A/N Hey I'm back with a new request! This one came from a guest called Le Potato and it sounded so adorable I had to write it. Also about my last one-shot I will be editing that tomorrow and republishing it so expect that. I don't own Fairy Tail! Oh and one last thing, most of the time when I do Genderbent stuff I keep everyone's names the same because most of the names are androgynous to me and it's less confusing. If there's any names I change that aren't blatantly obvious I'll leave a note in the chapter. Also for this chapter I will have an A/N for the end too.
Prompt: Genderbent Jerza where Male! Erza is jealous of the mother/son bond between Fem! Jellal and Male! Meredy and jealous of the male members of Crime Sorcière.
When Erza and his team were invited to go on a week-long mission by Meredy, he did not expect this. A large heroic battle, vanquishing the enemy, and some strawberry cake to reward himself were all on his schedule. One thing that wasn't planned was setting up tents in a dense forest with Crime Sorcière.
"Won't camping be so much fun?" Lucy exclaimed as she and Wendy finished pitching up their tent. Erza watched them from his own tent as he had just finished unpacking the last of his suitcases. Next to them sat Natsu and Gray who were both too busy fighting to bother putting up their tent. A swift punch from Erza sent both of them on their way to pitch the tiny shelter.
"I personally don't want to spend a week outdoors next to those two idiots and a rag-tag team of despicable criminals." Carla turned her nose up and sniffed haughtily. Next to where Team Natsu was setting up sat Crime Sorcière lazing around their campsite. At Carla's comment they grew still and silent.
"Carla! Be nice." Wendy reprimanded. Crime Sorcière looked down at the ground in shame. The next few minutes went by agonizingly slow and Erza could fell himself swell with guilt. If he hadn't accepted then Carla wouldn't have gotten the chance to make such a rude comment.
"I'm terribly sorry for the behavior of my teammate. What she said was false and extremely out of line." Lucy was the first to speak again and bowed at Crime Sorcière. "None of us feel that way. Please accept our apology." Lucy didn't bother to look up during her speech and only did once she heard laughter.
"Not the worst thing we've been called." Cobra said to the group. Immediately the tension was diffused, for the Fairy Tail mages joined Crime Sorcière and Carla closed herself off in her tent.
"What's our mission?" Erza asked seriously and stared at Meredy. The pink haired boy smiled slightly and rubbed his head.
"Funny thing about that…" Meredy trailed off.
"What do you mean, you cotton candy brat?" Angel glared suspiciously at Meredy. He cowered in fear and clutched Jellal closely. Said mage looked at her "adopted son" in confusion before glaring at Angel. A staring contest commenced between the two girls until Angel stuck her tongue out and turned away.
"What do you mean Meredy?" Jellal asked.
"Isn't it obvious? There's no mission. Meredy just wanted everyone to be together." Cobra looked at the group as all of them seemed surprised at this development.
"I'm sorry Jelly!" Meredy cried out and hugged Jellal. The older girl patted his head softly and Erza glared slightly at him. It was completely irrational to be jealous of someone that considered Jellal their mother but still. "Mira-sensei was talking about OTPs and it sounded so interesting. She said the best way to see it was to plan a trip of some sort so I thought of camping." Meredy explained and hiccupped slightly.
"Don't worry Meredy we don't blame you." Jellal said comfortingly. Immediately Meredy through his arms around Jellal in relief. Jellal smiled down at Meredy who had halted his wailing.
"Precisely." Erza butted in before controlling his anger. Jellal was the closest thing to a mother that Meredy ever got, he should not be jealous.
"OTP?" Natsu tilted his head to the side. Was that some kind of food he could eat?
"It means love baby!" Richard proclaimed loudly and drew the attention of Midnight who had just woken up. The mage glanced around at his "team" before sighing and going back to sleep.
"What should we do then?" Wendy asked. Everyone stopped their conversations to stare at the dragon slayer. "I mean we have a week to spend together."
"Smart idea Wendy! On the way to the campsite I saw a nice lake. Why don't we swim for a bit and have a picnic?" Lucy suggested.
"I bet you I can get there quicker than you!" Natsu declared at Gray.
"In your dreams you Fire Dolt." Gray said before the two were rushing down a deserted path.
"Do they know where the spring is?" Racer asked as he stared at the spot where the two mages had been.
"No but that's not my problem!" Lucy said cheerfully and Crime Sorcière sweat dropped at how casual the girl was when two of her guild mates were potentially lost in a large dense forest.
"We should get going then!" Meredy exclaimed and dragged Jellal with him. Nearby Erza narrowed his eyes into slits before Wendy walked up to him.
"Are you coming too Erza?" Wendy asked innocently. Most of the group had already left for the springs. At the back of the group Cobra dragging Midnight through the dirt, for the mage still hadn't woken.
