This is embarrassing... I could have swore that I posted this chap along with ch16. I never actually went back in to check since the holidays got crazy busy... I am the worst.

A/N: Okay so on top of the crazy long chapter, I put out this short fluffy Christmas themed piece (If you celebrate a different Holiday that's wonderful too) to make up for how much time usually goes between my updates. Consider them to be little thank yous to the readers who have stuck with me and put up with my shit timing.

It goes without saying that this is completely non-canon for the KaS plot. Some characters that we haven't even met yet will also be present, like Wendy. Okay well mostly Wendy. This is just a fun little thing. IT WILL CONTAIN ABSOLUTELY 0 SPOILERS FOR THE MAIN STORY. So if you don't want any non-canon stuff or simply don't care for fluffy filler too much then just go ahead and pass on this chapter.

So without further ado, I present The Knight and The Strawberry: a Fairy Tail White Christmas

"Get those lights strung up through the rafters Ichigo. Gray go outside and make sure there's a good layer of fresh white snow on the roof. Levy, Lucy, you two are on tree decoration duty. Try to finish before Mira and Erza get back with the food so you can help them prep." Master Makarov called from his position sitting on the bar.

All around him, the members of Fairy Tail were busy getting things ready for the Yule festival. All over magnolia, shop vendors were prepping their best goods. Restaurants were setting up large buffets. The local theater was even doing several free performances.

The guild was going to serve as a place for people to come in from the cold weather for warm food and drink. Several activities for children were being set up as well. Including arts and crafts, a generous spread of Holliday treats, and a few of the wizards were going to do some kid friendly magic displays. Master wanted to pull out all the stops for this year, considering the mess they had made during the Fantasia parade earlier in the year.

"Hey Gramps, the wood delivery is here. Where are we storing this stuff?" Laxus called from the back entrance.

"It's going against the far wall behind the stage. Get Natsu to help you stack it. He'll need it to keep the fires going." The old man answered and Laxus nodded and went looking for his fellow dragon slayer.

Hopping off the counter, Makarov began to walk around and inspect how everything was coming along. It was nice to see all of the members working together on a large scale project. Everyone doing their individual part to bring it all together. It was rather impressive what they could do without using their magic when they worked as a team.

As he continued on, he heard Ichigo shout to him from the rafters.

"Hey I need your opinion up here master."

"What is it my boy?" Makarov asked as he stretched himself up to where the young man was floating in mid-air with a bundle of lights.

Ichigo held up two separate sets of lights. "Well I measured and I don't have enough of one color to do all of the supports the same. I was thinking maybe do all of the side struts with white lights and then the big main supports with red. What do you think."

Makarov just hummed and shook his head. "Nope, I put you in charge of lighting the ceiling. That's your call."

"Uh alright." Ichigo shrugged his shoulders and air-walked back to the large wooden supports for the ceiling and floors above.

He had always loved the Christmas festival. It reminded him of his childhood in his original world. The sense of joy and giving to others was there and of course, the incredible food.

He had been looking forward to tonight for weeks. With Erza's help, he had prepared a few little tricks and gimmicks to dazzle the people. Given his powers' more….destructive properties, he had asked her to help him make a bunch of festive packages filled with glitter and confetti, and even a huge one full of candy. The idea was that Erza would throw them in the air with her telekinesis, a skill he always seemed to forget she possessed, and then he would jump around the air and slash them to scatter the contents in beautiful displays.

As he flew around the ceiling stringing up lights, Erza and Mirajane walked into the main doors pulling and enormous amount of food behind them. The few members who were less occupied jumped up to help unload the packages of food. As they worked, Mira headed for the kitchen an instantly scrambled to pull out as many pots and pans as she could find.

"Alright Lucy, Levy, you two go help in the kitchen. Mira is gonna need all the help she can get!" Erza called out as she hefted up a large load of boxes full of food. The two called girls hastened to the kitchen and before long the savory scent of roasting meat, savory stew, and the sweet smell of baked treats was wafting through the hall.

Yes all around, everyone was dashing around doing their best to make everything perfect for the coming festivities. It was truly going to be a night to remember for the whole town.

