A/N: This was written for the Destiny Competition of Love-Fairy-Tail on Deviant Art, where my team won 2nd place. The theme was "summertime" and the prompt allowed extra points for every pairing, so I went overboard. Eleven Pairings! JellalxErza, UltearxMeredy, GrayxJuvia, GajeelxLevy, NatsuxLisanna, AlzackxBisca, LokexLucy, ElfmanxEvergreen, LaxusxMira, HappyxCharle, RomeoxWendy. It was hard keeping it under 2000 words (if you remove this Author Note, it's barely under 2000) but loads of fun to write!

The book cover was also drawn for the contest. Yes, I drew that. I have a small ability to doodle when I try really hard.

Disclaimer: One day I shall take Hiro Mashima to a southern island and woo him into handing over control of Fairy Tail. Until that day, he still owns this manga.

夏の恋 - Natsu No Koi - Summer Love

a Fairy Tail fanfic

by Rhov

"Beach!" Levy cheered, yanking Gajeel along.

"Bonfires!" Natsu laughed manically, breathing out an arc of fire.

Makarov's eyes lit up pervertedly. "Bikinis!"

"Fish!" Happy shouted with a leap into the air.

"Swimming!" Gray yelled, trying to outrun Natsu.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia swooned.

Lucy slowly followed. "Suntanning and getting some time to read. Ahh! I love summer. Hurry up, Loke."

"Coming, Princess," the Lion said loyally, carrying all of her supplies, a massive bundle that almost rivaled Erza's luggage.

Elfman set up a ball net. "Volleyball on the beach. Now that is manly!"

"Hmph!" Evergreen scoffed, and she tapped the huge Take-Over mage under the chin. "I can prove volleyball is just as much a woman's sport."

Elfman glanced down at her bikini. "I bet a woman like you could."

"Hey!" She bonked him on the head. "Eyes up here!"

Laxus snorted gruffly. "Kids stuff. Why am I here?"

Mirajane walked by him in a tiny bikini and thong. "Because this guild needs a break, and that includes you. Besides," she grinned. "This trip can end up being fun, right?"

Laxus could hardly help but watch her ass as she strutted by. "Yep, we could make it lots of fun."

Erza watched them with a gentle smile. Then she glanced over to the blue-haired man beside her still dressed in a long coat and boots instead of swim trunks like the others. "Thank you, Jellal."

He smiled at her. "It's the least I could do to pay back Fairy Tail. You allowed me to be amongst you as Mystogan and let me roam the Grand Magic Games with a bit of freedom. That was immensely helpful."

"It wasn't much trouble. Where in the world did you get this private island, anyway?"

"One of the people Crime Sorcière helped out was rather wealthy. His payment for our help was to gift us this island."

Makarov began to cry. "Waaaah, I want our own island!"

Macao tried to calm him. "We have Tenrou Island, master."

"It's not the same," he insisted. "It's our holy ground and is filled with monsters. I want a vacation island." He began to cry buckets of tears.

"Besides," Jellal admitted to Erza, "Ultear and Meredy have been begging me to take them here. It's their anniversary."

"Anniversary?" she gasped. "Those two...they...they're..."

"Wife and wife," he nodded.

Off to the side, Ultear and Meredy were leaning in to one another and holding hands. Ultear wrapped a protective arm around the little lady.

"Ultear," Meredy sighed happily. "I always wanted to come back to a southern island. It was back then, remember?"

"Yes, on Tenrou Island," Ultear recalled. "You saved me. I could never repay you."

Meredy caressed the dark-haired woman's face. "You have repaid me, Ultear...with seven years of happiness."

Erza saw them begin to lean in closer for a kiss and quickly looked away. Her cheeks went flushed and her heart began to race.

"I...I see," the Titania said in a fluster. "It's nice that they're happy."

"Gray-sama!" Juvia yelled in a panic. "Where did Gray-sama go? Gray-sama!"

"Eh?" Gajeel grunted from where he and Levy were playing. "Did that stripper vanish?"

"Gray-sama was here, then gone. Juvia was watching him the whole time. He went under the waves and never came up." She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Gray-samaaaaaa!"

Lisanna looked over from where she and Natsu were playing with a beach ball. "Juvia, your body is water. Can't you spread out and find him?"

Natsu suddenly served the beach ball back to the white-haired girl with a mighty smack. It hit Lisanna on the side of the head and almost knocked her out.

"Lisanna!" he shouted in worry. Natsu ran forward through the waves and held her as stars spun in front of her blue eyes.

Happy popped his head up from out of the water. "Charle! Charle! I caught a fish," he shouted proudly, holding up the wiggling sea trout.

The white cat turned her nose up at him. "It's still alive. And you're drenched. You smell like wet cat."

"Awwww, are you sniffing me?" Happy asked, blushing with embarrassment.

Charle stiffened in horror. "No! I wasn't...I...eww, gross, no!"

Happy giggled and said to Pantherlily, "She's so cute when she's shy."

The huge Exceed cocked an eyebrow. "Is that so?" he asked gruffly.

Up on the shore, Bisca and Alzack had a lacrima camera taking pictures of Asuka building sand castles.

"Look, mommy!" the little girl shouted proudly at the lopsided lump of wet sand.

Bisca took a picture and then leaned into Alzack. She sighed in contentment. "Al-Al, she's growing up so fast. I miss having her as just a little baby."

"Bis-Bis," he crooned, then leaned close into her ear. "Maybe we could try for another one tonight."

She playfully slapped his arm, then blushed and leaned into his comforting embrace while planning out the seduction to come.

