Erza stood by the prow, watching as the horizon solidified and turned into the bustling port of Hargeon. The emerging buildings were clear in the fading light, the sun approaching the horizon behind them. She smiled to herself, breathing in the spring air deeply. The wind had died last night, leaving the air heavy and humid even as the current pushed them through the waves and the sun disappeared in the sky. So even though they all wore their bathing suits and Wendy had stirred up a cool breeze earlier, everyone hid below decks. Erza was the only one left, her long hair sticking to her back and shoulders. The strands hung past her waist, a scarlet waterfall nearly three feet in length.
Erza sighed, pulling her attention from the approaching city and focusing instead on her hair. She gathered it all in a ponytail in an attempt to escape the sticky feeling, but it did little to improve her discomfort. She let it go, biting her lip while she thought.
Jellal came on deck a few minutes later and found Erza examining a sword. He blushed at the sight of her in her white bikini, the fabric leaving nothing to the imagination. She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. How did I ever win her?
She looked over at the sound of his soft footsteps, giving him a gentle smile. "What's the sword for?" She snorted, the weapon disappearing in a flash of golden light. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead before stepping away and looking at the ocean. It was too hot to hold her, and watching her would just distract him. Besides, although he loved her deeply, he still was unsure on how to touch her, how to hold her. He'd been without physical touch for so long that it was difficult to learn what was best. And it certainly didn't help that he and Erza were some of the most awkward people he knew.
"I was wondering how sharp a sword would need to be to cut my hair." Jellal started, his attention jerking to her immediately and catching her smirk. "Erza Nightwalker did it in one move!" She defended herself, leaning against the bulwark.
"Why would you ever want to cut your hair?" He laughed, only slightly concerned. He felt sweat drenching his hair and skin, and Erza glanced away before she found herself reaching out to brush blue hair from his face. The sight of his bare chest was also extremely distracting, especially in the golden sunlight.
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I think the heat is getting to me. And Nightwalker looked good with short hair. And since we're pretty much the same person…"
Jellal smiled before tucking a strand of her sticky hair behind her ear. "I've never met Erza Nightwalker, but I know that without a doubt, you would look beautiful no matter the length of your hair. What… how short were you thinking?"
Erza hummed, twisting a strand of hair around her finger smirking as Jellal's eyes followed the motion. "Hmm… Not that short, I don't think. What do you think would look good?" Her voice dropped even as her head tilted downwards, brown eyes looking up at her boyfriend from beneath her lashes. His heart stammered even as he let his gaze run freely over her, willing his cheeks to stay cool.
"I-" He cleared his throat and looked away. "It shouldn't matter what I think. It's your hair." A cool breeze had finally started up, and her hair began to blow sideways and hit him in the arm. He shivered, sliding slightly away to escape the locks that were now tangling in the wind.
Erza sighed, all thoughts of hair and seduction gone from her mind. Using her magic, her hair pulled up into a ponytail even as she turned to look at Jellal. He was looking at Hargeon again, watching as the buildings grew in size. "Jellal? What's bothering you?"
He groaned, leaning over the railing and letting it dig into his stomach. "I don't want to keep being negative. I love you Erza."
She reached out and placed a hand on his forearm. "And I love you," she murmured, feeling a pressure lifting off of her heart as the words came out. She smiled up at him, rubbing her thumb over his bicep. "But that isn't what's wrong, is it? You just said that, we both did, and you don't seem any happier." She continued to run her hand along his arm, and he unconsciously leaned toward her. "I know you love me. But why… why do I feel like you're saying goodbye?"
Jellal looked down at her hand on his arm before letting his eyes fall shut. "I… I don't want to," he began. Erza dropped her hand and frowned, trying to understand what he was saying. He sighed, running his hands through his hair and getting his fingers caught in the sweaty mess. "Erza, I don't want to leave you, I hate when I have to. But I'm the master of Crime Sorciere, and I've already been gone for three months, and I trust Meredy with my life, but she's never been good by herself for long. I want nothing more than to go with you to Fairy Tail and to never leave again, and hopefully someday, that will be a reality. But for now…"
"You have a duty to your guild, I understand." Erza's frown had disappeared and been replaced with a gentle smile. "I'm glad you hold your guild in such high regard."
