Old Friends (Erlu)

Chapter 9: Forgiveness

After her apology with Aquarius had gone better than she expected, Lucy was in an upbeat mood. It had become nightfall as she walked through the streets of Magnolia, lost in her own thoughts. She snapped out of them as she passed the bakery that Erza liked to get her cakes from. She peered through the window, seeing that the baker was cleaning up after having been open all day. He was about to hang up the 'Closed' sign on the door before she decided to walk in.

"Sorry, miss. We're closed for the night." The baker said apologetically.

"Before you hang up the sign, do you think I can purchase one of your goods? I'm really craving cake right now." She lied.

"Uh, sure. Go ahead and pick one out." He said in a tone as if he wanted her to leave.

"Great! Thank you, I'll be quick, I promise." Lucy said as she perused what cakes the baker had left over. She glanced around for a few seconds before her eyes found what she desired, strawberry cake. "I'll take this one, please." She said pointing at it.

"Oh, that's the Fantasia Cake. Good choice, that will be 4,500 jewel." The baker said as he got out a box to put it in.

"Thank you so much." Lucy said with a smile as she handed him the jewel and took the box carefully, being mindful not to the ruin it's contents as she left the bakery.

- At Fairy Hills -

Erza is in her room with the curtains on her windows shut, lying in her bed engulfed in the darkness while staring up at the ceiling, trying to think of something she could do to get Lucy off of her mind. She tossed and turned in her sheets for hours as she tried to go to sleep, but nothing was working. She sighed to herself, feeling hopeless.

Her mind kept replaying what had happened outside of the hospital in Onibus, and she had reached a state of near depression, as it was the only thing on her mind since she had gotten back to Magnolia.

The look of anger she saw painted across Lucy's face was something that she thought she would never witness before her eyes. She remembered the way Lucy ripped her arm away from her as she tried to stop the blonde from leaving. The manner at which she said, "Don't touch me!" sent shivers down her spine as a massive feeling of sadness built up inside of her.

It had been a little more than a day since the incident had happened, but to Erza, it felt like she was reliving it every time she closed her eyes.

She sat up in her bed with her feet dangling over the mattress as she rested her elbows on her knees and rubbed her face with her hands. She got up to walk towards her bathroom to wash her face, hoping that the cold water would be able to ease her mind. As she dried her face with a towel, she lifted her chin to look at herself in the mirror.

She sighed as she turned her face at different angles to get a good look at herself. "I'm such a mess." She said to her reflection, feeling sorry for herself. She rubbed the bags that had formed underneath her eyes as a result of not getting enough sleep as she shook her head and walked out of the bathroom, feeling disgraced over her own reflection.

She glanced around her room, trying to find something to do to distract herself for a while. She picked up a book that Levy had let her borrow and flipped through the pages absentmindedly as she tried to find where she had last left off in the story. She read a few pages before closing the book with a sigh after becoming disinterested.

"I need to do something, I can't just sit here and wallow in self pity." She thought to herself as she looked down at the book in her hand. Giving into her frustration, she tightened her grip on the book before throwing it across the room as it hit the wall with a thud. The book had been thrown with such force that it left a small hole in its wake.