I can't believe this took me so long to write. It's been in my head forever!
Okay, so… the chapters going forward will be in this format: the beginning is the past, and the second half is the present. I'll include a header for each, but still.
For the past parts, I'll generally state somewhere in the body of them what age they are. These parts aren't going to be consecutive.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
The Past
A child, perched on a windowsill, stared listlessly out at the sunny playground at the foster home. Her hand propping up her head, she rested her elbow on an upraised knee. Thick, red hair chopped short clung to her neck and brushed her shoulders.
"That her?" a baritone voice rumbled behind her.
She paid the owner no mind. He would leave soon enough. They always did.
"Yeah, that's Erza," the woman taking care of her stated. Erza refused to call them foster parents. There was nothing wrong with these people – in fact, they had been nothing but kind to her. But she'd had real parents, thank you very much. "She's –"
"What happened to her eye?" the stranger asked, blunt.
Erza scowled to herself. People had been asking her that nonstop for days. She was tired of talking about it already! Stop asking her!
"It was injured during the incident. The one that –"
"I get it," snarled the unknown man. "I saw the fucking report."
The social worker and foster woman both sputtered at the sudden profanity, but it made the corners of Erza's lips twitch upward. 'Why did he ask if he knew?' she wondered, curious despite her reluctance to engage with the adults.
"It'll get better in time, the doctor said."
"I didn't ask that."
It was obvious to Erza, even without turning around, that the other adults didn't know how to deal with the man and his brusqueness. Somehow, that made Erza like him. Just a little bit. More than the others, at any rate. But she still wasn't going to turn around. She'd told herself she wouldn't. So she wouldn't look.
Papers were shuffled at the table, and the social worker sighed. "Well, it seems that you have all your paperwork in order, Mr. Scarlet."
'Scarlet?' Erza's ears pricked at that utterance. 'He has the same last name as me?' She had to fight with everything she had to keep from sneaking a peek at the mysterious man, now. It was extremely difficult.
"But I have to ask – are you certain that you wish to go through with this? I mean… you're extremely young. You have your whole life ahead of you… to be taking on such a heavy responsibility at your age is highly unusual."
Heavy, palpable silence descended upon the group.
It was broken a long minute later by an absolutely terrifying growl. "Excuse me?" the unknown man hissed. The hairs stood up on the back of Erza's neck at the sound. "She's in the fucking room! Her eye is damaged, not her ears you utter morons."
A chair scraped against the wooden floor.
"Mr. Scarlet! Where are you going?!"
He ignored them, stomping up to Erza's window.
The girl waited, feeling his stare burning into her back. Nervously, she stared at her hands so that she wouldn't catch a glimpse of him in the window's reflection.
"Hey," he said, his voice much more calm than before, though it still contained a rough edge. Like… river rocks grating against each other. "Can you turn around for a minute?"
"No," Erza replied, petulant.
"Alright then."
Erza blinked. He wasn't supposed to agree. That wasn't normal. She didn't know how she was supposed to take that. What did he want from her?
"I'm Erik. I'm your cousin. What's your name?"
Finally, she decided to forgo her principles and face him. Family? She just had to see this.
She was surprised to see a dark skinned man kneeling down at her level. His eyes, she noticed with shock, were a shade of purple she'd never seen before. They were a far cry from her own, dull brown ones. To be honest, he looked kind of mean to her. "Cousin? You don't look at all like me!" she told him, though she had to admit that his maroon hair was sort of similar to hers.
The man – Erik? – snorted at her. "Yeah, I'm your cousin. A pretty distant one, I'll admit. Nice eyepatch, by the way. You look like a pirate."
A tentative smile worked its way onto her face. "Really?"
"Really," he stated. "All you need is a parrot and a sword."
"I'm Erza," she told him. Tilting her head to the side, she gave him an appraising look. "How old are you?" she asked, remembering the concern addressed just prior.
Erik raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm eighteen. You?"
"Eleven."
He nodded. "Eleven is a good age for a pirate. It's number one… twice."
She giggled. "That's stupid."
"It is, isn't it," he agreed, rolling one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "Anyway… I was wondering. Would you like to come live with me? I know it's sudden, and we've just met… so you don't have to decide right now."
Erza continued to stare at him. "Why?"
"Why come with me? Well… It's better than this dump."
The caretaker made a noise of protest behind Erik, though it was quickly cut off by a nudge from the social worker.
Shaking her head, Erza said, "No, that's not it. Why you?"
"…Family's gotta stick together, right?" was his reply, though it seemed oddly hesitant to Erza. Like he wasn't one hundred percent certain.
She shook her head again. "Why now? Where were you the first time I needed someone? When Grandpa Rob came to get me?"
He stared at her for a long moment. "Because I was here, too," he replied.
Erza considered this. "Can I think about it for a bit?"
With a nod, Erik told her, "Not a problem. Take all the time you need, Erza."
The Present
"Erik!" Erza shouted, running a brush one last time through her long, thick scarlet hair. "I'm ready to leave!"
