Jellal came back from wherever in hell he had teleported to, and Erza instantly rushed towards him.
With his magic already diminishing Erza was sure that his last teleporting attack would have taken a huge chunk of his magic.
Jellal was delirious and started to look at her with unfocused eyes. Erza repeatedly patted his cheeks to keep him awake.
"Jellal! No, no, no! Don't go to sleep. Fight it! Fight it!", she screamed as she Requipped into her Clear Heart Clothing and removed the bandages covering her chest.
She tore the bandages in half and wrapped his feet with them, making sure to tightly wrap each and every one of his toes.
His toes seemed to be affected the worst, but it did not seem like the damage done was irreparable. Erza placed the parka around Jellal's shoulders, shielding his back from the cold air, and sat on his lap.
Erza continued to viciously rub his chest to generate some heat and then observed his shivering hands. She pulled out a thick pair of gloves and forced them onto his hands before wrapping his hands tightly with a thick sweater. It was not exactly her best decision, and not exactly the best looking, as Jellal was wearing women's gloves with his hands tied by a pink sweater, but he would not lose any fingers. That was all that mattered to her.
Jellal managed to stay conscious for another couple of minutes, but eventually surrendered to the realm of dreams.
An Hour Later
Jellal felt like a massive bomb had exploded inside his head. But for some reason, a warm feeling hit his cheek when he turned to his left.
A soft hand caressed his chest and Jellal's eyes shot up. He looked around and saw that he was at the same spot where he had collapsed. The room was no longer freezing, but he could see remnants of frozen statues and dry blood all over the place.
"Seems like deja vu", he smiled to himself and Erza shut her eyes before looking away. Jellal got up and felt his limbs scream out in pain. Miraculously, Jellal had his tattered trenchcoat around his shoulders and for some reason, he was wearing stilettos that obviously did not fit his size and style.
Erza squeaked out and instantly grabbed the stilettos before switching it out with her Requip magic and wore her usual Captain's uniform.
"Erza", Jellal called out softly and the said woman stared into his beautiful emerald eyes which he deftly avoided.
"Thank you", he continued and pursed his lips. Things were still tough between them, but Erza was always a high risk taker. She lunged forward and engulfed the man in a bear hug.
"Don't you...Don't you ever...", she started and left the threat hanging and a ghost of a smile graced her husband's visage.
"I'll be careful", he promised and Erza barely managed to control her urge to instantly tackle him onto the ground.
"This was important to me, Erza. I know I was selfish, but...perhaps defeating him was the first step forward to a better future for me", he said with a frown on his face.
"I...I still have a long way to go to become a good father and a good husband, but with this past me, I can take steps forward so that I can become one", he sighed as he got up. Jellal avoided her eyes again, but Erza smiled in relief. Her husband was truly a glass cannon in expressing his feelings. He would relentlessly mock her and tease her when she acted flustered around him, and oh, how he managed to wrap her around his little finger with minimal efforts! The sheer thought of it sent shivers down her spine, but she had a similar effect on him - one he tried to avoid getting caught under all circumstances, but this would ALWAYS land him right into Erza's palm, who would obviously not let go of a chance at sweet revenge.
Erza got up and offered Jellal her hand with a smile on her face.
"Well, will you allow me to help you with your first step?", she asked cheekily and Jellal stared at her hand for a solid second before he reached for it. His beautiful face had a small smile on it, and for the first time in these four months of struggle, it seemed like a genuine smile. It was so small that it could almost be considered a microscopic one, but what captivated Erza was the look on his eyes. They were not of joy, grief, doubt or fear. It was gratitude.
Perhaps it was instantaneous or Erza was just lightheaded, but she decided to believe in the eyes she saw, and clenched his hand tightly, not willing to let go.
He managed to stay still for a couple of seconds, but then instantly yanked his hand off her grasp. Erza tried hard to avoid showing him a hurt look, but was surprised when he scrunched his face in disappointment. The face he had on was the same expression he wore a few months back when he failed to touch Azure while she was sleeping on the couch.
She still had a chance. He wanted her. Erza tried hard to put a stop to that stupid grin on her face, but she just could not.
At that moment, Jellal's stomach let out a massive growl and Erza instantly burst out laughing. The Meteor mage instantly moved his head to the side in a poor attempt to hide his atomic blush.
"I managed to spot an inn on the way here. Do you want to stop by and leave after a while? It's still morning and I can ask Mirajane to look after our children", Erza offered, but instantly pulled out her lacrima phone and started calling her best friend. Having no say in the matter, Jellal decided to go with her proposal.
A Few Minutes Later
The inn seemed rather small and Jellal frowned on seeing the extremely horrible location.
He was almost having second thoughts about entering it, but his stomach was vehemently against it, and Erza was rubbing her stomach in anticipation.
Giving up, Jellal walked inside and Erza followed suit. It seemed like a normal inn, but Jellal frowned on seeing an old woman waiting at the reception. The woman smiled so widely he felt that her lips might tear through her cheeks.
