"Erza, Erza?" a woman in wearing in a red gown cut-away double V-neck, long sleeves, a gathered waist and a flared hem with soft pleats to the ground were waking her up. She slowly opened her eyes and the she could see the big bright moon. Fireflies flying around her and the wind were touching her skin. The woman was smiling on her "How are you, Erza?" she asked
Erza widened her eyes and noticed that she was lying on a bench. She looked at the woman that was smiling on her "Y-You are… Then, I'm already?" she asked then sat down
"No, my dear Erza, don't worry about it. But you are in a deep sleep and I decided to see you." The woman sat beside her.
Erza didn't control her emotions and tears burst out. She hugged the woman that turned out to be her mother "I miss you so much, mama"
"You looked exactly like me, ah no, you became more beautiful than me" her mother hands ran through her scarlet hair "How are you, my dear?"
"I'm good" she answered and low voice but she remembered all the pains she had in the hands of Minerva and Jiemma.
"You seemed not." Her mother chuckled "Do you have lots of friends?"
Erza reminisced her moments with her friends, during works, vacant times, night times, and even though they had lots of bandages around them, Erza remembered every smiling face of her friends "I do have friends. They are so very nice to me. We protect each other"
"That's nice to here."
"By the way mama, where are we?" Erza looked around her and saw the bright yellow colors of the daffodils, the variety colors of tulips, and different kinds of flowers around her. She also noticed the pond near them and realized that she saw this place before "It looks like we're in a garden"
"The Sakura tree in the west part of this garden will soon bloom, especially the one in the middle. It's big and bloom so beautifully. This is the best place of my life, Erza. The garden of love, Lumen Histoire"
Jellal's face suddenly flashed on Erza's mind. She now remembered that she saw Jellal in that place before, but the one Erza saw was Jellal in younger age. "This garden is beautiful at night" she said emitting a smile on her face. Again, she remember Jellal's face smiling on her "It's very romantic"
"Well that's why it is called the garden of love. My grandparents who built this were for my father. Then my father met my mother here. I met your father here. It was very romantic, because it was night yet the garden was shining so brightly. I hope you meet someone here too" her mother stood up and looked up to the sky
Erza remembered the time he met Jellal in that garden. It was night; the moon was shining so bright added by the fireflies that lit the flowers colors. She was badly hurt that time and anytime she would faint. It was then Erza realized that she might be unconscious in the real world and her mother was there to fetch her to the other world "That won't happen, because I'm already with you and soon I'll be with papa"
Erza's mother faced her and patted her head "What are you talking about Erza? This place is much beautiful in reality. There are lots of people waiting for you. They are so worried that you are not yet waking up. Your friends are there for you. You have your new family who loves you, who laughs with you. Erza, there's someone who wants to see you, to meet you, and eagerly waiting for you. One day, in this garden, you will share the same happiness I felt with your father and when I got my family. Erza, I'm happy that I meet you again. You grow up and became a fine lady. You became strong. I can now rest in peace. You should go back to your world now, that's your father wanted to tell you, mine too. Erza, we want you to know that we are always here for you. When you wake up, you'll know what we meant" Erza's mother hugged her tightly as both of them cried. Tears were overflowing. Erza hugged her mother back "I love you Erza. I am proud of you. Now it's your time to be happy with your new family"
"Eru, it's time" a voice from above came in and Erza and her mother let go
"Mama, I love you too. Tell papa too" Erza stood up as she watched her mother ascend to the sky. A bright light cover the whole place.
The breeze from the open window chilled the whole room. It was refreshing. The wind touched their skin and was very smoothing added by the warm ray of the sunlight. She moved her fingers and noticed that she couldn't move properly. Her whole body were numb, but easily noticed the warm hand on her hand. She slowly opened her eyes, blinked slowly and noticed the bright room. She shifted her eyes to her left and noticed the blue haired young man he saw before.
"J-Jellal?" she muttered. She hardly moved her fingers and when she finally moved it, the blue young man awakened. He lifted his face and turned to Erza who was looking at him and at the same time, she was smiling "They are right. There are people who wait for me to return" she said in low voice
Jellal's eyes widened that he couldn't express how happy he was. Without thinking Jellal shouted and hugged her "Thank goodness, Erza you wake up!"
