Nothing exciting is going on in my life so I'll go straight to the reviews:

Aki Vermillian: I never thought of Lucy as the princess, but now when I look at them they look so much alike! But weren't they going to use the Eclipse Project to go back in time? Knowing Hiro Mashima, anything can happen

Keira-kyuketsuki: Thanks for wishing meluck. Big bros r so hard to shop for, and I'm really happy that my chapters are still turning out ok

Erza Scarlet Titania: Yeah, I apologized for that cuz I have a problem with always arguing with everything anybody says so I offend people w/o knowing a lot… Yes, I am a girl. Ur Japanese? Haha, ok I'll try to get more time to work on mi story.

Rosiebud: Sorry for the sappiness, I'm not good at action scenes, and this was labeled as romance as well. I'm glad you find my ideas interesting. I'll try to put in less sappiness, but need ideas for action scenes then.

GoldenRoseTanya: I'm glad to see you still enjoyed it. And you mean you have never heard the story of the "Four Dragons" or the "Snow Queen" before or was it something else?

Also, at I'd like to name and say thank you to all the people who are on story alert for my story or have chosen my story as a favorites:

STORY ALERT: Aki Vermillian Angelus101 Rosiebud amberdelila44 animefreak978 etcetra101 keira-kyuketsuki luvanimealot magicsong nehamerchant123 noegenesis .5 Missjennifer54

Favorites: Aki Vermillian Aquamarine2002 GoldenRoseTanya ILoveAnimeGuys Suki Kana WolfCrusade etcetra101 nehamerchant123 .5 midnight-black-wolf14 Missjennifer54

Words we all know by now…

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL; HIRO MASHIMA DOES

Chapter 7: Snowy Mirage

Grandpa Rob's loving gaze fell on the children. They had grown the roses to be exceptionally beautiful, even with the one withering petal. Jellal stood up. "I'll go get some water for the roses," Jellal said, heading towards the coat rack.

"Jellal, the water in the well is frozen, and so is the water of the pond near our house. You won't get any water. Besides, a blizzard is raging outside. I say wait at least until the storm calms down," Rob warned.

Jellal's face fell, crestfallen. "If you say so, grandfather." He stared worriedly at the roses. Grandpa Rob sighed and walked into his bedroom and pulled a box out of his closet. It held old equipment from his days as a miner. He pulled out a pick-axe, goggles, and a lantern. He walked back into the room where Jellal and Erza were.

"Jellal," Grandpa Rob started, Jellal looked at him, "Put this on and grab a pot from the kitchen. I'll light the lantern." Jellal excitedly took the goggles and looked at them with wonder. Rob went and got a match. He unlatched the glass door of the lantern and poured a small amount of oil into it. He quickly lit it with the match and shut the glass door shut. He re-latched it and carried it back to where Erza was adjusting the goggles on Jellal's head. In one of his hands Jellal held a tin pot.

"Erza, are the goggles secure enough?"

"I think so. Do they feel tight enough, Jellal?" Jellal nodded.

Before Grandpa Rob handed Jellal the lantern, he said this, "Now Jellal, put the pick-axe in the tin pot. Hold onto the handle firmly. With your other hand hold the lantern in front of you so it will light he area in front of you. Remember that the pond is to the northeast of here, so just head there in a straight path and back. I don't want you going near the well in this weather. When you reach the pond kneel down near the edge, but not too close, and place the lantern in between your knees so that it won't get blown away. That is your only source of light. Now, when using the pick-axe, use hard, precise strokes. Take small chunks that will quickly melt when placed near the fireplace. We can't use the snow because we don't know how clean it is. The pond is pure water and…-," he was cut off.

"Okay, I get it. May I go get the ice now?" Jellal asked.

Grandpa Rob hesitated before answering. "…Yes, but be extremely careful."

