You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

A/N: Hello my beautiful forgiving chibis! I'm sorry for updating chapter 50, but here's chapter 51. Please like it a lot :D I hope you guys have a happy new year!

Chapter LI: Our Lament

It had been three years since Natsu had disappeared, and Lucy knew that the only way she could feel like she was accomplishing something was to follow both Natsu's and Erza's advice- becoming a Zodiac Hunter. At first, she had been completely against it, only wanting to wait for Natsu to come back. But when she realised that he had told her to find the Zodiacs not just to keep her occupied, but because they were actually in danger, she knew that it was part of a bigger plan. Every day, Zodiacs were being endlessly persecuted against, even though they were supposed to be one of the most important groups of people. After all, for every generation, only twelve Zodiacs existed.

Lucy wanted to give them protection for several reasons, but one of the key reasons was that her mother had also tried to protect them. In fact, she had helped Aquarius and her boyfriend, but Aquarius still acted as if she hated Lucy, even after finishing school. Her mother had died too early, so she had not been able to complete her mission of finding all twelve zodiacs. Even though Lucy couldn't help but despair a little that her mother could not help her, Layla Heartfilia had left a notebook with several useful tips, as well as the location of eight of the Zodiacs. She had still continued to write in her autobiography to Layla, including everyday happenings, and how she missed Natsu. She had not been able to focus on writing any other books, as she had been busy solving the Stellar Key Mystery while trying to discover her mother's past.

Layla Heartfilia had been a very mysterious woman, not really sharing her profession with her family. She had always gone at odd times of the day somewhere, and Lucy had finally gathered that it was to go to meetings that were held by the Stellar Key Mystery Association, who had wanted to investigate the potential of the keys, and just how closely they related to the Zodiacs. Lucy knew that her mother would have wanted her to have the same career path as her, and she also wanted to get back Natsu after feeling more accomplished, hoping that he would be proud of her achievements.

She didn't think she was that good at first, messing up the locations of different Zodiacs several times, and even embarrassing herself in front of her elders in the Stellar Key Mystery Association. She had been the laughing stock, and she knew that the only way to rectify that would be to prove herself, and train the hardest out of everyone. Every day, she tried to increase her intellect, as well as her strength and agility. After all, this was the only way she could prove herself to them, seeing that they had irregular surprise fitness tests to see if they could qualify.

The first random test they had given her, she had been really close to getting kicked out, the only redeeming thing had been her durability in a fight. That was how it had gone downhill, and she had lost all her confidence. But she knew that she shouldn't give up, because she felt like it was what she was meant to be. After about a month of training herself to be better, there had been the random test.

Everyone had expected her to fail like the last time she had done it, but she had surprised them all when she had gotten the second highest rank, being only one point away from their strongest member- Loke. After she and Loke had both lost special people in their lives, he had confessed to her his story, and that he had wanted to find his fellow Zodiac, Aries. So they had decided to work together to achieve their goals. It had been a beautiful collaboration, Lucy being the brains, while Loke had been the brawn. But just because she was the brain didn't mean that she didn't get involved in the fighting.

As time went on though, Lucy and Loke felt even more lonely than they had previously been when they had lost their loved ones. So in the heat of the moment one day, they had kissed. They had both known that it had been a terrible decision, as there had been no love in that kiss. Nevertheless, they were both broken people, and needed to feel comforted, so they decided to date for a while, trying to mend each other's hearts.

But their relationship did not last long, and they decided to unanimously break up, after knowing that it would be best to stay friends. They had already been through too much together, and they didn't think that lying to themselves would help their situation.


HibiCana Household 10:54 PM

Cana and Hibiki had been a very happy couple, as they had been surprised with not one, but two children; twins. Cana had been surprised, as her stomach had been relatively small for one child, but somehow, two had managed to fit inside of her! After almost two days in the labour room, she had been able to deliver two beautiful baby boys. Hibiki had been surprised that there had been more than one child, but he had embraced it quickly and had equally loved the members in their family.

But tragedy had struck Cana when there had been a complication with her third child. Soon after the twins, Hibiki had been happy to know that Cana was pregnant with yet another baby. But the baby had been very weak, and Cana had known that the blame was on her. It had been because of all the alcohol she had consumed three years ago, and it had affected the baby. The doctors had said that there had been a high chance for the child to survive, and that she would bring to the world a beautiful girl. But they had been terribly wrong, as Cana had one day suffered through immense stomach aches. Hibiki had rushed her to the hospital, only for her to stay for over a day. When he had heard that the baby had been dying inside Cana, he had been told that the only way for her to survive too was if he signed the contract to allow them to end the child's life. Cana had begged him not to, telling him that she could survive, and she didn't want her child to die. But not wanting his precious wife to die, as he knew there was no hope for the child to, he signed it, and Cana had suffered through a miscarriage.

