Hello, and welcome to my first ever story! After reading a lot of Fairy Tail fanfics, I decided to start my own series. Perhaps if this goes well, I'll create some more stories, but for now, I'll focus on this one. I call it "Purple", and it's going to focus on my favorite pairing in Fairy Tail: Jellal and Erza. Enjoy, and of course, any and all feedback/criticism is appreciated.

"Meteor!" The cloaked figure's speed enhanced dramatically in a blink of an eye and he caught up to the target.

"What the-" With a swift thrust of his arm, Crime Sorcière's leader knocked down the criminal. Stopping to catch his breath, he heard a frustrated yell above him.

"You ain't got us yet as long as I'm still up!" The flying mage put his hands together and fired a wide red beam.

"Boss, look out! Poison Dragon's Decay Strike!" Erik leapt into the air and swung his glowing hand through the beam, dissolving it. With a grin, the Dragon Slayer continued his upwards assault and brutally slammed his fist into the enemy's stomach, utterly defeating him.

"Where are the others? I told you I would handle these two by myself," said Jellal.

Erik straightened his coat and smirked. "You're welcome, first of all. And they didn't need my help." As if to prove his point, the rest of the guild ran up to them.

"We got 'em!" said Sawyer triumphantly.

Jellal gave a satisfied smile. "Good work. That should be the entire guild. Shadow's Essence is no longer a threat to our world."

Richard, who was talking to someone on a communication device, hung up and clapped his hands. "The Rune Knights are on their way. We did it! Oh yeah! The power of love triumphs again!"

Erik and Sawyer gave disgusted looks at their cheesy comrade, but Macbeth just smiled. "I must say that this is a lot more fulfilling than our previous, evil objectives. Shadow's Essence is already the seventh Dark Guild we've eradicated this month, and it's only the second week."

"Yeah, this is really good! No dark activity has been present for a while besides these idiots! Maybe we should take a little vacation?" suggested Sorano.

The others all seemed pretty fond of the idea, but Jellal shook his head. "If anything, we need to increase our searches. No activity doesn't mean our work is complete; it means that Dark Guilds are getting better at hiding. We'll set up camp here and go west first thing in the morning."

His guild grumbled, but ever since losing to him in a battle when it was four against one (Erik, Sorano, Macbeth and Sawyer vs. Jellal), the former Balam Alliance members really couldn't bring themselves to disagree with the blue haired man.

Jellal sat quietly by the fire, hands crossed. Sawyer and Erik were being their usual rowdy selves as they pitched the tent. Richard was combing Sorano's hair, who was busy complaining about things no one else cared about, and Macbeth was dozing off against a tree.

Jellal couldn't help but smile. When he had first met them, back when he was suffering from amnesia, they all looked burdened. Even when they struck down the Allied Forces with smug looks on their faces, none of them ever seemed truly happy. There was always something deep in their eyes: a fear of the world. As a Dark Guild, they masked it well, but Jellal could always tell. Now, that burden had been lifted. It's not like they were exactly 24-7 happy-go-lucky people now, but they did seem finally at peace. And while Jellal was very proud of having brought these people out of the darkness, as was he proud of erasing many Dark Guilds, he still felt empty. He felt like he found his purpose in life, yet there was still a hole in his heart.

As he was contemplating, a certain pink-haired girl joined him, a box of sweets in her hand. "Cookie?" she offered.

Jellal took it without looking and bit into it listlessly. Meredy shoved a brownie into her mouth and pulled something out of her bag.

"I got the latest issue of Sorcerer Weekly while we were on our last gig. Wanna peek?"

Jellal shook his head and turned to look at her. "Aren't you a little...young to be looking at that?"

Meredy raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Oh, come on. Too young for what? It's not erotica, Jellal. Chill out."

He blushed slightly and returned his gaze to the fire. "No, that's not what I meant...well...actually, I understand that there are pictures of men in there...with less clothing than appropriate social structure dictates."

She gave him a weird look. "For your information, I'm 18. A legal adult. I think I can handle some shirtless people. And there's not just hot boys in here. This magazine's famous for the bikini models they manage to snap pics of. That section might be more up your alley," she said, flipping through the pages.

Through clenched teeth, he said, "I'll pass."

After a minute of awkward silence, Meredy closed the magazine and looked straight at him. "Jellal, you know you can tell me anything. You're like a big brother to me."

He gave her a glance, feigning ignorance.

She scooted closer. "Our guild's doing really well, and you've even got former members of the Balam Alliance fighting evil. We get pretty good money from the Council and I'd say our lives are pretty solid. So...what's up? Why are you such a friggin' buzzkill all the time?"

Jellal flinched a little at the harsh ending and sighed. "I'm not sure. Please don't misunderstand, Meredy; I'm very happy with all the good we're doing, especially with bringing the Oracion Seis to our side. I still feel like something's missing in my life, however."

Meredy's expression shifted from attentive to knowing. "Is it her?" she asked softly. "Is it Erza?"

Jellal froze. Just hearing the name made him tense. It was the name that reminded him why he was on this journey of redemption in the first place. It was the name of someone he had hurt so much, yet loved so much. She made him strong and weak at the same time.

He let out a quiet chuckle. "If it's not her, I don't know what else it could be," he muttered.

Meredy rubbed her chin. "Why don't you just go and visit?"

Jellal shuffled his boots. "Seeing my face can only bring her pain and unhappiness. Distancing myself is the best thing I can do to rid her of that. She's happiest with her friends at the guild, and I want her to stay that way-"

"But how do you know that? How do you know she's actually happy when you're not around?"

Jellal's heart felt heavy. He wanted to believe it. He really did, but his crimes were many. No woman would want a man who was so tarnished with bad deeds.

He took off his cloak and laid it on the ground, curling up on it. "We should get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll have to leave early and scan new territory."

Rolling her eyes at his blunt dismissal of her counseling session, she did the same. "Alright. But just think about it, Jellal. Please? Woman's intuition: I can't imagine her being happy without you."

He didn't go to sleep for an hour after hearing that.