It was only a whisper against her skin, but that's all it took for Erza.
Immediately, her eyes opened up to the scene of Jellal hovering over her, trailing his tongue down the valley between her breasts. The scents of daffodils and rosemary encompassed her as his fingers toyed with her budding tips.
"Jellal!" She half-cried, half-moaned. "What are you-"
What are you doing? Her mind finished for her as his mouth curled around her left areola.
Onyx met silver as Jellal looked up at her with a faint smirk pulling at the edges of lips that were still feasting on her pink peak.
"Ah… Titania finally stirs," Jellal said as he watched her eyes struggle to fight back the passion darkening her pupils. "You smell lovely… your taste is divine."
Erza was frozen under him, the assault on her body making her go against her better judgment.
I need my armor, she thought. Where did it go? She tried to look around her, but the most she could see were the flowers beneath her and Jellal on top of her.
"J-Jellal… you need to-"
She gasped as his fingers found the pink bead that sat between her thighs. Her hands tightened into fists as her body convulsed against him, her walls pulling him in even though she knew this had to stop. She barely had a chance to consider what happened to her pants.
"Your arousal makes you beautiful," he purred, his eyes never leaving hers. He loved the small crinkle in her nose that she got when she tried to hold back a moan, the flush that crossed her cheeks as she looked down into his eyes. "You're so beautiful, Erza."
She couldn't stop it. Her legs squeezed against his sleeved arm, trapping him and telling him silently that she wanted, craved more.
"Why…?" she moaned before her eyes left his. Her head dipped back as her hips lurched up. Why does he have this effect on me?
"Why?" Jellal repeated back as his fingers left her moist cavern and gripped his hardened member. Even he had started to become lost with passion. "Because… we have a promise that I intend to keep. And this…," he trailed off as he pulled himself between her thighs and was inches away from her lips, "… this is only the beginning."
Erza's voice caught in her throat as she watched Jellal's face draw closer to hers, his lips hovering over hers. Her flush darkened as she felt him press against her soft mound.
This can't be happening. This can't be-
Erza blinked. And then she was awoke. Slivers of daylight peaked out on the horizon as the birds began their early morning calls. The fire from the night before had dwindled into nothing, yet Erza was the farthest from cold.
Dammit! She internally yelled. Where did that dream come from? She frowned as she felt moisture between her thighs. Her lower lips pulsated, clearly unsatisfied. Absentmindedly taking one of her hands that had fallen asleep under her head, she led the tingling limb down to touch the top of her skirt, letting her fingers caress her sacred jewel.
If only I could make this feeling go away, she pondered as her fingers began to dance, pressing soundly against her wet womanhood. If I let myself imagine my fingers as his…
Snapping out of it, Erza immediately sat up. Looking around, she realized that only she was in the clearing.
If Jellal had been- if Jellal had SEEN… Erza shook her head. He wasn't, he didn't. Taking another look around, she brought herself to her feet.
So where in the hell is he?
As her thoughts wandered through the possibilities, she froze. What if she found us? What if she took him? What if he went off on his own? No, he wouldn't have left me here… his ass would be mine if he did!
Not taking the time to realize the innuendo of that thought, Erza became walking towards the greenery around their camp site. She didn't get far before she heard rustling behind her. Her guard instantly went up.
Turning around, Erza watched as Jellal emerged from the bushes, looking rather disgruntled. When he looked up and saw her, a smile flashed across his face.
"Oh great, you're awake," Jellal said. "I was afraid I would have to wake you up and suffer one of your death glares," he slightly joked. Noticing the weird look on her face, his face crinkled with concern. "What's wrong?"
She opened her mouth to answer him, but thinking better of it, turned to look away instead.
But looking at her as she was gave him more than enough to know what was running through her mind. "I wasn't going to leave you." Holding up his arm, Jellal showed her the reasoning behind his absence. "I thought I'd get us breakfast. It took longer than I thought, but all I could catch was this rabbit. I picked us up some berries and collected some more firewood as well."
I don't ever want you to think I abandoned you, Jellal thought to himself.
Wearing a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, she silently thanked him for what his words, but his absence wasn't what had her avoiding his gaze.
"Thanks, Jellal," she finally replied. "No need to explain yourself. If you can get a fire going, I'll have the rabbit heating up with my cooking supplies in no time at all."
"Cooking supplies?" Jellal thought out loud. Instead of answering, Erza re-quipped into her chef's clothing, two large knives appearing in her hands.
"These may be a bit big for the rabbit, but they should help with the skinning," Erza said.
"Yeah. The rabbit…" Jellal said, distractedly.
An eyebrow raised, Erza wondered what caught his attention. Looking down, her eyes widened as she discovered that she was only wearing a bikini underneath her large apron. How did I forget about that?!
