I just want to say how glad I am to be blessed with your reviews, because when rereading this chapter, I noticed to have forgotten the Sorcerer Weekly, since I mentioned it in a later chapter again and kinda thought the topic was through ':D Thanks you guys!

Mitzy(now123), I have sent you a PM regarding your question. Thanks so much for reminding me of the Sorcerer Weekly with your review and for telling that you liked their little family with Wendy (and Meredy)! I appreciate it a lot!

Somnolent Sushi Roll, what an early surprise your review was, made me (and still does) very happy! Don't worry about the guildmark ;) we're getting to that. Concerning your question with the Council and the guild both, you'll have to wait and see but you're very patient and I'll pad the time until the final decision with fluff :D And I get the hints ;p thanks also for letting me know what you liked; Wendy's appearance and the cuddles. I'm a sucker for that, heh.

Mikasa-Chan, thank you so much for being so polite to thank me! You're welcome (happy smiley, you know, the one with the upwards arrows/accents for eyes)! Thank you also so much for mentioning what you liked in particular; it really helps me a lot!

Isanien, what an incredibly long review, thank youuu! Again, my mail said it's too long to display; makes me really proud, hihi :D Thank you for pointing out that you like my bath/cuddle/bed scenes! I'm happy to provide fluff anytime! Also thanks so much for the Sorcerer Weekly reminder there ':D And about your questions concerning the joining, stay tuned till the end (of this chapter) ;)

Guest, I can't believe how sweet you are, thank you a ton for such a kind review! And of course for telling me what you liked, I appreciate the feedback a lot and I'll see to keeping this all up as best as I can!

"Robberies?" Jellal asked over his shoulder. He pulled on the hem of her heart-print oven glove until it hovered around his wrists. The sweet scent of freshly baked madeleines filled the entire kitchen within an instant.

"Mhm, in jewellery shops but also banks and private houses,"

"Maybe since most Dark Guilds are disbanded, they need to get by with thievery," he supplied. Erza made a thoughtful sound in the back of her throat.

"It's still better than Dark Guilds…" she pondered aloud and he knew she was guessing his thoughts again. Correctly. He was a master at finding flaws in himself, even if they did not have the foggiest relation to him. In this case, however, he could indirectly be at fault, having eliminated most of the now stealing delinquents' organisations.

"Perhaps there should be such a thing as a rehabilitation – or a programme to help them find a real job,"

"And then we'd all meet up for some tea and scones with clotted cream to knit each other woollen hats and exchange the latest gardening tips," Jellal held up his gloved palm in a pretendedly presumptuous manner. The magazine hit his head.

"What are you so smug for?" Erza huffed while he chuckled, picking up her ammunition. Then he crossed over to where she sat, leaning down with his face right above hers.

"I can afford it," he murmured in a flirty tone. Narrowing her eyes, Erza gave him a look, not about to give in.

"Is that so?"

"It is," he said, ever smoothly. She opened her mouth in protest, when he cleverly slid over the sumptuously loaded plate of sweet pastry. Her eyes flashed down to it. He could practically see the gears in her brain turn, and she swallowed at the watering of her mouth, closing it again.

Gazing back up at him, she gave a pouty caught expression. His smile widened and she grumbled something unintelligible in reluctantly admitted defeat. Not that she actually admitted it.

There was a knock on their door. Repeatedly. Impatiently. Both frowned at one another.

Jellal was about to straighten when she grabbed his shirt, pulling him back down to meet his lips with hers. Dazzled for a second, he blinked to himself, only then noticing her to have slipped away.

"Erza," he scolded but she merely giggled, already down the hall.

"Natsu," he heard her surprised voice after inviting the cold evening's breeze in.

"Yo," the Dragon Slayer greeted casually, "we wanted- ooh, what's that smell? You making awesome stuff again?" He tried to glimpse past her, grinning at Jellal with hungrily ambitious eyes. Birds of a feather, those Fairy Tail wizards were. "Wanna bring it?" The fire mage asked, then continued in a lowered voice for only his guildmate to hear.

"Alright," Erza agreed. "Jellal, we're-" she stopped herself, excusing herself shortly at the door to walk back to the kitchen. He gave her a quizzical look. "They are having a sleepover and are inviting us," she disclosed. His mind clicked, realising how she had ceased midway through agreeing on his behalf to ask him properly. Already due to that, he heard himself affirm.

"My flamingooos!" Natsu whined while Erza gave an evil chuckle. She gradually slid the cards of her guildmate over to her own collection.

