Chapter seven

I still don't own Fairy Tail, but enjoy!

Thanks for all the reviews and follows etc., you let me know the story is okay! (at least, I hope so :D)

The first thing she noticed were the familiar, warm eyes that looked worried at her. Of course, it was Erza.

"Are you okay? I forgot you never did this before." She said.

Lucy nodded, trying to shake the nausea and dizziness off. "I'm fine. Where exactly are we?"

"Fairy Tail." Erza said simply. "Let's go meet Master."

The blonde only now noticed the big building they were in, and especially a lot of people staring at the three of them. Well, two, since Mystogan was hiding in a dark corner. Among them, five stood out. Lucy recognized them immediately, from pictures in newspapers. There were two boys, one of them pink-haired and the other with black hair and in his underwear. They looked curiously, but also terrified at the same time. Their magic level was high above the rest, but it was nothing compared to the beautiful white-haired barista with the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Though she somehow seemed to be hiding it, almost completely, but Lucy sensed that she was nearly as powerful as Erza herself.

She herself was nothing at all compared to the tall blond guy who stood on the second floor, glaring at, well, everyone. He seemed bored, almost and was accompanied by an older, orange-haired man. Both of them oozed magic and confidence, one slightly more than another.

In short, Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Mirajane Strauss, Laxus Dreyar, Gildarts Clive. The top of Fairy Tail all in one building. It was scary, but she also felt safe, strangely.

Eventually it dawned on her that no one had moved since she was thinking all of this. Was it her? Were they scared of someone unknown in these times? With a quick glance on the more normal members (in terms of power, mind you) she saw they were watching Erza carefully.

They were afraid of her. Erza smiled painfully and no one seemed to be moving anytime soon. Until Mirajane Strauss moved through the crowd.

"Erza," she said with a kind voice, just a hint of sadness at the edge. "Welcome back! We thought you were missing."

The knight shook her head. "I was wounded, but now I'm okay. Is Master here?"

The ex-Demon shook her head. "He's at a meeting of the Wizard Saints, to explain his plan about the attack. You came back to help, I presume?"

She nodded. "I brought some more help, too. Lucy, this is Mirajane Strauss, S-class mage and a dear friend. Mira, this is Lucy. She's a powerful mage and would like to help."

Mira stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Lucy. Welcome in Fairy Tail."

"Nice to meet you, too, Mirajane-san." Lucy said, shaking the hand.

With that gesture, the tension in the air seemed to lift and people slowly started their conversations again.

"Call me Mira." The older girl said smiling.

Erza sighed as soon as they didn't get that much attention anymore. "Thanks for solving that. Any updates I should know about?"

"It was nothing. I don't think so. Oh, you should know you're probably going to be placed into a team for the last attack."

She raised an eyebrow. "Who invented that idea?"

Mira made a helpless gesture. "Master, of course. Maybe it will change things. I'm sure it will."

Erza nodded, but looked down. Lucy, feeling left out in their quite intimate conversation, grabbed Erza's hand and squeezed softly and immediately let go after. Mira looked at them oddly, then angry and finally just sad. She let her look slide over Erza lovingly before smiling.

"Maybe you should go to Fairy Hills. A nice bath and some rest will do you good. I'll send someone when Master comes back."

The redhead looked up. "I'm sorry… Thanks, I guess I'll go then. Are you coming with me, Lucy, or do you want to stay at the guild?"

Lucy glanced once at the drinking, brawling guild and at Erza's sad, lonely eyes and Mira's inquisitive look. "I'll go with you."

Erza nodded. Mirajane stopped Lucy, however, from leaving.

"Could I talk to you for a moment, Lucy?" she asked, her eyes unreadable.

"Sure." Lucy said.

"I'll wait outside, then." Erza said.

"Bye", Mira reacted, and waved until Erza was really outside. "Lucy, I've known Erza for a long time. She's lonely. Not in the way you think, but it's a simple fact that she is a loner. She likes to be alone and think about stuff." Mira took a deep breath, but Lucy interrupted her.

"I think I understand that, Mira-san. Erza told me about her curse. So don't worry, she knows how to protect herself and so do I."

Mira shook her head. "It's not that. Though it's a part of it. I…", she coughed. "I'm going to try and be blunt, Lucy. Erza's immortal and you aren't. A relationship isn't possible."

"A relationship? I don't intend anything of that sort!"

"Erza is attracted to you", Mira said even more bluntly. "I've seen how you two interact, it's obvious. But it's also doomed. I'm sure she doesn't want to hurt you, Lucy. I'm sorry."

With those words, she left to take care of the bar. Lucy was left dumbfounded. She had known Erza was attracted to her and maybe she did reciprocate the feeling. But it was only some attraction, not a crush. She wouldn't act on those feelings, never!

Outside, Erza was leaning against a wall, deep in her own thoughts. Lucy waved a hand in front of her and the mage's face lit up when she noticed Lucy was there.

"Let's go."

"Lucy…" Erza started. "This wasn't the guilds normal behaviour."

The heir to the Heartfilia's, who had been part of the richest family in Fiore, had spent a significant amount of her time among parties of rich people and normal people, on meetings and picnics, so she knew how and why a crowd reacted like Fairy Tail did at their arrival. Except those five Lucy had picked out on first sight.

She didn't want Erza to say it out loud. Confessing this in a moment of weakness would make her more vulnerable, and although Lucy would love to see that side of Erza, at the same time she didn't. Erza should always be brave and courageous. At the same time, maybe Erza needed to admit she too, was vulnerable every once in a while.

