The next day, Erza was positively prancing about the guild hall. Even though her kiss with Julius has been interrupted by his sudden departure, she still felt that the date had been a rousing success. Lucy entered the guild hall around noon, looking tired, but also rather pleased with herself. She took a seat at the bar and Mira whipped up a large, healthy breakfast; and after seeing how Lucy looked like she was about to topple off of her stool, she simply put a large pot of coffee right next to the blonde's breakfast platter.
"Aw, thanks, Mira, you're the best," Lucy said gratefully.
"It's the least I could do, how did your mission with Erza go yesterday," Mira asked.
"Mission," Lucy asked blankly.
"Yeah, it looked like you guys were about to take on a job. Must've been a tough one, too. Erza was all dolled up and I could've sworn that you were counting the paces between the two of you as you marched through the guild hall! It certainly looked like a mission," Mira noted thoughtfully.
"Actually," Lucy said, a smile pulling at the corners of her lips, "I was just escorting Erza to a date."
"A-a date? Wow, I didn't know that she battle marched to dates. She must've been really excited, but who's the guy?"
"A freelance wizard," Lucy said, waving her hand and looking down at the breakfast platter, "not from around here."
"It's gotta be tough being a freelance wizard," Mira said quietly, "less work, harder to spread the word, and you're limited by the connections you can make on your own. Well, at least Erza's not just dating a guy because he's rich!"
"Of course not, what a ridiculous notion," said a voice right behind Lucy.
She turned, and she saw Erza there, but far from looking angry, Erza looked incredibly ecstatic. She wore a light summer dress and comfortable shoes, but her eyes seemed to be filled with a new light.
"Wow, you're in a great mood, Erza," Mira said with a wide smile.
"Thanks, Mira, I've taken a leaf out of your book with my dress! I just feel like I'm more of a woman now than I've ever been," Erza trilled, twirling upon the spot.
"You look amazing," Mira said kindly, "so who's the lucky guy? Lucy only told me that he's a freelance wizard."
"His name is Julius Leengard," Erza said, "and he's the most caring, compassionate, wonderful-"
While Erza proclaimed her affections for Julius and listed off his many wonderful traits, Mira scratched at her chin in a thoughtful manner, her eyes narrowed as she wondered where she'd heard that name before.
"Leengard? That name is familiar… I'll have to look for it in the genealogy books in the guild's library," Mira said.
"I thought the same thing when Erza told me his name, but I haven't found anything on it when I checked," Lucy said quickly, hoping to discourage Mira's meddling.
"Hmm. Well, if you haven't found anything, I suppose I certainly won't. You and Levy are the guild's resident bookworms, after all!"
Lucy held in a relieved sigh as Erza took a seat next to her, still gushing over Julius.
"I swear, he might have run away from me when I tried to kiss him, but something must've gone incredibly right, because I got a letter from him this morning asking for another date," Erza finished as Mira listened politely and made Erza lunch.
"Wow, he ran away when you tried to kiss him," Mira asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, but still, I think he is just a little timid. A bit more time and I think he'll come around,"
Erza chimed, looking extremely sure of herself.
"So when's the next date," Lucy asked.
Of course, Lucy knew the answer to the question, she'd been up late last night and early that morning carefully crafting the letter that Erza had gotten from Julius. It was perfect, well written, and it was created so that Erza, the overthinking, head-strong warrior queen of Fairy Tail wouldn't be able to help feeling loved after reading it.
"Sometime next week, not sure exactly when or where though," Erza replied happily.
"So, Lucy, when are you going to start playing the field? You have a house, a job, a good social life… why don't you try to find a nice guy," Mirajane asked, putting a hand to her cheek and looking innocently sweet, even though her nosiness ruined the effect.
"Mira has a point, Lucy," Erza said wisely, as if her two dates had made her an expert in the field, "you should find yourself a man and settle down."
"I'm a bit young to just settle down," Lucy said loudly, almost choking on her coffee.
"Hey guys, what's going on?"
"Grey, you're naked," Erza said in a flat tone, not even bothering to look at the ice wizard that had come over.
"What the hell-HOW DID YOU KNOW," Grey asked loudly.
"Because, it always gets cold in here when you strip," Mira said, blushing and looking away from Grey as he struggled to find his pants.
"Oh, geez, I can't even come and say hi without having the guild's streaker turn up," Natsu said unhappily as he joined the group and took a seat next to Lucy.
"Those are some awful big words for you, Natsu," Grey said, "have you been taking private lessons with Lucy or something?"
"Shut up," Natsu and Lucy cried in unison.
Lucy brought her fist down upon Grey's head while Natsu did the same with the opposite hand and Grey sat down hard, his eyes unfocused as he watched imaginary birds fly in circles.
