A/N: An interlude filled with Erlu/Heartlet moments to balance out the seriousness and fast pace of the main plot.

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Everything was foggy when Erza came to. The first thing that registered inside her brain was someone calling for her rather loudly. The second thing, two people jumped at her before she could even comprehend what was happening or put up her defense.

Bisca and Alzack. But what were they doing here on Tenrou Island? And why did they look so much older since the last time she saw them just a few days ago?

It was the first time Erza had the honor of meeting the first Master of Fairy Tail, Mavis Vermillion. The first Master explained to them she had helped them survive Acnologia's attack by converting their bond and mutual trust everyone shared into magic power. Their feelings activated Fairy Sphere, one of the Three Great Fairy Magics, and this absolute defense spell protected the guild from all manners of evil, including Acnologia.

But everyone remained frozen inside the Sphere, and it took seven years for the seal to lift. Everyone on Tenrou Island was static all those years, while time passed by normally for their friends and the rest of the world.

Jet and Droy busted out into tears at the sight of Levy, safe and sound, claiming they had thought she would never come back. That everyone had thought she was dead, along with all Tenrou Island guild members. Seven years was a long time, Erza couldn't even begin to fathom the grief and despair their friends must feel, to give up all hope and belief after endless searching had yielded no results, no indicator that Tenrou Island still even existed in the world.

Max and Warren briefly explained to them the situation during these seven years. Apparently, after the Tenrou group's disappearance, Fairy Tail lost most of its powerful members and hence its reputation in the magical world. A new magic guild had taken root in Magnolia, the Twilight Orge, and rose in popularity to become the representative of the city.

Twilight Orge was no good, and their group returned to the main guild hall just in time to knock a bunch of those scumbags out for bullying their current members.

Everyone looked so much different, especially Romeo who had grown up to be roughly Wendy's age now. Macao was the fourth Master after Makarov, having stepped up to take the reign in the time of crisis. Erza respected him for that.

Lamia Scale crashed their welcome back party just a few minutes later, offering their congratulations and information about current events in the magic world. Both Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus had joined in the search for Tenrou Island all these years, never given up on the slim thread of hope that their members were still alive. During their absence, Lamia Scale had climbed up the rank to become Fiore's number two guild, but the number one spot was taken by an unfamiliar guild with the name of Sabertooth.

But all of that could wait, they had time to figure out the details and strategy later. It was time to celebrate a reunion among friends, Fairy Tail style.

The biggest shock came in the form of Alzack and Bisca, having been married for six years already. She still remembered the two of them, all awkward and shy around each other, couldn't even meet the other's eyes without turning into a blushing mess despite the clear attraction from both sides.

Bisca was the one who proposed, six years ago, and now they had a wonderful daughter together, Asuka. Erza couldn't wait to meet the adorable girl soon.

Marriage, huh. Speaking of relationships, she did promise something to herself if they ever got through Acnologia alive, didn't she?

Her eyes easily found Lucy's form amidst the crowd of people around them, the blonde was leaning on the bar with a contented expression on her face. Alone, without Natsu or Plue for once, and Erza set out to seize the rare moment.

The redhead carefully navigated through the chaos of rowdiness, dodging punches and kicks and tables and chairs with the ease of a person who had been familiar with these situations for most of her life. And successfully reached Lucy with two drinks intact.

"What are you doing all the way over here?" Erza gave the blonde the hot chocolate mug in her hand, keeping the one with strawberry tea for herself.

The Celestial mage took a sip and hummed happily, "Thank you. How did you even find this? I thought we are serving only beer and alcoholic drinks?"

Erza shrugged, "I dig around the kitchen. Kinana still uses the same brand as Mira. I have most of her drink recipes memorized. It is winter now, I don't think we should consume too much cold beverage."

"And how did you know my favorite drink is hot chocolate?"

"I didn't. It was just a lucky guess. Who doesn't like hot chocolate in winter?" Because it is the color of your eyes. It fits.

They settled in a comfortable silence. Erza followed Lucy's line of sight to Gildarts and Cana across the room. The man was clinging to Cana like a big, overbearing koala, refused to let her go even just for one second and was bragging to everyone within their vicinity about his daughter's awesomeness, completely ignored Cana's strings of embarrassed protests.

Ah, the second biggest shock of the day. No one had the slightest idea that Gildarts was actually Cana's father, the Card mage had hidden that part of her life so well Erza never even suspected it.

