Lucy

Jellal came back into his living room with four coffee mug. His partner, whom I learned later was named Sho, had to run back the rest of the route while Jellal dealt with us. We were at his little house not too far out of downtown Magnolia. It's a small and cute little house where the officer lived alone with his cute little puppy Akita who couldn't stay away from Erza the moment we entered his house.

I learned in the car while Jellal drove us to his place normally (I was sent to the back between Natsu and Gray) that he's a very close friend of Erza's since they were very little. His partner as well. He's a year older than all of us so he only graduate high school and became a cop. He's currently back in school studying to become an investigator because the pay is higher.

I did believe Gray's story, however. Let me put this out there: no good childhood friends look at each other as warmly as those two did. There's only one explanation for the way those two looked at each other. You can applaud my skills as an observer and writer later but here's my conclusion.

They're in love with each other.

How do I know this? Well, first off the exchange when Jellal first came to the car. Second: anybody, anybody from anywhere at anytime could see that they're a couple and not just two close friends. But by the looks of it, something isn't letting them get together.

That's where I come in. Jellal is Erza's happiness, I can feel it. I have now made it my job to bring justice into their empty and lonely love lives. It is m-

"Luce is being weird again..." Natsu suddenly said.

I blinked twice and remembered I was in Jellal's living room. I didn't blush but I can't say I wasn't embarrassed.

"I'm sorry what was the question?" I asked.

Erza sighed, "We were wondering what's your cleat size."

"Oh," I blinked. "Seven, why?"

"Natsu noticed your cleats were a little beaten up," Gray pointed out. He sat on the floor because he... well he's Gray I guess. "It's that Flame Brain's idea to find Jellal to get you new cleats."

"I don't mean to be rude, Jellal," I addressed the officer. "But why do we need to come to you for cleats."

He smiled, "I used to also be a soccer player."

"Really?" My eyes widened. "Why did you stop?"

"Life stopped me," Jellal said. "I really love soccer but I need a stable career after I hang my boots. I want to marry one day. Being a cop doesn't pay too high but it's enough salary to raise a family as well as put a stern roof over our heads."

"So there's a chance you might return to the soccer life?" I asked.

Jellal nodded, "Coach Makarov promised me a place when I do return."

"You played for Fairy Tail?! That's awesome!"

Erza smiled as well, "He played mid field we me."

"That's really cool," I said, still in disbelief. But how come I've never heard about him. Jellal Fernandez... nope doesn't ring a bell.

"Anyway, back to the cleats," Jellal clapped his hands. "Follow me, Lucy. They're down here."

He walked around the coach and to a door in the living room. The Akita pup that was napping on Erza's lap suddenly jumped to his feet, barked cutely a few times , and rushed down the stairs just as his owner opened the door. I followed Jellal down the steps into the cooler basement, Erza at my tail. Natsu and Gray weren't in the mood to move for some reason so Erza just told them to drink all the coffee they could find around the house.

Jellal turned on the light when we reached the bottom of the stairs to every soccer player's dreams. His basement wasn't too big but he was able to fit a washer and a dryer at the far end along with about fifty pairs of cleats.

"The news about me quitting soccer got out to the media by accident," the former player explained. "So, FCs started putting bids for me like crazy. Completely unaware that I'm taking a break. Along with their bids comes presents. Which, as you can see, got out of hand. I tried returned the first couple of pairs but the managers know better than to put a return address on the boxes. Now I'm just stuck with a whole bunch of cleats looking for homes."

"Natsu and Gray got two new pairs the last time they were here," Erza explained, looking at a pair of Nike Mercurial Veloce II.

Jellal patted my back gently, "Go ahead, Lucy. Check them all out and choose any you want. I need to find a way to get rid of them anyway. You can grab some, too Erza."

The captain shook her head, "You gave me a pair of Adidas F50 Adizero the last time I came over. Today is for Lucy; go ahead."

"Thank you, Jellal," I thanked the man. "I appreciate it a lot."

His big hand rested on my shoulder, "We're teammates now as well as family so there's no need. Just come to me when you need anything, alright Lucy?"

I thanked him as I began my free shopping spree among the expensive cleats. I'm still in shock that he'd give something that is 230 USD away to me. I have to work almost three months to make that much money and he's gets it for free from the FCs who desperately needs him playing for them. I'm just in luck the love of Erza's life is this guy, too I guess. It doesn't look like he'd give shoes out to just anybody. The number of people in the house, seems like the only ones who knows about this secret underground stash of cleats.

I could hear Erza and Jellal making small talk as I browsed. He had a shoe for every size. When it comes to cleats, I never really cared if it's for men or if it's for women. If it's a size seven and fits my foot making it look good as I score a goal, than yeah it's all good. Jellal also had his indoor cleats stashed in a different corner. I'll look at them later.

A pair of beautiful golden cleats suddenly caught my eyes. The design is familiar as well. Taking it out of the box, I dropped it. I know I probably disturbed Erza's and Jellal conversation. I looked at them, their faces painted with worry.

"Everything alright, Lucy?" she asked.

I nodded, not able to speak. I'm afraid she could catch how weak my voice is 'cause my heart is about to burst. I picked up the box and looked at the cleats again carefully.

The shiny golden frame glittered in the basement light. The beautiful snow white sole of the spikes were blinding and the yellow color of the shoe over all gave the shoe a unique feel. This cleat was customized and I've seen it laying around my house before. I used to put it on, even if it was too big, and ran around the house. My mom along with our servants... they took pictures that I have stored away at home.

I turned the shoe again, making sure it isn't the one. It can't be, I'm positive it's still in a box at my dad's house when he stashed everything away after my mother passed. My heart dreaded what I might find. The design is seriously the exact same but my mom's legendary cleats had a unique, say, trademark on it that made it hers.

N-n-no, this can't be it, right? But why? Why is it there? I thought it was put away! Put away from the world for good.

"J-Jellal?" My voice cracked once, calling for the guy.

"What is it?" he and Erza were by my side in mere seconds. "What's wrong Lucy? You look a little pale."

"How did you get these?" I asked, giving him the Adidas X15 Firm.

Jellal examined the cleats a little closer and raked his memory at the same time. Meanwhile, I tried to appear as calm as I could because I could feel Erza watching me. Probably trying to figure out why I would drop the cleats and be all shaky while asking her friend to examine it.

"Ah," he said. "It was Lamia Scale FC. They sent it to me as a collection because it was from the legendary striker. See?"

He showed me the golden trademark that had made me dropped the box in the first place, "Heartfilia. These cleats belonged to Layla Heartfilia, the Celestial Striker, ever heard of her?"