After the miscarriage, Cana had stayed in the hospital for over a month, not wanting to have any contact with anyone, especially her husband. She had been very unresponsive, only sleeping and waking up, but never talking to anyone, not even the doctors. They could do nothing to stop her refusing to talk, so they had to release her when they saw that she was physically fine. But they knew that mentally, she was very broken, and they hoped that her husband's love would be the best remedy.

But Hibiki had not been able to do it, as the doctors had also told him some information which he had been forced to tell her once she had been released. As he faced his wife on her wheelchair, her face blank, he could only cry at the news. After all, he had been raising his two children on his own for a month, making sure to work and provide for their family as well as let them visit their mother often. He knew that if he told her what he knew, she would probably never speak to him again. But being the caring husband he was, he didn't want her to not know.

"Cana..." he started, forcing himself not to let his voice betray him. "I know you probably won't forgive me for killing our child, but I had wanted to save you. It's too late now to say sorry, but at least I want to tell you what the doctors told me... After your miscarriage, something went wrong during the operation... They had accidentally damaged your reproductive organs..." He couldn't continue, not wanting to spell it out to her. After all, as soon as he said those words, her blank stare had sharpened, and she had let one single tear drop from her eyes.
"I can't have any more children..." were the first words that she said to her husband. He just nodded, not wanting to face her. He had wiped the fallen tear from Cana's face before walking outside, knowing that they would both need time alone to grieve.

And Cana did grieve, endlessly for so many days that Hibiki knew he had to mend the relationship. She had trapped herself in her room, closing herself off from everyone she knew. Hibiki didn't think that there was anything more he could do, as he felt like he was making the situation only worse. So he called one of Cana's best friends, Mirajane. When she had heard about what had happened to Cana, she had felt instantly guilty that she hadn't been there for her. She had agreed right away to try to help Cana, knowing that it was the only thing she could think of doing for her friend.

When the phone call had ended, she had approached Elfman, telling him congratulations for the wedding, and that she had to leave for an important matter. She had been at Elfman's engagement party after he had proposed to Evergreen. They had all cheered on for him, as he had been very shy when it had come to trying to get his feelings reciprocated. After almost three years of knowing her, he had finally confessed to her. Somehow, only a month later he had proposed to her, and everybody had been very surprised when she had actually said yes. After all, it wasn't like he was very handsome, and he didn't even have a job yet, being still in university. Mirajane had been against the idea of him and her dating at first, especially thinking of how their children would look when they were born. But she had learned to accept their relationship eventually, Lisanna having a big part in persuading her not to be that one person who was the villain in every relationship.

She also quickly said goodbye to her sister Lisanna, telling her that she had to go and see Cana. She ran to get a taxi, but none of them were showing up. After waiting for almost ten minutes, cursing herself for not taking her car to the engagement party after being dissuaded by Evergreen. She still felt some animosity with Evergreen, but at least her feelings seemed sincere enough, so she tried to let her anger dissuade before she went back to the party and unleashed her beast mode. She called Sayla, who had become a close friend of everyone in their circle of friends, telling her that she should meet her at Cana's house, as they needed to save her. She heard a tap from Sayla, which meant that she said yes. She hung up quickly, holding her hands tightly together as she froze in the cold night.

Just as she spotted the taxi from a distance, she sighed with relief before screaming as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to see a man with long Green hair smiling at her. She graciously smiled back before turning to look at the taxi anxiously. The man with Green hair tried to get her attention again, and this time, she turned around to fully face him.
"What's your name?" he asked while looking at her in a mesmerised fashion. Mirajane looked at him with bewilderment. After all, she was currently the most popular actress, newsreader and model in the whole world, so it was a bit surprising that he didn't recognise her from anywhere.
"Mirajane," she replied, not remotely interested in his name. Just as she was about to turn back again, he whispered,
"That's such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl." She felt like she wanted to snort at his cheesiness. She finally realised why he was bothering her, not thinking that she would have been flirted with at such a private event, were she knew most of the people at the party. She analysed his clothes, seeing only his red coat that had a belt. She didn't know what to think of him, as he seemed at first glance like a serious type of person who didn't randomly talk to strangers. But his appearance was deceiving, as he was still talking to her even after she was talking so coldly to him.

