A/N: This one-shot story is written at a request for an Erza & Jellal beach themed story with an M rating.

The action is placed after the Tenrou Island arc, after those 7 years passed and Fairy Tail was once more reunited. It's written in third person style, but from both Erza's and Jellal's perspective (I switched between the two).

I changed a couple of canon details, to advance the story romantically – don't hold it against me!

I prefer the Lucy/Natsu couple, so I hope that despite Erza & Jellal not being my favorites, I managed to do them justice.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fairy Tail story/characters.

Stolen moments of passion

Dawn lit up the sky, casting a pink hue on the town of Tevlo, which had just been saved from destruction after being attacked by a very powerful dark wizard named Kraldew Clysiabin.

Erza felt exhausted – her magic power had been almost completely drained during that mission – and it hadn't been just her magic that got drained, the rest of her team suffered as well, not to mention Jellal, who had come to their rescue at the most crucial time, bringing along not just his own skills, but those of the other guild members from Crime Sorcière.

The mission had been a very difficult one – their opponent had wanted to harness the magical power of human souls, and therefore had captured everyone in that town in a cocoon of sorts, sucking the life right out of them.

The situation was complicated by the fact that when they attacked Kraldew, they also hurt the townspeople, and Fairy Tail members were known for never involving innocents in their fights… well, they were also knows for destroying buildings and sometimes entire towns, especially when Natsu was fighting - but material damage was one thing, and people's suffering and lives a completely different matter.

It had taken a group effort to separate the townspeople from Kraldew – initially they hadn't been able to see how they were linked and therefore couldn't attack, and their opponent took advantage of that, attacking them relentlessly, and all they could do was defend themselves. Fighting back only became an option once they released the innocent townspeople. It had been Gray's magic that revealed the link – because the silvery threads that served as a connection were only visible at very low temperatures.

Erza had severed the links while in her Heaven's Wheel Armor – and afterwards she joined the attack on Kraldew. It had been tricky to defeat him because he used Ring Magic, and he had a LOT of rings, each with different types of powers, which meant that Erza, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and all the Crime Sorcière members had had their hands full in the fight, especially since Kraldew's rings were infused not just with his own immense magical power, but the one he had managed to harness from the townspeople before the link was severed too.

Wendy hadn't been able to fight, although she did cast her enhancements on them to support her team members, because she needed to use her healing skills on the townspeople, all of whom had fainted and whose lives were endangered in their weakened state.

The battle had taken an immense toll on everyone and there was a dire need to unwind. First order of business was food to replenish their stamina and magical power – therefore, they were having breakfast in a tavern that specialized in fish dishes, much to Happy's delight.

While waiting for their order to come, they were all too tired to make conversation but eventually Lucy broke the silence.

"I was beginning to think we weren't going to make it this time".

The usually optimistic blonde seemed to be pouting, and Erza figured that the multiple summonings she had done during the battle were probably the cause of her moodiness. Aquarius, Taurus and Loke (Leo) were, after all, her strongest spirits, and they required the most amount of magical power.

"Oh, really, Luce?" Natsu was asking, his signature lopsided grin animating his face as he pulled on one of Lucy's pigtails. As usual, he was the one who seemed to have the most energy left, despite fighting the hardest. "I knew it all along that we'd beat old Kraldew."

"We might have failed", Gray said, thoughtfully, "if it hadn't been for Crime Sorcière – thank you, guys!"

"We're just glad we could help", Meredy replied, but she sounded quite exhausted too.

"So, what's next for you guys?" Erza asked, as she really hoped Jellal would linger for a few days rather than speed off into the sunset again, battling evil.

"We have other dark wizards to deal with, I'm afraid", Jellal answered, as Erza had fully expected.

"Going on other missions, right after this one?" Wendy asked, her tone incredulous. "We're probably going to take a couple of days off before we look for the next adventure – we need to recover our strength."

"That we do", said Natsu. "Lucy, Happy and I are coming over to your place."

"How come?!" the blonde asked, outraged.

"Your place is the best if we need food and rest, right, Happy?"

"Aye, sir", the Exceed replied.

Erza tuned out the rest of their banter. They must be feeling better already if they were up to their old tricks.

"Gray, what are your plans?" she asked.

"I'm afraid my plans are already made for me – Juvia asked me to practice with her so we can improve our Unison Raid. I suspect she has some other plans in store, but I best go see what she's up to. Who knows what she'll do if I ignore her?"

