Jellal wondered, as he saw yet another, idiotic couple of newlyweds step into the casino, why people would choose to come to the casino Cercle Gaillon in Paris when there were much better places to spend one's honeymoon, especially in the city of love. However, Jellal could not complain as it was these people who made him the most money, gambling against. The men, elated with joy and believing themselves foolishly invulnerable, without the skills to back it up, would play him in a game of poker and watch in horror as their savings were destroyed.

Jellal moved closer to this couple as he prepared another insincere congratulation on a happy marriage before inviting the sheep to stick their heads in the mouth of the wolf. But for some reason, Jellal felt like he knew the red head at the side of the brown haired broad shouldered muscular man. He was about to dismiss it as every redhead looking like Erza Scarlet, his once girlfriend who disappeared on him seven years ago, when he caught the tattoo on the redhead's left arm.

It was Erza, Jellal realized, and the universe began to spin and the stars aligned. Jellal wanted to slink away, to run with his tail tucked in between his legs, but then, an idea struck him. It was a stupid reckless idea with many ways to go wrong; a high risk, high reward scheme to get Era back and receive an answer for seven years of loneliness. But the lady of fortune had once again proven that he was her favored son, now it was his turn to capitalize on his mother's gift, minor details like ethics and moralty be damned. The him from seven years ago would not have been able to pull this off, but he was different now.

"Bonjour, madam and monsieur, it is always a happy occasion to find a couple as happy as yourselves. Would you care for a game of cards?" Jellal said to them.

The couple turned to him warily as the man asked him, "Who are you?"

"My name is Jellal, a resident of this fine city and a well wisher to happy newlyweds everywhere. Now who might you two be?" Jellal told them.

"My name is Erza Mikazuchi and this is my husband Simon," Erza replied. Jellal was unprepared to deal with how much it hurt to hear a different last name come from her lips and to hear her acknowledge someone other than him as a husband.

Simon and Erza spoke in hushed tones seeming to disagree over his proposition, before Simon asked him, "How often do you play?"

"I do not play often, perhaps once a month to test my luck," Jellal lied through his teeth. He was a frequent patron to this place.

This seemed to placate the couple though and the man asked, "What are the stakes and what are we playing?"

Jellal named an obscenely large figure for a game of poker.

"No, absolutely not," yelled Erza.

"Relax madam; you have every advantage on your side. You are newlyweds on a honeymoon, such a special occasion must be very lucky, and I am sure we are all inexperienced gamblers here," then Jellal turned to Simon and made his case to him, "besides, winning all that money, won't that be a good way to show your manly side monsieur?"

"If our odds are so good, then why are you challenging us?" the woman challenged him.

"Consider this an act of altruism from a very rich young man," Jellal replied.

At first it seemed like Erza's sensibility would prevent Simon from playing when the man looked Jellal straight in the eye and said, "Yes I'll play you."

Jellal could tell from the way Simon looked at him and the way he spoke he was trying to prove something to Erza, or himself, to reinforce some idea of manhood that he did not have.

So there is trouble in paradise, Jellal thought to himself, how interesting. He filed away that fact for possible future use.

One poker game later, the couple was weeping as Jellal had soundly beat them.

"Our life insurance, the mortgage for the house, the electricity bills, the baby's health fund…" Erza droned on listlessly as she listed what the couple had lost.

"Obviously there is some mistake here, no?" Jellal said, "So here goes, why not play for double or nothing?"

"But we don't have anything left to gamble," the man cried.

Jellal turned his head and nodded at Erza.

Erza seeming to realize what he meant yelled, "No, I am not some kind of slave to be passed from man to man, I am a free woman."

"Yeah…" Simon began to support her.

"You stay out of this Simon. You know I don't approve of gambling, but I came here anyways because you promised me that you would only spend a small amount at the gambling tables, not everything we had in one game!" Era interrupted, on the verge of becoming the first person to blow out her voice box. The dealer for their game and the rest of the casino watched this confrontation with interest for a minute before turning their attention elsewhere. Such scenes of marital strife were, after all, not that uncommon after a lost game.

Then she turned to Jellal, her eyes narrowed and slitted like a cats. "And you, I don't know what you think, but I am not some kind of whore, who will go from man to man…"

Jellal widened his eyes in horror. How could Erza believe that he'd ever think that way, especially about her. But he reminded himself that he had changed since he last saw her, he was no longer Gerard Fernandez, that geeky boy with glasses who had asked her out stuttering and nervous. He was now Jellal, smooth and suave rogue with a French accent. His glasses were long gone thanks to the miracles of laser eye surgery. "No madam, you misunderstand me. I would never suggest something so vulgar; I only meant that you would accompany me as my Lady Fortune, until I earn again the money your husband has lost to me."

She kept her gaze trained on him for a moment, then nodded her head and asked, "Okay, then when do I start?"

"Erza…" Simon protested, but Erza turned and glared at him.

"We shall have a talk when I come back, on responsible spending habits."

"Let me take this double or nothing bet Erza, I know I can win this. Then you won't have to work for that jackass."

"If anyone is the jackass here, it's you Simon. If you play again you are sure to lose. Didn't you notice how experienced this man is just from one game?"

Jellal counted out the chips he won from Simon, then turned to Era and said, "Do I have your word that if I give your husband back the money, you will uphold your end of the deal and stay with me?"

"Yes," she said, "Even if he gets the money back, I am too angry to see him right now."

Jellal then handed the money back to a stone faced Simon and said, "Go cash these back in at the counter."

Jellal could not help but smile a little bit at the pained expression Simon showed as he walked off with Erza.

On the outside Jellal was as cool as ice, but on the inside he was squealing with joy. Even if he didn't detract losses from the total, a typical game of poker won him only fifty dollars. It would take thousands of poker games before Era's end of the deal was done. That meant he would have her all to himself for a long, long time.

A/N: This is dedicated to my friend RukoYukine who is on a trip to France, yay! Not sure how she'd feel about the whole casino setting however, but I'll assume she can ignore the whole this takes place in a hotbed of vice thing. And before you yell at me, Simon will not be the bad guy of this story. No I have something different planned. And boy did I do a lot of research for this. I learned more about poker and casinos researching for this then I am ever going to need to know.