Chapter 4
Something Special
Brooke's POV
I sighed again as I thought about that night at camp. The talk with Gray just kept on replaying in my mind over, and over again. And the more it replayed; I couldn't help but think that I'm retarded. Seriously I need to get mature… I sighed and decided to go and get some breakfast. Quickly grabbing some cereal, still thinking about Gray's embrace… but why did I care?, it was just a friggin hug… Jeez. But then i remembered his cold arms, I mean they weren't that cold, when you hug somebody I honestly think body temperature doesn't matter. The sort of cold feeling I felt from his arms were kind of refreshing, and I liked it a lot. I was about to take another bite of cereal when I noticed that I had already finished the bowl.
"I need to take a break. Or get my mind off of things for a little while." I thought out loud.
I started walking to Fairy Tail in my usual outfit. Thin while sweater, light blue tank top, and black knee high shorts. Instead of tying my up my wavy black hair though I just decided to let it down today. On my way to Fairy Tail I decided to check out the park here. I walked around seeing little kids running around playing tag. I giggled when I saw a little boy spill a little ice cream on his orange shirt. But as I giggled I noticed long red hair behind the boy… Erza?
"Hey Erza I didn't expect you to be here?"
Right then and there I saw Erza turn around to see me, and gave a gentle wave. Then turned around to the little boy to help him clean his shirt that was dirtied, but the way she took care him looked so… gentle. Back at the guild when I first met her she looked so strong and on edge, always looking as though she was ready to slice of someone's head. But when I see her clean this little boy's shirt, she looks so gentle, so kind, and so delicate. I kind of like her peaceful face right now.
When she saw me look at her observantly she blushed and looked away. I laughed and thought, I never really got to know Erza along with everyone else.
"Hey Erza, you want to go get some coffee right now?"
She kind of looked confused but still accepted. The walk there was a little awkward since we barely know each other… why did I ask her to go out to get some coffee again? Great… what did I get myself into again? I can't do anything right.
"So, Erza umm…"
I felt like an idiot as I stumbled to ask her a question,
"W-what made you get into Fairy Tail?"
We went inside the Café and ordered. She said nothing as though I never asked the question and nonchalantly took little sips of coffee while looking at me. It was a little scary.
"Brooke, may I ask you something?"
Everything felt as though time had stopped leaving us in this position of silence. But what harm could a question do?
"Yeah sure, I'm all ears."
I don't know why, but for some reason I feel really happy knowing that Erza wanted to know something about me…I stared at Erza. But, as I stared her features slowly started to relax. Her eyes looked almost…dreadful as they softened, her shoulders didn't look stiff at all even with all her armor on. As she opened her mouth to speak, I felt a strange sense of anxiety. But why?
Erza's POV
I was first surprised when Brooke had been in the park, but I was even more shocked when she asked to go out for coffee to hang out. Brooke and I weren't really on great terms since I apparently "scared her worse than death". But now that I'm sitting in front of her… I feel so relieved. I smiled to myself, this was an opportunity I was looking for. It was a chance for me to actually understand Brooke. I knew the other day, at the campfire Gray and Brooke were in the woods for some reason, but knowing gray I decided not to say anything. I must respect his privacy along with hers. But that doesn't mean I'm not curious.
"Brooke, why had you come to Fairy Tail directly asking for the Master?"
I was looking for a reaction, and I very much had received one. At first her whole entire face was just about petrified, but then as she gave my question some thought. Her brown eyes had slightly softened, as though she was sorting out memories that weren't wanted. I sat there staring at her observantly, her eyes distant, her hands crossed on the café table, shoulders relaxed but something about her seemed…hesitant.
"Erza, everyone has questions and answers. But is it okay if we talk about it somewhere else? I don't feel comfortable talking about it in a café."
I nod, after all I knew what she meant. Who would want to talk about their personal information out in a café…
"Then do you have an idea of where to go?"
Brooke puts a finger on her bottom lip,
"Well how about we go to my place?"
