Erza and Jellal II
by: SmurfLuvsCookies
Oh, delectable strawberry, poised upon this glittering sheen of rosy frosting, you bring me such joy, Erza thought poetically. She skewered the plump red surface of the strawberry with the silver spokes of her fork, then promptly popped the fruit in her mouth.
Yum.
"Eating cake again?" Erza turned to see Jellal shooting her an adoring smile. He plopped down in the bar stool next to her and ordered a drink from Mirajane. As he waited, he quickly dipped his finger in the puffy border of white frosting that decorated the edge of the cake and tasted it. He wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, how do you eat that stuff? It's too sweet."
"No, it's perfect," Erza disagreed, defending her cake fervently.
Jellal laughed at her serious expression. "Whatever you say."
"ERZA! WE FOUND A JOB!" Natsu interjected, waving a slip of paper high up in the air. Lucy, Gray, and Happy stood behind him, ready to go. Erza heaved a mournful sigh and stared longingly at the remains of her cake.
Oh, well, I guess I'll have to save this for another time, she thought, slowly setting the plate on the bar and hopping off the stool. She turned to Jellal and almost sighed again. Natsu had evidently picked the job, so who knew how long they'd be gone
this time? Surprisingly enough, Erza found that she didn't like taking long-term jobs since Jellal started pursuing her romantically.
Jellal smirked and bestowed a kiss upon her lips. Erza had long since discovered that she liked intimacy with Jellal. She was shy about it at first, especially in public, but she got over that eventually.
"Be good while I'm gone," she ordered with a smile.
Jellal considered this. "Maybe."
"Are you guys done swapping spit yet? Let's go, we gotta mission to do!" Natsu called impatiently, while Lucy castigated him for ruining Erza and Jellal's romantic moment. Erza made a face and turned to glare at the Salamander. "Okay, okay, I'm coming!" she snapped. She stood on tiptoe to give Jellal one last kiss before departing with her team.
_/T.T\_
"
Lucy!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" A sopping Lucy pointed accusingly at her stellar spirit, Aquaris. "It's her fault, Erza, not mine!" Erza turned her sinister glare onto the nonchalant spirit, who raised an eyebrow and huffed.
"Don't look at me like that," Aquaris sneered, crossing her arms defiantly. "I say that Lucy is my key holder, so she should take responsibility if she doesn't use me the right way." The stellar spirit turned to Lucy and gave her an arrogant smirk. "Don't bother me for a couple days. I'm going on a trip with my boyfriend. Which you should think about doing every once in a while, or yours will disappear, Lucy."
"I am on a trip with my boyfriend!" Lucy defended. Natsu wasn't present at the moment, as they had left Lucy and Erza to deal with the dark guild while they found the master and convinced him to stop attacking the townspeople. During this time, Lucy had summoned Aquaris to handle the large mob of dark guild members (a mercenary guild, of course) and, in doing so, left Erza and herself dripping.
Aquaris laughed. "Now I really feel bad for him!"
"Actually, Natsu probably prefers a mission to a vacation," Erza said blatantly, her eyes glazing over at the ridiculous reality of her statement. Aquaris dragged a curious eye over Erza, soggy and clanking in her armor. "You must have a boyfriend already, huh?" she said. Erza would have taken the question as a compliment, if it weren't for the snobby implications that came with the tone.
"What do you mean?" she growled, absently resting a hand on her sword.
"You're letting yourself go because you've already sealed the deal, right? Let me guess, you have a weakness for chocolate or something," Aquaris asked with a chuckle.
Erza felt the blood rush to her face in a flash of rage. She made to strike the bothersome stellar spirit with her sword, but she had already dissipated back to wherever she came from. Erza could still feel the outrage in her veins. How dare Aquaris call her fat! She most certainly was not fat, even if she did like her sweets every now and then.
