Six in the Morning

Theme: Letters

Pairing: Jellal X Erza

I've been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you. Each one a line or two, 'I'm fine baby, how are you?' I would send them but I know that it's just not enough. My words were cold and flat and you deserve more than that. ~ Michael Bublé (Home)

Lavin had been around for 5 long years. He had seen prisoners come and go every day, and everyday, life was nothing but a routine for him. He would wake up at 3am and take over for the morning shift from 4am till 4pm, standing guard at the prisoners' cells in block F.

Block F was where the most dangerous criminals were kept. Anti-magic steel bars lined the hallway and all the prisoners wore anti-magic collars that could electrocute them if they tried to escape.

Standing guard was an insanely boring job and over the years, Lavin had learnt to pass the time more quickly by observing each and every prisoner there.

He hated the criminals there. Every one of them had committed heinous crimes. One of them had gone on a killing spree, murdering over thirty people in less than a month. Another one had led a dark guild and taken out ten other guilds before the Council had stepped in. Numerous others were imprisoned here for attempting to resurrect Zeref. He shuddered at the thought but his eyes trailed along the cells in front of him.

He had seen it all. Some would hide in the corner of their cells and mutter to themselves, or even sing in extreme cases. Some would train their bodies, praying that they would one day break out of this hellhole. Some would stare blankly out of the small window of their cell, reminiscing of the past.

But there was one prisoner who was different. He would often lean against the bars of his cell and stare up at the ceiling with a blank expression on his face. He never seemed to think about anything, never seemed to think of his past and this made Lavin really curious.

Lavin had asked around quickly and had found that said prisoner was no other but the infamous Jellal Fernandes, infiltrator of the Magic Council and the man who had attempted to revive Zeref using the Tower of Heaven. Lavin had wasted no time in scrutinizing the blue haired man but for some reason, he could not bring himself to hate the man.

Jellal did not seem like a psychopathic dark mage. Instead, he was kind and polite, always greeting his captors with a gentle smile, with sadness pooling in his onyx eyes. He never spoke much, preferring to keep to himself. And it was a moment of pity that had led Lavin to agree to give him a few pieces of paper and a pencil. From that moment onwards, Jellal developed a new habit.

Every morning at six, Jellal would extract a precious piece of paper and start writing on it, using the sunlight streaming in from his window as a source of light. After a while, he would sit back and read it tiredly before he would fold it into the shape of a letter neatly. Lavin had noticed that Jellal would slip the piece of paper into his pants before he lined up for his turn to go to the washroom. And as soon as he reached the washroom, he would throw it into the rubbish bin.

This carried on for a few weeks and soon, Lavin found himself saving the letter when everyone had left. At the end of his shift, he would open the crisp letter and read it.

All of the letters were addressed to someone named Erza Scarlet.

In fact, they were really nothing special. Each one contained only a line or two.

At first, they talked about his daily routine, almost as if he was a soldier writing to his loved one. Then his letters grew longer steadily over time. They delved into more serious topics, mainly revolving around his memory loss, and there were times when he would slip in random facts that he suddenly remembered, such as that he remembered that she had always wanted to try strawberry cake or how they always played pretend in the tower. After about a year or so, he had started to write about his feelings. Jellal never confessed or admitted anything explicitly, but he often dropped subtle hints here and there.

And it was the raw emotions in those letters that touched Lavin deeply, prompting him to keep them for Jellal's sake. He couldn't bear to think that the blue haired man had given up so easily. When the time came for a select few prisoners to be granted the privilege of having visitors, Lavin had put forward Jellal's name.

As soon as permission was granted, Erza had come to visit Jellal. The two of them were separated by an anti-magic barrier but Lavin could still see the pure undiluted joy in his eyes as they sparkled with hope. They had talked for hours, way more than the time allowed, but Lavin had let it slide. And as Jellal was led back to his cell, flanked by four guards, Lavin had approached the redhead.

"Will you come again soon?" He had asked, voice thick with emotion.

She had stared at him blankly before answering. "Hopefully I can, but as an S-class mage, I've got a lot of missions to cover."

She had then turned to leave but he had stopped her. Slowly, he had extracted two letters from his pocket, one which had been written the day before and the other today, and handed it to her. Ignoring her confused frown, he had merely replied, "Come again soon and I'll give you two more. I've got a year's worth of them."

And as Erza unfolded the letter, Lavin had turned away, eyes closed in satisfaction.

He had not turned back at the sound of her muted sobs.

Started this on March 11th, never really felt satisfied with it but having failed to update anything for so long, I'll just publish it.