A New Member! (Fairy Tail FanFic)

Ch. 3

"Hey Erza, you alright?" Jellal asked her as they stared out at the snow covered city from her large balcony that was partially covered with snow.

"Huh? Oh yea, I'm fine just thinking about some stuff." The re-equip mage told him as she moved closer into his warm embrace as they sat on the comfortable wooden wicker loveseat.

"I thought you were a little warm." Jellal joked earning a light slap on his arm as he hugged her and kissed her on the head gently.

"Funny," she mumbled earning a deep laugh from her boyfriend. They sat in comfortable silence for awhile, watching the city sparkle in the moonlight as they enjoyed each others presence.

"Are you going to tell me what's on your mind?" Jellal asked lightly breaking the silence as he shifted a little to get more comfortable.

"I've been thinking about Ashley." Erza told him simply staring up into the bright star speckled sky.

"Oh? I wish she would talk to me. You know the only time she's ever talked to me directly was when you introduced us?" Jellal said surprising his girlfriend a little as she turned to look at him.

"You're kidding, that was almost a month ago!" She said in shock as she looked into his dark brown eyes.

"Yep, mind telling me why?" He asked the shocked girl as she sat up completely and moved inside leaving him behind in the cold. "He-Hey!" Jellal called out as he stumbled to his feet and followed her into the giant five room dorm. "Did I say something wrong?" He asked when he found her in the room she had turned into a small kitchen dining room.

"No, it's just...nothing never mind." Erza started then stopped as she began to wash a few dirty plates with a vengeance.

"I did! Was it something I said about Ashley?" Jellal asked trying to figure out why Erza had suddenly clamped up.

"Jellal...do you remember when we were kids and how we were treated?" Erza asked after a long silence not turning to see the confused look on his face as she stopped washing a small plate.

"I choose not to but yes." Jellal told her wondering what she was getting at.

"Ashley's afraid of people. When she joined Fairy Tail the only person to hear her speak for the first time was Rain. She's the one who told us that Ashley had been abused before coming here and that she only remembered being beaten. Jellal..." Erza finished the last part in a whisper as tears pricked her eyes. Jellal didn't say a word, instead, he rushed over to her and hugged her tightly as she cried.

"Don't worry, everything's fine now. She's here with us and away from all of that, she won't get hurt I promise." Jellal told her soothingly as she clung to him and cried.

'...'...'

"They're at it again." I muttered as Natsu and Gray began fighting with Gajeel for the fifth time in the last two hours. Rain sighed and sipped her cup of hot chocolate as she sat beside me, a book in her hands.

"METAL DRAGON'S ROAR!"

"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"

"ICE MAKE! LANCE!" They all yelled at the same time, I was barely able to summon a suit of armor to cover Rain and me as the magic collided and created an explosion of sorts. 

"Nice move, you're getting better." Rain told me as I dispelled the armor and finished off my mug of hot chocolate with a proud smirk. 

"Thank you," I told her as Lucy sighed and dropped down beside me. I tensed slightly but after little over a month, I had gotten used to people coming up and randomly sitting down beside me or coming close to me.