"Great… now all that's left are the-"

"Penguins!" Erza called when finishing her move by picking a card, enjoying greatly to bring even more flocks of birds into her possession. Jellal – acting as her backrest once more – caught himself to be smiling widely at her childish glee. She shoved everything across the board to their side and he overtook the task of sorting it neatly and displaying her abundance of luck the way she liked it.

It had been called a welcome-to-the-guild sleepover, but everyone seemed to have forgotten, including Jellal himself, not that he would have minded the lack of attention had he been aware.

"Of course…" Lucy groaned, being forced to hand over part of her own winnings, too.

"And the blue ones, worst of all," Wendy felt for her friend, everyone completely absorbed into the game. They really were all cast in the same mould, Jellal thought to himself, realising to be the only one not to take his beloved's game too seriously. Perhaps Juvia – and definitely Charle – was the closest to his relaxed attitude but she burnt for her crush's feelings, simply adapting to his every mood.

"Well, blue is my lucky colour," Erza smirked. Her hand wandered up behind her, finding his collarbone and then jaw, tilting it towards her in a sweet kiss. He felt the stares, ranging from embarrassed over delighted to jealous. He hardly cared that instant– she called him her lucky charm and it gave his stomach a fluttering excitement.

She won without much of a competition. Even with all of the other players' efforts put together, they might have only just stood a chance. Jellal had enjoyed himself, however, and not due to winning – not that he had actually participated, but her adorable ambition for something so completely irrelevant always made him smile.

Naturally, Lucy had already bought the new Sorcerer Weekly, having read it back to back and Juvia had even brought her own in case not everyone had seen it. Everyone had. Probably all of Magnolia owned a copy and half of the country as well. Jellal had awkwardly kept his head lowered to hide the blush, gladly disappearing in the bathroom while Erza had proudly puffed her chest and cheeks when presented with the squealing of her female guildmates.

He was the last to be ready for bed. When he returned from the bathroom, he found the apartment to be clad in half-dark, the street lamp outside giving him more than enough rough silhouettes to orientate himself by. The table was already shoved against the wall, several blankets taking over the middle of the room.

Stepping over Wendy and Natsu, Jellal found his beloved in a small bundle of herself and several blankets. Two of the additional ones being theirs, the last apparently Juvia's, who laid without one and seemed to pout in her arriving sleep. Everyone simply gave in to Titania's will, although Natsu neither appeared to mind nor notice his own cover to slowly be stolen. He was already snoring loudly and Jellal guessed it to be the reason Lucy slept with a pillow on top of her head.

Gray – shirtless for some reason, and Jellal wondered if he had brought one at all – was on Juvia's other side, turned away from them, either sleeping or sulking to himself.

Without giving it another thought, Jellal sank down next to his beloved. She gave a grumble of complaint in her sleep when he carefully detached the tip of Natsu's blanket from her grasp. The only reason she did not insist or wake up was his presence, which she was aware of, even when dozing off. He slipped behind her, not even bothering with covering himself. Erza gave another small moan, then, when his lips found her nape, a vocally blissful sigh. She collected the sheets closer around her and he scooped her up to perfectly fit into the curve of his body.

Closing his eyes, Jellal sighed deeply as his muscles relaxed. Her breathing rocked his arm where it rested above her waist. He could have felt for her stomach, which he loved to do so much, would there not have been that knot of fabric she wrapped herself up in. He smiled, though, not even knowing her to be doing the same in her sleep, feeling as if nothing was amiss with her right there in his embrace.

He was not given the time for his thoughts to wander, not even to Meredy or his own insecurities regarding the joining of the guild. There was shuffling across the floor and where there was shuffling, there was Jellal's oversensitivity for danger to Erza tingling. He opened his eyes slot wide, peering through the thick strands of his hair, merely seeing fractions of the altering shadows.

Gray had moved. Juvia looked as if she had stopped moving for good. Because in the safety of the night and the reassurance of rhythmic breathing from his guildmates, the Ice Wizard had snuck closer to his not-all-that-secret-anymore crush, acting as her new blanket. At least as much as he could, copying Jellal with the arm that tentatively crept its way around her side.

Juvia was hyperventilating as quietly as humanly possible, her racing heartbeat almost as if pulsing through the wooden flooring and over to Jellal. Everyone else must have been asleep enough not to notice anything, but he heard the tiny squeal and poorly supressed gasps for breaths.

Gray kept quiet, probably burning with blush and pretending to be as cool as one could be about it.