"No problem!" With that Jellal ran out the door. Grandpa Rob stood anxiously at the window. _

Jellal regretted running out; he should've walked. He took a deep yet painful breath as the arctic air filled his lungs. He remembered what Grandpa Rob said. He swore he had just ran forward so he turned slightly and started pushing his way in what he assumed was the northeast.

Even with the lantern he couldn't see more than a few inches in front of him. He didn't want to imagine what his sight might have been like without the goggles. He just kept trudging through the snow, determined to get to the ice. "No wonder Grandpa Rob was so worried. Next time I should listen to him," Jellal thought. He could no longer feel his feet and his hands were going numb at an alarming rate. Still, he couldn't bring himself to turn around and go back. He had to get the ice.

Erza was just as worried as Grandpa Rob, not that you could tell by looking at her nonchalant face. She inspected the fire to try and distract herself from thinking of Jellal. It didn't work. She glanced over at Grandpa Rob and saw the fear plaguing his face. This deeply disturbed Erza. Grandpa Rob had great faith and trust in Jellal, and only showed worry when it was it was a life-or-death situation. She closed her eyes to try and calm her nerves.

Jellal had finally made it to the pond. He knew because when he placed a foot on the frozen surface, he immediately started sliding on unbalanced feet around the whole pond until he finally did a face plant into the ice. It slightly cracked at this impact which made Jellal's heart skip a beat. "Please don't shatter, please don't shatter," he pleaded in his mind. He slowly tried standing up and on the fifth time he finally was successful. He slid like an ice skater to the nearest edge of the pond. Then he realized he dropped the lantern somewhere.

Muttering childish insults under his breath, Jellal started walking around the perimeter of the pound. Now he couldn't see anything without the lantern. Then Jellal stumbled over something, tripped, and landed in the soft snow. He sat up shaking snow out of his hair. He crawled over to the lump he tripped over. He used his gloved hands to dig the item out of the snow. Surprisingly, it was still burning within the glass.

Jellal smiled, glad that something was still working. He settles the lantern in between his knees like his grandfather told him to. He could faintly see the separation from the snow to the ice. He held up his pick-axe and swiftly struck the ice with no hesitation. Shards flew into the air and if Jellal hadn't been wearing goggles he would have been blind by now.

Jellal scooped the ice chunks he made into the pot, with beads of sweat frozen on his neck and forehead. He stood back up. "Now if I dropped the lantern here, that must mean home is southwest of here," Jellal affirmed to himself. Facing the pond he rotated himself 180 degrees so that he faced the way he came.

He started walking in that direction when something hit his head and he collapsed onto the ground. Whatever had hit him, which was probably a baseball sized piece of hail, had torn the goggles off his head. Even with his hearing muffled by the plush snow he was sure he heard a sharp crack and glass shattering. He assumed his lantern had broken and was now useless. During all of this his vision kept getting fuzzier until he blacked out completely.

Erza was tugging on Grandpa Rob's hand with all her might to keep him from rushing out the door. It had been over an hour since Jellal left. At most it should have only taken 20 minutes. "Ergh… Grandpa Rob, don't go! Have faith in Jellal or send me!" Erza begged. Grandpa Rob didn't seem to hear her.

"I'm coming, Jellal. Wait for me!" His eyes seemed to have lost all sanity. Erza muttered something to herself she did not expect Grandpa Rob to hear, but somehow those words got through to him and froze him. "What did you just say, Erza?"

There was a light tinge of pink on her cheeks and for a second hysteria was evident on her face. She quickly gained her composure, but Rob could see the regret she had of saying those words lingering in her eyes. "Erza…" Grandpa Rob started.

"I-it's nothing! Erza said hastily. She really didn't want to venture onto that topic. She stared out the window at the cataclysmic blizzard. The tiny snowflakes were mesmerizing.

"Erza, tell me," Grandpa Rob said in a stern voice. Erza slightly flinched. Whenever rarely ever used that tone, but when he did, that meant it was final. You had to do what he told. Erza opened her mouth to speak, but paused. She changed her mind on what she was going to say.

