Author's Note: Thanks to just+a+casual from Fanfiction, I realized that this story is about to hit 1 year in being made… holy crap.
I want to give all of you a huge thanks! You don't know how much it means to me that we've actually made it one whole year with this story!
I'm really at awe that so many of you have given me the best reception with this story, have given me motivation and best of all, have been here since the very beginning! It means a lot to me as a writer.
Well, needless to say, let us start the chapter now…
Erza had been driving all night. Ever since she destroyed her phone, she had done nothing but drive in silence.
With Natsu still soundly sleeping and the radio's volume all the way down, Erza had a lot to think of.
She had finally made her decision. And a decision she doesn't regret in the slightest. Only think that matters as of now is how? How would she protect Natsu from the claws of Jellal? How would she continue to protect him without him knowing truthfully about her ties with his 'cult' like organization?
Every question bombarded her very mind. And each of them without an answer. She sighed, laying her back onto the seat as she waited for the traffic light to switch it's light.
She turned to look at her loved one. Sleeping soundly as ever, she wondered what would happened if she told him the truth, about the rest of her past? About her initial mission? How would the very man you were supposed to kill, now fully in love with you and vice versa, come to feel as he knew the very truth? Erza shuddered at the thought. He had gone through enough pain as it is, she didn't want to ruin one of the last good things going for him.
She turned back to look at the road and continued to drive. Still nowhere as close to Magnolia City, she knew she had to stop at one point to rest or at the very least, stop at a gas station, maybe put some gas into the tank or buy more heavy coffee.
Her thoughts now lingered to Jellal. She knew someday, sooner or later, the man was gonna strike. Where he was gonna strike was all a mystery to her. She knew, without a doubt, that the man would retaliate against her betrayal, the same way he had done so to her mother.
She came to another stop at a traffic light.
Erza laid back in her chair, sighing as she did. All of these questions, none with the answers she wants.
Night was turning into morning as the sun rose in the horizon, shifting the dark blue skies to a smudge orange clashing with pink.
The traffic light turned green and Erza continued on their way back home.
Trying to clear her mind of the sudden stuff, Erza turned up the radio, just a tiny bit. Nothing was on, just normal radio host talking to listeners. She just turned it off altogether if there was nothing to be heard of.
"Hey Erz…" Slowly waking up, Natsu had turned his body to face the driver's seat.
"Hey." She lowly said back.
"Where are we?" Rubbing both his eyes with his hands, Natsu blinked around his surroundings. He knew that she had been driving while he slept but for how long?
"We're at the outskirts of Sun City," she clarified. She entered a new highway. "A couple of more hours and we should be home."
"Goddamn, have you been driving all night?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." She truthfully answered.
"The next stop, let's switch, alright?" He requested of her. He couldn't have her drive without sleep.
"It's fine, really, I'm not tired at all." She had told him. Driving was the one thing at the moment that made her forget her worries with her situation at hand.
"Your words tell me that but your body tells me a different story," the pinkette can see that she was worn out. "You have literal bags underneath your eyes Erza, and your whole body is starting to twitch, trying to stay up."
"I said I'm fi-"
Natsu placed his hand over hers on the steering wheel. "Erza, you've done enough driving, let me take the wheel," in his calmest tone, she knew there was no arguing when he was right. She was getting to her limit. "Okay?"
"Okay." Erza had taken his request.
Upon finding the first gas station, the two seemingly switched sides now.
As Natsu was filling the gas tank up, Erza had gone inside the gas station to get some goodies.
Getting chips for herself and Natsu a cup of warm coffee, Erza made her way to the cash register to pay for her stuff. "Will that be all, ma'am?" The man behind the cab's register had asked her.
"Can I get a pack of gums as well?" She had requested of the worker.
"Sure thing ma'am." The man went underneath the counter, now behind the glass that showed the rest of candies and goodies underneath.
While her attention was towards her stuff, Erza placed her right hand behind her left arm, feeling really faint at the moment. Just closing her eyes momentarily, she sighed. "He's gonna die…"
Erza immediately opened her eyes. "What was that?"
"I didn't say anything ma'am," the man behind the counter had gotten the pack of gums she wanted, giving her a perplexed look as she had asked him that question. "Here's the gum you asked for."
The man's genuine look was real for Erza. He had no clue as to what she was talking about. "Nevermind, and thanks."
"That'll be 4.87, please."
Erza now got out of the gas station along with their stuff. She shook her head, now hearing things. She was definitely tired. "Here's your coffee." She gave Natsu his coffee while taking the shotgun seat and closing her door.
"You're a life saver," Natsu pecked her cheek, thanking her for the coffee. "Thanks."
"No biggie," Erza, now more relaxed in the comfort zone of her loved one, laid her back to the seat. "I think I'm going to take that nap now."