When the taxi finally arrived, she entered, shouting the address hurriedly to the driver as she looked in her purse for some money to pay him. She didn't even want to acknowledge the person who had been pestering her. What she hadn't realised was that he had entered the taxi, closing the door while paying for her. She glared at him, not amused at his antics. Usually, if a guy liked her, they at least respected her personal space, or at least got the hint that she didn't like them. She didn't particularly want anyone in her life, even though her sister had been complaining that she was only getting older, and less men would like her. But she didn't care too much, especially if the guy only cared for her appearance.

Instead of reprimanding him for being in the taxi and even paying for her, she chose to not talk to him, ignoring him completely as she looked at the scenery from outside her window. But she couldn't help but feel like she was being watched at a close proximity, and she regretted not sacking him away before. When she finally arrived in front of Cana's house, she got off, only for him to also get out of the car and start following her. Whoever the stranger was, she was frankly getting very annoyed by him. Not feeling like she had to act graciously anymore, as he was essentially stalking her, and she was in her rights to act out if he kept on doing it, she ordered him,
"If you stop following me, I will allow you to talk to me later if you stay outside, got it?" she emphasised, hoping he would actually listen for once. He nodded and smiled at her. Just to test him, she walked a bit forward before stopping, only to see that he was in the exact same position as he was before. At least he had understood her words, so she continued to go inside their house. She saw Sayla already there by the door, and she greeted her with a small smile, only to get a nod from her. Even though Sayla was a good friend, she tended to act unemotional and callous, but Mirajane hoped it was just a personality trait.

They both entered Cana's room after briefly greeting Hibiki, wanting to see what exactly what was wrong with Cana, instead of hearing it from Hibiki. Hibiki raised his eyebrows a bit when he saw Sayla, not expecting her to be there. When he had gotten acquainted with her, he had not been very warm or welcoming. There had been unspoken animosity between them that no one could understand, but they chose to just never see each other or acknowledge each other. He only saw her as bad news, and even called Juvia often to ask if she was okay, thinking that she was in danger. Everyone had gotten used to the way he acted around Sayla, but they all couldn't help but wish that they would just get along.

When they saw Cana, Mirajane couldn't help but gasp. Cana had large bags under her eyes, and she looked incredibly pale while holding on to the baby clothes that she had bought for her deceased baby. Sayla had tried to pull the baby clothes away from her hands, but Cana had gripped on to it tightly, slightly glaring at Sayla, who had immediately stopped. She had then started silently crying, not really acknowledging the two other people in the room. It seemed like that was all she did most of the day, as she had a tear streaked face. Mirajane proceeded to gently hold her friend's hand to stop her from holding the baby clothes. Eventually, the baby dress dropped to the floor, and Mirajane crouched on the floor while looking above her at the eyes of the woman who had had so much spirit in her, that was now all gone. Her juvenile glimmer had completely disappeared, and Mirajane felt despair, as this was not the friend who she had known for several years.

Knowing that there was another person who could help them, she quickly called Bisca.
"Bisca, would you mind coming quickly? We really need your help.." Mirajane whispered, not wanting to make too loud a sound, in case it startled Cana, before telling Bisca to come to Cana's room. Bisca had been at the police station, trying to solve a case with Alzack and her university rival Laxus. They had been the top three students in the Police Academy, and they had been allowed to graduate early and form a crime fighting group. Bisca left the boys to do their job, as she didn't think that it would go anywhere while she took her cowgirl hat and left to take the police car. Usually, she didn't do this, but she used the police car to go to Cana's house quickly. This was because she was incredibly far from where her friends were, and she didn't really want to stay in several hours of traffic.

As she reached Cana's house rapidly in record time, she noticed a random man just standing very close to Cana's doorstep and he even greeted her, and she awkwardly waved back at him before going into the house, finding him very strange. He didn't look homeless, and yet he was just standing there, as if he was waiting for someone, or had nowhere to go.

