A/N: Hullo! This is a slight rewrite*
Please enjoy?
With each apprehensive steps, and with each obstructive minutes of silence, Erza stood outside of her own apartment thinking how much she had failed to stimulate a plan to help Lucy after learning what had happened.
All the sudden, the door opened, revealing Wendy through the door.
"Erza-san? Carla told me that you were outside."
Erza sighed at those words. "I was just thinking…How's Lucy?" The redhead asked as she walked into her apartment and sauntered quietly toward to where Lucy laid.
"Still sleeping. But may ask where you had gone?" Wendy asked as she closed the door and followed Erza into the room.
"Just some private matters with Lucy's relative." Erza responded as she walked into the room where Carla was sitting in a chair watching over the sleeping blonde.
"Relative?" Wendy perked up.
Erza took one glance at the blonde before picking up Carla with careful grip and gave her to Wendy. "You two may go back to you room. I'll take care of the rest."
"Huh? But, I still want to-"
Erza stopped Wendy by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Wendy, I need to talk to Lucy privately about some things that I had learned. It would be in our best interest if there were less audience. You did plenty already, Wendy. You already saved Lucy twice. So take a long break and rest."
Wendy pouted for a minute and nodded, letting Erza follow her out with much reluctance. Wendy was concerned for Lucy, and didn't want to leave her alone. But she trusted Erza, she trusted the judgment of the Knight.
After closing the door and locking it for privacy just in case, Erza turned back and entered the room, and discerned that Lucy was still asleep. With a deep sigh, and declaring that she should let the blonde have her rest, the redhead sauntered to the kitchen to grab some strawberry cake to relieve her soon-to-be hungry stomach.
After grabbing the strawberry cake and a fork, Erza went back to the room, expecting to see Lucy still asleep, but Lucy was wide awake again, sitting up with wide eyes, and looking directly ahead.
Erza stood still and studied the blonde who had not yet moved an inch.
After a few more minutes, Erza placed the strawberry cake on the stand next to the bed and placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder to get her attention. "Lucy?"
Lucy blinked couple of times before her eyes landed on Erza's.
"You okay?" Erza inquired, already knowing the frightened state of the blonde. But for now, she'll play ignorance until she deemed it necessary to probe her for questions and comfort her for the things she had learned from her father.
"Where am I?" Lucy spoke up after a minute of scanning the room.
"My place. I needed to clean you up. You were completely covered in blood."
Lucy paled for a second, looking down, realizing that Erza had not only cleaned her, but put her in different clothes as well. She tried to hide her panic and looked at Erza. She knew that Erza had seen them, but she was confused too. Erza seemed indifferent, other than that fact that Lucy had cut herself again.
Erza sat in the chair and stared at the blonde. "You feeling okay?
Lucy glared back for a moment before looking down at her clenched fists wrapping around the blanket.
Erza sensed the blonde's hesitation and decided to talk about something else, deliberately avoiding the topic of her father and her past.
"Are you hungry?" Erza asked as she reached for her strawberry cake handing it to Lucy.
Lucy looked at the cake, then at Erza with a deadpanned look. "I'm not hungry."
"You haven't eaten for almost two days. You need to eat." Erza frowned, placing the plate of strawberry that she planned on eating on the bed in front of Lucy. Lucy needed it more than her, Erza could always buy some more cakes for herself.
Lucy pouted slightly and stared at the cake before her before grabbing for the fork.
Within a pang of thoughts, Lucy was almost tempted to use the fork to inflict more pain on herself. But she stopped herself, mostly because Erza was staring at her and may yell at her for such behaviors. In addition, Lucy was, truthfully, really hungry, so she gave in and slowly at the cake bites by bites.
Erza sat in her chair, watching Lucy eat her cake with crossed arms. She paid close attention to where the fork was going, not wanting another 'accident' or another attempt in suicide. She looked to the side to check the time. Seeing that it was early in the morning, Erza stood up again and took the empty plate from Lucy after she had finished it and placed it on the stand.
