door which could open at any second and reveal a German soldier that could walk in casually and notice her immediately. She took a brave move and got on all fours, quickly maneuvering her fingers to each side of the square material. She hooked her nimble appendages under it and lifted with ease.

Erza took in a sharp intake of breath. Underneath the tile was a tiny hole.

And with time and effort she knew it could be widened, big enough for a person.

Big enough for a passage.

She knew this wasn't something that occurred naturally due to rocks weathering or other scientific explanation and theories. It had to be man-made.

She swiftly covered her newly found discovery and got on to her feet—expertly executing her mopping and cleaning skills—when she heard footsteps approaching.

A couple of German soldiers paid her no heed as they eventually got to business to take a leak. Erza was mindlessly cleaning spot after spot, her head flowing infinitely to numerous possibilities for one sole purpose. She imagined and thought long and hard about the current structure and position of the restroom.

The hole is at the corner farthest to the door. Based on how it was dug out, the previous person chose this location because it was important—no because it has to be the only way.

She worked her nerves and drove them to their limits, thinking and searching deeply for the answer. Erza nearly dropped the mop when realization hit her like a bullet in the head.

"This is just beside the walls of the compound…"

She gripped the handle of the cleaning tool tightly, determination burning up inside her.

Erza had just found her means of escape.


Jellal was too focused that he could clearly see the scratches and dents on the countertop. He could even pinpoint the faintest hint of ink on the wooden surface. The drink on his hand was long forgotten as his mind circled around a certain someone from his camp.

"Prisoner 19526." He took a sip from his glass and slammed it down on the surface. He couldn't help it. He was going mad from so much thought activity running in his mind. The questions apparently revolved around just one person. The same person he couldn't get off of his mind lately.

He cursed at himself for over thinking such trivial things. He wanted her to suffer a slow and painful death rather than dying from a mere gunshot that would've killed her instantly. He tried to convince himself that in fact, that was apparently the reason.

That's right. There's nothing more to it.

"Jellal!" It didn't require much wit to know who actually called out to the blue-haired man.

"What are you doing here Laxus?" The blond soldier made himself comfortable by taking an empty seat next to him.

"I've heard you left the selection to Zero." The tone was blunt, almost accusing and the ultramarine didn't fail to notice that.

"The Lieutenant Colonel." The single mention of the higher officer made the scar-faced man realize everything in an instant.

"I see! I thought you whited out on purpose!" he laughed out loud before slapping the leaner officer's back.

"There was someone here in the camp," he started casually watching as the ice in the glass melted away. Laxus snapped his head towards the ultramarine and waited for the continuation. Jellal rarely engaged in conversations with him and if he ever did, it meant that he was either confused or bewildered.

"There was a prisoner who challenged me to shoot her."

"A woman?" his face lit up and Jellal merely nodded and continued on.

"I didn't. And it felt wonderful and shameful at the same time. It was like wanting to kill and save her at the same time." Laxus remained silent and urged him to go on.

"Something about her reminded me of myself." Jellal tightly clasped his fingers around the glass, recalling and remembering himself back in the old days. "I've served the military for more than half of my life. And served the Führer for about two years now. When she taunted me to execute her that was the moment I actually made a choice." he played with the remaining rum in his glass, never letting his sea green eyes off of it.

"It was the first time I felt that killing or sparing someone wasn't an order but rather an action of my own free will." he finished and all the while, Jellal swore that he saw Laxus genuinely smile and the words came out of nowhere as it filled his mind.

We still got our humanity. Fairly loose, but still there.


The morning routine was Jellal's most awaited moment because this was the time when he could finally see her during the early exercises.

Prisoner 19526, Erza Scarlet.

He searched for her intently through the thick columns and rows of the captives and thanked the all-too-striking color of her hair as he spotted her immediately. Jellal could clearly see the drastic changes and the horrible moments she'd been through but there was a part of him that found relief, fully knowing that she was still alive. He skipped a few blocks to reach her group as he handed out order after order.

He was sure as hell that he should have been noticed by the redhead by now, but never did she look his way or meet his gaze. In fact, Jellal felt himself frowning in confusion when her gaze remained fixated on a certain part of the camp.

Jellal wondered what could have been so interesting about the old, wrecked and detached restroom from the rest of the dull infrastructures inside Monowitz. He saw her fidget and tense every time someone entered the said room and his hunter green eyes narrowed in realization.