"You seem unusually defensive," Erza said, verbally stoking the fires of Lucy's temper, "people would think you and Natsu were an item."
"Very funny, Erza," Natsu said accusingly, "but from what I've heard, you managed to find yourself a guy as well… a certain air wizard named Julius?"
Natsu's question was less that and more of a statement, and he crossed his arms as he spoke, his tone carrying heavy hints of another point he wanted to make.
"Yes," Erza said, "that's correct. Is there something you wished to discuss about Julius?"
"I don't trust him," Natsu said suddenly, looking Erza in the eye, "the guy doesn't smell right to me. I think you should take it slow with him, cause there's more to him than we know."
"Natsu, you can't just deem someone untrustworthy because of the way they smell," Erza said dismissively, turning away from the Fire Dragon Slayer, "besides, you've never even met him!"
"I don't know, Erza," Lucy said quietly, "Natsu's gut instincts have been proven right time and again."
"So what exactly are you insinuating," Erza asked, her tone much less friendly.
"Nothing," Lucy said quickly, waving a hand and leaving the bar to escape from the intense pressure that Erza exuded.
Across the long, expansive guild hall, Lucy saw her good friend, Levy. The short, blue haired script wizard was, as usual, pouring over a book as Jet and Droy fought over who cared for Levy more. Lucy, however, found their quarrel much less grating than the one slowly building behind her between Erza and Natsu. As Lucy made for her friend's table, which was loaded with books, she tuned out the shouting behind her.
"Hi there, Levy, mind if I take a seat?"
"No, of course not. Come sit by me, the books will muffle all the yelling," Levy said brightly, looking up with a smile.
Lucy did as she was bidden, but the harsh words Natsu and Erza hurled back and forth were still louder than anything else in the guild hall.
"At least I have one friend that isn't completely nuts," Lucy said with a smirk as she peered over the books at a fiery Natsu and a red-faced Erza.
"Yeah, they can be a chore," Levy said, "but you love 'em anyway, right? The closest thing to family we have is Fairy Tail."
"Good point," Lucy said, laying her head down upon a pile of books and taking in the musty, comforting scent of their pages. Levy looked at Lucy over the top of her glasses, seeing her anguish before carefully marking her page, setting aside her book and her reading glasses, and bracingly clapping Lucy on the shoulder.
"C'mon Lucy, cheer up! I know, why don't we go on a job, just the two of us! You haven't done any since that last big one," Levy suggested.
"Ugh… I can't, Levy."
"What? Why," the script wizard asked, her eyebrows raised.
"It's a secret," Lucy said quietly, lifting her head and whispering.
For a moment, the Celestial wizard's eyes flickered to Droy and Jet, who were still bickering behind them.
"Boys," Levy said loudly, making Droy and Jet halt their squabble in its tracks to attend to Levy, "I need more books! These ones aren't quite right for my needs, they're more theoretical. I need books on application!"
"Yes ma'am," they pair said in unison before racing off to the library.
"Ok, we're alone," Levy whispered, looking around, "so why can't you go on a job?"
"Ooooh, Levy, I wanna tell you, I really do, but I can't," Lucy grumbled thumping her head upon the pile of books.
"Aww, c'mon Lucy, pretty please?"
But from across the room, a shining light flared up as a fire engulfed the area where Natsu and Erza's bickering had become escalated. Lucy pulled her head up just in time to see Natsu's back as he was thrown at her by some unseen force.
"Get down," Lucy yelled, grabbing Levy and dragging her from the table's bench so as to avoid the howling Natsu. He skidded across the table, and with a muffled cry he landed upon Lucy, who had valiantly saved Levy from the heavy blow.
"Ow," Lucy moaned, her body crushed against the floor by Natsu's densely muscled form.
Erza stomped over, kicking through the books that had fallen to the floor and grabbed the dazed Natsu by his collar, lifting him into the air.
"Any other opinions you'd like to share," she asked menacingly, looking at Natsu's dark eyes.
The Fire Dragon Slayer stared back, the fire within him burning over as he once more expressed his stance.
"No… just make sure that when I'm proven right you apologize, cause I can almost guarantee that there's something wrong with this Julius guy. He smells like he's hiding something."
But while Natsu's words only enraged Erza to the point that she dropped him and stormed out of the guild hall, someone else heard those words as he skulked in the corner, listening to the goings on of the Fairy Tail guild. It was Jellal, once more disguised as Mystogan, and when he overheard the Fire Dragon Slayer's warning, his stomach dropped, for that was the exact way Jellal felt about Julius: a sense of uncertain distrust. At first the fugitive had tried to dismiss it as a feeble excuse to justify his jealousy. He saw it as a pathetic attempt to sabotage a relationship between Erza and her mysterious new boyfriend. But now Natsu was claiming to have sensed the same thing, and if Jellal had been pressed, he honestly wasn't sure he could've articulated the thought any better than Natsu just had.