He sounded quite put out with the idea, but Erza felt he wasn't quite as adverse to the idea as he let on, and smiled at that thought.

"I'm just going to relax with Carla back at Fairy Hills", Wendy piped up.

"That settles it then", Erza said. "If Fairy Tail is taking a break, so should Crime Sorcière."

"Well…." Jellal didn't sound convinced.

Erza knew he felt like he had a lot to atone for, but a day or two of rest wouldn't go amiss.

He was looking at the rest of his team members, and they had hopeful expressions on their faces, so Jellal sighed and conceded defeat.

"Okay, then, dismissed", he told them "but we'll continue our quest tomorrow morning… or afternoon, OK", he amended at his guild member's instant protests.

Their food arrived and while everyone was busy eating, Erza took advantage of their distraction to place her hand on Jellal's arm, gently squeezing to get his attention.

"So what are you doing with your day off?"

"I haven't really thought about it, given the fact that I didn't plan on taking any time off at all…" he said.

"In that case, why don't you spend the day with me? I was going to join Wendy and Carla at Fairy Hills, but I'd much rather spend time with you."

"What did you have in mind?"

"A day at the beach, away from our worries and away from our … companions", Erza said, while blushing slightly. She may be called Titania, her strength legendary, but it didn't mean she was any less shy when it came to matters of the heart, where she was still quite inexperienced.

"All right", Jellal said though he wasn't looking at her directly, and Erza exhaled in relief.

"Let's go then, as soon as we finish eating", she coaxed enthusiastically. Time that they could spend alone together was very precious.

"Let's", he agreed.

In less than two hours' time, they were at the beach – and not just any public beach, but rather a secluded spot that not many people knew about. It was a small gulf, hidden from view, almost completely untouched by people – other than a beach house that Fairy Tail members used either to unwind after a mission, or when they wanted to train without being disturbed, as Jellal found out from a rather talkative Erza.

He knew her too well to not realize why she was being so verbose – she was nervous to be alone with him, and that's just how he wanted things to be. They rarely had any time together, so even if he was sort of nervous too, he'd make the best of it, after all, she had been bold enough to ask him to spend the day with her, which meant it was now time for him to take the lead.

The weather, he noticed, was typical for the early summer – sunny day, blue sky, no clouds, a light breeze… in a word, perfect. As such, Jellal didn't want to linger in the house for too long. He merely dropped whatever luggage he had with him, and once he changed into swimming trunks, he knocked on the door of the room next to his that Erza was in.

"Are you ready?" he asked through the door.

She opened the door and said "yes", but he barely heard her.

Erza had an amazing body, slim in the waist but well-endowed in the chest area, not to mention her behind was well rounded and incredibly sexy too… and the skimpy black bikini she was wearing only made her body look even sexier.

He was at a loss for words.

"Come with me, I know the shortest road to the best part of the beach", Erza was saying and she took his hand in hers – he willingly followed her. He would have followed her anywhere.

It didn't take long for them to reach their destination: a white sand beach and cerulean blue waters that he could see through straight to the bottom of the seafloor.

They spread a big towel on the sand and then Erza removed a small tube from the basket she had brought.

"We need some protection from the sun, and this is a very good cream that an apothecary shop owner gifted me after I prevented Natsu from accidentally burning down his place during one of our missions", she said and then held out the bottle to him. "Can you put some on my back?"

Jellal had to swallow hard at that, but he nodded his agreement – of course he wanted to, the very thought of touching her and massaging the cream into her skin was enough to drive him crazy.

He squeezed some of the cream in his hands and then hesitantly turned to her… and froze for a moment at her provocative pose… she had gathered her long, luxurious scarlet hair in her hands, which she had raised above her head, which meant that her breasts were thrust forward, stretching the material of her bikini top to the maximum… and despite the sun shining brightly, the light breeze probably felt a little cold on her skin because her nipples were clearly showing through the cloth.

Trying to ignore how uncomfortable his swimming trunks had suddenly become, Jellal spread the cream on her back, running his fingers in slow circular motions all over her shoulders and back, and prayed she wouldn't notice how much all of this was affecting him.

Erza thought she had never felt better than at the moment, feeling Jellal's fingers work magic on her shoulders and back. Wherever he touched her, she felt her skin warm up and tingle deliciously… she felt more relaxed than ever and she closed her eyes, while at the same time biting her lip, not wanting to let any traitorous moan escape.

When she thought she might faint with pleasure, she turned around, and was pleased to see Jellal had a pained expression on his face – it was not that she enjoyed his suffering, but in this case she knew it meant he also felt intense emotions like she did.