"That is the reason why I wanted to be Cana's partner in the Trial, you know." Lucy smiled at the scene, voice soft with affection, "She wants to tell Gildarts she is his daughter, but she thinks she doesn't deserve to do so unless she can advance to S-class since Gildarts is the most powerful wizard of our guild. I tried to reason with her that he probably won't care about title or power or anything, just the fact that he has a daughter so close to him all this time. But Cana is extremely stubborn. She even said that if she failed this time, she would leave the guild and give up all hope of ever telling him. I'm just glad she finally came to her sense before it was too late."

Erza nodded in agreement. The redhead had lost her own parents when she was very young and didn't have much experience in terms of parental love, so she couldn't really fault Cana on how the Card mage dealt with her own. It was a rational fear, of not living up to your parent's expectations and disappointing them. But clearly, Gildarts was not that type of person. He would be devastated if he found out the truth one day, only to have his daughter disappear because she was too discouraged by his very presence.

Just looked at Gildarts over there, happiness and joy written all over his face, brilliant grin stretching from ear to ear. Fatherhood looked good on him, Erza smiled. She had never seen him so proud before.

"I want to go see my father, too." Lucy spoke up quietly, drawing Erza's attention back to the blonde, "He must be worried all these seven years, not knowing whether I am still alive or not."

The redhead could understand that. Lucy's relationship with her father had always been strenuous in the past, but it started to improve a little the last time the Celestial mage visited him when he lost all of his fortune and the entire Heartfilia empire. He was the only parent Lucy had left, and that had to account for something. "When are you leaving? Do you want me to come with you?"

"I am thinking tomorrow. And it's fine, Erza. We just got back, I'm sure there are a lot of things Master needs your help with at the moment. You don't have to worry about me. It's not the first time I go visit him, remember?"

"And the last time you went to him, you were surrounded by a group of bandits." Erza frowned.

"But I defeated all of them by myself, didn't I?" Lucy smiled cheekily, feeling entirely pleased with herself, "It's not that far away, just a few hours by train that's all." Her tone got softer at seeing Erza's frown still persist, one hand reaching out and drew small circles on the back of the redhead's hand that was resting on the counter, "I promise I will be back before you know it, alright?"

Erza allowed herself to be soothed by the blonde's gentle touch, "Alright. Please do be careful. It has been seven years, we don't know what has happened in that time."

Lucy agreed easily, giving the redhead a small smile in return. The happy sparkles in those brown irises were so lovely that Erza almost forgot her initial intention for coming over here to talk to the blonde.

Almost.

"When you get back, can we talk?" The redhead asked, looking straight into Lucy's ever so gentle eyes, trying to convey her sincerity and willing the blonde to agree.

Lucy tilted her head in adorable confusion, "Is there something wrong? You can talk to me now."

"No, nothing is wrong. I just want to address something, that's all. It's not a bad thing, just... different. I would rather talk to you when your mind is clear of any lingering worriness about your father or any of our friends. It's not urgent, I can wait." Erza shook her head and gave the smaller girl a reassuring smile.

Lucy narrowed her eyes, "You are being very mysterious right now. It's not like you at all, Erza. You are usually very straightforward."

"Just so you know, I have tact. I happen to be very good at figuring out when and how to say or do certain things to maximize the chance of achieving my desired results." Erza grinned confidently. Because it was the truth. She did not become S-class without possessing excellent situational awareness.

The Celestial mage giggled at that, the happy and carefree sound curled up inside her chest, "That's true. Alright, if you say so. We can talk when I get back."

It gave Erza time to figure out exactly what she wanted to say, too.

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The first order of business was to settle the loans with Twilight Orge. After spending the rest of their first day back going over the books and account balances, Mira and Erza accompanied Master Makarov, Macao, and Wakaba to the headquarter of Twilight Orge the next day, fully intended to pay back the money and proper interest Fairy Tail owed them.

But only with appropriate alterations to the original stringent terms, which were clearly imposed to take advantage of their guild's financial distress and squeeze out every last bit of jewels they could get their hands on.

Their destruction of property and acts of violence against Fairy Tail's members for seven years. That was something they would need to repay to Twilight Orge now, in full. If violence was what they wanted, violence shall be what they got.

Erza was just walking out of the building after their business with Twilight Orge had concluded when Natsu and Happy passed by their group. The disheartened expression on his face and his slumped shoulders were so foreign it made Erza stop in her tracks, "Natsu? What's wrong with you?"

"Erza," Happy whined instead, "Nothing is wrong with us. It's Lucy."

