A/N: This one-shot was inspired by Adele's song Hello. I hope you guys like it.
IMPORTANT: The time for this one-shot is after the whole Tower of Heaven's thing, but before the Nirvana deal. I'm having Jellal wandering the country, trying to figure out who he really is. He still has all his memories and everything, but he's sick because of the ether-nano.
All rights to Hiro Mashima.
The song is Adele's song Hello.
Jerza from the POV of both Jellal and Erza
Hello, it's me
I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet
To go over everything
They say that time's supposed to heal ya, but I ain't done much healing
Erza sat on the dock of Hargeon looking out at the water, desperately holding back tears. Today was a day she did not want to be in the guild. It was the anniversary of that fateful day at the Tower of Heaven when Jellal had enslaved everyone again right after they gained their freedom and thrown her out. The Tower was gone and Jellal was gone with it. Erza wasn't sure if he was dead or alive, but she wished he was alive. Oh, how she wished he was here.
"Such beautiful scarlet hair...That's it! Why don't we call you 'Erza Scarlet'"
"It's the colour of you hair. That way, I'll never forget it!"
Erza stared off into the sunset, tears that she refused to shed filling her eyes.
Hello, can you hear me?
I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be
When we were younger and free
I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet
Jellal stood atop a mountain in the middle of the country of Fiore. He was watching a beautiful scarlet sunset. The colour teased a few strands of memory from the snarled thoughts in his head.
"I'm Jellal Fernandes."
"That's gonna be a pain to remember."
"Coming from a boy named Wally Buchanan? I just know I'm going to forget that one."
"What about you, Erza?"
"I'm Erza. Just Erza."
Jellal smiled sadly at the sunset. Of course colour was oddly nostalgic, it was the same colour as her hair.
"I'm sorry...Erza...Scarlet," he whispered, "will you ever forgive me?"
"That's kind of...sad…AH!"
"H...hey"
"Such beautiful scarlet hair…"That's it! Why don't we call you 'Erza Scarlet'?"
"'Why don't we…? What, just like that…?"
"Erza… Scarlet…?"
"It's the colour of your hair. That way, I'll never forget it."
There's such a difference between us
And a million miles
The two mages, thousands of miles apart glances up at the sky and saw a beautiful scarlet sunset.
"Jellal," Erza murmured sadly, fingering a piece of her hair, "I have forgiven you. But will you ever be able to forgive yourself?"
Hello from the other side
I must've called a thousand times
To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done
But when I call you never seem to be home
Erza watched the sun dip lower in the sky and colours deepen. She recalled all those times when she had gone to the shore where she had washed up, debating whether or not she ought to go to the Tower and free everyone. Whether or not she was strong enough save everyone. Whether or not she was allowed to save everyone after she left them in that terrible place with Jellal.
Erza could never decide whether or not the family she found in Fairy Tail was worth losing her old family. Somedays, especially after Lucy arrived, she had felt that yes it was definitely worth it. But other days, like after Lisanna died, she had felt it really wasn't worth it because she was just going to lose her new family. The rest of the days she had spent walk the knife blade between depression and happiness, not completely in both, but not leaning more towards one or the other either.
Today was a day when Erza was happy she had left and found Fairy Tail because she had been able to free her old family as a result. She would not have been able to do that had she stayed with them on the island. Maybe Erza would always wonder if it had truly been worth it, but that was alright because now everything was looking up. Her old family was free and safe as they could be wandering the world with no knowledge of how it worked. She was with her current family, Fairy Tail, and they loved her and she loved them and that was good enough for her.
Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I've tried
To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart
But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart
Anymore
Jellal turned away from the sunset to face the cave he had parked himself in for tonight. His campsite had the bare essentials to survive, no room for comfort. He neither deserved nor desired comfort. Not after causing so many people to suffer for so long. Especially not after how he had treated Erza. She had not deserved living for so long under such a burden as the one he had placed on her shoulders.
In truth there had been a few days at the Tower when Jellal had been in his right mind. He had spent all of them locked in his personal rooms trying to figure out what he had done and how to fix it. How to find Erza and fix the mess he had made of his life and the lives of many others.
