"Good morning, strawberry," the beautiful and soothing voice of my fiancé woke me up from my sleep.

The smell of pancakes wafted up my nose, making me hungry in an instant. I opened my eyes groggily and slowly stretched. The light shined through the window, telling me to get up. It was a beautiful day; the birds chirped in the bright morning and I smiled to myself. Jellal and I bought a house.

Though it was probably too early and we were too young, I didn't care what people thought. It was our decision and it was a good decision for us. Just imagine waking up every morning with breakfast in bed made by Jellal. I was already looking forward to the years to come. It was like a dream come true.

As I became more awake and my eyes focused, I could see Jellal kneeling next to me with a plate of pancakes decorated with chocolate sauce and strawberries. My mouth already started watering at the sight. And at the sight of Jellal too. What a perfect way to wake up.

Slowly, then and there, I realised that something heavy was lying on my legs. With a struggle, I sat upright. The sight that I saw surprised me, in a good way since it was funny but also a bad way since my legs were starting to feel the effects. There, lying across my legs on his back, was Natsu with his mouth wide open as he slept soundly. Gray was half sprawled on top of Natsu and Juvia was snuggled into Gray. Gajeel was lying next to Levy and a bit on Gray. Poor Lucy had Natsu's feet in her face and she was also half on top of Levy. Basically, it was a mess or a pile of people.

"Wow. I almost forgot about last night," I finally said.

Jellal was crouched down next to me with the plate of pancakes. He chuckled lightly, passing me my breakfast.

"Yeah. I thought I'd wake you up to breakfast in bed, well, sleeping bag. I thought it would be something nice to take away the bad of waking up with Natsu on you."

"That's very sweet of you," I complimented.

Carefully and quietly, I wiggled out from under Natsu. He stirred a little bit but didn't wake up. I walked with Jellal to the dining table and we sat next to each other, a plate of pancakes in front of each of us.

"Thank you for making breakfast," I said after a couple of bites of my food.

"I don't mind. You know I'd do anything for you," Jellal replied. He took another forkful of pancake before twisting his body to face mine and I followed suit.

"Of course." The words came out of my mouth as a whisper that died out when Jellal leaned closer to me.

Soon, the gap between our mouths disappeared and I was met with his familiar, soft lips. I could taste strawberries and chocolate from our breakfast on my fiancé. Our mouths danced in a heated fashion and our arms copied their passion. His hands wound around my waist and pulled me closer as I threaded my fingers through his silky blue hair. Our pancakes lay beside us on the table, forgotten and lonely. As hungry as I was for strawberries and food, I was more hungry for my fiancé. Not hungry as in I want to physically eat a hamburger, I meant the hunger of love. Great. Now I probably sound like I eat people for breakfast – I definitely do not because I'm not a titan.

"Ahem," a cough sounded from the kitchen a few feet away.

Quick as Jet, Jellal and I pulled away from each other. My fiancé obviously appeared calm and collected while I couldn't stop my cheeks from burning red. Natsu, who was leaning against the sink with a cup in his hand, gave us a smirk.

"Morning," he drawled out.

"Good morning," Jellal replied on my behalf. "Is there a reason you're interrupting us, the owners of the house who let you sleep over?"

Natsu blinked. Then he stumbled upright and put the cup in the sink. "Right- yes- of course. I need to do a poop and I forgot where the bathroom is." He was his usual self once again as he started hopping from one foot to the other with a frantic expression.

How lovely. But since Jellal was such a kind person, he directed Natsu to the bathroom. Meanwhile, I cleaned up our breakfast dishes and made some servings for the others. Once I was done, I walked into the living room, preparing to wake every one up. Standing above the lump of people, I took in a deep breath.

"WAKE UP!" I shouted as loud as I could.

It seemed to have worked as they all shot up in an instant. Well, the ones who were unfortunately trapped under others struggled to crawl out from the weight on them. I stifled a laugh as they all glared at me. It was chaos as they started fighting each other and tried to untangle limbs.

"Breakfast is ready!" Jellal shouted from the dining room.

That got most of their attention as they ran to my fiance's direction. I'm glad he managed to stop the crazy mess here. With a sigh, I trudged to where the others are located. Most of them were standing around the table while Juvia and Levy were seated on the only chairs as we hadn't bought any more yet. Everyone didn't waste any time to dig into the delicious pancakes that Jellal so generously made.

"Hello again," my fiancé said, snaking an arm around my waist as he pecked my cheek.

"Hello to you too," I replied, leaning against his solid frame that was behind me.

As my friends ate breakfast, we talked about what we were going to do today. We had plans with Mavis to meet at a park and discuss strategies so we were going there after breakfast.

