Thirty-Three - Jellal Fernandes
It had been weeks, and they still hadn't discovered what Siegrain was up to. Jellal was beginning to think he wasn't really up to anything, but they kept at it. He was sure he'd do something eventually. Jellal wasn't anywhere near over Erza, but at least he was able to have a distraction to keep him from spiraling further into depression. Ultear and Meredy were very helpful and he actually wasn't feeling completely terrible.
It had been seven weeks since the plane crash. Everyone avoided talking about it, and that was fine by Jellal. He didn't need to break down in front of other people. He tried to move along with his life as best as he could. He tried not to think about Erza, and distracted himself with other thoughts.
He wondered what would happen to the Fairy Tail kids who had stayed behind. Without Makarov, who was taking care of them? Jellal was pondering on this as he got dressed in the morning. All of a sudden, Ultear burst into his room, closely followed by Meredy. He jumped in surprise and was incredibly glad he was already fully dressed.
"You can't just come into my room without knocking first!" he shouted.
"They're awake!" Ultear said, smiling widely. "Jellal, they woke up!"
"Who woke up?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"
"A new medication was discovered that helps coma patients!" Meredy explained excitedly. "Everyone is coming home next week! Even some random girl who happened to also be in a coma at Tenrou Hospital!"
"Tenrou?" Jellal repeated. "I don't understand."
"Fairy Tail woke up," Ultear said. "Erza is coming home."
"But she- I thought-" he started, his brain working to piece things together. "A coma?"
"Why are you not more excited about this?" Meredy asked. "We thought you'd be thrilled."
"I think he's still processing," Ultear said.
"Erza..." he said slowly. "Erza... isn't dead?"
There was silence for a long moment. Both girls looked confused. Then Ultear's expression shifted to sympathy.
"No, Jellal," she said. "They didn't die in the plane crash. Their plane landed in water and a search and rescue team found them. They were unconscious and they had injuries, but they survived. They've been kept at Tenrou Hospital since, all asleep."
"But," Jellal said, his heart beating fast as his brain told him it was too good to be true, "Zeref said- and Sieg..."
Ultear frowned. "Siegrain told you they were dead?" she asked.
"Yeah," Jellal said slowly, his mind still preoccupied. "I don't understand."
"Well, I'll have to have words with him," Ultear said angrily. "But they are not, in fact, dead. And you'll see them next week."
-.-.-
"You, Siegrain Fernandes, are an asshole! The worst kind of human being! I cannot believe I even associate myself with you! How could you do that to your own brother?!"
Jellal could hear Ultear all through the house. He figured he should probably be mad at Sieg, but he was too distracted by the fact that Erza was alive and he would be able to see her very soon. Meredy walked into his room, her arms full of some sort of blue fabric. She closed the door behind her, muffling Ultear's shouting. She shook her head amusedly.
"He's trying to defend himself," she said. "He said he was trying to help you get over Erza before she came back. But that only made Ultear even angrier."
Jellal looked down. "Maybe I should just try to get over her," he said. "I don't have any right to be with her anyway. And Siegrain wouldn't let me be with her, even if I tried."
"Don't be stupid, Jellal," Meredy said. "And throw that old hoodie away. It symbolizes the old you. We have new jackets now!"
"What?" he asked, as she tossed her bundle of blue fabric on the bed. "The old me?"
"We are all changing for the better with our new club," she said. "Including our wardrobe! I had these custom made, from Heart Kreuz!"
"You're taking this club pretty seriously, aren't you?" he asked as she separated the bundle into three, zip-up hoodies with light gray lining and a strange symbol emblazoned on the left side.
"Of course!" she said. "It's important!"
"What is that emblem?" he asked.
"It's our club logo," she said.
"A skull with a wizard hat and a beard?"
"Look closer," she said. "The beard is a 'U' for 'Ultear'. The hat is an upside down 'J' for 'Jellal'. And, right here, next to the skull, is a little, sideways 'M' for 'Meredy'."
"And what is the skull for?" he asked.
"To make us more intimidating!"
"I thought we were doing good things," he said.
"Sometimes we'll need to be intimidating for that," she said. "Now put this on."
She threw him one of the hoodies and he switched out his old one. The new one was comfortable, at least. And his previous one had been getting pretty old. He hadn't noticed that Ultear's shouting had ceased until she stormed into the room. She slammed the door behind her and sat down on the bed in a huff.
"Why do I put up with him?!" she exclaimed.
"Because you-"
"Hush, Meredy!" she interrupted.
Meredy shrugged and handed Ultear a hoodie. Ultear accepted it without a word, so Jellal figured Meredy had already explained the reason for it.
"So, did he apologize at all?" Meredy asked.
"Of course not," Ultear grumbled. "As usual, he thinks whatever he does is right."
"Did you tell him his plan failed anyway?" Meredy asked. "Jellal is clearly still in love with Erza."
Jellal felt his face flush, but didn't deny it. There was no point. He really was in love with Erza. But it didn't really matter how he felt. What mattered was that he didn't deserve to be with her.