"Natsu Dragneel."
The Salamander felt a shiver run down his spine as the quiet voice behind him spoke. It was deep and gruff, and all too familiar. Along with the scent that pervaded Natsu's nostrils, he knew who it was before he'd even turned around.
"Jellal," Natsu whispered, "what do you want?"
"You knew it was me," Jellal asked, wondering if he'd forgotten to put on his mask.
"I can smell you," Natsu said darkly, glancing at the open doors through which Erza had marched through moments earlier.
"Natsu, I must ask you something, can we speak in private?"
The salmon haired youth did not look at all like his fiery, happy-go-lucky self, but he still nodded and followed Jellal up to his S-class quarters, where Jellal placed a magical seal upon the door to remove any chance of being overheard.
"What do you want," Natsu asked again taking a seat upon the couch without asking and crossing his arms.
Jellal took a seat upon the fluffy reclining chair opposite Natsu and leaned forward, looking tense and nervous while Natsu reclined lazily upon the sofa.
"I wish to speak to you about Erza," the masked man said.
The statement made Natsu scrutinize Jellal with a blank gaze, though there was something else there as well…was Natsu afraid?
'I suppose he doesn't quite trust me, yet,' Jellal thought as he assembled the proposal in his head.
"Natsu, I listened in on your argument with Erza, and I think you may be on to something," Jellal said, "furthermore, if it's alright by you, I think the two of us should try to keep an eye upon Erza and her new… acquaintance."
As much of a man as Jellal was, he found himself unable to call Julius Erza's boyfriend, even if he knew that they were together. The thought made him unhappy and deeply unsettled.
"So, you believe me," Natsu asked, raising an eyebrow and looking inquisitively at the robed wizard.
"I do, and as I am concerned for Erza's wellbeing, I think we should watch her," Jellal said again.
"What if you're just jealous?"
A smile pulled at the corner of Natsu's lips. It seemed his reputation for being a reckless hothead extended to the honest telling of his view of the world.
"I thought that myself, and so I shelved my suspicions for Erza's sake… I've decided that if she is truly happy with another man, I have no right to interject. But now that there's someone else who shares my opinion I can no longer stand idly by. I'm not suggesting we ruin their relationship," Jellal hastily added in response to Natsu's scowl, "but we could… I don't know… run a background check or something, just to be sure Julius is who he claims to be. What do you say, Natsu?"
"I was looking forward to Erza realizing I was right on her own so that she would have to come apologize for throwing me across the guild hall," Natsu growled, "but I suppose I can help the process along. Where do we start looking?"
"Erza was excited about receiving a letter from Julius. We should keep our ears open for any other communication between the two, and intercept anything that would provide details as to their next date. Even so, we must still move cautiously, someone anticipated my surveillance last time. Whoever it was made it seem like they were two steps ahead of me, no matter how stealthy I was," Jellal explained quietly, leaning forward.
Natsu was drawn in by the espionage of Jellal's actions, and so he leaned forward too, listening raptly and thinking about ways to intercept mail.
"I don't think we really have any chance of getting our hands of Erza's mail unless we bust into the post office and steal it," Natsu said, shaking his head.
"My thoughts exactly," Jellal agreed, rubbing a hand upon his face so as to wipe away his frustrations, "but if we could simply read the letter remotely via a Seer's Lacrima…"
"Too expensive," Natsu said, "the last one I saw was over 50,000 jewel. Why don't we just wait for Erza to brag about her next date and case her apartment for the letter when she's not home. Security's pretty lax because she figures no one would dare steal from 'Titania, Queen of the Fairies'."
"Yes," Jellal said suddenly, "we'll simply enter her house and make a magical copy of the letter, leaving everything undisturbed. Are you sure she leaves her door unlocked?"
"Oh, yeah," Natsu said with a smile, "she never really locks it, and even if she did, there's always a window."
"Alright then, seeing as you draw less attention, simply lay low and stay close to Erza for a few days, and listen for any hint of another letter from Julius," Jellal summarized, looking to Natsu for confirmation.
To his surprise, Natsu had wrapped his head in his scarf so as to obscure his face, and he spoke in a low, stealthy voice.
"Operation: Infiltrate the Fairy Queen's Palace is under way, Mystery Man, over and out."
What, another piece of an incomplete fanfic you thought was dead? Yeah, that seems to be the general concensus when it comes to my writing. I've been rather busy, what with car troubles, and the works, but you guys don't wanna hear about that... anyway, here we see a bit more of the plot unfold (if you can call it a plot) and Natsu and Jellal are working together to figure out the identity of the air wizard Julius. I'm hoping for a more driven chapter next go round. I have an idea or two, but who knows, things rarely translate perfectly from thought to written word. Over and out my fellow wizards.