A/N: So, this story is one of the shorter ones... I started writing it one way, then it took a different turn and, well, this came out. As always, though, I hope you'll like the story. :D ;)

Day 6.

Prompt: Constellations

Word count: 871

The mission they had this time wasn't hard, but it was very tiring, so it was no surprise when the team split up in order for everyone to relax by themselves. Gray decided to take a nap right away, Natsu and Happy concluded that the best way to relax was by stuffing food into their mouths, and Lucy, Wendy and Carla went to the nearby hot spring. Erza chose to take a nice walk – the night was calm and quiet, and the air was pleasantly warm. As she walked around the small resort, she admired the beauty of the nature – the leafy, green trees, the pretty and colorful flowers, the clean and peaceful river… Everything around her brought her a sense of peace, and Erza couldn't help but smile at the serenity she felt.

Then, she lifted her head, and took in the dark night sky filled by countless of stars, and the moon that silently watched over her. The sky was cloudless, so the stars shone brightly, and Erza could marvel at their beauty. She tried to name the constellations they formed, but chuckled when she realized she couldn't name more than two. And then she remembered him. Surely, he would be able to name many of the constellations she didn't even know existed – his magic was tightly connected to those heavenly bodies, after all. Erza smiled widely as she imagined the picture of a blue haired man talking excitingly about the stars and their formations, with shining eyes and a big grin on his face, looking almost as if he was a child again.

Then her smile faltered. She missed him. She couldn't help it – even if she tried to forget him, the nighttime would come and she'd be reminded of everything about him, and her heart would squeeze painfully. She was aware that staying away was for her own good, that he was just trying to secure her happiness by disappearing from her life, but she didn't want that. She had her friends, her family, but without him, she always felt incomplete, as if a piece of her was missing. They were connected from the beginning, and even though so many bad things happened, their bond remained unbroken. Even though he himself tried to break it, he failed, and Erza felt that the bond just grew stronger. Even though the fate seemed to want to tear them apart, it also intertwined their lives so much, that it was impossible to untangle them now.

"You know, Erza, the stars that form the constellations are actually very far away from each other.", Erza remembered him saying during one of the sleepless nights at the tower that forever changed their lives.

"Really? But, they look like they're really close!", the little red haired girl said, surprised by what she had just learned.

"I know. But they are actually billions and trillions of miles away from each other, and it only seems like they are close. But when you think about it, isn't it cool?", the little boy said, and the girl scrunched her face in confusion, and the boy slightly chuckled before explaining himself. "Think like this: those stars, they form a whole, don't they?", the boy asked and Erza slowly nodded her head in understanding. "So, even though they are far away, they are still connected, right?", he continued, and Erza nodded more energetically now, as she realized what the boy was talking about.

"Even though they aren't physically close, their hearts are close, right?", she asked excited, and the boy had to restrain from telling her that stars didn't have hearts – after all, what she said was the point of what he was trying to tell her. So instead, he just grinned at her, gently ruffling her scarlet hair.

"That's right. And that's what you should remember. Even if in the future we get separated, we're still together in our hearts. You, me, Millia, Sho, Wally, Simon, uncle Rob… We will always be connected, like the stars in the constellations. And when we make new friends, we'll connect to them as well, and we'll form even more beautiful shapes!"

"B-but we'll never forget our first constellation, right?", Erza asked, not wanting to forget her friends that made the days inside that prison more tolerable.

"Never.", Erza whispered the single word Jellal offered her as an answer, letting a single tear roll down her cheek. She wiped it away, smiling as she recalled Jellal's own gentle smile, and looked up into the sky again.

"No matter how far away we are, we're still connected, aren't we, Jellal.", she said, closing her eyes and imagining the blue haired man next to her, smiling softly at her. She felt a light breeze wash over her and opened her eyes, startled by the way she could almost feel him next to her. She silently shook her head, still sporting the small, gentle smile on her face, and decided to return to her room.

And somewhere in the distance, a man with a tattoo on his face smiled as well, recalling that one sleepless night at the tower, when he'd felt the hope for the first time looking at the young girl's starry eyes.

P.S.: Reviews are much appreciated.