Chapter 4

Jellal was standing at one of the windows in the palace, staring at the storm raging outside. There was heavy rain, thunder and lightning, but they had gotten reports saying there was hail the size of his fist falling in a town just under an hour away, and it was heading in their direction. He had asked all able-bodied members of the Army to assist people in preparing their homes for the worst of the storm, but they hadn't gotten notice in time to prepare for the hail. It was times like these when having magic would make things so much easier; people could reinforce their homes and allow people to contact each other faster. They were all getting used to it, but it was still tricky.

From his vantage point, he could see people running around like mad, getting drenched by the rain. Shaking his head in frustration, he turned away from the window and started heading towards the palace entrance. Coco was chasing after him, telling him not to go, but he had no interest in staying here and doing nothing. There weren't enough people to help, so every little bit would count. He was as able-bodied as the rest of them, so he would personally do all he could to assist the people in the city.

Coco followed him, intending to stay with him the whole time, and he was grateful for her sticking by his side. She was loyal to a fault and had been good to him. They both marched out into the rain and Jellal headed towards the city's eastern side, where he hadn't seen as many soldiers. While they were on their way, they checked on people and their homes, offering assistance where they could. There wasn't always much for them to do, but doing something was far better than standing around, and he felt like he could make a difference. The people who saw him seemed shocked and grateful for his efforts, and this was what he wanted to do. He wanted to help.

He helped move some planks to assist someone in covering their windows, but their front door almost flew off the handles a moment later. He yelled to Coco to hold onto it while he zipped inside and utilised their fireplace and a metal fire poker to his advantage. He shoved it in the fire, leaving it there until the end of the poker was red hot, and went outside, shutting the door behind him. He held the poker against the door hinges until they began to melt slightly, just enough that the door wouldn't be able to swing off its hinges unless it got pulled entirely from the foundations. Ushering the person living there inside through the window, he hammered the planks into place outside the window to hopefully protect it a little.

They continued down the streets and checked in on everyone, even if it was just a thumbs up through the window. After rounding a corner, Jellal saw some of the members of Fairy Tail doing their part. Lucy, Elfman, Serana and Bisca were helping a shop owner drag their displays inside, so they didn't get damaged in the storm. Rain pelted them, but he could hear the sound of hail getting closer and closer. It would be over their heads any minute now, and he could see them landing on the ground down the street, some of them staying whole as they landed and others smashing into bits. They were hitting everything in sight, including the people outside still trying hard to protect their homes.

Unfortunately, at this point, most people had done all they could to try and salvage their property and roof over their heads, so once the hail hit them, they headed inside and hoped for the best. Jellal wasn't ready to give up just yet, but Elfman blocked a large hailstone from hitting his head with his arm and knew he needed to get to safety, not just for his own good but for his own good the sake of those who would protect him with their bodies. Now that he was King, he forgot how much people would sacrifice for him, even though such a thing was commonplace in Earthland Fairy Tail. He was still getting used to self-sacrifice outside the guild, but he supposed it was probably normal for a King.

Lucy told them to follow her and took them to a warehouse a few hundred metres down the road, that had its door unlocked. They rushed inside and shut the door behind them, and Elfman placed some heavy boxes against it to prevent it from sliding open again.

"We were doing some deliveries for these guys before the storm hit earlier today, and I hoped they didn't have time to lock up so we could get inside. Thankfully I was right." Lucy explained, and Bisca sat down on a box with a sigh.

"Are you alright, Jellal?" Elfman asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm alright. Is everyone else okay?" He asked and looked them all over briefly to see if they had any injuries.

They all had some bruises forming from the hailstones hitting them, but they were superficial. Lucy had a graze on her shoulder, and Elfman was nursing his arm where the hailstone had hit him before. Serana looked okay until he saw an open gash on her calf. She hadn't even noticed it as she shifted her weight between her feet and stared at her drenched clothes. When she saw the small puddle of blood surrounding her foot, she finally noticed the cut on her leg. Before she could do anything about it, Jellal sprung into action. He put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her so she would sit on a nearby box.

When she sat down, he ripped a piece of his cloak to create a makeshift bandage, but he ignored her gasp at him ruining a royal garment. He was careful at trying his best to clean up the wound, thoroughly wrecking his cloak, which was now torn and covered with her blood, but once the bleeding had stopped, he wrapped the cloth around her leg and tied it to keep it in place.

"Is that okay? Not too tight?" He asked and looked up at her to see that she was quite shocked but managed to choke out a sound of acknowledgement that it wasn't too tight.

"Th-thank you." She replied, but he could hear that her voice was wavering slightly.

Not having enough time to linger on it, they needed to figure out their next steps. Staying there until the storm relented was an option, but the reports said the storm would last a few days. They could leave the protection of the warehouse, but they would need to make sure that they had something to shield them from the hailstones since the rain wasn't a huge issue. All of them were soaked to the bone anyway.

"Let's grab some of the lids for the boxes and use them for cover. We can head towards the guild hall since it's much closer to here." Lucy suggested and they began pulling off the box lids and whatever else could work as something to hold above their heads for protection.

They all found something that would work for them, and Coco offered to take point, as she usually felt more comfortable clearing the way for Jellal. Bisca would be in front and Elfman behind her, then Serana offered to take up the rear. Jellal suspected this was because she wouldn't have to keep up as much and could take it slower with her injured leg.