"…No," Erza uttered. She hoped that Grandpa Rob would leave it at that. Besides, it was none of his business. "I'm going after, Jellal," Erza declared. She shoved some boots onto her feet and roughly put a coat on. She started to march out the door when Grandpa Rob grabbed her arm.

"Stay Erza, we'll wait for him. Also… I won't pressure you about what I thought you said."

Erza's head was down so he couldn't see her expression. "Okay." She reluctantly took off the coat and boots. She walked and sat back down near the fireplace. Rob tried to think of something that would distract him so he decided to make some tea. While it was brewing he thought, "What did Erza mean when she said, 'I hoped it would be different this time, but if my own parents forsake me, why would anybody else want me? Besides as a useless slave, because that's all I really am in the end. An escaped slave.'"

As he pondered about the subject a little more, Rob realized he had never seen Erza's parents, nor had she ever mentioned them. Out of all the times Jellal has gone to her house for breakfast he said it was Erza who cooked the breakfast and the house seemed nearly empty, as if nobody else lived there. As for the being a slave part…it wasn't uncommon for there to be illegal slave traders. What disgusted him more than the traders were the people in society that bought slaves in black markets. If Erza really was a slave that would explain how mature she acts and maybe even her views of life. "I better not tell Jellal this if- No, when he comes back," he decided in his mind. He then called out, "Erza, would you like some tea?"

There was no response so Grandpa Rob thought she was mad at him. Then he heard a soft, "Yes, please." He sadly smiled. Erza was sweet child, and if she was really scarred with a past life of being a slave, then he doubted even where she was now that she was experiencing the full happiness that innocent and oblivious children have. He erased that sad smile from his face and replaced it with a happier smile before he walked back into the room. He handed Erza her tea, warning her that it was hot. She cautiously took the steaming cup. "Grandpa Rob…" she started.

"Hm?"

"Do you have any…never mind."

"What is it?"

"Well, um… erm… Do you have any-" Erza said the last part of that sentence so quietly that it was not audible.

"What was that Erza?"

"Do you have any strawberry cake?" Erza asked without her eyes meeting his. He chuckled.

"Hold on a second. I'll bake you one."

"Aahh..! No, that's okay, it's not that important right now. So, um, so…" Grandpa Rob had never seen Erza so flustered before. He also noticed that she seemed to hate herself for saying that. She must really want that cake.

"Don't even try to take that back. I will make you that cake," Rob announced. Erza was speechless as he turned around and walked back into the kitchen.

Jellal finally opened his eyes to feel a freezing yet burning sensation all over his body. The giant headache he had didn't help. Jellal had no idea what to do in his immobilized state, but he knew he had to move soon or he would freeze to death. He slowly pushed himself off the ground. Searing pain shot through him and he yelped, but soon just clenched his jaw.

When Jellal finally got up he looked for a source of light. Then he remembered that his lantern broke. A strong gust of wind and snow then nearly knocked him off his feet. When he reclaimed his balance, Jellal decided to get a move on. Even if he didn't make it back home he knew he needed shelter. He blindly staggered in a random direction.

"So c-c-cold…and t-tired," Jellal muttered to himself with chattering teeth. That was his way of making sure he remained conscious. As long as he could talk he could stay awake. He tried looking to his left and right, but he couldn't see anything except white and vague figures of snowflakes. He flinched when an especially strong gale assaulted him with a legion of snowflakes. Jellal wished he still had his goggles. Then he though he saw a light flicker in the distance. He slowly started walking towards it, hoping it wasn't heaven.

"Almost there Jellal, almost there," Jellal breathed. His lips were s pale shade of blue. He steadily got closer to the light and finally regonized it as a light from a fire. Then he recognized that it was his home. He smiled out of relief and started scampering towards it. "Grandpa… Erza…," he repeated those names in his mind with each painful pant.

