A/N: Because last chapter was just a little bit of a downer. . . *aggressively throws another fluffy chapter into the mix*

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

Jellal managed through the rest of the week without too much trouble. He still missed Erza terribly, but was be coming much more accustomed to the space. Not to mention taking his frustration out on a couple of gangs of bandits for jobs also helped him to manage his anxiety. Even though Oma no longer needed him to come over and move things, he still stopped by a couple of times to have tea with the old woman. On one occasion Lahar was there, but much to his surprise the council member had been the one to invite him to stay for tea. Those days he also took a few more smaller jobs, ones that he would certainly complete in time for the rune knight's visit. That too came and went, the former members of Crime Sorciere passing Lahar's inspection with flying colors.

On the day that Erza's one week estimate had passed Jellal had a slight relapse into his frantic anxiety, but the rest of the guild members helped him to deal with it. Their first plan of trying to talk him out of worrying had failed, so Laxus moved on to his plan two, which was to forcibly beat the worry out of his friend. Surprisingly, it worked. The fight seemed to be a good way of distracting Jellal and it forced him to work his muscles. The dual soon turned into a guild-wide event: an every man against Jellal battle royale. Only Ultear, Meredy and a few other guild members refused to participate, taking refuge behind the bar, but in the end almost everyone who was back from their missions already became involved. It took the combined efforts of Laxus and Mira to even daze Jellal and it wasn't until Makarov decided to enter the fight that they were finally able to take the riled heavenly body mage out of the match.

Still, he felt much better afterwards.

And it was discovered how invaluable Ultear's time magic was, being able to restore everything in the guild that had been broken back to its previous glory within only a few seconds.

Still, the day couldn't come quick enough for Jellal when Erza would be back.

By the ninth day, however, fighting was no longer fulfilling Jellal's needs. He kept of with them because they helped and because Laxus seemed to like having someone as strong as, if not stronger then, himself to fight. It wasn't until news came detailing how a large rainstorm had caused some of the train tracks to be buried in mud and that no one had been injured that Jellal finally relaxed a bit, understanding that weather was the likely cause of Erza's late return. He had also resolved that if Erza was not back by the fourteenth day without any more news that he was going to go out looking for her.

Finally the afternoon of the eleventh day came and he felt it.

He felt her.

Felt her like he had felt her at Tenrou Island.

Felt her like he had felt her during the dragon festival.

Only, much to his relief, this time there was no sense of life-threatening urgency.

This time there was only Erza.

Jellal, who had currently been participating in yet another guild fight, ripped himself free from the hold Laxus currently had on him and charged from the guild, leaving many of the other confused by his sudden slight. Not everyone was clueless, however.

"So she's finally back." Laxus smirked.

Jellal flew out the door of the guild and started off at an insane sprint through the city streets. He had no idea where he was going as somehow he seemed to be running on instinct and not thinking things through with his brain anymore. He would have used meteor, but to his frustration it was too crowded for him to use at the moment. His feet ended up leading him to the South Gate Park and there he saw her, scarlet hair fluttering behind her in the wind. Erza was just walking through the city gate at this point as she caught sight of him her eyes lit up. She started to run to meet him.

When the two collided, Jellal picked Erza up and swung her around, so heart bursting at the fact that she was back. After a moment he set her back down on the ground, but he didn't dare to let her go. Neither of them said anything because they already knew what the other was thinking.

After a few minutes Jellal pulled back ever so slightly, just to inspect whether or not the woman in his arms was injured or not. To his great relief, she wasn't, but he could see weariness etched into her face from her long days of travel. She looked like she was about to fall asleep on her feet even though it was still a few hours until it would get dark out.

"You look tired. We should probably get you home." He mumbled, trying to coax Erza to begin moving a bit.

"Erza? Are you going to let me go?" Jellal asked, surprised when she made no indication of moving in the slightest.

"No." She mumbled sleepily. "I have a week's worth of hugging you to make up for." She stated childishly. Jellal chuckled at this and Erza was happy to feel the familiar hum of his chest.