I thought about that for a moment… is she going to take me to her house to kill me for asking me that question? I felt my body feel slightly get tense, but would a girl like Brooke try to kill me at her own house? Erm that's not exactly the aura I get from her so, I really doubt that, I told myself to relax and I slowly felt my heart beat flow steadily. Just realizing Brooke was still waiting for an answer I again nod and she smiles lightly.
Brooke's POV
Although I really don't know how the situation ended up coming to my house, I was happy to invite Erza… as long as she doesn't destroy it. While we were walking to my place we stopped by a bakery since I had a guest I thought it would be a good idea to buy a little treat. I bought a nice strawberry cake decorated with all kinds of fruit! After the bakery, we arrived at my house shortly, taking out my keys I found myself looking at Erza and smiling. She gave another light smile and after I opened the door she hesitantly came in and sat on the nice comfy brown couch a bought the other day.
I headed towards the kitchen and yelled,
"Make yourself comfortable!"
Then, I took out the cake I had bought and cut out two slices on plates and brought milk along with me. I brought it to the coffee table… it was time to talk about the "business" we came here for thinking about that I sat on the couch next to her. I sighed and started to look through all kinds of memories, as though my brain was a large filing cabinet filled with drawers. To open that painful memory again, was like opening a drawer that was titled "Unwanted Memories". Opening that drawer I see I folder that says "Parents Death", and slowly I look through the folder with that miserable memory. As if I had taken the pictures of the scene, I flipped through every detail looking at the pictures. I slowly looked up at Erza and spoke lightly.
"The reason I asked for Makarov was because he was one of my Dad's friends. One day, when I came home after horse riding, I wanted to come home because I was tired. But when I came in the house I saw them lying there, blood was in the air. The smell was horribly filled with blood, stained along with the walls. My mother was burnt to death, my father stabed in the stomach along with an arrow on his left arm. But since my Dad wasn't hit anywhere too close to his heart he was able live a long enough to tell me his last words, and out of those last words he told me go and find Makarov. So I headed out to Fairy Tail and that's how I saw you, Gray, Natsu and everybody else. That's all there was to it."
I looked at Erza, curious of what she was going to say. She was looking at the floor, her brown eyes looking thoughtful. Then, after a long minute she look up at me and said,
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have made you remember something so dreadful…"
I heard her voice slightly trembling, and it honestly didn't suit her. I smiled at her sadly and sighed,
"Hahaha you make it sound like I don't know how to handle pain. Everyone experiences pain at one point. Whether its mild or hard you still need to move on. "
I gave her a wide grin,
"And honestly I'm pretty much over it. Hanging out with the guild has really made me be able smile."
She smiled to and said,
"Well now its my turn to share huh? My story goes like this, taking place about 7 years ago. People who lived where I lived had been enslaved to work an device called the 'R-System' and with that you could basically bring anyone to life. Being one of the slaves, I worked in a dungeon and it was the worst. There were some highlights, I had made lots of friends and one was very important to me. His name was Jellal. He was courageous and gave me so much hope, but one day something had happened. He wasn't the same, someone had possessed him and all he could do was talk nonsense. I had convinced everyone in the dungeons to stand up and fight, and I thought everything would be perfect. We would rise to our freedom and Jellal would be okay. But there I was mistaken, when I found him he said that there was no such thing as freedom.
That everyone should finish the dreadful project. I tried to convince him that freedom was true and in our grasp but he wouldn't listen, no he couldn't listen because of the person who had possessed him. Using some dark magic he had sent me to Magnolia but before that he had said, "You want freedom that bad? Fine! Be gone knowing that your friends will be here never seeing anything else! That will be your freedom!' He had turned my friends against me and my world was a nightmare."
I looked at Erza, and knew a smile had suited her far more than that sad droopy face that I see now. The Erza as far as I know should be scary as hell but at the same time understanding and thoughtful with a nice smile on her face. Not feeling sad or depressed. But before I could think more she wasn't done, instead she smiled,
"But that was resolved, three months ago I saw my old friends and one by one they had started to believe me. We had taken care of Jellal and now I can truly live a free life."
