Happy Friday!

Forgot to mention that story is actually inspired by a scene Akatsuki no Yona (or Yona of the Dawn for my fellow dubbies). In that anime, Yona asks a friend (her bodyguard Hak) to teach her how to use a bow, and she spends a fair amount of time practicing. I remembered that Erza uses a bow a couple of times towards the end of the anime, so this is my headcanon of how she got there.

guest: Thanks so much! Now I feel like I need to talk about something impressive in the end-notes so that I continue to be worthy of your expectations. ;) I appreciate the support!

- K. Chandler

It had been days since they had returned from Azure Wing's former guild hall.

Days in which Erza relived that moment, over and over. The moment of her ineptitude. While she had been helpless, Lucy had nearly been killed. A dangerous weapon had almost fallen into the hands of the enemy. And she had been completely helpless.

But Gray... Gray had saved them.

Gray looked like some sort of a Greek God, a confident smirk on his face as he held his Ice Bow. His arm drawn back, aim steady, muscles strong.

Erza had a feeling her guilt-ridden mind was twisting the details, she couldn't get that image out of her head. In that moment, Gray, with his Ice Bow had become the epitome of perfection. Thinking about it made her breath hitch.

Erza was referring to the bow, obviously. To wield a weapon like that… It might just give her the versatility she would need to salvage future jobs.

With that, Erza made up her mind. There was only one thing to do.

Erza marched into the guild hall with determined strides. She planted herself in front of a certain teammate, her back like an iron rod. Her heart drummed against her breastbone.

"I need to talk to you," she said, her voice faltering. Those words had never been difficult before. Why now?

Gray's head snapped up. "Erza," he said, gesturing at the empty seat across from him.

Erza's stomach flip-flopped as struggled to meet his eye. Was he always so nonchalant?

"Not here," she said, shaking her head. "Outside?"

Nodding, Gray rose to follow.

"So, what's up?" he asked, steel-colored eyes surveying her.

"Training," said Erza. Her mouth was dry and her tongue wasn't cooperating. She swallowed hard, working at the hem of her skirt with gauntleted fingers. "Actually, I need your help," she mumbled.

"Sure," said Gray with an easy shrug. "You just need a spotter or something?"

"No. I…" Erza dropped her gaze. "I want you to teach me how to use a bow," she blurted.

That was clearly the only solution. If Erza knew how to use a bow, she could be more like Gray. Then, the next time her team was in trouble, she'd be ready.

"You want me to what?" asked Gray, his eyebrows furrowing. "A bow? What for?"

"Last week's mission got me thinking. I'm more of a close-combat fighter. I'm basically useless once I'm out-of-range."

"That's why it's called out-of-range," said Gray dryly.

"But Lucy was in trouble and I couldn't do anything about it," insisted Erza. "I rely too heavily on my swordsmanship. That's a problem. I need to work on my ranged attacks."

"Isn't that lightning-spear-thing you've got ranged?"

"I meant a ranged melee weapon," corrected Erza. "Lightning wouldn't have helped anything the other day."

"Erza…" Gray sighed. "Look. Everything's okay now, right? I mean, we beat the bad guys. Nobody got hurt. Isn't that enough?"

"Please, Gray," she begged. "I need to learn. I can't be in a position like that again."

Gray jammed his hands into his pockets, leaning against the side of the building. "All you want is a ranged weapon, right? Why don't you ask Bisca? She's a sharpshooter, isn't she? Her aim's probably better than mine."

"It's not the same. I want to learn how to shoot a bow," Erza insisted. "Please, will you teach me? You're the only one who can."

There was a long pause as Gray looked her over. He opened his mouth. Then he closed it again. He ran his hand through his hair, eyes pinching shut briefly.

"Fine," said Gray, relenting with a sigh. "Meet me here tomorrow. Bring your gear."

Erza smiled. "Thank you!"

"But don't come crying to me when I have you shooting two hundred arrows a day," Gray added grimly. "You'll be begging for mercy then."

Erza nodded. "I accept your challenge."

I just can't take Erza seriously when I write her like this... ;) You'll have to excuse her; her brain's a little scrambled.

This week's rant is on Every Me Loves Every You (EMLEY). For those who haven't heard of it, EMLEY is the notion that two characters (like someone's OTP) will always find each other, regardless of time, space, parallel universe (basically in any AU), because love is love and they were 'meant to be'. When I first got into fanfic, I loved the idea of EMLEY. These days, not so much... (The gratuitous capitalization is intentional. Think about Me and You as characters.)

The question we have to think about is: Why did Me love You? Me loved You because the events in You's past made You who You were, and that made You perfect for Me. (Think about all the stuff in your life that made you who you are. Would you be a different person if they hadn't happened?) The events in Me's past have shaped Me too, by the same logic. What if Me had a different past? You might not be perfect for Me anymore. Or what if the event that brought Me and You together never happened? Me and You would never have fallen in love. There's a Me out there, in some parallel universe, who never met You. There's a You out there who is all wrong for Me. Not every Me will love every You. And that's okay. Because Me and You can find other people in whatever world they're in that will complete them in the way they need.

I don't believe there's only one perfect person (The One) in this world for us. I don't think The One exists. With the 7.6 billion people in this world, the probability of us meeting one specific person is astronomically small. I've got to believe that there is more than one person we might work with. But the implication there is that there's no magic... We're not going to magically meet The One and have it magically work out. And when things don't auto-magically play out like a cheesy romance novel, that doesn't mean that you should call it quits because you haven't found The One yet and need to keep searching. Love at first sight is all well and good and butterflies are fine, but it's what happens after that matters. Stable, long-term relationships take compromise, sacrifice, commitment and a lot of hard work. It takes more than two people looking cute together or him making her laugh or anything like that.

Next time, in [Mazeverse] The Problem with Ranged Weapons: Erza's eyes landed on his – was that an eight-pack?

Stop back next Friday for the next installment, or just follow me, Karine of R011ingThunder.