Thirty-Four - Erza Scarlet

It was disconcerting to wake up and realize you had missed seven weeks of your life. Erza was surrounded by other, recently awakened, Fairy Tail friends when she opened her eyes. There was another girl in the hospital who had also been in a coma for quite some time. Apparently, no one had known who the girl was. She had been there for many years and had come in with no identification.

When she woke up, along with the Fairy Tail people, it was discovered that she was a long lost relative of one of Makarov's old friends. Apparently, everyone had thought her dead, but she had merely ended up in a coma as an unknown patient. Makarov knew that none of her family was left, so she had no place to go home to. He invited her at once to call Fairy Tail her home. So they were joined by Mavis Vermillion on their journey home.

Things seemed surreal at first, but Erza was excited to be going back home. The Tenrou trip had been completely called off for the time being. They rented a couple of vans and drove back home, rather than revisiting the trauma of flying. Their return was met with a huge party and everyone celebrated the whole day. It was near sunset when Erza decided to go outside and get some fresh air.

She went for a short walk and was thinking of how thankful she was to have survived. She breathed in the air and looked at the nearly setting sun. Resolving to never take life for granted again, she decided it was time to head back to the house. She was about to turn back toward home when she heard footsteps. She turned the other way instead and saw three figures just up the sidewalk from her.

They had the hoods of their hoodies up and Erza was confused for a moment. As they drew closer, she recognized them. Speechless, she waited for them to look up and see her. When they did, they stopped short. She took a few hesitant steps closer, hardly daring to believe who was before her.

"Erza," Jellal said, pulling his hood back so she could see his face. Ultear and Meredy followed suit, smiling at her.

"Jellal," Erza breathed. "You're not in jail."

"I'm sorry," he said. "It wasn't my idea."

"Ultear broke him out," Meredy grinned.

"Sort of," Ultear smiled.

"And we started a 'making things right' club!" Meredy said excitedly.

"Making things right?" Erza repeated.

"We're doing good things to make up for mistakes we've made," Jellal said.

"I see," she said, not sure what else to say. She was still so shocked to see Jellal.

"Well, we'll leave you two alone to talk," Ultear said with a grin.

"See ya!" Meredy called as the girls walked away.

Jellal and Erza stared at one another for a very long moment before either of them spoke.

"So, we should move out of the open," he said. "Technically, I shouldn't really be free. But I'm fine as long as no police officers see me."

"Your house is nearby," she suggested.

"We shouldn't go inside," he said. "But we could go out back. The trees will block any view from the street."

She nodded and they walked down the sidewalk.

"So," she said. "We never really got the chance to talk, before."

"That's true," he said. "And I wasn't able to apologize properly."

"Ultear told me everything, remember?" she said.

"I'm still at fault," he said. "I could have stopped Sieg. I could have refused to help and refused to lie. I definitely shouldn't have lied to you. I had already hurt you back when we were children. I would understand if you never wanted to see me again."

"Jellal-"

"I had a lot of time to think," he said. "I don't know why I even survived prison. It would have been best if I had died."

Erza bristled angrily. "Excuse me?" she asked.

She couldn't imagine how she would feel if she had learned that Jellal had died while she was gone. He didn't even look up at her. They had reached his house by that point. He opened the gate to his backyard, but didn't start down the stairs that led down to it. He turned toward her instead.

"I just don't know what else to do," he said.

"What about your 'making things right' club?" she asked. "Aren't you going to follow through with that?"

"I'm not sure," he said dejectedly, still staring at the ground. "I don't know that anything I would do could make up for my mistakes. I feel so hopeless. I might just be better off dead."

Before she even knew what she was doing, she had slapped him across the face. She was so angry she had to take a moment to process her thoughts. He looked at her in surprise, a red mark forming on his cheek. She wondered if her action had snapped him out of it, but his surprise faded back to depression. She had to make him see how stupid he was being.

"You can't think that way!" she shouted. "You have to live! Even through the hard times!"

"I'm not as strong as you are, Erza," he sighed.

"So you'll just die?!" she asked. "That's stupid! Besides, living on is a sign of strength! Look what you've been strong enough to live through so far!" His expression didn't change. "You're not the same as back when I first knew you," she accused.

"Maybe you're right," he said.

"You jerk!" she shouted, grabbing him by the front of his hoodie. Her foot caught on a loose bit of pavement and she stumbled into him. "Whoa!" she exclaimed.

She lost her balance and fell completely against him. Her momentum knocked him backwards, down the stairs, while she was still holding tight to his hoodie. They tumbled, head over heels, all the way down, and landed in the grass. Erza ended up on her back, with Jellal on top of her. Both of their faces were flushed red from the intimacy of the situation.

After a moment, Jellal's surprised expression softened. "You're always right," he said.

"No," she said. "I just know I have to try in order to keep going."

"Erza..." he breathed.

She looked up at him, so happy to see him. So full of emotion.

"I thought-" she put one hand over her eyes, trying not to cry, but a tear slipped down her cheek. "I thought I'd never see you again, Jellal."

She felt more tears, but didn't bother trying to stop them. She placed her hands on either side of his head, looking into his eyes. He followed her example, brushing her tears away as he brought his hands to the sides of her face. Erza remembered when they were children, how close they had been and how much she had liked him. She remembered how hurt she had been when he never tried to keep in contact.

He brought his face closer to hers and she knew exactly what was coming. She slowly sat up and the gap between them grew smaller and smaller. She remembered all their time together since he had come back into her life. There had been good times and not so good times, but she couldn't imagine trading any of them in. His lips were so close to hers and her heart was beating incredibly fast.

They were holding each other close, neither paying attention to the sunset or the beautiful colors it created in the sky. Their lips met as they pressed close to each other. The wonderful moment ended abruptly. Much to Erza's surprise, Jellal shoved her away from himself, breaking their kiss. He looked away, leaving her very confused.

"I can't..." he said. Erza felt a pang in her heart. "I-" he continued, "I have a fiancée."

There was silence for a short moment.

"What?!" she exclaimed, completely in shock. "I- um- sorry! I didn't meant to-"

"No... I- er- sorry..." he said, scratching the back of his head and still not making eye contact.

"It's- it's been seven weeks," she said, looking down and wondering how he could possibly have fallen so in love with someone else so quickly.

"It's- ah- yeah- fast. I know..." he said.

"Yeah..." she said, still having trouble believing it. She looked up at him again. He was blushing and avoiding her gaze and... "Oh," she said. He's lying, she thought. Of course. She sighed and smiled slightly. I suppose he has his reasons. "So, she must be very important to you," she said.

"Uh- well- yes, of course," he said, a little shakily.

"Then you have to live, for her, right?" she asked.

He looked at her sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said.

-.-.-

"I can't believe how clumsy that lie was," Erza mused as she headed back home. "Why fiancée? Why not simply a girlfriend?" She sighed. "Well, I guess he's not ready for a relationship. I'll have to give him his space."