Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong To Hiro Mashima

Come on girls let's go!

Erza watched the girls leave the guild. She hid the sting of the rejection as she always did, behind the aloof expression she had mastered years ago. It wasn't working as well this time though, and she found herself avoiding the looks she knew she was getting from Mira and Cana.

They'd all been sitting around a table at the guild as they often did when there wasn't a good job available. Chatting about what to do that day and Erza had been participating in the conversation as much as anyone. She had requipped some of her weapons and had sat there cleaning them as she talked. Then Natsu and Gray had started one of their fights, and it had quickly gotten out of hand, Erza had to go stop the two knuckleheads from destroying the guild or hurting someone, and when she'd returned to the table, the girls had already been on their way out with Erza completely forgotten.

She requipped her weapons into storage and headed out of the guild without a word to anyone. She walked towards the place she'd always gone when she was upset. It frustrated her that people only saw her as Titania, Queen of the Fairies. She didn't know who had come up with that stupid nickname, but it had effectively set her apart from all of the other women in Fairy Tail.

She would be the first to admit that when she first got to Fairy Tail after escaping from the Tower of Heaven, she had kept to herself. She hadn't wanted to connect with anyone, the pain from the nightmare she had lived out still too fresh. She'd thought that forming new bonds would be betraying her old ones.

She worked hard to become stronger, training with anyone who was willing to give her time. She'd promised herself she would never be that helpless again, she would be strong for Grandpa Rob who'd died to protect her, for Jellal who was under the clutches of something she didn't understand, for the kids she'd been forced to abandon, but most of all she would do it for herself. She would expel the fear that lived within her if it was the last thing she did. At least that's what she liked to tell herself.

Every once in a while the self-imposed loneliness would overwhelm her, and she'd have to get away. She'd walk over to the riverbank and sit, letting the quiet hum of nature soothe away her hurt as she thought of Jellal and the others. She wondered how the little ones were doing without her, and soon the tears would flow.

That's where Gray had found her all those years ago, looking for a fight as always. He was the first to see her, not the rough edges that everyone saw but the softness that she kept hidden. He'd sat down next to her, and before she knew what was happening, he had wormed himself into becoming her first real friend at Fairy Tail. She'd opened up to him and soon after Natsu had come along and before she could even attempt to go back to the way things were, the three of them had become as thick as thieves. She had a family again. Once she'd accepted that she could be a part of one family without betraying the other, she began to thrive. She became the youngest S-Class mage in Fairy Tail history with both Natsu and Gray vowing that they would join her soon enough.

She arrived at the riverbank and with a frown saw that Natsu and Gray had brought their fight here. She cleared her throat in annoyance, and as they turned and saw who it was, they rushed to put their arms around each other.

"Do whatever you want," Erza muttered tiredly as she sat down, "I'm not in the mood to fight with you guys."

The boys exchanged a worried look and sat down on either side of her.

"What's wrong?" Gray asked, well aware that Erza only came to this spot when she was upset.

"I don't want to talk about it." Erza snapped a bit more harshly than she'd meant to.

"I apologize, it's not your fault. I shouldn't be taking it out on you. I just thought this time would be different, that's all."

Gray suddenly had a feeling he knew what this was about and his heart ached for Erza. "Where did they go this time?"

"They were going to a new spa that just opened, and then to lunch." Erza sighed, her disappointment at not being included unmistakeable.

"Come on Erza, who wants to do that stupid girly stuff anyway?" Natsu attempted to comfort her, "Fighting is much more fun, and you're so good at it! We could fight now?" Natsu asked hopefully, looking for a challenge as always.

"Ow, what was that for?" Natsu complained when Gray reached around Erza and punched him on the shoulder. He rubbed the sore muscle as he watched Gray mouth the words - She does, you moron.

"Uhm, do you want us to do your nails or something cause we could try that," Natsu said as Gray facepalmed.

"Just shut up, will you?" Gray groaned, "I'm getting dumber just listening to you." This time it was Natsu who mouthed I'm just trying to help.

