Erza's P.O.V.

"Eleven days, twelve hours," I mumbled to myself, taking in a deep breath of fresh air.

"I'm glad we got here only a couple days after the rest of Team Natsu, it's good to be all together again!" Wendy proclaimed happily.

"You mustn't overexert yourself, child. Be more careful with who you do and do not heal," Carla complained, crossing her arms as if she were Wendy's mother.

I guess she was, in a way.

"Aw, come'on now Carla, look at how much better Jellal and Meredy are!" Wendy plead, kneeling down to reason with her.

The stubborn exceed just made a small 'hmph' in reply.

"Speakin' of which, where is that guy?" Natsu asked, looking around the hospital exit.

"Wasn't he right behind us? I thought he just had to sign something and leave," Lucy agreed, watching the doors expectantly.

"I thought he was too, Jelly-kun shouldn't be so slow," Meldy said, placing a finger on her chin.

"You're both right," I responded, tearing my gaze from the bright blue sky.

"What a lazy bum!" Happy teased. 

We all began to walk back towards the hospital, when the automatic doors slid open.

We all froze.

Jellal looked mortified.

Natsu and Happy simultaneously covered their mouths, preventing any noise from escaping.

"I love it!" Meldy cheered, clapping her hands together.

"J-Jellal," I stuttered, trying my best not to show any expression.

A male nurse, twice Jellal's size, was rolling him out of the hospital in a pink wheelchair covered in rainbow unicorn stickers. 

"I bet ya feel like a little princess, don't cha'?" The nurse asked in a somewhat polite way.

When he said that, Natsu and Happy lost it. They fell to the ground in hysterical laughter with tears already forming from their eyes. Even Gray and Wendy joined in, laughing alongside them. 

Lucy just covered a grin with her hands, trying not to look like she was dying on the inside.

"Sorry ta make ya look bad in front of ya friends, but it's a hospital policy that patients recoverin' from surgery be wheeled out of their room to the parking lot. Ya' already made it to the lobby before I could gettcha', though," The nurse continued.

Jellal went limp and if you looked close enough, I'm sure you could see his soul leaving his body from how embarrassed he was.

"E-Eh-hem" I coughed awkwardly, trying not to laugh, "Why... Why is he in a-- a-- p-pink wh-wheelch-chair?"

I couldn't help it anymore, I fell to the ground and began laughing with the boys and Wendy.

"It's because it was the only one left- The first floor is the children's ward, where I work,  y'see..." He trailed off, realizing no one was really listening anymore.

Jellal's jell-o-like body slumped forward and fell to the pavement, defeated.

Seeing this, the nurse pulled out glitter from his pocket and doused Jellal in it before dramatically enunciating, "My magical fairy dust makes everythin' better!"

"FAIRY DUST!?!!??" Gray screamed, still dying.

"Why is everyone laughing? I think it suits Jelly-kun perfectly!" Meldy chimed, slightly confused.

"That didn't work for ya, did it?" The nurse spoke. Just when we thought he would give up, the man looked through his pockets only to come across a sheet of stickers. He kneeled down and peeled a few off the paper.

Before he could press them on, Jellal tried barrel-rolling away. When the nurse caught him, he began frantically flailing his arms in all directions in hopes of escape, "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!"

"Stay still, now, y'hear? You're a real fighter!" The nurse somehow managed to stop his struggling patient. 

He pressed several stickers of both ponies and mermaids to Jellal, who was screeching the entire time.

"Well," the nurse started while getting up and pulling away the wheelchair, "I guess I'll be off now... Stay safe!" He declared as he waved goodbye and walked back into the hospital.

Lucy went to Jellal's side and turned his body so he wasn't facing the ground anymore.

"Kill me," Jellal muttered bitterly, probably wishing this situation never happened.

"What do you mean? You just got out of the hospital, you can't give up now!" Lucy proclaimed, poking him.

"I've never been so humiliated in my entire life," He whimpered, almost like a puppy.

"Jelly's so cute!" Meldy giggled to herself.

"Oh, don't be so harsh on yourself!" Lucy tried to cheer him up, but it didn't silence the howls of laughter in the background by one bit, "They'll get over it eventually!"

"DON'T COUNT ON IT!" Natsu shouted, tears pouring from his eyes.

All the remaining bits of hope left Jellal's eyes, and he looked increasingly sick.