"Why? What is wrong with Lucy?!" She should have known. Every time Lucy was out of her sight, something bad was bound to happen to the blonde.

"It's her dad... He passed away a month ago, when we were still on the island." Natsu exhaled in a heavy sigh so uncharacteristic of him.

My God. "Where is she now?"

"Lucy is at the park. She told us to go back to the guild first. I think she is very sad, Erza." Happy's ears dropped away in desolation.

She needed to go to Lucy now, "Alright. You guys go ahead. I will find Lucy."

"Please don't be mean to her... It has been a really bad day for Lucy." Happy was on the verge of crying now, the well-meaning little furball he was.

Erza shook her head firmly, "I won't. I promise." Before quickly making her way across the town to Magnolia park.

The redhead found Lucy sitting at the base of the biggest tree in the park, both knees curled up in a protective little ball. Erza's heart instantly melted at the sight. The Requip mage took some tentative steps closer, willing her voice to be as soft as possible so she wouldn't spook the blonde, "Lucy?"

The Celestial mage lifted her head at the sound of her name, "Erza." The usual sparkles in her eyes were so dull it made Erza's heart ache.

She kneed down in front of the poor blonde, requipped her armor away and took both of Lucy's hands in hers, "I heard what happened... How are you feeling?"

Lucy looked down at their joined hands for a few seconds before squeezing back lightly, "I think, I'm just shocked about my dad, that's all. Two months ago... No, wait, there were also those seven years in between. That time in Acalypha was the last time I ever saw him. And I didn't even know it..."

Erza held her breath, willing her heart to slow down its beating so the sound of it wouldn't rattle the quietness surrounding them. "Ever since I was a kid, I never really liked him. Plus, there was the whole Phantom incident. But... After what happened in Acalypha, it felt like my relationship with my dad was about to change..."

Lucy smiled then, bittersweet and melancholy, "Getting sick from working too hard. That's just like him, he had always been working his entire life. I wonder why it is... I feel sad, I miss him. But no tears are coming out... I guess he didn't really mean that much to me."

Erza shuffled forward, just so she could wrap her arms around the blonde's waist and let Lucy tuck her head neatly under the crook of her neck, "I don't think so. The fact that there are no tears doesn't mean he was not important to you. Crying is not the only way humans grieve their pains. It's in your heart, and whether you can feel his loss leaves behind an empty hole inside of it, knowing that it will never be full again."

They sat there for a while in silence, Erza could feel each of Lucy's trembling breaths on her collarbone and count the shivers that passed through her small body once in a while. When the blonde had stopped shaking in her arms, Erza gently coaxed, "Do you want me to come back with you to your apartment? It's getting dark out here soon. I can even cook dinner for you if you want? I can assure you, my cooking ability has Mirajane's seal of approval, which is the highest honor anyone can get in all Fiore."

Lucy chuckled weakly at her ridiculous attempt of humor to cheer the blonde up, "How can I say no to such credibility. Of course, we can go now."

When they got back to the Celestial mage's flat, her landlord was waiting for them. She had been the one who cleaned it and kept it in pristine condition all these years, just waiting for the blonde to get back.

She also explained the pile of presents on the blonde's desk, saying that they showed up on the same day every year as birthday presents from Jude Heartfilia, before leaving them alone for their privacy.

Erza watched as Lucy tumbled forward to the last gift Jude sent her, along with a note. The redhead did not know the content of it, but she could probably guess, judging from Lucy's tears spilling over her eyes and falling down the floor like droplets of pearls, their echoes vibrating upon Erza's heart.

She stepped closer and sat down next to the blonde on the floor, pulling Lucy into her again. The girl clambered into her lap so willingly, arms winded up around her neck and held onto her so tight, and Erza let the tears fall into wet stains at the collar of her shirt silently.

Nothing could ever compare to the loss of a family member. Erza had been through this before, with Mira once. And now she was here again. She knew now, that in times like this there was no need for words, just feeling another person's presence next to her was what the blonde craved.

Lucy needed to know she was not alone in this world, even though her dad was no longer with her now. And that was what Erza would go the rest of her life making sure the Celestial mage was certain of.

Everything else would have to wait, Erza decided as she gently rubbed Lucy's back in soothing patterns. What Lucy needed right now was a friend, a person who cared about her and stood by her side as she got back on her feet after this agony. Anything Erza wanted to say would have to wait a little bit longer then.

