Good morning/afternoon/evening/night everyone!

Cheesy Delphox, I'm glad to have cheered you up. Thank you so much for making my day so much better by reviewing, I really appreciate it! And thank you so much for such kind praises! I'm glad to be making Jerza justice.

Mitzy123, hehe, yeah they did. They might keep testing for a while (smug expression). Makes me so happy to know that you had to laugh, like, really really happy! Thank you so much for your review!

Frangellica, I'll clear the exact position up later but it makes me smile a lot seeing you write the last one to have been your favourite chapter yet! Thank you so much for reviewing!

Somnolent Sushi Roll, I had to scroll down to read your entire review. Still have to. Not complaining in the least (add celebrating smiley). I'm more than happy to write more about the 'distracting'. I need my Jerza, too xD Thank you so so much for all the details you mention! It's the greatest reward for me to know how the story reaches you 😊

foxydame, I don't know what to say but I'll try. First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a review! I can't tell you how giddy with happiness it made me to read your review; so many details and from so many chapters ago even! I really love to know how more people that silently read along feel about my story; thank you so much! And thanks for babbling, too! I loved to read your thoughts and of course your praises! The last sentence literally had me swooning – I embarrassed myself because I was to taken ':D

Isanien, thank you so much for your review! And for mentioning the other Council members – I'm always unsure about introducing new characters, especially when they occur so seldomly in the original.

Also, it seems that it wasn't all that clear but he doesn't yet have the job xD He just went up there and said 'hey, if you want me, then we play by my rules. And also, gimme those berries'. Liiittle too confident after a long night...

Without further ado, hope you'll enjoy!

Erza could not see her feet in the dark but she heard them. Her breath was rasping, bare feet sucking at stone flooring. Still in her sleeping clothes, she hurried to the mansion, wanting to open the door but it swung open by itself.

All four of the Wizard Saints stood before her.

"Jellal," she breathed, spotting him in the distance. She wanted to enter, but the long skirt of her Heaven's Wheel Armour got stuck on a splinter at the door. She feared it would rip, but even more, she feared for the battle that was about to take place. Several hundred metres away, only specks from where she was stuck, they stood across from one another, the clearing calm and gloomy with foreboding.

Finally, she tore away from the lonely doorway, leaving the entire skirt behind. She hasted up the stairs, unable to see the fight with it in the way. It wound up several levels, ending in long corridors with dozens of doors to all sides. She had no time to try them all!

"They're in the back!" Gray yelled and she sprinted towards where he hinted at.

"We'll never reach him in time,"

"I'll use my magic to heal," Wendy piped up from behind Lucy. It seemed like forever but eventually, Team Natsu arrived at a raging current. Erza felt as if her head was going to fall apart, panic making her shake. There was no way to get across the river by swimming.

She requipped into her Black Wing Armour, only to find the wings to be missing.

"Jellal!" She yelled, but the distance was too far and the ongoing clash of magic too loud for him to hear. So she leapt. Gravel and grass crunched under her weight, most of it scratching her skin and it burnt. The grass was red.

She could not look up. On her knees now, Erza did not dare to look up, knowing to have landed on his side of the battlefield. The ground was red all around her, glistening liquid seeping into the earth.

"So this is the great Fairy Tail," a dark voice rumbled to her left. She took a peek to the side, seeing shadows of the Gods of Ishgar, staring her down. "A wingless Fairy who claims to be superior to the Council."

"No, I-"

"And look what it did." A new voice joined and she came face to face with Laxus. "Look at what you did to him." He said. A hand mercilessly grabbed her chin, turning it to the other side. Erza's heart stopped.

"Jellal…" she all but breathed. In clothes that were hardly more than rags, he stood. His shoulders fallen, his legs crooked and from his chest, blood flowed in a small but steady stream. He was smiling. Erza's eyes burnt with tears at the image of him. "Jellal!" She called. He turned to her, slowly, hardly human, but he smiled, more blood running down the corner of his mouth and from his forehead.

"He could have been great," Jura's tone was cold and he had an empty gaze from where he sat in the ranks of the Council's judgement rows.

"He was never a part of the guild," Siegrein let go of her chin, joining the ranks where he seemed to replace Laxus now. Not that she noticed.

"But you have kept him anyway," another voice she did not know said, someone she identified as Wolfheim, even though he resembled Master Jose of the disbanded Phantom Lord more.