"Thank you, it's my turn now', she said and he gave her the cream tube.

Erza had always admired Jellal's body, his broad back especially because it made her think of his strength and how she could always rely on him. For him it may have seemed like it had been seven years ago, but to Erza the time on Tenrou Island was fresh and she'd never forget how during her battle with Azuma, when she had been so close to being defeated, she heard Jellal's voice, telling her not to lose and it had given her the power to surpass all obstacles.

She touched that back of his, and felt like she never wanted to be apart from him again. She had to fight the strong impulse to just lay her head on his shoulder and hug him and stay like that for the rest of the day.

"Want to try the water?" he said, breaking her out of her reverie.

"Um, sure…" she said, trying to sound calm, though her voice was slightly trembling.

They got up and went to the edge the water. Erza tried the temperature by dipping her toe in and then she nodded once, as the water temperature seemed good enough to swim in, then she got in slowly, making sure Jellal could follow her every sinuous movement.

Jellal watched Erza advance into the water – at first she only ventured in up to her calves, at which point she stopped and then bent down to gather some water and spread it over her arms and stomach, and he watched her mesmerized… she looked like a water goddess, the drops of water glistening on her creamy skin.

He came after her, so as to see her better, but she didn't wait up and went in deeper, so that she was in the water up to her belly button. She turned around and motioned for him to come closer, and Jellal did, not even feeling the water on his skin - his attention was completely focused on Erza.

Eventually they were both deep enough in the water to swim and after a friendly race to see who was the fastest, which Jellal gallantly let her win, they played and teased each other – either by pulling each other under the water, or by splashing water on each other.

All in all it was great fun, though Jellal was also in a bit of a predicament due to the fact that his body reacted to being so close to her when they both had so little clothing on… so it was both pleasure and pain to frolic with Erza in the water.

They got tired at some point, so they went back to the towel to let the sun dry them off.

"That was really fun", she said, and Jellal watched her as she stretched herself down on the towel on her back.

Luckily, she also closed her eyes, so as not to be bothered by the sunlight, and Jellal could then freely admire her generous breasts – and he wished he could lick the water drops off the tempting globes.

But perhaps later on he'd get the chance to do it – he knew that he'd have to find just the right time if he hoped to have a chance with Erza… It wasn't that he doubted her feelings for him, of course not, they had been through a lot together and although they had never said it out loud it was clear they loved each other.

However, life had kept them apart for most of the time, and when they were together, they were rarely alone, which meant Erza had a certain shyness around him, and Jellal too, didn't really know how to express his feelings, either verbally or physically. In fact, they had only made love once before, and it had been such an incredible exprience that he wanted to repeat it as soon as possible - and that day presented the perfect opportunity to do so.

He stretched out near her, close enough so that their arms almost touched, enjoying the warmth he felt coming off of her much more than he enjoyed the rays of sun.

She must have fallen asleep, Erza realized, waking up a bit disoriented. She noticed Jellal wasn't sleeping though, instead he was looking at her and she wondered for how long he had been doing that… and how long had she slept, as the sun seemed to be directly overhead, which meant noon, perhaps a bit later.

"I'm sorry for falling asleep", she said sheepishly. Erza knew their time together was precious and yet she wasted hours of it with sleep, what a waste, she chided herself…

"You were exhausted, we both were so I took a little nap too, I just woke up myself."

"We shouldn't be out in the sun at this time, let's go back to the beach house and have some lunch, what do you say?" she asked, feeling a bit lightheaded due to the prolonged exposure to strong sunlight.

"I could eat", he said with a smile and helped her up, and Erza was grateful for the help and for the touch, because he didn't let go of her hand once they were both upright.

She took the basket in her free hand, and he took the towel in his, and then they headed back to the house, hand in hand.

Before they headed to the kitchen, they went to their rooms to wash off the seawater and change from their swimming suits.

Erza decided to put on a light green summer dress that covered her only down mid-thigh – it was one of the dressed she thought best showed off her body, and she really wanted to impress Jellal.

When she exited her room, he had just gotten out of his, dressed in a black tank top and dark blue slacks. He looked amazing, his blue hair still wet from the shower, his well-defined arms visible for her to admire.

Erza tried not to stare as she directed Jellal to the kitchen.

"Have a seat, I'll be there in a minute", she told him as she pointed at a rectangular table that was surrounded by eight chairs.

She went to retrieve the 'treat', and then placed it happily on the table.