When she looked back up, Jellal snapped out of it and reached for the firewood. "Oh! Let's get that fire started… the berries were already washed in the small stream… so let's get breakfast ready."
Looking sheepish as he got a fire going, Jellal muttered a soft "sorry" under his breath.
Well, it's my fault, Erza thought to herself as she fetched the rabbit from Jellal. I'll change after we're done, but this isn't really helping me forget what happened before I woke up…
"Are you ready to go?" Jellal threw over his shoulder as he straightened his clothes. The sun was getting high in the sky, which meant it wasn't too far from noon.
"Yeah," Erza called back. After breakfast, she went to the stream and washed up for the day. Luckily for her, the water was cool against her hot skin. During her short bath, she tried not to think back to her dream. She couldn't remember exactly everything that happened because some parts were fuzzy, but she didn't forget how it made her feel.
Back in her armor, she finally felt safe again: safe from the world, and safe from herself.
Nodding, Jellal walked over to her and smiled. "Before we left, I just wanted to thank you."
Puzzled, Erza looked up at him. "Oh? What did I do?"
Jellal's smile only deepened, and it lit a fire deep within her. "Thank you for last night," he replied. "Your heat was as warm as the color of your hair."
She smiled. "So you're telling me I had heat like scarlet?"
He nodded. "Exactly."
They soon fell into a comfortable gait, neither walking ahead of the other. The trail they were headed on had left the city several miles ago and all that surrounded them was forest.
"Hey, Erza," Jellal said after several moments of silence.
Scanning the woods, she turned to look at him. "Yes?"
"It's nothing important… well, it kinda is for me." Looking at her, Jellal smiled. "Back at the camp, that was the first time I've seen you smile in a long time. And not one of your guarded smiles, but a really genuine one."
Erza fell silent. It hasn't even been a full 24 hours, but she could feel her guard against him breaking down. It's not that I don't hate Jellal, she thought. We used to be friends… and I guess we still are. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.
"It's not like I hate you, Jellal," she finally decided to reply. "It's just- so much has happened and it seems that I'm constantly fighting a battle between the present I have at Fairy Tail and the past I endured at the Tower of Heaven. The only reason I don't hate you like any sane person would is because up until my last moments there, you were my rock. You made me believe that we could escape. It just turned out that I was the only one who made it out. And then you forced Sawyer, Wally, Sho, Millianna, Simon…"
Unable to look at Jellal, Erza looked down at the trail as her mind brought up the image of Simon dying in her arms. If-If only…
Next thing she knew, Erza was in Jellal's arms. Hugging her close, he stroked her hair. "What happened to Simon still haunts my dreams at night and is never too far from my mind when I'm awake. I will never be free from that guilt, and I shouldn't be. Simon was a great friend, and I took him away from us. If I could've been freed from Zeref's control sooner, I would've made sure that never happened."
"Jellal, stop," she said before pulling away from his embrace. "I know what happened, and though what happened to Simon was tragic, I do understand that it wasn't entirely your fault. As long as we don't forget Simon, he's still here with us. So stop apologizing."
Jellal straightened, unable to disguise the pain and confusion in his eyes. "I really thought you hated me, Erza."
Finally allowing herself to look at him, she sent him a small smile. "I thought I did, too."
He tried to smile back, but a sudden cramp soon had his eyes gleaming with pain. "Erza…"
Immediately noticing the change in his demeanor, she was able to catch Jellal before he hit the ground. "Jellal, what's wrong?!"
He shook his head. "I don't- know…"
Wrapping his right arm around her shoulders, Erza situated them so that she could help him walk. "Okay, let's find someplace we can sit you down."
Limping along, Erza frantically began searching the trees around them for an opening to a clearance. "Just hang on, Jellal. You're going to be okay."
Jellal could only nod, as the pain had spread to his chest. It's almost as if this pain is paralyzing me, he thought.
After dreadful seconds turned into panicked minutes, the greenery finally let up and Erza could see a small cavern that was partially hidden from the trail.
That should work, she thought to herself.
"We're close, Jellal, so hang in there," she told him, but all she heard was his heavy breathing. Looking to her left, she examined his face. Oh no, he's unconscious. I don't have any time to waste.
Once inside the cavern, Erza lied Jellal down in the cool shade of the cave's opening and began examining him.
As she touched his abdomen and stomach, she heard him do a sharp intake of breath.
So this is where he's hurting, she discovered. Was it what we ate this morning? Thinking back, Erza remembered that they both had the rabbit, but only Jellal ate the berries.
"Are you sure about those," Erza had asked. "They could be poisionous."
Jellal only shrugged it off. "I highly doubt it. I eat these types of berries all the time, so I know they're safe."
