Sororibus

Lonely Girl with Red Hair

Erza stopped in one of the passing towns to try and get some food. She earned a little bit of money from sweeping in an old lady's house a few towns over. She approached the market cautiously and took an apple from one of the stalls. She looked at it hungrily before asking the vendor how much it costed.

"Nine jewels kid." said the man with a gruff voice.

"Oh...I only have 7...sorry mister, I guess I won't be buying this." said Erza.

"You touch it, you buy it brat."

"But...I don't have enough."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to find some way to repay me. I'm sure a pretty girl like you can find a way to satisfy me."

"Hey mister! Stop being such a meanie, she didn't do anything wrong!"

Erza turned around to see a girl about her age, wearing a fancy orange dress with a white collar and a green gem. She was pointing at the vendor angrily as she glared at him.

"Mind your business brat." said the vendor as he started pulling Erza's hand. "This is between me and the reddie here."

"I don't think so! Mommy this man is being mean to this pretty girl!" said the blonde girl.

At the call of her daughter, a blonde woman in a very fancy pink dress arrived at the stall. The woman smiled kindly at her and her daughter before glaring fiercely at the vendor.

"What seems to be the problem here?" asked the woman.

"This little brat touched my merch without having enough money to pay. So I'm getting some retribution." said the merchant.

"Is that so?" the woman raised her eyebrow at him. "Well then, here's her payment. Nine jewels I believe?"

The merchant took the jewels grumpily and let go of Erza. The young girl took her hand and led her away from the stall with her mother. Once they were far enough away, she turned around to look at Erza with a concerned look.

"Are you ok miss? That meanie didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Um no...Thank you for buying me that apple ma'am."

"It was no problem, dear. I couldn't just let a child starve. Although I don't think an apple is a very good meal for a growing girl such as yourself." said the woman. "You should come with us, especially if you don't have a place to stay."

"I-I wouldn't want to impose...And I really need to get somewhere."

"Oh you wouldn't impose, we have enough space in our home for one more. I can't just leave a child in the streets in good conscience."

"You can come stay at us for the night and then leave tomorrow." said the young girl.

"W-well I suppose it is getting dark..." said Erza.

"Wonderful! Our carriage is this way." said the woman as she led them away to her carriage.

"I'm Lucy, what's your name miss?"

"I'm Erza Scarlet."

"It's very nice to meet you Erza, I am Layla Heartfilia, you may call me Layla."

...

The girls arrived at the Heartfilia Estate about half an hour later. The whole carriage ride, Lucy talked Erza's ears off. She told her all about the estate, the people working there and about her love for Celestial Spirit Magic. Erza revealed that she also knew magic, which prompted her to explain her Requip Magic. The redhead had to admit, it was nice having to talk to someone after being on the road for so long.

Once they reached the mansion, Layla called some maids to prepare a bath and some warm clothes for her, while Lucy took her hand and loudly declared that they will be having a bubble bath together. Erza had no idea what a bubble bath was, but it sounded exciting. While they waited for the bath to be prepared, Erza looked around the mansion. She guessed that Lucy and her mom were rich from the way they dressed, but she had to admit, she didn't expect a mansion this huge. The large halls of the mansion are finely decorated by a series of ornamental motifs and the windows seem to rose color. The whole place was beautiful.

Erza was snapped out of her mussings when a maid came to bring her to the bathroom. She found Lucy to be already inside the tub, surrounded on all sides by bubbles. The young girl smiled widely when she saw her and waved her over. The maid told them she'll let them play in the bubbles for a while before she will come help them wash. The redhead awkwardly entered the bubble bath and stared at them in wonder.

"They're really fun aren't they?" asked Lucy.

"Yeah...very pretty. I've never had a bubble bath before..." said Erza.

"Really?!" Erza nodded in response to the girl's exclamation. "Well then good thing we met. Now you can say you had the best bubble bath in history!"

Erza smiled. "Yeah, you're right. So what are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know...I've never had a bath partner before..." Lucy put her hand under her chin in a thoughtful manner, accidentally giving herself a bubble beard. "Usually I give myself bubble beards or crowns...Hmm...I know, we can try having a bubble beard contest!"

"Like the one you gave yourself?"

"Like the- huh?" Lucy awkwardly touched her chin before realizing she did have a bubble beard. "Oh, yeah. I guess I do have a bubble beard, huh? Silly me."

The girl made themselves bubble beards, a contest Erza won, before making bubble crowns and cat ears. This eventually led to them playing pretend in the bath before a splash fight started. Nobody knows who started it, but both girls were determined to win the fight.

Eventually the fun was cut short as two maids entered the bathroom to help them wash. The maid that was helping Erza complimented her on her beautiful hair, before giving the girl advice on how to care for it. After this the two girls were wrapped in towels and led to different rooms to get dressed up. Another maid came into the room and brought Erza a clean eye patch, since the one she owned had gotten wet in the water fight.