The Next Morning

"My whole body hurts", Erza groaned out as she arched her back, looking at Jellal with an accusatory glare.

The said man raised an eyebrow before unbuttoning the first three buttons of his shirt, exposing proof of Erza's 'affection'. Erza's cheeks flushed on seeing the various marks on his pectorals but realised the same argument would fly against the accuser.

"You have absolutely no right to accuse me of that based on what you have done to me"

"I did not get out unscathed, Scarlet. You are not an easy woman to please"

Erza blushed at the final statement and looped her arm with his, grasping onto his bicep.

She was quite possessive of him. Ever since childhood, and especially as lovers, her true feelings never waned, and grew day by day.

Friendship slowly blossomed into something much more beautiful and all Erza could do was jump in on the ride and hope for Jellal to take her hand.

She recalled the day she had declared her love for him like the back of her hand. It was as clear as day that the two of them had feelings for each other, but neither took a step forward.

Flashback

All of her friends asked her to wait for Jellal to ask her out, and a part of her wanted to agree with them. What if he never looked at her in that manner? What if she was just like a sister to him? Even if he loved her back then, did his feelings remain unchallenged after a gap of seven years?

Hundreds, if not thousands of questions swam inside her head, each one forcing her to mentally take a step back from her blue-haired prince. But, Erza was not as forgiving. She had a secret selfish streak, and that part of her could not fathom the concept of Jellal romantically holding and looking at another woman.

It was far, far from the optimal situation to confess her feelings. They were in a quest to hunt down a ferocious slaver and a serial killer. The strength of the man was nothing to write home about, but he did put up a decent fight using his surroundings.

She had seen Jellal get angry on behalf of someone else, and almost always, that 'someone else' was the red-haired mage who stared back at her in the mirror. But that was the first time she had seen him tear through someone's skin like a carnivorous beast.

The area was pitch black, and using it to his advantage, the killer had managed to give her a massive cut on her chest. It was her armour that saved her. It took the majority of the damage and left a simple cut running from her left shoulder to her sternum.

It was not the first time she had received such a near-fatal strike, and it was definitely not the first time she had received a scar. Wendy could remove the scar in an instant, and it was a mistake on the killer's part. He had given away his position.

Bearing through the pain, she pulled out her sword to strike him down, only to see a massive hand crush his vicious face. The man she was crushing on, shattered his nose with his palm and tied his limbs with his Binding Snake.

She looked away, scanning the area for hidden traps and comrades waiting to take Jellal down at the right moment, and she thanked her instincts yet again as she spotted a lean man hovering above Jellal with a gladius in his hand.

The moment he jumped, Jellal's eyes shot up to the man, who flinched at the sight of his swiveling black eyes. The fool was miserably out of his league, but Erza knew that he would manage to strike Jellal at least once. While it would not kill him, it would scar his face, and the mere thought of that sent her body into an automatic frenzy.

She lunged forward and intercepted his jump with a knee to his chest, shattering his ribs, and the man whimpered like a wounded dog when they landed on the ground. The impact forced him to cough out blood which hit her chin and neck.

She turned towards Jellal who was busy disemboweling the serial killer, whose entrails dropped down on the floor. Erza was visibly disgusted, but it was understandable. If the situation had been reversed, she would have set the entire place on fire without a doubt. Done with the man, Jellal threw his hair behind, coating his royal Cerulean hair and his angelic, but at times devilish face with the blood of that bastard.

As he threw his hair back, his eyes met those of the man under Erza's knee and he silently begged for mercy. Erza momentarily looked down to see the man's chin get grabbed by a floating dark hand that sunk its fingers into his weak neck and tore the head away from its hapless trunk.

"I'll take the sin of murder, Erza. You do not have to kill anyone for my sake. Thank you for protecting me, but let me bear those sins. You do not have to sully your hands in blood for my sake"

Erza stared at his face for a solid minute. She did not give out any kind of signs on her face and Jellal was in a dilemma. Did he hurt her in any way? Was she shocked that he had killed someone in front of her eyes? But it was not the first time he had done that, and Erza was more understanding the previous time it had happened. Was she worried that he might turn into a bloodthirsty tyrant in the future?

Various trains of thoughts ran inside Jellal's head and they were obviously going to collide into an absurd thought.

Erza had seen Jellal countless times. There were days when he dressed absolutely like a gentleman, there were times where he was dressed like a prince from the middle ages. The Jellal in front of her looked like a barbarian who had just returned from war. He was bathed in blood, he was sweaty and muddy, but he seemed far, far more radiant and handsome than she had seen before.

"Jellal...I like you...a lot. Go out with me"

The Requip mage's eyes shot up when she heard what she had blurted out and cupped her mouth at a speed that could rival, if not surpass the Meteor mage's speed.

Jellal was surprised to way, at the least. He pursed his lips and took a seat next to her.