Gray hurriedly opened the door after he heard Jellal's voice and found Jellal hugging Erza
"J-Jellal?!" he freaked out and blushed on what Jellal did
"Gray, good timing! Call Sagittarius or Capricorn! Tell them that Erza is already awake!" Jellal excitedly told him
"Y-Yeah" Gray just ran off the room and told what Jellal said but thought "Jellal is very excited. It's the third time I saw him like that"
Erza breathed heavily and couldn't move her body properly "Erza, don't move first, let's wait for Sagittarius to come" Jellal told her
"J-Jellal, where am I?" she asked while slowly looking around
"You are in Layla-sama's house, Heartfilia household" Jellal responded
"Household? Isn't this an estate?" Erza chuckled that surprised Jellal "She's from the noble family, right? Though I haven't met her" she added then looked at Jellal who was standing beside her "Can you help me sit? I can't move my body freely."
"But it's better if you lie there for a while." Jellal told her. Erza just sighed and closed her eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I feel like something is not right"
Jellal was about to say something when the door opened and it was Sagittarius followed by Layla, Gray and Capricorn
"Moshimoshi, Erza-sama" Sagittarius saluted and checked her
"Jellal-sama, I heard what happened. Please don't tell those things to Erza-san, yet" Layla whispered to Jellal and he agreed. Erza's eyes widened as her eyes meet with Layla
"Lucy? Wait, how many year I am sleeping?" she asked confusedly that made them chuckled
"Erza-sama, what are you talking about?" asked by Capricorn
"It's Lucy, right? She seemed aged" Erza pointed out Layla. Sagittarius helped her to sit down
"She's Layla-sama, the head of Heartfilia household" Gray corrected
"But she looks like Lucy" Erza said in low voice. Her energy hasn't regain yet
"It's okay Erza-san, they tell me that since you and Lucy-san came here"
"Lucy is here too?" Erza's eyes widened as the pink hair young lady entered the room along with Natsu, Loke and Michelle "Who are you?" she asked. Gray and Jellal also wondered who the young lady with pink haired was
"Erza it's me, Lucy!" she cried as she ran to hug her "Thank goodness you wake up! I'm so worried!"
Erza's eyes widened same with Jellal and Gray who couldn't believe that it was Lucy. The two shifted their eyes to Loke as the young man pointed out the pink haired man beside him "Natsu's idea" he said
"Lucy? Is it really you? What is this, image change?" Erza asked. Lucy pulled back and chuckled. Tears were pouring down from her eyes
"No, it was Natsu's idea in order to visit the Capitol without anyone noticing me. Well, it doesn't matter anyway; if I wash my hair it will return to normal" Lucy sat down on her bed and held Erza's hand "Everyone will surely be happy when they hear this"
"Lucy-san, we should let Erza-san to rest for a while to regain her energy." Layla told her but Erza chuckled that confused everyone in the room
"Well? How many years am I sleeping?"
