The moment Jellal and Lucy crawled out the tunnel, the blond asked for the maid to fill the hole. The pink haired spirit nodded her head stoically and caused a bunch of rocks and dirt fall down the hole. Not wasting time, the blue-haired male took the blond's hand and began running down the alley.

"Where are we going?" Lucy shouted behind him. He paused, his hand gripping her wrist tightly.

He examined his surroundings. "We have to get somewhere far."

She tugged, her wrist wiggling in Jellal's grasp. "Let go."

"I can't."

"Jellal, let go."

"They're going to find us."

"I said let go." Her voice became firm.

He did as he was instructed and turned toward her. The celestial mage's face was serious as she crossed her arms over her busty chest.

"How did they know?"

"Lucy..."

"How can they find us so easily? You said we were going to leave Crocus."

He had to be careful what he said next. "What are you saying?"

She uncrossed her arms and walked toward him. She dabbed a finger at his chest. "You could have told them about me."

"Lucy."

"Don't Lucy me."

He raised his hands. He said his words slowly. "I won't, I wouldn't do anything..."

Her hand fell to her side as she interrupted him. "I heard that so many times before."

"Those dragon slayers were not same ones from your guild."

"But they sensed me and that means they can tell the others from Fairy Tail." The celestial mage made sure to look him in the eyes. "I meant what I told you in the beginning. I'm not returning to Fairy Tail."

"And I respect your decision."

She crossed her arms once again. "Do you really?"

"Yes."

The brick wall shuddered, making the blond pivot on her feet. Her brown eyes widened. Jellal acted quickly. He grabbed her arm and dashed in the opposite direction.

"Why are they after us?" she shouted as she let Jellal lead her down the streets. They maneuvered easily through the crowds of people on the streets.

"We sensed them," he yelled over his shoulder.

They continued running around. Jellal passed through the streets where they were large groups of people. He pushed his way through some of the groups, apologizing for both of them. But by making contact with other folks, he was getting rid of their scents. Eventually, the other dragon slayers would lose track of them because their scent would be on everyone else.

He slowed down, moving into jog, recalling there was an inn nearby. The blond behind him was panting heavily for air but she didn't complain about being tired. He admired her for that.

"There's a place we can stay for tonight." He took lead once again.

She didn't respond, so he took her answer as a "yes."

He passed through the last group, opening glass doors that led inside to a lobby area. He kept a firm grip on Lucy's wrist as he made his way to the front desk to order a room for them.

OoO

Jellal had ordered a small room with one large bed -being that the other rooms with two beds were occupied for the night. It was quite a luxury compared to sleeping in a filthy alleyway. And she was grateful for the bathroom.

Lucy stood in the shower and let the water wash away the dirt and sweat. She tried not to think about the possibility that the male she was traveling with rattled on her. A fact she recalled Erza telling her was Jellal didn't lie. After regaining his memories, he was consumed by guilt for the things he did while possessed, that he tried his best to atone.

So did that mean he was serious about staying with her?

Her fingers went to her lips. The kiss they shared, would he do it again?

She shook her head. There had to be some motive – a reason for him to travel with her. Perhaps he was working with Erza. Or he trying to persuade her to return to Fairy Tail.

"It's too good to be true," she whispered and then laughed. "Yes, Jellal won't want to stay with me. Not if he knew the truth."

Turning the knob to take the water off, the blond reached for the towel on the sink. She patted her skin dry and then wiped fog from the mirror, above the sink, so she could get a good look at herself. The past two years, she noted that her face didn't change much. She still appeared youthful with her shiny blond hair, smooth skin and full pink lips. Only her hair grew longer, reaching her hips if she let it loose and her brown eyes lost their natural spark.

Her eyes went to her lips. Biting her bottom lip with her teeth, the pink faded from the hard pressure to return a deeper pink. Maybe she should test him. See how much he could take before he showed his true color. A secretive smile curved on her lips. Mentally calling her maid spirit, the pink-haired female appeared in a flash.

"Princess, do you want to punish me?" she asked in a monotone voice.

"No," Lucy answered. "But I was wondering if you have an outfit, something simple yet sexy?"

"Oh," the maid said. Her blue eyes twinkled.

"I don't mean one of your revealing celestial outfits."

Virgo almost looked disappointed.

"A form fitting tank top and tights might do."

"That's a good choice," her loyal spirit answered.

"Thank you."

