AN: Hey, guys! I thought I'd update a little early today, since it's the weekend! I hope you guys like this chapter, because it was my favorite one to write! PLEASE rate and review, because it helps me be a better writer, and quite honestly it makes me feel good. Just throwing that out there. If you read the whole thing, I would really appreciate it if you let me know what you liked and didn't like so I can make it better! Hope you guys enjoy!

Notice: I don't own Fairy Tail. Its characters, settings, etc. all belong to Hiro Mashima. However, this fic contains multiple OC's. These, and these alone, are mine.

Make sure you read all the way to the end! ;)

Chapter 9: The Date

It was eight-o-clock, and the sun was just beginning to set over the sea. Erza was worried about what was taking Ezra so long. It didn't seem like him to be late.

She felt so nervous about this whole thing, which was strange. Why should she care too much about this date? It was just for Ezra's pleasure, as his reward for winning the duel. It wasn't like this would lead to anything, would it…?

Her cheeks reddened.

Oh, stop it, Erza, she scolded herself. You're Titania, the Fairy Queen. You are strong. You will not give in to this boy.

Even as she thought this, Erza remembered how much effort she'd put into getting ready for the date. She'd tried every single one of ALL her requip outfits before settling on her trademark purple dress with a slit cut on the right leg. It was a proven favorite.

A hand on her shoulder from behind interrupted her train of thought. Instinctively she turned around and punched her assailant as hard as she could right in the face.

"Ouch! Jeez, Erza, is that how you greet me now?" a cheeky voice questioned from behind her fist.

Erza did a double take. "Ezra?"

Ezra gently pushed her hand off of his face and grinned. "The one and only."

Erza noticed how little effort Ezra had put in before getting ready. He wore the same brown cloak over black undershirt and black jeans. His hair was still teased into the same spike. That was strange. You'd think such a chivalrous guy as Ezra would be polite enough to dress nicely for a date.

He knelt and kissed her hand. When he stood up again, he finally seemed to notice her dress. His mouth fell open in shock. "Whoa," was all he said.

Erza smirked. This really wasn't like him at all. Since when did Ezra speak one-word sentences?

"Sorry I'm late," he apologized. "I ran here all the way from the guild." Ah. Perhaps that explained his lack of proper dress.

Suddenly he said, as if reading her thoughts, "I'm sorry about my attire."

Erza was naturally surprised. "What? Why?"

Ezra smiled sadly. "I knew you'd expect me to wear something fancier, but I can't. These clothes belonged to my father. They're all I have left of him. I hope you understand."

Erza's breath caught in her throat. She didn't know what to say. It reminded her of Natsu's scarf. But she couldn't imagine the great Ezra Mathin could conceivably show weakness. Was there possibly another side to him?

Ezra's face perked up. "Ah, what am I doing? I shouldn't be troubling you like this." He took her hand and led her down the wharf. "Shall we?"

Erza had to hand it to the guy; he really knew how to plan out a date. He began by leading her down the wharf to all the various tourist attractions. They chatted about random, simple things, and saw talented street performers and fire breathers. Ezra took her to a quiet jewelry shop, where he bought her a beautiful necklace lined with pearls from the ocean, and crowned at the bottom with a simple, well-shined, gleaming red ruby that matched Erza's crimson hair. Finally, Ezra led her to a little apartment building on the corner of the street. He sat her down at a table inside an apartment and tied a blindfold around her head.

"This is my buddy's apartment, he's letting us borrow it tonight," Ezra's voice spoke. "Now, I'll be right back. Wait here. And NO peeking!"

She heard him go into another room, and then came some sounds of bustling and bumbling. Erza definitely had to admit she didn't expect her date with Ezra to be this pleasant. She'd honestly expected him to just take her out to some fancy restaurant, and then take her to some hotel where he would try to get her clothes off. But she was actually quite enjoying just wandering around town with him and spending friendly time. Ezra really was a much more complicated guy than she'd made him out to be.

She heard his footsteps coming back into the dining room. Something heavy hit the table with an audible thunk.

"Okay," came Ezra's voice. "You can take the blindfold off now."

Erza obliged, and could not believe what she saw.

Sitting on the table right in front of her was the biggest strawberry cake she had ever seen.

Erza was at a complete and total loss for words. She opened her mouth, but couldn't close it because it was too stuffed with the cake's heavenly aroma.

"So? You like?" Ezra teased with his characteristic grin.

Erza finally snapped out of her trance. "I love it! But how did you…"

Ezra shrugged. "Oh, your friend Mirajane told me you loved cake."

Erza felt a small twinge of guilt. Poor Mira. An image formed in her mind of Mira stammering as she gave Ezra the information he needed to woo another woman. Erza would've been guilty, but with the massive amount of cake in such close proximity, it was hard to feel anything but giddy.

Ezra sat down, picked up a large fork and requipped into a long cutting knife. "Race you to the middle," he laughed.

Erza couldn't hold herself back anymore. She and Ezra launched themselves ferociously at the cake, carving their way through it at speeds no one would dare to drive on a highway. It was the most delicious cake she had ever tasted: warm, spongy, filled with pockets of vanilla cream and strawberries. Although Ezra was a fast eater, he was no match for Erza when it came to cake. She reached the middle before he did and started eating some of the cake on his side.