Jellal loved Erza but her particular fondness for sweets seemed to have gotten out of hand – her idea of lunch, apparently, was a huge ornate multi-layered cake…

"Um… has this been here long?" he asked circumspectly.

"For quite a while yes", she answered happily, "but you needn't worry, it's still good – all the food we have here was enchanted by Yajima-san himself, as it was payment for some of my shifts at the 8 Island restaurant."

"Hmmm…" he answered, not quite convinced. "And you think we should have this for lunch? Only this?"

"Of course!"

Her enthusiasm was almost contagious, but Jellal wasn't all that fond of sweets.

"Tell you what, I'll just cook something really quick, and we can savour the cake once we appease our hunger first, how about that?"

She considered it for a while, but then finally nodded.

"Ok – I'd love to try some of your cooking."

He got to work, and before long he had succeeded in producing what looked like rather well done food, even without using cooking magic, which he wasn't an expert at anyway. And it was real food, not just sweets – roast chicken, cheese soufflé and vegetables salad. The ingredients had all seemed fresh, indeed, so apparently Yajima-san knew what he was doing (as well as he should, being a restaurant owner these days).

He served the food and was pleased when Erza praised his talents as a cook. He forced himself to taste the cake too, and found it was pretty good after all.

Once they were done with both eating and washing the dishes, they weren't sure what to do next. The sun was still too strong to go out, but on the other hand it was a pity to stay in on such a beautiful day.

"So what should we do now?" he asked her, thinking that being more familiar with the place, perhaps Erza knew of something interesting to do – perhaps go cave exploring or something.

"Well, before we do anything, I want to thank you for the delicious meal", Erza said, and Jellal thought her voice came out a bit strangled, and wondered why that was.

"It was my ple…" but he didn't get to finish that sentence, as Erza kissed him on the lips.

Oh, so that is what she meant when she said she wanted to thank him, Jellal thought. He decided he liked her way of showing gratitude very very much.

When she tried to pull back from her shy kiss, he didn't let her – he caught her face in his hands and kissed her deeper, letting his tongue slip through her surprised lips to taste the sweetness of her mouth. Now this was the only sweet he ever wanted, and he couldn't get enough of it.

As he continued the kiss, he backed Erza towards the kitchen table, then grabbed her legs and propped her up on it.

His hands went down from her face to her shoulders, and then lower than that, as he lightly traced the shape of her ample bosom, and then encircled her small waist. Erza didn't utter one word of protest, and he was glad for it – it's not like they hadn't done this before, but he didn't know whether it was what she had in mind when she invited him to spend the day with her.

Erza wasn't sure whether she had wanted her little show of gratitude to lead to more or not, but she was glad that Jellal had taken the initiative.

Although they'd never confessed their love for each other in so many words, she was as sure of her feelings as she was of his, and expressing them by getting as close as two people possibly could, physically speaking, was something she enjoyed immensely.

The first time they'd made love had been right after she had returned from Tenrou island – Jellal had been talking about her killing him to avenge Simon, but she made sure he understood that to stay alive was the true show of strength, not to mention that he had more than atoned for his crimes through the good work he did with Crime Sorcière.

When, in a moment of anger she had pulled his collar, they had rolled down the embankment, with Jellal landing on top of her. Erza still remembered the delicious sensation of feeling his body over hers for the first time.

She had pretty much broken down then, crying and confessing that she thought she'd never see him again, and then he kissed her and then one thing led to another… she was just glad no one had come looking for them to interrupt them, because Erza thought that had been one of the greatest moments of her life.

All too soon they had to say goodbye, each going their own way but now they were reunited, and she was back in Jellal's arms, where she knew she belonged.

He had now lowered his head to kiss the top of her breasts and she sucked in a sharp breath when she felt his hand under her dress and under the cup of her bra, gently circling her nipple.

Her hands were holding on to his arms for dear life as she was starting to feel herself endlessly falling… especially as Jellal had now replaced his fingers with his mouth, and she couldn't get enough.

Who needed sweets when they could taste Erza? Well, Jellal realized he was in fact the only one to taste her, and perhaps that was why he never cared for dessert.

He gave her a little push so that she was now flush against the kitchen table, and he raised his knee and inserted it under her dress, between her legs, and he was pleased when she moaned at the resulting friction over her sensitive spot.

Jellal loved how responsive Erza was – as tough and immensely powerful as she was in battle, she was like putty in his hands, and he didn't hesitate to take advantage of that. He lifted her dress slowly until he got it over her head and discarded it on the kitchen floor, then he kissed her stomach, teasing her belly button with his tongue until she was pleading him for more.