The maid disappeared and then reappeared with the clothing she requested. With a grateful smile, Lucy dressed herself while Virgo returned to the celestial world.

She walked out of the bathroom, dressed what she liked to consider feminine, since she spent most of her time wearing comfortable clothing. The navy-blue tank top and the black tights hugged her form, clearly showing her curves. When Jellal saw her, he quickly stood up from the bed. Without saying anything, he stiffly and hastily walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Lucy would've stomped her foot in frustration, but she saw a hint of desire in his dark green eyes. She wondered if she could elicit the same feeling that he had in the building when he kissed her.

Moving to the window, she pulled aside the white curtains. The sky was beginning to darken, indicating the end of another day. Tomorrow, the Grand Magic Games would begin. Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and the other magical guilds would start competing to see which guild was the best. This year was going to be interesting because Fairy Tail was the most prominent guild.

Her eyelashes swept down, and her hands clenched into fists. A heavy pain settled in her chest.

She needed to think about something else, anything but the backstabbing, betraying guild.

Anything such as... Food! The thought popped into her mind. In a blink of an eye, Virgo came back from the celestial world with steaming hot food.

"Virgo," the celestial mage said with astonishment.

"You might be hungry," the spirit retuned with a formal bow.

"I can eat this food but what about Jellal? He can't celestial cuisine without consequences."

"Yes, he can eat this food. I made this food in Earth Land before I transported it to you," the maid reassured her with her face remaining passive. "Punishment?"

The blond moved her head from side-to-side. "No."

Just then, Jellal opened the door and walked into the room with gray sweats and a clean white shirt. His blue hair was wet and dishevel. Immediately, her eyes landed on the red tattoo above and under his right eye. He didn't seem bothered by her spirit's presence.

"Great, just what I was thinking," he said with a small smile. "Food."

Lucy looked away from him while not trying to blush. Even dressed casually, he still looked good.

"Well, the pizza wasn't enough," she remarked.

He sat down on the bed. Lucy bit her bottom lip.

"Even after eating half of the whole pizza?" He raised both his eyebrows.

She looked, no, more like glared at him. "What are you trying to say about my eating habits?"

"Nothing."

She didn't believe him. "I'll have you know that all that running we did made me hungry."

He lifted his hands in the air. "I like the way you get happy when you eat your food."

What he said should have been an insult, except he used the words "I like." And those words stunned her. It had been a long time someone other than her spirits complimented her.

She glanced at Virgo, who had yet to leave the room. The pink-haired spirit witnessed everything with amusement dancing in her dark eyes.

"You may go, please," she politely dismissed her spirit.

"Thank you," Jellal added to Virgo, catching Lucy off guard. Normally, people disregarded her spirits but from his genuine smile and the fact that he was looking at the pink-haired spirit while talking to her made Lucy want to shed tears. He was treating Virgo as if she was one of them, a person.

The maid bowed to both of them before disappearing.

"Thanks," the blond replied as she made her way to the bed. Virgo had a cart with their food right beside the bed.

"For what?" the blue-haired male questioned her while checking out the delicious cuisine. The maid had outdone herself with the dishes she made for them. There was tender roasted steak, mash potatoes, corn and broccoli. On the side, Virgo made sure to include carrot cake. They even had juice to drink to go with their meals.

"For being nice to Virgo," Lucy whispered. She sat on the bed across from Jellal.

Apparently, her comment made him pause in eating the mash potatoes. There was a funny expression on his face.

"Why won't I thank your spirit? She brought food for us." The way he said his words, it was as if it was natural to show gratitude to her spirits. The people she dealt with in the past didn't treat her celestial spirits like they were humans. Her friends were viewed as slaves. Lucy decided to keep her spirits a secret. She chose not to interfere if they were dealing with humans, so they would never know her friends were actually celestial spirits. It was easier for Virgo and Loke to get away with interacting with strangers than Capricorn or Aries.

She glanced down at her lap, her fingers twining together. "Not everyone is kind to my spirits."

"Why?"

"They think because I'm a celestial mage, it's ridiculous to befriend my spirits. They think that my friends are tools."

"But you're not like the other celestial mages."

Her eyes lifted to his. He put a mouthful of mash potatoes in his mouth and began chewing. The corner of his lip lifted upward.

She didn't know what else to say to him, so she began eating her meal too.

