Incarcerated Innocence, a Fairy Tail fanfic by Tsunami Storm

Chapter 6: Impromptu Incentive

(Set a few days after 'Iridescent Insignia')

"Hey, Mys- er, Jellal!" a voice called over the usual morning din of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, a few days after the former fugitive Jellal Fernandes became an official member of the Guild. The hazel-eyed bluenette looked over in interest, mildly surprised to find it was Jet that had spoken.

"What's up?" The Heavenly Body mage asked, curious, and the Speed mage elaborated. "Y'know that 'Meteor' spell of yours?" A nod. "Well, I was thinking we should have a race to determine the 'Fastest in Fairy Tail', me or you. Whaddya say? Laxus, Wendy and Natsu don't count 'cause they're Dragonslayers. I'm talking about the fastest human Guild member."

Jellal smiled slightly. He had always enjoyed a challenge, but he didn't want people- especially his newest family- to think he was showing off. Someone like him shouldn't have any right to boast. About anything really. Not even something as simple as his personal speed record.

"So- how 'bout it? Three laps around the border of Magnolia, starting and ending at the Guild Hall. And none of this 'I'm not worthy' crap. No 'letting' me win just to make me feel good. I want an honest-to-goodness race, with both of us giving our all. Agreed? I promise to be a good sport, no matter the outcome." Jet vowed, raising his right hand and putting his left over his heart, then holding out his right hand to shake on it.

Jellal's eyes opened slightly wider at that, surprised that the Speed mage had seemingly read his thoughts in that moment, as that was basically what he'd been thinking about. His thoughts must have been quite obvious on his face. Either that or Meredy had told people about his penchant for masochism. She'd always had a talent for unknowingly giving him a guilt-trip. And unintentionally embarrassing him.

Shaking his head quickly to derail his depressing train of thought- again- Jellal actually grinned at the Speed mage and nodded. "Why not? It'll be a nice challenge where no one can get hurt. And it could drum up more excitement for Fairy Tail. Master would probably be pretty happy about that."

"Darn right I would!" Makarov beamed, holding up a tankard of beer from the bar at which he was sitting. "Any exciting publicity is good publicity at this point. We need to put Fairy Tail back on the map, prove to everyone that we've still got it, that we're once again the best Guild in all of Fiore!"

"YEAH!" rang out a chorus from the entire Guild Hall, all the Fairies not even bothering to hide the fact that they'd been eavesdropping.

"You boys are gonna have to sit tight for a second, though. Can't have a race without spectators, right? Just give me a little time to clear an event with the Mayor and set up a racecourse for you. A few days, tops." The older gentleman beamed like a kid on Kurisumasu morning, excited as he thought about how much money the Guild would earn from Jet's impromptu idea. Of course, that wasn't the main point of the event, just a pleasant perk. They'd also get bragging rights for having the two fastest mages in Fiore in their Guild. Couple that with their four Dragonslayers, and Fairy Tail would reclaim its spot as the top Guild in the country in no time.

"Of course Master." Jellal nodded humbly. Jet was a little put-out at first, but then reasoned that this would give him some time to train in preparation for the big race. After all, he'd heard from Erza years ago that Jellal was incredibly fast, and had been a member of the Ten Wizard Saints seven years ago, ranking an impressive number six in their ranks. Considering that the top four wizards in that group weren't even human, that fact would make Jellal one of the strongest people in the world, not just Fiore. He wouldn't be able to slack off like he had in the 24-hour Endurance Road Race a few years ago. He'd have to give it his all from the very get-go if he wanted to have a chance at beating the Heavenly Body mage. Although he was sure that the chivalrous young man wouldn't try anything underhanded like some of his other Guildmates might, he would still be hard-pressed to outrun Jellal with that Meteor spell of his.