"No, I didn't, I wanted-" Erza turned, finding Jellal to be going away, moving backwards through a door without so much as moving his feet. She hurried after him, her feet heavier than the armoury should have made them, the sneers clouding around her head regardless of their distance.

"Jellal! Jellal!" Erza could hardly breathe. Her body began to shake again, eyes gushing with tears when she finally caught up to him in the bathroom. He held a toothbrush, the wound in his chest now a hole that she was able to see the wall behind him through. It was enormous, nearly spanning the entire width of his torso. His muscles were sunken, his skin withered and there were strings attached to his limbs, as if there was an unknown puppet master, having left him hanging.

She screamed his name, then for help but no one heard. He was clutching his toothbrush, stepping towards her without actually taking a step. There was still that smile on his face. It did not ring in his voice.

"Erza," he said, as if far away, merely a whisper of a sound. "Erza, Erza," he repeated and the shaking of her body intensified, her name louder with each time even when he did not cease to smile and the blood did not cease to trickle. "Erza…"

"Erza. Erza!"

Erza gasped, choking on it, coughing. She winced so heftily, she nearly toppled off him. With her chest heaving with heavy panting, she opened her eyes to stare straight into worried green ones. She stared for a moment longer.

Then she assaulted him with a fierce hug, arms around his neck and face buried in it.

"Jellal!" She cried, feeling her eyes to be watery, even if it had only been a dream. He must have shaken her awake – his hands moving down from her arms and to her sides – but the quivering of her insides had not yet stopped.

"You were shouting and moving so much… did you have a nightmare?" He asked, knowing the answer anyway. All she managed was a nod and a sob. Frowning, Erza detached her face from his neck, glancing down between their bodies.

"I requipped?" She muttered, realising to be squishing him in her Black Wing Armour. It was a relief to see the large bat-like wings spread from her back.

"Are you okay?" Jellal asked and she turned her attention back to him. His brows were knitted together in concern, features contorted with pity in the half dark. No blood. No alien smile. Only her Jellal, alive and unharmed and without any strings strung around his fingers and toes.

She exhaled deeply in reply, her torso sinking back down onto his.

"I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice.

"It's not your fault," he soothed, hands beginning to work their magic as they gently stroked up and down her flanks.

"Many things are, though…"

"And many aren't," he tilted his head and she gave him a frown, trying to tell him to leave her the blame for once. Unsuccessfully, of course. He stretched his neck to place his lips on her forehead, then below her eye, kissing away her tears. She swallowed hard at the lump in her throat, leaning down to steal another kiss from his lips, soon finding that she could not stop.

He let her, keeping her balanced on top of him, tenderly returning the desperation she threw at him.

"Do you- oh, sorry," Erza said when breaking apart after what could well have been an entire minute. She traded her armour for sleepwear again and he used the chance to pull up the blanket over her back. She sank down when noticing to also be ramming her elbows into his chest, turning her head to the side, closing her eyes. "Don't you think it would be a good idea to take back your conditions?" She asked. He fell silent for a few heartbeats.

"Why?"

"They might not take you,"

"Then that's their loss,"

"But," Erza raised her head up again, staring into his patient eyes, "you should do what you want,"

"Am I not?"

"No! You should go there! You can't just let this go because of the guild; you've never been part-" she bit her tongue, averting her gaze shamefully. His own softened. Jellal sighed under his breath. His hands resumed their caresses, and it made her feel even worse – how he just forgave her. Again, putting her before him, just like staying in Fairy Tail instead of going to the Council.

"Did you dream that I wasn't accepted because I said I wanted to stay in the guild?"

"They…" she held back a sniffle, "killed you for it."

"And how realistic is that?" He asked calmly. She swallowed again. "Don't you think that I wouldn't want to work for someone anyway, if they did not understand my motivations?" He went on. With one hand, he carefully pressed down her head, having it rest on him. She relaxed only slowly, accepting his guidance. "I know I'm not much of an enrichment to the guild – I'm not one for crowds," he added to ease her building-up protests, "but they're still your and with that my friends. The Council has their reasons to be strict with them, but if they think they can make me chose family over work, then they are not someone I can comfortably work for."

"You're right,"

"I don't know yet if it was smart to tell them that so cockily, but I think they get the message," he grinned and she sighed deeply. It was a good thing she had not come along, she decided, having found her nightmare bad enough as it had been. Was it telling her just how powerless she was? And was that why she always seized control and rushed into things, derived from the fear of losing him again?