Wendy sat on the floor of Erza's room with the closet wide open. She hummed a cheery little tune to herself as she put the finishing touches on the red felt dress she was going to wear. She had been sewing little bells all around the skirt and soft silver tinsel around the neckline.

"Come now Wendy are you finished yet?" Carla nagged as she flew in from the window. "The guilds festivities are about to get started. Hurry along child."

"Calm down Carla. Erza said she would meet up with us after she finished some errands. And since she isn't here yet then I still have time." Wendy explained to the white feline. "Besides, I'm almost finished."

She quickly discarded the plain dress she had been wearing and slipped on the new red one. The bells jingled as she wiggled around and shook her hips a bit. Wendy couldn't help but feel a sense of childish wonder at the light melody they created. She could barely sit still she was so excited. This would be her first Christmas with the guild and from what everyone had told her, she was going to have a blast tonight.

A sharp knock at the door alerted her to Erza's arrival. Hopping up off the floor, she dashed to the door and opened it to greet the older girl.

Erza was done up in a similar outfit to hers, though a much more mature version, cut low to show off an amount of cleavage that was just barely still able to be considered tasteful. She also had a black leather belt around the waist of her dress and red silk gloves that came to midway up her bicep topped with white fluff. The whole ensemble was complete with a floppy Santa hat on the top of her head.

"Are you ready to go Wendy?" Erza asked as she looked over the blue haired girls outfit. "You look very cute tonight." She spoke with a soft smile.

"Yeah let's go. And thank you! I really like your outfit too." Wendy beamed at the praise for her hard work.

The two girls quickly headed for the stairs and out the front doors into the crisp winter air. A peaceful snowfall had moved in as the sun had set, adding to the soft white piles that Gray and Juvia had already made. With the lights strung up across the rooftops, the view from the top of the hill was breath taking.

"Oh wow! The town looks so pretty." Wendy said with wide eyes and a big smile.

Erza smiled and hummed at Wendy's child-like wonder. "Indeed. Things are always so serene this time of year."

As they continued down the path, they could start to hear the buzz of the crowds that had gathered in the streets. All around, couples walked together while children ran uninhibited to see all the exciting attractions of the festival. Vendors were shouting for the attention of the passersby. The mayor was even supposed to be mingling with the townsfolk.

"We should hurry. The guild is likely crowded already." Erza urged and they picked up their pace until they reached the back entrance. Erza gave it a few hard knocks and they only had to wait for a moment before Macao opened the door.

"Hey girls, you're just in time, Master just opened the doors to the public."

"Thank you." Wendy thanked him as the two of them rushed to hang up their coats and head out to help with the party.

And what a party it was. They had intended to find Ichigo and show him the outfits they had made and so Erza could start prepping, but it was obvious that the orange haired man had his hands more than full helping Laxus work the front doors. The two tall men were doing their best to keep the foot traffic moving and prevent too many people from crowding in all at once. If the looks on their faces were anything to go by, both mens' patience was running thin. Erza quickly rushed to find replacements before one of them snapped.

This left Wendy to her own devices for the moment so she decided to see if she could find Lucy. She found the celestial wizard easily enough, as the blonde was currently playing with a group of children who were making ginger bread houses. Wendy quickly wove her way through the crowd and got Lucy's attention.

"Hi Lucy. Merry Christmas."

Lucy turned around and smiled when her eyes landed on the sky dragon slayer. "Oh hey Wendy. Merry Christmas to you too! I really like your outfit." She complimented.

Wendy's smile lit up even more then before at the praise. "Thanks! I worked really hard on it, with some help from Erza. I like your outfit too."

Lucy had on a red jacket with white fluff around the edges the was cut high to show her midriff. Her skirt was also red but had a pattern embroidered on it that glistened to look like snow. She wore soft leather knee high boots with white stockings underneath.

"Haha thanks Wendy. Although I did mine the easy way and just bought it."

The two girls shared in some laughter and by the time they returned to helping the children with their gingerbread houses, Erza had managed to find replacements for Ichigo and Laxus at the door. The two men both let out weary sighs as the three of them made their way toward the bar.

