Fade to Sapphire (Jerza fanfic)

Chapter 6

"Requip!"

My voice echoed at the silence of the guild's backyard, as my clothes transformed to my desired armor, and for some reason it felt like the wall keeping away my memories gave in to a small leak: I seemed to recall moments of me requiping in the past. And a specific one...

I heard clapping from a few meters away, seeing Master right after.

"Excellent, Erza! At this rate, you'll be back to how you were before the accident in no time!" He said, with a smile on his face, which I paid back.

"Thank you, Master. I hope you're right.."

"Erzaaa!!!" I turned around and saw Lucy running towards me.

"Jellal has come to pick you up."

"Oh okay, well I'll see you tomorrow Master." I greeted before I started walking towards the building's back door, but some talk behind me held me back. I hid behind a wall not too far but not too near.

"Master, are you sure about allowing Jellal near Erza? After everything that happened-"

"I decided to trust him. You will see my point later on, Lucy, and you will understand too."

I wondered, but I couldn't stay any longer; somebody could see me.

-

The way home was very silent, Jellal and I hadn't exchanged a word.

'What was that talk about this guy? What happened with him and Lucy is concerned about it? Should I...be afraid of him? '

A few more seconds went by in silence before I gave in to my impulse and pulled Jellal away from the streets, behind the bushes and deep inside the trees. I threw him forcefully on the first tree trunk in front of me, placing my elbow on his neck.

"Erza, what are you d-"

"Who are you?" I asked coldly, glaring deep inside his hazel eyes. He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know what you're talking ab-"

"Who are you, what the fuck did you do in my life and why and how you did it, how you entered my life I want to know everything..! " I was probably shouting a lot but I did not care. He kept looking at me with an emotionless gaze, finally letting out a loud sigh.

"Fine. I'll tell you everything you want to know. Just.." He glanced at my arm pressing his throat, and I released it quickly, realizing how much I was hurting him, but the slight feeling of guilt wasn't superior to my anger. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down.

"What was I to you? I know I wasn't just an aquaintance." I crossed my arms while waiting for a reply.

"No...you weren't. We were very, very good friends. We knew each other for a long time, and we went through a lot of things together."

"Then what happened?"

"A sequence of events took place, and we...kept our distances. We ended up following completely different paths."

I relaxed the tension from my shoulders a bit. "When I was training with Master, I seemed to recall some memories of me requiping in the past. But..I also recalled another one. It was from the accident. I remember you there, Jellal." Jellal's eyes widened and he listened to me carefully.

"But I can't remember what you were doing there." He seemed to be a bit relieved, which only made me angrier.

"What were you doing there?" I got a bit closer to him, in efforts to make him feel at least a little scared, but the energy he was radiating made me afraid instead.

"It's best if you don't know yet." His words came out softly as he touched my chin with his hand, and I remained glaring at his terrifying but soothing gaze. "You will remember by yourself at some point." He walked past me and started walking away.

"Wait!" I yelled, and held his wrist to stop him, as he turned to look at me. "I'm...I'm sorry for hurting you." My cheeks were burning while I was looking at the ground. I felt his hand going over my head and bringing me close to his chest. Surprised, I remained there enjoying the warmth of his body, without making a sound.

"I know you're confused, Erza. I'm here for you, everything will be alright." His fingers ran through my hair gently, and I stayed close to his body, with the odd feeling of being safe.

-

It was almost dark and we decided to head home after a walk around the city, where Jellal showed me some places I should know. We were now near the beach. The sun looked like it was hiding behind the water of the sea, as the clouds above it kept changing their shapes every second that passed. The wind blew, and my hair covered my face; in the effort of taking it away, it felt like a wave struck through my head, revealing a memory that had long been forgotten.

I stopped walking, and Jellal, who had walked some steps ahead, turned to look at me.

"What's wrong?" He asked me, but I wouldn't reply -I was trying to recall the faint memory fully.

"Erza?"

" 'It was the color of your hair '..."

I lifted my head, and looked at him deep inside his eyes, his sapphire colored hair dancing with the wind.

"You said those words to me...didn't you?" I kept looking at him, and after a while he nodded in response, smiling faintly, before he came closer to me.

"Then...you gave me my surname..?" He was now very close, only a few centimetres separating us; I could feel his warm breath reaching my skin.

"Yes.." he replied, putting some strands of my hair behind my ear, then moving his fingers across my jawline, finally holding my cheek. His hazel eyes pierced through mine, as I kept looking, unable to think any further.

"I named you Scarlet...it was a way of never forgetting you. A way of keeping your memory alive in my head, everytime I looked at that color, I would remember you..." His other hand touched my other cheek and he held my face softly.

"...because I love you."

Before I knew it, his lips had engaged mine into a soft, gentle kiss which I couldn't bring myself to resist. It felt like years of happiness had flown in my body once again, all the years that had been lost...I finally felt home.

-