fate | jerza

intervention // pt.4

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The little bell jingled as the door opened and closed gently behind the tall, slender figure.

"Welcome to Magnolia Cafe, miss. Please make yourself comfortable."

Erza gave a polite bow and smile to the barista before finding a seat in a quieter corner next to the frosty window. She glanced at the timekeeper. 16:55. Mira should be arriving soon. She blew into her hands, trying to warm them up. With her friend leaving her so abruptly in the morning and then suddenly asking to meet up with her, Erza was a little concerned.

"Miss, may I take your order?"

Erza looked up. "Ah, I'm actually waiting for someone. I'll order when she arrives."

"Is it Miss Mira by any chance?" when Erza nodded, she continued. "She has reserved the Arabica Room for your group. Please follow me."

Group...? Why would Mira reserve the private room for just the two of them? This only made her more anxious. When she entered the dimly lit room, she expected to see Mira waiting for her, but she still hadn't arrived. Erza decided to go ahead and order a latte while she waited.

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Since the morning at the bar, Jellal couldn't stop thinking about what Gray had said. Maybe you should actually talk to her and consider what she wants instead of acting on your own decisions. Maybe he had a point. He'd been acting on his own feelings and insecurities for a while now, and it may have seemed like he was just running away from his problems with all the jobs he was taking up. What if Erza thought that he actually disliked her? The more he thought about it, the stronger his conviction was. He had to talk to her soon.

But right now, he was walking to the corner cafe to meet with Gray. What Gray wanted him there for, he had no idea, but it seemed urgent. Jellal was running a little late already but he hoped he wouldn't be as late as Gray usually was.

As he entered the shop and patted off the snow, a barista came up to him, glancing at his bright hair.

"Are you Mr Jellal? Mr. Gray has reserved a private room."

...Oh? Gray wasn't the type to be so secretive. He followed the barista to a door labeled "Arabica Room."

He entered and closed the door behind him, turning around to survey the cozy room...until his eyes fell on vivid red hair and wide chocolate eyes staring up at him in surprise. Confusion furrowed his brow as the figure yelped.

"Erza?"

"J-Jellal. How did you...why are you here...?"

"I was supposed to meet with Gray."

"Is that so...I'm here to meet with Mira." Erza's head buzzed with a million questions but her shock kept her quiet. She hadn't seen him for more than a year.

He shifted on his feet. "That's strange. I'm not sure what's going on but-"

A barista entered and stopped abruptly, observing their awkward atmosphere.

"May I take your order, sir?"

"Oh, yes. I'll have a cappuccino, please. With extra whipped cream and three pumps of chocolate and two of vanilla."

The barista bowed and left. Erza smiled internally. He still had his sweet tooth.

"Do you...want to sit down?"

"Yes, sure." He sat across from her at the cozy kotatsu and mustered all the courage he could to just look at her. She was just as he remembered, if not even more beautiful. That deep scarlet hair, her gentle, friendly face. It seemed as if she was slightly blushing, but he didn't know if that was just the heat of the coffee or not.

"How have you been?" he asked.

She looked up from her coffee, surprised that he even wanted to speak to her.

"I've been...fine. What about you? What have you been up to?"

"I- um... I've just been busy with longer quests for the past year" his voice softened. "Why are you just 'fine'?"

She was caught off guard by his direct question—she didn't expect him to look so much into her offhanded reply.

"Well, I mean, it's just been busy, and I guess it could be better." With you in my life, that is.

"Ah...I see." Awkward. "Make sure to take breaks from jobs once in a while and take care of your health." he smiled. Was that too much? Do I have a right to say that?

Erza smiled back, her heart fluttering at his caring tone. "You should take one every now and then too, Jellal. No one's seen you for a year."

"Yeah, everyone's been saying that—I'll think about taking shorter quests from now on. How has everyone been, by the way?"

"Ah, our friends? They seem pretty happy—Lucy and Natsu seem like they're gonna become a thing anytime soon. Same with Levy and Gajeel."

He laughed. "I've been waiting for that to happen for a long time. I'm glad they're doing well." I wish I could say the same for us.

They fell into an easy conversation about their friends and reminisced about past events, yet very consciously avoided anything that would trigger painful feelings or would address the elephant in the room. They both missed these times, when they got together and could talk about anything. They missed how easy it used to be.

"Oh, right, how are things going with your fiancé?" She looked at him intensely, knowing that this was technically a forbidden topic but was too curious about whether he would carry on his lie and how.

He immediately looked down at his cappuccino and took a long sip, trying to put together a reasonable excuse.

"She actually...uh...passed away a few months ago."

Erza almost choked on her latte. "I'm...I'm sorry?" She couldn't help but say it like a question. She didn't expect such a morbid excuse. "That must have been painful."

After the awkward and drastic shift, the conversation slowly tapered down and they turned to their cooling drinks, sipping quietly in a slightly pressured silence.

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