With Aquaris gone and no one else to direct her anger at, Erza wheeled around and spared Lucy a vehement glare. The shocked stellar spirit trembled in her boots, never really having been the unfortunate target of the Titania's dramatic temper. Luckily, the guys decided to make an appearance in that moment, with the defeated guildmaster of the tiny dark guild in tow.
"Hey, you guys did it!" Natsu exclaimed, dumping the beat-up guildmaster on the ground. He froze when he saw Erza's enraged expression, and immediately started to break out in a cold sweat. "Erza, wh-what did Lucy do this time...?"
"Huh?" Lucy cried, giving Natsu a sharp look.
Erza turned and scowled at the three trembling boys. "Do I look fat to you?"
"No, of course not!" Gray quaked.
"Who would say such a thing?" Natsu said.
"It was you, wasn't it, Lucy?" Happy accused. Every pair of eyes gave the celestial mage a incredulous look. She stamped her foot at the unjustified finger-pointing and redoubled her glare potency. "I didn't say anything regarding Erza's weight! It was that stupid Aquaris!"
"A celestial mage is responsible for her spirits, you know," Gray pointed out, saying anything to avoid the Titania's wrath.
Lucy glared at him. "Oh, just shut up."
"I don't want to talk about this any further," Erza declared, holding up a hand to silence them. "I was foolish to bring it up in the first place. My apologies. It's irrelevant at this point, am I right? Come on, let's just go home."
There were no objections to her proposal.
_/T.T\_
"Lucy, you're such a liar!" Erza decreed, giving the celestial spirit a demeaning glare. Lucy blinked at Erza's sudden accusation, frowning slightly. "What?" she said.
"You told me that if I went on a diet, I would lose weight," Erza continued, resting her hands on her hips. "I've been limiting my cake consumption and eating nothing but healthy foods for an entire two weeks, and on top of that I've been exercising daily. I've only gained weight!"
"Why does it matter?" Lucy sighed. "You're not fat, Erza, and you don't need to lose weight."
"It's not about that," Erza said. "I just want to know why I keep gaining weight!"
Lucy considered it. "I don't know...have you been to the doctor lately?"
"No. Why would I need to go to the doctor? Do you think I have some kind of disease?"
Lucy raised her eyebrows. "Um...no. I just figured that since you and Jellal are going out you probably, you know, do stuff...and when you do stuff, other stuff happens..."
"Like what?" Erza inquired, cocking her head.
Lucy became uncomfortable. "Like...um...well, like children."
Erza turned a vivid shade of red to match her hair. "You think I'm pregnant!"
"I-I don't know! You could be, I guess, but I wouldn't know! I'm just saying that if you think you could be pregnant, and you keep gaining weight, and if you missed your - Erza! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you!" Lucy dropped her head in her hands as the Titania stormed out of the guild.
"What's up with her?" Cana drawled, flopping down in the seat next to Lucy.
Lucy sighed. "It's a long story."
_/T.T\_
Jellal stared at Erza's drooped head, jaw dropped. To say he was shocked would be an understatement. He was completely unprepared for the news she'd just delivered, and she'd done nothing to warn him. She'd just burst into his room and sprang it on him in a gush of words.
He cleared his throat, trying to come up with a coherent thought. "So...you're telling me...that you're...that we're..."
"Pregnant," Erza finished, nodding. "We're going to have a baby."
"Are you sure?" Jellal blurted, because the possibility of such a thing happening to him seemed unreal. He half expected Erza to laugh and admit it was all just a practical joke, though she wasn't one for pranks.
Erza gave him a look. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure, Jellal."
Jellal's face split into a huge grin before he could stop it. "Erza! That's fantastic!"
"What?" Erza said, blinking. This was obviously not the reaction she was expecting. What she had been expecting, Jellal couldn't guess, but he could see that his overjoyed attitude pleased her considerably.
"Yeah! This is great news! I can't exactly say I've been wanting a kid, but I'm not complaining," he said taking her hands and smiling at her. Erza still looked worried, her brows puckering slightly with a frown. This dimmed his happiness a bit. "What's wrong, Erza? Do you not want...?"