"I'm sorry they didn't see fit to include you. I don't really think they realize how much it would mean to you," Gray frowned in confusion, "Why not just tell them?"

The reality was that even all these years later she was still the same scared little girl she'd always been. She was just better at hiding it, she projected strength while covering herself in armor. It was a pretty good disguise, but she was still awkward and unsure in her relations with others, and this was especially true with the girls. She'd spent most of her life surrounded by boys, first at the Tower of Heaven and then at Fairy Tail. Boys were easy to get along with, their emotions simple, their interactions honest.

Girls, however, were a mystery to her, truth be told she identified with the boys more. Growing up she'd never really done any of the girly stuff, she'd just been too busy training. That didn't mean she didn't want to, she just didn't know how to fit into their easy camaraderie. She always came off too eager, her laughs too loud, her stuttering words awkward, and whenever they tried to play games, her competitive nature took over and to her dismay, she ended up bulldozing over everything and everyone.

If she told them how she felt and they still didn't want her to come, well that would make everything ten times worse.

"I don't want them to include me because they feel like they have to, I want them to invite me because they want me there. I guess I just have to accept that I'm not any fun," Erza said, stoically wrapping her arms around her knees as she watched Natsu try to skip stones into the river. She fought the urge to join him, hurling something sounded good right at that moment.

"Erza--," Erza heard Gray start to say something to her and stop. Confused she looked up and saw Mira.

"That's not true, and you know it." Mira had come to the river knowing exactly where to find the requip mage. She had brought a slice of strawberry cake all the way from the guild hoping to cheer up her girlfriend, but Erza wasn't hungry. She looked at Mira and shook her head, trying to contain her tears.

"Oh, honey. Don't let it get to you. They don't mean anything by it," Mira sat next to her and put the plate on the grass in front of Erza before putting her arm around her shoulders and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. She knew full well that despite what she'd said, Erza would be devouring it in a few minutes.

Erza stared at Mira's angelic face, her beautiful big blue eyes full of concern for her and she tried to muster up a smile, but she was sure it looked more like a grimace.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, you've come so far.", Mira said as she sat next to the redhead, her hand resting casually on Erza's.

"I remember when I first got to the guild, you used to make me so mad," Mira smiled fondly as she remembered the two of them in younger years, "I fought you every chance I got. You waltzed around acting like you were better than the rest of us and oh did I want to bring you down a peg! I didn't understand then, how vulnerable and scared you were and how hard it was for you to always act confident and strong."

"When Lisanna died, I was a mess. I knew I had to stay strong for Elfman but it was so hard to keep going," Mira rested her head on Erza's shoulder, not wanting the requip mage to see her smile wilting as she remembered those darker times.

"I felt so removed from my magic and so useless for not being able to do anything but tend bar after being S-Class. You never teased me or made me feel any less, and you could have after the way I treated you. Any time you saw me faltering, you never failed to lend me your strength until I was finally able to stand on my own. "

Erza rested her head atop Mirajane's, remembering those times all too well. "I wasn't anything special," Erza blushed, and by this point, Gray had joined Natsu in the river choosing to give the girls privacy while keeping Natsu from doing anything stupid.

"That's where you're wrong my love, you were amazing," Mira grabbed the plate from the grass and began to spoon feed Erza the cake, grinning when the redhead devoured it eagerly, "I would never have gotten through that without you."

"I have an idea, why don't we have a sleepover tonight at Fairy Hills?," Mira suggested, "We can show them how much fun you really are and even if it doesn't work, we can always have our own fun!" Mira smirked suggestively as Erza rolled her eyes at her.

"That sounds great, we can play the Master game," Erza jumped up excitedly and ran off towards Fairy Hills to set up stuff for the evening.

"Erza, no!" Mira ran after her, "Erza honey, you're joking right?"

All she could hear was the musical lilt of Erza's laughter as she ran even faster. Mira couldn't help but laugh at the other's enthusiasm. Mira hoped her idea worked but knew even if it didn't it was only a matter of time before the other girls would see Erza in a different light, and when that happened, she was sure Erza would get her wish.