A Captain's Pride

AN: To be honest when I originally planned on writing a FT fanfic, I always saw myself starting with a NaLu story, however, I recently read some Mystwalker written by Daniel Monteray (if you haven't checked out his work, you definitely should) and couldn't help but write this idea out. There is nothing special about it, just had it come to mind. This has a bit of deviation from the exact occurrences in the Edolas Arc.

Disclaimer: No rights to FT.

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Glaring into the steady gaze of the man she once thought of as a traitor, and now regarded as her King, Erza did her best to put the conversation that was on a near constant loop out of her mind. The fight between her and the Earthland version of herself, had given her plenty to think about. Despite wanting to forget about the existence of her emotionally driven doppelganger, Knightwalker couldn't help but allow some of their exchange sink in. The Fairy lover had called her out on being like her, even if only at the basest, and most unacknowledged level. Just the idea that somewhere inside her was a woman that she was unfamiliar with, set her on edge. Erza had always known exactly who she was. She was the dauntless Captain of the Royal Army, and she had never cared for anyone or anything, except her king and country. Being enthralled by weapons, tactics and seeking out Fairy Tail, she was never like typical women. When people heard her name, they bowed in respect or shuffled away in fear, and she was completely okay with that. What she wasn't okay with was being told that her alter loved the alter of the deserter, Jellal. Oh sure, Scarlet hadn't out and out said that, but what she had admitted was enough for them both to know without a doubt where she stood. For some unknown reason that her sent her mind to reeling, this fact stunned her more than she cared to admit.

Just the knowledge that any version of her could be attracted to him was enough to goad her into anger. She had always harbored a special hatred for the cerulean haired son of Faust, vowing that when she found him, she would savor every second of light leaving his eyes. His eyes, which up until recently she had believed to be a nearly coffee color. With all of the frequent and close contact they had had she now noted them to be a darkened amber, almost like whiskey, but more golden.

After the fall of Faust, she was surprised when Jellal took her as his own Captain, seemingly forgetting the bad blood she had held towards him. Knowing that he wasn't a fool, Erza suffered no illusions that he hadn't known about her grudge towards him. However, she spent far too much time focusing on why he had kept her by his side. She had spent weeks studying him to see what made him tick, all the while wondering what had driven the other red head to care for the Earthland version of him. In time, she saw that there were noble traits about him; he seemed to genuinely care about the well being of their people, and was one hundred percent committed to showing everyone that life was more than sustainable without the magic they grown to depend on. Even though she wanted nothing more than to continue to despise him, and to know exactly where she stood with him, she didn't.

On more than one occasion of late, King Jellal had sought her counsel specifically. For some reason he seemed to value her opinion more than that of his official advisors. Each time, she found herself distracted by the way his lips formed words, and the earthy smell of him. She wondered briefly if Earthland Erza's downfall had begun with such innocuous moments, and if the same thing was destined to happen to her. Was there was an invisible string attached to the two of them that would inevitably lead her to feel the same way for her king as her counterpart? Or even worse, were these little meetings a product of his regard for Scarlet? Even he had to know that just because the two of them were identical in appearance didn't mean they were the same person. Was that the logic behind not banishing her from Edolas along with Faust? Could he possibly believe that she was a suitable replacement and not realize that she was a vastly different woman?