A/N: Hello! Here's another. I like aspects of this story and I don't like aspects of this story. IDK—not too keen. Nevertheless, I still hope you guys enjoy it! :)

Title: Remember Us?
Rating: M for language
Summary: Let's dance out in the open, leaving our demons behind

"I am afraid of the dark." she said.
"I am your torch." he replied.
- Michael Faudet

Remember Us?

"Erza…freedom is not a thing that exists in this world…"

The blue haired boy clutched her chin roughly, turning her face towards him and cocking his head to the side. "You came back to me, did you?" His tone was harsh, tinged with amusement as he smiled menacingly at her. "After I told you what would happen if you did?"

And then darkness consumed her, dread filling her bones, her mind, her very being.

She found herself tied against a pillar, standing in something wet and warm. She didn't need to look down to know that what she was stood in was a pool of blood. Though, whether it was her own, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that her wrists stung as she struggled against the restraints, and her right eye was bleeding, a trail of red running down her face, mirroring the crimson tattoo etched upon her captor's face.

He was watching her.

His hood was pulled low to cast a dark shadow over his face but she recognised him as quickly as anyone would recognise the man who haunted their thoughts.

"Erza…" His voice was low, deeper. This was the older Jellal. "You know what happens now, don't you?"

Then she heard it. A single piercing scream filling the air around them, making her blood run cold.

"Please," she begged, her voice so small, as fragile as porcelain.

Another scream, followed by another—the sounds plagued her mind, playing over and over like a stuck record, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. She couldn't stop it.

Those screams didn't belong to her friends back at the tower. They belonged to Gray, Natsu, Lucy, Juvia, Wendy—and they wouldn't stop.

A screech ripped out of her own chest as she sat up abruptly, her heart racing and eyes flying open in fear.

"Erza, Erza…" A soft voice called out her name and lowering her gaze, she saw him.

He was crouched in front of her, blue hair slightly dishevelled and his face creased with worry. She opened her mouth to scream again, only to see his gentle eyes on her. The same eyes that were hidden under the hood in the dream were filled with so much kindness and concern now.

"It's alright," he whispered, setting a hand on her shoulder soothingly. "You're alright. It was just a dream."

Erza exhaled a deep sigh, closing her eyes and placing her shaking hand on his as she waited for her heart to slow its pace. She was safe, Jellal was safe and her friends were all safe too. It was just a nightmare, that's all. She'd had plenty in the past and would have plenty in the future. That's all there was to it.

She smiled faintly at him, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Seems like I woke you up with all my screaming. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Jellal murmured, reaching forward to tuck a lock of red hair behind her ear and letting his hand linger there. He knew the feeling all too well. Returning a weak smile of his own, he replied to her, "My dreams are often plagued with nightmares too."

Jellal himself was always being followed by ghosts of his past too, during the day when he tried painstakingly to right his wrongs and during nights too where he'd wake up in cold sweats, heavy pants escaping his lips as he tried to calm himself down. He couldn't escape his own demons. He wasn't even sure he deserved to.

Erza shifted over to the side of the bed, making room for him to sit too. Uncertainly, he perched beside her, his arm stretching across the headboard as he cleared his throat and fixed his gaze on the ground, because it was so much easier to keep his eyes trained on the floor than it was to face her.

Truth be told, he was hesitant to ask her about her nightmare. Hesitant, and frankly, quite afraid. He knew there was a chance her answer would entail a side of himself he wished never existed. So he sat in silence, pressing his lips together and avoiding her gaze because maybe, if he kept quiet, he wouldn't be reminded that there was a time where he hurt Erza and treated her so cruelly.

"Do you still have dreams about the tower?" she whispered to him and the mention of that God forsaken place sent a cold shiver shooting down his spine.

His breath came out ragged and uneven as he chuckled bitterly. "I spent the majority of my life holed up in that tower—of course I do."

Silence filled the air like water rising in a tank, neither one of them swimming above the brim to speak. When he turned to her, she was looking away, her face hidden by a curtain of crimson hair. The question he didn't want to but had to ask was lingering on the tip of his tongue but he tried swallowing it down; he didn't want to upset her further.

"Was your nightmare about me?" he whispered, mentally cursing himself for not biting his tongue harder. He didn't want to know.

She didn't reply but her silence said enough.

"I see."