I scoffed at her,
"Psh. And you thought my past was upsetting…"
She laughed but her eyes still showed some kind of sadness. Well atleast now I know Erza a lot more now,
"Erza you're pretty awesome!"
I exclaimed before I could even realize what I said, she blushed and I just laughed my heart out. Soon we were both laughing on the floor almost choking on our cakes.
Two Days Later
Brooke's POV
"Ugh I feel so dead!"
So this is how I woke up in the morning, by hearing a band play the worst music I have EVER heard in my entire life. But on the bright side it was the fourth of July! Back at home my parents and I had a certain little tradition but maybe this tradition could be shared throughout the guild…hmmm. I wonder how many jewels I have left… I heard myself sigh… I go to go do another mission if I want to share the little tradition.
I walked to the guild getting greeting from everybody and I mean everybody. Especially Loke, again he hits on everyone… gross pig. Anyways I sit on a chair near the bar and ask for some water and notice something,
"Hey Mira where's Gray?"
She laughed at me so I just shrugged. Then I heard a deep voice,
"Miss me already?"
I jumped and smacked him playfully while blushing,
"Jerk."
All he did was smirk at me as he sat down, and asked Mira for some water too. Then I zoned out wondering how many people are in the guild…? Eh! I'll just make sure like five hundred people can fit.
"Hey, Gray is anyone out doing jobs today or are they all staying in?"
He raised an eye brow but shrugged,
"As far as I know I heard everyone wanted to stay in for the fourth of July. Why?"
Should I tell him? Nahh.
"Just curious, I'm going to go look at the Mission Board."
Gray said nothing so I walked to the board and found a REALLY high paying job. Well, the job was to find a missing purse… that shouldn't be hard to find. I grabbed the paper and walked out.
Wow… I was in an awkward yet happy situation. When I went to the person who sent the request, I wasn't really surprised. It was just this bratty lady who had lost her purse that had all of her credit cards and stuff. I first decided to check out her place since her house seemed to be pretty huge! It looked like two huge guilds built in one area. I asked one of the maids for a little tour and the first place she showed me was the maids quarters… Not to be really sneaky or anything but I thanked her and decided to check all of the maids belongings. About a half an hour later I end up seeing a bunk bed that was decorated beautifully with a forest green lace design around the frame of the bed, amazed I light traced my finger over it, wait. What kind of maid can afford lace this high class? I stopped and looked at the other bunk beds.. there was no lace on either of them…
Okay this was just too easy… I checked that person's belongings and there it was. The plumpy lady's bag! An easy seventy million jewel job! I went back to the lady and gave it to her.
"Oh my goodness, how did you find it? Even my maids couldn't find it! How?"
I looked at the lady's face, I sighed. I may as well tell her.
"I would first like the reward as promised and o would also like to show you something."
She looked kind of curious but she didn't object. About five minutes lady she gave me a sack, I looked directly at her and sighed again,
"Follow me."
She nodded and and followed me without question all the way to the maid's quarters. We glided through the beds until I stop at the elegant lace framed bed. Then shee looked at me again and asked,
"Why did you bring me here?"
I looked at her, you've got to be kidding me…
"Do you know who sleeps here?"
Again she looked really stupid, okay now this is getting on my nerves.
"Yes, but why?"
I think I need to punch this lady square in the face…
"I found your purse in this person's belongings. So you just might want to fire her you know?"
Of course this idiotic lady looked so surprised I thought her eyes would pop out. I sighed and turned around,
"Thank you for the business and good bye."
I was walking out of the huge maze they call a house until I heard the lady scream,
"Wait! Take this!"
I turned around only to the lady sweating holding another bag of jewels,
"Wha-"
She just shoved in my face and said,
"Take it, you deserve it, you didn't have to tell me that one of my maiads' had betrayed me but you did the right thing and told me. Please take it as a thanks."
