Erlu Oneshots

Endings

WARNING: ANGST

"It's okay, Erza." whispered Lucy. "You'll be okay."

Erza was sobbing so hard she couldn't breathe. "Y-you should've told me. I can't- I can't -lose you. Please, please, PLEASE!" Erza screamed kneeling in front of Lucy and holding her hands. Her face was dug into Lucy's thighs and her tears were creating a large damp spot on the stellar mage's white dress. Lucy comfortingly squeezed Erza's hand. 

"Erza, Erza baby, please, I need you to look at me." she said and Erza's gasps and sobs intensified. She shook her head. "I can't, I can't, I can't." Erza repeated over and over again. "Yes, you can. Please Erza, this is important, I need you." said Lucy. Erza sobbed and gasped for air a few more times before she took in a shaky breath and stood up. Her body shook with emotion and she wouldn't let her eyes reach Lucy's just yet. She kept her chin down, looking at the ground. Lucy chuckled. "You always were so stubborn." and then she raised one of her hands to lift Erza chin. Erza looked at Lucy. 

"Don't leave me." said Erza. Lucy gently smiled. "I'm sorry, Erza." A coughing fit shook her body and blood came up from her lungs. Her legs collapsed and she fell into Erza's arms. Erza picked her up and carried her over to their bed. She laid Lucy down gently and took a kneel at the side of the bed, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping at the blood on the corners of Lucy's mouth. 

"Thank you." said Lucy, her voice raspy. Erza shook her head. "I should've been there." Lucy raised one of her hands to Erza's cheek. 

"There was nothing you could've done."

One month ago

Lucy really regretting going on this mission without Erza. The redhead had been given a special mission by Makarov and had to cancel on Team Natsu's mission. Lucy, Natsu, and Gray decided they would still go. It was supposed to be a simple mission of finding a group of bandits and take them down but then they found a priceless artifact in the bandit's cave. They took it, assuming it was owned by the town who'd hired them but when three powerful dark mages showed up an hour later, they found out that was not the case.

Natsu and Gray had been beaten to a pulp. Lucy could see them lying in pools of their own blood. She fought back tears, thinking of their wives, Juvia and Lisanna and their children who would now grow up without their father. 

Two of the mages had gone to the town to retrieve something and the one they were fighting had insane magical power. Lucy was alone and injured.  She didn't stand a chance. She was clutching the artifact to her chest and breathing heavily. Taurus and Leo were in front of her, trying their best but it would only be a matter of time before they fell. 

'Open me...' 

Lucy looked down in surprise at the box she held in her arms. "Did... you just... talk?" she asked, not quite believing that she was talking to a box. 'I can help you and your friends.' It said. Lucy's jaw dropped open in shock then shut. "What do you mean?" she inquired, looking up when she heard Taurus's cry of pain. It was just Leo now and she was sure the other two dark mages would be back anytime now. She was desperate. 

'I will give you my power to destroy these mages, but there will be a cost.' It told her. "A cost?" she said, panicked and ready to agree. 'Yes, you will survive and your friend's wounds will be healed, but the magic will infect your body and slowly suck the energy from it. You will die in a month's time.' Lucy's eyes widened. She looked over at the lifeless bodies of Natsu and Gray and to the mage who was almost finished with Leo. She noticed the two other mages running back over the hill and straight to them. She made a decision. 

She opened the box and a bright light enveloped the entire area, celestial magic covering the valley they were in. 

"Wh-Wha?" murmured Natsu as he lifted himself off of the ground. He rubbed his head and looked around. "WHAT?" he yelled. They were standing in the middle of a giant crater. Last he remembered, they had been fighting three dark mages and were surrounded by a lush forest. 

"Jeez, flamebrain, keep it down, would ya?" said Gray as he too got up, rubbing his head. "Woah, what happened here?" he asked. Suddenly, they heard another voice. 

"Gray! Natsu!" They both turned to see Lucy running at them with the artifact in one arm. 

"Lucy!?" they exclaimed. In the other arm, she was holding the end of a rope and on the other end of the said rope was three unconscious dark mages, all bloody and bruised.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay!" she said, stopping in front of them. 

"Y-Yeah..." they both said, now slightly terrified of the celestial mage.

"Let's go home!" Lucy said, smiling.

They returned to the guild with both the artifact and the dark mages. The council took and locked away both and gave Fairy Tail a healthy reward of cash for them. During the celebration that Master Makarov ordered, no one saw Lucy slip away or heard the intense coughing coming from the back of the guild. 

When Lucy came back in, she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her stomach. She turned around and jumped into the arms of her knight. "Erza! You're back!" she exclaimed and grabbed Erza's face, pulling her in for a deep kiss. "I missed you!" 

Erza's eyes widened at the display of affection. Usually, her wife was not so public. "Y-yeah, I missed you too!"

Lucy lost her smile for a moment and Erza was completely confused. "Lucy, are you oka-"

"No more jobs for a month, okay?" Lucy said. Erza's jaw dropped. "What? Why?" she asked, though not completely opposed to the idea. 

"I don't know, I just want to spend some more time with you. I mean, this is the first time in a year we've both been away from home and I don't think it's fair. So for the next month, you and I won't be going on any jobs, okay?" explained Lucy, looking at Erza expectantly. erza examined Lucy's determined look and sighed before smiling. "As you wish." she said and laughed at the way Lucy jumped in the air to celebrate. Lucy pulled Erza in for a kiss then whispered something in her ear. Immediately, Erza blushed and picked Lucy up, running out of the guild and ignoring the catcalls from Cana and Gray.

Lucy explained everything to Erza. How she'd been hiding it by coughing into the sink. How she went to Makarov who told her that he knew of her case and sadly told her there was no cure. How he had lost a friend this way. How she begged him not to tell anyone. Erza was sobbing again by the end of it, having realized that her wife was going to leave her on this day. Lucy sat up and grabbed Erza, pulling her into a tight hug. Erza squeezed Lucy hard.

"It'll be okay, Erza." said Lucy. She pulled back and wiped at the Erza's cheeks. Erza shook her head. Lucy smiled sadly. "Listen, in my desk drawer at the very bottom, there is a large envelope. My will, finished novel, and a few letters are in it. Plus a little extra something." Erza shook her head, trying to fight back the sobs that racked her body. 

"There is nowhere that you could go that I won't be with you." said Lucy and Erza met her gaze. Lucy smiled at Erza through the tears that blurred her vision and Erza burst forward to sit on the bed, placing her lips against Lucy's. Lucy kissed her back and their tears mixed. They parted and cried together, mourning the life they'd planned and begun that would now never see a happy ending.

After a while, Lucy had to lay back down and through their window, together they watched the sun begin to fall. Erza held Lucy's hand and before the sun completely set, Lucy squeezed her wife's hand. Erza turned to Lucy with a new set of tears in her eyes and brought up her other hand to move the hair that stuck to her forehead with sweat. Lucy was breathing slowly and Erza knew that this was it. Lucy let go of Erza's hand to bring her own up and caress Erza's cheek. 

"Thank you for giving me the best life." she whispered. "I love you, Erza Scarlet. Always."

"I love you too, Lucy Scarlet." Lucy smiled. Her eyes closed and her hand dropped from Erza's face, going limp. Erza caught it mid-air with her own and placed a tender kiss on her wife's knuckles. 

"Always." she whispered before beginning to scream and sob, holding her Lucy's lifeless body.