Jellal knocked the door a few times. He stood in front of the house quietly, waiting for the owner to open the door. He just arrived from the border, back to the palace, switched places with Laxus.

A few moments later, the door creaked opened. A woman with short purple hair appeared smilingly behind the door. However, when she saw him, her smiling face changed confused.

"Good day, ma'am. I'm Jellal Fernandes. I came on behalf of General Dreyar to see you," he intoduced himself.

"Oh, yes." A man appeared behind her. "About that..." she chuckled. "...actually I did ask General to come over because I have something for him to give to the queen. But then, I have a visitor right now..." She turned her husband and back to the blue-haired soldier. "...I already gave it to her. Perhaps General Fernandes can bring her to the queen?" she asked.

Jellal nodded. "Sure," he said. The woman clasped her hands together and asked the man to wait. She disappeared, leaving her husband with the young general.

"Actually we were waiting for General Dreyar," the husband tried to make a conversation.

"Yes. General Dreyar just returned to the border and asked me to come and see you. I'm sorry for the inconveniances." He bowed.

The husband laughed. "It's okay. It is my pleasure to meet one of the highest general. I am Max, by the way." He extended his hand, which shook lightly by Jellal. "You want to come inside and have some tea?" he invited.

The purple-haired woman came back. Following right behind her was a figure he very much familiar.

"General, this is Princess Erza. A friend of mine," she introduced. "I had given the gift to Erza - I mean, Princess Erza." Jellal nodded. She turned to her red-headed friend. "It's not a really good gift, but I hope you can give it to Levy. I haven't had the chance to see her yet."

Erza touched the woman's cheek. The woman held her hand and kissed it. Then she hugged her tightly. Erza returned the hug. Long. As long as she needed.

"It's good to see you, Erza," she whispered. "I miss you." She sniffed. "All of you," she added.

"It's good to see you too. Levy must be glad to see you too," Erza assured. As the woman slowly loosened her hug, Erza kissed her on her cheek. "Take care of her," she reminded the husband, Max.

"I will." The man nodded. He wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulder. In return, she held on his waist.

"General." She turned around toward Jellal. The general bowed before her. As they both turned around, they were greeted with an empty lawn surrounded by tall trees. There was a horse tied to a tree.

Erza cleared her throat. "My company...I think they are still having lunch," she said. No response fron the general. "I asked them to leave me here for an hour," she added.

"How long have you been here?" he asked.

"Long enough."

"Do you want to wait more?"

"Do you?" The man quiet. "I believe you just came back from the border and you must need rest," she said.

"Do you mind?" he asked. They both looked at the horse tied at a tree.

"Not my first time. So, no."

He helped her got onto the horse and climbed after her. She waved to the couple before leaving.

XxxxxxXxxxxx

They arrived at the royal castle late in the evening. The servants came running as they saw the royal princess and the general and helped them off the horse. One of the servants took the horse away while the others escorted them into the palace. Erza walked ahead of them and Jellal one step behind. On their way, they were greeted by the queen.

"Erza!" she shrieked as she saw the royal princess. Her happy face showed how excited she was. She embraced her into a quick hug and pulled her away. "Make some tea and bring to the house," she told the maids. "Why didn't you tell me first that you're coming?" She turned back to Erza. Her hand still holding Erza's as they make their way to the house.

"I have some...errands here. I guess I should stop by," the red head replied. The bluenette queen nodded.

"Well, it's..." the queen paused and turned toward the company following them. "General?" She looked at the young general. "I believe you must be tired from your long journey coming back. Why don't you go and have some rest?"

Jellal bowed. "Sure, Your Highness." Before the general could dismiss himself, Erza spoke.

"General, my men aren't here yet. I'm afraid that they didn't know that I'm already here. Would you please find them and inform them that I am here?"

"Erza - " Levy tried to interrupt her, but she stopped when the general agreed.

"Sure. I will find them and inform that you are safe here," he answered. Erza smirked.

"Thank you, General."

Jellal bowed before both the royal princesses and dismissed himself.

"Erza, why did you do that?" Levy pouted. Erza shrugged.

"Just because." She grinned.

The queen then brought her friend back to where they supposed to be heading.