"What are you saying? It's just a week" they responded
"I see, then I feel like not sleeping in a week to pay all the days I was sleeping" there was a minute of silence until they realized what Erza said
"Wait a minute Erza!" Jellal was the first one who snapped but then again, she chuckled. This time, her cheeks were so red that they could see her blushing
"I'm just joking. I can't afford to stay awake for five days. After all I made you all worry" everyone gave her a big smile "sorry about that and thank you"
"Don't mention it, Erza-san. We're glad to keep you safe here" Layla patted her head and shifted to Jellal and the others "well then; I need to talk to these gentlemen for a moment. They did something nasty" Layla gave a sarcastic smile that made Jellal and others sweat dropped
"What did we do?!" They all thought in unison. The thrill on Layla's smiled made their spines and the ambiance so cold
"Lucy-san, about that matter" Layla started though Lucy gave her an assurance look
"Don't worry, I'll handle about it. I'll talk to Erza and Layla-sama will talk to Jellal and the others"
Erza wondered what that was all about. In the same time, Jellal asked Gray if Lucy didn't know yet that he's the prince
"She knows about it, but we told her not to tell Erza about it and not to call you or treat you for now. Well, she said that you give a prince aura though you don't like one. So we don't need to worry about it" Gray whispered back
"Well then, gentlemen, can we all talk to my office?" Layla gave a sweet smile but to Natsu, Happy, Gray, Jellal, and Loke they really did something not so good. The all followed Layla to her office and left Erza with Michelle, Lucy and Capricorn. Sagittarius went out after Layla and went to Virgo. She told her to prepare foods for Erza
"Erza it's really nice that you wake up. By the way, this is Michelle, Layla-sama's youngest daughter. This is Capricorn their butler. The one you saw a while ago were Natsu, the one with pink hair, Loke the one on his left. Loke is Layla-sama's oldest son. Happy was the one in his right. You know Jellal and the other guy was Gray" Lucy told her. Erza was shifting her eyes back and forth to Michelle and Lucy "what's the problem?"
"Ah, nothing, Lucy and Michelle you looked like a lot. Same with the guy named Loke. Oh well, we ended up staying on a noble family, huh?" Erza sighed. The faint sadness on her face showed. No, perhaps not sadness instead she was worried on what was going on
"Don't worry about it. Actually everyone here is from the noble family. But we can trust them"
"Lucy-sama, Erza-sama, Michelle-sama, I just need to go check your food. So may I excuse myself?" Capricorn humbly asked as the three just smiled and nodded. Capricorn went out of the room and the three were left. Michelle sat down on the end of the bed, hugging the bear given by Loke
"Lucy, do Jiemma and Minerva know about it?"
"No, they mustn't know that we're here. If they found out we're doomed. To tell you the truth we're concealing ourselves from the outside world. But this one it was not like we're hiding and at the same time suffering."
"Layla-sama and the others know about what happened to us?"
"Yeah, they are willing to help but not now. They are planning. We just need to wait for the right time. We need to trust and believe in them"
"How about Mira and the others? They sure worried about us"
"About that, it's okay now. They know out situation and they said that they can endure those pains as long as when we meet again, will bring freedom to them" Lucy held Erza's hand and smiled brightly "we need to be strong Erza, for everyone's sake"
Erza nodded and smiled back. It was then the food arrived. It was all her favorite foods. Virgo asked what Erza likes from Lucy. She asked those things so that when Erza woke up, Virgo knows what to cook.
At the meantime, in Layla's office
Everyone was so silent. They were sweating while thinking what they did
"L-Layla-sama, what did we do exactly?" Natsu asked and his voice was shivering
"I heard everything from Gray-san what happened to your little trip yesterday to our enemy's house. It's amusing while listening" though Layla was smiling they knew that she was being sarcastic
"But it was their fault at the very beginning" Natsu complained
"Yeah, I know that. I couldn't blame you four if you act like that. It already happened so there's nothing we can do." She let a big sighed that made the four lowered their head "as for you Loke, you said you are going to ask around the people in the capitol? I heard that you ended up talking to them the whole time without even getting enough information"
Loke chuckled and shook his head "I got one, mama" he said. They all looked at him and waited for the information he found out. Loke's eyes changed and became serious. His mouth opened but even before any word escaped, there was a knock and they all raised their brow
"Come in" Layla ordered. When the door opened their eyes widened and they couldn't believe what that person was doing there
"CARLA?!" the five young man shouted in unison "What are you doing here?!"
"I didn't expect to see these people here. I'm just here to talk to Layla-sama, but to think these idiots are here" Carla entered the room with her arm folded. Her eyes widened when she saw Jellal sitting next to Gray "J-Jellal-sama?! W-When did you come here?!"
"He's here for quite long time" Gray answered "he went to my house this morning"
"T-This morning?! Then who the heck…" Carla stopped and grinned on Jellal "That's Siegrain-san?"
Jellal laughed and scratch his chin "Found out? How is he doing? Also, how come you are not with Wendy?"