He drew his head up to look down on her, a hidden look in his eyes. The next thing she knew, Erza felt her stomach drop away as Jellal hooked one arm behind her knees and the other around her back, lifting her gently and effortlessly into his grasp.

"What are you doing?" She gasped, clutching at the front of his shirt for support.

"Carrying you to your room." He replied seriously.

"I canstill walk, you know." She huffed sleepily. Jellal fought off the urge to chuckle again, as it was obvious that the woman was in no fit shape to be doing much of anything until she got some rest. He made a mental note to question her later if she had pushed herself to hard in order to come home quickly for his sake. If that where the case, which he suspected it might be, then he would feel extremely guilty. But for now he chose to push his own personal grievances aside.

"Ah! But you said that you didn't want to let me go." He smiled down at her. "And have no intention of letting you go just yet either." One look into his eyes and Erza's pride was broken completely. She simply wrapped her arms around his neck in an indication of consent, allowing Jellal to carry her. Eager on getting her home as soon as possible for some much-needed rest, Jellal decided to use meteor to navigate over the city and all the ways to Fairy Hills. He landed skillfully on her balcony and pushed on the door to her room. Luckily, it was unlocked. Jellal moved across the room to Erza's bed and pulled the covers back before setting her down gently. He next moved to slip her shoes off for her before pulling the covers back up to her chin. He was about to turn and leave her to rest when he hand shot up, catching his.

"Stay with me?" She asked timidly.

Jellal looked at her for a minute. He carefully slid his hand from hers before walking around to the other side of the bed, kicking his boots off and slipping under the covers. Erza immediately moved closer to him on the mattress and snuggled up against his warm body. Jellal, in turn, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer.

"I missed you so much." He murmured.

"I missed too." She sighed sleepily.

And with that the two mages drifted off to sleep in each other's arms. Erza was in desperate need of sleep after her long trip and Jellal was in need of a little bit from all of the restless nights he had spent awaiting her return. Jellal woke up for a little bit in the evening, but Erza was still snoozing. He had half the mind to get up and go down to the guild for some food or even to her kitchen, but he just couldn't bring himself to be separated from Erza again yet. So instead he chose to watch her peaceful face beside him and count his blessings. Eventually Jellal drifted back off to sleep, Erza's head nestled beneath his as she nuzzled him and burrowed deeper under the covers in her sleep.

When Erza woke up, it was from the best sleep that she had had in twelve nights. She was surprised to find Jellal was already awake, gazing down at her in a way that made her face flush. He leaned forwards and brushed his lips against her forehead.

"Good morning. Sleep well?" He yawned at her, leaning back to stretch his body out as much as he could before rolling back over to her side.

"Good morning to you too." She said, tilting her lips up. "I haven't slept this good in a while! I wish we could just stay in bed all day."

"We could just stay here all day." Jellal suggested sleepily, already snuggling back under the covers.

Erza scoffed at this and tried to rouse the blue haired mage beside her by poking his shoulder. When that didn't work, she resorted to other measures.

"Oof!"

Jellal cracked his eyes open in time to see Erza's feet disappear from where he had previously been lying a few seconds ago and as she turned around to stare at him from over the bed.

"Whoops! My foot slipped." She chuckled teasingly. It was quickly wiped away as she saw Jellal's face break out into a mischievous smirk. She tried to move away from the edge of the bed, but slipped on the sheets. Jellal lunged forwards, grabbing Erza and pulled her off the bed and into a bear hug.

"Whoops!" He laughed in return, spinning Erza around. Eventually the momentum became too much and he fell backwards, Erza landing safely on top of him. The two were giggling like little kids as they lay on the ground, light beginning to filter in through the window and fall over them. They lay there for a few more seconds before Erza finally got up, freeing Jellal to do the same. They were originally going to eat breakfast in her apartment, but it seemed that Erza had forgotten to buy food because of her trip, so they ended up going down the guild to eat. Many of the other guild members were surprised that Erza was back, seeing as she had not stopped by the previous day. Finally getting their food, they sat down to eat. When Ultear and Meredy entered the guild a bit later, the pair immediately made a beeline for where the couple was sitting.