"It was a little over the top to steal their strawberries,"

"Worth it, though," he shrugged and she felt an inward smile creep in front of her guilt. "They said they would hear me out in a trial today – they must have been discussing amongst themselves all morning,"

"Morning? How late is it?"

"Just before lunch," Jellal informed.

"And when is the trial?" Erza propped herself back up.

"Started about ten minutes ago," he said, almost casually. She thought her brain was going to explode.

"You are late," was Wolfheim's greeting upon his arrival in the court room. He knew it had been blown up, but the remodelled version resembled the old one a lot and Jellal could still see himself sitting up there as is alter ego. It felt strange to be on the other side now.

"I apologise for the delay."

"Explain yourself before the Council," the small man growled, his voice echoing from all sides.

"Personal reasons." Jellal answered without waiting for the other members to interfere. Jura seemed to disapprove of the harsh way of addressing their guest, but he kept quiet, probably glad to have been interrupted in his complaint. It would be very unprofessional to argue amongst themselves and it was clear that this new constellation of high officials was indeed inexperienced in their tasks. And unison.

"I said explain," Wolfheim was close to snarling and it looked as if all three of the others wanted to disagree now. They remained reluctantly quiet – they must have debated this beforehand, trying not to give the impression of disharmony. "Being invited by the Magic Council, imposing conditions and then showing up late for an appointment does not bespeak a very good first impression."

Jellal sighed under his breath. The short man was not wrong.

"I chose to stay in order to comfort Erza," he honestly admitted, his face as straight as ever. Half the Council – the serious half – frowned. Jura could not suppress a small smile while Warren openly beamed his towards Jellal. He could see why they still bothered with him – he was dangerously good at reading them.

"Erza?" Wolfheim repeated, though not loud enough to be directed at their guest.

"The Scarlet Warrioress," Draculos confirmed to his colleague. They started to whisper among each other as neither of the four could keep to themselves, discussing animatedly. Jellal waited, patiently standing there, hiding the smile her name brought to his lips and the warmth it spread through his body.

He still felt the foot imprint in his back from when she had literally kicked him out of bed and then house to hurry to the trial. He had used Meteor as per her wish, an even though she had no way to keep up with him, he was sure that by now, she was right in front of the building, chewing her lip off or pacing trenches into the dirt. She could be such an alarmist.

Erza paced relentlessly. She had long blanked out the stares of the guards at the doors, following her every step if they had not yet grown tired of it. It had been hours since he had entered the Council's building. They had had all morning to come up with a sentence – a decision, she corrected herself. He was splendid with words; he should either have persuaded them already or been decided over ages ago.

There was no way – no matter what the Master had tried to allay her with – that Jellal's first condition would be granted. The only thing she could pray for now was that they accepted him despite his attitude. That he accepted despite having to leave the guild. He just had to – this was the right thing for him. At least righter than the guild, she thought. She would have already signed that damned contract in his stead would she have been able to.

And what was taking them so long, anyway?

Erza bit her lower lip. She rolled it between her teeth, tearing tiny shreds of skin off it. She could have at least been invited in, she fumed. There was no reason to keep her waiting in total suspense – she would not have run amok just… explored until finding the trial room and harking at the doors to read the mood. Stepping in, only in case things got out of hand, of course.

Which was probably the exact reason she was not allowed inside.

But her dream kept on coming back to her and all she could hear was jeering and scoffing and rejection. He would be broken after this – he would be humiliated either way, she realised. Having to turn his back on the guild and betraying them for the Council – she now saw his reasoning – or having to grovel back to the guild where he did not even feel to belong. She was not even sure if she could cheer him up after such a severe defeat.

She put two fingers to her chin. Maybe this called for hauling out the big guns, she thought, seduction armour in mind. She shook her head. This was no time to be thinking of distraction! She had to confront the topic and give him the comfort he always granted her.

And then spice things up.

Erza hit her gauntlets against her temples. She pulled the skin down, desperate to clear her head of that hurricane of emotions. What was even wrong with her, being such a wreck and unable to keep it cool like she usually did? Was this so much more important than every hardship she had faced before? It couldn't be. And yet, she felt her insides contort and the lump in her throat swell. Was he really changing her to this extent…?

Hours passed. Erza had resorted to planting herself down on a bench near the entrance. It was freezing cold as it was made of metal and she held her arms around herself, having changed into winter clothes long ago. Her stomach rumbled. She had lost count for how often it already had, knowing it to be nearing dinnertime, too aware of having skipped both breakfast and lunch.