When she saw Cana, she could hear that she was mumbling to herself like a crazy woman, telling herself that it was all her fault that her child had died. Bisca proceeded to slap her friend, the impact making a loud noise, which even Hibiki had heard, but chose not to know what was happening, as he trusted her friends. Bisca stared for a while at Cana, who was looking at her friend who had just slapped her.
"Cana... It wasn't your fault," was all she said. For some reason, it finally got through to Cana that it was not her fault. She knew that she had been partly to blame, but she had quit drinking long before having her children and her third child would have been the one furthest from danger. Cana got up to check the rooms of her children, and she saw how quiet they were, hoping not to disturb their mummy, even though she could see that they missed her. She also noticed how sad her husband looked, and realised how badly she had treated him all this time. Hibiki opened his eyes to see a familiar figure that he hadn't seen in a while. Quickly, he rushed over to her and hugged her, wanting her to know that he really did love her, and he didn't want anything happening to her.

"I'm sorry for being so selfish," she whispered quietly to her husband, knowing that those words were nothing compared to his anguish the past few weeks, but still wanting to be forgiven. But Hibiki had always been a loving and forgiving soul, so he kept on telling her that he was the one who was sorry, and that he loved her. Bisca and Mirajane looked at the reunited couple happily, while Sayla stayed silent like always. After Bisca, Sayla and Mirajane left, Cana knew that she still had one more thing to do.

She entered the room she had confined herself in for several weeks and took her tarot cards, after not wanting to touch them after such a long time. The last time she had used them, the exact thing she had predicted had happened. But now, she knew that she had to trust in the cards before she could use them, as they sometimes also made her predict good endings. She shuffled them carefully, clearing her mind as she visualised what she was predicting. She put the cards down and picked five from the top and five from the bottom, just like last time. She turned them one by one with her eyes closed, not wanting to know if they would finally give her what she had hoped for. When she opened her eyes, she looked confused, before she finally smiled, getting what had been hidden all this time. It seemed like fate had been toying with her, trying to make her think one thing, when in fact, it was the other. She quietly put the cards back in a cabinet, not wanting to tell anyone just yet what she had found out.

She got into bed with Hibiki, and he hugged her tightly, not wanting to let her go after they had both been through so many hardships. But as soon as he was asleep, Cana stealthily got out of the bed and walked outside, knowing she had a duty to fulfil.


A Street in Magnolia Same Day- 12:15 (Noon)

"I am back!" Natsu screamed, hyped. People in the busy street stared at him as if he was weird, especially a Black haired girl who had a disappointed look on her face. He realised it was Ultear, and waved at her with a sorry smile, but she just walked away, not wanting people to associate her with him. As she ignored him, he shrugged to himself and looked at the bright sun high in the sky, glad that he was alive. He could feel the cool spring wind as trees began to get back their green leaves, and he finally felt like he was home after such a long time.

Ultear instead kept on walking while texting Jellal, telling him that she was on her way. Seeing Natsu had triggered past memories, especially one memory that none of them could forget- Erza's death.

For some reason, even Ultear had been allowed at the funeral. She had gotten the invitation just a day before, and at first, she had wanted to reject in and to not go, but she had decided to go as she knew that she had been partly to blame. Everyone had been surprised to see her, but she couldn't care less about what they thought of her. All she could think about was the person who they were going to bury in a few minutes. The girl who had been her friend in childhood, yet her enemy during adolescence. All Ultear could do was glare at the coffin in front of her as the priest talked about Erza. But he didn't even talk for too long, and he didn't allow the people at the congregation to say their eulogies. Gray had been standing next to Ultear, his eyes tearless as he looked at a point in front of him. Everyone at the funeral knew that he was suffering, but they couldn't comfort him in any way. Surprisingly, only a few people came, even though it was a public funeral. They had expected fans of Erza to come, or even all the people she knew, but only close friends came. Natsu couldn't make it, as he probably didn't know about Erza's death after leaving them all like that, leaving Lucy to stand alone, also tearless. No one cried that day, even though they grieved heavily. Jellal was next to Gray on the other side, having his arm around him to reassure him. But Gray stood immobile, not caring about his friend's affection. The strange thing about it all to Ultear was that even Erza's parents hadn't gone to the funeral. Everyone had dismissed it as them being too emotionally unstable to go, but everyone was usually unstable to go to a funeral, so Ultear found it weird.
After the funeral, they all just went home. It had felt like it hadn't even happened, and Ultear questioned why no one had cried that day.

Maybe it was because no one really believed she was gone, because it didn't seem real that the Titania was really gone.