"It's because of the curse." The redhead finally said. Lucy nodded.

"My Mum always said: fear and strength often go hand in hand. I always thought she meant that strong people were afraid, too, maybe even more than others."

She looked at Erza with fierce eyes. "Now, I think she meant something much simpler: Normal people always fear strong people, whether it's physical or mental. That's also why strong people are lonely, or maybe why lonely people are strong, in my experience."

And sweet Erza, who had indeed been in a moment of weakness and was a very lonely and vulnerable person inside, smiled. "Sorry, Lucy. I didn't mean to make you worry. Maybe it is like that, but even so, there is nothing you can do. Let's take that bath now." She turned around and let Lucy stand there. Both of them would've given a lot to see the other's expression.

A bit later, they were in the luxurious baths of Fairy Hills. A pool, sauna, showers, lots of fluffy white towels, about a hundred types of shampoo and of course, the hot baths. It was heaven. Both girls took a quick shower and then enjoyed themselves in the hot water and foam. Lucy loved it, but she couldn't really tell whether she was hot from the heat or seeing Erza naked.

As expected, she was nothing less than a goddess and though Lucy knew she was cute, she felt herself shrinking in comparison to the redheaded beauty. She tried to overcome her embarrassment by remembering the general situation of war, death and destruction. It did not help. Life is short…

"Lucy, can you tell me what Mira told you at the guild?" Erza randomly asked.

"I don't know", she felt even more uneasy now. "She talked about you, mostly."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Of course she did. I suppose you're wondering if the two of us were ever… involved." She said hesitantly.

"Maybe", Lucy said with the smallest voice. She sunk a bit deeper in the water, painfully aware of how she was wearing nothing and Erza was coming too close for her own good.

"We were." She replied shortly.

Lucy tried to gather her courage, but Erza's look made it melt away like snow in summer.

"But if you can't touch each other, not even hold hands without gloves and fear, well…" she breathed in deeply. "Even so, we might've borne with it, if Mira didn't make a problem of my immortality. I guess love isn't the same without growing old together. Even though it makes her as unhappy as possible, she broke up whatever we had."

"You would have hold on? Even though you'd inevitably drift apart?"

"Of course."

After that, it was silent. Until an unstable voice reached them both. "That is not the whole story, Erza. Tell her the big deal."

"What 'big deal' do you mean, Cana?" Erza said calmly.

Lucy, not getting over the shock of a third person being there, stopped splashing water everywhere.

"Oh, Lucy, this is Cana Alberona, a card mage and… err, Cana, this is Lucy, a friend of mine."

"Add the thing." Cana said in a sing-song voice.

Through obviously gritted teeth, the knight mage said it. "Cana is the current girlfriend of Mira."

"That's how it is." The brunette said cheerfully. Lucy noticed she had a dark green bottle in her hand.

"So, Lucy, friend of Erza, I think Miss Perfect forgot to add something to the story."

"What did I forget?" Erza asked a bit harsh.

"Lisanna and me." The Card Mage suddenly stood straight, and her eyes were hard and burning. Erza's were equally bright.

"It was of no importance to my story to Lucy." She reacted stiffly.

"My, my. I think it is of importance to Mira", Cana looked at Lucy and laughed. "But I get why you like her. She's even more beautiful than the last one."

"Don't you dare." Erza said in a growling, dangerous voice. Lucy felt a lot like running, until the next comment made her freeze. "You know it is not her body that I'm attracted to."

What was that supposed to mean? Compliment or insult?

"Mira was, what, three years ago? She's never forgotten you, jackass. She still hopes deep inside that the curs will disappear and I don't think I can blink before she'll have run back to you."

"Cana." Erza said, and it wasn't angry anymore, but just a statement.

"You shouldn't have tricked her. She would've been happy with me. I would've been there when Lisanna…"

"Cana. People can never help their feelings. That chapter is over, so stop living in it. And, please stop drinking." Erza said. With dripping wet hair, she left the bath and Lucy quietly followed, leaving the brunette.

"Was that really what happened?" Lucy finally dared ask.

"From her point of view, surely. Mira broke up and she was really down. She took a job with her brother and sister, and something went wrong. Lisanna died. Cana blames me. Another month later, Cana and Mira were hooking up, so to speak. It grew into love, at least for Cana. I don't know how Mira feels."

Lucy thought back, at Mra's loving eyes when she looked at Erza, and knew that Cana was right. If Erza's curse somehow disappeared, Mra would run back to her.

"What would you do about Mira if the curse was lifted?"

Erza sighed again. "I regret it, but I'm currently a bit in love with somebody else. Mira is the past."

Lucy couldn't help a smile onto her face. "So you're not attracted to that girl's body?"

"Of course I am. However, no matter how much I would enjoy touching her, it couldn't begin to compare to her personality and company."

The Celestial Mage followed Erza to her room, where they quickly changed and with a lighter heart, they were on their way to the guild again, where war and a mission awaited them.

The blonde might only now understand how complicated that curse made things for Erza. Her resolve to destroy it had doubled at the very least. Not in the last place because of a very selfish reason.

End of chappie seven.

So basically, nothing happened, except a bit of background information -_-' Well, next time, there'll be some more talking and then… Action!

Cya(ne) (okay, this is going to be my standard goodbye from now on)