I literally wrote this in like an hour and haven't even checked over it please forgive me

Team Natsu Week Day 5: Past
Title: This Too Shall Pass
Character: Erza Scarlet
Summary: When the weight of the world is on your shoulders, it's always friends who come along and lighten the load.

It's not like Erza was secretive about her past. After everything that happened with Jellal and the Tower of Heaven, the fact that she'd been a weak child slave was common knowledge at the guild. Still, she never talked about it.

But after the battle with Tartarus, she started getting nightmares again. Being tortured by demons reminded her of her childhood spent fearing the harsh lashings of her slavemasters. The nightmares themselves were nothing she couldn't deal with; she'd faced worse things than a few troubled dreams. She just needed to become even stronger, that's all.

"Erza. Erza!"

Her eyes flashed open and she realized she was breathing heavily. Lucy was standing over her bed, a look of concern in her eyes. Erza sat up slowly.

"Lucy? What are you doing here?"

"This is my house. You slept over, remember?"

Oh. Right. Looking around, she noticed the familiar furniture of Lucy's bedroom and her memory came back to her.

Between Natsu's sudden disappearance and the guild disbanding, Lucy had been an emotional wreck the past few days. Erza had her own business to attend to — she couldn't stay idle when things were like this — but she decided to have an extended sleepover before they parted ways. Natsu was gone off to who-knows-where, Gray left to train with Juvia, and Wendy had been invited by Chelia to join Lamia Scale. So at least until she had to leave as well, Erza would keep Lucy company to stave off the inevitable loneliness.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Lucy asked, getting back into bed.

"I don't remember," Erza said. Though by the way her heart was still racing, it was probable.

"Well you were whimpering a lot so I was getting worried, and when I was about to wake you up, you punched me out of bed." Lucy rubbed her arm where there was sure to be a bruise later.

"Sorry about that," Erza said. "I can get violent when I sleep in the same bed as someone."

"I'm not surprised," Lucy said.

"Yet you're still getting back in with me."

"Well, yeah, nobody wants to be alone after having a nightmare."

Erza smiled softly. She really would miss Lucy.

"So? Wanna talk about it?"

"I really don't remember," Erza said. "Ah…wait, I think it just occurred to me. I'm not sure it's something you'd want to hear about at a time like this."

"Tell me," Lucy said, shifting under the covers so she was propped up on one elbow facing Erza, waiting patiently for her to speak. Erza guessed there was no avoiding it now.

"This is just a guess, but lately I've been having dreams about my childhood," she confessed.

"Ah."

"Kyouka tortured me for information when I got captured. It…it reminded me of the past. It dredged up all sorts of things that I don't want to think about anymore, but so much has been happening lately that I don't have the energy to suppress them properly. So they keep coming back in my dreams."

"I'm sorry for pressuring you to talk about it," Lucy said quickly when Erza paused. "I know you don't like discussing your childhood."

"No, it's actually a good idea. Maybe talking about it will help. I usually bottle it up, but this other method is worth a try."

"I'm more than happy to listen," Lucy said.

"Well, you already know the basics. Ah, but did I ever tell you about Rob?"

"No, I don't remember the name."

"Well, he was one of the other slaves I knew, and he was actually a mage from Fairy Tail."

Lucy's jaw dropped. "No way. So that's why you joined Fairy Tail?"

Erza nodded. "He used to be on the same team as Makarov and Yajima back in the day. Apparently they were all close friends."

"So he was old then."

"Yes. He's the reason I lived through the slave rebellion, and he's also the reason I can use magic."

"He must've been a great person."

"He really was. He talked about freedom a lot, and the freedom one can find within oneself. At the time, all I could remember was life as a slave, so I loved listening to him. Once he told me this story about the time he…"

Erza launched into a long story, talking about Rob, about the other kids she would play with, about Jellal. She talked about all the happy times she had in the midst of suffering thanks to the goodness in the hearts of her fellow slaves. She talked about things she hadn't even thought about in ages, and as she did so, she felt the fog in her mind clearing up. By the end, even if she hadn't talked about the traumatic memories that plagued her thoughts, she really did feel better.

"I always knew you had a horrible childhood," Lucy said, "but I'm glad you had good times. I mean, I knew there were good times with Jellal and your friends, but it was nice to hear about them. I'm glad."

"Thank you for listening," Erza said. "I feel better already."

"That's good. Now you can have good dreams."

Speaking of dreams, it looked like Lucy was about to slip into dreamland any moment. How long had they been talking?

"You must be tired. I'm feeling much better now, so you can sleep."

"Okay," Lucy said, obediently closing her eyes. Her breathing quickly drifted into the slow rhythm of sleep.

Erza made herself comfortable, watching the small smile on Lucy's lips. She'd miss this face. After that talk, the burden lifted off Erza's shoulders felt like a parting gift from Lucy, and Erza worried that Lucy would take that burden on for herself once everyone was gone.

But she'd come back someday. Erza would. Everyone else, too. Though they'd dispersed quickly after Makarov's announcement and sudden disappearance, Erza knew that Fairy Tail wouldn't give up so easily. They'd have to live with the disbandment for now, but someday, they would all come back together again, with or without Makarov.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. I'll be counting on you," Erza whispered, clearing the hair from Lucy's face. It was always Lucy who brought them together, and she was certain that if the rest of them failed, it would be Lucy to bring them together one last time.

Perhaps her past would always haunt her. But with Lucy and her friends by her side, Erza knew she could always look forward to the future.