"This is gonna be fun." Jet grinned, and Jellal grinned right back, excited that he could in some way help the Guild to whom he owed so much. Not only had at least three of its members saved his life on multiple occasions, they had also taken in Erza when he'd cast her out of the R-System island prison- and, earlier than that- had been the Guild that Grandpa Rob had proudly called home.

Smiling sadly at the nostalgia, Jellal bowed his head with closed eyes for a moment, then looked up and offered a hand to the orange-haired mage. "Good luck, to both of us. May the best man win." He encouraged, and Jet clasped his hand proudly. "Ditto. I'm looking forward to it."

A few days later, the whole town of Magnolia had turned up to witness the exciting event, and Jellal felt a sweatdrop run down from his temple at the sight of all the decorations literally littering the streets of the town. Well, I will say this for Fairy Tail: They never do things by half. He mused with an amused smirk as the infamous Jason from Sorcerer Weekly bellowed into the lacri-microphone. "SO COOL! After being absent for seven years, Fairy Tail is back in business and holding extravagant events like nothing even happened! SO COOL! This race will feature the 'Master of Faster' himself- Jet Sarusuke, facing off against Fairy Tail's newcomer- Jellal Fernandes- the rumors of whose death were either greatly exaggerated, or they were true and a miraculous resurrection occurred! SO COOL! As always, we'll have lacrima-cams set up around the course for those of you wonderful Magnolians watching at home, and also for those of us who can't keep up with these two wizard's amazing speed! SO COOL!"

At the end of the announcement, both racers walked to the starting line and crouched into their starting positions, giving each other encouraging grins rather than the expected friendly banter that usually came with a competition like this. Jellal was already emitting a soft golden aura- indicating that he'd already activated Meteor. On the sidelines and sitting on her father's shoulders so she could be seen, little Asuka Connell was beaming from ear-to-ear and proudly holding aloft a small popgun that she would fire to begin the race. A hush swept over the crowd as the six-year-old lifted the toy higher, calling in her adorable, sweet voice, "On youw mawk, get set- GO!" She cried, firing the magically loudened popgun into the air and causing her cowboy hat to fly off her head and land right atop her mother's hat- who was standing just behind her. Bisca laughed and returned the bonnet to its proper place as both racers shot off in a blur of dust and heavenly light, way too fast for the human eye to detect.

"And they're off! Both racers look equally matched at the start of this contest of speed, and they both appear to be giving it their all and having the time of their lives! SO COOL!" Jason screamed into the lacri-microphone as he glued his eyes to the crystal ball mounted on the back of a tortoise. "This race will consist of three laps around the border of our fair town, starting and ending at the entrance of the beloved Fairy Tail Guild Hall! For those just joining us, Fairy Tail's very own Sand Wizard, Max Allors, is selling souvenirs and Fairy Tail merch at the outdoor stall just inside the gates, so if you want to show your support for the strongest Guild in Fiore, get your goodies quick before someone else snaps them up! SO COOL!" He called over the din of the cheering crowds.

Jellal and Jet grinned at each other as they kept pace neck-and-neck, rounding the corners at impossible speeds. This looked like a track-and-field event, with bales of hay set up along the edges of the racecourse so the contestants wouldn't stray from the intended route, and also to protect the bystanders from getting hurt for mistakenly setting foot on the track.

"Come on, Jellal! I know you can go faster than this!" Jet razzed goodnaturedly. "I saw you save Asuka that time when she fell in the pool. You were just a blur of light. Gimme all you got, I can keep up!" He called, increasing his speed to his maximum to spur on his opponent.

Jellal grinned at Jet's retreating back, calling in answer, "Okay, you asked for it!" before shifting to a faster gear and quickly matching pace with the other Speed mage. The two racers shared another grin of camaraderie before Jellal shimmered out of the visible spectrum and shot off like a meteor to the finish line, as they had already completed the required three laps in that elapsed time. Jet's jaw dropped open and he coughed as Jellal literally left him in the dust, crossing the finish line in a blur of golden light. Turning slightly to the side to slide to a stop with the sides of his feet, Jellal held up a hand for Jet to high-five when he crossed the goal, which the other Speed mage answered with yet another grin.