Silence greeted her yelling. Pausing in her ministrations, Erza peered down the dim hallway. Light poured out from the open doorway to her older brother's study. "Erik?" she, once more, called out to him. Vaguely, she wondered if he'd gotten lost in his work again. Or – far more likely – he was sitting in his office chair, desperately trying to figure out what the hell she was talking about. Probably over-analyzing her speech, too, if past experience was any indication. …Oh god he was definitely overthinking it. "If you don't hurry up, we're going to be late to Natsu and Gray's graduation!" Erza clarified before he could think himself into a migraine.
The sound of wheels rolling across the wooden floor echoed out into the hallway. A maroon haired head poked out from the study's entryway. Blinking a single indigo eye in mock befuddlement, he muttered, "…That was today? …I forgot."
Hand on her hip, Erza pointed the other accusingly at her brother. "Liar! You knew full well it was today! You were just hoping I would forget so you wouldn't have to deal with it!"
"Can you blame me?" he grumbled, sticking a finger in one ear to clean it. "I still can't hardly believe someone thought they were fit to be let loose upon society at large. That should be a crime against humanity."
Erza rolled her eyes and allowed her arm to fall to her side. "Don't even try to convince me that you don't care about them. I know you far too well. You like them and that's why you agreed to go to their graduation in the first place."
"More like I invested way too much time into babysitting the brats over the past several years," Erik quipped, "and I want to see that investment pay off." He smirked and shrugged at his sister. "I noticed you didn't deny that the world isn't quite ready for their brand of… destruction."
Erik snorted when Erza started sweating nervously, unable to come up with a reply. "You know I'm right!"
"That's unimportant," she stated, clearing her throat. "What matters is that we agreed to attend, and we're going to be late if you don't hurry up and get ready!"
"Speak for yourself." Disappearing back into his office, Erza heard him grumble, "Your hairbrush is stuck to your scalp, by the way."
Frantically, Erza patted down her hair – only to find that the object was indeed hopelessly ensnarled in her crimson locks. A muffled scream emanated from her throat, and she rushed upstairs to her bathroom to assess the damage.
From all the way in his office, Erza could hear Erik laughing his ass off at her.
Untangling the hairbrush, Erza called down to him, "You promised you'd let me drive!"
A snarl wound its way up the stairs. "Like fucking hell I agreed to that shit! No way am I letting you behind a fucking wheel!" Banging ensued below, as he attempted to locate appropriate footwear. "You don't have a fucking license!"
"Not for lack of trying!" she informed him.
"Like that counts for shit while behind the controls of a huge metal object that could kill a person."
"Well, they gave one to you!"
"Yeah, they did! I have one eye, and they gave one to me! They wouldn't even fucking consider issuing one to you! Now think about it – what the fuck does that say about your driving abilities?!"
"But Erik!" Erza protested. "I feel like I can do it today!"
"No! That is no basis for me risking my neck today! You've already shaved enough years off my life over the past seven years! Most of them while I tried to teach you how to drive!" A few more thumping sounds came from downstairs. "There! I'm fucking ready! Hurry up!"
Erza squeaked. How had he gotten done so fast?!
…Unless he'd already been prepared from the start, she realized with a start.
The nineteen year old resisted the deep, intense urge to smack her forehead against the bathroom wall repeatedly – though only because she refused to show up to the graduation with a red mark on her face. Really. This man… Despite the fact that he was the most radically honest person she knew, he could deceive himself and put up a front about the silliest of things.
"Any time within this century!" Erik griped at her.
Storming down the stairs, Erza grabbed her purse. "I'm ready!" She paused when she reached the entranceway where her brother stood. Pointing, she inquired, "What is that? Is that… is that a camera bag?"
He looked at her as if she was crazy. "Yeah? What else would it be?"
"You do realize that you can just take pictures and video with your phone, right?" Erza stepped outside, Erik following on her heels. "And you do care!"
As he locked the door behind them, he growled, "I don't care! I literally could care less!"
"You know," she felt the need to point out, "you basically just admitted that you do." Erza smiled when he gave her a strangled groan of frustration in response. "So what's up with the camera?"
"It's waterproof. The phone is not," Erik explained, walking to the car with Erza.
"Why would you even…" Erza trailed off when Erik gave her a knowing look. "Okay, point taken. This is Natsu and Gray we're dealing with, here."
"Damn straight."
"…Are you sure I can't drive us there…?" Erza decided to try one last time.
Erik stared at her. "Natsu Dragneel once ate forty habanero peppers on top of his breakfast cereal and didn't even bat an eye," he reminded her. "And you managed to give that kid – the most resilient little piece of shit I've ever had the misfortune of knowing – motion sickness while in a go-cart."
Erza thought about it for a moment. "I did do that, yes," she conceded. "But I was twelve at the time."
"The pattern has held true. Now buckle up," her brother ordered her.
Obediently, she did so. Glancing out the car window as they backed out of the driveway, she fought back a grin.
She'd give him this small victory, for now.
Because she had plans for her brother this afternoon.
Cunning, devious, utterly brilliant plans.
He had no idea what was in store for him at the graduation.
Cobra was a bit OOC for the first part, I know. I thought maybe he might react like this, if he'd known that he had family.
In case anyone is wondering about the switches from cousin to brother and vice-versa, in regards to Cobra's relationship to Erza, he is actually her cousin. She just calls him her brother, seven years later.
Tell me what you guys think!