Jellal looked over in surprise. "You, you aren't mad at me? You're not going to yell at me for leaving you time after time after time?" Erza snorted, punching him in the arm. He laughed, reaching out to grab the railing to keep from falling over with the strength behind her fist.
"If you were leaving me behind and never coming back, then we might start to have issues." Erza moved behind him and wrapped her arms around Jellal's waist, resting her head against his shoulder blade and feeling his smooth skin against her cheek. Her hands locked over his navel, and one of his own rested over top, his thumb rubbing over the back of her knuckles. "But you aren't. You're going away for a bit. It's simply goodbye until tomorrow, goodbye until you come back to me." She squeezed his waist, pressing herself against him tightly. "Although you aren't going to keep walking away from me, now are you?"
"How could I possibly walk away from a vision such as yourself?" Jellal turned in her arms so he could press a kiss to her forehead. She hummed, letting her head rest against his chest. His steady heartbeat filled her head and lulled her into a state of calm. His fingers tangled in her hair, letting the scarlet strands run through his hands even as he let his cheek rest against the top of her head. "I don't want to make a promise I can't keep, but I'll come back soon. I'll come back to you. I always will."
Erza looked up, smiling contentedly even as she let her hands make designs on his back before they pulled away from his waist and twined around his neck instead. He pulled her tight against his chest and breathed in that light fragrance of lavender. "It was the color of your hair, not the length." His fingers found her chin and tilted it upwards even as he leaned down to meet her. They smiled even as they kissed, holding each other on the prow of the ship as Hargeon came into view. His hands held her waist, molding to the curves of her body as if trying to memorize every inch of her.
"Can you guys please not do this where we all can see you?" Natsu groaned as he came up from below, clapping a hand over his eyes. Erza pulled away from Jellal with a slight blush even as she rested her head against his chest. "I mean, yeah, good for you two, but I don't need to see kissing every five seconds."
"Oh, you're one to talk," Gray remarked as he appeared, looking as cool as ever. "You and Lucy are almost as bad. At least Erza and Jellal have the decency to only get hot and heavy when the rest of us aren't here."
"We do not get 'hot and heavy!'" Jellal shot back, only half offended as he slipped his arms from Erza's waist and let them hang by his side. "What, did you boys come back to life with the breeze?"
"I know I did." Wendy inhaled deeply as she and Lucy emerged, Happy and Carla floating around their heads. "I know I summoned a breeze early, but my own magic never really does it for me." Natsu nodded sagely, much to Lucy's amusement.
"We're about an hour from Hargeon if I had to guess," the blonde added, stretching and spinning around, enjoying the cool air. "It's going to be so weird to be back in Fiore. And I guess we need to decide if we're going to go straight to Magnolia or if we're going to stay at a hotel tonight. I mean, if everything goes as fast as possible, then we might get to Magnolia by nine o'clock."
"And most people are usually home from the guild by then," Erza mused, letting her eyes drift to the horizon as she enjoyed Jellal's presence. Who knows how much more time we have left together? If Lucy's estimation is correct then only about an hour, I suppose. It'll be weird not having him by my side every day; of course, even when we were all still in Ishgar, we only saw each other once a month or so. But I suppose I've grown used to his company.
"I don't care what time we get back, I just want to go home. And if that means we all have to sleep at Lucy's apartment, then so be it." Lucy looked absolutely outraged at Natsu's suggestion.
"Excuse me, but there is barely enough room when you and Happy decide to crash! No way I could fit four other people on top of that! Besides," she suddenly looked nervous. "I really don't want to face my landlady until I absolutely have to. I am two and a half years late on rent."
Wendy groaned, letting her head fall into her hands. "Oh, I forgot about rent! Maybe our reward for the quest will pay for that?"
"What even happened to our reward money?" Gray wondered aloud. "Like, did they save it for us? I told Juvia to use what she needed, but since my letter never got to her, what actually happened?"
Carla shrugged as she continued to hover above the planks even as Happy landed in Lucy's arms, the young woman hugging him close.
"I hope they all held on to our reward and didn't spend all of it. That would be just our luck, wouldn't it?" Erza's lips lifted up in a slight smile as she glanced over at Happy and Lucy. "The Master does have a tendency to love money too much."