So Jellal abided by her pleas and went lower, slowly taking off her panties, and then placing reverent kisses on her sweetest spot. She arched her back, and he totally understood her need for more… however, he teased her with his tongue until she finally protested, getting up into a sitting position, and proceeded to undressing him in return.

Once his tank top was off, Erza placed light kisses on his neck and over his chest, and Jellal felt himself grow harder as her lips teased him. He removed the rest of his clothes and gave Erza one more lingering kiss before he pushed her back onto the table and entered her, marvelling at how well they fit together.

The feeling of being inside her was amazing – Jellal thrusted slowly at first, and then faster and faster, harder and harder, and Erza once more got up into a sitting position, which only served to push him deeper into her… As their pace increased, he felt her nails biting into his back and he lightly bit her neck, then kissed her deeply on the mouth.

They came at the same time, and he collapsed over her on the kitchen table, pure excitement running through his veins as he tried to steady his breath.

Erza held Jellal's head pressed to her chest, knowing that her generous breasts were the perfect pillow. She gently caressed his back, and wished he'd stay like that with her forever. And yet she knew separation was inevitable despite her fervent hope that he'd never leave her…

But thinking about sad things only meant wasting the precious little time they had together, so she ruffled Jellal's hair and then thought about how to make the best of what remained of the day.

"What do you say to a little hiking trip?" she asked him, as they got up from the table and retrieved their clothing so that they could get dressed.

"Where to?" he replied, and he seemed interested so Erza explained.

"Not far from here – less than half an hour's trek up the hill there is a place where a river forms a beautiful waterfall as it joins the sea. I thought it would be nice to see, not to mention I want to try jumping from there, it's something I never got round to doing before", she said with an enthusiastic smile, hoping he'd be as thrilled with the idea as she was.

"Then we'd better change back into our swimming suits, right?" he smiled back, and Erza knew she was falling in love with him even more, if that was even possible. He was so considerate and always had her back, whether it was in battle or in their private life.

"Yes, we should", she said, and gave him a light peck on the cheek before going to her room to change once again.

In ten minutes' time they were off the beach and already on the mountain trail. The vegetation was quite dense, and the trees kept them safe from the sun's burning rays… There was no one else around, so Erza walked hand in hand with Jellal, in companiable silence, just enjoying the beauty of nature and each other's presence so close.

Before long, Erza realized they were getting close to the waterfall – not only because she remembered the place, but she could also hear the sound of falling water.

"We're close now, come on!" she urged and increased her pace, dragging him along with her, though Jellal seemed to follow her willingly enough. If anything, he looked amused at her enthusiasm, but Erza wanted to act childish if she could – usually she had to be the mature one of the lot, as most Fairy Tail members didn't act their age… especially those on her team… Well, Lucy was OK, and even Wendy, despite being so young, but Natsu only thought about fights and food, and Gray was prone to strip at any moment, not to mention they often fought with each other. Erza knew that often they only pretended to get along because they feared her retribution.

As they reached the waterfall, Jellal looked impressed.

"It really is beautiful here…" he said, and Erza was glad she could share this secret place with him. They found a fallen tree near the waterfall and they sat on it, as they watched the water and talked about anything and everything.

Mostly it was Jellal who talked, telling her about the dark wizards he had hunted down during the years in which Erza had been frozen in time due to Mavis' spell that had, after all saved her life and the lives of all of her guild members on Tenrou Island.

Soon, dusk had fallen and it was almost dark, so eventually Erza sat up.

"So are you ready to jump?" she asked, looking down to assess the distance.

"It must be more than fifty feet!" he exclaimed, and Erza laughed.

"Are you scared?" she teased. "Because if you are, I don't mind, I can jump by myself and you can go back the way we came and I'll meet you down…"

"I'm not scared, and I certainly won't let you make the jump alone. You jump, I jump." He said tenderly, and Erza felt her heart beat wildly in her chest with her love for him.

"How about we jump together?" she proposed and held her hand out to him.

He took it with a smile.

"Ok. On three…1 …2…3!"

They jumped together and it was an exhilarating feeling to fall and then hit the water. They resurfaced and laughed together, splashing water at each other.

"I'll race you till our beach", he challenged, and Erza smirked at him.

"You're on!"

They started swimming for all they were worth and by the time they got to their beach, Jellal let Erza get ahead of him, only this time he suspected she caught on to him.