Erza heard a whist crunch of the snow from the snow. Her head snapped in that direction and her eyes narrowed. "What is it, Erza?" Grandpa Rob asked. He had noticed the abrupt way Erza had stopped eating her cake and how tense she looked.

"Something is approaching," she said with a mysterious sort of tone. She closed her eyes to find out if she could hear it better when another of her senses was closed off.

Grandpa Rob was taken aback with how sharp Erza's senses and reflexes were. Almost nothing was able to get past her. He tried to silence his breathing and not make a sound.

Erza was in deep concentration. The crunch kept getting louder in her mind. She tried to figure out who or what was approaching in her head. "Alright, so it's going to take the thing four minutes at the rate it is traveling, its steps are uneven so it's hurt in some way, with the way it's traveling it is a human, with the resonation of the crunch it is a male and a child…."

"JELLAL!" Erza hollered before she got up and ran to the door faster than Rob thought was humanly possible. She slammed open the door and was almost pushed over by the sudden bust of wind, but she stood her ground and slowly inched her way out the doorway so she could help Jellal inside. Rob ran to get blankets from out of his closest. By the time her got back with a bundle of blankets he could see the silhouettes of Jellal on the wooden steps and Erza reaching out her hand to help him. Jellal took it.

"Come on, we're almost there. Brace yourself for the last step,"Erza encouraged him as he finally overcame the last step. Erze immediately noted how exhausted he was.

"E-Erza," Jellal stuttered. Erza's eyes widened in concern and she pulled him close, draping his arm around her shoulder. She started to guide him inside. "I'm sorry, Erza. I… I couldn't get the ice. I- I dropped it," Jellal apologized feeling ashamed.

"Jellal… that doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that you came alive." He could see the sincerity in her eyes. Jellal gave a small smile, then sighed.

"I have to go back and get the lamp and goggles, eventually." He looked over his shoulder and another gust of wind overflowing with snowflakes slapped his face. "Er…" he grunted when he felt something in his eyes. He rapidly shook his head back and forth, hoping to get rid of that weird feeling. Suddenly he just stopped, with an unusual type of frown etched on his face.

Erza could tell something peculiar was happening. "Jellal-," she was quickly cut off.

"Don't touch me. You're ugly." Jellal then roughly shoved her onto the ground. Grandpa Rob was surprised at Jellal's sudden change in behavior and also a little angry.

"Jellal, why did you do that? That's no way you should treat your friends, especially Erza! Apologize Jellal," Grandpa Rob told Jellal. All Jellal did was give a sinister smile. He strutted into the room and his face was distorted into one filled with disgust.

"So… so ugly," he said horrified, clutching the sides of his head. Erza was starting to get up, with a very concerned and confused expression. Erza then saw the way Jellal was looking at their roses. Her face lost all color.

"NO!" she screamed running towards the window box. She dived from where she was at the moment to try and cover it. She made it in time, but that didn't stop Jellal. He ruthlessly started kicking her trying to get to the roses. In his sight, those were the ugliest things in the room, and he had to get rid of it. Erza was just another hideous thing to get through. Jellal face contorted in anger after unsuccessfully making any contact with the roses. Erza has already been crying for a while.

"Jellal! Stop this at once! What has gotten into you?!" Grandpa Rob shouted flabbergasted. This was too cruel and unbelievable. This wasn't his sweet, innocent Jellal. This was someone entirely different.

Jellal finally got fed up with Erza's overprotectiveness of something so disgusting. He bent down and dragged her up by her hair. He quickly socked her in the gut. She collapsed into his arms, but he quickly thrust her away. It was meant to knock her out, but she was able to barely remain conscious. Erza could only watch as Jellal crushed the roses in the window box. Erza struggled to crawl over and clutched onto one of Jellal's legs.

Vehemently, he kicked her off so she crashed into the broken pieces of the window box. "My eye!" Erza screeched. The remnants of the window box and rose thorns had ravaged her right eye. After thoroughly destroying the roses, Jellal looked around for anything that could save him that could erase his memories of such ugly things. His eyes saw something dart outside the window.

