A/N: My Secret Santa gift to canyoudigitmotherlicker. I'm sorry this took so long to write! I hope you like it though ^^, and I apologize for any OOCness. This takes place before the current arc and a little bit after the Grand Magic Games arc. If you go on Google and search up Fairy Tail Christmas, find a picture with Lucy, Erza, and Wendy, and that's Erza's outfit basically (Fanfiction doesn't let you put links) . ^^

Merry Belated Christmas to all my readers? (I actually wrote this before Christmas, but I haven't been able to post it till now)

I do not own Fairy Tail.

Promise

~ Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock ~

~ Jingle Bell Swing and Jingle Bell Ring ~

~ Snowing and blowing, in bushels of fun ~

~ Now the jingle hop has begun ~

It was high time of the festive season with all the streets decked from head to toe in sparkling lights and tinkling scent of cinnamon and peppermint lingered in the air at the entrance of each shop, and little kids were dragging their parents by their hands, pointing at all the gifts and toys in the windows. Couples were walking through the streets, giggling as they found themselves under mistletoe. Everyone's spirits were high.

After all, there were only three days till Christmas, and the town of Suzumisu was well known around Fiore for having the best Christmas celebrations around. Every single store was decked out in full Christmas merchandise and sales, and periodically there would be some sort of parade, whether it be small or grand.

If not for the strong urge to hurry home and celebrate with Fairy Tail, Erza could have stayed wandering in those streets forever, lingering at every shop window.

It was a Fairy Tail tradition for mages to stop taking requests on the week of Christmas. Magnolia had its own celebrations that the guild needed to prepare for, not to mention the Christmas party they would always have too. The red haired mage had meant to stay in town to help prepare, but she had spotted the request in Mira's book a day before.

It was fairly simple and would only take a day. She'd be back in town to help finish up preparations, and it'd be perfect for her to buy some last minute gifts. So here she was in a town far from Magnolia with Christmas only a few days away. As she pulled her giant cart of luggage behind her, a store owner beckoned her.

"Come on in! Come on in! The newest holiday fashions in market right here, and it's all 30% off!"

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to look," The mage mused to herself, staring at the various dresses and coats on display in the window.

After a few minutes of deliberation, Erza sauntered inside and begin browsing through the clothes on the rack, picking them up, then setting them back down. After a few hundred outfits, dozens of outfit changes, and even asking the clerks for clothes in the back room, she finally picked out a black turtleneck, some pink pants, a belt, anda a jacket that looked a lot like Laxus'，except it was red and had white on the fringes.

"Thank you for shopping with us, m'am! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" She waved good bye to some of the villagers as she walked out of it and into the forest. Even though Suzumisu was very famous, the closest train station was at the next town, and one had to walk through the forest to reach it, which took a few solid hours.

After a few hours of trekking underneath the shades of the fir trees, the sun had begun its descent past the horizon. "Looks like I'll be delayed for s day," Erza frowned, looking at the setting sun. She had really wanted to arrive in Magnolia the next morning.

"Well," She stretched out her muscles, adjusting her newly bought coat, "it's not bad to sleep under the stars every now and then." A quick search led her to a cave where she decided to set up camp for the night.

As she settled down to sleep, a good night was about to leave her mouth before she caught herself.

"It's been a while since you last did a solo mission," Titania murmured to herself. She rolled over and rested her head on her hands, staring into the crackling fire. "They better be doing a good job with decorations back home. If the same thing happens with Natsu and Gray again like last year..." While reminiscing about past holidays, the Queen of the Fairies fell into a light slumber under the watchful eyes of the stars. .

Erza awoke to find the land blanketed in a field of snow. Icicles hung at the entrance of the cave, reflecting the morning sunlight. A few ice crystals were still floating down from the sky, joining their fellow companions on the ground.

"Wow! Snow really does look prettier in nature," She commented, bounding outside and sticking her tongue out to catch snowflakes like a child. A sudden chill passed through her back causing her to stiffen and slowly turn towards the source.

"Who's there?" she barked, quipping sword. "Show yourself,"

A hooded figure stepped out from the shadow of the trees, and pale hands came up to pull down the cloak. The face that greeted Erza made her blood run cold but heart pound at the exact same time.

"Jellal..."

~.~.~.~.~

That mop of blue hair, that red tattoo. There was no doubt that it was Jellal, leader of Crime Sorciere, one of the most wanted criminals by the Council, and Erza's childhood friend.

"Erza," He greeted with a nod, "It's been a while."

"Jellal," She took a hesitant step forward, her hands still gripped tightly on the hilt of the sword. "What are you doing here? Where's Ultear and Meredy?"

"I came to fulfill my promise," The blue haired mage held out his hand.

"Promise..."

"It's snowing, Erza," He cast his glance upwards at the snow crystals, trailing one of them as it descended.

"Snow…."

'Let's play again in the snow one day!'

'Alright! It's a promise!'

