His Spirit Is Broken (Fairy Tail)

Chapter 3

After about 20 minutes of crying, Zax pulled back and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "You feel better now?" Erza asked Zax, who simple nodded and gave her a soft smile. "Thank you for comforting me... I think it is out of my system for now." Zax smiled up at the taller woman. "You remind me of her, you know. It's nice... Almost like she's still here." He looked up at her, a few tears still left in his eyes. "I remind you of her?" Erza asked and knelt down in front of him. "She sounds like an honorable woman, then. We need to leave now though, are you full, do you want to eat more?" She asked, once again reminding him of his mother. "We can leave now if you are done packing." Zax grinned wider and grabbed his backpack.

~Time Skip~

"Sorry.... Did we make you wait?" Erza asked as the two walked up to Natsu, Gray, a blonde woman, and talking blue cat. "Hrmm? You were in Fairy Tail earlier..." She added as she looked at the young woman. "I'm a new member, Lucy. Mira asked me to tag along. I'll try to be useful." The woman, Lucy, bowed in greeting. "I'm Erza and this is Zax, he is going to be joining me on jobs until I finish his. It's nice to meet you." Erza smiled as Zax bowed and held out a trembling hand. "I-It's nice to meet you, Miss Lucy. My name is Zax, I hope we can become friends someday." He said and slowly dropped his hand when she just looked at it. Feeling awkward and unwanted, he moved closer to Erza. Natsu stuck out his hand to the boy as Gray simply nodded in greeting. "I'm Natsu, we should fight sometime!" Natsu grinned as Zax took his hand and shook it firmly. "I prefer to avoid conflicts. To put it simply, I'm a lover and not a fighter." Zax stated in a soft voice as he held onto Natsu's hand for a moment longer. He blushed as he realized what he was doing and quickly released the older boy's hand, stepping back and hiding behind Erza. His face was bright red as he peeked his head out from behind Erza's shoulders. "Sorry...." He muttered as Natsu smiled, slightly confused. "But you did nothing wrong. It's Zax right? What's your full name?" Natsu asked out of curiosity.

"I'd rather not say... people tend to react badly to part of my last name." Zax slowly stepped out from behind Erza. "Leave it be, Natsu. If he doesn't want to talk about it then don't force him to. Make him cry and you'll have to deal with me." Erza placed a hand protectively on Zax's shoulder. "Miss Erza... Maybe you should talk about the mission? I'm kind of curious on what it is..." Zax stuttered out, blushing at her protectiveness over him.

"This mission might be a bit risky, but seeing how you did on the last job, I think you'd be okay." Erza stated and shrugged. "Risky!?" Lucy gasped, going pale. Zax sweatdropped, it was a mission from Erza, an S-class wizard. Of course, it would be risky. "I don't know what our task is this time, but I'll go with you, under one condition." Natsu faced Erza with a determined look. "Condition?" Erza raised an eyebrow, causing Gray to freak out. "I-Idiot!!! I-I would work for free if it were for you Erza!!!" Gray stuttered, making Zax giggle slightly and look away when Gray looked at him. "Say it." Erza stated calmly, a hand on her hip.

"When we return, I want you to fight me. I'm different from back then." Natsu stated, his expression dead serious. "You've really grown up. I'm not confident in myself.... But okay, I accept." Erza smiled and ran a hand through her hair before grabbing Zax's hand. "What do you mean you're not confident!!? Fight me seriously!!!" Natsu growled and raised a fist in front of him. "Fufu..... I know, but you're strong. I just wanted to say that." Erza chuckled and turned towards Gray. "Gray... Do you wish to fight me as well?" She asked the man, who shook his head frantically. "Well, then. Let's board the train." Erza dragged Zax on board and sat him across from Lucy, who seemed to be glaring at him, and beside herself. This was going to be a long ride for Zax.