A/N: I know you guys are confused! But all in due time . Here's chapter 3 (though technically chapter 2...grrr...Maybe I should've titled the prologue chapter 1 instead) oh well! Here is chapter 2! There. Have fun~

So, I finally noticed that the hr tags in the html (for line break) are broken. No idea why. Please fix this, FF. It's starting to piss me off. It's being fickle as all hell.

It had taken all but an instant. The spear pierced through her enemy's side as they let out a scream of agony. They jumped away, trying to recompose themselves, but the pain was too strong. Their waist had begun bleeding, as droplets of blood could be seen reddening the ground. The scarlet haired figure took the remaining steps she needed to stand in front of the now fallen white haired assailant.

"Who the hell are you?" Seethed her enemy as they held onto their bleeding waist.

She knelt down, her lips nearly touching their ear, "That doesn't matter". She cupped their cheek through their hood, "I think it's time for you to run back to Kyouka."

Eyes wide and body shaking, they had no idea what was going on. Seeing the face through the hood, it made no sense. The woman cupping their cheek had a very familiar face. It was so familiar yet there was something wrong. It felt different. Who on earth was this person? How did they know about Kyouka?

"How?"

"Hmm?"

"How do you know about her?"

"I know a lot more than you think I do. And let's not pretend that you hate your mistress' punishments, because we both know you don't."

The hooded figure screamed as they tackled their opponent to the ground. The scarlet haired woman's hood fell off, revealing her face to her enemy.

"Give me answers," the demonic voice wavered.

"Why do you care? You don't even think for yourself. You don't even know who you are. Who I am. Who those people are," she replied, tilting her head towards the Fairy Tail members. "Tell me your name."

"My name is of no concern to y-" they were kicked back, staggering on their feet, as the woman got up and dusted herself.

"Kid, do us both a favor and go get yourself patched up. You won't be able to get your beloved Kyouka's work done if you're dead. And quite frankly? I need you alive."

Even if the white haired intruder wanted to fight back, they knew they couldn't. They were clearly bleeding and running out of time. They needed to get away. Growling in frustration, they looked towards Lucy once more, before leaping away. Whatever Kyouka wanted that girl dead for could wait. Hopefully two failures didn't mean execution, but with Kyouka? You never really knew. The woman was incredibly fickle.

"By the way," the scarlet haired woman yelled out, "don't piss off Sayla. She's quite the jealous type."

All that was heard was a scream of frustration and anger as the figure vanished into the horizon.

"Well then," she turned around, walking towards the blonde. "That takes care of that." Arriving at the feet of the girl on the ground, she lowered the hood that had returned to its position earlier.

"Hi there," she let out with a cheery smile that did not really compliment the scar on her face.

All Lucy could do was gawk at her. This woman standing in front of her, was it really Erza? Her Erza? Erza Knightwalker? The older woman gave the blonde her hand, willing her to get up. Lucy noticed scars were also present on her lover's arm as well. What the hell had happened to her? She hesitated.

"I know. We have a lot of catching up to do, so come on. I'll explain everything, alright? But let's get out of here first. I don't really want to see the guildies before we have a chance to talk."

Lucy took her hand. Before Natsu could stop them, Erza had used Silfarion to speed up and get away from the guild. Natsu couldn't have hoped to catch them in time. It was all strange. Erza didn't even look at him or Happy. It seemed as though she was trying to avoid them. And the dragon slayer knew full well that the smile Lucy had recieved had been a fake one.

"Natsu?! What was all that commotion?" Titania let out as she made her way out of the guild.

"Erza!"

He ran towards his comrade. "I have no idea what's going on. Erza's back. At least I think."

"You mean Knightwalker?" Scarlet raised her eyebrow. Natsu nodded in response. "Why do you think she's back? She either is or isn't."

"Yeah, but see that's the thing. I went to her hut with Lucy to figure out if I could sniff her or not and we were attacked by this hooded figure with white hair. I told Lucy to run away and she did, but before this person knocked me out, I saw their face."

Natsu wasn't even taking a single breath. He needed to get it out before Knightwalker magically heard what he was saying and killed him for it. "It was Erza. I'm completely positive it was Erza. I mean she had red eyes and white hair, but I know it was her!"

"Go on..." Scarlet folded her arms, trying to listen to Natsu speaking a bit too fast.

"Well, later, another hooded figure appeared. They had red hair but smelled like Erza! When I was about to tell Lucy that the white haired person was Erza, the red haired one glared at me and she looked like Erza! How can there be two Erza Knightwalkers?! Erza! What's going on?!"

He grabbed her shoulders and started nudging her vehemently. He was downright confused. Both looked like Erza to an extent, but only one of them smelled and sounded like her.

"Where are they now?"

