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Erza stepped off the train first, her body exhausted but tensed for another fight. She scans the near empty train station for any hint of threat or danger. As she turns her head from left to right the searing pain in her side returns with a vengeance leading her to clutch it with a blood-stained metal hand. Fighting back the pain, she deems the train yard safe and turns back to her lover now exiting behind her. Out in the bright Magnolia sun, Erza can clearly see Mira’s open wounds across her legs and arms. Their shabby attempts at bandaging each other before they left were coming undone the more they moved. And Erza doesn’t like the dazed look on her love’s face. It has been a long time since she’s seen Mirajane look this out of it.
Despite her own state, Mirajane walks over to Erza and carefully lifts on armored arm over her shoulder. She grabs Erza’s waist and hoists more of Erza’s weight onto her. “Are you going to be okay to walk?”
“I could ask you the same question,” she leans her head against Mira’s and asks softly, “you hit your head pretty hard, remember? Do you want to sit down some more before we try to walk?”
Mirajane’s arm tightens as she steers them through the familiar Magnolia streets, “No, I just want to reach somewhere we can rest and take care of your side. Do you want to go to the guild hall?”
Erza hesitates. Usually she loves sending as much time as she can with her guild family, but she tends to avoid the guild hall when she’s injured. Erza and Mirajane are meant to be the strong ones, Fairy Tail’s most reliable and dangerous duo, seeing them beaten and broken was always a shock to the others. The knowledge that they too can be overpowered was…unsettling. But the guild had Wendy whose magic could help their healing process. With all this in mind she answers, “I’ll go wherever you want to.”
“I want to go home.” Mirajane answers in a low voice, “I do want to see everyone later, but I really want to rest in our apartment first.”
The trek to their apartment was slow and steady with Erza regretting the choice to live on a hill. When they finally made it through the doors, they hurried to gather their medical supplies. Erza lit candles so the brightness of their lights wouldn’t overwhelm Mira any further and get rid of her armor. They sat on their bed shedding their old bandages and tended to each other properly. It was when she was patching the talon marks on Mirajane’s feet that she said what she’s been holding back since they completed their job, “Mira you need to stop doing this.”
Mirajane didn’t respond. She continued to clean the cuts on Erza’s shoulder as if she didn’t hear her.
“Mirajane. You need to stop jumping in front of me.” The scene from a few hours’ earlier replays in Erza’s mind. She had been facing down the falcon-like beast they were commissioned to destroy with little success. This monster had already dealt a great deal of damage onto them both but neither girl was ready to give up. Erza was bracing herself for a heavy blow when the black wings of her girlfriend obstructed her vision. She watched on helpless as Mirajane was sent soaring into a crumbling building. Just remembering it caused Erza to start shaking. It was Mira’s soft touch on her chin that brought her back to the present.
“Erza, you do the same thing. That’s how you got this,” she gestured to deep wound on Erza’s shoulder from bumping Mira out of the way the falcon’s swing. She pulls Erza up from her kneeling position making sure to be careful with her side and pulls her into a kiss, “We protect each other, and we take care of each other, that’s just who we are.”
The kiss gently for a few more moments until their exhaustion wins out. They lay curled together whispering ‘I love you, don’t you how much I love you?’ until they bodies finally allow them to rest.