Pairing: JellTear. (Yes, you read that right, JellalXUltear.)

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: My personal bias would be obvious if I owned Fairy Tail. As my personal bias is not what's happened… You do the math.

A/N: I love this pairing. Especially after the past couple chapters. (My past apathy towards Jerza has turned to flat out distaste, especially with rp'ers who not only play half it badly but clog the dashboard with it. BT No me gusta.) So yeah, this is based on what I think (hope) happened after chapter 264. Hopefully you enjoy it?

Ultear had seen that Jellal was out of it, deep in thought after they had left the group from Fairy Tail. And, if she was honest with herself, she was sure it had to do with Erza Scarlet. With a sigh, she tucked a blanket over Meredy's sleeping form, glancing out at the opening of the cave they had set up camp in. There he sat, staring out into nothing. Had been for hours, she noticed, as the other two members of Crime Sorcerié had cleaned up from their meal and set up things for their rest.

Tossing another log on the fire, the dark-haired woman strode out to join him, a knowing smile on her red lips. "You did the right thing, you know," she commented, almost idly, as if she hadn't known that it was just what he was thinking about. It was obvious though, especially for someone who had been around Jellal as long as she had.

To his credit, he didn't question it. "Yeah… She deserves happiness, and I can't give it to her." Still, he sighed, and Ultear had to resist the urge to hold him close. It was something broken things always awoke in her, the urge to help them and make things better. It was what had drawn her to take Meredy in, after all, and that had ended out well. But right now, what he needed was space.

So instead, she sat down next to him, watching the night sky. "She'll find it," she finally said, breaking the silence. "She's strong like that. And you'll find someone you can care for without hurting." Like her, maybe, but Ultear wasn't about to mention that. Not yet. She could see the pain was too new, too fresh. In time, perhaps, but for now, she would keep quiet about her own attraction.

The thought brought an amused smile to the mage's lips. Time, that was her area of expertise, wasn't it? Arc of Time, the Lost Magic she possessed, and yet she was still subject to the same problems of everyone else when it came to waiting for people's hearts to change. In the past, she wouldn't have cared, instead just making her move, manipulating men to fall for her. Hell, she had done exactly that to Jellal himself in the past, using him and abusing his trust in her. She had been Zeref, at least in his mind. Even though she had known that Zeref wasn't dead, she played him.

And it was because of all the things she had done to him that she was backing off, allowing Jellal to make up his own mind for once. "Your redemption," Ultear murmured, hugging her knees to her chest. For his redemption would lead to hers, and, for some reason, she wanted that. It had been a long seven years since the incidents at Tenrou Island, and she had had a lot of time to think. It was time she had grown up, and stopped living in the past of her, at least in her mind, abandonment. When Jellal found inner peace though, she would be able to make amends. And fix what she had wrought within him.

It was that thought that helped her sleep at night. The idea that maybe things could work out, that things could get better for her. Meredy helped with it, yes, but really, she needed Jellal to keep her from returning to what she had been. Erza Scarlet may have been his first love, but hell would freeze over if she would give up. Glancing over at the male, the time mage smiled. "All in good time."

And time was something she had.