"Do you think we can actually stop Zeref and whatever he's planning?" Levy wondered.

"I just can't believe that we had to deal with him in high school and here we are – a few years later, still dealing with him," Juvia said.

"Yeah, but this time, we'll stop him once and for all," her boyfriend said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Once breakfast was all devoured and we were dressed nicely, we headed to the park where we were meeting Mavis. The bright, sunny day reflected our optimistic thoughts as we got comfortable on the park table and bench. Kids of many ages played in the nearby playground, a boy splashing another with a water gun, and families watched in amusement.

In less than a minute from our arrival, Mavis showed up, squeezing in between Natsu and I since that was the only space left. I leaned my arms on the table, my friends opposite me doing the same.

"So, do you have a plan, fairy tactician?" Natsu asked.

"Fairy tactician?" Mavis looked at him quizzically.

"Well, you're super smart for your age and helping us with a tactic to defeat Zeref. And you look like a fairy cos you're short, have super long blonde hair, you're adorable and dress like a fairy. Plus, you go to Fairy Tail University."

Mavis nodded, a small smile slowly formed on her face as she seemed to appreciate that nickname.

"I'm just surprised that Natsu knows big words like 'tactician'," Gray chuckled.

Natsu turned on him with an angry, irked face. "What was that, Iceman?!"

"I said that I can't believe your dumb brain can understand big words."

"You wanna say that to my face?"

"Your dumb brain can't understand big words," Gray enunciated slowly.

"Your stupid brain can't understand my fist in your face," Natsu retorted.

The pink haired boy swung his arm back and went to punch Gray but before it got anywhere near Gray, Mavis caught it effortlessly.

"As entertaining as it is watching you two bicker like an old married couple, I do have some ideas I'd like to share with you," Mavis said.

Natsu seemed to cool down as he let his fist drop onto the table and muttered an apology.

"So, I think we could use a spy to go around the campus at Alvarez and try to get some information, maybe even follow Zeref around," Mavis suggested. "If that doesn't work, we could try find something else on him."

"Yes! I love spies! Spies are forever!" Natsu shouted happily, doing a weird spy pose.

We all shushed him, ducking away from the stares of people nearby. Then we got serious again.

"But we can't have everyone spying because it'll be too suspicious. We need someone who's good at sneaking around and blending in – so not you, Natsu," Mavis said, causing the boy to pout and put down his hand that shot up.

Most of my friends didn't want to do it or they were busy. Personally, I thought it could be fun and exciting. However, I was worried that I might get caught. I unconsciously bit my lip while I thought. Should I do it? Yes, I should. It'll be good for our friends and finally getting rid of Zeref.

"I can do it," I said.

"No offence, Erza, but you have bright red hair," Juvia pointed out.

"We all have colourful hair except for the people who are busy for the job. I can be stealthy and I really want to help out. Please, can I do it?"

The others mulled it over for a few suspenseful seconds, communicating with their eyes.

"Alright," Jellal spoke up on their behalf, "you should do it, Erza. You're perfect for the job."

"Thank you," I smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Now that business is all done, let's go play in the playground!" Natsu exclaimed like a child.

"What are you, five?" I chuckled at him.

He gasped in mocked horror as if I just told him Santa wasn't real.

But before he could make a witty response, the music of an ice-cream truck caught my attention.

"Ice-cream!" I exclaimed joyfully. "Let's get ice-cream from the truck!"

"What are you, five?" Natsu replied.

"Ice-cream is for all ages, thank you very much."

"Not ice-cream trucks."

As I followed his gaze to the parked truck, I saw that the line was only made up of little children with their parents.

"The parents might be ordering ice-cream as well," I pointed out.

"Guys, is this really a discussion we need to have?" Mavis asked.

"Yes," Natsu and I answered in unison.

I glared at him as he returned the glare. With a sigh, Mavis proposed a suggestion.

"If I buy you guys ice-cream, will you stop arguing?" the young blonde said.

"What makes you think I want ice-cream?" came Natsu's response.

"So, you don't want ice-cream?"

"I never said that."

Mavis was now quite confused. "So you do want ice-cream?"

"Yep."

With a sigh, Mavis sweat-dropped. Oh well, she'll get used to Natsu and his funny ways.

In a matter of minutes, we bought ice-cream from the ice-cream truck and enjoyed the cold dessert. We decided that I would sneak around Alvarez on Monday after class. I was worried I wouldn't be a good spy but for now, I focused on the present as I hung out with my friends and my fiancé.

