More than a year has passed since the last update, but I don't like having unfinished stuff so here I am!


Chapter 3: "I like her"

As soon as they reached the playground, Erza stood amazed on her toes admiring all the strange structures around her. Gray realized that she still hadn't let go of his hand, so he dragged her with him to start explaining each one of the games.

"All right, this is a slide" he stated proudly showing her what she thought would be a climbing mountain for training "You are supposed to go up there, sit, and then… throw yourself down!"

"…"

"…"

It didn't sound as exciting as he visualized in his head.

"Is that so... Do you find that entertaining?"

"N-No! That's a game for children"

"And how do you win?"

"Win?" the boy repeated incredulous "It is not a competition"

"Oh…"

Gray noticed the disappointment in her voice and decided to move on to the next one.

"These are swings. I suppose you can say the one who gets higher is the winner"

Erza let go of his hand to get a closer look. A rough wood base tied with rope to the timber above her head. It sure was more interesting than the previous one.

The small hands took a strong grip on the rope, determination showing in her face. And without saying a word, the girl started to go up.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Getting higher"

"That's not what I meant!" shouted the boy from the floor as he watched Erza reach the top.

"This one was easy. I see why you say it is meant is for children"

Gray let out a sigh. "Come on, get down. I'll tell you how this works"

Strings of scarlet hair spread on the air as she jumped down, making it look easy. God, she will never behave like a normal girl.

"Ok, first you have to sit here" he stated motioning her to do so. Erza did what she was told "And now, you move your legs to get impulse and go back and forward" the boy said while enriching his explanation with his hands to show her what she was supposed to do.

Erza didn't quite get it. She tried to imitate the movement, but it didn't turn out the way it should. Gray kept instructing her to fix the coordination to no avail and she was starting to get pissed off. Another lesson was learned that day: Erza does not excel at everything.

The boy stood behind her and put his hands on her back.

"Hey! What are you doing?" asked the Erza ready to start a fight.

"Calm down, I'm helping you" he answered with an annoyed voice while softly pushing her from behind.

The swing started to move lazily back and forth as Gray kept pushing her every time a little bit further. Her red locks wafting in the air, her feet not reaching the floor, feeling the wind against her body. It felt nice! She opened her eye wide in amusement. Finally understanding how it should go, Gray stopped pushing her and let her go at her own pace.

Erza stayed there for a few minutes, it was a relaxing, and it was fun. She looked at the semi naked boy standing by the side just watching her playing. "Why don't you use that one?" she asked pointing at the swing next to hers.

"I said that's for children. I'm fine" replied the boy pouting a bit. It would be embarrassing to see himself playing like a little kid.

"Mm? Then…" she muttered while looking over the place for something that seemed interesting. When she found it, she jumped out from the swing "What about that one?" asked Erza running towards the one that caught her attention. Gray followed her.

"That's a seesaw. You sit in one end and another person sits in the opposite. So, when you go up the other side goes down and so on"

Erza just listened to the first part and immediately sat in one side, waiting for him to take the other seat.

"What?" 'why is she looking at me like that?' "You don't expect me to…"

She didn't say a word, her gaze was clearly asking him to join the game. Gray stood there still doubtful. Erza's face started to lose the spark it had before, and she looked down; a small voice leaving her mouth… "please".

Gray sighted again "Ok, I guess I can do it. What kind of teacher would I be if I don't show you how it is done? Besides, nobody is watching us to make fun of me later…"

Finally, he sat in front of Erza. Noticing how the illusion came back to her, he felt happy. Gray jumped to get impulse and, after a few seconds, the girl had figured it out too. Now being able to see her face in front of him, a surprising discovery hit Gray out of nowhere.

"Woaa! That's… You're… You can…!" Gray didn't know how to say it "… smile?" that was the cutest and most angelic smile he had ever seen.

"Of course I can" Erza replied pouting a little, not offended but kind of embarrassed.

"Well, this is the first time I see you smiling like this, you almost look like a totally different person"

"I'm not sure if that's supposed to be something good or bad to say"

"I don't know… but I like you more this way" admitted the ice mage, looking away to hide any trace of blushing that could let him potentially exposed.

Erza's cheeks went a light pink too. 'Is he accepting me?'

After realizing an awkward moment of silence could be born between them for what he just said, Gray quickly came up with something else to change the subject.

"You know, things seem to be getting better for you. The master told me they had plans to help you recover your right eye" he finished smiling back at her.

Erza stopped jumping, impressed by the new "Are you serious?"

"He wanted me to find you to deliver that message" Yeah, he ended up doing exactly what Makarov had instructed him in the first place. But it was fine, he did it because he wanted to, not because it was assigned to him as a quest.

"I didn't expect to get it back ever again" Erza started jumping again as she admitted something else "The boys you beat before… were making fun of me because of that" she made a pause "That brought back feelings I can't handle right now"

Gray noticed the uneasiness in her voice. He couldn't tell if it was anger or sorrow but asking her more about that seemed inappropriate. They were just starting to get along, he didn't want to make her feel sad like the day he found her crying by the riverbank again.

"But they were really weak, you could have shoved them off easily" he wasn't trying to minimize her feelings, but to encourage her to fight back "Now that I think about it, if you can kick my ass now with only one eye, I will have no chance after you get both back, for sure" he said laughing it off and made a pause before getting serious again "But you know, if you ever need help again… " he blushed a little "I can always come to give a hand to our new little fairy"

Erza couldn't believe her ears. Gray was now openly accepting her as a guildmate? And why did that make her feel so happy? She had been acting like she didn't care all along, but deep down she wanted to be a part of it, she wanted to belong somewhere. A warm and comforting feeling raised inside her chest. It seemed that -in the end- Gray was the key to her happiness in Fairy Tail.

"Thank you" the girl said with a shy smile. She noticed Gray was still embarrassed for what he had said before, so she tried to lighten up the mood "I would probably be the only one expecting to be saved by a boy in his underwear tho" her soft laugh made him smile too "All this world is new to me, there are many things that I don't know… but… I think I'm glad I got to join Fairy Tail"

Gray faked being offended by her calling out his striping habits again, but they laughed together.

This day started weird. He wasn't sure what she meant to him, but now it was water clear. Erza was a part of Fairy Tail, and she belonged there so she wouldn't have to cry or feel alone ever again. Of course, he would still try to fight her, but he wouldn't push his superiority on her anymore. She was his friend now. And he was proud of it.


And that's it! I know it is an unpopular ship, but I still love it 3 (even tho this fic is no meant to be romantic haha)

Thank you all for reading till here.

Bye!