"Well I guess that proves who's the fastest. You smoked me, man. Good race." Jet smiled, shaking the other young man's hand in true sportsmanship. Jellal nodded. "Good race. You were a formidable opponent. Thanks for the challenge. I enjoy testing my limits."

"SO COOL! Fairy Tail's newest powerhouse, Jellal Fernandes, has officially claimed the title of 'Fastest Human in Magnolia'! SO COOL!" Jason cried, startling both the racers and making them jump out of surprise. "This concludes Fairy Tail's first event in seven years after the 'Tenrou Tragedy', and we look forward to their next big idea! See you all then! This has been Jason with 'Sorcerer Weekly' Magazine, signing off until next time! SO COOL!"

As one, most of the Guild tackled the unsuspecting winner in a massive glomp, causing the Heavenly Body mage to collapse to the ground, laughing loudly at his crazy Guildmates. On the bottom of the pile with the fastest man in Magnolia was the Queen of the Fairies herself, congratulating the winner of the race in her own way, peppering his face with kisses and whispering words of love and congratulations while her love turned red as a beet in bashfulness. Eventually the rest of the Fairies dispersed, leaving the young couple still lying on the ground- holding each other in a loving embrace and looking fondly into each other's eyes.

Just then, the Guild's very own Lucy Heartfilia wolf-whistled loudly- causing the couple to change colors again- and Gray joked with a laugh, "Get a room, you two!" At this, the rest of the Guild cracked up with snorts and giggles, and the two on the ground quickly got to their feet and sprang apart, though they kept a hand entwined with their partner's at all times.

"Oh come on, it's nothing that you haven't already seen." Erza growled with a red face. "I'm sure the Connell's have had at least a few incidents with public displays of affection." She teased, grinning at the young family and giggling when Alzack's face turned red. Bisca just smiled abashedly. "She's right, as usual. Alright people, back off. Nothing to see here. Give the lovebirds some space." She teased back, causing the other couple to go red once again.

-Months later-

"So- that was you? You were the one who was-"

"-stealing your more dangerous Jobs off the Request Board and sending half of the reward back to help pay the bills? Yep." Jellal laughed with a slightly sheepish blush dusting his cheeks and nose. It was amazing just how infectious Fairy Tail's optimism could be. Within just a few weeks of officially joining the Guild, Jellal found himself laughing and genuinely enjoying himself more than he ever had before in his life. Now- only a few months after the Grand Magic Games- the one-time fugitive from the law felt just as much a part of the Fairy Tail family as anyone here in the Guild. Friendship truly was a beautiful thing.

"An' here I thought that Mystogan somehow came back to this world an' was helping us out, like the old days." Macao groaned, feigning disappointment, but in reality nearly bursting with gratitude at the young man's thoughtfulness. Master Mavis was right. He really did have a heart of gold in tune with the members of Fairy Tail. And his new Guild mark was physical proof of that. However, in keeping with his secretive nature, no one but the Master knew where he had put the emblem on his body. There were a few bets going around the Guild Hall as to where the sigil was located, but Jellal and Makarov both never confirmed nor denied any of the guesses.

"Well, that certainly sounds like something he'd do, but I don't think it's possible to leave Edolas. At least, not anymore." Jellal smiled, thinking about all the stories he'd heard about his true doppelgänger and basing his assumption on that. "Besides, he's the king, isn't he? He's probably swamped with his own problems over there." He chuckled.

"Yeah. Probably." Macao agreed, fingering his mug. "Y'know, I still can't believe it, even after all these years. Mystogan was a prince of a whole other world, and we had no idea." The older gentleman laughed as he took another swig from his tankard of beer that he'd ordered from the bar. Jellal just stuck to good-old coffee. He didn't want to deal with a hangover tomorrow on top of everything else. Erza was due back tomorrow with Gray and Lucy, and he had a very important question to ask her, something that would change both of their lives forever.

