. . .You know, I'm really running out of witty things to say in the Author's Notes. That's a bad thing. Actually, it MIGHT be a good thing, because it symbolizes that I've written a lot of stories/chapters. . .?

I don't even know.

SHIT I FORGOT TO PUT THE DISCLAIMER IN THE FIRST CHAPTER PLEASE DON'T SUE ME.

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail & characters (c) Hiro Mashima.

Fucking pandemonium was a general phrase that pretty much summed up the state of the Fairy Tail guild. Everyone was running around, trying to get any last-minute decorations or preparations ready.

Outside, Jellal could hear colorful words being exchanged and what sounded like pathetic, loud, off-key Spanish "singing" from Gajeel. Unbeknownst to him, the Iron Dragon Slayer was currently forcing Jet and Droy into mariachi costumes.

Juvia was trying to put out a table that Natsu had set on fire while trying to woo Gray at the same time, and Lucy and Levy were hurrying to fix a hole in the ceiling that Elfman made during his attempt to put the sign up. Cana was drinking a barrel of alcohol (with five empty ones next to her). . . and according to Happy, Erza was going to be home in 15 minutes. The Exceed cat had been flying around town looking for the scarlet mage to try and estimate how long it would take for her to arrive.

As for the 2nd attempt at the strawcheeseflé Jellal hadn't spotted anything bad so far, and the smell rising from the lacrima oven was simply delicious. He hoped and prayed with all his might that Erza would love it.

Well, like it.

Well, tolerate it.

Well, not kill him because of it

"Jellal, I think you should go and wait for Erza," Mirajane yelled above the din.

"What?" Jellal shouted back, as Gajeel strummed a high note and wailed, "Estoy cansado!"

Mira walked up to him and screamed in his ear. "GO AND WAIT FOR ERZA!"
"Okay," he said nonchalantly. He frowned for a second. "But what about the cake? Will you take care of it?"
"Of course," she replied. "I just hope it isn't burned, you know? It would be hilarious if you showed up with a smoking black lump topped with whipped cream!" She laughed merrily and headed into the kitchen.

Jellal froze as she practically described the first cake down to the very last detail. He immediately began to panic.

Stay calm, stay calm. Go and help your teammates set up the party.

"Elfman, do you need help?" he called.

"No! A real man does not accept help!" he roared, as his Beast Arm punched another jagged hole in the ceiling. ". . .My bad."

"We can take care of it!" Levy yelled over the noise, then shrieked as splinters of wood rained down on her and Lucy. ". . .I hope."

"Mmm. . .hee hee, I like pink unicorns," Cana drawled slowly, obviously drunk. This really worried Jellal – Cana NEVER got drunk. "Hey, blue guy, do you like pink unicorns too? I also like my toes! Squishy toes! Whee!" she giggled, clutching onto Jellal's sleeve weakly.

Jellal's agitation increased at Cana's state as he gently pried her off of his winter coat. His eyes were drawn to the huge, blazing fire at one of the tables, which was rapidly spreading. "Juvia, let me help you!"

"I am alright, Jellal-sama," she said solemnly, staring with sparkling eyes at Gray-sama as a jet of water poured from her hands.

Jellal shrugged, then winced as Gajeel struck a squealing note. "Gajeel, it sounds like you're stepping on a dying cat – that's being roasted alive!" he roared.

"Buenas noches!" Gajeel shrieked, finishing. "Thanks for the compliment, Jellal! Shoo-bee-doo-bop! Wait. . .what's 'shoo-bee-doo-bop' in Spanish?"

Jellal was close to sobbing. "I knew it was probably crazy out here, but not this – "

His sentence was cut off by the creaking of the guild's door's being opened.

"I'm home-"

Crap! It's Erza!

He didn't realize that 1) he just said that aloud, and 2) so did everyone else.

The scarlet-haired mage frowned, but then her eyes surveyed the scene in front of her and she froze.

Erza stared at the guild in utter shock, looking at the scene in front of her. "What – what happened. . .?"

Natsu stood frozen, his fist halfway through the arc that ended in Gray's face. Sweat started running down his face as Erza shot him a deadly glare. "Natsu! Gray! What the hell is going on?" she demanded.

"Ah. . .A-aye! Nothing, Erza! Just a little welcome home party. . .that's all!" both of the rivals burst out simultaneously, and they put their arms around each other, doing a little dance.

Jellal's heart was beating a mile a minute – reason 1 being that the guild was in a state of utter pandemonium, and reason 2 being the strawcheeseflé. How was it? Oh, dear Lord, PLEASE let it be better than the first one. . .He sucked in a sharp breath. "Mira, could you go get the cake? It's – "

"Sure," she said, and was off before Jellal had finished his sentence. After two seconds with no response, Jellal became increasingly impatient. "Mira – "

Again, Jellal was cut off. But this time, Mirajane hadn't said anything.

Jellal's jaw dropped in horror and shock as his eyes were greeted by a black lump that probably once was dessert. The white whipped cream provided a stark contrast to the pitch-black color of the "cake".

"No way. . ." he said hoarsely. "What did I do wrong. . .?"

"I'm so sorry, Jellal!" Mira cried out, her eyes shining with worry. "Maybe something went wrong in the oven!"

"It's not your fault," he vaguely said, and turned his attention back to Erza, who was scolding various members of the guild.

"Elfman, I don't care how much of a 'man' you are – that is absolutely no excuse for punching a hole through the roof! And as for you, Cana. . .how much did you drink?!"

