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"It's only logical; I can't believe you hadn't even thought about it,"

"When you're on the run, heavy luggage is nothing but a burden,"

"Catching a cold is, I'd assume, also a burden not to be ignored,"

"We were always on the move,"

"But weren't cold to the bone at night?" Erza frowned, taking a hearty bite from one of her dangos on a stick. Shopping was always tiring and a snack was just the right thing to fuel back up afterwards.

"I actually once froze to the ground with my cheek," Jellal grinned sheepishly, scratching his nape. She gave him an unbelieving look.

"Moron,"

"Too cold is better than too hot,"

"No, it's not," Erza mumbled between chewing, holding her stick up to his face. With a smile, Jellal leaned in to pluck one of the rice flour dumplings off. It was chewy and stuck to his teeth so he had to run his tongue over them repeatedly.

He watched her stroll over to yet another shop window. Rucking the countless bags of winter clothing back up – mostly to remind her of how much they had already bought instead of keeping his grip on them – Jellal followed. He had never been one to treat himself to anything but simply enduring the cold in summer clothes was admittedly rather imbecile. She had had a point but as always, overdid it in the execution. A true Fairy Tail wizard.

"The girls once mocked me with sunburn," he said, not knowing why. It felt nice to chat about everything and anything. And it kept her from spending even more money.

"Did you forget to use sunscreen?" Erza asked, luckily interested enough in his story to forget about whatever had caught her eye before.

"Not me," Jellal retold as they made their way back home, "but they did, and it was almost empty so Ultear had the fabulous idea of covering everything but a little shape on their faces,"

"Their faces?"

"It left a red mark imitating mine on both of their cheeks; they thought it was hilarious," he rolled his eyes with amusement and Erza laughed.

"I'd love to have been there,"

"I think my expression was dumber than their faces," he chuckled, triggering another giggle from her. Erza finished her snack, linking her now free arm into his, her leg prodding the bags in his hand.

They had not brought the topic of his potential joining back up during the past days. He could see that it was often on her mind – she would pucker her lips slightly in thought and stare at something immobile for minutes to pass. He was glad she was not coaxing him.

The entire mission had left him tired, mentally more than physically. A partner was one thing but an entire team… he was glad not to be in her shoes, having to coordinate such rowdies like her guildmates. Crime Sorcière was as independent as they could get – they either followed out of lack of interest in debates or went on their own entirely.

Speaking of rowdies, Jellal noticed a familiar figure ahead of them. Erza stopped, about to fetch her key to open the front door, spotting him, too.

Gray was leaning against the wall of the tiny alleyway between their house and the neighbour's. He had his arms crossed, a foot propped up against the wall and his lowered eyes overshadowed by his hair.

"Gray," she greeted. Jellal noted the careful edge to her voice, understanding her confusion. He was there with a purpose and he did not look too cheery. He had acted a little strange lately, she had said. Cold and withdrawn, though Jellal had thought nothing to be off about an Ice Mage with a cool attitude.

"Sorry, Erza," the Ice Wizard shoved off the wall, "but this is something between me and Jellal," he raised his head to meet puzzled green eyes. The couple stared, taken aback by the graveness of his tone. Gray lifted his chin. "You know how Natsu reported at the guild," he went on with a plain voice, "told everyone about our mission.

"And how you showed me up when you took out the entire quarter by yourself," he narrowed his eyes. Jellal frowned, as did Erza.

"I'm sorry, it was not meant that way," he tried but Gray was unimpressed.

"They all think I was a weakling in comparison to you,"

"They don't think that, don't be ridiculous," Erza cut in, shaking her head. Her guildmate only held up his hand to motion that she was not a part of the current discussion. It enticed a wildly irritated spark in her eyes. Jellal bent his arm in to give her hand that was holding on a soothing nudge.

"What do you want me to do about it?" He asked. He already expected the horror scenario of having to go to the guild and telling a different version of the quest. Or surrendering his next target group of criminals to him. Or perhaps apologising? Anything to keep Erza from clashing with her guildmate.

Gray pulled his lips up into a one-sided grin.