"Sure." Erza grit his teeth and followed the group. This was going to be a long day.
Once they reached the springs, everyone relaxed and forgot about the tension between the two groups.
"Luce come join us!" Natsu exclaimed from where he and Gray sat in the water. The poor blonde stared at the pair fearfully before Natsu got out of the water to drag her towards them. Lucy stared around the clearing while trying to find someone to save her when someone grabbed Natsu's arm and flung him back into the water.
"Let Lucy do what she wants to!" Erza ordered and Lucy smiled at him.
"Thanks Erza. So who are you planning to hang with during the picnic?" Lucy asked conversationally.
"Probably with Natsu and Gray so they don't destroy the clearing." Erza frowned deeply. He was rewarded with a laugh from Lucy.
"Well I'm going to be talking with Jellal and Angel. Anything you want me to ask a certain blue haired girl?" Lucy said with a wink. Immediately Erza felt redness rush to his cheeks.
"Why would you ask such a thing? Of course not!" Erza stuttered awkwardly.
"Don't worry. I'll get some information." Lucy said with a laugh before running towards Jellal. Despite the sinking feeling in his gut, Erza was pleased that Lucy would do something for him. She really was the greatest sister ever.
"Hey Erza come see me blow this water out of my nose!" Natsu shouted and Erza sighed deeply. Too bad that he couldn't trust Natsu with safety scissors. Erza really wanted a vacation.
"Coming." Erza sighed.
.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`.`
"So Jellal got anyone special?" Lucy asked while grabbing one of the sandwiches in the middle of the food display. Simultaneously Jellal and Erza spat out their drinks but for different reasons. Jellal couldn't believe that Lucy could ask such an embarrassing question so causally. Erza on the other hand wished that Lucy used some of her ever-present tact. Maybe Natsu was being a bad influence on her…
"No I do not." Jellal responded shortly. Without noticing it, Erza let out a sigh of relief. That was one less problem.
"Anyone caught your eye then?" Lucy pushed and Jellal once again spat out her drink.
"Hey Bright Eyes stop trying to make our leader choke." Cobra said and Lucy reluctantly let the topic slide but not without noting how Jellal's eyes met Erza's for a few seconds once she had stopped choking.
"Ah I'm sorry Jellal! Usually I'm around Fairy Tail ages and well… subtle isn't exactly in their vocabulary." Lucy apologized.
"It's fine." Jellal assured. The rest of the picnic was spent with lighthearted conversation and playful banter. At one point Racer dared Natsu to eat a watermelon whole but Gray managed to talk some sense into the idiot. Once everyone had eaten, and Erza had gotten a large strawberry cake of course, Lucy was dragged off by Meredy.
"What'd ya think they're doing?" Natsu asked the remaining members of the group while shoving a pie in his mouth.
"Probably trying to escape your disgusting table manners." Cobra said while staring distastefully at Natsu. The pink haired slayer was spewing crumbs from his mouth and drool was dribbling down his chin.
"I don't care what actions those two take as long as Meredy doesn't have something sneaky planned." Jellal shrugged lightly and pushed a lock of blue hair behind her ear. The action captivated Erza's attention and he had to wait a few seconds before his heart started beating again. No wonder every man in Crime Sorcière loved her, Erza thought glumly.
"It's the brat and a Fairy Tail mage. Do you really think there won't be anything sneaky planned?" Angel drawled and everyone paled. "Come on tell me you thought about that!"
"Not really." Erza admitted.
"It didn't really seem to pop into our minds." Gray agreed and Angel smacked her hand to her forehead.
"All of you are idiots. Whatever I'm going back to the campsite. When Meredy gets back can someone tell him to start booking inter-guild vacations at hotels? Thanks." Angel dismissed herself and started the trek back to the camp.
"I'm heading back too. It's time to check on Midnight since he didn't go. I swear it's like I own a dog." Cobra grumbled while picking himself up off the ground.
"Oh let me go!" Natsu cried while grabbing another leg of chicken and running after the poison dragon slayer that "coincidentally" had started walking faster.
"I'll go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Gray sighed. Erza nodded once to the boy in relief as Gray and Racer began walking after Natsu while discussing magic. It had taken a few more seconds for Richard to excuse himself by allegedly having to "record the day in his diary" and then Erza was left alone with Jellal. The two continued on eating in silence until finally Erza finished his cake.
"That was weird. They all just left." Erza commented.
"Yeah," Jellal agreed. "It's so bizarre how all of their plans just overlapped."
Meanwhile not too far away in the bushes sat Lucy and Meredy.
"Is this what OTPs do?" Lucy asked Meredy from where she sat. In the story Lucy was currently writing she hadn't thought to add any romance and, as Meredy explained, OTPs were just real world examples of romance. This was prime research for her next chapters and Lucy couldn't wait to see an OTP react.