Monday came like a bulldozer. Not literally. It just came fast and scary. Class was the usual – easy yet interesting with new content as I do enjoy learning. But after class, I had to do my scary mission and look around Alvarez. I walked by myself to the large university, trying to act casual. I wasn't really nervous yesterday but now, I was full of anxiety. Even though it was unrealistic, I kept thinking that Zeref would pop out of nowhere and go "MBLERGH, IT'S ME!".

Moving at a leisurely pace, I kept an eye out for anything that could be useful while I listened to things in passing. Since I wasn't finding anything outside, I decided to head to the music building where Ajeel could be. I walked inside and went to the first room to my left. The place was big and filled with an assortment of instruments. There was no one else there so I took my time exploring it – only finding a bass guitar with Ajeel's name on it – before I moved on to the next room. I contemplated doing something with his guitar but that was too mean for me and instruments are very expensive.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything in the music block so I decided to try another building. Just as I stepped out the door, I bumped into someone.

"I'm so sorry," I apologised.

I looked up and found myself staring at a red-haired lady, almost like looking in the mirror as she resembled most of my features. It was the woman I saw in the classroom the other day but she looked more familiar, as if I've seen her before that day. Now in front of me, her long hair was tied in thick braids and a big, ebony hat sat atop it. The teacher wore all black, causing the gold rings around her two front braids to stand out, along with her gold, U-shaped earrings.

"That's alright," she said after a while. "I should've watched where I was going."

She stared at me curiously, looking me up and down, making me feel uncomfortable.

I forced a smile. "Well, I better get going then."

As I made a move to walk past her, she caught my arm.

"You don't go here, do you?" she asked me.

My breath caught. Oh no. What do I do now? I wasn't prepared for this at all. I bit my lip, trying to think of what to say as I avoided eye contact. Abort mission, abort!

Thankfully, a student tried to get into the music building (the doorway which we were blocking) and they squeezed in between the woman and I, making her release her grip on me. I quickly took the chance to escape away and get off campus. But of course, as luck would have it, she caught me at the edge of the school grounds, her hand tightly wrapped around my arm.

"Who are you? What's your name?" she demanded.

I hesitated, not sure whether I should answer truthfully or not.

"You're not in trouble or anything," the woman added is a softer tone.

Her grasp on my arm loosened and I realised that she might not be that bad. And deep down, in a pit at the bottom of my heart, I felt like I could trust her.

"Erza Scarlet," I said.

At those two words, her eyes widened slightly in surprise before her expression returned to neutral.

"I'm Irene Belserion. I'm a history teacher here. But since you're not a student here, what are you doing at Alvarez?" she asked.

"I'm looking for someone," I admitted.

"Who are you looking for?"

"A student named Zeref."

"Zeref, huh?" Irene smiled, showing a hint of a cruel smirk. "He's my favourite student. Why do you want to see him?"

As time ticked by, I realised that things might have been spiralling into trouble. Now she didn't seem as nice as I thought she was. I quickly thought of a way to change the topic, saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Have I seen you somewhere before?" I blurted.

It had been a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I knew who she was yet I wasn't too sure. Maybe Irene felt the same way.

"I think you know the answer to that," Irene's smirk grew.

That caused me to be more frustrated. "No, I don't – that's why I'm asking you."

"Come on, Erza," she taunted. "You know who I am – why I look so much like you. We have the same red hair."

"Many people have red hair. Flare has red hair and you don't see me being related to her," I pointed out.

Irene let out a huff. "It's not just the hair. We share similar features, very similar. Not to mention, I know things about you. You're an orphan, your mother abandoned you in an alley in Rosemary Village and your father was long gone before then."

"How do you know all that? My caretakers at the orphanage told me about where they found me but I never knew about my father and which of my parents left me or if they both did. Or are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying and you know it. You know who I am. Say it, Erza, say it."

I shook my head – not only because I didn't want to but also because my mouth wouldn't open. There was no way this lady was telling the truth. There was no way that out of the billions people on this earth, I find the person I've been searching for my whole life here in Alvarez. What was the chances of that?

It didn't seem real but at the same time, it felt real. We looked the same and I felt a connection when I first saw her. Could she really be?

Since I wasn't going to say anything, Irene Belserion said it for me.

"Erza, I'm your mother."

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I'm very very sorry for the long wait!! I honestly thought I would update faster but I was busy studying. I officially finished year 12 and I've done most of my exams (French oral, English language, Psychology, Methods Exam 1 & 2, Specialist Exam 1 & 2) and I have French written exam next Tuesday. Then I thought I was going to update after my last exam but I started writing a lot today and made it my aim to update today. 

Thank you for waiting so long!!!! Thank you for reading!!! (Even this unnecessary author's note.) Please VOTE and COMMENT!!!!