She was interrupted by a horrible screeching noise that had every single member of the guild covering their ears in an attempt to block out the sound. "What is – "

"Hola, ¿cómo estás? Gajeel roared.

"Lord, save me now," Jellal groaned.

"GAJEEL, SHUT THE HELL UP!" Cana roared before slumping back on the floor.

Erza turned to see Levy shuffling her feet in embarrassment, refusing to meet her eyes. "Ah, Erza. . .please don't be mad! We wanted to throw you a "Welcome Home" and a "Happy Birthday" party!"

Erza blinked in surprise before a warm smile spread across her face. "I didn't know anyone here knew the date of my birthday!"

"We didn't!" Natsu hollered. "The only reason we know is 'cause Mirajane told all of us – "

Gray threw a punch at him in order to shut him up. "Gomenasai, Erza-chan." He smiled at her, sweat-dropping.

Erza looked at the guild in amusement. Everyone was sweating buckets and had innocent smiles spread out across their faces. All but Jellal, who stood there in complete fear and confusion.

Finally, Erza spotted Jellal and her eyes sparkled.

"Jellal! Hello!. . .You're a complete mess!"

Shit!

"H-hey there," he said, giving her a warm smile. "Sorry about the flour. . .and the sugar and eggs. . .and the cream. . .and the strawberries. . ." He cleared his throat, blushing. "I'll explain later. But first, welcome home, and happy birthday! Oh – and Merry late Christmas," he added, laughing slightly.

Erza laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you so much! But you know you didn't have to plan this party."

"Yeah. . ." Jellal said. "Sorry about the mess. But, um. . .there's. . ."

Erza blinked adorably and looked at him. "What? Is something wrong?"

". . .You could say that," he exhaled. Turning his back to her, he took the cake from Mirajane and presented it to her, looking down at the floor. He felt that she'd get a good laugh out of it.

"Hey, I tried baking a dessert for you," he said quietly. "I know you love strawberry shortcake, cheesecake, and soufflés. . .and I combined them. . .it didn't turn out the way I wanted to. I'm sorry." He sweat-dropped and held out the burnt dessert.

Erza's eyes widened before she chuckled. "I'm so touched that you'd think of me like that. Thank you Jellal, I really appreciate it." She took the dessert from his hand, then frowned thoughtfully as she hit the hard lump a couple of times with her fist. "It'll make a wonderful doorstop. . ."

"You want to try a piece?"

"Hell no!"

The whole guild laughed at that. Jellal smiled, relieved that he wasn't dead at the hands of his girlfriend.

Suddenly, a loud ding sounded from the kitchen's direction, and Erza frowned, wondering. "That sounds like the lacrima oven. . .But. . ."

Jellal suddenly shot to his feet as if stabbed with a red-hot poker and dashed off at the speed of light, leaving only a "Hold on!" behind.

The mage arrived in the kitchen, panting, and looked at the counter wildly to see if his hopes were true.

The burnt dessert wasn't there.

Jellal held his breath in anticipation as he opened the lacrima oven.

There, on a sheet of parchment paper, sat a golden-brown strawcheeseflé, perfectly crisp and flaky with deliciously melted strawberry juice on the side. A mouthwatering aroma rose from the dessert.

Jellal barely suppressed a childish whoop of joy as he grabbed the dessert, but then yelped in pain as he burned his hands. Scowling, he threw on a pair of oven mitts (the same ones) and dashed outside.

Erza's eyebrows were still raised in surprise as Jellal darted back in, out of breath. "Erza! I baked a second one!"

"What?"

He caught his breath before speaking. "The burnt one was the first one, but I realized it was burnt early on, so I tried to bullshit a second one. . ." He couldn't contain his grin. "And look how it turned out!"

Erza was at a loss for words as the delicious scent wafted through the air. Lucy, smiling, tossed her a plastic fork, which she deftly caught on instinct, not even looking at her. Hesitantly, she tried a slice of the warm strawcheeseflé.

Her eyes widened as she chewed slowly. A heartbeat later, she flew into Jellal's arms. "It's perfect, it's absolutely perfect! Oh, it's delicious!" She kissed him fervently.

Jellal was taken aback, but finally decided to kiss her back, grinning giddily like an idiot when she finally pulled away.

"Thank you, oh, thank you," she breathed out breathlessly. After her moment of happiness, she surveyed him up and down. "Jellal. . .I have a question."
"Yeah?"

". . .What kind of clothes are you wearing?" She stifled a giggle. "Or rather, what lack of clothes are you wearing?"

Jellal paused for a fraction of a second before he followed her line of sight and yelped. "SHIT! I forgot to take it off!" He tore the lace off and grabbed the chef's hat, ripping it off of his head. A fine cloud of powder settled over him and he sneezed, then looked at her in embarrassment.

Erza giggled, putting her hand to her mouth. "You're a complete mess. . .I guess we'll have to fix the guild later. AND you need to take a shower."

"Yeah. . ." Jellal scratched his head sheepishly.

"But first. . ." Erza smiled devilishly, tilting his chin up like he had done with her so many times.

"What?" he said, his face pink from their closeness.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Jellal, kiss the girl already!" Natsu roared, and the whole guild chorused agreement.

"Wh-whaa?" he spluttered, confused. He looked back at Erza, whose eyes were sparkling. "But the cake – "

"Forget about the goddamn cake!" Erza ordered. "And kiss me!"

And, to the sound of deafening cat-calls and wolf-whistles from the guild, Jellal obliged.

D'awwww. :3

You have NO idea how much fun it was to write this story. I was in tears! :) Review and stuff!