Chapter six:

I do not own Fairy Tail.

Enjoy!

Erza ran through the forest, chasing the last bandit. Leaves and branches hit her arms and legs, but she barely felt it because of the speed she was chasing him. Her Soaring Armour was one of the most useful, it drained little magic and was incredibly fast.

She spotted her opponent. He was moving in slow motion, asking to be taken down. She came closer and closer. The man turned his head. His eyes were big and full of fear, his arm stretching out to defend himself. But he was too slow, she didn't even need to dodge him. The Requip Mage instead grabbed his arm, flicked her wrist and sent him flying against a tree.

He was lying there, half-unconscious. She requipped in her usual Heart Kreuz Armour and steadily approached him.

"What do you want, witch?" He said with disgust.

She ignored the insult and almost admired his stubbornness. Most of her opponents were so afraid they could only beg for their life.

"I want you to tell me where I can find this plant." She unfolded a paper with the image of a green, small herb with brown seeds.

"Don't know what you're talking about." He said. She just waited patiently. The bandit eventually realized this wasn't working.

"Okay, okay. Stop glaring at me." He was still acting as if he wasn't scared to the bone. Erza could clearly see him shiver and squirm to get out of here.

"I know you've got it. You're the last one and we interrogated all the others. They didn't have any of it, so you must have it. Give it to me, I'm trying to save a friend's life."

He snorted. "Sure you are. It cost us a lot of trouble to find it, now you're taking our only hope away?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You were oppressing simple villagers to find it in the mountains. You held their children as hostages!"

"It was for our family! They can only be saved with this!" he looked pleadingly.

"Family? You don't have a family. And even so, you can find new. With your own hands this time. Maybe you should try to work fairly. Then you could discover there won't be a risk to lose it all!"

With that, she took the precious herb with her and simply walked away.

The herb that could save Aaron… or that could save her future with Lucy.

The dark voice in her heart seemed to be talking again. Yes, she had a dark side, deeply buried, but still present.

It told her to destroy the plant and tell her friends the man didn't have it. To let Aaron lie in a deep coma, and then she could be with Lucy. She could be happy, and Lucy would be happy.

But the shadow of what she'd done would be like a wall between them. It would always stand there, invisible. Lucy would never approve of it. She would feel guilty because she let a man suffer in exchange for her own happiness.

Lucy and her would grow apart. Erza knew it. And she felt horrible because that was biggest part of the reason she wouldn't do it.

Erza should be a better person. But she wasn't.

Noticing she'd arrived at the hideout of the bandits, she collected her thoughts. Lucy ran towards her, hugging her tightly.

"I'm so happy you're okay." She mumbled, while Erza stroked her hair and laughed a little. She put Lucy down and took a little distance.

"What's this? Like I couldn't handle one tiny bad guy."

"I know, I know, but still… Did you find it?" she asked hopeful.

"I did. Here it is." She lifted the bundle of plants in her hand.

"Yo, Erza, how did it go?" Natsu asked, appearing out of the forest.

"Great, I found it."

"Yosh! Let's save the guy. Right, Luce?" he smiled goofily, but looked a little worried at Lucy. The girl hadn't been herself since the accident.

"Sure, Natsu! Let's go!" she grinned happily.

They waited a bit and talked until Gray came back, saying he hadn't found anything. Upon which he started fighting with Natsu once again. Erza stopped them before it escalated too far.

"Let's just go, boys."

They nodded and started a competition to find out who was the fastest to get out of the forest, meanwhile still fighting.

Which left Erza and Lucy alone.

Lucy smiled and nonchalantly grabbed Erza's hand, that was unarmoured for that sole reason. Erza didn't show any response, but held on Lucy's hand as well. They walked silently out of the forest.

Ever since the accident, Lucy and Erza had been growing closer, again, but the guilt about Aaron prevented both to really say something about it. Even though she was happy, it still felt wrong. How was she going to survive this?

And just now, she thought about destroying it! How could she!

"You know, I've thought about it, too." Lucy confessed. Erza stiffened and held her hand tighter. She never, never wanted to let go.