His tone was one filled with pain, anyone could read that. Erza sighed, sifting her hand through her red hair and sweeping it to the side before turning to him with a dim smile. She couldn't bear to see him like that, not over a silly dream. "Jellal…"

He stiffened when she reached for him, his face growing sad and his eyes unable to meet hers. Years later and he was still punishing himself. She couldn't even begin to imagine the self-hatred boiling inside of him.

With gentle hands, she cupped his face, brushing back the blue strands falling into his eyes to trace the red engraving above and below his right eye. Though, he resisted, turning away from her touch and shaking free of her grasp.

She knew the past was in the past. She worked hard to leave it there, to strive for better things in the future. But seeing Jellal as broken as a wingless bird hurt her.

So she decided to try another approach.

"Jellal?" she said, a smile apparent in her voice. "Do you remember the time Milliana found a stray kitten wandering about? What did she call it? Mittens, was it?"

Jellal removed her hand from his face with a sigh, holding it loosely in his own before hesitantly replying in a quiet voice, "Mr. Mittens the kitten."

Erza's face softened. "Yes, that's it! Do you remember how we'd all save bits of our food to feed Mr. Mittens? How Milliana's face would light up because she was just so happy?"

"Erza, that isn't going to work."

She ignored him, letting all the good memories flood her mind. The Tower of Heaven was one filled with sadness, yes. But she had also made friends there—she had met him there, after all. And it was there he gave her the name 'Scarlet', it was there she turned that anger and sorrow into strength, and it was there she discovered the magic lurking deep inside of her.

"What about that old song Simon's mother used to sing to him?"

She laughed and upon hearing that sound, so pure and full of mirth, Jellal turned to look at her, eyes roving over her features, unable to understand how she could do that. How was she able to smile at him so brightly after everything she had been through? Everything he had put her through.

He wasn't like her. He couldn't be as optimistic as her knowing full well of his sins from the past.

But somehow, she had a way of making him forget all that.

He held her gaze as she continued on, mesmerised by her animated way of storytelling, watching as her brown eyes lit up with childlike amusement. "I remember none of us could get you to shut up for at least a week once he taught us that song! Who knew you had such a knack for singing? Do you remember how it went?"

"Erza…"

She raised her eyebrows at him expectantly, encouraging him to go on. She knew he hadn't forgotten the tune or the lyrics, there was no way he could. As children, they'd belt out the words at the top of their voices, usually getting a nasty scolding from the guards afterwards but in that moment of sing-song, it was all so pure and untainted.

But when she studied his face, he looked as lost as a little boy away from home for much too long.

Erza smiled once more, leaning forward to prod him playfully in the chest. "Oh! How about the time Grandpa Rob taught us how to dance? Remember how Sho and Wally were making such a fuss because they were left to dance with each other?"

Nothing.

She pressed on. "Milliana was with Simon and I—well, I was with you."

The expression he wore on his face was a pained one as memories of their younger selves flooded his mind, his hand softly clutching Erza's as they swung each other round and round, neither of them really knowing what the hell they were doing, just knowing that it was fun.

Now, times were different; they were different.

"Erza, you don't have to do this."

But instead of listening to him, she laced her fingers with his, beaming radiantly as she got to her feet and dragged him along with her, despite his reluctance. "Do what? Won't you dance with me, Jellal?"

She stood him up in front of her, placing one of his hands on her waist and taking the other in her own as she smiled up at him. He stood rigidly against her, eyes travelling from one place to another but never resting on her.

Slowly, she began swaying from side to side, her grasp on his hand tightening as she took a step back, swinging him with her. His breath hitched at her sudden movement, a flicker of a distant memory shaping in his mind of being swung round and round—but he said nothing, just let her guide them through the next steps.

"I remember how we both always wanted to take the lead," she mused, laughing lightly into his chest.

Her comment coaxed a soft chuckle out of him as he imagined their younger selves briefly arguing about which dance moves to start with before he'd eventually give in to her with a roll of his eyes.

Even now, naturally, he began to relax against her, his body easing into the sway of her own as though they were one and the same, moving to the sound of nothing but their own laughter.

He wasn't like her, no. But damn it all, if being with her didn't make him want to move past all the bad moments and walk out into the sunlight with her by his side.