Those words echoed through her head, and she looked at him in disbelief. The sword in her hand went back to her dimensions.

"Seems like you remembered it,"

"Yea…" She muttered underneath her breath.

That had been years ago, back when Jellal and she were still slaves at the Tower of Heaven. They had always been forced to continue construction on the tower, no matter weather or time.

That particular year though, snow had been falling for two weeks straight. Many people had already died from the cold, and temperatures were way below freezing. The materials were really hard to move without equipment, so for the first times in their lives, the slaves got a break from their labor.

Most of them had just huddled together for warmth, scraping whatever scraps they had to share, but for the kids it was freedom like they've never felt before.

The snow fell through to the slaves' cells and had piled up on the ground. The six of them were able to play together, and the whole day they were either buildings forts and having snowball fights or building something from the white powder.

It was Erza's happiest memory from those times, and it always remained clear as day because for the first time in months, she got to see smiles on Jellal, Sho, Wally, Simon, and Milliana's face.

At the end of the day, she had been lying on the ground with Jellal next to her when he suddenly sat up and threw a bit of snow in her face. This had resulted in a bunch of snow flung right back and soon the two erupted in a snow ball fight.

Both of them were panting and had fallen to the ground giggling by the end, and the red haired mage remembered her hair had been soaking with water.

"Neh, Jella. Let's play again in the snow one day, okay?"

"Yea, it's a promise."

Erza's thoughts were jolted back into reality when a cold sting suddenly hit her cheek. "So, how have you been?" Jellal laughed, his other hand throwing a snowball up and down.

"Oh," Her eyes gleamed in mischievousness as she bent down and scooped up some snow, crushing it into a ball. "Good, you could say,"

"That's good to hear. How's-" Jellal stopped mid sentence when one of Erza's snow ball hit him square in the face. His hand came off to wipe off the water, and the edges of his mouth turned up as he chucked his second snow ball back. "How's Fairy Tail?"

She blocked the snow with her hand and rapidly returned one,"Still causing as much trouble for the Council as always."

For the next few hours, their conversation continued like that: some snowballs, a few phrases, a question, then a snowball in the face. For a few hours, Titania was able to completely loosen up and act like a kid again. It was the most carefree Erza had felt ever since the Grand Magic Games ended.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Jellal put up his hands in surrender while chuckling before falling backwards onto the ground. "Since when did you have this much stamina?" He laughed, making a snow angel on the ground.

"Well keeping Natsu and Gray in check is a full time job," She joked, laying down next to him. The two of them lied there in silence, content with just the presence of each other.

"Erza," The red haired mage felt Jellal sit up.

"You have to go soon, don't you?" She asked, not turning to face him.

"You know it's not in the nature of my guild….."

"To stay in one place for too long," She finished his sentence. "I understand," She sighed, sitting up and turning around.

"I-I wanted to give this to you though," Jellal pulled out a box from underneath his cloak, holding it out to her. "Merry Christmas, Erza." He looked away, a faint red tinging his cheeks.

"E-eh? You really didn't need to!" She stared at the box in surprise before taking it and untying the ribbon. Inside was a silver, heart pendant with her initials, E.S., carved on it.

"Jellal," She breathed, "It's beautiful, but wouldn't your fiancee mind?" At the mention of his fiancee, the ex-criminal scratched his hair awkwardly and managed to splutter out,

"Uhh, she, she wouldn't mind it since its for a….for a friend."

"Che," Erza laughed softly to herself. Always such a bad liar. "Thank you," She pressed a quick peck to his temple. "Merry Christmas." Jellal felt his cheeks heat up at the contact and quickly stood up to pull his hood over his face in order to cover his expression.

"It was really fun….playing in the snow again," He smiled, turning to look at her once he felt the color in his cheeks subdue. "Be careful, Erza. I can't help but feel uneasy after that incident with the Eclipse Gate. Something is coming up. I just don't know what."

"Don't worry about me. I'll always have Fairy Tail with me. Watch out yourself, and tell Meredy and Ultear I said hi."

"Yea…... Happy Holidays!" He turned to walk into the trees, before turning around and walking back in front of her. The blue haired mage hesitated for a few seconds before planting a kiss on Erza's forehead.

"I can't make up for all that I did back then," Jellal whispered, "but I really just wanted to thank you, for everything, during this season." Then he gave a final wave before his shadow was swallowed away by the trees.

"No," Erza muttered, after overcoming the shock of his actions,"thank you, Jellal." She stood there and watched the edges sky start to turn red-orange before gathering up her luggage and beginning to walk.

The future right now was uncertain, and she certainly didn't know of the upcoming battles that Fairy Tail and all of Fiore would be involved in, but that didn't matter right now. Christmas was the time of miracles and happiness, and this year was definitely one that was full of both.

I'm thinking of making this a collection of one shots centered around holidays and different pairings, but I guess we'll see

Leaf~ ^-^