"Welcome! Welcome! It has been so long since I had a few customers. Would you be staying tonight?", she asked and before Jellal could answer, Erza butted in.
"Yes. We would like to stay for the night and leave tomorrow", she answered and Jellal wanted to retort, but for some reason, he was unable to do so.
"The two of you seem famished. Would you like me to prepare some food for you?"
"Yes, please!", the two of them answered simultaneously and the old woman laughed in a childish manner.
"I'll prepare something that is perfect for famished people like yourselves", she cackled and rushed towards the kitchen at a speed that did not suit her age.
The two of them took a seat each near what appeared to be a small food wagon and sat in silence as they waited for the food.
There were a variety of spoons, knives, forks and chopsticks and Jellal began to toy with them, noticing that they did not belong to a restaurant that seemed to focus on traditional food. Erza on the other hand, rested her elbow on the counter and her cheek on her palm as she continued to stare at Jellal fiddling with the utensils like a toddler.
"Here's your food", the old woman said sweetly as she placed a bowl of juicy meat, some oysters and another bowl of chocolate ice cream with pomegranate on top of it. Jellal could deal with the meat. It seemed normal and cooked perfectly, but who in their right mind would top ice cream with pomegranates?
Before he could argue, he turned to his right to see Erza engulfing the food like there was no tomorrow. Giving up with a small sigh, Jellal ate the food.
"The two of you seem like a really beautiful couple", the old woman giggled and stared at Erza who instantly shot up at the thought of small talk and gossip. But her enthusiasm instantly died and she returned it with a soft smile.
"He is everything to me", she whispered as she ate her food and avoided the older woman's eyes.
"Not many lucky men are present to hear that from their wives' mouths, you know sonny?", she advised Jellal who cut the conversation with a simple nod.
"Don't bother him too much, Oba-san. He is a man of few words, but those words mean a lot to me", she smiled as she dug into her plate.
"Do you have any kids?", she asked and Erza showed two fingers with her face stuffed and the old lady pouted before sighing.
"In my days we would be letting dozens of our kids run around. Ah! This world has changed a lot hasn't it?", she asked cupping her cheek and Erza blushed like a tomato.
The two women continued their small talk, and Erza never failed to mention each and every time Jellal had protected her or had been for her or tolerated her. Peeking towards her, Jellal could observe that she was not trying to brown-nose him and meant every word she spoke. Before he realised, they were done with the meal.
"The meal was really good, Oba-san", Erza smiled and the woman pointed towards the baths.
"Here, now go take a bath. Your rooms should have some bathrobes and leave your clothes outside the room. I will have them cleaned", she stated and even though Erza tried to talk her out of it, it appeared that the old woman was immovable once her decision had been made.
Jellal saw Erza walk towards the baths first and saw that there were separate sections for men and women.
Removing his clothes, Jellal wore a simple towel around his waist and walked towards the baths. For some apparent reason, he was unable to concentrate on whatever he wanted to do.
His thoughts jumped back to Erza again and again. Her beautiful face, her amazing body, her amazing smell and the way she looked cute when she blushed.
Jellal tried hard to focus on something else and started to wash himself with soap before turning towards the partition between the men and women.
There was just a single wall which was covered with a thin piece of cloth, and the area's lighting was made in such a way that Jellal could easily make out her shadow.
Erza was obviously naked, but a massive blush crept on Jellal's cheek as he saw her sway her perfect hourglass figure around while she was stretching and fanning herself. Was she going through the same thing he was going through?
Before Jellal could come up with a logical answer, Erza bolted towards the gap between them and slammed the door open, exposing her naked, sweaty body.
"Jellal", she breathed with a massive blush on her face and she walked towards him, popping her hips and she went down on he knees to meet his eyes.
Jellal looked at her eyes for one second, and he came up with the right conclusion - aphrodisiacs. The food was filled to the brim with aphrodisiacs.
Internally, Jellal could hear the old woman laughing heartily as she played matchmaker between them, and Jellal already knew that he was fighting a losing battle when he saw Erza flip her hair over her shoulder and move towards him.
"Let me wash your back", she breathed into his lips, and Jellal was truly tempted to close the distance between them. Erza on the other hand, knew that his self control was waning by the minute.
"F...Fine", he sighed and turned around. Erza took a washcloth and instantly began to scrub his back.
For the first few seconds, she scrubbed him normally, but the moment she was done with his back, Erza pressed her bountiful breasts against his back.
Before Jellal could complain, he felt something wet run over the right side of his collarbone and her hands began to graze his abs.
"Jellal", she breathed seductively into his ear while sucking his neck and shoulder.
"E...Erza! There were aphrodisiacs in the food", Jellal stuttered and heard Erza giggle softly.
"My naive darling!", she accused him as she bit his neck, leaving behind an obvious hickey.
"Why do you think I gobbled up the food so fast?", she asked him and began to play with his nipples. When Jellal was about to retort even more, Erza's hands wandered down to his waist as she began to kiss his ear.
"You can ignore me all you want tomorrow, but you're mine tonight", she asserted and yanked the knot on his towel.
To Be Continued...