(Y/N) POV

the magical energy of Sevens capital City used to feel sad and mournful. Now it feels much more normal than what it felt like before the war. I was always surprised to notice these slight changes in the magical energy fields.

I hear the door open as I break out of my meditation.

"You're back," I say to Erza as she seems a little startled.

"I didn't expect you to be awake," she tells me as I shrug.

"I find meditation to be much more restful than sleeping," I tell her.

"Perhaps it's because you gather magical energy? I know for me, I always feel like my magical energy is recharged after sleeping," she tells me

"I think so too. I don't seem to gain any magic power when I sleep. It's getting better now, but I still struggle to gather magic in my body," I tell her as she sits across from me.

"Perhaps I should learn how to do what you do." She asks me as I raise a brow

"It's clear to me that you have an understanding of magic much deeper than most. I think this has to do with how you gather magic in the first place." She says

"I suppose so, it's kind of complicated to explain how I do it though," I say to her and I begin teaching her how I meditate.

Erza begins to meditate just like I am. I can feel that she is gathering small amounts of energy...it's a very small amount.

"This is challenging," she laughs as I nod

"Yes. I remember when I was starting. I think I pulled in even less than you did," I tell her as her eyes seem to remember

"Right! I wanted to ask you something," she begins as I nod

"When you left for the war. You mostly used your magic to zap or speed up your body. Much like Laxus. But now, it seems like you prefer to use explosive methods," she asks

"Yes. I still use my shock attacks. They are a great non-lethal attack and they aren't very expensive to produce with magical energy...however, as you can imagine, enemy soldiers who wake up the next day are not desirable. I began to concentrate more and more on explosions. I can still zap people like you saw me do to Natsu when he tried jumping me. But after the war, I'm much more adept at exploding things. Hence the attack I used against Acnologia," I explain.

Erza seems to ponder for a moment.

"That attack on Acnologia, do you think if you had more magical energy you could have defeated him?" Erza asks as I smile.

"No," I say as she looks shocked.

"That attack took him completely by surprise. He was in the middle of his attack. He had left himself completely open. An attack of that scale is detectable when you're sensitive to magical energy. Acnologia was caught with his pants down when I hit him with that. He will be expecting that the next time and he won't leave any openings," I explain to her

"Oh, I see. Is it detectable by noticing the lack of magic in the area when you use the attack?" She asks as I'm shocked.

"You notice that?" I ask her as she nods

"Yes. It feels like my lungs collapsed when you used it," she explained.

"You must be sensitive to magic then. In other words, I believe you'd be able to gather magical energy without much effort. Those large-scale attacks I use do not only use my magical energy. If they did I would not be able to cast them. About 2/3rds of the magic in those spells is energy from the environment. The rest is my own," I tell her

"Oh. I see," Erza says deep in thought.

"I also learned that through meditation," I tell her with a smile

"It seems that meditation is a lot more important than I gave it credit for," She reasons as I can't help my chuckle

"Yes. You learn to sense the magic around you. From the looks of things, you already can do it. As expected of Erza Scarlett," I say as her face turns red. I funnel my brow. What's up with that reaction?

"Anyway! We should get our sleeping arrangements figured out," she says changing the subject.

"Yes. The king surely didn't help us in that regard," I say looking at the large bed. It was huge. One could easily fit 10 people on it shoulder to shoulder

"It's looks...comfy," Erza reasons.

"You may have it then. I'll sleep on the floor," I tell her

"I can't allow that. The bed is plenty big for the two of us. No need for one of us to be uncomfortable," she reasons.

I look at the large bed and then back to her.

"I hear you're a rough sleeper," I say as she scoffs.

"I sleep peacefully no matter where I sleep," she says before I shrug.

"If you insist," I mutter as I take off my light armour plates. I kept the clothing under my armour though.

"Didn't bring any pajamas?" Erza asks as the bedroom is engulfed in bright light. My eyes instinctively close as the light exposure is too much. A second later it dies down to reveal Erza in pink pajamas with a strawberry pattern on it.

"That's cute," I snicker as Erza gives me a stern look

"At least I won't need to sleep on the clothes I've been wearing all day," she says as I groan...she's right

"Does your reequip magic clean your clothes?" I ask.

"Kind of, it is more as if it restores them to their original state," she tells me as I nod.

"Mind if you teach me? Not needing to do laundry ever again would be awesome. Cleaning out dried blood is a pain," I say as all she can do is laugh

She walks to the opposite side of the bed and then slides under the blanket.

"This feels so nice," she hums as I follow her lead. The bed is very comfortable. It had just the right mix of firmness but also had enough give to not give any pressure.

Sleep came unnaturally easy...and I had no nightmares either

The next day

I took a deep breath in. The pleasant fragrance of strawberries intoxicated my nose and I felt at ease. I felt a slight shift in between my arms as my eyes rushed open.

Scarlet hair filled my vision as my situation became clear. Without moving my body, I further assess the situation.

Erza was cuddled up in my arms. The soft sound of her breathing sent shivers through my entire body. Her arms had softly wrapped around my torso and her face was snuggled in my chest, my face burned with heat as I could only imagine my face was the same shade as her hair.

Despite my knowledge of her great power. She seems so small and weak in my arms. An intense feeling of protection overwhelms me as I feel the need to never let her go. A feeling I've never felt before forces my heart to beat faster and faster.

She stirs and holds my body even closer to hers. I can feel everything. My heart continues to beat harder and harder.

Finally, I can see her eyes start open. She funnels her brow in confusion at first looking down my body and then toward my face...my beat red face. Once again she looks at her arms wrapped around me. Clearly confused she looks back up into my eyes. Her brown eyes seem to ask me a couple of questions before realization sets in.

In a flash, she untangles her arms from around me and shoves me back...however the only thing on the other side of me...was nothing. I fell off the bed in a crash as I groan from the sudden pain.

"Ehhh!" Erza says as her brown eyes peek from over the bed to look at me as I grunt in pain on the floor.

"Erza what the hell!" I groan as I rub a sore spot on my back.

"Why were we so close!" She says startled.

I get up from the ground and then point to the other side of the bed.

"That was your side," I mutter as she looks at the other side like a confused puppy.

"You...fuc...you somehow rolled to me," I say as I feel laughter swelling up my body as her face turns from confusion to utter embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry!" She apologizes as I begin to laugh.

"I'm just glad you didn't kick me off the bed mid-way through the night," I say as her face reddens even more.

"Good morning Erza," I formally say as I try to stretch out the kinks in my back.

"Good morning," she mumbles.

"You said you wanted to shop correct? I think today would be a great day to do that," I tell trying to move around from what just happened as soon as possible. Her soft breathing is still engraved in my mind.

"Y-y-yes," she stutters as she blinds me with her reequip magic.