Day One: First Mission. Childhood fluff.

Erza was absolutely furious. Why was she being forced to go on a mission with Gray Fullbuster of all people? So what if she was new to the guild. Gray wasn't someone she wanted to go with and besides she could protect herself. The boy was an enigma to her. He was down right cruel to her when they first met. Erza was beginning to think he was a little crazy since he kept picking a fight with her and then losing. But that day...down by the river. The young scarlet haired girl blushed a light pink at how sweet and considerate he was to her. Perhaps it wouldn't be completely awful, Erza thought a soft smile on her lips.

"Are you coming?" Came a distant shout. "Don't take so many things if you can't handle them." An irritable voice declared superiorly. Erza clenched her jaw. It looked like the mission would definitely be a miserable one. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Erza hauled the rest of her things and joined Gray aboard the train.

It had hardly been ten minutes since the train had left Magnolia, and Gray had already stripped into his underwear. Erza refrained from saying anything to the raven haired boy however, as she wanted this mission to end as soon as possible. Unfortunately for her, Gray Fullbuster just wouldn't sit in silence.

"So what mission did you choose?"

Erza replied as stiffly as possible. "A group of bandits are attacking a small village. We have to defeat them and hand them over to the authorities." Gray nodded in response. He stretched back and started to stare out the window, deep in thought. Against her will Erza wondered what he was thinking about. Then she shook her head, there was no point. He could do whatever he wanted. She shut her eyes hoping to get some sleep.

xXxXxXx

Erza was back at the Tower of Heaven. She saw Jellal, the changed Jellal. He was looking at her in that deranged way. Behind him Millianna, Shou, Wally and Simon were being tortured. And they blamed her for it. Millianna looked straight at her and in a voice full of poison said "Erza abandoned us. She's a coward who only cares for herself!" Erza wanted to protest that it wasn't like that, that she didn't have a choice. But she had had a choice. She could have stayed and beaten Jellal when his guard was down.

Shou was so innocent. His words for her were twisted and cruel though. "Erza-nee used us to get away. We would've died for her and she took advantage of that!" Wally nodded his head in agreement. Simon, her best friend. His hatred towards her hurt the most. "I loved her, but she kept all her attention of that demon. He warped her, but the darkness in her was too much even for him."

Erza wanted to break down seeing the people she cared about in such a miserable state. She wanted to cry so much, that even her fake eye would sprout tears. She was such a fool. She didn't deserve to be free. Erza swallowed determinedly, knowing that she could never allow herself to enjoy it, or come close to others. She would only end up hurting them as well. She felt herself being shaken and she looked around ready to fight back if Jellal was attacking her. Strangely she could hear Gray's voice shouting her name. "Erza! Erza! Wake up Erza!" She blinked and the Tower of Heaven faded away.

xXxXxXx

Erza blearily awoke to a frantic Gray. She immediately leapt to emergency mode. "What happened?" She demanded. He scowled. "You tell me!" Gray snapped. "You go to sleep and a couple minutes later I hear you frantically screaming in terror." Erza's eyes widened, but she shook her head denying the claims. "I'm fine now." Gray glowered at her, but kept silent nonetheless.

They spent the rest of the train ride in silence. Gray didn't even bother to talk to her, as they approached the client's house. Erza felt a pang of disappointment at Gray's indifference, before reminding herself this was best. An elderly man answered the door and immediately ushered them in. "Are you children alright?"

Erza took a moment to bask in the man's kindness. Gray however let his scowl deepen. "We're not children, we're the mages from Fairy Tail you requested for." Erza shot him a look of irritation, while the old man blinked in surprise. "Really?" He questioned. "Well then, my apologies. I am Edward Ryers. Those bandits strike at night and have been terrorizing this town for awhile now."

Erza nodded and questioned Edward and obtained all the information she needed. After thanking him and promising to be successful in the mission, the two left his home and headed towards the town. Gray relaxed "There are still five hours till nightfall. Let's go into town and plan." Erza was surprised Gray talked to her, but after quickly stammering out a "yes," figured he was only talking to her as much as minimal.

As they were walking by, Gray spotted a diner. "Hey Erza!" His voice took an excited pitch, "let's get something to eat. I'm starving." Erza was hungry as well so she reluctantly agreed. "Cheer up, we can come up with a strategy at the same time." He bumped shoulders with her before running inside. Erza stared after him for a moment, before following him. She was so lost in her thoughts, that Erza didn't notice the presence of a brunette coming from the opposite direction.

The two girls crashed and the unknown brunette tumbled into Gray's storng arms. Erza was luckily enough to only stumble for a second before regaining her balance. She stared at the brunette who seemed to refuse to leave Gray's arms and was instead staring at him in awe. Gray cleared his throat, and the girl flushed. "Sorry!" She yelped before standing up straight.

"Thank you for saving me." She said politely. "I'm Celia." Her eyes were shining as she looked at Gray, ignoring Erza's existence. Erza frowned, but before she could say anything Gray laughed. "It's okay." He told her warmly, "I'm Gray, and this is Erza." Celia seemed to realize there was another person here for the first time. "Oh, hello!" She laughed embarrassed. "Um are you guys new in town? I could show you around if you'd like." Erza was about to tell her, that no they were just fine, but Gray spoke before she could.

"Yeah, thanks!" Celia shook her head, "It's the least I could do after you saved me from falling." Gray smiled at her, oblivious to Erza's sour look. "I thought we came to get something to eat?" She questioned Gray a little crossly. "Huh?" Gray said dumbly before remembering. "Oh right!" He turned to Celia. "You know where I can get something cold around here?" Celia nodded quickly, "There's an ice-cream shop next to this diner." Gray nodded and turned to Erza. "You get what you want, okay?" Erza nodded and Gray dragged Celia out with him.

Erza huffed. What happened to making that strategy? She got a sandwich and went outside to find Gray. There she found him laughing with Celia, eating ice cream completely forgetting they were there to complete a mission. Taking in a deep breath she stomped over to him and dragged him away. Gray gave a start of surprise but was unable to resist.

"What was that for?" Gray asked after Erza let go of him. She scowled, "We need to make a strategy to finish this mission remember? Nightfall is only in about two hours!" Gray stared at her for a moment then sighed. "Alright." He conceded. "I already have a plan." Erza began. "We'll hide in the forest near the opening of the village square which is where the bandits are said to enter from, and ambush them, okay with you?" Gray shrugged. "You've got it all figured out. Let's go figure out where we'll hide."

Erza nodded. They found hiding spots easily enough. Sure enough in a short while the bandits appeared and with just a few of Erza's swords and Gray's sharp ice attacks, they had caught and tied up the bandits. It wasn't until after they had handed over the bandits and collected the prize money that Gray talked to her again.

"Are we friends Erza?" Erza looked up, shocked at his question. "W-what?" She stammered. "Are we friends?" Gray's gaze was intense, almost as if he was searching her soul. "Do you want to be friends?" Erza wanted to deny it. Say no to everything but something deep inside forced her to nod her head in response. A simple "yes," being uttered from her lips.

Gray grinned widely. He shot out his hand for her to shake it. Slowly and hesitantly she grasped it. Who would've thought? The first person to make her lower her defense and take in a new friend would be Gray Fullbuster. "Let's go home." He told her. Erza was sure that she was making the wrong decision, but somehow she had given up caring. "Let's go." She whispered back smiling and the two mages ran towards the train station.