I came back to myself slowly, the adrenaline of the tower finally draining out of me and leaving something heavier and more exhausted in its place.
The boat rocked gently, water slapping against the hull, and it took me a second longer than it should have to notice Erza wincing beside me, one hand pressed against her shoulder where Jellal’s blade had caught her.
Right.
That.
Focus.
Blood had soaked through what was left of her sleeve, dark and spreading slower than I liked.
No telling how long we’d be stuck out here before we hit land — could be hours, could be a full day, and either way she couldn’t keep bleeding like that the whole way.
“Hold still,” I said, already tearing a strip off my own shirt.
“You don’t have to—” “Hold still, Erza.” She held still.
I wrapped the makeshift bandage as tightly as I dared without cutting off circulation entirely, pressing it firm against the wound, trying to remember anything useful from a past life that had definitely not prepared me for field medicine on a stolen boat with an eleven-year-old’s shoulder in my hands.
“There,” I said, tying it off.
“That should slow it down, at least.
Not great, but better than nothing.” She looked down at the bandage, then at me.
“You used your own shirt.
Mine would’ve worked just as well.” “You’re a girl,” I said, like that settled it.
“You shouldn’t have to sit around half-undressed in front of people.
Mine’s just a shirt.
Not a big deal.” She gave me a look I couldn’t quite read, something between confused and oddly touched, but didn’t argue the point further.
The night got colder fast once the adrenaline wore off completely, the two of us soaked from the tower’s lower levels and now shivering under a sky with no cover from the wind.
Pride wasn’t worth freezing over, so I scooted closer, and — after a second of visible hesitation — she let me lean into her instead of pulling away, the two of us huddled together for whatever warmth we could manage.
She was bigger than me, four years older, which made the whole arrangement feel a little more like a kid leaning on an older sibling than anything else, and honestly, that suited me fine.
We sat like that for a long while, quiet, just listening to the water.
“You know,” she said eventually, voice quiet in the dark, “you’re four years younger than me.
But you don’t act like it.
Not really.” “Rough couple years,” I said, which wasn’t wrong, even if it wasn’t the whole truth either.
“I mean it,” she said.
“Bandaging my shoulder without panicking.
Fighting Jellal without hesitating.
Even that thing you said, about that woman — you meant every word of it.
You think things through.
You act like someone who’s already figured out what he’s supposed to do, when the rest of us are all still just…
surviving.” I didn’t have a good answer for that, so I just stayed quiet.
“I decided something,” she said, after a moment.
“Whatever happens from here — Fairy Tail, finding a way back for the others, all of it.
I’m going to look out for you too.
You’ve done enough looking out for everyone else.
Somebody should be doing it for you as well.” Oh.
I didn’t know what to say to that either, so I just let the silence sit there, comfortable enough, until eventually her breathing evened out into sleep against my shoulder.
Which left me alone with my thoughts, and — inevitably — company I hadn’t invited into them.
That was sweet, big brother said, entirely too pleased with himself.
Very touching.
The two of you, huddled together, promising to look out for each other.
Don’t.
I’m just saying.
Four years apart isn’t so much, once you’re both a bit older— Don’t.
I mean it.
Absolutely not.
She’s eleven.
I have the mental age of a grown man who has zero interest in anyone currently going through elementary school, thank you very much.
Mm-hm.
I’m serious, big brother.
When — if — I ever end up actually interested in someone, it’s going to be someone my own mental age.
Older woman, actually put-together, good sense of humor, doesn’t need me to explain what a stock market is.
That’s the goal.
Not a kid I’m currently helping bandage a sword wound.
Whatever you say, kid.
I mean it!
I believe you.
Mostly.
Go to sleep.
You’ve had a long day, and apparently a longer night ahead of arguing with a dragon about your taste in women.
You brought it up!
I did.
And it was worth it just to hear that speech.
I didn’t dignify that with a response, just closed my eyes, Erza’s steady breathing beside me and the boat rocking gently toward whatever came next, and let exhaustion finally drag me down into sleep.