"I'm challenging you to a duel," he pointed the finger of his still lifted hand. Jellal blinked twice. Erza was equally speechless for a moment, her glare having turned into a wide-eyed stare. She knitted her brows together, giving a sharp sigh. She opened her mouth to tell him off when Jellal answered first.

"Alright."

It was a spectacle. Erza was still torn between putting a stop to it and gaping in awe. The entire guild had gathered above the shore of Lake Sciliora, right behind the Fairy Tail building. They watched with their mouths open, most of them cheering and shouting, imitating punches, wincing on the combatants behalves and generally being a crowd as lively as they came.

They had attracted more and more curious onlookers from around Magnolia.

Everyone roared when the ground rattled from Gray's Ice Hammer. Jellal dodged with ease, already around it, taking a swing at the still stunned wizard. In response, Gray threw a punch himself, sending iced gunfire after his opponent when the latter let none of the flying fists brush him even once.

"Three Layered Magic Circle: Mirror Water!" Jellal cast borrowed magic, imitating Mystogan's like he had during the Grand Magic Games. It sent the attacks right back, bombarding Gray who smashed his own ice angrily, creating clouds of mist in the process.

"Don't give me that crap!" He hollered. "Ice-Make: Lance!" He exclaimed, sending razor-sharp spears flying. Jellal soared backwards, his feet only tipping the ground as he practically danced out of the way. He groaned when Gray did not stop, firing away, shooting more and more, tearing cuts and gashes into the blue-haired mage's flesh wherever he could.

He was entirely too angry. It made him unfocused, unpredictable and uncareful. He was throwing everything he had into the battle, ignoring any strategy or tactic, merely flexing his muscles. Analysing him fight, Erza was starting to understand his real reason for the public challenge.

There was no mockery coming from his guildmates, no reproachful remarks or taunting comments about the mission. Neither did she think him unable to retell the happenings and being believed – he was an exceptional and well-respected wizard; everyone knew what he was capable of. And he was a Devil Slayer on top of that, for goodness' sake – an important fact that appeared to have slipped his mind completely.

But there were other feelings as stake here and Erza was starting to guess they had something to do with his newly found attraction to Juvia. It was definitely uncharted territory for him – feeling more than the affection of friendship and family towards someone – and he seemed to deem it necessary to prove himself in front of her.

It was a miracle that he was ignorant enough not to see her pining for him in any given situation but in that regard – that mindless, one-person-restricted perception – they were a good match. Neither saw the blindly obvious.

Erza blinked herself out of her speculations, refocusing on the actual match in front of her. She tried to count the wounds Jellal was suffering but his movements were too fast for her to follow. And then he was just a blurry beam of light, using Meteor. Fairy Tail roared with cheers, most of them goading their guildmate to show what he had.

"Graaay!" Natsu yelled above everyone. "Leave a piece of him for me! I wanna go next!" His balled fists lit up with flames and he punched the air, his feet already restless to join the fight. Erza grabbed his scarf when he tried to storm down to the beach, making him fall, placing a foot on his back to keep him in place. He protested, waving with arms and legs.

Everyone gasped and ducked when ice flew their way as well. Gray was fuming with irritation at the number of hits that failed to reach their target. The waves were frozen over, half of the lake and all of the sand of their battlefield glistening with a thick layer of ice. It was almost pitiful to see him in his state, helpless with the feelings he could not and probably dared not to decipher, making him flustered and jumpy.

He groaned when Jellal's boot suddenly met his stomach, sending him flying. He rolled a few metres more, coughing, only heaving himself up to his knees and hands. Jellal winced, his features full of concern and regret, the previous ambition gone.

He took a step forward but Gray growled, unhappily staring at the hand he was being offered.

"Stop!" Both froze when Juvia shoved herself between them. She gave Jellal a stern look, pleading for her darling to be left alone, as emotionally caught-up in the situation as her crush, not even having noticed the gesture of peace.

"He's all yours," Jellal said, and even though he protested, Gray let himself be dragged away by Juvia. She insistently reasoned with him, carefully patting his bruises with a lacy handkerchief with his face stitched on it. He nagged but it was obvious that he did not mean it. He seemed secretly and reluctantly glad about the outcome of his fight, her stepping in not only saving his face but seeming to be just the kind of attention he had feared to lose with the rumour of his weakness.

