Sorry for that cliffhanger back there.

Haha nah we're not actually sorry

But here's the next part I'm sure you're waiting eagerly for!

Enjoy!

Jellal woke up in a cell. He got up and stretched, then looked around. The floor was cold stone, the bars made of metal. A single wooden door led to the outside, but it was barred with a steel rod, complete with a padlock. His hands were bound with a special chain that prohibited magic using.

Erza had taken a horse and was riding full speed towards the Ikreasian castle. Ultear and Meredy had sworn to defend Hargeon until she came back, so she just rode straight forward, not thinking of anything but Jellal. On the way, she ran into an Ikreasian patrol, who noticed her and drew weapons. She summoned a lance to her hand and attempted to ride them down.

There was a hiss as several archers opened fire, but Erza swerved to the right and dodged the arrows easily. The other soldiers scattered, all except for one. Holding a long spear, he attempted to knock Erza off her horse. She parried the attack and kept riding.

The castle proved to be a trickier obstacle. Erza made camp a mile away and took one day scouting it out. She did not like what she saw. Guards patrolled the walls irregularly, making it hard to find an opening. She saw that the walls had soldiers on it constantly, making it impossible to even get close without being seen. To even take a step out into the open would be very risky; Erza had no idea how she was going to approach the castle, let alone get inside the walls.

After a day of thinking, she figured out a strategy.

"Requip: Flight Armor!" she said. The Flight Armor enabled Erza to move at incredible speeds, which would be integral to her plan. She moved quietly to the other side of the castle and waited for a guard to come by. A lone soldier came by shortly afterwards, and Erza made her move, moving swiftly and punching the soldier. She could have killed him just as easily, but she didn't want him dead. The guard pulled a horn to his lips and blew, sounding the alarm. "Good." Erza said, and dashed away.

Safely out of sight, Erza watched as a large group of guards came over to investigate. While they were preoccupied, Erza ran to the other side of the castle and scaled the wall. Just as she'd anticipated, the guards had all left to search for the intruder. Erza leapt down from the wall and landed in the castle courtyard. She was in.

Summoning a sword, she began looking around for the dungeons. In one of the deserted corners, there was an iron door, bolted shut. Erza automatically assumed that it was the dungeon door, as there were several keys hanging beside the door on a metal hook. She Requipped into her Black Wing Armor and opened the lock. Nobody was in sight. She peered into each and every cell. Some held dangerous criminals she had heard about. Others held normal bandits and she found Jellal, she instantly Requipped again, into her Flame Empress Armor. This armor was fire based, so it could use fire attacks. Setting her sword aflame, Erza slashed at the wooden door. It caught fire, like she was expecting. A few minutes later the door was reduced to ashes. She ran inside, where Jellal was looking at her, stunned. She suddenly felt happy and relieved at the same time.

"You...you saved me…" Jellal breathed in awe. Raising her sword, Erza sliced his magic-binding chain apart and hugged him tightly. Without warning he shoved her to the ground.

"Jellal-what-"

An arrow had struck him in the side, and blood dripped out. At the door was an Ikreasian guard. Erza realized what had happened. The guard had aimed for her, when she was looking away. By pushing her to the ground, Jellal had allowed to arrow to strike him instead. Erza quickly dispatched the guard before he could do anything else. The arrow was not barbed, so Jellal pulled it out easily. Picking up the fallen guard's shortsword, he joined Erza in the dungeon hall. A platoon of guards ran down the hall, carrying spears and axes. "Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!" Erza used the armor to summon a mass of swords around her before throwing them all at once.

Many of the guards at once went down with swords and other various weapons injuring them, but some were still remaining. Erza sighed. "Come on, Jellal… Let's make a run for it!"

She grabbed Jellal's hand and he groaned, clutching his side where the arrow had struck. She paused. "Are you okay?"

Nodding, he mustered up his energy and started to sprint forward, Erza following closely behind. Another group of guards came charging around the corner. Erza raised her sword, but Jellal held out a hand to stop her.

Crossing his arms above his head, he yelled "Altairis!" and a black sphere of energy began forming above him. He flung it forward with a cry, and the orb swept forward, annihilating everything in its path. The guards were crushed by the powerful magic, and it even blew a hole in the wall. Jellal and Erza ran out from the destroyed wall and found themselves in the castle courtyard. The main gate was far away, so instead, they began climbing the nearest wall. It was slippery and some parts fell away as the pair's weight rested upon it, but at last, Jellal and Erza got to the top of the wall. Soldiers from a nearby tower saw them, and they started shouting and calling for reinforcements.

"Too late." Jellal said, and fired a blast of golden magic at the soldiers, killing them all in an explosion. Erza and Jellal leapt down from the wall and ran from the castle, running into the horizon. They didn't pause until it was well out of sight.

Night was once more falling. Erza and Jellal made camp near the Ikreasian border, so they were cautious and watchful. Their various injuries and other needs had already been attended for, and both were resting up nicely. Jellal turned to Erza. "I haven't had a chance to thank you yet. My gratitude for saving me."

Erza blushed. "I just couldn't afford to lose you." She blinked, realizing the meaning behind what she had just said. "I mean-because I'm assigned to protect you and all that." she added hastily.

Jellal quickly replied, "Um… yes. You have done a fantastic job so far; as you can see- I'm still alive and quite well actually."

Laughing, Erza said, "Of course you're still alive! If you were dead… I… I don't know what I would do…"

"Well, I guess I will just have to continue to live then," Jellal concluded. "I mean, if I'm not here, you wouldn't know what to you, would you?"

Erza's face color rivaled her scarlet hair at this time. "Yes, Jellal… I really wouldn't know what to do without you…I guess we should go to sleep?" she quickly changed the subject, getting really uncomfortable with the way it was going now.

Jellal shrugged. "I guess…" His voice seemed to be a little off. "Erza, let's go to sleep now…"

The next morning, Erza woke up to have a face staring at her. A face that had blue hair and brown eyes… Jellal. Startled, he quickly jumped up. "Ah… I was just gonna wake you up. We should go; I'm worried that the Ikreasian soldiers will find us somehow."

Erza agreed. "Okay! Just wait a couple minutes." She clumsily got up and made her way over to a more secluded place, and changed her clothes. She thought about how embarrassed she had been last night, and regretted not acting more mature. If only she had not changed the subject so fast! Erza felt as if she had missed out on a part of life, a piece she didn't even know about until the night before.

"Erza?! Are you ready?" Jellal called from a few yards away.

"Yes, I'm ready. Let's make good time today so that we can be back to your castle by nightfall."

Jellal and Erza started to walk down the mountain trail. They both kept an awkward distance of about a foot away from each other, and every single time their hands accidently touched, they would both flinch. Jellal was the first one to crack.

"Erza, this is just too awkward. I hired you as my personal bodyguard, not to make me uncomfortable. Of course, this is not your fault, so let's just pretend our conversation last night never happened, okay?"

Erza sighed in relief. "Alright, that sounds good! Now let's just focus on getting back."

Finally, some Jerza! Getting pretty awkward at the end...but what will become of their relationship? Will they continue avoiding it, or try to pursue it?

Chapter 5 is done, and it's AMAZING in our opinion, but we're trying to space these out, so you'll have to wait!

-Crimsonflames2862