"Man I hate people during the holidays." Laxus groaned. "Gonna need a stiff drink before I fry someone."

"I hear that." Ichigo seconded.

Erza rolled her eyes as she followed the two as Ichigo quickly poured two mugs of spiked hot chocolate and Laxus filled a large mug of ale. Ichigo handed the mug to Erza who accepted it with a smile and took a small sip of the creamy brew.

"Thanks sweetheart."

Ichigo grinned and took a drink from his own mug while simultaneously letting his eyes wander over her figure. "No problem. You look beautiful tonight. Red looks good on you." He finished with a playful smirk.

"Aww. Thank you. Wendy and I worked hard to finish these in time. She probably wants to show you her handiwork too." As she finished, Erza moved in a way such that she could easily drape herself over the man. "And if you like this, you're going to love what's underneath."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow and gave his girlfriend a flirty look out of the corner of his eye while Laxus groaned and turned his back on the two. "God I really didn't need to know about your plans to bone each other later. I'm outta here."

Ichigo couldn't resist the urge to chuckle and wrapped an arm around Erza's waist. "Well that got rid of him quick. Now what was it you were saying about something under this pretty red dress?" Ichigo punctuated his question by pressing his thumb against her hip bone.

Erza sighed and leaned her head back to whisper in his ear. I'm the most seductive voice she could manage, she whispered. "Sorry, you'll have to wait to unwrap me later."

With her partner now clearly becoming a little hot under the collar, she stood straight again to get off of him. With a smirk she took another drink and started to walk towards the stage. Ichigo shook his head to clear out the thoughts that were filling it and followed after her.

"You tease." He said as he finally got within earshot of her. Erza laughed and continued until the two of them arrived at the stash of props they had made for their show.

"Maybe so but it'll be worth it. Now then we are running late for our performance." She quickly squatted down to pick up a few of the pods and Ichigo did so to get the remainder. "Ready to knock 'em dead out there?"

Ichigo nodded and smiled confidently. "Totally. Zangetsu and I finally were able to figure out a way for me to use his bankai form without the huge release of power. It'll be much easier to get them all with a katana instead of a big huge sword."

He and Erza both stacked their pods in a semi-circle around the designated spot where Erza would launch them from. "Excellent. Then give me just a moment to warm up and we are good to go. You go ahead and get the crowds attention." Erza instructed.

"Sure thing." Ichigo quickly hopped onto the stage and picked up the microphone.

While Ichigo gathered the spectators, Erza went over her last minute preparations. She let her mind open and felt for the pods surrounding her. They had drilled the routine dozens of times. She had to be sure to throw the pods in a wide enough spread so Ichigo would have room to flash step between them. She would also have to watch her height. Arc them too high and they could hit the ceiling, but too low and either Ichigo wouldn't have room to hit them, or the crowds view would be obscured.

"Without further delay, my lovely assistant and I hope you enjoy our show."

Erza looked up just in time to see Ichigo putting the mic back into its stand. Everyone was looking up at the two of them on stage. A couple dozen members of the guild, as well as a hundred or so people from the town were all staring up at them with anticipation. Just as he was about to leave the mic, Ichigo stopped and turned on his heel.

"Oh and one more thing. Let's make sure the kids can all get front row seats for this one." He said with a smile before finally jogging to his starting position on the opposite side of the stage.

The couple locked eyes for a brief moment and Ichigo flashed Tensa Zangetsu into existence. There were a few murmurs from the crowd as they waited for the spectacle to begin. Erza gave Ichigo one last look and mentally reached out to lift the first set of targets.

Ichigo locked on to the pods as they slowly floated to hover just behind the woman's shoulders.

With a flick of her wrist, Erza launched the pods high into the air. Everyone in the crowd followed the flying objects as they arched through the air. Ichigo gave no sign that he intended to move. It wasn't until the targets began their downward arch that he finally smirked and flashed from the stage into the air and split each pod lightning fast. One two three and the first wave was gone. Glittering confetti burst forth from each one in a stunning display of color.

With the opening salvo done, Erza started to throw the targets in a steady, continual pattern. Ichigo did well to move from one target to the next. Sometimes using flash step, other times simply leaping through the air. Not once did his feet touch the ground.