"Hey, no fair! That's mine!" Ezra protested, but Erza could tell he didn't really mind, so she kept on eating his share of the cake. She just kept eating and eating and eating until it was all gone. She was just scooping up some crumbs when her fork hit something hard. Puzzled, she pulled out the object, which was a red box covered in velvet.

"Open it," Ezra encouraged.

Obliging, Erza opened the box, wondering giddily for a brief moment if it was an engagement ring. Instead, it was a small chocolate. Confused, she looked to Ezra, who nodded, as if encouraging her to eat it. Erza popped the chocolate in her mouth. It was quite good, a savory sweet flavor so characteristic of dark chocolate. She was just about to swallow it when she felt it abruptly disappear from her mouth.

"Now, calm down, Erza," Ezra stopped her before she could take out her rage on whatever had stolen her chocolate. "That chocolate's enchanted. Before you can swallow it, it'll disappear and reappear somewhere else in the apartment. You gotta eat it a certain number of times before you can swallow it. Think of it like a little scavenger hunt. It'll be fun."

Erza fixed him with her deathly Erza Stare, wordlessly assuring him that no, it wouldn't be fun. Erza was going to make him pay for his insolence, but first she had to enjoy her chocolate. She went into the living room, and found the chocolate on the couch. Sure enough, it disappeared again when she tried to swallow it. She kept chasing the chocolate around the apartment, spurred on by words of encouragement from Ezra in the dining room. Finally, after having eaten the chocolate almost twenty times, she was unable to find it any longer, which was infuriating since she hadn't even gotten to swallow it.

She whipped herself back into the dining room to give Ezra a piece of her mind, and then stopped. She'd found the chocolate.

Ezra sat in the same seat with his eyes closed, and the chocolate clenched lightly between his front teeth.

Erza stood there for a few minutes, flabbergasted. She couldn't believe Ezra had the nerve to try this on her. There was no way she'd fall for such an obvious trick. She reached out multiple times with her hand to grab the chocolate, but Ezra batted it away each time without opening his eyes. Exasperated, Erza realized she was going to have to open herself up for him to kiss her if she wanted to finally eat that damned chocolate.

Oh well, she had been expecting something like this from Ezra all night. She might as well bite the bullet. She opened her mouth and, leaning down towards Ezra, closed her mouth around the chocolate. Surprisingly, he didn't make one move to try and kiss her at all. That was weird. Pulling away, Erza chewed and finally swallowed the chocolate while she stared at Ezra thoughtfully. Why didn't he kiss her? If he wanted to, there was nothing she could've done about it.

Ezra opened his eyes. "There. Do you trust me now?"

Erza started at his words. "What? What do you mean?"

A smile tugged at the corner of Ezra's lips. "You thought I was going to seduce you." Not a question. Just a fact.

Erza opened her mouth, and then closed it again.

"It's okay," Ezra spoke. "People always assume that about me. In fact, most of the time they're right. But I don't need that with you."

Erza found her voice again. "W-why is that, Ezra?"

"I really enjoyed just… spending time with you," he explained. "It's nice to spend time with…" he looked down and his voice cracked. "Someone who isn't scared of me," he finished hoarsely.

Erza didn't know what to say. Looking down at the boy, she didn't see him as Ezra Mathin, the Steel Whirlwind, the legendary Wizard Saint. Nor did she see him as some crying child in need of comforting. Where he once sat, she saw simply a hole. Inside that hole was a void. It had been empty for a very, very long time.

Maybe she could help him fill it.

She grasped his chin, and gently brought it up to face her. She leaned in, leaving only inches between her face and Ezra's.

"Maybe it isn't you that needs it. Maybe it's me," she whispered. "Could you save me?"

Ezra's eyes seemed to see straight through her face. "My brother… I killed…"

"Shhhh," she whispered. She took Ezra and helped/forced him to lie down, and put his head on her lap, stroking his hair and face. Ezra was now mumbling incoherently. In his eyes was the look of a caged animal. Erza knew he wasn't mentally there anymore. He was lost in a world of memories, his consciousness drowning in a sea of reminiscences. In that moment, Erza knew that he was just like her: he acted incredibly strong on the outside to keep his past from eating him alive.

She knew in that moment that she loved him.

In that same moment of realization, she swooped down and pressed her lips to Ezra's. At first he didn't return the kiss, but she could tell that he was warming up again, that his spirit was coming back.

And then he was fully back, and he was returning the kiss, and he was pushing back at her with all his might, and that night, Erza felt a spark. She just kept pushing at him, seeing how much he could take. She wanted to see how far he would go so she could heal him. She wanted to see how much Ezra had to give. She wanted more.

That night, Erza Scarlet and Ezra Mathin slept together.

If it was possible to smirk while kissing, Ezra was doing it.

His acting was perhaps even better than his swordfighting.

Oh, Ezra! That really wasn't nice of you :P hehe. Please don't forget to review. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have a nice day!