"Lucy. You lost a lot of blood. So you will have to stay bedridden for a little while and you need to eat a lot more food to help you regain some of the blood that you had lost." Erza explained as she stared at the blonde to study her reaction.
"Can I at least go back to my apartment?" Lucy asked, not even looking at the redhead.
"If the boys did exactly as I had asked and cleaned up your apartment, then there would be a possibility of you going back. But not alone. Someone needs to be with you."
Lucy huffed slightly.
"As things stand, you will not be going anywhere because of your condition."
"My condition? What do you think my condition is?" Lucy taunted angrily.
Erza shook her head a little before crossing her arms, staring down on the figure below her. "Trust issues."
"Trust?" Lucy deadpanned questioningly.
"Why won't you tell us about yourself? Sure, we all known that you came from a rich family and that you ran away. We never asked for details. We never do. But…I think your past is affecting you greatly"
Lucy stared at the redhead, shaken up from the fear of having to be found out…No…that's not right. It was the fear of sharing it. Lucy never wanted to share them. It would bring too much…pain and agony that she had gone through. Even just thinking about it is too much for her.
After a few minutes of silence between Lucy and Erza, with Lucy merely staring at the towering mage, and the redhead looking down on the blonde, Erza let out a deep sigh and sat down in her chair behind her.
"Whatever the case, whatever happened, it should not happen again." Erza crossed her arms.
Lucy looked away in annoyance. Why won't Erza leave her alone? Lucy wanted the isolation and peace. But she couldn't really have that isolation if there's another person the room, right?
"In a few more hours, the guild members will want to know your conditions. But…I can promise you that I can keep them away if you tell me what's wrong." Erza already knows it all, but what she does not know is Lucy's perspective and her own experience.
"What made you think that my past is effecting me?" Lucy dared to say it.
Erza narrowed her eyes at Lucy. "Cutting yourself has to be from a past. Lucy, I do not know how long this had gone. Nor do I know what each cut on your stomach means. You don't need to tell me why, but I need you to tell me what happened that led you to do this."
Lucy opted to stay mute, surprised and clearly afraid that Erza had indeed discovered her scars on her stomach.
Before Erza could say anything else to the stubborn blonde, a knock was registered. With a silent growl, Erza stood up and walked to the front and slowly opened the door, revealing a familiar trusting figure.
"Mira. What brings you here?" Erza inquired, only cracking the door halfway.
Mira only smiled. "I came to check up on you guys. How's Lucy?"
"She won't talk." Erza frowned. For a slit second, she looked over her shoulder before walking out of the apartment and closing. She then turned to Mira with concern in her eyes.
"Mira. I need you to be serious. How do we deal with a broken girl that will not talk?"
Mira cocked her head to the side ever so slightly with concern and worry. "Is it that bad?"
"Just answer the question!" Erza hissed quietly.
"Even if she won't talk, if you say that she's broken, then don't leave her side. Make her believe that we actually care for her. And that we are friends, and will always will be. Lucy needs to know that."
Erza sighed. "But what if that doesn't change anything?"
"She'll come around. For now, I strongly believe that Lucy needs someone to care for her."
Erza clenched and unclenched her fists, reconsidering Mira's words. "Alright…Just go and tell Master that I will be with Lucy, and that I will take care of her until I deem it necessary for her to come back to the guild. I'll let you know when we are coming back. I don't want the guild to be crowded."
Mira nodded in understanding. "Of course. Tell Lucy I said 'hi'."
Erza smiled and watched as Mira walked away, assumingly to the guild. She quickly entered her apartment again and sauntered back to where Lucy should be. Only to find her on the ground, unmoving.
Erza dashed to her side and moved the blonde, checking for any injury, only to find none, expect for the scars and cuts that were already there.
"Lucy? Wake up." Erza gently shook her.
"…" Lucy's eyes remained close, her voice remained unheard, and her movements remained unseen.
"Lucy." Erza placed a gentle finger against Lucy's neck to check for a pulse.