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The Celestial mage seemed like she was doing better a few days after the news about her dad. She started to laugh and joke around with their friends again, and Erza was mesmerized at seeing the familiar bright light radiating from Lucy once more.

The seven years they lost might have left a big hole. But, even so, they were going to keep on living life to the fullest in this world. Lucy must have known her father wouldn't want her to seal her heart away and let misery take its place inside.

Most of the members who got back from Tenrou Island were having some kind of financial problems of sorts, either from the astronomical amount of accumulated rent payments or forgetting the place where they hid their safe money (as in the case of the flame brain idiot). That was the reason why team Natsu decided to take the Velveno job as the reward was posted at 4,000,000 jewels, more than enough for each of them to settle their lives back comfortably.

Velveno was predicted to appear at the Balsamico family's Magical Ball tonight, so that was where they needed to go. But not without giving Natsu, Gray, and Wendy some basic training in terms of ballroom dancing and proper ball etiquette first.

Erza was pleased to see Natsu and Gray collapse on the ground, faces white as paper and teetering on the verge of throwing up. Good, if they could handle her spinning them around for more than an hour straight, they were ready for anything this Ball could throw at them now.

Somehow Elfman and Warren tagged along with them to the client's residence, the Balsamico Palace where the Ball would happen in the evening, claiming they wanted to go to a ball at least once in their lives.

Count Balsamico explained to them about the mission in more detail. Erza was already coming up with different strategies as they listened to the client talk. His daughter, Aceto, was to choose her husband at tonight's Magical Ball as their tradition dictated and there was a certain heirloom ring for this very event that was only unveiled once every seven years. And the Count thought Velveno's main target for crashing his Ball was this ring since he had tried and failed to steal it seven years ago as well.

The criminal used Transformation magic and Drain magic, so it would be hard to distinguish him from other partygoers. They needed to take extra precautions with anyone who would come into contact with them during the Ball. Warren, Happy, and Carla would hide outside the Ball to keep surveillance and act as communication liaisons between the mages inside.

Erza slightly frowned upon setting her sight on the guys. Although this was a mission, the setting was still a formal ball. Natsu and Elfman's attire were appropriate enough, but Gray just showing up in a red button-down shirt and black tie without even tucking it in his pants was grating on her nerves. It made him stand out from other glamorous guests, which was the last thing they wanted.

After some rounds of light dancing and exchanging partners on the dance floor, none of the mages had spotted anything suspicious yet. Erza had to smash Gray into a heap on the floor for breaking out into a stupid fight with another Ice-Make wizard right in the middle of all the people surrounding them. The ice popsicle clearly did not know subtlety even if it hit him straight in the face.

Erza guessed she should be glad that at least Gray hadn't tried to strip yet.

Then Aceto, the Count's daughter, appeared as the main spotlight of the ball. Since this was her husband-choosing ceremony, many young men had traveled from all corners of Fiore here to try their luck with charming their way into her heart and acquiring the privilege of asking for her hand in marriage with the Balsamico heirloom ring.

It didn't explain why the Count's daughter set her sight on Erza to be her dance partner for the night. Still, if that was the lady's wish, who was Erza to deny such a simple yet charming request.

Velveno's sudden appearance when the clock struck midnight disrupted the crowd of people vehemently fighting over each other for the ring. He had already siphoned magic from all of the Fairy Tail mages present and Erza was just formulating another plan for attack when the unexpected happened.

The criminal got down on one knee right in front of everyone, heart on his sleeves as he got through his proposal speech to Aceto. They had known each other since they were kids, and he had always been in love with her. Count Basamica disproved their close relationship with each other since he was just a servant's son, but that didn't stop his love from growing with every passing day. But under the Count's fervent deterrent and without Aceto's knowledge, Velveno gave up on her and ventured toward a life of crime.

However, while he was in the slammer, he regretted that he never got to tell her how he felt. That was the reason why he broke out of prison, to take the risk for this once-in-seven-years chance. Twice. He had failed the last time, and now, he was leaving the judgment of his fate in the hand of his beloved.

It was so wonderfully romantic, Erza discreetly wipe away her tears as Aceto happily said yes, claiming she had always been waiting for him all this time, too. But only with one condition, that he was to turn himself in and atone for all his crimes first. She would be waiting for him to come back to her, no matter how long it would take.

Erza could see why Velveno was head over heels for this girl.

As they danced the night away in celebration of Aceto's engagement, Erza grabbed Gray by the collar of his shirt and threw him onto the dance floor, "Go and ask the lady of the night for a dance." This imbecile seriously needed to earn his weight around here.

