In that same town, Jellal and his men had stopped to gather more supplies needed for the expedition. While Sting bought the supplies, Jellal began asking around if anyone had seen Lucy. Unfortunately many of them had not seen her. In his search he accidentally bumped into a young woman wearing a cloak. She was carrying some groceries and bumping into her had caused her to drop them.

"Forgive me I wasn't looking."

"No it's alright." She said dropping to the ground to gather up all the things the fallen fruits and vegetables. "I'm such a dolt."

"Please allow me to help you."

He bent down and helped her pick up her things. Though the woman's face was covered by the hood of her cloak, Jellal was able to lock eyes with her for a moment and he noticed something familiar about them. As for the woman when her eyes met his, recognition mixed with fear entered her heart as it started pounding.

"I beg your pardon Miss." He said helping her up. "But have we met? You seem very familiar to me."

"No." She denied quickly.

"Are you sure? Because I'm positive that I've seen you somewhere before. Have you ever been to Fiore?"

"No sir. I've lived here all my life." She said.

"Hmmm...Must be imagination then."

"I hate to be rude sir but I should really head home."

"Would you like me to escort you back? I could carry your things."

"That's very kind but no thank you. Goodbye sir."

And she was off before he could say another thing to her. He couldn't shake the itching feeling that he had seen that woman somewhere before but he couldn't recall who she was or where he had seen her. Little did he know that his suspicions were correct. He did know that woman, very well in fact.

That woman was Erza. She had decided that her fellow crew members needed something more fresh and healthy in their diets so she went to purchase some fruits and vegetables at the market while they were still in town. Natsu however insisted that she wear a cloak upon seeing the navy ship pull up and he didn't want her to be recognized. Everything was going well until she saw Jellal and in that instant her heart was in her throat.

She and Jellal had history together. As children they had both been abducted and forced into that abusive yet nameless pirate crew. To this day she could still remember the day they had first met.

She was six years old and she had just been snatched from the orphanage she had been left at as a baby. She was so frightened when the pirate holding her, dragged her below deck and clamped chains on to her wrists and ankles.

"Better get used to them red because you'll be wearing them all the time." He told her with his yellow teeth making a repulsive grin. "Now if you know what's good for you, you'll do as your told and if you don't we'll toss you overboard with your foot chained to a boulder! Understand?!"

She nodded with her entire body trembling and was then left alone in the darkness. She curled up into a ball and started crying.

"Who's there?" A voice asked startling her into silence. Apparently she wasn't completely alone down here. She saw that there was someone in the corner. To her relief it wasn't another pirate, it was a boy who was also in chains. "Oh so they've taken another prisoner."

"What's going on?" Erza asked him. "What are they going to do to me? Are they going to kill me?"

"No but after spending a day on this ship you'll wish that they had killed you. Welcome to hell over seas."

"I don't understand."

"These pirates have been stealing children and forcing them to become members of their bloody crew."

"But I don't want to be a pirate. I want to go home."

She started to cry.

"Hey don't cry." The boy said in a softer and more comforting voice.

"I can't help it! I'm afraid and whenever I'm afraid I cry!"

The boy moved closer to her, she flinched away.

"Don't be scared, I won't hurt you."

He was a very cute boy and he looked to be about the same age as her. However his face, hands, and feet all had blood red cuts and blisters.

"What happened to you?" She asked.

"These are from the beatings they gave me."

"Beatings?"

"From trying to escape. I've been trying to get off this damn ship ever since they brought me on board. I hate this place."

"Will they let us go?"

"No. They'll either work us to death or sell us to other pirates. But they'll never break me."

"You sound so brave."

"When you're reaching for freedom you have to be brave."

He noticed how scared Erza was and he decided to be friendly, try and comfort the frightened girl

"My name is Jellal." He told her. "What's your name?"

"Erza."

"Where did you come from?"

"I lived at the orphanage."

"You're an orphan?"

"Yes."

"What happened to your parents?"

"I don't know. I don't even know who they are. I was abandoned when I was just a few days old."

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I wasn't the only one at the orphanage who had been abandoned. What about you? Are your parents with you?"

"Not anymore. They killed my parents the night they took me away."

"That's terrible."

"The last thing my parents said to me was 'Never give up Jellal. Don't ever stop fighting until you're free.' That's why I have to escape. My parents will never be able to rest in peace until I'm free."

"If you want I can help you escape. I don't know if I can do much but I'll try my best."

"You know what I like you Erza. What do you say we escape together?"

"You'd take me with you? Really?"

"Yeah and someday when we're grown up we'll come back and free all the other children."

From that moment on the two were always together. They ate together (though it was never a filling meal), slept together, planned escapes together, laughed together, and cried together but unlike Erza, Jellal cried silently without shedding any tears for he didn't want to look weak in front of her.

"Clumsy wretch!" One of the pirates shouted as he cruelly threw Erza to the deck one day. "How could you spill my rum?!"

"I'm sorry. I tripped! It was an accident!" She said frightfully.

"I'll fix you!"

He took off his belt and raised it up high. When he brought it back down she closed her eyes and didn't open them again until she realized that she had felt no pain. In horror, she saw that the belt had not struck her but instead Jellal who had run in front of the belt just before it could touch her.

"Move you runt!" The pirate with the belt ordered.

"I will not!" He retorted bravely.

"Fine! I'll fix you both!"

Jellal threw his arms around Erza, shielding her from the belt, taking most of the beatings. She begged him to let her go but he refused and he didn't realese her until the pirate finally put his belt back on. His entire back was bleeding from the cuts left from the belt. Tears streamed from Erza's face.

"Why?" She asked him in a sob. "Why didn't you just let him beat me? It was my fault! I deserved it!"

"No one deserves to be beaten." He told her. "Especially you Erza. You're too innocent and sweet to suffer like that."

"Oh Jellal I don't know if we can really leave this place. What if we fail? What if they kill us?"

"In my opinion I'd rather die then spend the rest of my life here but if you feel differently than you don't have to do this. I know how scary this all is."

He seemed so sure, so confident, and so very kind. How could she not believe that there was hope of escaping?

"Alright." She agreed. "Let's do it."

"Great. It will take time, we need to be patient and prepared but when the moment is right we will reach freedom."

And they did escape but they didn't escape together. When Erza finally got away she wanted to go back for him but something forced her not to and that act made her feel so guilty. Like she had betrayed Jellal. When she saw him again today, oh how she wanted hug him and tell him how much she had missed him. But she was afraid, afraid that he would hate her for what she had done. Hate her for abandoning him all those years ago.

When she returned to the ship she made sure that she didn't show how sad she was to anyone on board. She didn't want to talk about what had happened back then. It was just too painful.