"The white haired one ran away. She seemed pretty injured. The red haired one took Lucy and left! She used her freaking super speed spear! I can't catch up to that."

"Do you know where they went?"

He shook his head. Erza for one had no idea what was going on. Natsu's explanation was awful, jumbled and incredibly fast. All she was able to retain from it was that there were two Erza Knightwalkers out there and the one that smelled like her was with Lucy. Did that mean the blonde was safe? She hoped so, but decided to go over to her apartment and hope her friend was safe.

Lucy felt something was off. Who was the white haired woman? Was it even a woman to begin with? Why was she trying to kill her? How did Erza know her? How did Erza get her scars? Once they'd gotten home, Erza had asked Lucy to let her take a shower. The blonde had agreed, but something felt off. Erza hadn't seen her in 7 years right? So why wasn't she ecstatic? Why wasn't she crying or holding her or telling her how much she loved her? Sure Erza had always been the aloof type, but this wasn't an aloof Erza that she was being witness to. This Erza was smiling and making jokes. Lucy knew however that they were empty smiles and empty jokes. They either fell flat or just weren't there at all. Something wasn't right. Was this woman really her lover?

She sighed as she let herself fall back on her bed. There were way too many questions. She hoped Erza could give her some answers. Looking to her side, she noticed the scarf. Seven years later, and she was still using a scarf. Lucy smiled a bit as she took it in her hands. It was a light reddish color and incredibly soft. She couldn't help but bring it up to her nose. Breathing in, the scent was so familiar. She knew it like the back of her hand. It smelled like Erza.

"Hey," the familiar but slightly rougher voice let out, causing Lucy to yelp in surprise and put the scarf back on the bed.

Tilting her head towards her supposed lover, she finally had the chance to take a good look at her. "Could you give me my clothes? They're next to you."

Lucy stood up, walked the two steps needed to be right in front of the woman and looked at her. Had seven years really taken such a toll on her lover? Erza was supposed to be twenty-six right? So why did she look older? She looked like she was at least 30. What had happened to her in the last seven years? She had clear bags under her eyes that made her seem more aged than she probably was. Looking into her eyes, Lucy knew something was missing. Her usual strength and passion weren't there. Those earlier smiles were fakes, that she could confirm. She cupped her lover's cheek, however her hand was slapped away by the woman gritting her teeth. It was the first sensual touch since she'd seen Erza again. So why?

"I'm sorry," Erza whispered, looking away. "It's just been so long since we spent time like this, being intimate." Lucy understood. It made sense. Seven years had passed. Erza had reverted to her secluded closed self, hadn't she? The one who wouldn't let anyone touch her, let alone hold her. But Lucy had hopes. She knew Erza loved her and she knew Erza would let her touch her once more.

"Please let me touch you," the blonde tried again, slowly cupping her cheek.

It was Erza. Her Erza. Her skin was a bit rough, there was a scar crossing her left eye diagonally stopping at the tip of her upper lip. Lucy felt as though she was an injured animal. Every time she moved to touch another part of the woman's face, Erza would twitch. She was uncomfortable. Lucy found it odd. Earlier, when Erza was fighting, she didn't show a single ounce of the behaviour she was showing now. There were people around...Happy, Natsu...Of course she wouldn't show what she was really feeling. Fear. Anxiety.

"Erza...Let me see your guildmark," Lucy would make Erza remember. Though she didn't want to show her fear in front of Natsu and Happy, she had no reason not to. They were all a family now. And if Natsu saw Erza scared or anxious, Lucy knew he'd do anything in his power to make it all go away.

The woman clad in the white towel, her hair dripping small droplets onto the floor, shook her head. "I can't show it to you." She pointed to the gauze bandage wrapped around her right arm. "I had a nasty burn recently and it's still healing up."

Lucy nodded in understanding, though a bit disappointed. She'd remind herself to ask Wendy for a little healing help.

"Please give me my clothes," the woman let out quietly. This Erza was so...different. Lucy didn't understand what could have happened in these seven years to change her so much. She grabbed Erza's hand and pulled her to the bed.

"Lie down," she prodded gently.

"Lucy, I just want my clothes."

"Erza, please lie down. Please let me see, let me feel what I missed in these last seven years."

No matter how much time had passed, Erza always had a hard time saying no to Lucy. But she was scared. She had so many new scars over the years that her body felt foreign even to herself. She didn't want Lucy to think that she'd become a monster. In fact, Erza had no intention of showing her body to the girl any time soon. Lucy insisted.

What would happen if the blonde was repulsed? The other Erza? She didn't have any frontal scars. She had the typical ones on her back, she had white hair and red eyes. But she was still the same Erza. This meant that if Lucy had to choose between them, she'd probably choose the white haired one. It was ridiculous, given Lucy didn't even know the white haired woman was Erza. But her fears and insecurities were starting to show. She had been without Lucy, without love for so so long. She'd gotten everything back and lost it all in a single heartbeat. She didn't want to go through loss anymore. She was tired of it.

