21st: Kind & Cruel

Summary: No matter how different they were, in the end, they were tied together by their love.

"…that was ridiculous," a red-haired woman in a ruined outfit muttered as she dragged herself through the empty hallways of the castle. "Absolutely … ridiculous."

"Harsh as always, Miss Knightwalker," a disgusting soft voice said from behind her and she stopped and exhaled slowly before she looked over her shoulder. "You shouldn't be here," she stated grimly as she looked over her shoulder. "Don't you have admiring fans to entertain, Jellal?" she spat as she glared at him.

"It has been a long time since we met," he said calmly. "And no, I don't have admiring fans that I should entertain right now. I have more important business to attend."

"Oh really?" she snapped. "You do know why I am mad at you, right?"

"To be honest, no," he sighed as he leaned against a wall. "Would you mind to explain?"

"As a matter of facts, yes," she said as she turned around. "You left me behind, Jellal. You left me alone with so many crazy people … you left me alone with my lunatic father…"

"I am sorry," he said as he looked down. "I am really, really sorry … Erza."

"Don't call me by the name you called Scarlet!" she said aggravated. "You abandoned me, Jellal. I thought we were friends … and yet, you went and left me alone. While I was here, working hard to uphold the peace in this country, you played the almighty wizard…"

"I had no choice but to leave," he replied. "I would have been killed by my own father if I had stayed here. You have to understand that my departure had nothing to do with you."

"You could at least admit that you forgot about me … that you forgot that someone was waiting for you, you complete failure," she said as she stabbed her forefinger into his chest and forced herself to uphold her bitchy personality. "You completely forgot about my existence, didn't you? You made new friends in Earthland…"

"Less than you assume," he replied as he grabbed her hand. "Erza, no, I didn't forget about you. To be honest, it's hard to forget someone as fierce as you are. I also didn't forget about our friendship … or about the secrets we shared as children. I can understand that you are mad … and if you would abandon your post now, well, I could understand that too … but I don't want you to go … I don't want us to separate again."

"Tsk," she snorted. "Earthland turned you into a sappy wimp. You would be lost without me. Edolas changed quite a bit while you were gone. It will be difficult to reconstruct everything. Well, that's what you get from running away. Edolas will make you regret this."

"I will need you," he admitted as he lowered their connected hands. "Erza…"

"I just told you not to call me this," she said with a glare. "You never listen to me."

"Alright, Er-chan," he rolled his eyes. "Is it better this way, Lady Knightwalker?"

"No one has called me that in … well … half an eternity," she muttered as a faint blush adorned her face. "Not after you abandoned me…"

"What I wanted to say, Er-chan, is that I will need your help. How would you feel about a promotion? I need an adviser … and you would be perfect for that job…"

"Most people hate me, Jellal," she said as she stared at the wall behind him. "That won't go well, seriously. There will be a lot of trouble for you…"

"No one would doubt my decisions," he replied as he smiled at her. "C'mon, Er-chan … I haven't forgotten about our childhood friendship. I haven't forgotten about our old trust and the faith we put into each other. And now, I hope that you haven't forgotten either."

"How could I forget the only real friend I've ever had?" she asked tiredly. "That's like the most annoying song I've ever heard … you can never get it out of your head, you see?"

"So we will go back on our path and correct the wrong decisions we made at the crossroads of life," he said as he grabbed her second hand as well and pulled her down the hallway. "Once, we were so strong … and I want us to go back to this time."

"Yeah … but where the hell are we going?" she snapped once more.

"You need to have someone looking after your injuries," he said as he looked around. "I am looking for my old room right now … hell, where is it…?"

"Next hallway to the right," she said as she rolled her eyes. "Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to forget where your own room is?"

"I haven't been here in years," he defended himself.

"That's no excuse," she said darkly but she had to hold back the urge to smile at him. He had always been a clumsy guy and as a young girl, she had found him pretty adorable. They had been childhood friends after all and he was probably the only person alive she actually had a soft spot for. She was mad at him for leaving her behind when he had gone to Earthland but at the same time, she was incredibly happy that he was back now. She groaned inwardly. How the hell was she supposed to keep her troupes in check when she was unable to figure out her own emotions regarding her old friend and now king?

"You are thinking too hard," said childhood friend declared as he opened the door to his room. "Seriously, Er-chan, you will get ugly wrinkles if you keep that up, girl…"

"Jellal, I am not above hitting you if you keep that up," she warned.

"You would seriously hurt your king, Er-chan? Tsk, that would be treason," he mocked.

"Right now, I start to wish that you had returned to Earthland with Scarlet and your other loser friends," she muttered as she followed him into his old room where he pushed her onto the bed. "Hey, hey, wild boy … I may dress scantily but I do have standards," she protested with amusement in her eyes. "Tsk, you know that I always said that I would wait until after the wedding with that step…"

"Was that a proposal?" he asked equally amused as he searched for his first aid kit.

"You wish," she chuckled as she leaned back. "Your bed is still the most comfortable one in the whole palace," she said as he continued his search. "Hey – can I have that room when you move into the king's old room? You know that I always liked this room…"

"Do you seriously think that I would move out of this room into my father's old room?" he asked as he held up the first aid kit with a wide grin. "Found it."

"Ah, c'mon," she said as she hissed in pain as he cleaned her wounds. "If you seriously want me to be your adviser, you have to sweeten the deal. And I want this room…"

"If you are that keen on it, we could always share," he suggested playfully.

"Well, why not?" she asked sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "It's not like it might cause the worst scandal Edolas has ever seen after all…"

"If you hadn't rolled your eyes, I might have failed to notice the sarcasm," he chuckled.

"Tsk, you are still the same idiot you were all those years ago," she sighed. "Anyway, it's not like I ever cared what the people think of me … and you are the greatest hero in Edolas' history anyway right now … I guess that you can do about anything right now…"

"You think that I might be able to pass a law that would force anyway to go on their hands on every eighth Friday, Er-chan?" he asked amused. "Not that I would want to, of course."

"Like I just said, you can do probably everything because you are a hero now, wimp."

"Could I even order someone to build a Natsu-Wendy-Gajeel-statue for the garden?"

"Sure," she muttered tiredly. "Like I said … everything is possible right now…"

"Even kissing you?" he asked boldly. "Because that's something I am really interested in."

Her eyes widened before she glared at him. "I do not wish to be the replacement for Scarlet," she huffed. "If you really want to kiss me, I want you to kiss Knightwalker and not the woman-who-looks-pretty-much-exactly-like-Scarlet-without-being-Scarlet."

"Now, why would I want to kiss the counterpart of my childhood crush when I can kiss my childhood crush herself?" he asked amused. "Your jealousy of her is nearly cute, though."

"Shut up," she muttered as she pouted. "The question was justified."

"If you say so…" he said before he rested his hand on the back of her neck. "Seriously, Knightwalker, you need to learn to have faith in other people. Anything else will get you in trouble pretty soon…"

"Stop analysing my issues and kiss me," she ordered. "You are seriously one sappy guy."

"Tsk," he muttered as he leaned in. "And you are pushy and bossy as before … I'm glad to see that this at least hasn't changed at all, Lady Erza Knightwalker…"

Before he could say anything else, she leaned forwards and their lips met.

"Welcome home, King Jellal," she whispered as she pulled back.

"Thanks for the nice welcome, Er-chan," he replied as he rested his forehead against hers.