"My turn!" Natsu screeched, bursting away from beneath Erza's foot. She staggered shortly, then braced herself, setting her jaw. She halted in her tracks, though, shocked to see Jellal doing everything but deescalate the situation. His coat blew in the wind, then flapped away when he detached it, eyes never leaving the onrushing Dragon Slayer. He narrowed his eyes, ceasing all games and leaving borrowed magic, as well as his complete set of elemental magic behind.

Natsu yelled exhilarated with fire in his eyes and hands, throwing punch after punch. Dealing about as many as he received. It was more of a brawl than a magic duel, melee being the preferred weapon over magic. Except that Natsu blazed his attacks up with churning flames. He grinned gleefully, huffing and roaring whenever Jellal fleetly escaped his assaults. He was hoping for Heavenly Body Magic – for Jellal to finally get serious.

"That moron," Lucy put her cheek in her hand, rolling her eyes.

"They'll destroy the town again," Charle said between gritted teeth and the team agreed with nods. All but Happy who animatedly cheered on his best friend, gesturing along the fight that was starting to go overboard. The previously frozen sand now spiked up in towers of glass.

"We should start on an apology letter…" Lucy sighed.

"Let them do it," Mira smiled as merrily as always.

"Natsu and writing?" Lucy frowned but Mira kept on smiling, hands neatly folded in front of her.

"The last one we sent to the Council was from Jellal, right?" She asked and Erza nodded absently, partly because she focused on the battle and partly because she wanted to seem too busy to be asked subsequent questions. Not about their relationship – she nearly exploded with wanting to shout it to the rooftops – but as to why he had written it instead of her.

"Didn't you hear? We were sent flowers and an apology in return for our troubles," Mira disclosed, "that must have been some letter," she closed her eyes for another sweet smile, earning dropping jaws from all sides that had listened.

A group of trees splintered, one of them sent flying into the crowd. They screamed, jumping aside, cheering even louder at the fight that was getting out of hand. Erza set her jaw when the clouds suddenly parted to reveal a starry night sky. An uproar rose but she stalked on regardless, bracing herself for impact.

Erza rammed her heels into the ground, whirling up sand. Natsu came flying, noticing her too late. His fist crashed into her outstretched palm, both sliding for several meters, deeply furrowing the ground. They stopped just at the Dragon Slayer's actual target and Erza's other hand flew up within a millisecond, snatching Jellal's wrist that had already risen to strike down into the judgement of the seven stars.

"That's quite enough," her voice boomed above the gasps of the guild.

"What?!" Natsu shouted, raking his hand out of her grip. "I'm not done yet!" He lunged again, choking when an armoured fist struck into his stomach. He fell onto his knees, then face, nagging gibberish.

"Did I mutter?" She snarled and he winced.

"No, ma'am," he squeaked, holding his stomach. She spun her head to give Jellal the same deadly glare. He shrunk ever so slightly.

"You can't cast that here," she scolded. He gave a sheepish grin. He opened his mouth for a reply but Natsu croaked before he had the chance.

"Don't do it, man," he whined from below, warning of Titania's wrath.

"That was amazing!" They were suddenly interrupted. By now, the entire guild had gathered around them, laughing and chattering excitedly. Erza felt their eyes on her, too, releasing her beloved's wrist, both easing their sparring stance.

"What was that fire magic you used? It was golden!" Romeo went on. His eyes were sparkling in awe, shining up at Jellal. He seemed puzzled by the compliment, his brain only making slow progress as to what the young wizard was talking about. He seldomly used elemental magic; it took a moment to remember that he had.

"Oh," Jellal lifted a hand, creating a much smaller flame in his palm, "that." He shrugged, extinguishing it again. "That's nothing to be proud of," he said, somewhat timidly.

"Are you kidding? That was epic!" Romeo hopped excitedly on the spot. "Can you teach me? I'm collecting all kinds of fire but I've never seen that anywhere!"

"I don't think I'm any good at that," Jellal scratched the back of his neck, sheepish. Erza started to worry, seeing as he tried to back away more and more, being blocked by the cluster of people. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Of course, you are," Wendy piped up from the side, "you taught me my magic, remember?" She tilted her head with a friendly smile. The guild watched them expectantly, hanging on every word. Jellal hesitated, either not knowing what she was talking about or not wanting to admit it to be true. Judging by the uneasy shuffling of his feet in the sand, Erza bet on the second option.