"What is she talking about, Jellal-sama?" Layla led Carla to sit down
"This guy sneaked out of the palace and used Siegrain-san to act as him" Gray explained. Layla and the others looked at Jellal and on their thought "Devil!"
"Wendy is busy entertaining a prince who visited her. She's with her brother" Carla made sharp looked to Jellal "To think that is Siegrain-san, he sure knows how Jellal-sama acts"
"What do you mean?" they all asked in chorused
"No one suspect that the one acting as Jellal-sama is Siegrain-sama. Well, I'm not here to talk about Siegrain-san or Jellal-sama. I'm here to talk to you, Layla-sama" Carla vented her eyes to Layla. She was serious and knew something
"I see, then let me here it what's this about? If it's different to what we are talking right now, I'll suggest to talk to you in private" Layla responded
"I see, well then" Carla breathed heavily before telling them. Her eyes became more serious and stared at Jellal for a second, and then closed her eyes "Erza Scarlet" she blurted
Silence filled the room and the wind entered from the opened window. They couldn't response. They didn't know what to response
Layla sighed and broke the silence and tension inside the room "There's nothing to hide about. But before we continue, Carla-san, what do you know about Erza Scarlet? Why did you go here instead to talk to me?"
"I just met her once. The day Wendy and I sneaked out of the palace, we ended up in a house full of servants with bandages. There was this lady named Erza. Her hair was scarlet and the same face with the one Jellal-sama saw. I was sure that she was the one Jellal-sama wanted to see. After that, I remembered the name Erza Scarlet. I got curious if that Erza, Jellal-sama met and the one named Erza Scarlet are the same, why Erza needs to work in her own house. And then, we went back to that house again, yesterday. I was thrilled and shocked to the fact that the house we went yesterday was the Scarlet family. I concluded that the Erza we know is Erza Scarlet. I supposed to talk to Gray today about that matter because he seemed knows something, but he was not in their house. Ur-sama told me that I might found you here in Heartfilia estate. It seemed that since Layla-sama's presence was banned in the palace, you always go here with Natsu. Then? Seeing you all here, you are talking about Erza Scarlet? Also that Erza Scarlet is in this house. And then, you are planning to take down those stupid elders, especially that first elder" The words Carla said made Layla smiled, though the others they couldn't explain how to react. Carla knew about Erza and the fact that she was in Layla's care.
"There's something you know, right, Carla-san? You just said that 'in her own house'. If you answered that, I'll decide if we're going to say everything to you or not" Layla's responded that confused the others except Carla. She knew what Layla wanted to know
"You see through me. Well I heard about that from Gildarts-sama, though I know Erza Scarlet before that. I read her name, in my mother's diary."
"Your mother's diary?" Natsu asked confusedly
"You all knew that I was from other country and my mother begged the Vermillion family to take care of me. On my 10th birthday, Mavis-sama gave me my mother's diary. There I read a named that I heard from the elders and Mavis-sama. As I finished everything, I learned that Erza Scarlet's mother, Layla Heartfilia, Mavis Vermilion, were best of friends and they helped my mother a lot. My name was given by Erza Scarlet's mother. Erza-san's name was given by Layla-sama, Mavis-sama, and my mother, Shagotte. That's why I got curios and wanted to know Erza-san more. But I don't know where to start." Carla's voice started to shiver. She was holding her tears. They didn't know why, but they could understand that Carla wanted to know everything about Erza
"I understand. Before we continue this serious talk, I'll tell Carla-san everything we know. Jellal-sama knows it already. After that we'll listen to you Jellal-sama, the information you gathered and Loke too" Layla let a big sighed. She first asked Loke to tell Capricorn to bring tea and something to eat. While waiting, Layla explained everything to Carla. She didn't hide anything.
As expected, Carla was also surprised but calmly listening to every word that Layla said.
