A/N: An alert to my readers that there are several sentences in this oneshot which may fall into 'borderline M" rating.
Shoukakkou=しょうかっこう=小確幸=A little but true happiness
~They cherished every second they spent together, and the most ordinary things happened in their lives.~
"Cold."
Being woken up from her sweet slumber by the morning chill, Erza though in her half-conscious state and shuddered underneath the blanket. Curling up, she pulled the other half of the blanket which spread out on her bed towards herself and wrapped it tightly around her body trying to keep herself warm. But then suddenly, it occurred to her that something wasn't quite right about her taking the blanket all by herself.
She shouldn't be the only person sleeping in her bed.
Her eyes snapped open, looking for the blue-haired man who was sleeping beside her last night. When she saw no one occupied the order side of her bed, she sat up and glanced around her room searching for his figure. But not only that the man was nowhere to be seen in her small room, also his bag which was placed on her bedside chair last night was now missing.
"So he had left. Just like always."
Lips curling upwards slightly, Erza smiled a little lone smile. And she shivered, when feeling the cool air in the room grazing her bare skin. Lying back down on the mattress, she pulled at the blanket again to cover her naked form while stretching out a hand to drag the spare pillow on her left underneath the blanket. Hugging the light blue feathers filled cloth bag pillowing her lover's head not long ago against her front, she buried the lower half of her face into its puffiness and softness and inhaled deeply, trying to grasp the evidence of her lover's stay through the scents he left on it. She recognized his natural odor which smelled like forest before the smell of his sweat caught her attention, bringing up the images of her man lying beneath her moaning out loud her name with beads of sweat dotting his tattooed face and board chest while she rode him passionately aiming at taking them both into oblivion. Waves of heat hit her face as she continued recalling every detail of their most recent love making. She closed her eyes, sparing a hand to stroke her side before slowly running her fingers down to her inner thigh like how he did in her memory. Caressing her sticky skin pretending it was the action of her lover, she let out a soft sigh as she imagined him calling her name lovingly and staring deep into her eyes with affectionate gaze at the same time.
"Jellal…"
Then an unexpected knock on her bedroom door made Erza's eyes shot open and brought a stop to whatever she was fantasizing and doing.
Startled, Erza sat bolt upright in bed and summoned two swords in her hands out of instinct.
"Who?" She asked with a harsh tone.
A chuckle came through the door from outside her room before a male voice spoke up to answer her question.
"It's me."
Hearing the familiar voice surprised Erza but also made her heart flutter with joy. Getting off her bed she rushed to open the bedroom door. Standing in front of her was no other than the blue-haired fugitive with whom she had developed a secret and long distance relationship and who was supposed to have returned to his independent guild to continue his mission after spending the night with her.
"Jellal!"
Jellal smiled at Erza before a light shade of pink tainted his face as he noticed that the redhead beauty standing in front of him who had almost made him lose his sanity last night in bed was still wearing nothing.
It was silly, he knew, to blush only because he saw her naked form because he had already touched her all over her body and taken her as his. But he just couldn't help it. Erza's gorgeous features like her wondrous breasts or the perfect curve of her waist or her long splendid legs still made his heart race and took his breath away whenever he laid eyes on them.
"G-good morning, Erza." He stuttered a little.
"G-good morning." Erza replied as she observed Jellal. Instead of wearing his usual attire that consisted of a turtleneck shirt, silver chest plate, black pants, long boots and a coat trimmed with heart-shaped pattern, he was now only wrapped in a simple bathrobe. And his soft blue locks were now damp and messy. Undoubtedly, he had just come out from the shower.
"I thought…I thought you have already left before dawn like usual. I didn't remember you telling me last night that you'd stay till morning. What happened?"
"I want to give you a little surprise." Jellal answered before wrapping an arm around Erza's waist pulling her into an embrace. Sliding his fingers into her silky scarlet locks he cupped the back of her head. Erza responded to his actions by nuzzling his neck, inhaling his scents which were soothing and fresh after the shower. "Today's Valentine's Day." He spoke softly beside her ear. "My time today, every second of it, belongs to you. But giving my circumstances, I can't accompany you to go anyway to celebrate the day but can only spend my time with you inside this house to do whatever you want. I hope you don't mind and would still accept my offer."
Wrapping her arms around Jellal's torso, Erza couldn't stop a wild smile from spreading across her face as the heartwarming happiness of knowing that she and Jellal would spend a whole day together, and on Valentine's Day, washed over her.
"I appreciate your offer."