"Why me?!" And he even had the audacity to groan back at her.

"Because we are her guests, that is proper courtesy. I already danced with her, Natsu would just step on her feet. And Elfman is distracted all the way over there with his current dance partner right now." Why did all the men in her life always need rough handling in order to actually do something useful for once?

Erza was contemplating whether to beat Natsu into a coma so he would stop embarrassing Fairy Tail's name by stuffing his mouth full of food and already demolished nearly three quarters of the buffet table when a soft yet determined voice appeared from her right, "May I have this dance?"

The redhead turned around and raised an eyebrow at Lucy, "You are not afraid of dancing with me? That is certainly bolder than both Natsu and Gray combined."

The Celestial mage was undeterred, keeping the small smile curved at her lips, "I like to take my chances."

And Erza was hopeless to say no. She was always a little weak against those brown eyes, let alone the hopeful twinkles stirring in them like fireflies fluttering on the backdrop of twilight.

The redhead silently took her hand and led her to the dance floor, one hand naturally found its place on the blonde's waist while Lucy slid hers up Erza's shoulder with practiced ease. Like they had been rehearsing this dance together their entire lives, right up until this very moment.

On cue, the music switched to a slower tempo, and Erza easily led the smaller girl in her arms in a slow walt across the floor, mindful of navigating around other couples surrounding them.

Lucy chuckled, a few minutes into the dance, "You are very good at this. I was prepared to be spun around like Natsu, Gray, and that poor guy who tried to dance with you earlier."

"Are you surprised?" Erza smiled at the wonder in the blonde's voice.

"Not particularly. I saw your dance with Aceto earlier. She is already smitten with you at first sight, by the way. And here I thought it was just guys."

Erza could only laugh at that, the slightest hint of annoyance she could hear in the blonde's voice, "In case you didn't notice, Aceto is happily engaged."

Lucy frowned, "I'm not saying anything will come from that. Just pointing out a fact, that's all. You dancing with her all night didn't help either."

"She asked me first, and it would be impolite to refuse a lady of such a simple matter. It is common decency, everyone knows that." Erza tightened her grip on the blonde, just enough for Lucy to get the logic behind her reasoning.

The Celestial mage only shook her head fondly at the conviction in her voice, "And they say chivalry is dead. How did you learn to dance this well anyway? I'm curious."

"It's actually a funny story." Erza chuckled, reminiscing a distant memory from many years ago, "So you know how Mira and I were essentially rivals when we were younger, right?"

"Right." Lucy nodded along.

"It was when we were fourteen, I think. There was this one time when Magnolia city council decided to have a ballroom dancing contest at the town square. I didn't remember the purpose of it, probably something to do with entertainment for tourists. Mira and I both got into the competition just because we always had that need to outdo each other while knowing next to nothing about ballroom dancing."

"What happened?" The blonde was intrigued now.

"Mira roped Elfman into being her partner while I got Natsu. Since none of us exactly knew how to dance, we had to improvise right on the spot. What you saw earlier today in the morning between me and Natsu was the result of it."

Lucy giggled at the memory, "And how did that translate to your grace and decorum on the dance floor now?"

"The competition ended up in a tie since the judges didn't know how to decide between me and Mira. That was not acceptable to me, so I made sure to learn proper ballroom dancing techniques after it and practiced frequently, just in case something like that ever happened again in the future."

The blonde flashed her usual bright grin at Erza, "That's so adorable. So I have Mira to thank for this amazing partner I am having right now?"

Erza smiled back, voice soft with affection for this beautiful girl in front of her, "You have me to thank for being my amazing self, as always."

"I know." Lucy's other hand left hers as it joined its counterpart and intertwined at Erza's nape, effectively trapping both of them in an immobile state in the middle of the dance floor. The resolute ardor in the blonde's eyes left the redhead breathless, charged. "Thank you, for being the way you are, Erza."

The Requip mage only leaned closer, just so their foreheads could touch and tightened her hold on the girl in her arms, silently conveying her gratitude. And thank you, for appreciating me the way I am, Lucy.

Erza hoped this feeling would last, preferably forever. She could hear the intro of the next song playing in the background, softly as if it was timid of intruding on their moment, too.

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AN: I don't have any concrete plan about the number of chapters yet, but I think we are more or less halfway through the story now. So I would love to hear some feedbacks.

Votes and comments are welcome too, as usual!