Undulation

The wind howled and whipped around him relentlessly as he stormed through the gates and towards the supernatural phenomenon. He didn't understand how this was happening. Even if someone had managed to get their hands on any X-balls to be able to use any magic, he was the only one who could open the anima. What was going on?

Jellal skidded to a halt as he approached the giant whirlwind. His hands moved rapidly as they cast familiar seals with practiced ease and he stabbed his staff into the ground. A low rumble sounded and the ground cracked slightly as an overwhelming amount of magic surged through him and was channeled into the ground.

"Release," the blue haired mage whispered. A silent shockwave erupted around him, the energy sending ripples through the air, and Jellal let out a sigh of relief, expecting the whirlwind to dissipate soon. His eyes widened as nothing seemed to happen and he repeated his actions once more with renewed urgency. Still, the clouds gathered together as the skies grew darker and darker.

Wrenching the staff out of the ground, Jellal sprinted closer towards the whirlwind. Why wasn't his magic working? His eyebrows furrowed as he came to the only conclusion and his pace quickened. His harsh breathing was pounding in his ears but he pressed on, nearly tripping over a rock and breaking his nose. He was almost there. Just as he was about to reach the eye of the storm, the world around him blurred into a brilliant array of colours. The mage stumbled slightly as he slowed to a stop. What had just happened?

The king spun around and recognition slowly dawned on him. It couldn't be...

Familiar wooden chairs and tables surrounded him and people bustled around him. The sound of raucous laughter and chattering filled his head and he turned around, disbelief sending shivers down his spine.

He was in the Fairy Tail guild hall.

Someone shouted out his name and Jellal looked up in reflex. A hand shot up to his face as he remembered that he was no longer wearing his mask or bandana. Mirajane smiled at him kindly and gestured for him to come over to the bar. Someone slapped him on the back as he passed by and he grinned weakly even though sirens were screaming in his head. How did this happen?

"Anything to drink, Jellal?" Mira asked. Seeing him shake his head, she took up a cloth and started polishing the glasses. "Why are you back so early? I thought you were on a week long mission with Erza and the others."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. It seemed as if his Earthland counterpart had joined Fairy Tail. This was good. At least no one would recognize him yet.

Jellal looked away uneasily. "Yeah, I…left something behind so I came back to get it."

"Well you should have come back with Erza, Jellal!" Gildarts boomed from his left, taking another swig from his mug. "A little more quality time couldn't hurt now, can it? You could learn one or two things from this old man!"

Jellal nodded in mock understanding. "Yeah, I guess..."

Cana rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him Jellal, take all the time you need." She smiled warmly, "Just don't take too long like Alzack and Bisca, ok?"

Gildarts opened his mouth to pass on yet more words of wisdom but Jellal had already slipped away. As fascinating as Gildarts' love life was, he didn't have the time to stick around to pick up tips on how to please women. Not that he needed it anyway. He was the King of Edolas. Women just about threw themselves at his feet. His face grew red as he pushed these thoughts out of his mind. Now was not the time to be gloating about his manly exploits. But still, he had to admit that he was really popular with the ladies.

Jellal sighed. He didn't really understand what had happened. All he knew was that he had stepped into Earthland. Turning back towards the doors to the hall, he maneuvered his way through the crowd of people back to where he had first entered Earthland. If he had come in from there, then he could escape from that 'portal' too.

Jellal took a step forwards to the spot where 'it' was supposed to be but found himself still in the hall. He swallowed and wet his lips nervously. Maybe he had missed the spot. Retracing his steps, he tried once more. And again. And again. Still, he found himself still in the hall. The only thing that was different was the fact that a lot of people were staring at him.

Why wasn't it working? What was going on?

Plastering a weak smile on his face, Jellal made his way out of the guild hall. He needed to get back to Edolas. Slamming the door shut, he stumbled down the stairs hurriedly as his grip tightened on his staff. He would have to activate the anima to return to Edolas.