"Funny. I always remember you taking the lead regardless—"

"Ah! That was because you lacked the spirit!" she teased, her heart skipping a beat at the reappearance of that smile she so dearly loved.

"I didn't mind—" he murmured, his hands gripping her more firmly, pulling her closer to him. He let their eyes meet once more, her amused gaze locking with his steady one before he twirled her around, dipping her so that her hair cascaded down her back in red ribbons. "—as long as it was you I was dancing with."

She blushed at his words, her skin growing warm under the intensity of his stare, as if bathed by gentle sunlight. His own breathing became shallow as they straightened up, entangled in each other's embrace and no longer dancing, but just floating, overcome with the sense that they were the only two people in the room, the world, even.

Lacing her arms around him, she toyed with the blue hair at the nape of his neck and Jellal watched her, his face earnest as he tilted his head down to rest his forehead against hers.

"I remember it all," he whispered, his soft breath ghosting over her lips, "Of course, I remember it all. I remember the first time I saw you: small, kind eyes, your scarlet hair—easily the brightest thing in the room along with your smile. I remember playing games, singing, dancing, laughing, crying. I remember it all, Erza."

Seeing her smile, Jellal laughed, the sound vibrating through his body as he continued on in a bright voice. "That's not all though. Erza, do you remember when—"

But then a gruff voice interrupted him, tinged with patent fury. A voice belonging to a sly, sharp-toothed, nosy snake of a person who probably heard every single thing uttered from their mouths—

"OI! WOULD YA KEEP IT DOWN? FUCKING BLUE BALLS WITH HIS FUCKING LONGASS BORING STORIES. THIS AIN'T THE TIME TO GO SKIPPIN' DOWN MEMORY LANE, YOU JACKASS!"

Jellal fought back the urge to groan. Another perfect moment with Erza ruined by that sleazy asshole. Somehow, he couldn't shake off the eerie feeling that Erik had been listening all along and only intervened at that precise moment purposely just to irritate him—so, nothing out of the ordinary.

The pair pulled away, Erza's hands still against his chest whilst his rested by her waist. Their eyes widened in shock as they listened to Erik complain, all the more colourfully. Erza bit her lip in attempts to stifle the laugh that was threatening to slip out while Jellal reddened and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Here we go…" he muttered, already knowing what was coming next.

"SHUT IT, ERIK! YOU'RE DISTURBING MY BEAUTY SLEEP!"

"SORANO, YOU'RE NO BETTER, YELLING LIKE THAT! BEAUTY SLEEP, HUH? WHAT HAPPENS TO THAT CONCEPT WHEN YOU'RE UP AT SIX IN THE MORNING CACKLING LIKE A WITCH?" a sharp voice belonging to a particular pink haired mage yelled indignantly.

"IT'S NOT CACKLING! IT'S SINGING. SOMETHING YOU'RE TOO STUPID TO APPRECIATE!"

"I WEAR EARMUFFS FOR A REASON, YOU KNOW!"

Silence filled the guild as Erza laughed, tilting her head to one side thoughtfully. The bickering reminded her of a certain guild she knew all too well. Of course, back in Fairy Tail, no argument was settled without there being at least one physical fight. She missed beating up her fellow guild mates. Perhaps it was still a little too early to show such enthusiasm here. "Is it over?"

Jellal raised an eyebrow, holding up one finger and waiting—

A few beats of silence passed between them before snores that could only result from some sort of sleeping wildebeest arose out of nowhere. Erza arched a brow. "Is that Richard? Mavis, and I thought Natsu's snores were loud."

"OH MY FRIGGIN—DO YOU GUYS HEAR THIS? ERIK, I KNOW YOU CAN AT LEAST HEAR HIM. HE'S SNORING THROUGH ALL THIS CRAP? FUCK THIS, I DEMAND A ROOM SWAP, PRONTO!" Sawyer snapped.

"Now it's over," said Jellal, his mouth quirking up in a handsome grin.

Sometimes, he wondered what his life would be like if the former Oracion Seis never joined his guild. Maybe it'd be easier but it'd also be a whole less entertaining.

Meanwhile, in the guild hall, Macbeth didn't stir at all. Serenely, he floated up and down on his carpet, enjoying his sleep just like any mage should. There was a reason he slept separately from the rest of them, after all.

A/N: Because for some reason, I enjoy Crime Sorciere totally cockblocking Jellal and Erza.