A/N~ Wow, I thought this story would be longer! But I can already feel the threads coming together and it's almost finished. I've had an idea for a GerardXErza fic for awhile so I might start that after this. Thank you for being such a great support, everyone!

Erza

The dress that Erza's maid, Bisca, helped put on was in the Civil War ballgown style. Short sleeves and a bell bottom skirt were a new style for her but the biggest change was the color.

Young Miss Scarlet dresses in blacks and navys, only occasionally switching off to reds. The gown she wore tonight was indigo, the color of Gerard's hair, and the threading gold, the color of his eyes. Erza doubted that anyone would be able to spot the similarities though.

On the way over to the Heartfillia residence, Erza made sure to pick up her friend, Milli. Finally her friend trusted the nurse again with her child and Milli slowly started to socialize more often.

"What is tonight, Erza?" Milli asked, yawning slightly as she got comfortable in the carriage.

"Surely you must know, that dress could rival your wedding gown." Both of their dresses were, of course, gorgeous but Milli wore a tight pink gown with a flowing skirt, the back bunching up with real flower banquets.

After a moment of Milli gazing at her confused, Erza sighed. "It's Lucy's mother's birthday; probably her last, too. She's really ill."

"She looks really pumped up whenever I see her though and Lucy hasn't really shown any signs of discomfort." Milli's brows came together, not fully processing the news she was just told.

"She took in the parasite three years ago and has slowly been dying. The doctors expect her to pass within two weeks."

"That's horrible! I only wore this gown because it's this first party since little Will got sick." Milli said, looking down at her hands. "Should I go change into something black?"

"Oh, Heavens, no! You look beautiful and you know Mrs. Heartfillia, she wouldn't want anyone going that much into thought for a birthday. Besides, we're already here."

Indeed, the party was going on strongly. Half the guests didn't know the fate of the house's mistress though a good portion of it did. That half tried to be happy though it was quite difficult to be happy at a time like this.

Erza looked around, spotting Lucy and her maid, Levy. Lucy seemed content but Erza knew Lucy better than the majority of the people in New York and could tell she was more upset than she let on.

Though Erza also knew, from a few sources, that Natsu had run away with Mirajane and Lucy had had some strong, hidden feelings for him. That mixed with her mother's cancer was most likely killing her on the inside, even if Lucy wouldn't admit it to herself.

Out of the corner of her eye, Erza spotted Gerard.

Milli noticed the change in Erza's posture and held her hand before whispering, "Go talk to him, Erza. I wanted to talk to Miss Ur, anyways. Her daughter recently passed away."

As the two parted ways, Erza noticed Gray and Lucy walking off together. No matter, Erza had one person now that she was dying to see. One person who could, perhaps, figure out her dress. One person she knew was perfect for her.

She walked over to where he stood, her whole body shaking and her heart in her throat, and grabbed his hand. Gerard, being a head or two taller than Erza, looked down, his eyes betraying that he was actually quite surprised to see her.

"It appears that you cannot get enough of me, Miss Scarlet." The way he breathed her name... It sounded so... Magical. Like Scarleto.

"It appears the same for you." Erza whispered back, looking up into his eyes as they skimmed over her body.

"You are right." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead, smiling. "You, as always, look beautiful, my dear."

Erza allowed herself to melt into his arms, her lips pressing to his throat. From the perspective of the other people in the room she knew that this embrace was completely scandalous. But she didn't care. She enjoyed the slight moan he gave when she kissed him. Touched him.

Her whole body felt like it was filled pins and needles and the only thing holding her up was Gerard who seemed to feel the same way.

"Erza, Erza. Te amo." I love you. One of the most powerful phrases in the Spanish and English languages. "Estoy enamorada de ti." I'm in love with you.

Erza's heart slowly melted, the armor she worked so hard to build crumbling away. She only had a vague idea on what he was actually saying but she knew it was important.

"I love you, too, Gerard." Erza said, pressing her lips to his harder than before.

Then, she noticed something quite odd. Someone was kissing Lucy, the same man that had entered with Gerard. When Lucy finally took off the Goddamned hat, Erza gasped, shocked. Gray was kissing Lucy in public? That was highly unlike him. He was like a small dog, all dog no bite, when it came to women.

Gerard noticed that he wasn't on the same page Erza was. "What is wrong, mi amor?" My love.

"Look, Gray and... Lucy?" Erza asked timidly, not sure if her eyes were telling the truth.

"Ah, that. Yes. He's had feelings for her for quite awhile. I helped out a little, as you can see." Gerard kissed her jaw, trying not to act hurt when she didn't acknowledge his affection.

"This is bad! What'll happen between the two families now?" Erza cried, searching through her mind for a solution that wouldn't come.

"I thought it was a good idea." Gerard twirled a piece of Erza's loose hair around his finger, the red contrasting with his darker skin.