"You should, you look like hell." Natsu turned the car's engine on.
"You have no idea." Erza, slowly now, began to close her eyelids. Without much trouble, she had now fallen asleep, snoring lightly as she did.
Natsu smiled at the sight of her, soundly sleeping. And without much, he continued down the path back home.
He turned the volume up, and with classic rock playing in the background, the car moved forward into the road.
…
"So, what does this place remind you of?" Dr. Heartfilia, or Lucy, had asked Laxus. The two were sitting in the middle of Magnolia's most beautiful park, Fairy Park, on the bench.
It was quite chilly and she wore a light brown jacket, had blue jeans and matching boots to her jacket. Laxus on the other hand was in his casual detective clothing: his long brown trench coat and normal suit underneath, enjoying the scenery.
Watching couples walk by, families play in the horizon and a few dog walkers letting their dogs loose, the evening was peaceful for the duo. "This was the place I took Levy on our first date," Laxus began. "We laid underneath the cherry blossom trees, talking about our futures in Magnolia Police Department."
"Exactly what about?" Lucy asked, wanting to know more about their futures.
"I was still a grunt at the time and she was an intern," he chuckled as he referred himself as a newbie. "We talked about how we were going to make a name for ourselves and so we did, she became the best forensic scientist at Magnolia Police Department once her internship was done and I worked up to become a detective."
"That's incredible." The blonde therapist was amazed at their accomplishments.
"Quite incredible, yes." The detective smiled. He remembered all the things he and a young Levy and done. This wasn't just their first date, it was a clarification of their love for each other.
"If I remember correctly, your grandfather was the Mayor of Magnolia at the time, did he have in impact on you ranking up and becoming a detective?" Lucy continued with her assertive of questions.
"Nope, it was all me, but he and Levy gave me the motivation I needed," he answered. "He was there for my promotion, staring proudly as he watched in the crowd."
"He must've been very proud of you," it was quite heartwarming to hear his story as she jotted down things on her small notepad. "He and her."
"Lots of." Laxus gently smiled. How he had always acknowledged how greatly she and his grandfather were proud of him.
"Does this place have any other meaning to you?" Lucy asked. Though this was a great place for the first date, she had to know if the place had any other memories for the detective.
"Well," he cocked his head, remembering a certain anecdote of this place. "This was also the first place I apprehended my first suspect."
"In a place like this?" The beauty, the innocence, it was hard to imagine a criminal in a place as this, let alone suspect.
"Well it was a sort of like a prank the other cops would pull on me, considering that I was still a newbie then," the detective clarified. Hazing was part of job, especially for the new cops at the time. "But yeah, I was sent to apprehend a nudist…"
"Sheesh." The thought of apprehending a nude person was quite humiliating, especially for newbies.
"Not my brightest moment, but all and all, this place and it's sight made up for that hazing." He meekly smiled.
"I see, this place not only has meaning for you with Levy but also on the job," she continued to jot down everything the man was giving her. "This is great progress, detective."
"Are we almost done?" Laxus turned to look at Lucy. The abundance of question was wearing him down.
"Grieving takes time," she closed her notepad with the pencil inside of the page. "But that should be all for today."
"Great," he got himself off the bench and helped Lucy up. "Do you need a lift?"
"To my office? No, but my home is pretty far from here, you think you can take me there?" She had asked him.
"Sure." The two walked now towards the parking area of the park. Walking underneath the cherry blossom trees at the exit, the beauty of watching the small pink petals fall from the tree were mesmerizing.
As he opened his passenger side of the door for the doctor, his radio started to act up. "All units, we have a report of a 10-16 at 125 Tenrou Street, any one respond?"
"10-16?" Lucy had no clue what that code meant.
"Domestic Disturbance," he closed her door and opened and sat down on his seat behind the wheel. He picked up the transmitter. "This is Detective Laxus, I'm near Tenrou Street, should be heading be heading there in less than 3."
"10-4 detective, good luck." They ended their transmission.
"Wait, you're answering the call?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. The man wasn't ready to get back to work.
"It's just a simple domestic disturbance," he turned his engine on and placed his hands on the wheel. "It's nothing really."
"Are you sure?" She continued to look at him, hoping his words were true.
"It really is," he backed out of his parking. "Buckle up."
Like he had said, it took no longer than 3 minutes to reach their destination. He strolled down the street, he found 125 at their right, parking right in front of the house.
"Stay here," he unbuckled his seatbelt, letting the engine run as he got out of the car. "This should be over in a few minutes."
"Okay." She stayed put in her seat.
He walked towards the front door, hearing the ensuring argument behind the closed door. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" He then heard a crash sound like noise after those words.
Thinking nothing of it, Laxus knocked on the door. "Who-who is it?" A sobbing man answered.