Jellal's attention shifted when Erza gave the hint of a sleepy moan. She patted her nest, finding her love's hand, perhaps in the middle of a dream. She took it, pressing his arm to her chest, mumbling into his fist before interlacing her fingers with his and hooking her chin above it. Smiling – almost forgetting about the entire scene that unfolded in front of him – Jellal bent down his head for another kiss, then nuzzled his face into the back of her head. He loved her hair around him, closing his eyes and soon drifted off into a short slumber himself.

Erza smiled when she awoke. She felt his breath on her cheeks, his skin's sleep warmth on her own and smelled his scent to be surrounding her. There was not a better way to wake up in the entire world. Not even a ton of strawberry cake could rank higher than him. That's right. Not even that.

She sighed quietly, vocally, not having to open her eyes to know that he was smiling. Of course, he was not asleep anymore. With her hands already encircling his neck, she pulled him closer as not to have to move by herself.

Their lips met in a fond and slow kiss. Lazily, they traced and dragged and suckled gently on the other's lips, smiling, humming unintendedly, inhaling their counterpart's presence. She felt warm to the core, her body relaxed and her senses soaring in unrivalled joy.

She did not need to know what day it was, where they were or whether they were expected to do something – they were together. It was all that counted.

Erza felt her heart melt, her head already light and so far from reality again. Their lips met over and over again, sloppily, gladly. She became aware of his arms around her waist and her leg trapped between his. She opened her mouth, hardly with any further intention, merely savouring his every kiss with as much of herself as she could.

"What the-? Natsu!" Lucy suddenly shrieked. The couple winced and so did everyone else. "Get out of my bed!" The blonde yelled. A dull thump followed, shaking the floor a little.

"Why? I sleep there all the time,"

"That doesn't make it okay! You have your own spot!" She shuffled with her sheets, probably pointing at his empty pillow or collecting her own for herself.

"But you're so warm,"

"You're a Fire Mage!"

"Wendy can't use her magic on herself,"

"You're not Wendy!" Lucy nagged. Erza chuckled, hearing Wendy giggle, too. Gray kept unusually quiet, but she could not see, everything she needed still being right in front of her.

She lowered her voice to drown in the commotion as her guildmates harped on about the issue.

"Today's the big day," she smiled at Jellal, finally opening her eyes. He averted his gaze.

"I suppose so…"

"There's nothing to worry about. You won't have to do anything," she reassured. He gave a vague sound of reluctant agreement under his breath. "We're all family,"

"You are," he glanced up at her and she let her eyes shine softly.

"You will be," she squeezed whatever skin was closest to her hands. "I just know it."

"Think you're ready for this?" Jellal asked, half sighing under his breath. Meredy smiled.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied. "You ready for this?" She gave him a smile of sympathy. He must have looked everything but ready, but he returned her smile weakly. Insecurely. And with the same hint of rue she carried in her eyes.

She had greeted him with a smirk, then thrusted one of hers copies of the Sorcerer Weekly into his face – yes, copies, as in plural, having known him to snatch it away and then surprised him with another, laughing at his baffled face.

As it seemed, there was not a single person in the guild – man or woman – who did not possess that week's edition of the popular magazine, and not one of them was talking about serious topics like robberies when important matters like Erza's relationship needed to be discussed.

Mira defended her own copy with her life, swooning nearly as much as Erza. The two were a lethal combination when agreeing on something.

"I guess," Meredy glanced at her feet, "there are no guild marks to erase…"

"Yeah…" he sighed, this time deeply. Despite himself, Jellal put on a brave face. His palm cupped her knee and she only raised her gaze when he spoke. "Ultear would be very happy,"

"You really think so?" She asked with hope shining in her eyes. He gave a firm nod. It was the only thing he was sure about concerning that moment.

The door of the infirmary opened and Erza smiled at them both. They returned it, standing up to follow her out.

"All prepared?" She asked. "Guild mark colour and everything?" She met two nodding heads, one excited while the other hesitated. Her eyes softened. "Come on then, everyone's waiting," she said, turning for the door again.

"Relax," Meredy nudged her guildmate. He grimaced with an awkward smirk.

"We should have booked a train for the weekend," he said with joking regret, finding most anything more soothing than his current situation. The entire guild waiting was not making anything better. Then again, would postponing have eased him more…?

"Why? Do we have any prior engagement?" Erza blinked at him with intent and he curled his lips inwards, shaking his head. She strutted out in front of them.

"Oh, she is good,"

"See what I have to deal with?" Jellal threw her a help-seeking glance but Meredy only giggled. She had to shove him out the door, making sure that he walked out before her to keep an eye on him.

