Hey guys! Here it is, a new chapter!

It's hard to come up with new ideas for this fic but when I have an idea, it's written down in no time ^^

Thank you all for your patience and missyplatina for revising

"Erza?!" the young woman said, hardly able to bring herself to talk, her eyes still opened wide.

''W-What are you doing here? Wasn't Gray supposed to show up here?''

''I'm just as confused as you are,'' Erza said as she awkwardly put a strand of her hair behind her ear. ''I was actually expecting somebody else as

well.''

''So if I understand it well, you made Gray believe he had to show up thirty minutes later than Jellal told him so you secretly could surprise him with a picnic?'' Meredy asked just before stuffing her mouth with one of the strawberry muffins.

''Yeah, pwetty muff,'' Erza replied, already devouring the third muffin.

''I'm sure he would have loved it, Erza,'' Meredy said, giving her a heart warming smile.

The requip mage felt her cheeks fluster and quickly looked the other way.

''But why did you come here in Jellal's place?'' Erza said, trying to change the subject.

''Well, I do know all the information Jellal wanted to tell Gray, too, and Jellal said he had someone to visit.''

''I see…'' Erza said with a hint of disappointment in her voice as she looked down at the checked plaid.

''He talks about you all the time, you know," Meredy casually said as she reached for the last muffin that was left in the bag. ''It's clear how strong the bond between you two is.''

Erza almost choked on the last bite of her muffin. ''It's not—'' she coughed, ''It's not like that, really.''

Meredy shifted over to Erza's side and patted her back several times to help her breathe normally again. Her hand remained on her shoulder. ''You don't have to excuse yourself from being in love.'' she said as she gave the requip mage a bright smile. ''I know you two are meant to be together, so no need to hide it, okay?''

Erza had stopped coughing and tried to avoid eye contact. Secretly, she knew there was no point in denying it. The bond between her and Jellal was strong and even the densest person in Fiore could see they both had feelings for each other.

''It's just—'' Erza started but the sadness that had risen up by thinking about their situation broke down her voice. ''It's just not fair! Why can't we just be together?!'' she cried out and buried her face into her folded arms, which she rested on her knees.

Meredy was surprised by seeing Erza so vulnerable. Erza was the strongest mage she had ever met and the sight of her sobbing as she tried to comfort her was just odd.

''I know how Jellal thinks,'' she carefully said. ''He thinks he deserves nothing but the worst after all he has done in the past, even though he wasn't himself back then.''

''I know,'' Erza said in a muted voice from underneath her sobbing. ''But he'll accept my love only when he thinks he's walking the path of light instead of darkness.'' She lifted her head and looked up to Meredy. ''But how much longer will he walk that path? Will he ever turn his back to darkness? What you guys do is the right thing, right? Doesn't fighting evil with evil make you good? Doesn't that turn your darkness into light?!''

Meredy lay her arm around her as she laid her head on her shoulder. ''I don't know Erza, I'm sorry. I'm afraid he's the only who can convince himself he's doing the right thing. Just don't lose faith in him, okay?''

"I'll always believe in him," Erza whispered as she finally calmed down.

Suddenly, Meredy jumped away from her side. ''I think you should be going Erza, Gray will arrive here any second now,'' she said hastily.

''That's right,'' the requip mage realised, She wasn't supposed to be the one to meet Jellal today. She stood up and with help from Meredy, she quickly shoved everything back into her bag.

''Take care!'' Meredy said as she drew in Erza for a tight hug, ''I'll give him your regards.''

''Thank you,'' Erza softly said.

Slowly, she descended from the hill they had been sitting on and looked up to the sky, which had turned awfully dark grey, something she hadn't noticed during the picnic. Before going back into the dense forest she turned around one more time and waved at Meredy who waved back with her usual enthusiasm.

About half an hour later she finally made it into her street. The clouds had packed together even more and she could feel the first raindrops coming down on top of her head. She started to pick up her pace to avoid getting soaked before getting home, but it was too late.

Without any further warning, the rain came down at full power, the few drops that had fallen down before now came down like a waterfall and she started to run as she held her bag above her head. Panting, she turned around the last corner before arriving at her house, running through the already forming puddles of water she realised she would get home soaked after all.

She requipped her keys into her hand as she walked up to her doorstep. She was about to put the key into the lock when she noticed something was laying in front of her feet. She took a step back and only the change in warmth of the water made her realise her cheeks were no longer wet by the rain.

Tears streamed down as she let her bag fall next to her on the ground.

On her doorstep lay a huge bouquet of flowers.

Scarlet red roses.

Mwuhaha, I just had to make it a bit sad after all the fluff of all the other chapters, but no worries; the fluff will be back ;)

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review and follow! ^^