A/N: Hey! Well, I'm back with some more Jerza. This chapter is split in two parts, both which I posted for Jerza week! They're not really related in terms of story but the theme of 'home' is the same. Sorry if some of you have already read it but there will be more to come soon enough :)
Also, thank you guys for all the reviews. You're all so kind and lovely and AHHH you really know how to make a person smile.
Title: Home
Rating: K
Summary: Because surprising Erza with his early return was a risk he was willing to take.
"For the two of us, home isn't a place. It is a person. And we are finally home." - Stephanie Perkins
Home
Part 1
He hated surprises. Hated the idea of not knowing what was going to happen, hated the lack of preparedness that followed. He was a smart, logical man and having that hole in his knowledge bothered him almost as much as the name 'blue balls' did. Surprises in battle could cost him his life—surprises with Erza could also cost him his life.
Though, sometimes the opportunity was just too good to let it go amiss.
Jellal Fernandes approached his and Erza's small home quietly, a smile tugging on his lips at the thought of her face upon discovering that he'd finished his mission earlier than anticipated. Normally, infiltration missions could take up to several months to carry out but with a stroke of luck and undeniable skill, he'd found himself returning to his wife in just under two months. Words could not describe how much he'd missed her, but then again the eagerness on his face gave that much away.
Crouching down into the crisp grass, he tiptoed across the side of the house, making sure to duck under any windows in case she happened to be looking there. With a devious smile working on his lips, he pulled up the hood of his cloak. If he was to surprise Erza, he didn't want his shock of familiar blue hair giving him away. And with that, he sinisterly slinked towards the back door of their kitchen, as unnoticeable as a moving shadow.
The door opened with a soft click and Jellal froze for a fraction of a second. He had a hunch that it would be unlocked during this time of day but was Erza currently in the room he was trying to sneak into?
Cautiously, he eased himself inside, sure to stop just before the door would have creaked and ruined his surprise.
But much to his relief, she wasn't there. He had made it into the kitchen successfully, no signs of red anywhere aside from one lone bowl of strawberries perched on the kitchen counter. It seemed as though the strawberries she had so lovingly planted in their garden had finally begun to ripen. Jellal smiled at the sight, strolling over to the bowl and inspecting one before popping it into his mouth and creeping towards the living room, careful to keep his steps light and low.
He knew her as well as the back of his hand. If she wasn't whipping up lunch in the kitchen at this time, she had to be carrying out her daily tidying of the house and sure enough, as he approached the room, his ears pricked at the sound of her voice singing loudly and tunelessly over the noise of the vacuum.
The fear of being caught long gone—along with his sense of hearing—he leaned against the doorframe and watched her with amused eyes.
Her hair was tied up in a loose ponytail, ribbons of red swaying in wild motions back and forth as she swung the vacuum over the carpet mercilessly, as if it were being punished for getting itself messy in the first place. Her voice climbed an octave as she neared the chorus of whatever gibberish she was singing and she belted out the next words with such raw feeling, Jellal was surprised to see their windows still in one piece.
But God, he loved her.
With a dry chuckle, he realised she was completely oblivious of his presence and so, Jellal took his chance, striding towards her in lazy steps, a smile on his lips as he stood behind her, folding her into his arms.
Erza immediately stopped singing, her words trailing off midsentence into silence as she stiffened under his touch. Her arms glided over his smoothly before tightening like a vice. Before he could register her reaction, he had been flipped over and flung to the ground in a flash, landing with a crash and a shocked grunt.
Dazedly, he brushed locks of blue out of his eyes only to look up and see Erza's silver sword putting him in a compromising situation, the tip pointed directly to his neck.
It seemed she had surprised him in the end.
As quickly as she'd mistook him for an intruder and unsheathed her sword was as quickly as the weapon disappeared into nothingness when realisation flickered across her eyes.
She gasped, clicking the vacuum off and falling to her knees beside him. "Jellal! It's you."
He sat up, rubbing his head groggily before shooting her a look of feigned hurt. "Well, I missed you too, Erza."
Once again, her arms tightened around him but this time, in a loving—albeit crippling—embrace that managed to squeeze an amused laugh out of him. He hugged her back, one hand wrapped around her, the other threading through locks of red hair.
"I apologise, you caught me off guard," she said before promptly capturing his lips in a kiss, her hands running down the silk of his cloak before entangling in the folds and pulling him closer. "You're home early. I missed you."
"Hm," was all he replied with, letting the silence do the talking as his fingers traced her features gently, as if making sure every detail he had memorised before leaving was in fact still the same, and of course they were. She was still the same fiery redhead he'd fallen for so long ago and the fact his weak attempt at a surprise had been so easily foiled only proved that. The corner of his mouth quirked up in a playful grin. "I suppose I should have foreseen this response of yours."
"You should have, yes."
His smile stretched wider as he tugged on her ponytail fondly. "Though, I must admit, your reaction was quite slow. You're losing your touch."
"I—I couldn't hear your movements over the noise of the vacuum!"
"The vacuum?" He raised his brows.
"Yes!"
"Is that so? Even I couldn't hear myself over the sound of your singing…"
With an irritated groan, she shoved him, muttering that she was having second thoughts about missing him, while he simply laughed, pulling her back into his arms to make up for all the times in the past two months that she wasn't.
Part 2
Home had been a term unfamiliar to him for years.
The darkness had driven it out of him, made him forget. He was robbed of his childhood, past and free will.
Years he spent suffering at the Tower of Heaven, years he spent ruling the Tower of Heaven. Years he spent in prison, years he spent without her.
But she returned into his life, a flash of brilliant scarlet.
The more time he spent around her, the more the word edged itself back into his mind. Home. Her by his side made that concept a possibility again, an idea far from unattainable, just within his reach.
Because home was the feel of her hand in his, each reassuring squeeze, each comforting grasp.
Home was laced into every one of her smiles: kind, warm and never once faltering whenever he needed it the most.
It was the softness of her hair, the way each strand of red was different under the glow of the lantern, burning bright, blazing fire—always the colour of her hair.
And home was finding his eyes seeking her out, his thoughts never travelling very far without bumping into a piece of her. It was every single moment spent with her because those moments were hard to come by.
All in all, his home was her.