"Ta-daa!" Meredy sang. The guild oohed and aahed when she pulled up her shirt to reveal her back – making the entire process of decently having disappeared for getting stamped useless. Macao and Wakaba did not seem to mind, but the second their lecherous stares to where her stomach came into view were caught by the murderously glinting eyes of Jellal, they liquified into the corner.

Erza watched with pride how Meredy was rejoicing, not only Team Natsu but nearly everyone celebrating with her. The mark suited her too well.

It was the darkest purple, almost black for the colour of her late mother's hair and as big as Ultear's had been, starting between her shoulder blades and then going down to the small of her back. To Erza, it was also a remembrance of Rob from the Tower of Heaven, but Meredy gladly explained her reasons to her new family, receiving sympathising shoulder pats and awws from all sides.

The Queen of the Fairies even noticed Gray to gulp down a small lump in his throat but he joined them quickly and just as enthusiastically. Well, as much as possible without losing his cool attitude.

"Alrighty," Mira turned to her subsequent client, "next up," she smiled excitedly. Erza glanced up at his face, seeing him, too, to be swallowing, though rather out of fear.

Jellal had been a bundle of nerves all day since that morning when she had reminded him of their undertaking. However, his overprotective anger had surged new courage through him, it appeared, seeing as he was rather looking to fight than flee by now. Without betraying his true feelings that she read to anyone else, he kept a straight face.

She was not prepared for how straight he went for it, however, perplexed when he caringly reached out for her hair.

"This colour, exactly," Jellal announced, becoming the new target of the guild and enticing a jumble of whooping. Erza felt her cheeks heat up a little but she smiled, if shyly, relaxing again when his gaze met hers. He smiled, too, if less certain than his now former and almost-present-again guildmate – she was grinning brightly at the two, wiggling her eyebrows in an approving tease.

"Lovely," Mira smiled so widely, Erza was already bracing herself for a boisterous hug. She was rooting for them almost as much as Meredy. Not that it was an issue anymore, but Erza still appreciated the merriment of her friends, finding that she loved to brag with him and their relationship. Unsuspiciously, of course.

"And," Jellal never ceased to look into his beloved's eyes while he wordlessly asked permission to take her hand by brushing his to it. Her heart began to speed up and she let him, realising what he was doing, wondering for the split of a second why she had never even pondered about where he would have his guild mark. She knew he had never had one, but she had known him to be joining for quite a while now.

"Right here, please," he entwined his fingers with Erza's, lifting their arms to align and for her mark to touch his upper arm at the same height she had hers. "Same size," he asked, receiving giggling and a nod from Mira. The rest of the guild was cheering and whistling delightedly.

Erza's heart was already up in her throat and her eyes suddenly itched when the stamp came down on his skin. It was perfect. It was as if made just for him – which it was, in a way; in their way of expressing their love without having to spell it out.

There was no greater gift than her family and now, finally, she could officially call him that, too.

"I call dibs on the sake!" Cana yelled over the applauding, starting the loudest uproar so far. Erza laughed at the sheepish grin of her beloved, nudging him with a loving smile. He returned it, the pressure gliding off his previously tensed shoulders with the deed done and the focus off him again.

"Welcome home," she whispered as she rose to her toes to peck his cheek. Jellal smiled, genuinely this time, wrapping his arm around her to tug her into his flank for a side hug of appreciation. They watched the riot start and go overboard. She shook her head with a sigh.

"Jellal, Jellal," Meredy was skipping around, calming herself as far as hopping on the spot. She reached over the bar stools to where Mirajane had just poured two tiny shots. He looked at them dubiously, but then one of them already flew his way with Meredy grabbing it and somewhat thrusting it into his face. "To us," she said, quieter now, smiling at him so happily he softened.

He accepted the offer and they clinked them together, then downed them in one gulp. Erza had to supress a giggle when he made a face. He champed with the taste on his tongue he was not used to.

She noticed Laxus, who had kept to himself in his corner, to finally approach the scene.

"Erza," she turned when hearing the Master's voice behind her. "Could I have a word?" He asked and she nodded. He had watched with a fondness in his eyes, already having welcomed the two before the guild mark ceremony with well-chosen words. He even wheeled himself around by now, coming out more and more again to watch the ballyhoo of his children.

Erza gave Jellal's hand a squeeze to let him know, then followed her Master to his study. Out of the corner of her eye, slowing her pace for the wheelchair to reach the door before her, she watched Meredy assault her best friend in a jaunty hug. The last thing she saw was Laxus ordering another set of drinks, then waving in the direction of Fairy Tail's newest members. Jellal declined, then scolded Meredy for accepting, being asked again to have a shot as well.

The door behind Erza closed but the noise never really stopped. On the contrary.