They sat in silence as they ate. She was looking down at her plate and he, well, she didn't keep his actions in mind. Instead, she felt self-conscious. The outfit she wore showed a little too much skin since she got used to covering up. And the idea of testing him seemed ludicrous now that she thought about the outcome. He wasn't treating her any different like before.

Their kiss played in her mind and Lucy felt the cool metal of her fork in her hand. She tightened her grasp on it and willed herself to forget the intimate scene.

Her eyes raised to him, a long breath escaping her parted lips when she caught him staring at her intently. "What?"

"Nothing," he said. He put his empty plate on the cart along with the eating utensils.

Swallowing, she tried to change the subject. "Is there by any chance we're going to be leaving this place tomorrow?"

"That might be hard considering that the games begin tomorrow."

"Actually, I was thinking the magical guilds will be caught up preparing for the games, so we can use the distraction to get away."

"Yeah, we can but there'll be more security around."

Lucy bit her lip. With more security, the royal guards were going to be on watch. She hoped that she didn't have to deal with them again.

She glanced at him and her breath caught in her throat. His dark green eyes roamed over her figure, making her flush. Nervously, she rubbed her thighs together.

"Umm... uhh... we should probably go to bed," Lucy said feeling a little flustered. Her teeth dug into her lip.

"Lucy." He had a way of saying her name, so sweetly. "We're already in bed."

"You know what I mean!" she quipped while jumping up in a standing position. It was a good thing her plate was on the bed and not on her lap.

He chuckled lowly. "No, I don't."

"I mean we need to sleep!"

"And how are we going to arrange that?" He emphasized the bed with his hands. "There are two of us and one bed."

Crap! She didn't think about their sleeping arrangement.

"Uh...I don't know." She didn't want him to sleep on the floor, knowing they slept in the alleyway the night before. Since the bed was big enough, he could sleep on one side and she would sleep on the other side.

Amusement flickered in his eyes.

"You sleep on one side and I sleep on the other side."

"What if you come into my personal space in the middle of night?" he asked. His eyes grew brighter and she could see that he was barely holding back his laughter.

"I was going to ask the same thing!" she shrieked back. She back pedaled until she found herself falling on the mattress.

The heavenly body mage guffawed at her reaction.

"Jellal!" she screamed his name. He took her plate, fork and knife from the bed and put them back on the cart. Then he moved over her. His laughter vanished and was instantly replaced with a seriousness that took the breath out of her.

This was a different side of Jellal, one she didn't know how to handle.

He gave her a wicked smile as he leaned forward, his elbows supported his weight on either side of her body. She felt the dip in the mattress deepening as his mouth touched the bare skin of her shoulder. Lucy closed her eyes, her breathing turning shallow by a simple touch.

She never experienced anything so exciting.

He pulled aside her strap and feathered kisses from her collarbone to under her chin. Her arms curved around him, her hands burying into the mass of his wet blue hair.

He groaned and then murmured, "Beautiful."

Lucy was about to say something when his lips reached her mouth. He nibbled on her bottom lip causing her to gasp. His tongue delved into her mouth and she moaned. The kiss felt like pure heaven.

Eventually, he had to pull back so they could both breathe. They were both panting heavily.

"Jellal," she whispered. Her hand went to caress his face.

His eyes closed at her touch, a smile tugging on his sensual lips.

"Shh, we have plenty of time," he said.

"But-." He opened his eyes and a finger pressed lightly to her lips.

"I know you must be tired. I know I am."

She wasn't tired. The kiss made her feel alive. Her body was still tingling all over.

The celestial mage shook her head and he chuckled, his chest rumbling against her breasts.

She gasped. Reading her facial expression, Jellal shifted next to her and covered them both with a blanket. Lucy felt disappointed, perhaps he was second guessing their intimacy. He moved until he was snuggling against her neck and the blond realized she was wrong. She couldn't help the smile or the redness that blossomed on her face.

"We have plenty time to talk tomorrow. For now, we solved what we're going to do if we get into each other's personal space."

Lucy cheeks definitely heated up more with his remark. She held still for him, waiting for him to say something else. Time seemed to stretch until she glanced down at him and saw that his eyes were closed. His breathing evened out. He easily fell asleep. Finally giving into his warmth, she fell asleep too.


A/N: I hoped you enjoyed reading this chapter. Also, I really appreciate all the support toward this fanfic. Thank you all for taking the time to read and either choosing to follow or favorite. And an extra thank you for reviews because the feedback I get is very helpful. :)