"No! I just don't know if...I mean, we haven't really been dating that long and..." Erza let out a breath, messaging her temples. "I never had a mother or a father, and neither have you. I don't know if we can do it. I don't know if I can do it. A child is such a big responsibility."
"We're not going to be the only ones raising it, Erza," Jellal laughed, squeezing her hands. "This baby is going to be part of the Fairy Tail family. They'll fill in where we can't, they'll help us. Have you told them yet?"
Erza squirmed slightly. "Um...no..."
Jellal smiled and pulled her off the bed, tugging her towards the door. "Come on then, let's do it." He guided her out into the dining hall, where the evening crowd was assembled at their various tables. The guild seemed even fuller than usual, and it didn't help Erza's nerves. She spotted her closest friends, Team Natsu, in one corner. She focused on them. Then, she stepped onto the bar and called for everbody's attention. They stared at her expectantly, the faces ranging from interest to confusion.
"I'd just like you all to know that I'm...that Jellal and I...we're going to have a baby." She winced in anticipation for the roar of a crowd, but the guild was as silent as could be. She looked up to see every astonished eye on her, processing the news she'd just delivered. The silence stretched uncomfortably, and Erza shuffled under the intense gaze of her friends. "Okay...this is awkward..." she mumbled.
Natsu was the first to speak. "No way! Is it a boy or a girl?" he cried, leaping up onto the counter and pressing his ear against Erza's armored belly, as if expecting it to balloon up right before his very eyes. Erza knocked him off the counter violently. "I don't know yet, you fool!"
Lucy got all starry eyed as her boyfriend twitched on the ground at her feet. "Aw, I love babies!"
Happy gaped and pointed at her. "Lucy eats babies!"
"Stop twisting my words, you stupid cat!"
"Don't go near her, Charle, she eats babies!" Happy warned, shielding the white Exceed from the blonde celestial mage. Charle knocked him on the ground next to his Dragonslayer, a vein popping up on her forehead. "I'm not pregnant, you idiot."
"Aye."
Juvia gasped and wheeled around to look at Gray, but he clapped a hand over her mouth before she could say anything. "We aren't going to try and have a baby," he said. Juvia's shoulders slumped, but she kept her idea to herself.
Erza sighed and stepped down from the bar as the guild resumed normal conversation. Most of it was about her child. She wasn't entirely sure if this was a good or a bad thing, but she supposed it didn't matter either way. Mirajane slapped two drinks down on the counter for her and Jellal, smiling. "Congratulations, Erza," she said. "Do you have any idea what you're going to name it?"
Erza thought for a moment. "I don't know...I've always liked the name Meow for a girl."
Mira's eyes widened with horror. "M-meow? You mean like the sound a cat makes?"
"And I thought that if it was a boy, we could name it after the master."
"Makarov...or Meow," Mirajane squeaked. She turned her hopes to Jellal. "What about you? Do you have any name ideas?"
Jellal considered this. "I've always liked the name Fanny for a girl, and Ferninand for a boy."
"Fanny?
Ferninand?" Mirajane groaned. She didn't think it was possible to come up with names worse than Erza's, but she was evidently mistaken. She looked around desperately for someone who might change their minds, and saw Levy not too far away. Levy was good with words, maybe she could help. "Levy! Levy, come over here for a second!"
Levy padded over to the bar with Gajeel in tow. "Hi, Erza. Hey, Jellal. Congrats on the baby."
"Thank you, Levy," Erza said.
"Do you have any names to give for the baby?" Mirajane inquired, praying that the answer was yes and that the names would be decent. "The names they've come up with are Meow, Fanny, Makarov, and
Ferninand."
"O-oh..." Levy said. "W-wow those are...well, those are certainly...interesting..."
"Those names suck," Gajeel said bluntly, grimacing. "Poor kid."
