"Anonymous asked: Could you do a human and fairy au please"

"Anonymous asked: Hello! this is just in case that anon didn´t come back to do the request, if thats okay :) I LOVE THE STORY BTW 'May I request another chapter in this stoy where Jellal and Erza have a little one and bear ends up liking just as much as he likes Jellal.'"

Conclusion of the previous two chapters. This section has not been seen by a beta. Thank you for your patience, anon(s).

The General, the Mountain Lily, and the Scarlet Sage - Part Three/Conclusion

Bear understood about babies. He watched from the patch of sunlight on the floor as Jellal struggled with furniture assembly – apparently human babies required barred containers like puppies. He also understood that Erza often fell asleep after only eating half her sandwich. This new phenomenon was probably the best part of her pregnancy.

What he didn't understand, though, was the scent. Erza smelled the way other humans did. There was a trace of things she carried with her because of her various soaps and sprays but Bear could easily pick her out of the cloud. Jellal smelled other. Not quite human, not at all animal, just... other. His scent was sharper, more direct, and Bear could always tell when Jellal was nearby. He'd grown used to the way their smells mingled in the house. However, the baby Erza carried inside her was something new.

Erza still smelled like herself but now there was another scent laced with hers and whenever she'd stretch out on the couch Bear would press his nose gently to her belly. It was almost a finely-tuned mix of both his caretakers but not quite in the same way as the scent that lingered in their bedsheets. The first time Jellal caught him at it Bear hung his head in shame. He was a dog. Smells were kind of his thing. Why couldn't he figure it out? Was Jellal sure it was even a baby in there and not a new animal? Soft laughter and an affectionate scratch behind his ears were enough reassurance that Erza carried a baby and not an oddity. Behind the nonchalance, though, Bear detected worry. Jellal was worried about something.

Bear expected such an egregious error in judgement from a human like Erza but Jellal? Very disappointing. No one kept watch over the baby's room and Bear was appalled. At first the new addition had been given a small bed next to the bigger one Erza and Jellal shared but after a while the helpless infant had been relegated to another room entirely. How did humans – and Jellal – expect their kind to flourish when no one guarded the young?

With a harassed sigh Bear decided to take the job on himself. Every night he curled up outside the nursery door and kept an eye out for intruders. None ever came but still. Nothing less than constant vigilance would do.

The first time the child touched his fur Bear felt a surge of curious affection. Not his, but the boy's. Bear was keenly aware that he couldn't chase him down the street or even around the yard like other dogs might have – he was far too old – but it didn't seem to matter to either one. The child would scratch the bright sticks of color on his papers, and sometimes other things like the walls. Bear was content to watch and his companion content at his side.

Jellal's worries didn't manifest until one night after the boy finished reading Bear his favorite book. The lights were turned out and Bear had just relaxed into his bed that now lived in a corner of the boy's room.

He knew the child had been practicing. He knew it was meant to be a secret but his stars shone far too bright. Jellal's gasp and Erza's surprise dimmed the display but his boy companion was too proud to extinguish them.

"I wondered," Jellal said softly from the hallway.

"Will it be okay?" Erza asked.

"I'll teach him how to use it. I promise it's safe. I'll keep him safe."

His joints hurt. Bear spent most of his day napping now. When his boy came home he'd bring his work to the floor and stroke the soft fur on Bear's head and he loved it. He could hardly remember the dark time before he had a family.

Jellal was always worried now. Not for Erza or the boy, but for something else. Bear couldn't understand why Jellal kept it from him.

"He's fine, dad," the boy said softly. "He's just tired."