Once they'd left the warehouse, they all kept an eye on each other, but Jellal couldn't stop looking behind him to see how Serana was going. It didn't seem like the injury was hindering her too much, but he could see she was in pain. He didn't want her to make it any worse by continuing to walk on it and got fed up a moment later when she fell another step or two behind. Without overthinking, he stopped walking and moved to the back of the line where Serana was. He crouched in front of her, gesturing for her to climb on his back so he could carry her. They couldn't hear each other over the rain, so there was no use in talking. Serana had a stunned expression but she did as he suggested, using her box lid to protect both of them as they walked towards the guild hall. He could feel her chest pressed against his back, and her thighs were around his hips, his arms around them to hold her in place.

After a few minutes, they'd reached the guild, which was good as their box lid shields were worse for wear. Bisca's had a chunk out of one side, and Elfman's had a large crack down the centre. They burst through the door, and all but fell inside, pleased to be out of the elements. The sound of the rain and hail on the roof was loud, and people had to yell to speak to the person next to them just so they could be heard. Most people had given up talking and were just sitting in silence to save themselves from yelling at one another. Despite that, they all came over to fuss about the King's unexpected visit and offered him towels to tidy up and get dry. Wendy and Cana ushered him towards the fire to stop him from catching a chill and Coco clearly appreciated them looking after him.

"Can someone bring me a first aid kit? Serana got injured, and we need to clean her wound and get it properly dressed." He asked and Mira brought a box with some medical supplies out from behind the bar.

Levy pushed Serana into a seat, and Jellal thanked Mira for the supplies before pulling a chair up to sit just in front of her. Carefully, he helped her by taking off her boot and lifting her leg onto his lap. The makeshift bandage was soaked through from the rain, and he cautiously removed it, trying his best not to hurt her. She flinched faintly at one point, and he gave her a look of apology. Aside from that, she didn't make a sound or change her expression. It seemed that she was tougher than she first appeared. Maybe her time in the Army that she had mentioned before was the reason that she was straight-faced.

With his practised hands, her wound was cleaned with a healing tonic to prevent infection and rebandaged. She smiled gratefully at him and he held out a hand to help her stand up again. Being careful not to ruin his work, she headed towards her quarters and someone handed him some dry clothes. He got changed in the guys' quarters and thanked everyone for looking after them. Coco emerged with some dry clothes along with Lucy and Serana.

"We should go back to the palace. The staff will be worried about us." Coco suggested, knowing that they were in a safe place.

"You're probably right. However, I'm concerned we will be too far away if anyone needs help. I'd prefer to stay here in case of an emergency." Jellal replied evenly, his brow furrowed with worry.

"But, Your Grace…" Coco trailed off, obviously wanting to disagree but not wanting to overstep.

"They know we've gone to help, and we won't be far. I also don't want you going back in that weather since you could get hurt. We'll stay here." His answer made her smile despite the situation. He valued her greatly and couldn't bear the thought of her getting hurt. The palace staff were used to him not acting like an ordinary King anyway.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Coco turned and bowed towards the guild members, who all smiled and invited her to come and sit with them.

Both had a drink pushed into their hands, and Mirajane began preparing something to eat, excited to have them as guests. Serana, Lucy and Natsu were sitting together, and Jellal joined them. Coco was invited to sit with Cana and Levy, and they began discussing colours to paint their fingernails. Since there wasn't much else to do currently, the girls figured they might as well have some self-care time and give themselves manicures. Jellal smiled at Coco, fitting right in since the girls were conscious of including her, which made him happy to see.

Mirajane brought them a pot of tea to help warm them up since they were still quite cold after being stuck in the rain. It was a pot of green tea that smelled wonderful, with a hint of hazelnut and cocoa. Serana thanked Mirajane and began pouring a cup for each of them but pushed one towards Jellal first and gave him a beaming smile, which he returned with a smile of his own. The expression on her face was full of compassion and kindness, and he dropped his chin to his chest, pretending to look at his cup, but he felt heat rise to his cheeks.

They chatted for a while, but everyone was so exhausted that they could barely finish their tea before they started nodding off. Natsu fell asleep with his face squished against the table, and Lucy smacked him on the back quite firmly to wake him up.

"Go have a bath and get into bed. Take our King with you too. Put him in the spare bed." Lucy offered, standing up and ushering Natsu towards the back of the guild hall so they could get some rest.

"We've got a spare bed in our room. Coco can stay there." Serana suggested, and the rest of them all stood up from the table; Natsu, albeit much slower than Jellal.

They headed towards their respective side of the building, girls on the right and guys on the left. Lucy went in first, then Serana followed behind Coco. Jellal watched them disappear behind the door, and then followed Natsu in. Since they were staying the night, he tried his best to take it easy and relax as they cleaned up and headed to the guys' shared room. There was a spare bed in the room on Natsu's left.

He knew he wouldn't sleep too well tonight, considering he was still worried about people being stuck out in the storm or damaging their homes and property. To be of the best help he could be, he still needed to get some rest, so he'd do his best to get some sleep and then get to work helping with repairs tomorrow.

As he drifted off, he thought of Serana's smile...