It was definitely the time for confrontation.


Erza sighed in relief when she was ordered to get back to her restroom duties. Quickly scanning the room for possible spies and German soldiers, she stealthily made her way to the farthest corner when she found no one and continued to dig swiftly and quietly. It was when she heard the knob of the door turning that she jumped to her feet quickly, shoving the tile back to its place and proceeded to mop the dirty floor with so much enthusiasm.

She dared to take a peek and was surprised to see a familiar face right before her. But that thing that surprised her most was not seeing the same person again, but the way he looked at her. His viridian eyes sliced through her sienna ones like he had just figured something out.

To her horror and dismay, he walked right past every available cubicle and approached her like the German killer he was.

"Erza."

The first thing she felt was shock, then confusion and then hate. Shocked at the fact that out of thousands of prisoners, he was able to recall her name. Confused at the fact that he called her by her name and not by her number, and finally, hate because she heard that deep tone coming out sharply from a mouth of an enemy. Erza couldn't even begin to discuss her hatred for the Germans who almost robbed her of everything valuable to her, and now, there was this blue-haired demon who walked casually near her and called out to her as if they knew each other.

"I've been watching you since the morning drill." he flatly stated and the redhead fidgeted at his cold and unyielding stare. She averted her gaze and focused on mopping the stained floor, covering much ground and space just to lure him away from that specific corner.

"You've been spying on me?" she growled back, gripping the handle hard in case he tries to assault her.

"Merely observing." he circled around her like a hungry shark waiting to strike and impale its prey.

"There's nothing worth observing about me." she retaliated and he stopped right before her face, taking in her virile brown orbs and frowning features. He sighed and lifted his chin high enough to intimidate her.

"Not you. Your actions. I am a soldier woman. And we know a lot of ways to extract the truth from our subjects." Jellal remained still and watched the slightest changes on her face, but found none. If there was anything that changed at all, it was her disgust that increased tenfold when he drew closer to her. Nevertheless, he continued on. "Interrogation, bribery, torture..."

Erza's eyes widened and she raised the mop defensively against him, making him take a few steps back as he added the last option. "Or by simply looking at them." His sea green eyes pierced into hers, surveying for his harbored suspicions.

"What was so fascinating about this stinky hell hole that you never tore your gaze from it during hours of the morning routine?" he went straight to the point and the female prisoner held his gaze steadily making sure she wasn't giving anything out to him.

His grin widened when he walked away from her and headed straight to the spot where she was cleaning earlier.

"Dilated pupils, rapid pulse rate, uneven heartbeats, sweaty palms." he enumerated the signs of lying one by one as his foot stopped at a certain tile. Erza's eyes widened as she tried to shove him off from where he was currently standing.

"I'd say you've got them all. And this here is the reason why." he stomped his foot onto the tile, effortlessly breaking and shattering it to pieces as it got lost into the earth below, utterly forgotten as it was swallowed up in the darkness.

"You were trying to escape?"

Metallic and cold green eyes swirled with anger and fury and she could only watch in horror as he loomed over her. Erza was thankful enough when another German soldier entered the restroom and called out to the major of the SS.

"Sir? Major Dreyar is looking for you outside," he silently watched the frazzled prisoner as his superior prepared to slaughter her as he would have thought. He pulled the revolver from his belt and pointed it at the redhead. "I can kill her for you if"

"Nein." he said sternly and motioned the soldier to return and report back to the waiting officer. "Tell Laxus I'll meet him in a minute." Jellal turned his attention back to the prisoner who was busy looking for an escape.

"This won't take too long at all."

He reached for his gun and planted the tip of the revolver on her forehead.

Erza didn't cry. She didn't even try to fight back. All she did was stand there, prepared to take in the bullet in her head. At least this way, she didn't have to suffer anymore, and for that, she silently thanked the man clad in military clothes as his finger slowly made its way to the trigger.

The last thing she heard was the ear-splitting sound of a gunshot before everything went black.


A/N: Sorry it took a little while for me to update anyway, your thoughts? Should I continue? Or drop it? Delete?

P.S. Forgive me for any errors, this isn't edited yet as I have a lot going on at the moment. :( Will try to edit once I have the time. :)