The Second Chance

A/N: Hey everyone, welcome to my first Fairy Tail fic! This is dedicated to my buddy Esther, who wanted me to write her a Gerard x Erza fanfiction as her birthday present.

This story is completely AU (Alternate Universe), but will have many events that correspond to that of the original Fairy Tail timeline. The main pairing will be Gerard x Erza, but expect to see many other characters, and possibly some other minor pairings as well!

About the title, I also like to refer to this story as the "Sec(t)ond Chance". You'll get why as you keep reading ;)

I'm really excited for this story and hope that you all will enjoy it. Don't forget to drop me a review to let me know how I'm doing!

Chapter One: Home Sweet Home

It was the most miserable wait of her life.

Erza Scarlet, age 24 and still a failure at life in general, was returning home to her childhood town of Magnolia, after seven years of disassociation with the place.

Anyone else would have been happy at the least, if not ecstatic or purely sentimental. But not Erza. She would have none of it.

It actually had less to do with her tough personality (she had gone through a lot, after all), than the unforgettable memories about the old place. What was there to love about the town—other than just about every street that she could name, every store that she had scavenged, every crack on the sidewalk that she had grown up with? And the memories of true childhood complete with careless naiveté… She really ought to miss it. But she didn't—couldn't.

A distant rumble and a slight bump reminded Erza that she was on a train now, a train back to a home that no longer belonged to her. It was a luxury coach, complete with personal cabins and scenic window views and delightful cakes brought to her at her mere beckoning. Erza supposed that she should be pleased by such a privilege, but no such emotion came. Returning to Magnolia Town had drained every pint of happiness that had ever existed in her.

All of it had been paid for by her new employer. After just about three years of relative failures and countless job changes, Erza had finally landed herself a job that she had hardly agreed to. And that was saying something, with the experiences she had been through. Erza had done just about everything from being a waitress at some small coffee shop to a big-shot star's bodyguard. In the end, it had been the very same celebrity who brought her to her new boss, claiming in that snobbish voice of hers that although Erza was no longer "necessary" as a bodyguard, she thought that the position of a police officer would fit her perfectly.

And that was how Erza ended up becoming Officer Scarlet of the Fiore District. According to her boss, Police Chief Makarov, her youth, vigor, and physical fitness had made her a perfect candidate for the job. Erza still had her suspicions about the celebrity somehow having a hand in things, though.

For a while Erza had thought that becoming a police officer would change everything for her, perhaps give her a chance to redeem herself. And just when she had finally sprouted some hope, she had found herself flying through the air and crash-landing face down into a whole new mess. Chief Makarov had assigned her to return to Magnolia Town, insisting beyond her protests that there weren't enough officers stationed there, and that it would be perfect for her.

So here she was, riding on a train back to her sweet hometown. Erza sighed, and stretched stiffly, staring out of the window. Magnolia Town was about thirty minutes or so away, according to the conductor's recent announcement. She still had a bit of time to spare.

A newspaper, laid out on the rack across from her, caught her attention. The Magnolia Times, it read. Since she was going back to Magnolia Town, like it or not, she might as well catch on to whatever was going on in the town. Erza casually pulled it from the rack and folded it across her lap.

The newspaper dropped straight down, onto the floor.

Staring intently at her from a giant color photograph in the direct center of the paper was someone she had known all too well.

Gerard.

Erza trembled as she bent over to pick up the newspaper she had dropped. Gerard's eyes pierced her face as she held the paper up gingerly with her fingers, as though it was going to burn her at any moment.

She didn't want to believe it. But it was him, alright.

"Cult Criminal Released From Jail," read the headlines. Erza felt a bead of cold sweat trickle down her back.

She spent the next half-hour reading everything she could find on the piece, all the while forcing herself to breathe in and out. It had been seven years already…Seven years since Gerard had been imprisoned…Seven years since she had fled the town, unable to remain…Seven years since that incident.

And still, she found herself unable to forget him. In her seven years away, Erza had never been able to meet another man without comparing him to Gerard. She had moved away, but she had never moved on.

How could she? They had been best friends since first grade, at the time in the same class at Fairy Academy. With the school being relatively small, they had remained the closest of friends without fail, all throughout their years. Perhaps they had been something more than friends, something much more intimate than that, but neither of them had ever admitted it. Erza distantly remembered being teased about it by her female friends, Juvia and Lucy, and she guiltily wondered how they were now. Had they missed her when she left? Would they still remember her now, after all these years? Would Gerard?

Probably, she bitterly realized, but not in the way that she would have desired. She had fled after that incident, leaving him no chance to explain to her. Their friendship, or whatever it had become, had been utterly destroyed that night, and in seven years Erza had never forgiven herself for that. Only now, forced by the most ridiculous of circumstances, was she to return once more.

As much as she wanted to get things over with, Erza didn't want the train ride to end quickly. But time was, as they said, a precious arrow, one that zoomed past swiftly and never turned back. Erza found herself led out of her compartment by an overly compliant assistant who carried her luggage for her and then plunked it down on the floor when they reached the platform. She had no choice but to begrudgingly pay him a lavish tip.

She almost had the desire to turn back, to flee back onto the departing train, and to never look back. But being the steel-minded woman she was, Erza stood her ground and exhaled heavily until the train vanished into the horizon once more, leaving her utterly alone.

Erza gripped her luggage bag in her arm, preparing to break through the masses of people to get past the gate to the outside. As she turned, however, she heard an unfamiliar voice calling to her from the side.

"Miss Erza?" It was a pink-haired teenage girl. There was something oddly familiar about her, but then again, Erza had probably seen most of the town residents in the past.

"Yes?" Erza headed towards her, frowning. She hadn't been expecting anyone to pick her up. According to Chief Makarov, there were only a couple of other officers left in the town, and most of them were busy with their patrol work.

The girl beamed at her. "Do you remember me, Miss Erza? It's been a while… I heard from Ultear that you were returning and came to pick you up."

Erza's expression instantly hardened. "Ultear?" she asked coldly. "What does she want with me?"

"Ultear's changed a lot over these years, Miss Erza," mumbled the girl, her voice almost pleading. "She thought she would need to apologize to you first… You know, about Gerard Fernandes."

At this, Erza was entirely taken aback. Ultear, apologize about Gerard? It had been a long time, but for certain she hadn't forgotten about that night, and how Ultear had been, for all she knew anyway, greatly at fault for the whole thing. Even before that they had never liked each other, especially since they had been from rival academies, and Ultear was just about the last person Erza wanted to see now. But if it was about Gerard and that incident…

"Alright," Erza decided, staring warily at the girl. "And who are you again?"

"I'm Meredy," the girl said. "Do you remember yet?"

Erza gaped at her. "Meredy?" She actually did remember her, but the person she had in mind was an entirely different-looking girl, one who was short-haired and rather unemotional. The Meredy she remembered had also practically been Ultear's surrogate sister, though, and from what she had said now, it seemed like she still was.

"Yep." The girl gave her a bright smile. "So, Miss Erza, you'll come see Ultear?"

"I…I suppose."

"Alright! Welcome home then, Miss Erza!"

A/N: Alright guys, hope that was enjoyable!

The next chapter will involve a lot more familiar characters returning, and a bit more information on "that incident" ;)

Don't forget to drop a review!