Chapter 3: Phantom Lord

Team Natsu was out of town on a mission when it happened. The Phantom Lord attack.

Although she shared the anger with Natsu and perhaps everyone else at the guild at seeing their home utterly demolished like that, she could understand where Master was coming from. Legal guilds were forbidden from attacking each other, since a magical war, no matter how big it was, would inevitably harm innocent citizens living in nearby areas. Great power came with greater responsibility, after all. And which guild made the first move would undoubtedly be the primary offender in the Council's eyes.

Phantom's action, in the Council's view, would only be considered vandalism since no one was hurt during the attack. A bait of sorts, for Fairy Tail to reach out first and start the war. And so, there was nothing they could do but persevere through it.

That was until those scumbags made it personal by attacking the Shadow Gear.

This meant war now.

They left Lucy and Mira to stay back and take care of Levy, Jet, and Droy. The rest headed to Oak Town, kicked down the walls of Phantom's headquarter, and a fight broke out in just a matter of hours.

There was a certain sense of discomfort at letting Lucy out of her eyes again, but they needed someone to stay with the injured. Erza just hoped there would be no problem there, back at home.

She should have known it wouldn't be that easy. During the first half of the fight, there was no sight of the Elemental Four and the Iron Dragon Slayer anywhere. It didn't feel right to her. Erza tried her best to remain vigilant, waiting for a surprise ambush at any time while she should have connected the dot sooner instead.

Worse, in the mess between Master Marakov getting injured and the forced retreat, Erza didn't even notice Lucy was kidnapped until Natsu and Happy brought her back, well after they had settled back down at home, already discussing a new strategy.

She had gotten complacent, it seemed. And that was just unacceptable.

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She learned the true identity of Lucy that day, in the basement of Fairy Tail, along with all of their friends and family.

Her full name was Lucy Heartfilia, the only heir to the Heartfilia empire. Everyone in Fiore had heard the name Heartfilia at least once in their life before. It made Erza gain a new admiration for the Celestial mage. How strong a person had to be, in order to be able to leave such an oppressive and detrimental environment like that, especially when it was the only thing familiar in her entire life.

There was courage, in overcoming your fears during battle. But there was also courage, in taking the first step to leave the source of your pain.

They are alike in that way, Erza realized. They left, alone by themselves, until they found a place worth staying. A new family where they felt welcome, protected. Where they felt like they could be themselves.

Erza stepped closer, requipped out of her armor and gently, gently, pulled the crying blonde into her arms. She knew Lucy was capable of defending herself and didn't need anyone to coddle her. But she also knew, like her, sometimes they just needed a hug, some sense of physical proximity, to be able to feel safe for a while.

That was why people had friends and family. They were here so that nobody ever had to be strong on their own.

Their moment was cut short by thunderous footsteps, signaling an enemy attack. With the new threat of Jupiter firing in just a few seconds, Erza didn't have that much time to think of a plan.

Master was out of commission, and she was the only S-class mage present, excluding Mirajane. Fairy Tail was her responsibility now, hers to protect. And over her dead body could Phantom Lord take another step closer to her family.

Adamantine Armor was her strongest one in terms of defensive capability. But the Jupiter cannon was more powerful than she expected. It took all of her magical energy just to manage to stop that one blast in a nick of time.

She barely heard something about Jupiter firing again before losing consciousness.

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When Erza woke up, it took her a few seconds to fully come to the land of the living.

Her first thought was where is Lucy.

She was inside the guild hall, there was no doubt about that. She could still hear the faint sound of fighting so Erza picked herself up, ignored the way her body groaned in protest, and looked out the window towards the crowd of mages in various stages of exhaustion outside. There was no sight of the blonde anywhere, which was not a good sign.

Erza gritted her teeth, looking up at the Phantom's castle looming over them in the distance. Jose was still there, so no matter where they took Lucy, she would be brought there eventually. Therefore, that would be where she needed to go.

The encounter with Aria of the Elemental Four exacerbated her injuries, and she could only rely on Natsu to finish what Master had started. With the right motivation, the Fire Dragon Slayer wouldn't make her disappointed, that she could be sure of.

Then Jose appeared in front of her, spewing some nonsense about needing to settle the feud with Fairy Tail for the title of the most powerful guild in all Fiore. It made her blood boil, to hear him speaking about Master in such a disgracing manner, to hear him belittling every part of the guild she held close in her heart.

And he even dared to open his mouth and say Lucy's name. Something about Fairy Tail taking in the only daughter of the Hearfilia Konzern, one of the richest families in Fiore, to polish their name and gain access to the vast amount of fortune her name would bring. The ridiculousness of that statement made Erza laugh out loud.

"Lucy ran away from home. You think she uses her family's money?" Erza gritted out, her voice taking on that hint of softness which seemed to be exclusively reserved for whenever her thought turned to the Celestial mage lately. "She lives in a rented apartment for 70,000 jewels a month. She goes on jobs and fights, with us. We laugh together and cry together. She's a mage like everyone in the guild. A trigger for war? The daughter of the Heartfilia family? As a flower cannot choose the place it blooms, neither a child can choose their parents. A man like you knows nothing of Lucy's tears!" She could kill this bastard for thinking of Lucy that way.

Master Makarov appeared before Erza could do anything rash. She had read about Fairy Law, once, when she was a young child wandering between cases upon cases of books from ancient times in the library of Fairy Tail. A righteous light that slays the darkness, but only those whom the caster believes was the enemy. A magic born from the deepest of the heart, or so Erza had thought, filled with childlike wonder, and it truly did not disappoint.