As his boot touched the lowest step of the stairs, Jellal found himself outside the gates of his palace.

"What is this?" He exclaimed. Somehow, he had crossed dimensions just by passing through another invisible barrier of some sort. He could see Erza hurrying towards him from the palace. With a growl, he wrenched open the gates and stormed towards her direction.

"Anima," the female captain gasped but he shook his head, signaling for her to follow him.

"No," Jellal replied darkly. "It's not the anima." He glanced at her and shook his head once more. "I don't know what it is."

He broke into a run. It was true that he didn't know exactly what this was, but that was only half true. From what he had experienced, there was some sort of intangible barrier, almost like a rip in the seams of the dimensions, that connected the two parallel worlds and he could move between the two worlds freely just by passing through it. The barriers also seemed to open and close randomly and there seemed to be quite a lot of these portals lying around.

What was worrying was the fact that he didn't know how to solve this problem. What was more worrying was that anyone from either world could move between the dimensions.

"Erza."

The tone of his voice startled the captain and she focused all of her attention on the male. "What?"

His eyes sparkled sadly as he turned to her. "Stay close to me."

Jellal huddled closer to the fire, watching the dying embers flicker and sparkle. His eyes stared into the flames, unmoving.

Lucy plopped down onto the grass next to him and she nudged him playfully. "It's my shift now, go get some rest. This mission is far from over."

Jellal smiled at her. "It's fine. I can't sleep."

The female looked at him strangely. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he murmured more to himself than to her.

Lucy shook her head and shuffled closer to him. "I've only known you for a few years Jellal, but that's enough for me to tell that you've got something on your mind."

Jellal grinned sadly. Lucy was one of the few good friends he had in Fairy Tail. She was always there to help him and defend him and he knew that he could always count on her when things were rough. It wouldn't hurt to talk about things with her, would it?

"I don't know if what I want to do is right," he started hesitantly. "I've done so many bad things in the past. I've hurt some many people. Can I really do this to her?"

"Jellal," Lucy grasped him by the shoulders and stared at him seriously. "You weren't yourself when you did all those things. You're a different person now. You're a good person. You don't have to care what everyone thinks. Because you know you're a good guy. And most importantly, she knows."

He let out a hollow laugh. The sadness stirred in his onyx eyes. "Lucy…"

Even though what she said was true, that he had only done all those things because he had been possessed, it didn't take away the pain or the weight. It didn't matter why he did them, it was enough knowing that he had done them.

"Let go," she whispered. "Let go of the past, you can't keep shouldering the heavy burden, Jellal..."

But he couldn't. He just couldn't. He wanted to punish himself, he needed to do so.

Memories still haunted him at night, reminding him of the sins he had committed. He was corrupted beyond salvation. Did he have the right to taint her innocent self as well?

Lucy coughed lightly and looked at him expectantly and he stood up slowly, the shadows enveloping him as he did so. "I…I was thinking of proposing to her after this mission."

The silence between them dragged on for a while before Lucy let out a squeal of excitement and launched herself at Jellal.

"Tell me, tell me! How are you going to it?" She clung onto him eagerly, fisting his robes forcefully.

Jellal's hands closed over hers and he pried them open gently. "I don't know," he admitted. He gave a loud sigh and brought out a small box from his pocket, handing it to her. Lucy took it in her hands gingerly and her eyes widened at the sight.

"It's beautiful," she breathed and Jellal rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, that cost me the earnings I got from the last three missions."

Lucy smiled softly. "Jellal…"

"Hmm?"

"I know you're serious about Erza, but I'd still like to hear it from you," Lucy said quietly.

Jellal exhaled deeply and he stared up at the sky for a moment before he said fondly. "I am serious. I know I've done so many bad things in the past but I'll make it up to her. I'll stay with her and keep her safe. I'll protect her from anything." His eyes sparkled warmly and the female couldn't help but grin at his enthusiasm. "I'd do anything to make her happy, even if it means…even if it means my life." Even though it sounded so cheesy, Lucy knew that he meant every word.