The crowd was in awe at the performance and the children in particular were cheering for more.

So Erza delivered.

With deep concentration, she lifted all but three of the remaining pods. Ichigo watched in confusion as Erza began to move them around herself in a circle. This wasn't something they had practiced. The pods began to spin faster until Erza looked up at him in midair with a smirk on her face.

"Time for the grand finale Ichigo."

At that, she lifted her arm up and thrust it in his direction. This sent nearly a dozen of the pods flying straight at him.

'Oh she wants a show huh? Alright.' He thought internally as he cocked his blade back and readied himself.

The first projectile was almost upon him by the time he flashed away, leaving the pod to split in two where he had previously been.

In less than the blink of an eye, Ichigo blasted forward and destroyed all of the pods. The contents flew through the air in large brilliant patterns from the speed of the swings. When all was said and done, Ichigo had landed directly in front of Erza, who seemed not even the least bit surprised.

"Having fun?" She asked, leaning her face in somewhat.

Ichigo smirked and cocked his head to the side a bit. "Just a little…" He cut himself as he saw the final three large pods rise behind the redhead. Erza's smile didn't fade as the projectiles flew past the two of them off behind Ichigo.

Reacting as fast as he could, Ichigo spun 180 degrees and whipped his arm around to hurl Zangetsu. The blade pierced all three pods as they lined up before embedding itself nearly a foot deep into one of the support struts near the ceiling. When the pods split open, instead of glitter, hundreds of small candies rained down on around the children in the front of the crowd.

As the children cheered and scrambled around on the floor, collecting as much as they could, Ichigo turned to give Erza a glare that was somewhere between cocky and flirty.

"You went off the script there a bit."

Erza feigned innocence. "I improvised a bit. You were getting predictable so I spiced it up a little."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and turned back to face the cheering crowd. The couple waved, thanked everyone for coming, bowed and made their way behind the stage. When they finally got back out to the main area, they found Wendy waiting for them, her hands filled with candy.

"Wow you guys that was such a cool show!" She exclaimed through the sticky taffy she was currently chewing.

Ichigo laughed while Erza shook her head. "Are you sure it was the show that you liked so much?" The older girl teased, gesturing to the bundle of candy.

Wendy blushed, embarrassed at having her sweet tooth called out but Ichigo quickly came to her aid. "Yeah she's almost as bad as you and your pastries."

Erza stuttered over herself before forming a coherent sentence. "Well that's different, I'm an adult who's finished growing. She still needs more healthy sources of nutrition." She said with finality, as if it was the perfect cover.

"Oh come on you have been obsessed with cake since you were younger than she is now." The soul reaper pointed out once more.

Trying to head off the incoming bickering, Wendy quickly interrupted Erza's retaliation. "Um it's okay! I usually eat really healthy! It's just that it's the holidays!" She blurted out trying to distract the two.

Ichigo and Erza quickly ceased their argument and the former even reached out to pat the young girl on the head. "Well that's good Wendy. A little bit of junk food is fine. Now what do you girls say, should we get out of here and go see what the rest of the city has going on?"

"I think that's a delightful idea Ichigo." Erza looked down to Wendy. "Go grab your coat and we'll go."

The girl nodded and dashed off toward the back of the guild. Erza chose to wait quietly and just enjoy Ichigo's company, but the soul reaper decided to fill the silence anyway.

"You really do look beautiful tonight."

Erza blushed a bit and stepped closer to lean against him. "Thank you. You look very handsome tonight too, despite the lack of effort you put into your outfit."

Ichigo looked down at what he was wearing. He had thrown on a set of nice leather flats, and dark grey slacks. On top he wore a red shirt with the collar unbuttoned and a typical red Santa hat on his head. He knew it was pretty basic, but he wasn't exactly the fashion type. "Hey at least I wore the right colors. And this hat is totally festive!"

Erza rolled her eyes and looked away over the crowd. "Oh yeah. Red Santa hat, I totally don't see dozens of people wearing the same thing."

"Oh shut up you're wearing one too!"

"Yes but at least my outfit shows a bit more effort." She countered and shimmied from side to side.

