A/N: Because I feel like crap today and I'm tired of crying alone. It doesn't really help.

I'm super tired. So sorry for any spelling errors. Also I'm working on my update for Connected Hearts, Conflicted Minds if you are reading that. I finished editing and re-reading all my old chapters. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to make happen what I want to make happen. Thank you for your patience with me.

Hints of Jerza

All rights to Hiro Mashima.

So what if she was the 'demon prez.' She still had feelings. She was a normal human being and when she heard people talking crap about her behind her back, Erza Scarlet got insecure. When people made fun of her, Erza Scarlet's feelings were hurt. When girls stared at her scars while changing for physical education, Erza Scarlet still felt like covering up her scars. One days when she felt so low and like such a failure, Erza Scarlet still cried. She was only a normal teenager with hormones and feelings much like anyone else.

Today was a crap day. She had gotten an eighty-nine on her math test. People had been talking about her all day and not even quietly. It was like they were trying to hurt her. But Erza couldn't cry in school because it would ruin her image and then how would she protect the girls from the filthy boys? No way could Erza be seen so weak as crying at school.

Not that tears were a sign of weakness. To the contrary, Erza admired people who could let their tears flow freely like her friend Juvia. But to Erza it just wasn't an option because it didn't fit with her image. Ever since long ago Erza had been locking up her tears in order to fight. Erza knew she was weak, she had scars to attest to it, but when others pointed out her flaws, she became overly self-conscious.

Erza was walking through town, desperately trying to keep her tears locked up until she reached a safe place to cry. Home was not safe, her siblings were there and it wouldn't due to bother them with her troubles. They had enough of their own. Erza was headed to the bluff overlooking the city that she often went to cry and scream when life became too much.

Erza reached the top of the bluff and climbed up to the little shelf she usually sat on. Once there Erza dropped both her bags and her barriers. It had been building up all day, ever since the morning when she had discovered she was not in first for the overall exams, but in second. Sure it had been a shock and being number two was still incredible, but it had still stung.

The first few tears spilled over. They trailed down her cheeks and dripped off her chin. Erza stared out at the city, her mind registering the view, but the full impact of the scene in front of her not really hitting home. Erza stifled a few sobs as she curled her legs up into her chest. Erza's namesake, her scarlet hair, was fluttering and snapping in the wind, free and untamed.

Erza could still remember when she was like that. Only barely, but she could remember. Erza had run around without shoes and without a care in the world, her scarlet hair free to dance with the wind. Now Erza bound it up in a severe bun when at school and donned a pair of false glasses in attempt to… To do what? Make herself seem smarter? Stronger? Erza had long forgotten why she wore the glasses, she only knew that she did.

The next few sobs were a little louder. More tears filled her eyes and spilled over. Erza repressed the worst of the sobs with violent shudders. The silent screams shook her frame and silent cries tore up her throat. Erza couldn't stop the tears.

Soon the tears were flowing down her face in torrents, screams and sobs forced themselves from her body and rent the air. Erza's frame shook and shuddered from the force of her crying. Soon she was shivering, but Erza had no coat with her and could only curl up tighter in hopes to stay warm.

Erza wasn't sure how long she had been sitting on her little ledge sobbing and screaming. She wasn't aware of the passage of time, nor the coat dropped around her shoulders and the arms around her waist pulling her into a warm body. She was only aware that the cold had been chased away and a warmth filled its space. Someone murmured calming words in her ears that did little to stop the sobs, but her screams quieted and the shaking stopped.

Eventually Erza's tears ran out. Her voice had long since died and only silent cries had spilled forth with the tears. Now she could hear what the voice was actually saying.

"Are you feeling better now?" it asked.

Erza was so tired. Her eyelids were drooping. She could only nod.

"That's good. You've been crying for a while, I bet you're throat is sore and you're tired, yeah?" it spoke again. The warm baritone soothed her tired mind and weary soul. The armor around her heart began to weaken.

Erza nodded once more, her eyes fluttering open briefly before dropping again. Blue, she thought tiredly.

"Here drink a little of this water and then I'll take you home," the voice instructed. Erza could only part her lips in answer.

Cool liquid slipped into her mouth and down her sore throat. It flowed slowly so that she would not choke on it as she swallowed. Erza drank as much or the cool water as she could before she was so tired it was hard to function enough to actually drink.

"Good," the voice praised, "now, give me a moment and I'm going to take you home. I'm sure your siblings are good and worried about you. It's past dinner."

If the voice said anything else, Erza did not hear it as she had slipped into the dark abyss of sleep.

The man who held her smiled fondly down at her. "Sleep well my scarlet flower," he whispered as he stood and began to make his way down the bluff with her on him back, both their bags strapped to her back, "I'll get you home safe and sound."

Erza woke briefly when her savior dropped her off at home. He had whispered in her ear before ringing the doorbell, "next time you need to cry, just come find me, yeah? I bet it's hard, crying alone like that. And painful too. I'll always have a shoulder for you. Try not to be so strong all the time darling. A flower encased in metal cannot fully bloom."

Oblivion swallowed her once more as soon as her siblings had gotten her settled in her bed. They had been horrified at her state and the dry tear tracks on her face. Erza had made silent promises of 'tomorrow, tomorrow' to them. It would do for now, but soon she would have to think of another excuse.

Or maybe it was finally time for the truth.

'The truth is always the best excuse. Simply because it is not an excuse at all, but the ultimate statement of trust and love.'

Yes, it was time for the truth.

But it would have to wait for tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow…

A/N: So I'm sure if you really understood my story so I'll explain it briefly.

Basically Erza is this 'perfect, demon prez' who needs to stay 'strong' in order to 'protect the girls from the filthy boys' but she thinks that as she does so she is not allowed to cry. Therefore whenever she can't hold her tears in anymore she climbs this bluff outside town and sits on a little ledge to cry. Jellal finds her there and comforts her, gives her water, and brings her home to her family. Erza's family and friends, beside Juvia, are totally up to you guys. I don't care who you put in it in your head. Anyway, Jellal tells Erza that he'll always comfort her as she cries no questions asked because crying alone is painful.

Also, even though I don't mention it, the person at the end who it speaking, in italics, is Jellal. Just wanna put that out there.

Thanks for reading.

Any requests/suggestions, let me know in the reviews!

Artistofthemind