A/N: I recently got into Fairy Tail and I just love Hiro Mashima. The feels, guys. The feels. Anyhow, this is my hand at writing a short one-shot about one of my favorite FT pairings. Enjoy!

Summary: He associates everything with the scarlet color of her hair and her smile that is brighter than sunshine because she is his world and he cannot exist without her. Jerza.

Scarlet and Sunshine

Her hair is the first thing he notices about her.

"My name's Jellal Fernandez! What's yours?"

He is entranced by her scarlet locks, which bring out the liveliness of her eyes. They're so pretty, even though at the moment they are tinged with overwhelming sadness.

"…Erza."

"You don't have a last name?"

She doesn't meet his eyes, her head hung low in defeat and despair. "No."

He wonders how she will look when she smiles. And that thought alone makes him desperate enough to do anything to see the joy on her face.

He is struck by inspiration. "How about 'Scarlet'?"

She looks at him, confused.

"Your hair! It's so pretty! And this way I won't ever forget it!"

She 'hmmm's.

"Erza Scarlet." She finally murmurs softly, a small smile covering up any hint of sadness.

It is a small smile, but for that brief moment, his world grows brighter and warmer and he doesn't remember anything else except for her sunshine smile, and that is the only thing that gets him through the worst years of his life.

When the slave drivers demand who is in charge of the revolt, they all freeze.

He sees everyone trembling, and then he sees a hint of determination as Erza steels herself.

In that fleeting moment, he sees the first hint of the strong woman she will one day become.

But right now, she is still a little girl. And until she can take care of herself, someone has to take care of her.

Before he can think, before he can even comprehend what is happening, he draws all the attention away from himself.

Her eyes widen in shock as he is taken away right before her.

He doesn't even realize that evil is slowly influencing him until he drives her away and then runs into her some years later.

The first time he runs into her again he is disguised as a Council Member and she has become the infamous Titania.

They run into each other sparingly over the years, and each time he desperately wants to tell her about the evil but the evil wins out every time.

She faces him down at the Tower of Heaven with a determination that earns his respect and endless admiration.

She is strong enough now to protect the ones she loves, brave beyond comparison, beautiful beyond imagination.

This is the Titania that he knew Erza would grow up to be.

And he thinks he loves her.

He just wishes he was strong enough to walk away to make a life like she has.

But at least he can save her, so that she can continue to live.

Ironically, he does get a second chance, when he is revived by Wendy.

He doesn't remember anything at first except scarlet and sunshine.

"Erza," He murmurs, somehow associating the color and sensation with the girl in front of him.

She is beautiful, fierce, strong.

And she is angry. She yells at him for not remembering and lists horrible things that he is responsible for. He doesn't want to believe her, but one look at her and he cannot bring himself to contest her honesty.

Just as he is being taken away though, the wind ripples through the area and he sees her scarlet hair fly loose into the brightly shining sun, and suddenly the memories slam into him and he remembers.

And he doesn't really remember anything else from the day of his arrest except for yelling in the background, but he remembers Erza. Her legs give out and she slides to the ground and looks utterly distraught, and he desperately wants to go comfort her before Fairy Tail gets into further trouble with the Council, but then she yells at Natsu and the dragon slayer reluctantly backs off and she takes charge of the situation with a graceful strength that the old Erza did not have.

He knows how much she doesn't want him to be taken away, and he thinks that she might love him too.

He lets himself be taken away all the same.

Because she is his world and he cannot exist without her, but he will not cage her and keep her. She must be free because nothing cages the sun and she is his sun.

"I love you," He whispers into the wind.

Shortly after Ultear and Meredy break him out of jail, he hears that she and the majority of Fairy Tail have vanished, and despite all the search parties sent out to help, there is no shred of evidence suggesting that any of them are alive.

He refuses to believe this. So instead he focuses on taking out dark guilds.

He refuses to believe that she is dead until he can hold her in his arms as proof. So he trains and harnesses his powers and focuses on destroying evil, his way of proving to her that he is no wasting his time and there just might be hope for him yet.

He holds onto this for seven years, and for those seven years he dreams of scarlet and sunshine and a future filled with hope and smiles.

They almost kiss.

"I have a fiancé." He blurts out, feeling a blush blossom across his face.

Her eyes widen at first and then they narrow, focusing on him.

"…you never could lie well." She finally comments, a smile of amusement making its way across her face.

He blushes in embarrassment, silently chastising himself.

But then she smiles that sunshine smile that he hasn't seen in the longest time, and leans forward and closes the distance between them.

He closes his eyes, seeing scarlet and sunshine, and his world is right again.

"I love you," He finally whispers, shyly.

"I love you too." She responds with a slight blush and a bright dazzling smile, and his world is warmth and sunshine and hope all wrapped up in scarlet.

Fin.