My Scarlet Rose (A Jerza Fanfic)

Chapter 21 - The Big Question

"Wha- What's going on?" Erza asked. The last thing she remembered was being in Jellal's arms at the mansion in Briggs. "Uh- You passed out and were gravely injured so I brought you back here." Jellal explained, but it was a lie. Well, somewhat a lie. Erza was gravely injured and Jellal did bring her back to Magnolia, but it was for a different reason. A reason he would never tell her. He didn't want her to know. Ever. "Thank you." Erza smiled, "You're always there for me. I don't know what I'd do without you." Jellal softly laughed nervously. That's what he should be saying considering he was about to, literally, live without her.

Meredy quickly caught Erza up on what was happening. You know, the Fairy Tail construction. Erza smiled and shook her head at their stubbornness. Even though Master ordered us to disband, she thought. She agreed to help out anyway, being the loyal fairy she was. She would scold Natsu and Gray for fighting and getting off task. She would also help Levy and Mirajane with the official paperwork.

"Where's Jellal?" Erza asked as she approached Meredy who was with Juvia helping Gray. Even Crime Sorcière was helping out with the construction. Angel was with Lucy and Wendy, Cobra with Gajeel and Natsu, Racer with Jet and Droy, and Hoteye was with Laki. Midnight was, of course, asleep. However, he was woken up and scolded by Elfman for not being "a real man" and helping out.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him for a while." Meredy replied, looking around. Not that Erza had been constantly thinking about him, but it was starting to bother her. One, she had no idea where he had gone off to which made her think the worst. Two, since he was gone he wasn't working and Erza doesn't tolerate slackers.

"What's the matter, Erza? You love him that much that you can't stand a little alone time?" Meredy teased. Erza whipped her head around so quick she should've gotten whiplash. "N-N-No. W-What are you talking about, Meredy?" She stuttered with a crimson blush on her cheeks that also covered her ears. "Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about!" Meredy winked.

Everyone worked hard and tirelessly for hours rebuilding the destroyed guildhall. It was now sunset and everyone was taking a break. Mira had fixed quick sandwiches for everyone and those sandwiches were being inhaled. However, Erza still had one issue on her mind. She still had not seen Jellal at all since she started working. He just disappeared. Was he okay? Was he hurt? Was he just avoiding work? Did she do something to upset him? Was he upset about something? Where could Jellal have possibly gone?

Erza was deep in thought, holding a half eaten sandwich which was being eyed closely by a certain Dragon Slayer who was known for having a big apatite. He appeared behind Erza nervously, not wanting to scare the woman or he would have some scars. His partner Happy cheered him on from a very far distance just in case something went wrong. "Erza." Natsu called, his voice coming out deeper than he expected. His voice did, indeed, startle Erza causing her to requip a sword out on instinct. She spun around quickly, pointing the sword at Natsu's throat. "Natsu?" She raised an eyebrow and lowered the sword realizing it was a friend and not an enemy of some sort.

Natsu, however, kept his stance. He had his hands up in defense and was sweating buckets out of nervousness and fear for his life. "What is it that you want?" Erza asked a little harshly, scaring Natsu even more. He swallowed his fear and tried to cease the shaking of his body. "Umm, I-I just wanted t-to k-know . . . i-if you were g-gonna eat that." He stuttered, pointing a finger at the sandwhich. She glared at him at first, wondering why he would want a half eaten sandwich but of course this is Natsu we're talking about. "Here." She mumbled, handing him the food.

"Happy, I got it!" Erza heard Natsu yell as he was running towards the flying cat. I swear he's like a little child sometimes, she sighed in her head. "Erza." Someone called, startling Erza again. She spun around and was about to draw a sword until she noticed who was calling her. "Jellal?" The blue haired mage stood behind her, smiling at her reaction. "Where have you been?" Erza asked with concern, throwing out any anger that was there earlier. Jellal licked his lips and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Do you remember, back at that house, when you had gotten hurt and I was holding you?" Jellal asked, looking around to make sure no one was listening. This was a momentarily private conversation.

"Y-Yeah." Erza nodded, blushing at the memory.

"Do you remember what we said to each other?"

"Y-Yeah. Jellal, what're you-"

"Take this." Jellal interrupted, handing Erza a small box. She opened it and she could've sworn that time stopped for that very moment. She bit her lip as it started to quiver. Inside the box was a ring.

"Erza, will you marry me?"