"Fine, then what do
you suggest?" Erza challenged, offended.
Levy considered. "Well, how about - " she began, but her stool was knocked over by Natsu. She laid on the floor, processing what had happened as Natsu continued his destructive path to Erza. "Ow," she said.
"Erza, I have the perfect name for your baby!" Natsu pitched. "How about you name it: Erzal!"
"Erzal?" Erza said, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah, like 'Erza' and 'Jellal' put together! Erzal!"
Erza sighed. "Definitely not."
"You should name it Lucy if it's a girl," Lucy suggested, trying to look as adorable as possible.
"Rejected."
"
What? Lucy is an awesome name!"
"No reallly," Natsu said. "It's kind of unoriginal, actually."
"Who asked you?"
Elfman shoved them aside. "You should name him Manly!" he roared.
"I should slap you for suggesting such a preposterous name for my child," Erza declined.
Romeo jumped up and down. "Oh, you should name her Juliet!"
"No, because what if you fall in love with her? Remember, man,
Erza's the mom," Macao chuckled, nudging his son. This earned him a violent scolding from Erza. Cana rose from her drunken stupor just long enough to suggest the name "Booze," but she didn't even stay awake long enough to hear it's immediate rejection.
The hall erupted into arguments over Erza and Jellal's future baby's name. The mother in question heaved a sigh and flopped down next to Jellal, wishing for some cake. Jellal chuckled and patted her hand. "Don't worry, we have plenty of time to come up with a name. There's no doubt that this is a Fairy Tail baby, huh?"
"No, no doubt at all," Erza said.
_/T.T\_
As Erza's belly grew bigger, the names became more ridiculous. The guildmembers came up with everything from Artichoke to Zooba; however, none of them could seem to come up with a name that was even relatively decent. As nine months rushed by, Erza became concerned that she wouldn't come up with a name in time. She was due any day now.
Erza absolutely hated being pregnant. She couldn't take missions since her bloated belly got in the way and it endangered the baby, so Jellal was forced to support her until she gave birth and recovered. He could only take requests in Magnolia though, and those were few and far between. On top of that, it seemed like she cried over every little thing. She had to pee
all the time. And she felt like an inflated balloon, fat and puffy. She couldn't wear her armor, either. It really was just an uncomfortable situation.
She felt the baby kick a lot, often when she was speaking. Jellal said that the baby liked the sound of her voice. That pleased Erza considerably, and she felt herself glow with pride whenever the baby moved. It was hard to place the feeling that arose when she realized that something - that
someone - was growing inside of her, but it was definitely a feeling really close to joy.
One day, as Erza sat eating cake next to Jellal, Mirajane suddenly snapped her fingers and pointed at Erza. "I know what you should name your baby!" she declared. Erza blinked, suprised by Mira's sudden outburst. If she was this excited about it, maybe it would actually be worth considering. "What?" she asked.
"If it's a girl, you should name her Violet," she said, nodding. "You have red hair and Jellal has blue hair, and together that makes purple."
"Violet...that is kind of pretty," Erza said. "But what if it's a boy?"
Mirajane shrugged. "I don't know."
"If it's a boy, you should name him Apollo," Levy offered, sliding into the stool next to Erza. "I've been trying to suggest it for a while, but I kept getting interrupted."
"Apollo? Why?"
"Any child of yours is bound to shine like the sun, right?" Levy giggled. She sighed and rested her chin on her fist. "If I had a boy, that's what I would name him."
Gajeel wrinkled his nose. "Really?"
"Yes, really," Levy confirmed.
"Violet or Apollo," Erza muttered. "I like it. What do you think, Jellal?"
"Me too," Jellal agreed.
Erza beamed. "Great! Now we have names! I wonder if it will be a boy or a girl...?"
"You'll find out pretty soon," Charle said prophetically, hopping off the counter to go get some towels.