"And the only reason he kept his face covered was because he'd heard about what happened between us in the Tower of Heaven, and he didn't want to hurt Erza unnecessarily." Jellal nodded, his respect for his double rising as he smiled gently. Then he chuckled. "Of course, Laxus kinda ruined it during the Battle of Fairy Tail when he shot him right in the face with lightning." He smirked, shooting a raised eyebrow over at the Lightning Dragonslayer- who had been eavesdropping. Laxus Dreyar grimaced and quickly looked away, slightly abashed.

"Ah, knock it off, Fernandes." The Master's grandson growled. "You're one to talk about past mistakes. If I could apologize to him, I would. But I can't. I know I was a ֏₳¢₭₳$$, and everybody here still forgave me. Heh. Buncha softies." He smirked somewhat fondly, grinning sheepishly when his wandering gaze met Mira's lovely countenance briefly, but then both S-Class mages looked away with slightly pink faces.

"Well Gramps is still pretty salty about it, but he holds a grudge like nobody's business." Natsu interjected as he passed their two tables in the Guild Hall. "Though I'm pretty sure that- underneath it all- he's real proud of what you've become." The boy smiled proudly, grinning at the older man he used to idolize. Still did, come to think of it.

"When'd you get so wise, Dragneel?" Laxus teased, visibly amused. "Guess I gotta stop calling you kids 'kids' and 'brats' now. Now yer older pains in my behind." He chuckled, trying to get a rise out of the hot-headed Fire wizard and grinning in triumph when the first-gen Dragonslayer went volcanic.

"Alright, that's it! You an' me, Laxus. Behind the Guild. Right now!" The young man challenged, both fists aflame as he growled at his opponent, sounding very much like his foster father as he did so.

"Bring it on, Pinkie." Laxus laughed, using his magic to bolt over to the door ahead of Natsu and stepped out the back door. "Ya comin', slowpoke?" He razzed, egging on the enraged dragon even more with the biggest grin anyone had ever seen on his face. He was having way too much fun with this.

"I told you guys a billion times! It's not pink, it's really really light red!" The incensed Dragonslayer roared, clearly insulted.

"It's pink." laughed most of the rest of the Guild, not even bothering to hide the fact that they'd been listening to the whole thing. Jellal put a fist in front of his mouth to stifle his snickering, but he couldn't keep it all in. Natsu was way too easy to rile up.

Up on the second story rampart, Makarov watched two of his children- one a blood relative and one not- as they proceeded to beat the snot out of each other with both their magic and their limbs. A sweatdrop as big as his head appeared in the air next to him as the third and sixth Master closed his eyes and shook his head in exasperation. "You kids are gonna drive me to an early grave!" He groaned as he took a swig of wine from a tankard he'd brought up with him from the bar.

-The next day-

"We're home!" Lucy called happily as she and the rest of her team stepped through the double oak doors of the Guild Hall, glad to be back in the town they all loved.

"Welcome back, you three!" Mira called from the second story, a broom* in her hand as she helped Kinana with some cleaning up around the Hall. With how lively their Guild was, the simple cleaning tool would have to be used pretty much every day to clean up the multitude of messes the crazy bunch of mages would create. "How did it go?" The Takeover mage beamed sweetly.

[Yes, it's Max's favorite broom. lol]

"Great. Our client was real happy with how fast and hard we worked." Gray grinned, proud of his team and how well they all were able to work together. Then he chuckled and glanced sideways over to his 'big sister'. "I told you that you wouldn't need to bring all that junk with us on that Job. It was just in Hosenka." He teased lightly, making the Requip Knight roll her eyes and scowl at him in mock irritation.

"That may be true, Gray, but it never hurts to be prepared for anything." She countered with a playful, light punch to the young man's shoulder. "Too much is always better than not enough, considering the only thing you brought along was a single pair of underwear. The ones you were wearing." She teased with a devilish grin that didn't belong on her angelic face.

