Fairytale | Jerza | AU

43. Mountain Trip Part 2.

Jellal's POV:

     Hearing me gasp, Erza looked up, rubbing her left eye. "What happened to your eye?" I asked, the panic slowly leaving my body. She replied in a hoarse voice, "Dust or something... Went into my eye."

     "Let me see..." I said, slowly removing her hand from her eye. "... I can't really see anything, it's too dark..." I chuckled, realising my stupidity. She blinked a few times and said, "It's alright. It dosen't sting much anymore."

     "Alright... You gave me quite a scare." I said as she joined me at the railings. She laughed and replied, "I'm sorry. I was about to call you, but then that wind blew and something went into my eye and... Well, you know."

     I nodded, looking into the woods. We stood there in comfortable silence for a while, till I opened my mouth to ask, "Why are you up this late?"

     "I was sleeping. Then I just woke up. I don't really know why. And I couldn't sleep again. So I came out here." She answered with a shrug, "What about you?" She looked at me, her eyes curious.

     "I couldn't fall asleep." I turned away, trying to hide my blush. Her eyes were piercing my soul, and I was glad it was dark. She hummed and looked at the sky, "Do you like the stars?"

     "Huh? The stars?" I asked, taken my surprise. She nodded, her gaze fixed on the sky. I followed her eyes and said, "Yeah. I do..." We stayed silent for a moment.

     "See that bright star over there?" I said, pointing into the dark sky. She nodded and said, "That's Vega." I smiled and asked, "Then you know which one that is?" I pointed at a bright star above it.

     "Arcturus." She replied with a smile, "And there's the Big dipper..." She pointed towards the constellation. "Yes... " I said, looking at the arc of its tail, " Arc to Arcturus..."

     "...spike to Spica." She completed my sentence, moving my finger pointing to Arcturus straight towards Spica. I blushed as she held my wrist and said, "You know which constellation Spica is a part of, right?"

     "Yes. Virgo." I said proudly, but felt a little disappointed when her hand left my wrist. She smiled and said, "You do know your stars." I replied in a low voice, "Yes."

     We stayed there for a little more while, talking about the stars and whatnot. She told me it was her mother who taught her about the stars, and I felt a twinge of nostalgia. After a while, only when exhaustion just came crashing onto us, did we go back to bed.

Next Morning

Erza's POV:

     I couldn't help but think that it must have been a dream, cause never in a thousand years would I think to have done that with Jellal Fernandes. When I woke up in the morning, still sleepy because of sleep deprivation, I almost thought that it was a dream.

     I only half heard what Juvia asked as I groggily dressed up, "... sleep last night?" I looked up and said, "Huh? Um.. no. I couldn't sleep well..." I tied my hair up and went downstairs after Juvia.

     'Why couldn't I tell her the whole truth... It would sound weird, huh. But more than that... Last night felt... special...it felt beautiful. Something I don't want to share with anyone else.' I thought as I walked over to Lucy and Levy who were making breakfast.

     The heavenly smell of bread and eggs invaded my nose, and I couldn't help the sigh that left my mouth. Levy giggled and said, "Wait over there with the others, we will be done in a while."

     "No, I'll help. We'll be done faster." I said, shaking my head. Levy nodded and shifted a little to her left, making space for me. I started to help them, and by the time we were done, everyone was eagerly waiting for us.

     "I am so hungry!" Natsu said as he took a plate for himself. Gray smirked and said, "You are always hungry, Natsu..." Everyone chuckled as they grabbed plates for themselves.

     Natsu scowled at Gray while gobbling up the bread and eggs on his plate. "It's really good, Lucy!" He gulped and said with a grin on his face. She slightly blushed and said, "I-I'm glad you like it!"

     I caught Levy's eye, who was sitting across me and we both smirked. Lucy,  caught our exchange and whispered to me, "Noo... Please..." I chuckled and decided to not take this topic further, atleast not while Natsu was around.

     "I heard there's this lake on our way back.. Could we drop by there?" Laxus asked us. Lucy thought for a second and as realization hit her, her eyes lit up and she said, "Ooh, that one! Yes, why not?"

     "No problem at all." Gray said and Jellal nodded. Lucy smiled and said, "It's a magical place. Truly. I've been there once when I was little, with my mom..."

     I couldn't help but want to see that place as I saw the fondness in Lucy's eyes as she talked about it. Juvia said, "Juvia would like to go there." I nodded and replied, "I want to see it too."

     Wendy and Levy agreed too, along with Natsu and Gajeel. Lucy beamed at us saying, "Then it's done! We should see that place in the evening. That's when it's the best!"

Evening

Jellal's POV:

     We spent the day exploring the mountain and the area near the lodge. Late in the afternoon, we left for the lake, on feet. Lucy said a car would come pick us up near the lake, after we were done.

     So, here we were, at a unbelievably still water body surrounded by trees. There were big boulders lining one side of the lake. We kept our bags on the lake and decided to enjoy the water while the light was there.

     I sat on the bank, dipping my legs in the lake and watching the others play around. I didn't notice the darkness that slowly took over, till it did. Then, I heard familiar sounds and all of a sudden I noticed the small, flickering lights surrounding us.

     I opened my mouth to tell the others, but they had noticed them too. Everyone looked on in awe as the trees sparkled with blinking lights. We stood closer to each other, trying to get the most of the view surrounding us.

     'Fireflies...' I thought as my mouth hung slightly open at the beautiful sight. I looked at Erza and she caught my eye. For a second we looked at each other and then she smiled. I smiled back and we wordlessly continued looking at the fireflies.

     Only now I couldn't focus on them. My stomach had started feeling funny the moment our eyes met. I couldn't help the smile gracing my face. I was probably blushing too. I quickly looked around to see if anyone had seen it.

     Glad to see that no one did, I turned away and smiled to myself, not knowing at that time, that this was the best evening of my life.

______________________________________

Next Update: 26th Oct, 2020