In Fullbuster Family
"Ma, Gray's not here again" Ultear sat down while shrugging things about Gray, Meredy was with her
"He seemed to hand out with Natsu a lot" Lyon joined the conversation and also sat down across Ultear
Ur stood up against the window and watched the moving cloud "The clouds are moving so fast. There's a storm coming" she muttered "But after the storm, surely the sun will shine upon us"
"We don't get it" Ultear and Lyon said in chorused though Ur looked at them and chuckled
"Those idiots will sure change this stupid kingdom" a voice came in and it turned out that it was Makarov, followed by Igneel and Grandine
"Erza Scarlet, huh?" added by Igneel
"I haven't heard that name for a long time." Grandine also added
"Those kids, they are in Heartfilia again?" Makarov asked and Lyon let them all sit down
"Probably, Natsu and Happy are not in our house too" Grandine responded
"Layla sure plan about it from the very start, huh? I'll just let her do it for the meantime, I feel sorry to Mavis and Zeref too. Well at least they sure know how to keep secrets, like not telling us that Jellal is the Prince." Ur sat down on her desk and rested her chin on her hands
"So true! They think as idiots not to realize those small things." Grandine roared "Everyone knows about Jellal as the prince, for goodness sake!"
"But to think that those kids' fate crossed each other is very unimaginable." Makarov chuckled and drank a brandy that Meredy served to them
"As for now, let's gather information and secretly helped them." Igneel suggested
"How about the other families?" asked by Makarov
"Jura-san said that they would gladly help same with the Kotobuki family. But for Mikazuchi family…" there was a long paused before Makarov continued "I don't talk to them"
"I see, because of that, huh?" the three said in low voice. Lyon, Ultear and Meredy didn't know what they were talking about that was why they just left
"Hahaha, right now I feel sorry to Layla" Ur laughed as hard as she could and blurted out "She thinks that the only people know about what's going on in the palace are herself and Mavis."
"We can't help anything about it. They really care about her; of course they care about her daughter too." Igneel commented
"But of course, we also care about Rob's daughter" Makarov added
"Erza Scarlet, huh? What a nice name!"they all thought
Back to Heartfilia's Household
"So that's what I heard from Siegrain. I really couldn't believe it either, but Siegrain said it" Jellal told them what Siegrain told him. As expected, they were shocked but at the same time…
"That's great news, Jellal!" they all shouted
"To think the first elder thinks something like that. There's no backing now!" Natsu clenched his fist and the others nodded
"Well, well, Jellal is not the only person who has good news" Loke stopped them from laughing "First, we need to be careful in Mikazuchi Family. They are connected to Minerva and it seemed the head lady, named Kagura is interested only in three things; their family, a person named Yukino, and Erza Scarlet. About why she is interested to Erza, I don't know yet. Second, Fullbuster family, Dragneel Family, Dreyar family, and the Blendy family they all know Rob Scarlet. In short, they sure know about what's going on in the palace. The Kotobuki family, only Ichiya knows. And third, there's a person who knows the first elder. They said that he left 15 years ago, but before that he worked under the first elder" Loke reported
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US EARLIER THAT OUR FAMILY ALREADY KNOWS IT?!" Natsu roared to Loke
"S-Sorry, I just confirmed it yesterday and today" Loke chattered
"From whom?" Layla confusedly asked and felt something bad about it
"From Meredy, Coco, Flare, Chelia, and of course from Aries" Loke responded
"Why only girls?"they all sighed and looked at Loke
"Then about the Mikazuchi family?" Carla then asked
"Ah, she told me directly. Yesterday, I met her in the Kotobuki Family. I asked about Kagura then told me about that."
"I'll help in finding information" Carla smiled and volunteered herself "I won't tell Wendy about this. That girl can't afford to think this kind of things"
"Thank you. Natsu-san, Gray-san, Happy-san and Loke, tomorrow you'll find that person that worked under the first elder. Jellal-sama and Carla-san, for now, go back to the palace." Layla ordered but Jellal retorted
"But, Erza just woke up! I want-"
"Jellal-sama, in three weeks you'll be crowned as the prince of Fiore. That time, the elders will surely control you by using the public. I don't know but I feel like Erza-san is our only key in this fight"
Jellal pouted his lips that the others saw. "Then at least let me see her before I go back" he suggested and Layla just smiled to him
"He's in love"they all thought as they looked at Jellal's face covered with shaded of red
