ᴇᴛᴇʀɴᴀʟ •• ғᴀɪʀʏ ᴛᴀɪʟ²

27

"Jellal, I want to tell you something I've been hiding from everyone. Could you promise me, you will not be mad at me?" Rae rubbed her cheek on his palm with a pleading face. "Promise me you will not abandon-"

He cradled her face to kiss both her cheeks affectionately. "Abandon you? You know I never dream of doing that."

She only smiled at him and took his hands in hers, they were facing each other and were very close but still she felt the need to be closer. "I-I don't remember much about my past. Everything that happened before-I don't even remember it. Before you found me, I was already running away from something and Sabertooth saved me. They took me to their guild and treated me yet I didn't even recognize a single person there. I don't remember how I ended up in the Underworld something and even when you took me home, I don't know any one of you."

Jellal didn't say a word, just purely holding her close and listening to her. Rae was thankful for that, she was sure he had a thousand questions to ask her. "Fairy Tail-I had doubts if they were really my family. I didn't even know if I was really Rae King, the Dark Enchantress, the one that everyone boasted to be the most powerful mage alive. I constantly had these voices in my head telling me to die but for some reason they were slowly disappearing. I doubted myself if I was really worthy to receive your love but I can't say a word about this. I was afraid if they would be disappointed in me."

She was crying between her words. "So I tried my best to live like Rae King would. I acted strong but it's hard, Jellal. I am no longer strong like her. I don't have any magic power left. Everything died on the very same day Rae King died. I told you, I couldn't use my power temporarily but in the end, it's all gone. It's like I was just a living doll of her, similar but not the same. Although, I only stayed with you for a few days before I left for this quest, I know you really love her-but is it okay for me to live in her place? Is it okay for me to be alive?"

Rae sobbed even more, pushing her face to his chest to hide herself. "Do I have the right to love you like her? I am conflicted-I don't deserve to be forgiven for lying to you-" She told him everything about her feelings. Her insecurities, on that day, Rae cried out everything she had in her heart. The guilt she bore whenever she opened her eyes for the new day, the sadness she experienced whenever she couldn't return the love she received, everything that had been on her mind-she's spilling every single one.

"When you asked me to marry you-"

"I already know, Rae." Jellal ended her sentence.

As if he was dropping a bomb, Rae quickly pulled away from him with a puzzled face. "W-what do you mean, Jellal? How did-"

He bit his bottom lip to hold back his heavy tears and chuckled. "Ever since the beginning. Rae, we've been together for many years-don't you think I wouldn't notice something different about your behavior? That hurts, Rae." Jellal looked away with a laugh. "Your behavior says a lot about you, you know? And, the way you were always anxious in our house despite you smiled all the time explained a lot. But, I really am selfish for ignoring it, maybe it's because I know it's really you even you might be acting differently."

He wiped the spots under her eyes with his thumbs. "Maybe it's because I don't want to lose you again. I acted like nothing happened because I was waiting for you to tell me the truth. Maybe you don't have any memory of us but that doesn't mean you are not the woman I love. Even when you claim you can't return the love you've received but to me, you're doing just great. Those early mornings you woke up to make breakfast for us-you staying by our side every moment, that's just you. You might not remember us but you are still you, I know it."

"Even if you forget about me, I still love you, Miss Rae King. Forever and always." Jellal spoke the words while their lips were dangerously close to each other, his lips would sometimes brushed against her whenever he talked. "And we can make new memories, anyway. Who knows, your memories might come again unexpectedly? But I really hope your memories of me doing something embarrassing never come back-" That made her laugh wholeheartedly and Jellal smiled wider. "There's the laugh that I really love."