She shook her head, trying to let the memories go to the back of her as she focused on positive thoughts. Thoughts like how Jellal had finally made his record company- Fairy Tail. It had been a huge success, as all the previous artists from Magnolia Star Agency had joined and there had even been the creation of a new band- Crime Sorcière. The members included Jellal, Ultear as well as Juvia. It had been fun debuting together, Jellal on vocals, Juvia on guitar and Ultear on keyboard, and they had gotten huge success.

As she walked to the company, Ultear saw the University just opposite of Fairy Tail. She saw through the window a familiar Bluenette, and smiled at her before waving. Levi waved back enthusiastically at Ultear, knowing that they had been seeing each other almost every day because the University and music company were right next door to each other. Ultear could see Levi being reprimanded by her professor as she shrunk away, apologising to him for the hundredth time, and Ultear chuckled before walking away.

After Levi had finished her lecture, she rushed to go to the shops, simultaneously getting herself a quick lunch of pizza from one of the stores next door. Not wanting to be picky, as she knew that she only had a limited amount of time, she picked a nice looking kimono that caught her eye first before wearing it and paying for it, removing the tag as she speed walked with the tight kimono. She knew that her hair was probably still messy from her lecture, so she quickly combed it while walking down the stairs to the subway, knowing that she had to get the train that was passing then, or she would be late. Once in the train carriage, she started fixing her hair with accessories and tying it up to look neat and professional. Once she was done with her hair, she applied a bit of powder on her cheeks, as well as some lipstick before the train stopped where she needed to go. She went on to speed walk through the crowd, trying to not let anything touch her dress or hair, or she wouldn't be able to fix it.

She finally saw Gajeel in the distance and hugged him, relieved that she had been right on time. But for some reason, Gajeel was surprised how punctual Levi had been and even asked,
"Where do you want to go?" She realised that he had completely forgotten what they had supposed to do, so she quickly reminded him by saying,
"Gaje, don't you remember that your father set up an emergency meeting that every clan member has to go to?" Gajeel looked at her sceptically, not remembering hearing anything of the sort. So he quickly checked his phone only to see that she was completely correct, and if they didn't hurry up, they would be late. Usually, Gajeel didn't care about being late, but he knew that he would get punished if he was in front of everyone who was there, and it was a very humiliating ordeal.

So the couple rushed to the meeting. As Gajeel panted, Levi respectfully knocked on the door, so that the household knew that they were finally there. When the door opened in front of Gajeel, he didn't expect to have confetti being thrown at him and loud noises from every direction, saying "Happy Birthday Gajeel!" In that moment, he began smiling goofily, happy that they had actually remembered. His other birthdays had had to be cancelled because there had always been a war with another yakuza group. His parents had felt guilty that they hadn't had a special party for him, but he had been satisfied to be with the people that he loved. Now, he could see just how much they felt sorry, seeing the house heavily decorated, and everyone congratulating him and making sure he felt special.

So they celebrated his birthday, playing many party games that he had never thought would be seen in such a serious organisation. It was funny to see his mother and father look so ridiculous as they played pranks on each other, even having an ultimate prank war. In the end, his mother came out victorious, and everyone had cheered on for her. Gajeel also got to spend time with his beautiful girlfriend, but he felt like whenever he wanted to get just a bit closer to her, someone would interject and congratulate him, or force him to do a speech. So when the party finally ended, he was relieved, taking Levi's hand before going outside.

"What's wrong?" she asked, surprised that he had suddenly dragged her away, even though they hadn't finished greeting all the guests yet.
"I wanted to only spend my Birthday with you, but I got to spend it with everyone except you. So, let's go on a little adventure together. Shall we?" he said in a gentlemanly way. Levi felt herself swooning at how cute he was being, so she nodded excitedly at him, wondering where they were going.

Instead of something planned, they spent the day holding hands and walking around different places, not caring where their footsteps took them, just as long as they could spend time together. They talked and laughed, and talked and laughed over and over again. They could practically hear each other's heartbeats speeding up at every interaction with each other, even after he had given her his coat because it was getting darker and colder. Levi knew that she was lucky to find such a caring man who loved her, even though he did call her 'shortie' and mocked her whenever he could. But she also got to tease him in return, and she had even persuaded him to actually read books, which was a hobby of hers. They took the time to learn each other's interests and slowly get to know more and more things they hadn't know about each other before.

