Hello, people, Nightlingbolt here! Welcome back to The ABCs of Natsu and Erza! Today's letter is O as in "Over," which can only mean one thing: a breakup! Le Gasp!
Not gonna lie, it pained me to write this. In fact, I think this is the saddest thing I've ever written. But it has a happy ending, so it should be all right. Anyway, on with the show!
I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.
Natsu hadn't seen Erza all day.
Whenever he couldn't find the scarlet-haired mage, it was usually because she was away on a solo mission or accompanying Gramps wherever it was he went. But to the Dragon Slayer's knowledge, Erza had taken her usual two-week leave from guild work, so he could obviously rule those possibilities out.
The funny thing was, even when she was on vacation, Erza was usually one of the first people at the guild each morning, and every year on this day, she would disappear for twenty-four hours. This never used to bother Natsu before, but now that Erza was his girlfriend, and even before then, since the Tower of Heaven, he felt a strong desire to get to the bottom of this mystery.
If it was anything like the seventh of July for him, then he fully understood her need to be alone. But that didn't mean he wanted her to be alone if all she was doing was suffering. He picked up Erza's scent and followed it to the river.
That was where he found Erza, who wore a sad, almost despondent look, totally out of character for the normally fearsome Titania. Natsu decided he would have none of that. "Erza!" he yelled, worry lacing his voice.
Erza looked up at the sound of Natsu's voice. "Natsu," she sighed. "I always knew you'd look for me one of these years."
"This is the first time I've really looked," replied Natsu. "Now tell me what's wrong."
"It's... it's nothing," said Erza dismissively.
"It can't be nothing if it's got you this upset," said Natsu.
"I'm not upset!" said Erza defensively.
"If there's another word for it, I don't know it," said Natsu. "But Erza, I love you, and I want you to trust me enough to be your shield when you can't use a sword. I won't betray you, I promise!"
Despite the significance this day held for her, Erza smiled. She always did love when Natsu spoke in that passionate voice of his. "It's... Jellal's birthday today," she said.
Natsu frowned. "You're still moping around about Jellal?" he asked in annoyance. "Geez, when are you gonna get over that guy already?"
Suddenly, Erza stood up. She was eerily calm. "I should get over Jellal. Is that what you think?" she asked. "I should just move on with my life and never spare the boy who, in childhood, was my entire world a second thought? Is THAT what you're saying to me, Natsu Dragneel?"
Natsu was nervous now. "Well... yeah, but-"
"But nothing!" yelled Erza. "I can't do that! I can't just forget the man who help mold me into the person I am today, through good times and bad! It just doesn't work like that, Natsu! Forgetting Jellal is the same as forgetting everything I am now, ever was, and ever will be!"
Erza voice started to crack. "I thought you were different, Natsu. I thought you understood how big a part of my life Jellal is. I see now that I was wrong. It's time I stopped fooling myself."
Natsu was stunned. Surely, she didn't mean... that! "Erza, I-"
"Natsu... it's over." With those three words, Erza ran away from the Dragon Slayer as fast as her legs would carry her.
"Erza? ERZA!" Natsu screamed in a panicked tone. No reply.
The Salamander of Fairy Tail fell to his knees and let out a long, mournful roar.
Later that day, Natsu was drinking his sorrows away as a sorrowful Mirajane looked on, not daring to say a thing.
He knocked back a shot of the guild's hardest firewhiskey, slammed the empty glass on the counter, and demanded another round. However, as Mirajane served him the alcohol, a strong hand took it from him and slammed it, shot glass and all, on the counter without care for the broken pieces.
"Let's go, Natsu," said Laxus's gruff voice. "I need your help on a mission."
"Not interested," grumbled Natsu.
"It's an S-Class mission," said Laxus. That much was true, but he only said it in hopes of enticing the Fire Dragon.
"Forget it, Laxus," said Natsu irritably.
Laxus frowned. Natsu usually wasn't this difficult. "Look, the job specifically asked for a Fire mage, and I ain't taking Macao, so you're the only option," he said, losing his patience.