"When we tried to stop Nirvana and you told me how to use my Sky Dragon powers – I had never fought before but you believed in me even though you didn't know me," she retold, earning admiring reactions from all sides. Romeo smiled widely, about to unknowingly corner the powerful magician again when a high voice interfered.

"Jellaaal!" Asuka came pushing through the crowd, docking onto his leg. Jellal blinked in surprise, and Erza watched with shining eyes how his uptight expression softened, relaxing, even if only the tiniest bit. "My turn, my turn!" She chanted. "Fight me!" She grinned toothily up at him, still clutching the fabric of his trousers in her small hands. A smile twitched onto his lips.

"Never," he put a hand atop her hat, "how unfair would that be? I wouldn't stand a chance," he smirked and everyone laughed. Asuka's grin stretched even further and her cheeks glowed rosily. So did his of embarrassment at the attention from the guild.

"How about we get you patched up first," Erza proposed, though not as a question. Jellal nodded, smiling gratefully at her attempt to get away.

"Just ask Wendy to heal you so we can go again!" Natsu challenged. Wendy was by his side, hands glowing with Healing Magic while Lucy tried to hold him still on the other side. Jellal shook his head. His eyes were already flashing about to find the quickest escape route.

"I'd rather not burden her with a few bruises," he declined.

"You don't burden friends with small favours," Natsu objected and Erza stopped any thoughts of leaving. This was a valuable lesson for him and she hoped he would take it.

He did not, politely refusing again, trying to back away once more. She sighed. It would have to do.

"Come on," she nudged his shoulder, "it's already past lunch," she hinted and he practically jumped on it.

"Then I'll get started right away," he promised, turning on the heel.

"You cook?" Evergreen unbelievingly inhibited them. Jellal winced, obviously regretting to have said his last words. Or any at all.

"Manly!" Elfman gave an approving nod. Erza could not help but use her chance to show off, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Breakfast, lunch and dinner," she closed her eyes for more emphasis on the sly, proud smile on her face. The guild was impressed, granting her exactly the reactions she had aimed at, showering them with admiration. And envy – she could not help but notice the much-saying looks that were exchanged between other couples. "And dessert," she added for good measure. Her heart skipped several beats at the adulation from all sides.

Jellal merely returned awkward grins, wanting to vanish into thin air.

She liberated him then, taking his arm and strolling along the beach, up into town. There was a spring in her feet and she hummed to herself. The sun came out to support her blithe mood. Jellal raised a brow, watching her from the side with a still embarrassed but adoring lopsided smile.

She noticed, beaming at him. He chuckled.

"You can be such a child," he said without a single hint of accusation. Erza let her smile soften. She clasped her hands behind her back, nudging his shoulder with hers – completely forgetting any injuries he had gathered from his battles.

"Likewise," she teased, having the shove returned. The marked face of a young boy, uncorrupted and selfless, appeared in front of her inner eye. "You know, when you gave me my last name," she offered a fond smile from the side, "that was the first time I saw you as more than just a friend…" she confessed. Jellal blinked at her, nearly bumping into the last corner they had to round.

"Really? But we were like-"

"I know," Erza flashed another smile, gaining confidence at his shyness. She rummaged for her key.

"That's unfair,"

"Hm?" She hummed, still fluttering with joy, inserting the key into the lock.

"How am I ever going to top that?" Jellal asked, shoulders sinking in pretended dismay. A smirk crept onto her lips. Turning around, Erza leaned her back against the door, lowering her lids as she teasingly trailed a finger up and down his chest – up and down that irresistibly toned torso of his, muscles defined through his tight black shirt.

"Hmm, I happen to have some ideas…" she tapped his belt buckle, turning the key behind her back and, in one swift motion, pulling him in by his belt, the door closing behind them.

"Oh yeah?" He copied her smirk, dipping his head down. "And what might those be…?"

Considering this and previous chapters, would you be so kind as to let me know how you find my 'action' scenes? Because I never really think them to be exciting but don't know how else to write them...

Thanks!