I continued laughing, my abdomen getting one hell of a workout.

"Erza's never going to look at me the same way..." He said sadly, rolling himself so he was facing the parking lot again.

The glitter in his hair shone brightly while reflecting the rays of the sun, making it all the worse for him.

"Is that-" I began through fits of laughter, my eyes squinted shut from doing so, "what you're worried about?"

He didn't say anything, but continued to lay in silence on the ground.

I got up from my place next to the boys and sort of stumble-walked towards an unsuspecting Jellal. I motioned for Lucy to get out of the way before I jumped onto his back and hugged him from behind.

"Of course I'm not going to see you the same way!" I laughed, but I felt his body loosen underneath me, "And that's okay! Because I don't see you the same way every day, Jellal. Every day I spend more time with you, I get to know you better from all sorts of situations. And every single situation I've ever been in with you, has only ever made me love you more."

The boys and Wendy stopped laughing and I could sense that they were still.

"R-Really?" Jellal replied, gently lifting his head up and turning to look at me.

"Really," I responded, hugging him tightly. I felt his heart beat speeding through his chest, and I knew his face was a tint of red. I didn't mind. 

"Awwww you two are the cutest!" Meldy smiled, hugging herself.

"Get a room, would ya'?" Gray interrupted, crossing his arms.

Everyone laughed once again, but not at Jellal. It was a warm, friendly laughter.

I pulled Jellal to his feet and brushed the glitter off his clothes the best I could. 

I then looked up at his face, that smiled gently back at me. I laughed for a moment, before peeling a  pink pony sticker off his cheek.

Once he saw the sticker and where it had been, he flushed and looked at the ground, still embarrassed.

I eyed the sticker, which was cute and baby-like. I didn't want to throw it away or get rid of it, the memory was too good.

I requipted my journal and a Polaroid camera into hand.

I placed the sticker back on Jellal's face who finally looked up out of curiosity.

"W-What are you doing?" He asked gingerly, before seeing the camera in my hand. He looked shocked, to say the least.

"Smile!" I pronounced before he could remove any of the glitter that was still on his face or in his hair. A white flash signaled the damage was done, and Jellal began looking more betrayed than anything.

"W-W-Why!?" He asked, stumbling over his words, "Why would you do that?"

"Simple," I smiled, plucking the black squared image from the camera and waving it in the air, "I would never want to forget a moment like this."

I looked at the image with a smile, appreciating the surprised look on his face. 

How silly.

"Just don't show anyone, please," Jellal breathed nervously, 

"Come'on, Erza! You gotta show me!" Natsu grinned, jumping towards the photo.

"Certainly not," I replied, enclosing the photo in my journal and requipting it away.

"Aw, man!" Natsu whined, turning towards Happy, "But maybe we'll go lookin' for it when Erza's not around."

"What was that?" I asked, glaring at them,

"Nothing 'mam!" They shouted back.

"I think we should get going, but I don't know where to," Meldy trailed off, looking up at the clear sky.

"We should try finding Asmodai," Jellal began, a gloomy look smothering his face, "if we can find her then we can get another chance to end th-"

I lightly shoved where his stitches were, causing him to bend over in pain. Wendy may have Meredy, Jellal and I, but Jellal's injuries were too much for Wendy, being added onto Meredy and I's wounds. 

His body wasn't fully healed yet.

"Have you learned nothing?" I asked him, eyeing him critically, "If you keep charging at her like this without a proper plan, you're going to get yourself killed. You barely survived last time, and now you have half the strength you did then. So are you going to continue making me worry or are you going to finish healing before getting back on the case?"

"Erza..." He replied, straightening himself out but keeping his eyes on the ground, "The longer we wait the more time she has to hurt innocent people-"

"It isn't your concern, Jellal. You're not healed, so you're not going after her," I told him. 

I hated being this way with him and acting like I was in control of him.

He sighed, knowing I was right.

I continued, "We'll finish the job when we're healed. I assure you, Asmodai and her followers won't get away from us again."

 I looked into his eyes for any sign of assurance. 

"You're right, Erza," He blinked, looking away, "I apologize for making you worry."

"It's fine," I replied, watching him for a moment.

I turned away from Jellal to speak with the group, who were talking amongst themselves, "So where to?"