I nodded and walked away, BONUS! I thanked her and ran to the nearest dock asking for a large party boat and a reservation near the stadium. he smiled and said,
"Isn't someone spending too much money? You know money is hard to earn!~"
Again I sigh for like the eighth time and said,
"Not when you're a mage in a guild!~"
From then on he understood and shut up making the reservations. I gave him sixty million jewels… hmm I thought it would be more expensive. All well, more for me and all that's left for me to do is send a letter to Fairy Tail.
Third Person POV
Back in Fairy Tail it was the usual, Natsu and Gray spat at each other, Cana was drinking, Loke of course was with a crowd of girls, Mira was serving drinks, and Elfman was shouting a whole bunch of things that a man should blah blah blah, basically, no one understood him. The usual. All of a sudden a letter had arrived, Mira had awoken the Master to inform him that the whole guild was invited in a party boat.
"Huh? Who's the invitation from?"
And as usual he slowly got off from his butt and checked the letter. Looking at the letter, anyone could tell that he had looked pleased. He smiled an even wider smile and screamed,
"HEY GUYS WERE GOING TO THE DOCKS!"
And then of course, came the questions. Everyone started to mumble but automatically stopped when they her Makarov say,
"SHUT UP YOU IDIOTS AND MOVE!"
And that was the end of the discussion until they arrived at the dock. All the people heard was the question, huh?
Brooke's POV
Well. Here I was, waiting for them to enter the boat so we can watch the fireworks together. I had spent the extra money for refreshments just to make this day just a little bit special. I laughed out loud when I heard everyone mumbling questions. I would never admit this out loud but Gray looked really cute when he was curious. He had this cute way of slightly tilting his read to the right. Shaking out of that dreamy zone I yelled,
"HURRY UP OTHERWISE YOU'LL MISS THE SURPRISE!"
Everyone bobbed their heads towards my direction and laughed finally figuring out it was me. Slowly everyone came aboard, gaping at the luxurious boat and refreshments. Looking at the time I screamed from one of the boats windows,
"YOU GUYS HAVE TWO MINUTES TO GET YOUR BUTTS UP HERE!"
"Why two minutes?"
I jumped,
"Oh, it's just you…"
He smirked playfully that made my heart do a little summersault,
"Yeah? What's wrong with just being me?"
I giggled and teasingly elbowed him,
"Hmm… Well for one you're very sneaky. I didn't know you were already on the boat."
I saw him raise an eyebrow and smile playfully. I looked at my watch, and yet again screamed for sadly the third time,
"ALRIGHT WE'RE LEAVING!"
Right then I heard everyone cheer saying things like "Yeah lets go!" and others that said," where exactly are we going?" I walked toward the steering wheel to the boat and was surprised when I heard someone following me. I laughed,
"You're following me again, huh?"
Gray, my follower chuckled and watched me steer. There was a silence between us but, it wasn't awkward, instead it was actually really, comfortable. About ten minutes later we arrived at our destination. I smiled lightly, enjoying the fact that I can have fun like this again and also enjoying the fact I had friends I can count on. I pulled down the anchor, looked up at Gray and said,
"Well what are we waiting here for? The show should start in about a minute, for now lets go where are friends are. He smiled that amazing crooked smile and again followed me. I decided to tease a little,
"Are you playing follow the leader?"
He laughed again but just when he was about to ask another question, the fireworks show had just begun. Together we watched the fire glow all sorts of beautiful colors.
"It's beautiful isn't it?"
I automatically knew that voice, Erza, followed by Natsu and Lucy. Geez, I guess everyone's playing follow the leader. Then I looked at the sky again. Three fireworks shot up all at once. Red, gold, and blue shot up all at the same time.
"Beautiful"
I breathed. Then I felt everyone looking at me, and by everyone I mean everyone. Then I heard a choir of, "THANK YOU" everywhere and all I could do was instinctively smile. Looking at the water, watching it's soft quiet waves. Deeply breathing in the ocean's fresh air, staring at the fireworks in awe, and looking in the boat, only seeing smiles. I felt as though the night would never end. I wanted the night to last forever.
THE END OF CHP 4
SORRY IT TOOK A WHILE!