Thankfully, there was a pulse loud and clear. With a deep sigh of relief, Erza scooped the blonde into her arms and gently placed her back into the bed.
Erza sat in her chair again for the nth time and took a deep sigh.
Don't leave her side. Make her believe that we care, that we're friends, always there for her.
Erza honestly was not was not good in this type of situation. And she was especially nervous to how Lucy would react if she found out that she had meddled in her family affair. She wondered if it was justified for her to do it, to force some answers from the man and arresting him on the spot. Should Lucy had the say on what to do with him?
It was obvious, it was obvious to all ages of minds that surrounded the life of the blonde. Lucy was broken. She struggled and faced adversity of what's real and what to believe in. What made Erza disappointed was that Lucy never went for help, not in the slightest. Even Levy, her best friend.
A groan was then heard as a rustle was registered and Lucy begun to stir.
Erza kept a watchful eye on the blonde as she rose to a sitting position.
"You okay? Erza inquired, seeing a slightly painful expression in Lucy's face.
Lucy cradled her temple with one hand. "I was trying to go to the bathroom…that's all I remember…"
"…You tried to..." Erza sighed, facepalming in the process, glad to know that it was nothing major, like a sudden interest in making another cut or something. "Do you still need to go?"
Lucy only nodded.
Erza rose to her full height and scooped Lucy in her arms and sauntered to the bathroom.
"That's far enough. I want my privacy when I go." Lucy blushed slightly when the door was within sights and tried to have Erza put her down.
"No." Erza deadpanned as she continued to walk into the bathroom, setting her on the edge of the bathtub.
"I can do it myself. Please leave!" Lucy pleaded.
"No. Last time we left you alone, even for 10 minutes, you had another deep cut. I will not risk it." Erza said as she went to remove Lucy's skirt.
*Smack*
A hard, yet weak hand was met with Erza's firm cheek, causing the redhead to freeze her administrations and stare at an angry blonde.
"Do you honestly think I would try to take my life while going to the bathroom? I really need to go, so please get out."
Erza stared at the blonde for a moment before sighing. "Fine. But give me a minute." Erza said as she started to look around. Looking for specific things.
For anything sharp and harmful.
After collecting the aforementioned sharp objects, Erza turned to Lucy, "Call me when you are done."
"…Just go." Lucy whined.
Erza reluctantly complied and exited the bathroom, closing the door, but not all the way. She placed the sharp objects in a drawer of a nearby stand and stood by the bathroom door, waiting for Lucy to call out.
A sound of a toilet flushing was soon heard, tensing the redhead.
A stream of water in a sink was faintly heard.
Then a soft thud was heard, alerting the older woman. Erza immediately dashed into the bathroom, finding that Lucy was now on the bathroom floor, leaning against the bathtub. Erza quickly turned off the water and kneeled in front of the blonde.
"Lucy?"
"Everything is…so dizzy." Lucy murmured with her eyes shut tightly.
Erza sighed. "You need more food." She scooped Lucy into her arms and carefully walked back to the bed and gently placed her back on the bed.
"Don't move." Erza said in her sternest voice.
Lucy groaned and rolled to one side, facing away from the redhead.
Erza sighed and dashed to the kitchen, looking for good candidates that would help Lucy regain her lost blood.
Nuts, peanuts, banana, Gatorade, milk…
Finding any remaining food of the aforementioned goods that the woman may have, and collecting them into a pile. Erza placed them in a tray and walked back where Lucy should be.
Seeing that Lucy had not moved a muscle, Erza placed the tray on the stand and shook the blonde a little.
"Lucy? You need to wake up."
An annoyed grunt was heard as Lucy got up again and glared at Erza. "What do you want?"
Erza grabbed the tray and placed it in Lucy's lap. "You will eat these. No objections. No excuse."
Lucy glared at the food in her lap, then at Erza. "I'm not hungry."
"Too bad. Eat it."
