Day 3: Trust :)


"Take me by the hand, take me somewhere new. I don't know who you are, but I, I'm with you." -"I'm With You," Avril Lavigne


Three times he asked her if she trusted him, and three times she answered him differently.


Year X778

"Dammit, Erza! You knew I was going for that!"

The twelve year old girl shrugged, her scarlet hair flowing behind her as she swung. "Too bad, Gray. I got here first." Gray mumbled something irritably under his breath, bringing a devious smirk to Erza's face. "Fine then," He grumbled, and she noticed that he'd lost his shirt at some point during the exchange when she wasn't watching. "I'll just push you for a while. Then it's my turn."

The second his hands touched her back, she jumped right off the swing as if it was on fire. "Hey!" He shouted, glaring at her. "What was that for?! You don't trust me enough to let me push you on the damn swing?"

"No," She replied nonchalantly. "I don't trust anyone. Last time I put too much faith in someone, I almost died."

Gray shuffled his feet, his eyes meeting the ground as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Oh…well, sorry, I guess. About whatever it was that happened. I don't really trust people easily either…"

Erza nodded. "It's okay. You didn't know," She gestured toward the swing. "You can have it. I'm going home."

She walked away in silence with him watching as he swung back and forth, alone.


Year X784

"Erza?"

Said woman glanced behind her, her expression soft. "Yes?" Gray looked her dead in the eye, something only he had dared to do for a long time. "That man. The one who wanted to use you as a sacrifice. Was he the one..?"

Erza nodded solemnly. "Yes," She sighed. "Jellal. He's the one who made me lose trust in people. The one I told you about." Gray took his place standing next to her, nodding slowly. "What was he like?" He inquired cautiously. "I mean, before." Erza chuckled softly. "Well, I can't be sure. He could've been deceiving us the whole time. But before he became that way—or, maybe showed us his true self—you wouldn't have thought him capable of such awful things. He was kind, compassionate, brave, clever…a true leader. He was my best friend, besides Simon. But then it all turned around."

Gray sighed, his eyes darting in her direction and then away again. "Erza?"

"Yes?"

"When you first told me, you said you never trust anyone. Is that still true? It's been years since then. Do you trust me now?"

She smiled gently at him.

"I think so."


Year X799

"Look out!"

A wall of ice formed in front of her, giving her seconds to dodge. The creature roared, shattering Gray's ice with one blow. Erza didn't manage to get out of the way fast enough, and was knocked backwards by an onslaught of ice shards. "Erza!" The distraught shout seemed distant to the Titania; her vision was blurring and she vaguely detected the ground shaking beneath her, accompanied by a large, booming sound. "G-Gray…you should…you should run…" She slurred, struggling to keep her head. "No," He mumbled, glancing behind him at the large creature approaching them. "We've only got one other choice…Erza, do you trust me?"

Though she was succumbing to the throbbing pain in her head, she was still awake enough to know the answer. Her eyes began to flutter closed, and she smiled almost peacefully.

"Always."

Her surroundings were beginning to spin and the sounds were getting farther and farther away, as if she were falling at a rapid speed down into a bottomless pit, but she heard him say "good" and something else she didn't catch. Dazed, Erza watched as Gray stood his ground in front of the giant, positioning himself in a familiar stance…

Iced Shell.

"Gray…"

As she lost consciousness, she knew what he'd said to her, the words she'd missed only seconds before.

"I'm sorry."


So this, like all the others, was sort of written on the spot (I should've written them all in advance *sobs*). I don't know, I actually really like how this one turned out.

...

Am I a bad person?

Uh...sorry about the ending?

Thanks for reading :D