"What are you - ?" Erza stopped, gasping and clutching her swollen belly. Jellal frowned, concerned. Erza straightened up, her face pale. "The baby, I think it's coming," she warned. Jellal, Mira, Levy, and Gajeel all froze, too shocked to move. Natsu tore through the crowd, Charle at his heels. He scooped Erza up in his arms and scoffed at the lot of them. "What are you doing? Erza's giving birth here!" With that, he sprinted from the guild and towards the hospital.
_/T.T\_
After several hours of screaming, cursing, and fainting, Jellal finally got himself together and held his little baby girl in his arms. She had a shock of violet hair at the top of her head (a result of some colorwheel genetics, no doubt) and a birthmark on her forehead in the shape of a crescent moon. Because of this, they decided to name her Luna Violet Scarlet-Fernandes. Quite the colorful mouthful, but a nice name just the same. One suited for a Fairy Tail baby.
And Luna was most certainly a Fairy Tail baby. As soon as the horrificly beautiful experience of birth was over, the entirety of the guild burst into the room and demanded to see Erza and the baby. In only five minutes of life, Luna had been passed around by at least one hundred people. Erza was hysterical; it was the mages of Fairy Tail, after all. She loved them, and she trusted them with her life, but she doubted that they knew how to handle a newborn child. She barely knew how herself.
When Luna was returned safely into her arms, she ordered everybody out. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to rest. The only people who were allowed to stay were Jellal, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Mirajane.
"Mira, Natsu," Erza began. "Should anything happen to us, we want you to be the godparents."
"WHAT?" Natsu, Mirajane, and Lucy said at the same time. Erza glared at Lucy in an attempt to shut her up, but it proved a failure. "Why Mira? Don't you want me as the godmother?" she cried.
"No," Erza said blatantly.
Lucy plummeted into depression as Mirajane awkwardly consoled her.
Erza held Luna up to Natsu. "You want to hold her?"
"N-no, I think I'm - " Natsu began, but Erza thrust Luna into his arms before he could finish declining. Natsu nervously tried to balance the fragile baby in his arms, hoping that he didn't break her or something. When she was finally settled, he prodded at her chubby cheek. She was a cute baby. The cutest he'd ever seen, really. Her tiny hand wrapped around his finger in order to get him to stop poking her face. Her hand was so tiny that she couldn't even wrap it all the way around.
"I wanna hold her!" Gray said, trying to grab Luna.
Natsu whisked her out of his grasp. "You can't just grab a baby from someone's arms! You don't deserve to hold her!"
"Lemme see her!"
"NO!"
Erza sighed. "I don't think Luna is going to have any shortage of attention."
"No," Jellal laughed. "No, she's already got Natsu wrapped around her finger."
"She'll have everybody like that before long," Erza decided, watching Gray and Natsu fight over her newborn. With a sigh, she struggled to stand and knocked them both over the head. "I just gave birth and you two can't stop bickering! Give me my baby, I'm going home!"
"Wait, shouldn't you stay the night?" Mirajane fretted.
Erza scoffed. "Absolutely not. I hate hospital food."
"But Erza - "
"No, I'm not staying. Come on, Jellal."
"It's not healthy for you to - "
"I don't care. Hurry up, Jellal, or the doctor will see us!"
"Erza!"
Mirajane surrendered and helped smuggle Erza out of the hospital, while Natsu, Happy, and Gray pretended to be ninjas. This mainly consisted of wrapping various clothing items around their heads and reciting the phrase, "Nin-nin." Lucy sighed and walked along side them, until Natsu accused her of giving away their position and threw her over his shoulder. "Natsuuu!" she cried as they raced from the hospital.
A nurse did a double take as they left. "Hey, where are you going?"
"RUN! OUR COVER'S BEEN BLOWN!" Natsu cried, blocking the nurse's view. The rest of them sprinted from the hospital, leaving chaos in their wake. Erza laughed when she looked down at the baby in her arms.
Her first Fairy Tail adventure, and Luna was still sound asleep.
Erza and Jellal - End