She understood very well that his identity and the mission of his guild didn't allow them to meet as often and as long as they wished to. Most of their meetings were in the form of him playing her several hours of night visit or her meeting him at certain hidden location nearby Magnolia. So for him to spend Valentine's Day with her, it was already much more than she could have asked from him. It really didn't matter to her what they would do for the day as long as they could stay together and she was going to cherish every second of it.
"It's good enough. Thank you."
"But you always deserve better." Jellal whispered before tenderly kissing her on her temple.
Erza frowned slightly, alerted by the thinnest hint of guilt heard in Jellal's words. Loosening her arms wrapped around his torso and pulling back, she cupped his face with her hands instead and pulled his face towards hers to give him a long loving kiss on the lips.
"I only need you. And you only." She reminded him after breaking their kiss, staring determinately into his eyes.
Jellal stared back at Erza for a moment, before taking a deep breath and finally nodding his understanding with a genuine and grateful smile on his face.
"Now how about you go to take a shower? And I'll prepare the breakfast."
Erza was surprised again. "Y-You cook for me?" She blushed lightly, eyes shining with anticipation. "I-I have never tasted your cooking before."
Jellal couldn't help but chuckled seeing her adorable reactions.
"But my cooking skills aren't exceptionally good, so don't put too high expectation in the quality of the food. I don't want you to feel disappointed when tasting my cooking."
Erza smirked. "Don't worry, I know I won't." Because it was him being sweet and considerate to cook for her which truly mattered to her. She then gave him a peck on the lips. "Take your time for the cooking. I'm going to take a shower now as you suggested."
It only took Erza half amount of the time she usually needed to finish showering. She was too eager to return to Jellal's side and to find out what breakfast he would cook for her.
But when she went to her kitchen which also served as her dinning place to find Jellal, she stopped against its doorframe without entering it as she found what she saw looked like a scene in one of her dreams more than one in reality.
Jellal was in the kitchen facing her with his back, being busy at arranging the tableware at the two sides of the table while humming a melody she wasn't familiar with. He had already changed, now dressing in the long sleeve black shirt and the light grey lounge pants which she brought him. He had also put on her pink apron although he had apparently finished cooking, since two plates of scramble eggs, sausages and pancakes with strawberries on top together with two cups of beverage could be seen being placed on the table already.
He simply looked like an ordinary man living a simple life, performing the daily routine of making breakfast for his beloved one in this very moment. A moment in which he didn't look like the man he was, who needed to run away and to hide from the authority, who was burdened with sins, guilt and sorrow, and who demanded himself to walk the endless road of redemption. He was the man whom she had dreamed of marrying to, kissing goodnight every night before she went to bed, seeing every morning when she opened her eyes, and spending the rest of her life with.
Tears welled up in Erza's eyes as her heart swelled with mixed and indescribable emotions. She truly wished that Jellal could live a normal life one day, and together with her. But before it could finally happen, she would be satisfied to live one normal day with him, once in a while probably.
She took a step inside the kitchen, and Jellal turned his head to her direction sensing her presence.
"Erza?"
Before he could see her watery eyes, Erza rushed over to Jellal, circling his waist with her arms from his behind and locking her fingers across his stomach underneath the apron.
"What happened?" Jellal asked with a concerned voice, feeling the weight of Erza's head on his shoulder and her body pressing against his back.
"Nothing." She paused. "I'm simply feeling happy that you are able to spend today with me, Jellal."
Jellal put down the forks in his hands on the table. Grabbing Erza's wrists he pulled to unlock her fingers, turning around to face her. His brows knitted together and lips formed into a thin line as he saw her moist eyes.
"Is it me who bring those tears in your eyes?" He asked with a heavy tone as he held her face in his hands.
Erza only smiled warmly and fondly at him, which effectively soothed his uneasiness. "Those are happy tears. You make me happy, truly happy." She told him softly; her tone much lighter than his but was firm nonetheless. "I love you, Jellal."
His strained expression softened as her words erased his worries and a relieved smile formed on his lips. Grabbing her shoulders gently, he pulled her in to kiss her deeply on the lips.
"I love you too, Erza. Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you like the breakfast I made for you."
A/N: This was written for the 2015 Valentine's Day, which you should have found out by now. Although it came out two weeks late, I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.
小確幸(しょうかっこう) is a phase created by the famous Japanese writer Murakami Haruki. "A little but true happiness" is my interpretation on it based on the meaning of the Kanji (Chinese characters) as I couldn't find any proper translation of the phase in English from the internet.