"I know everyone was confused and concerned when the boat showed up without you." Jellal glanced over at Erza with a soft expression. "That was part of the reason why I wanted to come find you all. It didn't make sense to us that your reward came without you."
"You should've known we would follow the money. Especially when Lucy still has to pay rent." Natsu winked at the Celestial Wizard, and she retaliated by sticking her tongue out at her boyfriend even as he threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. She was tense for a moment or two before relaxing into his arms.
"So what's the plan?" Gray ran a hand through his hair, thoughts flicking to the letter tucked in the front pocket of his bag. "It would be nice to get home as soon as possible, but I don't want to have no place to spend the night."
"Don't you have a house? And Natsu does too." Wendy offered, sitting up straight in one of the chairs scattered around the deck.
Lucy giggled. "Natsu and Happy have a house, but it's so messy that none of us would even be able to walk through the door." Natsu objected and tried to pull away from Lucy in protest, but she grabbed his hand and kept him close, blushing all the while.
Gray shrugged, forcing himself back into the future. "I have an apartment on the other side of town, but it's even smaller than Lucy's place."
Erza smiled. "I'm sure Juvia would be more than happy to let you stay with her." They all laughed at Gray's embarrassment even as the Ice Make wizard felt a sharp pang of guilt pierce through him. "Let's just not mention anything about us pretending to be married for a couple months there, alright? When that woman gets territorial about Gray, she is downright terrifying." Jellal laughed as Erza shuddered.
"Actually…" Lucy's eyes wandered as she thought. "I think there's a place we can stay. And if that falls through, then I guess I'm fitting everyone in my apartment. After you deal with my landlady for me."
"Where is this place?" Carla questioned.
Lucy's eyes twinkled even as she squeezed Happy a little tighter. "Some old friends. I know they'll be happy to help us. Well, at least, I hope they will be."
Natsu and Happy pushed her for the next twenty minutes, trying to get names out of her. But she refused, at first laughing it off and then eventually becoming annoyed at the boys. It was so easy to find yourself annoyed when Natsu was in the picture. The rest of the hour was spent changing into clothes befitting the March weather of Fiore and packing up all of their belongings; Erza quickly conscripted Jellal and Gray into helping her shove all of her things into bags and suitcases.
All too soon (and yet not soon enough), they were docking in Hargeon. Natsu and Wendy threw themselves from the ship, Happy and Carla close behind. Even with the motion sickness medicine they had found in Coracre, there was still something about vehicles that threw them off. Solid land was so much better. Next were Lucy and Gray, the blonde laughing at her boyfriend while Gray made fun of the pyro. Finally, Jellal and Erza made their way down the gangplank. He held her hand tightly, and while he said it was simply for balance, she knew better. He was preparing for the approaching moment when he would have to let go for a good while.
As soon as they stepped onto the docks, Erza pulled him in quickly for a kiss, shocking him and releasing him before he even knew what was happening. "Go now," she whispered, brushing his hair behind his ear with a gentle smile. "Go find your guild. Go before I can't bear to see you leave." He cupped her face and ran his thumb over her cheekbone.
"I'll come back to you soon," he promised, placing a light kiss on her forehead. She blushed before stepping backwards. Jellal threw a glance at the team, his smile growing bigger. "Don't cause too much trouble." She snorted while shaking her head.
"I could say the same of you," she shot back, earning a wink from him. Jellal waved at his girlfriend before turning his back on the team from Fairy Tail and walking down the dock, pushing his way through the crowds and taking the first steps back towards Crime Socierce, his guild and his friends. He pushed his hands into his pockets, thinking of the woman he was leaving behind. She'll be okay. She's strong. Besides, she has Natsu and Gray and Lucy and Wendy if anything was to happen. Feeling content, Jellal squared his shoulders and raised his face toward the sun, letting the spring air of his homeland rejuvenate his soul.
Almost home! Sorry I keep teasing you, but I just can't help it :) And sorry if this chapter seems a little off, I wrote it a while ago and tried to adjust it to how the story has changed, but I'm not sure if it worked as well as I wanted it to. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed and hope you can wait until next week! I'm really excited for what the next two weeks have in store :)