A/N: Managed to finally get out of work D: It's short and raw but please bear with me. Thanks as always!

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Poetry In Motion
the final downpour of metaphors

Chapter Eleven: No Pain, No Gain

Erza was already panicking because before she could stop the introductory speech of Levy, the scene had already started and there was nothing she could do but enter the scene.

The stage was set and from the corner of her eye, she could see the expression on Lucy's face as the dilemma dreaded upon them.

You have to play the wolf Lucy! informed Erza's sharp and nervous once over to the blonde squirming backstage.

I can't! I'm not even in costume! cried Lucy's huge hazelnut orbs.

The kids however seemed to be distracted by the colorful background and the protagonist of the play, Erza Scarlet. They were too busy admiring her rich, vivid, red cape and basket full of goodies to even notice the tension. This however didn't slip past the other adult present during the play.

Ultear thought there was something wrong going on because the redhead's—currently blonde—movements were suddenly rigid and tensed compared to her flamboyant and confident gestures during rehearsals. Then again, the dark-haired woman thought twice about it being stage fright, so she shrugged it off and continued watching the play as Levy continued to narrate.

The most awaited part of the play arrived when the background changed from the grandma's house to the woods.

"Where the hell's Jellal?" Natsu whispered to Gray, while keeping himself from moving.

"How the hell should I know?" he snapped back, silencing his friend who was becoming too noisy for a tree.

Erza was internally crying that time even when her façade showed a look of indifference as she skipped to the dreaded scene. How was she going to pull this one off without Jellal by her side?

Well even if Jellal would come or not, either way she had to improvise right? Either way she had to save the play right? Because blaming Jellal afterwards wouldn't even suffice as punishment; because seeing the kids' disheartened and disappointed faces would be worse than her dating the tardy, chauvinistic, selfish—

A howl resonated from the small room and all of them, including the nervous cast turned their heads to where the sound came from. There from across the room was a stuffy and hairy costume of huge dog-like animal. It made its way towards the aisle, scaring the children in the process as they all huddled closer to Ultear who calmed them down and assured them that everything was alright.

The wolf arrived at the stage and approached Erza slowly.

"You were fucking late because you altered the wolf's costume made by Lucy and Levy?!" Erza practically hissed through gritted teeth; she was annoyed yes, but the intensity of her pitch bordered more on the relieved side.

"What? You have to admit this looks cooler and more realistic." said the voice from inside the costume.

"Cocky bastard. Fine, let's just get on with it."

The play went on without a hitch. The portrayal of characters was flawless and there were no technical problems that they'd encountered. They were at the last part of the play when Red was ready to kill the Wolf when Jellal whispered softly to her.

"Go easy on me, Ginger."

Erza took a little while before executing the final blow. She didn't know why but there seemed to be something cryptic with the way the ultramarine had said it. If it's just not her, she was sure there was a plea of mercy laced in his voice but her woman's intuition had never ever nailed it right so thinking that was a reverse psychological kind of challenge, she hit him with everything she got.

The redhead's eyes turned to saucers as the ultramarine yelled out in raw pain and his body crumpled to the floor. The cast was awestruck and the kids all yelped in joy at the defeat of the big bad wolf.

Jellal's acting was A+ and it was off the charts.

She really owes him a date now, bet or no bet at all.

Right after the play, the rest of them spent time with the kids. It was only Erza who noticed that something was amiss.

She could not see Jellal anywhere.

Erza untangled herself from the kids, and approached Ultear who was talking to the boy—if Erza recalled was named Romeo.

"But, I want to see aniki!" she heard him whine.

"Yes, but not today, Jellal has...matters he has to attend to." Erza raised a brow at this because she knew the dark-haired woman was lying based from her pregnant pause.

The kid Romeo scampered off, muttering something about Ultear and Jellal being unfair.

"Kids huh?"

"Where is Jellal?" she politely asked.

Ultear faced her, disappointment dripping from her voice.

"I really have no idea."

Natsu, Gray and Lucy went together as they had planned to go have lunch somewhere at the mall, while Levy and Cana went with Erza.

"Soooo," Cana began. "Where's Jellal? I haven't seen him ever since the play ended."

The redhead remained silent, refusing to converse and delve into the matter further.

"Um, this is our stop Erza, uh we'll be heading out now!" Levy nudged the brunette who was too dense to read the situation.

"What? I thought we were—hey, hey! Watch the curls!" the blue-haired lady pulled her friend by the thick, brown tresses and bid goodbye to the redhead.

Erza mindlessly waved goodbye and started reviewing all that had happened before the play.

When was the first time that Jellal acted weird?

It was during the conversation they had at the kitchen, she recalled. She had punched him not-so-lightly but not-too-hard either so with that, she began connecting the dots.

Was he sick?

The distance she travelled to get home seemed incredibly fast for she wasn't really paying attention. Getting into the elevator, she pressed the floor where her dorm was and arrived a minute later. She inserted the key and turned the knob, expecting herself to be all alone were it not for the grunting and muffled cries she heard inside of the room. Alarmed, she blasted the door open and...and all she saw was red.

Sweltering red marks, swollen red skin, and redredred reddened wounds all over.

Erza instinctively ran across the room and swooped right to the bathroom, fumbling for a set of bandages and disinfectant.

Jellal was bleeding on the carpet. No, scratch that. Jellal was fucking beaten up and bleeding!

The moment she reached the living room, Erza carefully positioned his shaking form on top of her lap, not minding if the fresh blood reeking out of his skin stained her skirt.

"Jellal," she whispered, breath hitching in panic.

Calm down, Scarlet.

"Your punch packed quite a lot of power, Ginger." he coughed, laughing weakly as he clutched onto the redhead's arm.

To see Jellal Fernandes in such a state was heartbreaking to her, she scanned the room, looking for something for him to bite when she would decide to pour the disinfectant into his wounds but only found the blood-stained costume of the wolf. And she whimpered helplessly. She did this to him; though his previous wounds were not done by her, she had contributed drastically to open them yet again and put him in an agonizing state.

Erza bit back a sob when the ultramarine's hold on hers tightened.

"Hey..."

His voice assured her that he was fine, assured her that everything was going to be okay but Erza knew better.

Thinking that there was only one way to alleviate his pain and prevent him from getting worse, Erza ripped her button-down shirt, wrung it and placed it on his lips.

"Jellal, stay with me." she was holding back her tears now but she had to appear strong. For whose sake? It didn't matter anymore. She was ready to apply the disinfectant but she looked into his forest green eyes once more for approval.

Being the confident bastard he was, Jellal smirked naughtily.

"Do your worst, Erza."

And right after the liquid came in contact with his skin, all Erza heard were anguished cries and the agonizing pain that resounded in their quaint living room.