At the same time, the blue-haired general headed back to his horse to search for the princess' company. He sighed. Honestly, he was exhausted from the long jouney. Plus, Laxus demanded a spar before he started his journey. I miss you, dude. Yeah, right. The blonde idiot only missed playing around. He must be bored to death while his turn at the palace. And, he even asked Jellal to stop at one place to meet somebody. That wouldn't be a problem. The unexpected turn was that Erza was there. He wasn't sure if it was coincedence or his blonde friend was playing with him again.

When he reached the foyer, a group of men just arrived. One of the men - one with black spiky hair and a black 'X' tatoo on his face - laughed out loud the moment he saw the young general.

"Finally got the gut to kidnap our queen, huh," the man told him grinningly, showed his white teeth. Jellal sighed quietly. He purposely used the word 'queen'.

"Good to see you, man. Thought you might be lost, I was about to call for a search party," he replied. The man laughed even more. They grabbed each other's hand and brought to their chests.

"Thought I was gonna see Laxus here," he said.

Jellal shook his head. "Nope. Just me here." The man laughed again loudly. He wrapped his arm around the bluenette's shoulder and tapped on his arm a few times. "Haven't seen you for so long. You got some humour now, huh." The man laughed again.

Jellal sighed. His head started throbbing. It was a very long day. And with these guys along, it was still a very long day ahead. Maybe a drink or two could help.

XxxxxxXxxxxx

The servants laid down the young general on his bed. Erza stood at the bed foot watching the man gruntled as the servants covered him with blanket. She sighed at the sight of how wasted he was. She wouldn't understand how a man as composed as him would fall into a drinking contest, with Gajeel, of all people. His royal highness. She asked the servants to leave, told them she would watch the man until he asleep.

She sat down on the bed, right next to him. She chuckled. Thought how stupid the man was. And how lucky she was - never thought that she would ever find him in such state.

"Erza..." She turned her head to his murmurs. He slowly pushed his body to sit.

"It's okay, Jellal. Time to sleep."

However, the drunk man moved forward and wrapped his arms around her body. He rested his face at the crook of her neck. Made the princess froze.

"Erza..." he called again.

She tried to say something. She knew the man was drunk and he probably won't remember anything when he sober.

"Jel..." She stopped at his voice calling her name again.

"Why..." he breathed slowly at her neck. "...are you..." He adjusted his body closer. "...not a commoner?" He took a breath before continued. "...why am i not..." He loosened his hug on her and rested his forehead on her shoulder. "...a prince? Why would I fall for you? Why couldn't I marry you?"

Erza lost of word. She knew that that man had feeling for her. As she had feeling for him. What she didn't know was that he would be this vulnarable. She thought he already gave up on her after she had finished her training over his playground years ago.

"Jellal..." she tried to collect her vocabulary. She heard him chuckled and he placed his chin on her shoulder and leaned his head on her temple.

"I love you, Erza," he confessed. "Can I love you, Erza?" Then she heard him sighed. "I shouldn't love you, Erza."

She smirked and then raised her hand to carefully touch his cheek. "Make up your mind, Jellal." At that moment, she heard his soft snore. She smiled. "You're an idiot."

XxxxxxXxxxxx

The king had been screaming and shouting while being carried away from the bar to his bed. He fell on the bed face first together with the servants carrying him. They immediately got up and tried to pull him to his back. However, he was not giving any cooperation, pushing everyone away.

"Get off me! Get the fuck off me!" he kept shouting.

Levy felt very embarrassed seeing him so wasted and treated the servants that way. She quickly dismissed them, left the king sprawled on his bed. She closed the door and locked it after the last servant left.

Gajeel slowly turned around and laid on his back. His eyes closed. Levy went up to him and climbed on to the bed. She stared at him. Long. Reminded her of the beautiful red eyes of his she had a close up not long ago. Now they were covered up.

He stirred, opened his eyes a little, caught her sat next to him, staring.

"Hey, Shorty." He grinned.

He pushed his back from the bed, turned his body facing her. Levy watched his every movement nervously. He moved closer, made her confusingly leaned backward. And she stopped when his rough palm touched her cheek. She froze. He made his way to her till he had her face in both his hands. Her eyes widened and her face warmed up. "Did he realise what he is doing?" she whispered to no one.

"Shorty," he whispered. He slowly rested his forehead on hers. "I'm sorry you stucked with me." His voice was low, almost whispered. And for some reason, soothing. "I..." His voice stucked in his throat. "...I will protect you. I promise," he said.