Jellal's gaze lingered there. What was outside was truly beautiful. They were pure, utterly sui generis, every one of them. The snowflakes were the only thing in the wretched world that deserved to be called beautiful. As if hypnotized, Jellal walked closer to the window before frowning. The window stained the glory of the snowflakes. His fingers curled into a tight fist and he punched the glass window. The fragments rained down. Surprisingly the glass did not cut Jellal.

He stuck his head out into the chilled crisp air, but he didn't notice the cold. All he could do was observe the wonder and boundless refinement of the snow crystals. Jellal then felt the strong need to escape everything ugly and isolate himself in nothing but the falling snow. He leapt out the window and didn't even look back.

Following the path the wind made, Jellal trailed after the soaring snowflakes. By this time he was chilled to the bone by the fierce storm he was in the middle of. In his bleak surrounding he saw strange illusions in front of them. Jellal recognized them as the detestable buildings of the town. He wanted to get out of there and fast.

Jellal tried seeing a way that seemed to be clear and spotted a sleigh that sort of reminded him of snowflakes. He ran towards it and jumped inside it. Jellal sat there shivering when a shadow was cast over him. He looked up, prepared to order a hideous person to take him far away into a place filled only by the presence of the drifting snowflakes, but the face he saw was enchanting. A small face with slanted indigo eyes looked down at him. The woman was wearing a white coat that looked like it was made from an angel's feathers. Her hair was as white as the snow and went to slightly below her shoulder blades while the wind was pushing her bangs aside. A blue hair ribbon hung near the top of her bangs and was tied so that it contained four ribbons. Her hair seemed to form a silvery halo. "An…angel?" Jellal guessed.

The mysterious woman giggled. "Ohoho, an angel, hm? It's ironic you should call me that since long ago I dreamed of being one, but then I found a place amongst ice and snow and the sheer cold welcomed me. I no longer dreamed of flying into the skies when I can make my "snow bees" fly for me. My, you must be cold. Here, take my coat."

The woman removed her coat and handed it to the near frozen Jellal. Then as he was graciously putting it on she stepped into her carriage and sat down next to Jellal. He noticed she had a marking on her collarbone of a pair of angel wings and even though it was the middle of winter, she was wearing a blue dress that had feathers decorating the front, had wings on the back, and that the bottom of her dress was made only of the same type of feathers that her coat had. The dress showed some of her cleavage and the skirt of the dress was very short in the front. The angelic woman noticed him looking at her and she grinned.

"Are you still cold?" She questioned him. Jellal slightly nodded. "Let me fix that." The woman leaned toward him and gave him a small kiss on his left cheek. Jellal instantly stopped shivering and he noticed that he was now resistant to the cold. "One more…" the woman whispered sweetly, turning his head with her index and middle finger. She quickly pecked him on the check. A certain light died in Jellal's eyes.

"What… How?" Jellal asked puzzled. The woman smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder comfortably. She did not dare kiss him a third time or he would die. Jellal looked up at her with a blank expression and said-

"You're the only thing I can remember besides the beauty of the snowflakes which resemble you. I am Jellal. Please let me forever watch the snowflakes, Angel."

"Angel?" the woman said, amused. "I am the Snow Queen, but I will allow for you to address me as Angel if you wish. Now I will take you to my palace where snowflakes serve me as my most loyal servants." Jellal's face lit up in glee as the carriage started moving north. Their tracks were soon covered by freshly fallen snow.

How was this chapter? It didn't turn out as I expected… So on to some business:

who wants there to be a HappyXCharla arc? I can make them a background romance in another fairy talr probably, so I want to see how many people want an arc like that before I write it. Same goes for LaxusXCana.

I need to know a really good fairy tale where the princess dies. This is for LisannaXBixlow. The "prince" has to survive.

Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been very busy. I hope to update the next chapter on Thanksgiving if everything goes according to plan.