At least it was dry, the lightly shivering Queen of the Fairies told herself. As if on cue, the first snow flake danced down to land next to her boot. Still dry, she argued, wrapping her arms closer around herself. The guards had either forgotten her to be there or frozen solid themselves. Looking up, she spotted neither of them, assuming them to have gone inside at the lowering temperature of the falling night.

Her thoughts were quieter now. The city's lights below were turned on, making up for the sun that had disappeared behind the mountains. The tips of her boots were now white, and she was grateful for the bare tree above her, keeping at least a fraction of snow away. Only a fraction, though, her shoulders and hair soon getting wet under their icy blanket.

The double doors opened and Erza felt her heart lurch again with sudden panic. She shot up, eyes huge when recognising his silhouette against the light from within the building. He was fine. He was unharmed. He was still hers and they were both still together and she kept on telling herself that that was all that truly mattered.

Jellal's own eyes grew big upon spotting her. He sped up his pace, coming to meet her half way, his movements by far faster and less stiff than hers. She felt like an ice lolly, thawing the second she reached his embrace.

"What are you still doing here?" Jellal asked unbelievingly. He just knew she had not left for even a minute. With her gloved hands on his chest, she gazed up into bewilderedly concerned eyes. And it made her so inexplicably happy, she felt her own itch. "Don't tell me you've been here all day! You should've gone back to the house – did you eat?" He went on but she smiled.

"I'm glad you're back," she whispered, finding her voice to be husky. Jellal gave an exasperated, though softening sigh.

"Erza…" he muttered. His arms wound her around her more closely and he gently brushed off the snow from her head. "Come on," he shuffled her to turn to leave, "we're eating out, okay?"

"Either way is fine," she said, letting him lead the way back down the hill, his arm still enclosing her around her back, torsos never apart.

"You'd rather watch me cook?" He understood and she pushed out her frayed lips in unadmitted agreement. He pulled on her, pressing a long kiss to her crown. "You shouldn't have waited up," he repeated, less urgently and more scolding this time.

"I didn't think it would go until now," she defended her own stupidity. Because it had been rather foolish – she could feel the scratchiness of her throat to stay despite using her voice, hoping for it not to be a cold already. He did not answer the last statement. Instead, Jellal stayed mostly silent for the rest of the way and she noticed half way back to the mansion that he was holding a in a protective envelope hidden document. She could not keep herself from getting her hopes up about it being a contract.

The first thing Jellal did upon arriving – after taking off his boots – was sweep Erza up into his arms. She yelped in surprise, quite automatically wrapping her arms around his neck. She blinked at him, melting at the caring smile he offered.

Soon, she found herself in a dry bathing robe, watching the soapy water rise, steam filling her lungs and reviving her frozen limbs.

"Your feet look a little blue," Jellal noted. He had only stripped out of his coat and scarf so far, now crouching down to place one of her heels on his knee. His hands were not warm yet but the pressure he started to knead her stiff muscles with made shivers of pleasure travel up her spine. "Maybe next time we should shop for you, rather than me," he said with insufficient footwear in mind.

"Jellal," Erza piped up. She just could not stand it anymore. The envelope was right there, untouched but in plain sight.

"Hm?"

"How did it go?" She asked, if in a small voice. He glanced up from his task. Then he gingerly put her foot down again, rising to turn off the water of the bathtub. Next thing she knew, she was back in his arms, gradually lowered into the hot water that enticed a heartfelt groan from deep within her throat.

"Well, I have this," Jellal pulled her back to the present, pointing at the envelope with his toes while drying his arms. She peeled out of the now soaked bathrobe and he took it, making sure about his hands to be dry again before picking up the object of interest.

She stared at the contract he unfolded. His name struck her at the top of the page, then again below, this time in his own swirled handwriting, right next to the official seal of the Council.

"You got the job…" she all but breathed. Erza blinked to herself, not having noticed him to have taken it back into its cover. She watched him undress, scooting forward of her own accord to make space for him.

"And," Jellal fetched her attention back. She had only now realised what it meant that he had accepted – or had been accepted. Oddly enough, he took off his shirt last and her eyes widened at what it revealed. "I have this." He added with a beaming smile. It was still there. Red and fresh and perfectly in place. His Fairy Tail guild mark.

He really was a god with words.