"There you are! We were worried when you didn't come home again that you had gone on another little. . . adventure without telling anyone." Meredy called to Jellal.

"You went on an adventure?" Erza asked, sounding surprised by the fact.

"It was no big deal. I promise to tell you about it a bit later." Jellal smiled at her, slightly embarrassed as he remembered how rashly he had acted over the previous week and a half.

"We also found out that your boy here is quite the angry brawler." Ultear chuckled, patting Jellal on the back.

"You started a fight?" Erza questioned dangerously, raising an eyebrow.

Jellal looked down nervously, avoiding eye contact. "I may have been the instigator of and or participated in one or two," he mumbled shamefully. "But to be fair, Laxus was the one who suggested fighting as an idea to help me cope! And it worked pretty well, too!" Jellal added hastily.

He was not surprised at all when she hit him lightly across the back of the head. What he did not expect was the words that came out of her mouth next.

"So did you kick his ass?"

Jellal's head shot up in surprise. Erza was staring at him expectantly, waiting for his answer.

"Jelly had him and Mira on the ropes until Master Makarov stepped in to fight." Meredy piped up, seeing that Jellal was having trouble forming any coherent thoughts at the moment.

Jellal was even more surprised when Erza just nodded, flashing him a proud smile before turning back to the plate of food in front of her.

After eating both he and Erza took their plates back to Mira. He had offered to take her dishes for her, but she declined, saying that she wanted to talk with Mira for a bit about something. After returning his plate to the bar, Jellal wandered a little ways away, watching what was going on around the guild. He knew that Erza would probably have a meeting with the Master later that would take up a fair portion of her day and so he let his mind wander with what he was going to do. A small job or something along those lines seemed most appealing to him.

Jellal considering leaving the guild to go home and prepare for a job and was about to walk off when he felt something tugging on his pants leg. He looked down, curious. It was much to his surprise to find little Asuka looking up at him.

"You're Jellal right?" the young girl asked.

The man in question nodded slowly, unsure of where this was going. He knew that the little girl was supposed to be very sweet, but in all honesty he was embarrassed to admit that he just did not know how to act around children since he had never really gotten the chance to spent too much time around them with how his life had been.

"Will you pick me up? You're really tall and I want to know what it's like!" Asuka smiled up at him, holding her arms out.

Jellal cast a quick glance at Erza, who was still caught in a conversation, unsure of what exactly to do. She caught his eye, only smiling and giving him a reassuring nod. Slightly hesitantly, he turned back to Asuka and smiled. Taking her up from under each arm, he carefully lifted her up to his shoulder and set her down there. She clutched on to his head, one show on either side of his neck.

"Wow! You can see so far form here!" Asuka beamed excitedly. "You get this view all the time?"

Jellal chuckled lightly by the fact of how amazed she was, growing a tiny bit more relaxed.

"Yeah. It is pretty cool, isn't it?" He responded.

"If I were this tall then I would have no problem finding where Mama and Papa hide the cookie jar!" Asuka pouted.

"Well I don't know anything about where that is, but we could go ask Mira for cookies." He suggested.

"You're the best Jellal!" Asuka grinned as the heavenly body trudged over to the bar.

"Hi Jellal! Hi Asuka! What can I get for you?" Mira asked as she put a short pause on her conversation with Erza.

"Can we get two cookies, please Mira? If you're not too busy and if it's alright with Erza." Jellal asked, Asuka clapping in excitement. Erza nodded that it was fine.

"I'm sure I can find a couple in the kitchen." The barmaid chuckled, walking off to go see.

"Cookies this early in the morning?" The requip mage asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"You eat cake this early in the morning." Jellal countered slyly.

"Pleeasse Erza! Can we please have cookies?" Asuka begged.