Slowly, she closed the box and pressed it in his outstretched palm. "You'd be perfect for her Jellal, I know it."

A warm feeling spread throughout his chest and Jellal's grip tightened over the box. "Thanks Lucy."

"Now go and rest, this is my shift." Lucy pushed him back towards his tent and Jellal relented, waving as he trudged back towards his tent as the female turned back towards the campfire.

He paused and looked back at his friend. He stood there for a second and tried to call out to her but his eyes blurred and he found himself surrounded by some sort of fog in an instant.

There were no more birds chirping. The quiet calm of the forest had turned into something a lot louder. The air was much warmer now and he could hear the sound of running water in front of him. Jellal looked around, he didn't remember there being any rivers near their base camp.

He squinted, trying his best to see through the impenetrable fog. "Lucy," he called out uncertainly. Was she giggling?

More splashes sounded and he ventured forwards hesitantly. "Lucy?"

The ground below him suddenly gave way and he pitched forwards with a yell.

Jellal plunged into the hot pool of water and he broke through the surface quickly, gasping for air. Blinking the water out of his eyes, he looked up as a series of high pitched screams assaulted his ears.

"Wha…"

He clambered out of the pool as his mind registered that he was surround by half naked girls.

He was in a girls' bath.

Dodging the numerous missiles aimed at him, including the changing room lockers, Jellal bolted out of the facility. Tripping over his feet as he raced around a corner, the mage stopped to catch his breath. He didn't know where he was. One minute, he was with Lucy and the others and the next, he was swimming with semi naked babes.

Jellal stumbled out into the main street. Fumbling with his wet clothes clumsily, his fingers wrapped around the small box tightly and he let out a sigh of relief. It was safe. He looked around.

The street was quite deserted with just a few people wandering around slowly. He shuffled forwards uncertainly as he saw a girl pass by.

"Hey," he said evenly, "excuse me, sorry." He ran a hand through his wet hair in a feeble attempt to look cool.

The female flashed the handsome but thoroughly drenched man a wide grin. "Hi there."

Jellal flushed and shifted his feet nervously. "Hey, um this is gonna sound kinda weird but where am I?"

She giggled at his question. "You're in Rakion. It's this small town on the outskirts of the capital."

He shivered at the thought. The others were still at the base camp, which was in the middle of the Fiore forest just outside the capital, so he wasn't too far from where they were. He would just have to make his way back there.

"So, which way is it to the Fiore forest?" He asked.

The girl looked puzzled. "Fiore forest? I have no idea but there's a forest to the east." She sidled closer to the male and said sweetly. "But how about I get you out of those wet clothes first? You can't be comfortable in them." She eyed him suggestively and reached for him.

Jellal laughed nervously and stepped backwards just out of her reach. "No, sorry. I'm in a hurry. Thanks for everything."

She opened her mouth to protest but he had already strode past her. He wasn't in the mood for small talk. He needed to get back to where the others were. Where she was. He had made a promise and he wasn't going to break it anytime soon.

As he set off towards the east, he couldn't help but notice how loose his pants were becoming. He must be losing weight.

Just a note, I changed something in chapter 1 so yeah there we go

Well, there we go. If anyone still doesn't understand the whole portal thing, here it is.

There are a lot of these rips in the dimensions, so let's call them portals. They open and close randomly but they move around at the same time. So you could find yourself standing still and still the portal would pass through you and teleport you to the other world.

And it's been one year but Lucy has technically gotten to know Jellal for a few years. She knew of him in the TOP arc, then got to know him in the OS arc and all that.

And yes, the last line is a hint at the second idea of the story, the first one being the portal thing. But hey, both ideas are time related if that helps.

Silence is not golden on guys, do I get any presents after you've finished reading?