Before Lucy could come up with a retort, a loud crash was heard at the front door, followed by a familiar shout.
"LUUUCCYY!"
Before Erza could erupt in a fit of rage for her property being raided and destroyed, Natsu came running in with a grin, followed by a familiar blue cat and an annoyed shirtless mage.
"Lucy! We came to see you!" Natsu grinned, walking closer to the blonde sitting in the bed.
"Aye!" Happy cheered.
"This was Natsu's idea." Gray said with a fearful look as he looked at an angry redhead, trying to get his way around the redhead.
"Lucy! When do you think we can go a on job?" Natsu grinned, stopping at the edge of the bed, towering the blonde.
"Aye!" Happy jumped onto the bed and placed a fish with the rest of the goodies that Lucy was supposed to eat.
Erza then brought a hard armored fist to Natsu's and Happy's stomach, effectively knocking them out. She then turned to Gray with rage in her eyes.
Gray started to sweat bullets as he raised his hand defensively. "Like I said, this wasn't my idea. Natsu and I were talking about Lucy and it led to trying to make her feel better. He thought that a job would make Lucy feel better. I tried to stop him and…" He trailed of with tone of fear from the looks he was given by a very angry knight
Erza slowly walked toward Gray. "You will take both Natsu and Happy and get out of my apartment. And tell Natsu that he will pay for the damage he had cause."
Gray nodded feverishly as he ran to grab Natsu and Happy. Before leaving, he turned Lucy with a smile. "Get better soon."
With that, Gray took off, dragging the unconscious meats of ignorance with him.
After a few moments of silence, Erza groaned with discontent as she continued to stare at the damage done. "That idiot!"
She turned to face Lucy.
Lucy stared downward at the pile of foods and a fish that Happy brought for her. She remained mute and unemotional as she stood still and unmoving.
"Lucy?" Erza called out with a soft tone as she made her way toward the blonde
"I'm still not hungry." Lucy repeated, frowning at the fish that had touched the snacks.
A deep sigh was heard from the redhead. Erza reached down and grabbed a snack an opened it. She then grabbed Lucy's chin with gentle care and hovered the snack in front of Lucy's mouth.
"You will eat, or you will feel dizzy. Now, eat." Erza sternly spoke, hovering the snack close to the lips of the blonde.
It was now midday, and Erza sat in her chair, watching the sleeping figure of the troubled mind. The beauty as she slept, the silence as she slept, the lack of apprehension as she slept, as if it was all a dream.
But it's the reality, and Erza still needed to find a way to help the blonde.
"Erza?"
Erza turned her heard to the front of the broken door, where Mira, Wendy, and Carla stood hesitantly. She stood and walked over to them.
"Is there anything you need?" Erza asked.
"I heard from Gray. Natsu's grand entrance." Mira snickered a little.
"Is Lucy-san okay?" Wendy asked with a concern note in her voice.
"She'll hanging in there. I had to force her to eat. Right now, she's sleeping."
"Forced?" Carla raised an eyebrow.
"Learned anything new about her past?" Mira asked, trying to slip into the apartment.
Alert, Erza stood in front of her apartment, not keen on having any more visitors in her apartment. "Kind of. But it'll have to wait. I need to speak to Lucy about it first."
"Is there anything we can to help?" Wendy asked.
"Some snacks that would help boost Lucy's blood flow would be nice. I'm quite low on food now. And I need one of ya'll to keep Natsu tied to a pole so he won't destroy my door again."
"Tie Natsu to a pole and tease him, get food for Lucy, and peace. Got it. Wendy and I will get the things you need." Mira smiled, almost making Erza afraid of what the white-haired mage was thinking.
Once Mira, Wendy, and Carla left, Erza turned and walked back into her apartment, back to keep a close tabs on the blonde.
Now, all she needed to do was to formulate a plan to have Lucy spill everything and start trusting her and the others.
A/N: OOC? Is it good? Bad? Let me know~
Please review and comment on your thoughts! I don't bite~
Toodles!~~