"According to this diagram Mira drew; no." Meredy said while carefully unfolding a sheet of notebook paper. All over the paper were badly drawn stick figures. Some seemed to be kissing or hugging while others were just staring lovingly at each (at least that's how Lucy interpreted the heart eyes on some of them).
"How do we make them do that?" Lucy asked.
"Let me check," Meredy responded while pulling out a thick book. "On page five of The Ultimate Guide to Romance it says to just let them be alone for a while."
"Maybe they can sense us. That would explain why they haven't fallen in love yet. Why don't we go back to camp and wait to see what happens?" Lucy suggested.
"That works with me." Meredy said and the two carefully edged away from the couple. Once they were a safe distance from the two, they stood and began walking back to camp. Unbeknownst to them, the "silent retreat" wasn't so silent. Both Jellal and Erza were on high alert as they stalked towards the bushes where Lucy and Meredy had been.
"Reveal yourself!" Erza yelled while reequipping into the first armor he could think of. Beside him Jellal also rolled up her sleeves and got ready to use her magic. They made eye contact before nodding swiftly and charging at the bush. After they successfully smashed and destroyed every leaf on the bush they realized no one was there.
"Maybe it was a squirrel." Jellal said once she finished observing the damage. She got up from her squatting position only to look at Erza and nearly fall back down in surprise.
"What's wrong?" Erza asked after he caught Jellal. The poor girl could do nothing but try and stop the blush from spreading across her cheeks.
"Did you really need to change into that armor?" Jellal coughed lightly while pointedly staring at a tree in the distance.
"What do you mean?" Erza inquired before looking down. He almost dropped Jellal once he realized what armor it was. Of course this had to be the day he accidently switched into his Seduction Armor. "I'm so sorry!" Erza stammered out an apology while reequipping back into his normal clothes.
"It's okay." Jellal said quietly and they plopped down on the ground together. Unlike earlier the atmosphere between them was now comfortable and they admired the sky together.
"The sky reminds me of something." Erza mused aloud. The sky was a dusty orange color towards the earth and almost pitch black the further up he looked. It was flecked with stars and each of them twinkled softly.
"It reminds me of the day Ultear opened everyone's Second Origins. I still can't believe he did that for Fairy Tail." Jellal said. The unspoken words settled between them uncomfortably, just waiting for one of them to say it aloud.
"I remember that day. During the training camp for the GMG. IT was also the day you almost kissed me." Erza said and then his heart stopped. Apparently he was the one to say what was weighing on both of their minds.
"I said I had a fiancé." Jellal replied.
"For a few seconds after you told me I thought it was Ultear. Before that train of thought got too far though I saw your eyes. You're a terrible liar." Erza finished and his hand found Jellal's. He hesitantly tied their fingers together and Jellal tightened the hold.
"Not like you're much better." Jellal teased back.
"We're just a pair of terrible liars I guess." Erza smiled and flipped on his side. When he turned he was met with navy blue eyes. Apparently Jellal already had the same idea as him and she was also on her side.
"Yeah we are." Jellal breathed lightly. Pink dusted both of their faces and their eyes never lost contact.
"Does your reasoning still stand?" Erza asked.
"I think it does." Jellal said apologetically. "I want to redeem myself for all that I've done before I pull someone else into my life. Not that I won't ever! It's just… it's a lot of responsibility and burden to wait on me so I don't want to lead anyone on." Jellal finished explaining and silently cursed herself for ruining the moment. Ever since they were young Jellal had admired Erza. Now she definitely pushed away her closest companion.
"That's very respectable." Erza smiled proudly at Jellal. Always she would put others in front of herself. Even if it hurt her in the process. It was simultaneously why he respected and worried for her so much. "I hope I'm not being presumptuous when I say this but I wouldn't mind waiting for you." Erza blushed fiercely at his final words.
"Really?" Jellal asked in shock. Erza nodded and a shy smile made its way across Jellal's face. "I wouldn't mind you being the one to wait on me."
"Let's make a deal then. When you've redeemed yourself, find me. In exchange I'll wait on you forever." Erza said kindly and leaned forward slightly. Jellal also leaned forward until her forehead touched his.
"Deal."
A/N Okay so this is reeeaaaaallllyyyy late and long but I just couldn't stop writing because I love Jerza so much I know I said I'd post this yesterday (or two days ago depending whatever time zone you're in) but I got sick on Christmas and passed out as soon as I got home so I had no time to finish it yesterday. I hope you like this Le Potato because it was so much fun to write. I hope I got everyone's character right lmao. Well that's all so Happy Kwanzaa/Boxing Day/ December 26/December 27(?)/Whatever else it may be!