"But it'd be awful. It'd never end good. Especially because he saved my life…I once cared for him. But now, now I can only see you. And he's only human, so I don't want to hurt him, really, but I can't help it."

The confession set Erza's heart on fire. Without knowing why, she blurted it out. "He gave you an aphrodisiac."

Lucy nodded. "I know."

"You knew?"

"Yes, but I think, that if I had grown up like him, I might have done the same thing." Without seeing the question in Erza's eyes, she answered.

"His father always taught him he should do anything to reach his goal. The end justifies the means. I thought he'd changed, however. Guess I was wrong."

Erza didn't say anything. Lucy had wanted to change him. Maybe that's why she clung on to the guy, too.

They walked in further silence, until they reached the boys and let go of their intertwined hands.

The entire journey was spent in the same silence.

It was nearly evening when they arrived at Magnolia. They all went immediately to Porlyusica, Fairy Tail's unofficial doctor.

"What are you doing here? Did you find the herb?"

Erza nodded and gave her the green item.

"Okay, it should work out now." She went back inside, without bothering about them anymore. Lucy, Erza, Natsu and Gray all followed her silently.

"What are you still doing here? Get out!" she said harshly. They all jumped back, but didn't leave. Porlyusica continued to ignore them and made a medicine from the herb. She applied it to his forehead and then went to sit on her chair next to the guy.

"What did you actually do to get him like that?" she asked. They all hesitated and looked at each other.

"Well, when Lucy and Erza came back, Gray and I were…talking on the balcony." Natsu said with a glance at Erza.

"But Gray, that bastard, he made one of the pillars drop and…"

"It was my fault? You were the one who punched that piece of stone!"

"That's not true! I tried to catch it, but you held me off!"

The boys started growling and fighting, but the three women ignored it.

"What Natsu means is that he and Gray were fighting and they accidentally dropped a pillar." Lucy said.

"We were walking right under it when it fell. Or rather, Lucy was." Erza continued.

"Aaron saw it first and he pushed me aside. But the thing dropped on him instead." Lucy said, uncomfortably looking away.

"Then, he fell unconscious. We brought him to you and here we are."

Erza was still angry at herself. If she hadn't been so preoccupied with the message she got from Jellal that morning, she would've been paying attention. But Aaron was really fast if necessary.

"Aha. You're lucky he's still alive, then. So are you." Porlyusica seemed to look at them for a while. She shook her head.

"Sheesh, what a mess is this." Then she got angry over the ravage Natsu and Gray caused.

"Now get the hell out of my house before I lynch you all!" she said, and chased them out of the door with a broomstick. Yes, she was that scary.

Natsu and Gray had stopped fighting and they all separated to go home, agreeing on meeting here tomorrow. Lucy and Erza had to go the same way, so they stuck together for a while. When they arrived at her house, Lucy hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Erza asked.

"Just, I don't want to be alone now. Could you… could you stay for a bit?" Lucy asked fearfully.

"I don't know if it's a good idea, Lucy."

"Please, Erza?" Lucy didn't seem to understand the situation.

"Lucy, you're engaged and he is lying unconscious in the hospital. Don't you feel guilty?"

"I do, but, I don't know what to do."

"Well, it certainly isn't inviting me for a non-platonic sleepover." Erza was harsh, but it was necessary.

Lucy seemed to doubt everything.

"Lucy, whatever we had, it's over. You're going to marry. This is wrong."

"But I don't love him! I love you!"

"You don't love me, Lucy. And I don't love you either. I'm sorry, but I can't do this."

Lucy nodded a bit, trying not to cry. "I know. I'm sorry for what I did. It's not fair."

"Maybe not. But it is reality. Good night, Lucy."

"Good night, Erza."

Erza walked away and tried not to hear the soft "maybe this is why I love you" Lucy whispered, followed by soft cries.

Erza took out her lacrima communication mobile, and called Natsu.

"Natsu? Erza here. Could you go to Lucy's? I think she needs a friend now." And it wouldn't be her anymore. No, she wouldn't be that anymore.

Hmm, this is shorter than the others, and I'm not sure I like it.

Please review?