Erza closed her eyes. You were wrong, Jellal. Dammit!
As she pondered what to do, Erza missed a figure slipping into the cavern.
Chuckling, the interloper grinned at her two unwitting catches. "Well, well. Look at the prey I caught today."
That's all Erza heard before she was quickly knocked out.
Faint giggling finally managed to pull her out from the darkness. Slightly groggy, Erza went to rub the soreness coming from the back of her head, but realized that her arms had been tied behind her.
"What the hell?" Erza gasped. Looking up, she could make out the silhouette of a woman hovering over Jellal's unconscious body. The shadows cast by the sun in the cave partially hid the woman's face. "Who are you? And what are you doing to Jellal?!"
Slowing her ministrations, the woman looked back at the girl she tied up. "Oh, Jellal? So that's his name! I was beginning to think I wouldn't know it until the poison wore off."
"Poison?" Erza repeated. How did she know?
"Oh you know, the berries. They're normally good for people to eat, but after adding some of my poison, it became the perfect trap for beautiful specimens like Jellal here."
As Erza listened to the strange woman speak, a feeling of dread began developing in the pit of her stomach.
"Untie me, right now," Erza demanded. "You are going to pay for the crimes you have committed."
The woman turned her full attention to the loud girl that she found hovering over her latest catch. "Excuse me?"
Erza's eyes grew stern as she looked at the woman. "A young woman like you setting up traps for men like Jellal. I'm not blind. I see what you're doing over there. Even in the shadows, I can tell he's half naked. You're definitely the woman that has been stealing magic and putting men all around Fiore into comas. And once I get out of these bindings, you're going straight to the Magic Council and will be prosecuted after you save those men."
Chuckling, the woman stood up and began making her way to Erza. "You are one very observant girl. What's your name?"
"Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail," she replied.
The woman's eyes widened. "A wizard from a guild?"
Looking back and forth between her and Jellal, the woman slowly began shaking her head. "So it seems my prey turned out to be hunting me?"
Before Erza could retort, she heard soft gasping from Jellal. "Jellal!" she called out, ignoring the woman in front of her.
"Erza… where are we?" he asked.
"Jellal, how are you feeling? I think we found the woman we've been looking for," she added, her eyes reluctantly moving back to their current threat.
"Oh… so he awakens," the nameless woman chimed in. "And to think I would've enjoyed draining you, but it appears I need to make my escape. I can handle one wizard, but not two."
Looking at Erza, the woman smiled. "I think I need to keep you two… occupied, so that I can get away from you as far as I can." There's no way I'll serve jail time for preserving my magic, she added to herself.
Smirking, the woman knelt down in front of Erza. Before Erza registered what was happening, their lips were touching.
Eyes widening, Erza tried to move away, but her head was already pressed against the cool walls of the cavern. She could only try to wrestle away as the woman's tongue danced with hers.
"Mmmm… you taste like the magic I acquired yesterday. It must've been you that I got the re-quip abilities from," the woman surmised. "Well, that's too bad. I'm not really into women."
Erza blanched. "Then why did you just kiss me?" she snapped.
The woman smirked. "For him." Getting up, she walked over to the now conscious Jellal. Looking down, she smiled as she found what she wanted to see. "You'll be the perfect distraction," as she admired the noticeable bulge beneath his pants.
Looking back at Erza, she shot her a mischievous grin. "It seems Jellal here really enjoyed our make-out session. After I kiss him with your taste on my lips, all he'll think about is you. All he'll want is you."
All Erza could do was watch as the woman managed to lean down and kiss Jellal, despite his struggling. When she pulled back up, she watched happily as her special magic began to work on him.
Time for me to go, the woman decided.
Walking past Erza, she gave her one last look and a message that would leave her feeling cold.
"Oh, one more thing. That kiss we shared also paralyzes you from doing anything until your friend Jellal is finished. Well, not completely… so have fun," she cackled as she left the cavern.
Erza began feeling the sensation almost immediately. She could barely move with her arms tied down and couldn't hold herself up. Soon, her body had slumped to the floor.
"Jellal…" she called out. We can't let her escape, she thought.
Soon after, she felt his hands at her shoulders. Looking up, she sighed with relief—until she saw that he was completely naked.
"Jellal, where are your clothes?!" she exclaimed, her eyes trying to remain on his face. Weakly struggling against her restraints, she paused as one of his hands cupped her cheek.
"It's time, Erza," Jellal said, looking half-dazed and half-aroused.
"What are you doing, Jellal? Time for what?" she asked.
"Time to fulfill our promise," he whispered.
Then his lips took hers.
A/N: For anyone wondering, this story takes place before Jellal or Erza knew that it was actually Ultear controlling Jellal, not Zeref.