"Gah! Not again!" Gray exclaimed, apparently just now noticing that he was once again wearing nothing but his boxers. "Why didn't you tell me I did it again, Lucy?" He accused, looking over at the Celestial Wizard with a slightly hurt pout on his face.

Lucy just laughed at his expression. "I just figured it's second-nature for you to strip at the most inopportune times at this point, so I just went with it. Besides, it's the middle of summer, and we were in a Hot Spring Resort for most of our trip. I figured you were too warm to wear anything else." She teased, causing the Ice Make wizard to turn slightly pink with embarrassment.

"You still could've told me." He groused, but let it slide, walking over to where the lockers were kept in the Guild Hall to see if he'd left any of his clothes in there from previous experiences.

"Erza?" A deep, somewhat shy voice suddenly sounded from one of the nearby tables, and the scarlet Knight looked over to see her 'prince' smiling back at her. "W-welcome home, first of all- and- there's- there's something I need to ask you. It's really important." He stammered, more flustered than anyone could ever remember seeing him.

"What is it?" The clueless mage asked the man she loved, and her confusion grew when he stood up and walked over to her, kneeling down on one knee when he was just a few feet in front of her.

That's not to say that everyone in the Guild Hall was clueless about the current situation. Gajeel and Laxus both spewed the drinks they had been enjoying in unison, utterly shocked by this sudden turn of events. Most of the rest of the Guild's mouths dropped open in dumbfounded incredulity, and Lucy's and Mira's 'squee!' of ecstasy could be heard echoing from even outside of the town limits, several miles away. They knew perfectly well what was happening, and both young women couldn't be happier for their flame-haired best friend.

"You don't have to give me an answer right away, of course, but- I just want to tell you how I feel." Jellal continued, wisely deciding to ignore his rather immature comrades. Good thing Meredy was out on a Job with Juvia and Wendy, otherwise she would've been squealing in delight with the other girls. And giving him a headache in the process. That girl's voice was so high-pitched when she squealed that she could shatter glass if she wanted.

"Erza, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me in my whole life, even considering that we met under some of the worst possible circumstances. I- I love you, Titania, and I promise to love you for the rest of my life- however long or short it may be. I know how cheesy that sounds, but I'm trying to be as sincere as possible. I- I guess- what I'm asking is: Erza Titania Scarlet, will you marry me?"

Whump.

The Heavenly Body mage blinked a few times in surprise when he suddenly found Titania lying on the ground, unconscious. He looked around the Guild Hall at the myriad of equally stunned faces, all eyes on either him or the fainted wizard at his feet. With a small snort of amusement, Lucy carefully put Erza's arm over both her shoulders and stood up with her, dragging her over to the nearest chair and gently setting her down so she would be more comfortable when she woke up from her little surprise-induced siesta.

The Celestial wizard grinned over at the mystified Heavenly Body mage and bit her bottom lip in an effort to rein in her giggles. "I think you can take that as a 'Yes'." She winked, and Jellal's face broke into a beaming smile that lit up the entire Guild Hall.

He'd been seven years old when he was kidnapped and imprisoned in the Tower of Heaven, then was a slave to Ultear's influence for ten long years until he was freed by the young woman he loved and her friends. A few months later found him a prisoner of retrograde amnesia, his own memories barred from him as he fought to protect his new and old friends from the terror of Master Zero and the Oración Seis. Then he was arrested and jailed for months for 'his' crimes against Era and the Magic Council, though these were not truly his sins. And now, finally, six long years later, Jellal Fernandes once again found himself imprisoned- just another inmate and prisoner of the highest security prison ever devised by mankind: A prisoner of love. This was one incarceration of which he didn't mind being a part, though, so long as he got to share his imprisonment with his scarlet angel.

And that's how it would stay, to the end of Time.

End of Chapter 6

God Bless!

Tsunami Storm