Jellal rolled onto his back when he woke from sleep. Despite of the sunlight kissing his eyelids, he didn't feel like open his eyes and get up. The soft bed was too comfy to leave; and his body still felt slightly sore from both the long road trip he had taken yesterday and making love to Erza for several rounds in one night.

The images of Erza when he moved inside her - her affectionate gaze, her blushing face, her sweating body - flashed in Jellal's mind. He finally opened his eyes as he felt the sudden urge to see the woman he was in love with. But to his disappointment, he saw neither her sleeping nor smiling face. The spot beside him was already empty.

He raised from the mattress with the support of his elbow and effortlessly spotted the shade of scarlet he was looking for in the room. Being wrapped in a bath towel only, Erza was sitting by the dressing table brushing her wet hair with her back facing his direction.

With a relieved smile, Jellal got up fully from the bed. He picked up his briefs on the floor and got into it before walking to the end of the bed. Erza saw him approaching her from the mirror and met his gaze through the glass with a smile on her lips.

She turned her head around and looked up when Jellal came to a stop behind her. "Morning."

Jellal palmed Erza's cheek and bowed down to seal their lips together. Erza sighed in delight against his lips when he broke the kiss for air.

"Morning, Erza. You woke up early. Did you not sleep well?" Jellal asked with a concerned tone.

"I slept very well. I only woke up half an hour earlier than you." Turning back to the mirror, Erza resumed brushing her hair. Her face turned into light pink before she added. "I'm hungry."

Jellal chuckled. He closed his hand around Erza's and received no resistance when he pried the comb away from her.

"Me too." He picked up a few strands of scarlet hair and started brushing them gently. "Shall we cook or order in or go outside?"

"Let me cook. And you can take a bath while I prepare the breakfast."

"Sounds perfect, and thanks."

Erza looked at Jellal with a warm smile as she watched him brushing her hair with an admiring look through the mirror. But she quirked a curious eyebrow when he suddenly stopped with a small frown formed on his forehead.

"What happened?"

Jellal lifted his gaze from Erza's hair and met her gaze in the mirror. "There's a white hair."

Jellal sounded serious and a little bit worried. But Erza broke into soft laughters after hearing his answer.

"Yes, I have one or two occasionally."

"Do you?"

Erza hummed in response. "It's not a big deal, Jellal. You have a few white hair too."

"I don't care about my white hair. I'm nearly 30 and I have lived a harsh life before that it's normal for me to have a few. But you are still young and the scarlet of your hair is very unique - "

"Calm down, Jellal. It's just one white hair. I'm not worried about it, so you shouldn't either." Erza turned around to look up at Jellal with tender gaze that meant for comforting him, before her lips curved into a playful smirk. "Or, do you think I should be worried because you love my scarlet hair and your love for me may fade away as my hair lose its' color gradually when I get older and older?"

"No, it won't." There was real horror on Jellal's face now.

"By which you mean, your love for me won't fade away or you still think my hair won't lose its' color one day?"

Seeing Erza's amused look, Jellal heaved a defeated sigh. He knew he might have overreacted a little bit earlier. But he was just not prepared to find a white hair on Erza's head, among her magnificent scarlet tresses which brought them together in the first place and continued to captivate him no matter in his dream or when she was by his side in person.

He reached out for Erza's hair, weaving his fingers in it. Even it was wet, it still felt silky. He curled a few tresses around his fingers when his hand slipped down to their tips. He couldn't imagine not seeing her scarlet anymore in this very moment. But…...

"If we could grow old together and witness each other's hair turning from their current color to grey and then to white, it would be the biggest blessing being graced upon my life. I will always love you, Erza. No matter we are together or apart. No matter how time changes your look."

"Silly." Erza said softly and cupped Jellal's face between her palms to pull him down for a kiss. "Of course we will grow old together. You are not allowed to leave my side again now that you have returned to me."

Jellal wrapped his arms around Erza's shoulders to pull her in for a hug and Erza encircled his wrist with her arms too with her cheek pressed against his chest.

"I don't want to leave your side anymore, Erza."

"Then don't and stay. It's simple."

Jellal couldn't help but chuckle. Erza was always ready to accept him in her life and she never had any doubt in whether they could be together or not. She just knew they could and would.

"Yes, it's simple."

He kissed Erza on the top of her head. A faint line of silver among her scarlet tresses caught his attention again. He pulled back to ask Erza, "Now, what are you going to do with that one white hair? Keep it or cut it?"

"Can you cut it for me?"

"My pleasure."

Jellal found the scissors in the drawer of the dressing table and used it to cut the white hair away from Erza's head.

Erza giggled from seeing the relieved smile on Jellal's face when he dropped the white hair in the rubbish bin under the dressing table.

"Maybe now is the good time for you to start learning to accept the fact that my hair won't be forever scarlet. One day it will all turn white."

"It should take at least another forty years for it to happen. I think it is more than enough time for me to accept the fact gradually."

But even though one day he would no longer see that vibrant color on Erza's head, he knew he would never forget it.

It would take another few years for Jellal to realize that the scarlet he loved would always remain because his and Erza's child had inherited the color of their mother's hair.

Scarlet was indeed the most beautiful color that would always outshine any other.