As Levi kissed Gajeel's cheek after the long walk, she saw him faintly blush, and she pinched his cheeks because of how cute he was being. When she was about to kiss him again, they both saw Mirajane being courted by a Green haired man. Mira looked quite flustered, and Levi had contemplated whether to save her friend, but Gajeel got angry that she was more focused on Mirajane and the strange man than him, so he quickly pulled her into a sweet kiss before dragging her away.

Mirajane shouted, "Leave me alone! What's wrong with you?!" She didn't care anymore that he wasn't talking, but it aggravated her how she walked with her like a lost puppy. After all, he had been walking with her for over twenty five minutes, and she was sick of him just being next to her. The Green haired man had just laughed at her, his eyes telling her that he found her cute. What she wouldn't give to slap that Green haired man with his stupidly long hair and coat. But she knew that she had a reputation to keep, so she tried to keep her anger in check.

"Don't you want to know my name?" he finally said after following her a bit more.
"No," she rejected instantly, making him make a sad face. But she couldn't care less if she was showing her demon side, as he was really becoming an insistent pain to her.
"My name is Freed." She continued walking a bit more, trying to ignore his presence before turning to face him and saying,
"What will make you stop following me?!" He seemed joyful when he heard her say these words, as if he had come up with an answer a long time ago.
"On one condition," he whispered, his lips dangerously close to her ears. She agreed right away, wanting to get rid of him, not thinking about the consequences.

His 'condition' was stealing away a kiss from her, his soft lips on her slightly chapped ones, making her eyes open widely. She didn't know how long it had lasted, or how long he had lingered, but the next moment, they were kissing, and the next, they weren't, him coolly saying,
"Sayonara," after what he had just done to her. All she could do was hold her fingers to her lips as she realised that he had stolen her first kiss...

Mirajane blushed profusely, her whole mind in a jumble as she tried to get why he had suddenly kissed her. Not realising that Levi had come back, only to see her being kissed by Freed, she hugged her fiend while saying, "I can't believe you'll finally have a boyfriend!"


Fairy Tail Studios 14:20 PM

Juvia had finally finished recording with her band, glad that she could show off her skills with a guitar solo. She thanked everyone before saying goodbye, knowing that her man would be waiting outside for her. And she had been completely correct, as she saw a White haired adult standing outside for her with two ice cream cones. She took one of them gratefully and ate it deliciously, her free arm wrapped around his. They catched up on their current events, wanting to know what each of them were doing. While she had chosen to skip University, Lyon had chosen to go into it, wanting to have qualification related to taking care of animals that lived in freezing cold conditions.

Juvia had wanted to ask Lyon about a subject for a while, but she had been nervous to ask him, as she knew that it was still a sensitive subject to him. But she knew that if she didn't ask him, she would never be able to ask him again, so she picked up her courage as she finished with her ice cream and said,
"So... How is Gray doing these days?" She could feel Lyon instantly freeze, and she saw him contemplating whether to tell her or not. He stayed silent for a while, not saying anything at all as they kept on walking. In his heart, he knew that his younger brother was broken, and that there was nothing he could do to help him. After all, he had seen the girl he loved fall and die right before his eyes, and he knew Gray felt responsible for pushing her to the brink of death, until she had finally taken the leap.

Lyon felt like Gray would never get closure, but he didn't know how to express it to his girlfriend, so he kissed her forehead and said,
"Only time can tell..."

\(*^-^*)/

Jellal greeted everyone before packing up in the Studio, knowing that as a young CEO, he still had to take care of mediocre stuff like this to gain the trust of his employees. He had worked hard to make sure that his company had started smoothly, and he knew that not many people could have so much success at such a young age. He felt proud of himself for finally beating Haru and his company which had given no rights to his workers. He had vowed himself to be a fair leader who gave everyone equal chances, and make sure that his employees' talents and potential could soar as high as it could. He smiled at how neat the company was before he made sure to turn off all the lights before he finally went home.

His smile soon turned into a sad frown as he went back home to Gray's house to make dinner for him. Once he was in the kitchen, he searched for a good, nutritional recipe to keep both their energy up. As it heated in the oven, he began doing the chores, washing Gray's dirty clothes and trying to clean up the house to keep it spotless. After Erza's death, Jellal had known that Gray would have probably gone back to how he had been as a child when Ul died. After all, two of the most important women in his life had died- his (adoptive) mother, and the love of his life. Gray was really pitiful, and Jellal felt like he had to take care of Gray, who was like a younger brother to him. Fate had helped them get together after so many years of knowing people they had both known, but never being able to meet directly. Moreover, Lyon hadn't been able to stay as he had gone to live with Juvia, who lived quite far away from Ul's house.