She let out a quiet sigh as she lay down on the bed. She'd appease Lucy. Maybe she'd get back to her former self. The strong, passionate, emotion driven Erza Knightwalker. When the white haired Erza had attacked, she was able to act with confidence and intimidation. It was her choice to speak with Lucy privately however. So why couldn't she act the same way she did on the battlefield? It frustrated her. She was supposed to be strong. She was supposed to be the one Lucy relied on. Yet at that moment, it seemed like the complete opposite. As Lucy slowly removed the towel from Erza, exposing her chest, the older woman took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, preparing for the worst. Preparing for Lucy to run away in disgust.

What Erza was expecting wasn't what she received. A few seconds of silence passed by feeling like hours, until Lucy finally spoke with venom on each word. "Who did this?" If you simply looked at Lucy, you would see she was out for blood. "Who the hell did this to you?!" Erza's entire body was covered in cuts and bruises that you would have thought would have healed long ago.

"It's been a while-"

"A while?!" Lucy cut in. "These look like they're a few months old!" She slowly brought her finger to trace a closed gash starting from the woman's right breast all the way down to her stomach. Erza shuddered under her touch, not having been this intimate with anyone in a long time.

"How-" Before Lucy could ask another question, her cheek was cupped and her lips met with sloppy, rough ones. Had Erza always kissed like that? It reminded her a bit of their first kiss. When their lips separated, their noses touching each other, Lucy couldn't help but want to ask.

"Erza, when was the last time you had sex?"

The older woman's eyes widened a bit as she tried to understand what she'd just been asked. "Aren't there more important questions you want to ask? Like who the person who attacked you was, for example? Or what happened when you were away?" Lucy's priorities made no sense at all.

"They can wait. You can't. When was the last time you slept with anyone?"

"Are you asking if I cheated on you?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow, "You do realize only cheaters would take what I said and think that's what I meant, right?"

"I'm sorry. It just seemed completely random..."

The blonde fixed herself so each of her legs were on Erza's sides. Wrapping them around the woman's waist, she snuggled closely with the now seated redhead on the bed. "You're naked. Very very naked. And you just kissed me. So I don't think it's all that random actually."

"I...it's been seven years since I last had sex."

Lucy nodded, a bit of pride swelling in her. Her lover hadn't slept with anyone but her. She'd stayed loyal to her. It was an incredible feeling. Seven years! "And silly question but...How old are you right now?" Lucy just wanted confirmation that Erza was in fact the age she'd thought her lover was. You couldn't blame her could you?

Erza raised her eyebrow as her hands found Lucy's waist, wrapping themselves around her. "I'm obviously thr- twenty-six," she stumbled. If Lucy noticed, she hid it well.

Placing both her hands on either cheek, Lucy finally brought their lips together once more. "I missed you Erza," she whispered, letting her breath touch her lover's lips. And that's when it hit the scarlet haired knight. She was home. She was in her lover's arms, and all was well. Who cared about Kyouka? Who cared about the white haired Erza? She knew what was going on. She knew everything. And she didn't give a rats ass. As long as the other Erza was still alive, she had nothing to worry about. Kyouka would patch her up, and even with the punishment, she'd still be fine.

It had been so long. So incredibly long since the last time she'd held Lucy. She had no intention of letting go, no matter what. This was her second chance, and she wasn't about to screw up. She'd make things right.

The redhead connected their lips once more. She left small pecks on Lucy's lips until the blonde slightly opened her mouth. Erza used this opportunity to stealthy slip her tongue in. Lucy closed her eyes, clutching onto her lover, begging the moment not to end. Erza tightened her hold on her lover as physically possible. The sudden urgency in the kiss was unbearable. She wanted her blonde lover. She wanted every fiber of her being. Their tongues danced together, each fighting for control as Erza pushed her lover back on the bed.

She was getting it back. Her old aggressive, passionate self was slowly coming back, and she knew Lucy was the reason. She hadn't rejected her even after seeing all her scars. The ugliness she'd become. Lucy loved her for who she was and Erza was eternally grateful for it. As she began to lift her lover's shirt however, a familiar voice rang in her head.

'You will always belong to me.'

She hesitated a mere instance as the door to the apartment swung open. All that could be heard as Scarlet and Knightwalker looked at each other in shock was Lucy's embarrassed scream, followed by a pillow landing on the intruder's face.

A/N: Alright. That's the end of that chapter. A lot of questions, I know. They'll be answered over the course of the fic. Hope you stay tuned for more! R&R is as usual, greatly appreciated!