Light would always trump darkness, that was a notion she would go the rest of her life believed in.

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The week after the Phantom attack was spent rebuilding the guild and being questioned extensively by the Rune Knights. It was just part of protocols since there was concrete evidence that Phantom made the first attack against members of Fairy Tail, so all of them were let go easily enough.

Erza figured Lucy might need a little bit of time away from everyone at the guild, just so she could regroup and process everything that had happened over the past few days. Besides, her wounds hadn't healed properly yet, and Erza won't have her walking around carrying heavy pieces of wood in that state.

When Loke came by with Lucy's keys, Erza decided one week should have been enough for the blonde to recover. And so, the four of them took off toward the Celestial mage's apartment for a visit. Erza had wanted to stop for some flowers first, because it would be rude to go visit someone without a get-well present, but the two idiots were too impatient for that.

There was only silence greeting them when they arrived at Lucy's flat, the girl was nowhere to be found. They searched every corner of the apartment, poking their heads in rooms and opening all kinds of drawers (because they just had no sense of personal space like that) before Happy stumbled upon a stack of sealed letters hidden away in a small box.

Natsu proceeded to grab one and read it out loud, "Mom, I finally joined the guild of my dreams, Fairy Tail. Today, I met a person named Erza. She's cool and really pretty. Then Natsu and Gray..." She could feel the blood rushing to her face at the mention of her name in Lucy's letter before it all drained away when her eyes caught the note left on the blonde's desk.

'I am going home - Lucy'

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It was late in the afternoon when they finally reached the Heartfilia estate and found Lucy standing alone in the garden (thanks to Natsu's acute sense of smell). The blonde looked surprised to see them there, and for a moment Erza's heart clenched at the thought that Lucy truly didn't expect anyone would chase after her to bring her back. But it was short-lived as the blonde explained to them the reason behind her departure to go back to her childhood home one last time.

"Guys, meet my mother, Layla Heartfilia." Lucy gave them a small smile, one palm touching the smooth surface of the gravestone, "Mom, this is Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Erza. I just told you about them, remember? They are part of my new family now, and I am happy with them. So don't worry about me, Mom. I will be fine. I will keep on doing what I love, and with people who love me staying by my side."

Please do not worry, Mrs. Heartfilia. Erza silently whispered. She will be safe with us. I will protect her, at all costs. I can promise you that. This time, I am never letting her out of my sight again.

The walk back was slow, none of them were in a rush to get back into the town. It was refreshing, to be able to breathe in the clean air in the middle of a grass field stretching out in all four directions like this. Soft orange light of dust gently felt upon Lucy's small frame, basking her in an angelic halo that suddenly seemed too surreal, as if Erza could reach out and the blonde would vanish into thin air, into the cruel grasp of Phantom or wrapped up in chains back at the suffocating Heartfilia mansion.

She wanted to say something, anything, just to be reassured that Lucy was here, with them. So she blurted out the first thing that came up in her head, a confession of guilt, "We read one of your letters."

Lucy frowned, momentarily confused as to what she was talking about before understanding drew on her face, "The letters to my mother?"

"Yes, Happy found your box and Natsu read one of them out loud. Just a small part, that's all. Still, I'm sorry for invading your personal stuff like that." After that first time seeing Lucy's reaction to Gray reading her unfinished novel without her permission, Erza quickly realized the blonde was probably very private about all her writing, letters included. If she wasn't too shocked at Lucy's note, she would have beaten Natsu to a pulp right on the spot.

"It's alright, no harm done. Just make sure to not do it again and we're fine. Anyway, which one did you guys read?" Lucy asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"The day we first met, I think. You wrote so yourself in the letter. I didn't know you think of me like that, Lucy." Time to get payback at the blonde for making them all worried.

"Wh-What... What are you talking about? You're amazing in our first mission, I was so impressed. And anyone with eyes can clearly see how pretty you are." The last part was mumbled so small Erza almost missed it.

She smirked, feeling pleased with herself. "But not you, then?"

"O-of course not... I have eyes too, you know."

"Oh I don't know, Lucy. Do you have eyes? Cause you're not looking at me so I cannot be sure about that."

The Celestial mage only lowered her head, face as red as a tomato now, and whined, "Stop it, Erza. Now you're just making fun of me..." before storming ahead.

"Wait, hold up. Lucy, I'm sorry." She chased the few steps after her, "Lucy, I'm sorry, please. Would you stop and look at me?"

Maybe it was the sound of her voice, or maybe it was something else entirely, but Lucy stopped and turned around, brown eyes meeting Erza's. She was beautiful in the fading light under the open sky like this, free and unrestrained, flushed face and so so gentle eyes.

The urge to touch Lucy grasped at her again, and Erza succumbed to it this time, one hand reaching out and patting the blonde lightly on the head. "You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. I'm sorry for not noticing sooner. Will you forgive me, please?"

Lucy only turned redder at her words, which shouldn't be possible. Erza was not sure why, because it was the truth, surely Lucy must know that, right?

"You'd be the death of me someday, Erza." Was the blonde's reply, coated in shyness, and Erza could only smile at that.

"Then I hope that day would never come. Now come on, everyone missed you while you were away. I think we have some kind of welcome back party waiting for us at the guild so hurry up."

Night had fallen over the sky on their way back home. But tomorrow would be a new day.

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A/N: Votes and comments are welcome!