"No... They're both in deep trouble right now. They can't love each other... I thought they never really would. But... This is real. Do you know why they can't be together?"

"Por que?" Why?

Erza sighed softly and rested her head against his chest, comforted by the sound of his heart. "Around the end of the 1600's, the two families started to quarrel over the property they owned. They had a couple hundred acres spread out between France and England and had, quite a long time beforehand, belonged to the same bloodline, though the it had basically gone extinct before the 1500's even began. Since it was their ancient ancestors' land and they had no will for who it should belong to in case of dispute, they continued to share the acres. The property was split because of the act a Fullbuster pulled."

"I don't understand, is there more?" Gerard asked, his eyes revealing that he was very confused.

"Yes. Surprisingly even Gray doesn't know the full extent of the story. My grandfather told me it. One of my relatives had been the judge for the Heartfillia Fullbuster case. One night, a young woman belonging to the Heartfillia family had gone out to the well to bring back water for their supper. She never returned. Her name was Lucette, ironically close in sound to Lucélia. The next morning, a search party found her mangled corpse face down in the river, a rock through her throat the only thing keeping her from going downstream. Her gown was gone and her corset was undone," Erza paused, her cheeks as red as her hair, "And nothing was covering from her hips done. There was so much blood that her once straw colored hair turned crimson and bits of her flesh were missing; it took awhile to identify the poor girl. After her body was cleaned up, however, they learned it wasn't just a murder. She had also been raped."

"Oh... Wow." Gerard whispered as he pulled Erza closer to him, knowing she needed the comfort.

"Yeah. After a couple days and a couple dozen lawyers and such, they narrowed it down to one person. Someone who belonged to the Fullbuster family named Gary... More irony there. He proudly confessed to killing the young woman who was supposed to be his bride within two weeks after the murder. Of course, he was executed nearly immediately. After the whole episode and knowing that the Fullbusters had completely lost all trust from the Heartfillia's, the King of England and France, who were actually getting along at the time, decided to split the property. King Louis XI gave the territory in France to the Heartfillia's and King Charles I of England gave the territory that was left in England to the Fullbuster's. When poverty and lack of freedom stuck, however, both families unknowingly moved to America about a century ago. They somehow also ended up in New York."

"Dammit! I'm so stupid!"

"Don't worry... This needs to work out though. I owe both of them a lot anyways. We need to tell their parents though and try to work out a solution; we can't let this be another Romeo and Juliet scenario."

"That could cause war, Erza."

"Does it matter if they get pissed? As long as no one else dies I'm good. Do you know what they buried Lucette in? Her wedding gown. They said she was the most beautiful women in all of France and I can't picture Lucy dead and cold just yet. She's too young."

"Why do you care so much, Erza? We could leave now and let all of this mierda (shit) go to the people who started it."

"Like I said, I owe both Lucy and Gray. If I can pay them both back through this I'll finally have paid my dues."

"Que?" What.

"Gray saved my life a few years ago. I had fallen off my bicycle in a bad part in town and I could tell that muggers and such were around. I tried to get up but I had fallen over the side and the bicycle crushed my right leg and the majority of my riding skirts were tangled inside of the wheels. I couldn't stand. But then, well, Gray randomly came out holding a pistol and stood next to me as the men stepped out. There were two of them but neither had guns. When they left Gray helped me stand and de-tangle myself from the wheels. When he found out I couldn't support myself, he carried me in one arm and the bicycle in the other. By the time we made it back to my house he was exhausted. I will never forget that."

"Why must you save Lucy though? Are you doing it only for Gray?" Erza could hear the jealousy in his voice and smiled to herself, pressing her lips to his chest.

"Hers is easier to explain. I often just bad mouth her and sell her out to the papers. I feel bad." Erza shrugged, looking up into Gerard's eyes, "Besides, if this is who Gray loves, then I will help out in any way I can. He would never hurt her, I know that. We don't need to worry about him pulling a Gary."

As Erza began to back away from Gerard to start on her way to were Mr. and Mrs. Heartfillia stood, Gerard grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into his arms, kissing her deeply before humming against the spot where her jaw and ear met, "Promise me, when this is all over, that you will be my wife."

Erza's eyes widened in shock, surprised at how fast things seemed to be moving. But, yes, she was in love with this man. This man broke the spell Gray held over her. "I promise," she whispered before walking away, her cheeks turning even more crimson than before.

A/N~ Whoa, only Erza this chapter! Neither Heartfillia or Fullbuster have made actual history, that I know of, but both kings were real. Also, I almost named "Gary" "Gaylord" xD. I know, no life. But I also found out Gerard is an actual name, though it is English. I figured since Lluvia is Spanish for rain and Gerard is her twin in this story that it would make more sense for him to be Spanish, too. Anyways, thank you for your support and please review!