"We haven't decided yet, but there's a zoo in the next town that has tons of cute animals!" Wendy smiled,

"If it's what you wish," Carla gave Wendy a small smile,

"That sounds lovely," I replied, enjoying the summer breeze,

"I'm in!" Natsu and Lucy said in unison before looking at each other and laughing,

"Aye, Sir!" Happy encouraged,

"Sounds good to me," Gray spoke,

"Yay! Animals!" Meredy agreed,

"I wouldn't mind it, but I'd prefer to get this... Obscurity out of my hair before we go," Jellal smiled, shaking his blue hair lightly.

Glitter fell willingly out of his hair and was blown away with the gentle wind.

"I suppose I can help you with that," I teased, closing the distance between us to help him with his appearance.

With some effort, I succeeded in getting the majority of it out. Being in such close proximity to his face, I couldn't help wanting to kiss him. However, the others were around and I didn't want to make the situation awkward, so I stepped back.

"Let's get going then, shall we?" I announced to the group who all agreed before starting to walk through the city of Xieo. 

We talked about jobs, the guild, embarrassing moments, the council, the king of Fiore, as well as how glad we were to not be forced to eat hospital food anymore. This went on for awhile, until we reached the end of town; when a high, mountainous, rock wall stood in front of us.

"If the zip-line is the only way in or out, how is everybody gonna to get over this thing?" Happy asked, looking around for answers.

"Well you and me can fly right over this, and so can Carla and Wendy. So I guess we're gonna have to go one by one?" Natsu inquired, scratching his head.

"You're a real idiot sometimes, Natsu," Gray snickered, stepping forward in the group, "Stand back, I got this,"

Gray put his hands together before signaling them forward, creating a spell circle. "Ice-make," he pronounced, releasing two fingers on each hand in different directions, "Staircase!"

Within seconds, a beautiful, winding, ice staircase flourished all the way to the top of the wall.

"WHO YOU CALLIN' AN IDIOT!" Natsu shouted, landing a punch directly across Gray's face when he wasn't paying attention. The two boys growled like animals as they fought one another.

I let out a breath of air irritably, "We don't have time for this," I mumbled to myself,

I requipted into my Heart Kreuz armor and hit them both on the head with my sheathed sword, "WILL YOU TWO STOP ACTING LIKE CHILDREN?"

"SORRY, 'MAM!" They screamed before running up the stairs.

Meldy, Lucy, Wendy, Carla, and Happy followed soon after them, leaving Jellal and I at the bottom.

"You can be pretty scary," Jellal chuckled under his breath, causing me to look up at him, "But not scary enough to frighten me,"

"Are you flirting with me?" I laughed, "Don't people flirt before they're in a relationship?"

"Eh," He shrugged, leaning over to kiss me on the forehead, "Are you trying to say you don't like my flirting?"

"No!" I responded way too fast, causing him to raise an eye brow and a smile, "I mean.. No, that wasn't exactly what I was going to say,"

"I see," He murmured, pausing to look at me like he was deep in thought.

The corners of my mouth smiled nervously, "Something on your mind?"

He bit his lip and gave out a small laugh before grabbing my hand and pulling me up the stairs, 

"I'll tell you about it later. Let's just join the others for now,"

"W-What?" I blushed, taking in the fact that I'd just witnessed Jellal bite his lip. 

I'd never seen him do it before.

He turned around and saw my expression, causing him to stop in his tracks with a smirk.

"Something on your mind, Scarlet?"

I didn't know how to respond.

"W-What!?" I said once again, still replaying the scene in my head.

We were interrupted by a high-pitched voice-

"Man, you're so slow Erza! You need a new diet plan or somethin' or else we're all gonna die waitin' for you!" Happy shouted down to us with an evil grin.

I shook my head to clear it of Jellal's actions.

Just when I was going to yell at Happy, Jellal stepped in.

"Should you be talking, Happy?" He said with a joking half-smile.

With that, Happy's grin faded to a frown. He quickly flew into Natsu and began crying like a child, "Jellal's so mean!"

"Wait- No- I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry, Happy! Please don't cry," Jellal let go of my hand to run up the stairs and comfort a weeping Happy.

I stood for a moment and blinked a few times.

Jellal just stood up for me, in a way.

I smiled to myself, listening to Natsu scold Jellal for making Happy upset.

Like Wendy said,

It's nice having everyone together like this.