She raised her hands and placed them on his. His hands were bigger and rougher. "I lost them..." he continued. "...but I will not lose you."

Her eyes welled up. She smiled and kissed his palm, one by one. "You won't," she assured. "I'll stick around, whether you want me or not." She knew he wouldn't remember a thing in the morning.

He lifted his head and stared into her eyes. "Of course I want you. I marry you. You're my wife."

Levy's eyes widened. And she blinked a few times. Was he for real? His thumb brushed lightly against her cheek, tensed her up. He was mumbling something more but she couldn't hear anything of them, because her heart raced so loudly, pounded against her chest. He moved even closer to her. Clearing the gap between them.

"Gajeel..." She closed her eyes. Feeling his breath on her face, warming her face even more. Her face turned bright red at how close they were, as their skins brushed against each other. Suddenly he fell on top of her.

Levy tried to move, even tried to push his body from her. She sighed. He was drunk. What was she hoping to happen? She tried again, at least tried to move out from beneath of him. A few unsuccessful tries, she gave up. He didn't budge. She could feel his steady breath blew lightly on her head. How closed they were.

She had been sharing the room, the bed with him since they were married. But they never been this closed. If possible, he would avoid to even sit right next to her. Right now, he was sleeping peacefully on top of her. If she turned, her face would touch his exposed neck. She sighed. She slowly closed her eyes. She might as well sleep. There was no way she could do when most of his body weight pinned her down.

He gruntled. Stirred and slowly moved from on top of her. He laid next to her. Levy slowly opened her eyes, glanced at him through the corner of her eyes. Suddenly she missed him. Missed when their bodies touched. Missed when his breaths blew lightly on her head.

She turned to the other side. Tried to steady her breaths when there was a sudden tightness in her chest. She heard his soft gruntles.

Suddenly she was pulled backward, spooned into his protective arms. She almost shrieked. He nuzzled at the crook of her neck before dozed off again back to sleep.

Levy was almost not breathing. He felt so warm, so safe. She touched his arms that hugging her. Lightly brushed them. His broad chest settled against her back. She smiled a little. And then slowly closed her eyes, to join him to sleep.

XxxxxxXxxxxx

She moved, snuggled closer to him. Rested her arm across his chest. He moved. Turned to his side and pulled her to his chest. He rested his chin on her head and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

His eyes opened spontaneously. He jumped on to his butt. Startled the sleepy Levy on his way. However, he missed the bed's edge and fell on to the floor, hit his head hard. Levy shrieked. Quickly jumped down to his side.

"Gajeel!!!" She held his shoulder. Her face worried. "Are you okay? Did you hurt?" She went and rubbed the back of his head when he touched it. Their hands touched. "Are you alright?" she asked again. When he lifted his hand and caught hers, she stopped caressed his head.

He gulped. "L - last night..." She grinned.

"You were drunk," she said. "But you looked much better now." She grinned. "Why don't you go and take a bath first, and I'll ask the maid to prepare you a cup of coffee. Good for hangover."

He was still staring at his wife. Couldn't believe of what had happened and her smiling face confused him even more. He tried to remember what had happened last night. He slowly let go of her hand.

"Come on. Go take a bath," she instructed him.

He slowly climbed back on his feet after she went to the door to get the maid. 'Why the hell she looked so happy?'

XxxxxxXxxxxx

Erza closed the door behind her. As she turned around, a black-haired man with a tattoo on his face stood behind her, leaned against the wall with arms across his chest. He grinned widely.

"How disappointed I am," he said.

Erza raised her brows, demanded more explanation. The man chuckled.

"I was hoping to find you come out of his room. Not your room," he said.

Erza glanced elsewhere for a second before turned back to the man. "He is not that kind of a guy."

"So, you are that kind of a girl?" he asked.

Erza glared at him through the corner of her eyes. The man immediately raised both his hands, admitted defeat.

"I am very sorry, Your Highness. How rude I am," he apologised, cynically.

Erza walked ahead, then followed by the man.

"Bixlow, I'll be staying here for a few more days. Please send someone to inform my father." The man noted.

"Spending more time with your loved one?" he asked half-whispered, then he laughed out loud.

Erza just ignored the man and kept walking ahead.

XxxxxxXxxxxx