"Like I give a shit," growled Natsu.
That tore it for Laxus. He picked Natsu up by the scarf and brought his face to his. "I'm not giving you a choice anymore, Natsu, so just suck it up and let's go!" he said, practically snarling.
"I SAID FUCK OFF!" Natsu roared, attracting the attention of the whole guild. A furious Laxus then proceeded to slam Natsu's entire body on the floor.
"The fuck is your problem, Natsu? You're lucky I'm not deaf 'cause of that, you little bastard!"
"LAXUS!" Mirajane bellowed, getting the Lightning Dragon Slayer's attention. In a much softer tone, she said, "Erza broke up with him today."
Laxus was shocked, which was saying something considering his magic. "Shit, Natsu, you should've said something sooner!" he said.
"Aye," said Natsu. "All because I told her to get over Jellal."
"Well, no wonder she dumped you, retard! You don't badmouth Jellal in front of Erza! I mean, that's like, an unofficial guild rule!"
"I wasn't trying to badmouth him!" said Natsu defensively. "I just told Erza to get over him, and she went nuts on me!"
"Well, why did you say what you said, Natsu?" asked Mirajane kindly.
"Because..." Natsu was hesitant to answer. "I just don't like this power Jellal has over her! Thinking about him gets her all depressed and shit... I just wanna ask her how Jellal'd react to seeing Erza torture herself like that all because of him! He'd hate himself even more than he does now, all because he's making Erza cry without even realizing it!
"I just want her to... live her life, keep being that same strong, smart, scary, beautiful Erza that I love so much... that I can't imagine life without... that I don't WANT to imagine life without! 'Cause that's what I want for her! And I know that's what Jellal wants for her, too!"
Suddenly, Natsu did the most unNatsu-like thing he could ever do, and broke down sobbing right there at the bar. Laxus was at a loss for what to do, not having seen Natsu cry like this since Lisanna died. Mirajane, on the other hand, was poised for action.
"Laxus, man the bar!" she ordered. "I need to talk to Erza!"
"He said all those things?" gasped Erza. Mirajane nodded, having relayed Natsu's words to her.
A million thoughts a minute were swirling in Erza's head. "I should have known he wouldn't try to hurt me..." she whispered. With a newfound determination, Erza made haste for the guild to make things right with her Salamander.
"Natsu!" yelled Erza.
"Erza?" said Natsu, looking up from the bar. The smile on Erza's face was enough to brighten his spirits. "Erza!"
They rushed to greet each other, both tuning out the rest of the guild. "Oh, Natsu, I'm so sorry!" said Erza as the Salamander took her into his arms.
"I'm sorry too, Erza! I never should've said that crap about Jellal!" said Natsu.
"No, you're right!" said Erza. "I can't let Jellal control my happiness forever! Without you, I HAVE no happiness!"
"Erza," said Natsu. "I do understand! We'll honor Jellal's memory together... forever!"
"Stupid dragon!" said Erza. Natsu's only reply was a soft, loving kiss.
"Yeah yeah, all is right with the world, now let's go, Natsu," said Laxus. "You're still coming on that mission."
"Screw that!" exclaimed Natsu, scooping Erza up into his arms. "I'm taking my girl home and I won't be back for the rest of the day!" As Natsu walked out of the guild, the cheers of the guild gave him a courage he'd never known before.
Just hours ago, their relationship was over. Now, however, it was beginning anew, stronger than it had ever been before.
Errrgh, short, sweet, and totally OOC. But in a way, it's nice to see that those two can evoke such a reaction in each other.
I find I have less and less to say with each new chapter. Well, I do have something to say about ITAG, but I'd rather not bore you with it here, so go to my profile if you want to stay informed.
Anyway, that's all I got for now. I'm still working out how to write the latter half of Lucy and Jellal's date in Lucky Star, so that could be a while. But until I do figure it out, peace and love from Nightlingbolt.