"Pleeasse Erza~!" Jellal grinned, joining the small child on his head and giving the knight a tag team of their best pleading faces.

She finally gave her best sigh of annoyance, trying to conceal her laughter at how out of character and silly Jellal was acting. Feared great dark wizard? Pft! Yeah, right!

"Fine! If you want to spoil your breakfast, then go on ahead!"

"Thanks Erza!" Asuka beamed.
Jellal just grinned at her in response, a light flush dusting his face.

Mirajane returned about a minute later, two chocolate chip cookies in hand. She handed one to Asuka and the other to Jellal, the two thanking Mira before wandering back off into the guild.

Somehow the hours passed much quicker in the day for Jellal than they usually did. He was slightly ashamed to say that the many rounds of hide-and-seek and tag that he had ended up participating in had worn him down more than he would care to admit. Among running around the guild, he was also roped into coloring with Asuka and reading to her, not that he minded much at all. It was kind of relaxing for him. He also made a mental note to visit the guild library again, preferably on a rainy day or when it was snowy and frozen outside. He was not only pleased by the large selection of books and the cozy armchairs housed there, but also admired the architecture of the place (another nerdy pastime of his.) And so that was how he spent his day. And it was well spent indeed. Both he and Asuka were worn out by the time Bisca and Alzack came to collect her from him.

"Will you take me to the aquarium sometime Jellal?" Asuka asked hopefully.

"Sure! So long as it's ok with your parents, I'd love to go to the aquarium with you." He smiled back.

"You're the best Jellal!" the small girl reiterated, rushing forwards to hug his neck once more before returning to her parents' sides. Jellal smiled and waved as the family walked off.

"You're pretty good with kids."

Jellal stood up and turned around to see Erza standing behind him. She had been watching as he interacted with Asuka, a fresh smile on her face as she saw how happy he was to please the child.

"Really?" He asked, slightly stunned by the comment because in all honesty he had had no idea what to do when it came to children. "I dunno. I guess that just like me for whatever reason." He shrugged.

"So would you ever. . . want kids?" Erza asked offhandedly, blushing ever so slightly.

"I'd probably like a few someday." He mentioned nonchalantly, feeling as he blushed slightly as well as he realized the implications behind his words. "Not that I want any right now. Well, it's not that I don't want any right now, I'm just not feeling too pressured to-"

It was Erza's turn to cut him off by laughing at how flustered he had made himself. He scowled, trying to retain an air of dignity, but it only made Erza's laughing fit worse.

"Hey lover boy! Meredy and I want to know whether or not you'll be coming home tonight or if we're going to have the joy of cleaning up all those dishes again by ourselves." Ultear demanded, walking over to the two.

"Yeah, I'll meet you two at home in just a little bit." Jellal grumbled, turning away to try and hide his blush from the other woman. Ultear turned and walked to the guild doors, pausing at the door to turn back.

"Erza, would you please make sure that he gets home on time? I trust you can handle him." She smirked.

That shut Erza's laughing up really fast as her face quickly turned to match her hair. And with that, Ultear left the guild, leaving Erza a stuttering mess.

It took Jellal a few minutes to calm her down, though he was also abashed himself. But after that, Erza was all business once again.

"You should probably get home. I can only imagine what Ultear would do to you when she's mad." Erza commented, walking out of the guild with Jellal.

"Yeah." He chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "She has her ways of getting even and I'm not fond of being on her bad side." He reminisced.

For Jellal, the walk to his shared apartment went all too fast. And soon enough after saying goodbyes he was watching Erza walk back down the street in the opposite direction, heading for her home in Fairy Hills. He had a question that had been burning on his mind for a while, but he hadn't really gotten a chance to ask it to her up until now.

"Hey! Erza!"

She turned back to him, looking at him questioningly.

"Do you want to go on a job together?" He asked hopefully.

"I think I'd like that." She smiled.

A/N: Quick apology, because this ending kinda sucked a little. I literally spent more time on the last 300 words than the rest of the story combined. So yeah, my bad.