"Are you sure you would want someone like me? You deserve someone much better, Erza", he murmured with a wince. She realised he wanted to make it look as if he was not interested in her. Erza would rather believe Natsu's and Gray's empty promises about not fighting each other rather than believe this pitiful lie.

"Why do you even try?"

"Think about yourself...your image. What would everyone say if they find out that you have fallen in love with a crimi-"

"FORMER criminal, and one who does not deserve that term at all"

Jellal pursed his lips before cupping Erza's cheek. She leaned into his palm, feeling his warmth, but she could do without the smell of flesh and remnants of the dead man's entrails.

"Do you think the world sees it in that manner? They will laugh at you, mock you for this. You would lose their trust, and-"

"If this causes them to lose respect for me, that is not my fault, and I don't care. It is their loss. Stop beating around the bush, Jellal. If you do not want me, say it out loud. Say it, and I promise I will not bring this up again. We...As much as it would hurt me, we can remain the same - as friends"

It was an ultimatum given to Jellal. Could he say no to her? If not for Erza, he would have given up on life many years ago. It was for her sake he was still alive. The word 'love' would not cover the feelings he had for her.

"I...I do... I do not love you, Erza. I cannot see you in that way. I never did and I don't think I can. I'm sorry"

His eyes were closed and his face was scrunched up when he uttered those words. His words had probably shattered her and he could not bear to see her betrayed face. Before he knew it, tears started to drop down and he felt a warm hand cup his cheek.

To his surprise, Erza had a soft smile on her face. It looked as if she were trying her hardest not to burst out in laughter.

"Jellal, you big, big dummy", she whispered and forced his face into her chest.

"At least learn to lie, if you want to put up such a horrendous performance"

The sound of her crystal voice put him at ease, and she tried to stifle her laughter. Even Jellal could tell it was one of his worst lies, even considering his minuscule talent in the art of lying. She cupped his cheeks and made him meet her eyes.

"If we decide to...move away from each other, there won't be much of change, would there? We would still meet, but it might be awkward for a while. You would keep fighting evil guilds, and I would keep working at Fairy Tail. From my point of view, I will be able to lead a decent life. I have lots of friends, all of them are annoying, but they are my friends...or family, perhaps. More people will respect me for my work, I may get better opportunities, and may even rise up higher. But...even with all of that, I know I will not be happy, Jellal. Let's assume you are right. I lose respect, many people stop talking to me, and to entertain your hypothesis, let's assume even Fairy Tail kicks me out. The money would be less, the people who celebrate me and look after me may diminish...but I will be happy. I know that no matter what happens, there is someone who would be there for me and would love me, even though I am loud, rather annoying at times, am a horrible drunk, and a list of other things"

Erza smiled softly as she felt Jellal tighten his grip around her waist. Still grabbing onto his cheeks, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. For all the intelligence inside his brain, he was not wise enough to see this. Erza felt it was cute - it was perhaps one of the few faces of Jellal nobody else would know, barring the two of them.

"There is only one thing that can break us apart, Jellal"

His expression was the exact opposite from a few moments back and he scrunched his face again, thinking of the answer.

"I hope your fiancee has no issues with you dating someone else. She will not be a problem, will she?", Erza asked in a teasing manner and Jellal looked back at her with the most deadpanned expression on his face.

Giving out a hearty laugh, she shot forward and kissed him. She would never forget her first kiss - his lips tasted like blueberry muffins and cookies.

"I love you", he breathed into her lips midway through the kiss and tightened his grip around her waist.

Love? How long had he buried his love for her? Her love for him was in no way inferior to his. She knew that he lived for her. She would see his eyes light up softly each time he would meet her, how he was fiercely protective of her and would freeze up each time she would hug him or there was some kind of physical contact involved.

It was the same for her. She wanted to become strong for his sake. That was the reason she had not dropped the name he had given her. Even if her childhood was pitiful, he was one of the few rays of hope for her. Each time she heard someone speak ill of him when he was truly innocent, her emotions would run amok. All of this was before she had realised her love for him. She was brought back to her senses when he gripped her waist and brought her onto his lap.

His grip seemed more of desperation than affection, and Erza realised how much she meant to him, and what he was willing to go through just so that she could live a life with respect.

"I love you more", she replied with a grin, knowing he would start bickering with her...and he did.

End of Flashback

"Where are we going?", Erza asked and he pulled out a note from his breast pocket before handing it to her.

"To meet my best friend and hopefully return alive", he sighed as Erza opened the note.

Fucking bastard, if you return alive, I am going to smack the hell out of you and then, kill you a thousand times. Don't you dare die.

Laxus

P.S. : Mira is gonna punch you as well. Be prepared

"Do I have to step in?"

"Hopefully not. Laxus won't actually try to kill me...would he?"