On those days Jellal had cried, sobbed, and screamed to the sky that he was sorry, that he had not meant to do this, that he just wanted to be with Erza. But no one, nothing had ever answered his cries and slowly those days had stopped coming until they ended completely.
When he had finally seen Erza again, for a few glorious moments he was himself and he had wondered if she had suffered as he did. But she had looked fine when he saw her racing towards him with determination on her face. He had thought to himself, 'she probably doesn't even remember the real me. She probably forgot all about it all under the burden I gave her to carry that day.'
But how wrong he had been.
It's no secret that the both of us
Are running out of time
So hello from the other side
I must've called a thousand times
To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done
But when I call you never seem to be home
Erza stood and stretched. It was time she started to move on. This was a problem she had been burdened with for years and maybe the weight would never truly go away, but Erza knew where her family was, sort of, and how they were doing, sort of. She fervently hoped that they would all be okay.
Millianna, Wally, and Shô all deserved to be able to live the rest of their lives with minimal trouble. After living in the Tower for most of their lives and never experiencing the world, slaving away to build a horrid building to resurrect Zeref it was the very least they deserved.
Erza wondered if she would ever see any of them ever again. She hoped she would, but at the same time Erza wanted to forget the Tower ever happened. It was something she wanted to wipe from her life. But she could not because it had made her the person she was today. It had unlocked her magic and given her a new life.
Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I've tried
To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart
But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart
Anymore, ooooohh
Anymore, ooooohh
Anymore, ooooohh
Anymore, anymore
Jellal slid into his sleeping bag and stared out at the sunset. It was a darker red than Erza's hair now and for that he was both thankful and disappointed. He did not want nightmares tonight about his actions during the last several years. Jellal wanted the peaceful dreams that usually accompanied thoughts of Erza. At least the dreams were pleasant until the terrible fog of Zeref seeped into his mind, twisting his dreams into nightmares, and he woke up drenched in sweat screaming apologies to a person who was not there.
Erza would no longer be bothered by him, Jellal hoped. She had no reason to. He had saved her and her companions' lives by redirecting the energy burst of the Tower after Natsu beat him. Now Jellal was paying the price, but Erza was alive and with her family. The residents of the tower were finally free and living the life they deserved to be living. Jellal would die quietly, in pain, and alone just as he deserved.
Hello from the other side
I must've called a thousand times
To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done
But when I call you never seem to be home
Erza got on the train back to Magnolia once she reached the station. She had reminisced enough, it was time to return to the future and put Jellal where he belonged, in a locked box in the corner of her mind. Jellal was no longer alive, despite what her instincts told her, and he would not, could not ever bother her again.
That didn't matter though she realized, and as Erza looked out the window of the train she saw that the colour of the sunset had darkened to the colour of dried blood. She briefly wondered if Jellal were still alive and looking at the sunset just like her.
In case he was, she whispered to the sky. "Live. Live for yourself, not for anyone else. Live, please. Live."
Then she rested her head on the window and fell asleep.
Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I've tried
To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart
But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart
Anymore
Jellal was drifting off to sleep when he was sure he heard someone speak. It was familiar voice and the words floated on the wind as though they had been carried over a long stretch of land.
'Live,' the voice whispered in his ear, "live for yourself, not for anyone else. Live, please. Live."
"I cannot," Jellal told the wind, fatigue slurring his words slightly, making them more truthful than they might have otherwise been, "I have made far too many people suffer for far too long. I must live to make amends for my sins. It will take my whole life I am sure, for unless someone is able to heal me, I shall die soon."
Then his mind drifted further and further away until he was asleep.
A boy and a girl, separated by thousands of miles, dreamt of one another as they slept a more peaceful slumber than either had had for years, practically their whole lives.
'Hello,' the girl with scarlet hair whispered from the other side.
'Hello,' the boy with cerulean hair responded from the outside.
Their souls had met and would not separated be something so earthly as distance.
A/N: So this didn't really turn out how I wanted it to. I'll probably come back and re-write it, but here is a kinda angsty Jerza.
Thanks for reading!
Artistofthemind