Somehow, Lyon, being the faithful and kind brother he was, had always managed to have regular visits with Gray, prioritising his needs and asking about him always, trying to see if he was recovering. However, Jellal could only see a decline in Gray, who now refused to even come out of his room. Jellal heard the familiar ping of the oven before he took the meal out and walked over to Gray's room. He gently knocked, not wanting to wake him up if he was awake. He didn't hear anything, so he opened the door with care.

At first, he had assumed that Gray was awake, and he had been ready to give him a warm smile, but then he had realised that it was actually Gray's newly acquired habit. Recently, Gray had been talking to himself in his sleep, which he had never done before previously. Jellal had tried to tell Gray of his habit to mutter in his sleep, but he knew that the Raven haired man would probably not listen to him, so he just placed the food on his table. Before he was about to leave, he heard Gray muttering things like,
"She isn't dead... She can't be.." over and over again. Jellal had wanted to tell him to snap out of it, as he had been there when she had died. He had seen everything, and yet he still continued to delude himself in the hope that she was still alive.

Jellal walked back over to Gray and started patting Gray's head as he could hear tears in his voice. That was another new habit that Gray had acquired. He now also cried in his sleep, as he couldn't control his emotions anymore. Gray suddenly got up, scaring Jellal as he had screamed at him, "SHE ISN'T DEAD!" Disorientated and confused, Gray had looked all around his unfamiliar bedroom before finally meeting Jellal's gaze. Jellal had tried to speak, but he had been interrupted by Gray when he had whispered weakly,
"Please leave."

Only wanting to be a pillar of support for his friend, he complied. Jellal allowed him to rest in his room while he emptied away his tears, and Jellal had also gotten into a habit of leaving water for Gray to drink, as he knew that he got dehydrated easily because of the amount of times he cried.

And Gray cried a lot that night, but not for just the reason that Jellal had thought.

(Refer to chapter 9)
Gray had been running and running, hoping to escape the shadow that was following him. He hadn't suspected anything at first, thinking that the person was coincidentally following him. But when he had heard a gunshot pass him by, only inches away from his face, he had known that he had to run away before the bullet found its target. Gray didn't know what he had done wrong, but now he was running for his life. He knew that the person chasing him was an adult, but they didn't have heavy steps, so it was probably a female. He also guessed that they weren't really used to guns, as they had missed him. But he wasn't about to test his luck by seeing how well they could shoot. Just as he was about to finally escape, he bumped into a Scarlet haired girl, and they both went crashing on the floor. He saw that she had a beautiful eyes and he instantly felt bad because he knew that he hadn't been looking forward while running away. But he couldn't stay too long, and his rapid heartbeat reminded him of the person who had been chasing him continuously. He quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her up, but just as he did that, he could hear the footsteps of his chaser again. Not wanting to put the girl in danger, as she had seen both children together, and would probably question the young Scarlet haired girl, he ran with her, his hand still in hers. But they had reached a dead end, and there was no way he could protect her. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see his end. But the Scarlet girl was a fighter, and as the mysterious person shot at him, she used her body to protect him. When he heard the gunshot, he saw that she was on the floor, and that she was holding her eye. With horror, he realised that she was bleeding, and he screamed in terror. The mysterious figure knocked him out cold, and when he woke up, he was on the pavement, ambulance sirens in the vicinity. They had both been robbed of their possessions, and Gray didn't understand why he hadn't been killed that day, but he had owed his life to the Scarlet haired girl.

That girl was Erza, he thought to himself, finally seeing the resemblance after he remembered the face of the girl who had both saved and betrayed him.

Finished! :D Again sorry for uploading so late, but I will tell you why I uploaded after three months in the last chapter :p. By now, I think it's obvious how many chapters there are, but if you are still unsure, remember what your favourite author (me :3!) always talks about in her A/N? Anyo my adorable royal chibis (and yes, I've gotten into KPOP, and my all time favourite group is BTS! Please support them x3)! And make sure to get good habits like revising a bit everyday (instead of in bulk the day before the exam x3...) and sleeping early, as well as trying to talk to new people, even if you don't have that much courage! Your Unnie/Dongseng (depending on how much younger/older than me you are ;P) will support you! Hwating! ~(*^-^*)~ WAVE DANCE AND HUGS! XXXXX

~Roxanne