"You know, this would be more fun, if you'd race me for real", she teased as she headed towards the shore, looking back over her shoulder at him.

Night had fallen and the moon was bathing Erza in a silvery light that made her look like she was not a fairy, but more like an angel.

Jellal was captured by her beauty and he reached for her arm, not letting her out of the water…

"If you want to compare strength, let me see you break my hold", he teased, and caught her in an unbreakable hug, forcing her to sit down – half on the shore, half still in the shallow water… only he realized he wasn't forcing Erza, she wasn't putting up any resistance.

"You're giving up so easily?" he asked.

But she only gave him a mysterious smile and said "It's not that I'm giving up, it's just that there's no place I'd rather be than in your arms…"

Her candour left him speechless, especially as it wasn't typical of Erza to express her feelings out in the open like that. He laid her down on the wet sand and kissed her, his hands caressing her beautiful hair. When he looked down at her, the starry sky was reflected in her brown eyes and he felt he could see infinity in them – a forever that he wanted to share with her.

Filled with adoration for his beautiful and strong Erza, Jellal kissed her eyes, the tip of her nose, her jawline, and then he went lower, finding the point where her pulse was racing and tracing his tongue over it, tasting her – and for once she wasn't just sweet, but salty too, from the seawater on her skin.

Her breasts were also covered in drops of seawater and he licked each and every one of them from her skin, enjoying the small sounds of pleasure he elicited from her. But apparently every now and then, Erza needed to make a show of strength even when love making was concerned, because suddenly she pushed him off and Jellal found himself flat on his back in the wet sand, with her glorious body straddling him.

Erza didn't have the patience to take it slow this time… perhaps it was because she knew the day was ending that she felt such urgency, but she didn't really care at the moment. She removed her bikini, and then assisted Jellal in getting rid of his swimming trunks – it was she who was in control in this particular position, and she relished that though.

Once they were both completely naked, Erza lowered herself all the way down, so that their bodies were connected as deep as possible and she let out a low moan of pleasure at the intensity of the feeling.

She rode him, reveling in the fact that she could give him such pleasure, as by the look on his face, Jellal was completely taken with her, his beautiful face wearing an entranced expression, his eyes shining with the same burning feelings she felt too.

He grabbed her hips and kept her still, so that he was back in control, but Erza didn't mind. She had made her point and besides, she always had to be strong in battle, at least when they made love, she could relinquish control and just enjoy the spiraling sensations that she knew would soon overwhelm her.

Jellal imposed a pace so intense that indeed, moments later Erza screamed his name and collapsed on his chest, while at the same time she felt him explode inside her. They remained like that for long moments, and Erza listened to his erratic heartbeat until it calmed down, and then she got off of him, but remained cuddled to his side.

The water was lapping at their feet, the starry sky seemed to be watching over them, while the moonlight bathed everything in an otherworldly silvery light and Erza thought this was the best night of her life, even if it was just a stolen moment of passion before they'd have to go their separate ways again.

Or maybe not, she thought and gathered the courage to speak up.

"Don't you think you atoned for your sins already? How much longer are you going to wander in search for dark wizards? Don't you think it's time you …settled down?"

"My entire life won't be enough to atone, so no matter how bad I want to, I can't stop now… or ever…" he said sadly, while caressing her hair.

"Then don't stop, but you can hunt dark wizards as a Fairy Tail member too, you know?" she whispered, voicing her deepest wish.

"I'm part of Crime Sorcière now, and all of us have something to atone for – it's better we stick to our darkness so as not to taint the light that is your guild", he replied and Erza felt her heart breaking at how Jellal still put himself down.

"Fairy Tail has known its share of darkness and nothing ever affected its light, and you, who are a good person, despite not being able to see it yourself, won't affect it negatively, on the contrary, I'm sure you'd add something positive", she argued fervently.

He didn't say anything, so Erza felt like she had a chance to win the argument.

"Master would surely welcome you all, so please consider it – I don't want us to ever be apart again", she said.

Then, turning his face towards her so that she could look him in the eye, she told him the unspoken truth that he probably knew all too well already, but which she knew was important to say out loud.

"I love you."

Emotions played across his face as he finally gave her a small smile and replied.

"I love you too…"

"And?" she pressed.

"And I'll consider your request… I'll have to discuss it with the rest of my guild members first, but I don't think they'll have any objections."

"So we'll finally be together?" Erza asked, not quite believing her dearest hope was finally becoming reality.

"For as long as we both shall live…"