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I'll Be Home For Christmas

It had all started 2 years ago. The two of them had gotten drunk and had ended up having a one-night stand. They had agreed not to get involved with one another again. The relationship between them was nothing but that of a king and his knight. To take that relationship any further would be too complicated. She was just a soldier, albeit his most loyal and capable captain, and he was her king, bound by his duty to Edolas to marry some princess or noblewoman in the future. They could never be together.

But in the end, he had fallen for her, hard, and she had done the same although neither would admit it. They knew that it would be hard enough to part when the time came when both had to move on but neither were willing to stop loving each other. And it was this grim thought that plagued Jellal's mind as he woke up in an empty bed.

The sunlight streamed in through the curtains, bathing him in a warm glow. He turned to his side, his left hand reaching for someone who wasn't there. Glancing up at the rustling sound, he saw Erza bending over to retrieve her garments.

Jellal sat up, one hand grasping at the sheets and the other propping up his head as his eyes roamed over her naked form appreciatively. "Leaving so soon?"

She didn't even spare him a glance. "Yes. My troops are waiting for me."

"And how long will you be gone this time?"

Erza buckled the belt around her waist. "It should take around a week," she grabbed her sword from the top of his dresser and moved towards the door. "I'll be home for Christmas."

"Erza…"

The tone in his voice caused her to pause for a moment and she waited for him to speak again. "You know this is the last time, don't you?"

She didn't reply for a moment and the minutes dragged on before she finally spoke softly.

"I know."

She left the room without another word.

He stared after her fading silhouette, jaw clenching ever so slightly, before he slumped back against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling wordlessly.

Jellal inhaled deeply, eyes flickering between the window and the woman hanging on his arm. It was Christmas Day already and Erza still hadn't returned. She was late. Sighing, he led his partner to the middle of the ballroom. Shrugging off her arm gently, he turned to address the crowd.

There were too many of them. Her troops were experienced and were much better equipped but still, they were outnumbered by the onrushing rebels, whose anger and desperation fueled their maniacal desire to overthrow the kingdom.

She twirled around, lashing out with her spear, decapitating one of the rebels behind her. Another one dropped dead onto the ground as she whipped her weapon around in a perfect arc before throwing it to her left in one swift motion, smirking as it lodged between the man's eyes.

The gleeful expression on her face disappeared only to be replaced by one full of despair at the sight of more rebels swarming towards her. With a grim snarl, she braced herself for the next wave of attack.

This was going to be very troublesome.

His voice rang out clearly across the room. "It is my pleasure to announce my engagement to Princess Ultear."

He took her hand in his, nodding at her as he did and turned back towards his audience with a sweep of his arm.

The swords and daggers bit into her skin but she shrugged off the pain, bursting through the ranks in a fit of rage and carving out a path for her troops to storm through as she aimed for the leader of the rebels.

Tonight, she would take his head.

Jellal surveyed the people gathered in front of him and continued. "We will be getting married in the coming April."

He felt Ultear give his hand a reassuring squeeze but he refused to look at her. He couldn't bring himself to.

The numbness slowly spread throughout her body, overwhelming the bitter cold and burning sensations alternating in her chest. The sword protruding through her torso was withdrawn sharply and she fell to her knees, chest heaving. Crimson liquid the colour of her hair splattered onto the snow and dribbled down her chin, slowly dripping onto her pale skin and staining her armour. She gasped, gurgling as the blood started to fill her lungs.

As the crowd burst into rapturous applause, Jellal nodded in acknowledgement, a gracious smile on his face, his expression betraying none of the sorrow crushing his heart, suffocating him. With downcast eyes, he thanked the gods that at least Erza wasn't here to witness his engagement. Maybe her delayed return was a blessing in disguise, something to lessen the hurt of both having to move on without the other.

She shuddered, taking one last raspy breath as the light faded from her eyes.

Her killer stood beside her motionless body, ignoring the chaos around him as he stared blankly at the woman still kneeling in front of him.

He turned and left without another word.

Jellal breathed in deeply and closed his eyes.

Hopefully, all of the excitement would have died down by the time she returned home.

Author's note:

Really guys, you should have learnt by now, I'm a terrible, terrible romangst writer. In fact, there isn't really that much romance here, woops. And I was listening to I Can't Lie (Maroon 5) while writing this, which is way too happy in my opinion.

Was aiming for absolute simplicity in this fic. Not much description of the feelings and all that stuff, was pretty much leaving it up to you guys to feel everything yourselves. After all, what do I know about romance or angst in real life?

On another note, if that wasn't angsty enough for you, I have exciting news on my profile?