On her beach towel, Lucy laid on her stomach to let the sun beam upon her back. Loke knelt by her side and handed her a sweaty iced drink.

"If you don't want a tan line, you should loosen the bikini," he suggested.

Lucy was sleepy from the heat and hummed, hardly aware of who was there. "Untie it for me."

"With pleasure," the Lion purred. Loke tugged on the bow she had made and draped the bikini straps to the side. "Shall I apply a little more sunscreen lotion."

"Mmm...yeah...sure," Lucy mumbled drowsily.

Loke squirted some lotion onto his hands and began giving Lucy a massage using the sunscreen. She moaned in pleasure and kept her eyes blissfully closed.

Erza watched all of them like a mother hen keeping an eye on her chicks. Natsu carried Lisanna to an umbrella so she could recover in the shade. Happy was cooking the fish he caught, and the smell had enticed Charle to at least come over to investigate. Gray suddenly emerged from the water with Juvia clinging to him in worry. Elfman and Evergreen with in the midst of a heated volleyball battle ("battle" was the best way to describe their vicious serves and volleys). Lucy appeared to be asleep and utterly unaware that Loke was practically molesting her. Bisca and Alzack looked so in love. To the side, Meredy and Ultear...well, Erza was trying not to watch what those two were doing to each other.

Jellal began to speak with a hesitant tone. "Erza, I..."

Before he could say more, Romeo and Wendy ran by chasing each other with water guns. Wendy suddenly waved some air to block Romeo's jets of water.

"Hey, no fair!" the boy shouted.

"Magic is perfectly fair," the sky dragon slayer retorted, sticking her tongue out and tugging her eyelid.

"In that case..." The next stream of water Wendy shot out hit Romeo's fire and evaporated into steam.

"Ah!" the girl cried out in surprise. "No fair!"

"Hey now, what did you say about magic being fair," Romeo grinned. The two ran off further, leaving behind a small mess made by water, air, and fire.

Jellal sighed plaintively. Ah, such youthful innocence. He and Erza could have been like that if they had not been slaves, beaten and worked to exhaustion, then cruelly separated. He wanted to protect this guild, these happy faces, all of this love that overflowed within Fairy Tail.

"Erza, can we talk alone?"

Jellal's question startled Erza, and the intensity in his eyes made her throat dry. They drifted away from the others and back to a bungalow amidst palm trees. Once alone inside the house, Jellal cornered Erza up against a wall.

"Jellal?" she whispered in surprise.

He smiled down at her, then took Erza's face, tilted it up, and gave her a tender kiss. Erza looked at him in shock, then slowly she smiled and reciprocated the kiss. She hummed and caressed his face, pulling him in closer. When he finally pulled back, he saw the blush on her cheeks and heavy lids filled with desire.

"Jellal," she sighed heatedly.

"I was happy to fight for Fairy Tail," he told her. "I was happy...being around you. I can't ask your guild to shield me from the magic counsel, nor can I ask you to give up all your friends to follow me, like I made you leave Sho, Millianna, and the others. Still...if it's at all possible..."

Erza placed a finger over his lips to silence him. "We'll make it possible," she swore.

Then she replaced her finger with her lips, kissing him with passion more fiery than her hair. Jellal wrapped him arms around her and pulled her in close to himself. He was glad she was out of her armor so he could touch her skin and feel the contours of her body. She felt so soft, so gentle...just like her personality once you got under that hard armor exterior. Inside, Erza was simply a woman, strong in heart, weak with emotions, stubborn, caring, loyal, sensual, a little perverted...all the things that made Jellal love her.

Outside, Fairy Tail laughed, played, and a few of the couples sneaked in a sly kiss or two. Slowly, as the afternoon wore on, they came ashore and gathered around a massive campfire that Natsu built.

Lucy pulled forth a silver key. "Open the Gate of the Lyre! Lyra!"

The perky celestial spirit squealed when she popped into the Human World. "A beach party? I know just the thing!" She strummed her lyre as if it was a ukulele and began singing.

Lucy glanced around and realized two people were missing. "Hmm...where's Erza and Jellal?"

Meredy giggled as she sat between Ultear's legs and snuggled into the woman's huge breasts. "I saw them sneak off to the bungalow earlier. Maybe we should leave them alone, you know." She gave a knowing wink.

Sadly, Lucy didn't catch her meaning. "Then Natsu will eat all the meat." Lucy took Loke's hand, and he helped her up. Mindful of her slight sunburn, Lucy moved slowly to the house and knocked just before opening it. "Erza? You in here?"

She heard a crash, then stomping and sharp whispers. Suddenly Erza raced out of the bedroom wearing Jellal's coat with the front yanked closed.

"We'll be a minute. Jellal was...changing...into his swimming trunks...yeah," she said breathlessly.

Lucy blushed as she realized what she had interrupted. "Oh, take your time," she laughed tensely, already backing out. "I'll tell the others you're...um...sleeping...and they should leave you alone. Um...bye!" Then Lucy raced out and back to the bonfire with a bright pink face.

Lyra's song and Natsu's fire lit up the beach as the sun sank and the summer heat began to cool. Couples sneaked away for a bit of romance in the dark. Ultear and Meredy had vanished. Bisca and Alzack carried sleepy Asuka away to tuck her into bed. Romeo shyly took Wendy's hand, making both of them blush. Happy had fallen asleep on Charle's lap, but the white cat didn't seem to mind this time.

Makarov sipped a fruit drink and watched as even his grandson Laxus took the opportunity to slip away with Mira, both of them giving each other sultry looks and lascivious smiles. "Ah, to be young!" he sighed. "This guild will definitely keep growing."

The End