"This is detective Laxus, got a report of a domestic-" He suddenly heard a gun cock in the back, which prompted him to jump out of the way of the door.
A single shot fired, multiple bullets, all shown all over the door as one of suspects had just shot out through the door. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE PIG!"
"Shit!" Laxus cursed as he got himself off the grass he jumped on to avoid the bullets. Quietly, maneuvering on the ground, he made it to his car which Lucy opened her side of the door for him.
"You okay?" The psychologist had asked him as she inspected him for wounds. Nothing but just dirt on his clothing.
"Yeah," he now grabbed his transmitter. "This is detective-"
More gunshots were fired in their direction. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY PROPERTY!" Each of her bullets hit the side of the car.
"Shit, go outside through the door and stay behind the car!" He ordered her to do so.
Lucy quickly took her seatbelt off and proceeded to exit out the driver's side. Laxus closed his door, still crouching and now using his car as cover.
"Detective, we just heard shots fired, we're sending a unit your way."
Laxus opened his door and answered. "The 10-16 just turned into a 10-32, the perp with the gun is female, the gun is possible a type of shotgun."
"10-4 detective, what is the current situation?"
Laxus slightly peaked from his cover. He could see nothing from where he was, only that a crazy woman is firing right at them. "She is still holdup in her home, possibly with a hostage," he recalled a man sobbing as he knocked on the door. "The hostage is a male."
"Copy that."
"A simple domestic disturbance, huh?" Lucy said in a mocking tone.
"You know for a psychologist, you can be very annoying." Laxus readied his pistol.
"It's a coping mechanism when I'm in a stressful situation like right now." She clarified.
"Alright then, tell me," he looked over once more. Another shot came at them, making him duck again into cover. "Why would there be a sobbing man and a crazy lunatic woman in this situation?"
"One of two reasons," Lucy now looked at the direction of the house. "One is this is a bad break up and that set the woman, could've been an abusive relationship where she was the one in control."
"That makes sense, what's the other one?" He asked her, placing his right hand on her shoulder and bringing her back into cover.
"The girl is a crazy stalker and he did something to set her off." She told him.
"In what way would the man have to do to set her off?" He asked, now opening the back of his car.
"Well the man could've had a girlfriend and that could've set her off." She clarified.
"I hope it's not the second one then." Laxus tried getting something.
"And why is that?" Lucy asked him, looking at what the man was doing.
"That means we got 2 hostages she's holding captive."
…
It was a long drive but the two had finally arrived back at Natsu's home, finally returning to Magnolia City.
As Natsu was driving in, his front door was filled with reporters, journalists and newscasters all huddled together. "What in the?"
The crowd heard the car coming and all instantly turned to look in the direction in which the car came from. "There he is!" One of then pointed at the car, telling that Natsu was coming their way.
Parking his car, the car itself was surrounded all around by them. "Stay close." Erza advised as she got out first from her passenger side.
"Okay."
The cameras were flashing all around, irritating and blinding Erza as she climbed out of the car. "Where has Natsu been?"
"He's been gone for quiet awhile!"
"Did something happened?"
Every question each reporter had bombarded Erza.
"GET OUT!" Erza, now furious as her tone gave it away, had told the crowd of reporters. It was one thing to get flashed with camera's light, it was another annoyance when their questions were needless to say. "ALL OF YOU!" She shoved off a film's camera lens, almost throwing the man behind the other of reporters.
Intimidated by her, the people did as she had told them. All leaving in a respective manner.
She stared at them, waiting for all of them to get out of the property before letting Natsu out of the car. As she stared out of exit they were going out from, a familiar figure stood in the middle.
The figure was Jellal.
Her body trembled at his sight. Was she imaging him?
He looks right at her, giving her a mocking grin. And like in a cheesy movie, one of the reporters blocked each other's gaze. In that sudden second, the man was gone.
Erza looked around, just in case. Her instinct was to take out her weapon to follow him but she hindered herself from doing so.
"You alright Erza?" Natsu got out of the car. He saw her cautious stares at the exit and all around.
"…" She didn't hear him, still gazing about.
"Hello?" He waved his hand on her face.
With that, she was brought back to her attention. "What? Sorry about that."
"You look like you've seen a ghost," he joked about with her. "Come on let's go inside before those reporters change their minds."
As Natsu made his way up the small steps, Erza couldn't help herself but to glance back where Jellal stood. "You have no idea…"
Author's Note: Well, that's that. Hope you enjoyed it.
This is going to be a mini arc, nothing really happens beside letting the characters relax a bit.
Jellal demonizing Erza is a lead up to the final arc of the story.
Other than that, that's all I wanted to clarify. Also, in celebration of the one year this story is, I want you guys to tell me what has been your favorite part of the story in the reviews, I as an author, is interested to see what piece of writing you most certainly enjoy.
That's it, see you in a few days.