"Yeah yeah." Ichigo huffed in defeat. The two were quiet again until their dragon slayer companion returned bundled up in a heavy coat. She handed Erza's to her and the trio made their way to the doors. "Alright let's get out there." Ichigo said as he pulled his own large black coat over his shoulders.

The streets were even more active than the guild had been. The trio was quickly swept up in the excitement of the festival. Each and every stand seemed to have something to attract them. Ichigo had quickly dashed up to a stand selling assortments of grilled meats. After he returned with food for the group, the older two contented to follow their young companion for a time as she frolicked to and fro. They walked arm in arm, watching Wendy take delight in everything the celebration had to offer, sometimes even laughing and playing with some of the other children of the town.

Erza often felt something akin to motherly pride and protectiveness when it came to the young dragon slayer, despite the relatively small number of years that separated the two women. Maybe this was what it was like to feel like a big sister. Regardless she truly enjoyed watching the girl have fun. Resting her head on Ichigo's shoulder as they walked, she wondered aloud.

"Do you ever think we'll have one of our own?"

The sudden question caught him off guard. "One of our own what?"

"A child of our own. Do you think we will have children one day?" She expected he would stutter and stumble over a response, but to her delight, he remained calm and thought for a moment before answering.

"Well if we don't stay careful, we'll have one whether we like it or not." He said with a chuckle before giving her a more serious answer. "I don't know. Not soon I don't think."

Erza waited for him to elaborate, but he showed no intention to do so. "Why is that?" She asked. It wasn't a prodding question, more one of curiousness at his thoughts.

"Well…. Because I don't think we are ready for what that would mean." He gestured at Wendy ahead of them. "I know we kinda stepped up to fill that role for Wendy, but she's almost a teenager and is pretty autonomous already. She's perfectly fine being left by herself while you and I go off on our adventures." Erza could tell where he was leading. She had thought the same thing many times whenever the idea crossed her mind. "But taking care of a child who needs us to be there 24/7 and relies on us for everything? That's not something we can put down to take a job out of town. We are still too young and adventurous to be parents. Maybe one day down the line we will be ready, but I'm content to let that day come at its own pace."

"Sounds like you've put a bit of thought into this." Erza responded after she finished digesting his words. She hadn't expected his response and reasoning to be so well worded. She fully expected that she was only one who had considered the possibility of children in their future. Though she did admit that some of her recent reading material and interactions with Wendy were likely to blame for influencing those trains of thought.

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders as he smiled and waved to Wendy who had looked back to see if they were still with her. "Well you aren't the first person to ask me when you and I are gonna make a little clone of ourselves. Some of the older generation and a couple of our closer friends have asked me when we intend to become parents." He chuckled out as he witnessed Wendy despair over having lost at a small carnival game.

"Oh?" This had Erza raising her brow in curiosity. "And just what did you tell them?"

"Same thing I just told you." He said nonchalantly as he let go of her arm and jogged over to try his hand at the game.

She watched as he took his turn at the game, eventually avenging Wendy's loss and letting her select a prize. Smiling to herself, Erza turned and looked out over the river they had found themselves next to. He was right. They would wait till they were ready.

Taking in a deep breath, letting the cold winter air chill her throat on its way to her chest, Erza closed her eyes a flea Ed her head back, just listening to the happiness around her. That's what she lived about this time of year most. That everyone came together in love and joy. The tranquility was quickly broken though.

Behind her she could hear Ichigo shushing Wendy about something but she didn't get the chance to do more than open her eyes before a packed ball of snow burst on the back of her shoulder. Whirling around to face her attacker, she saw Ichigo with a satisfied smirk and Wendy covering her mouth in equal parts amusement and fear.

Narrowing her eyes, Erza braced as the orange haired man prepared to lob another snow ball at her. "Don't you dare."

Too late.

Ichigo laughed and hurled the snowball straight at her. She barely dodged it and deftly scooped up her own pile of snow. She made quick work of packing it together as Ichigo dragged Wendy behind him to run away, laughing all the way.

It wasn't long before she caught up to them and soon a full blown snowball fight erupted between the three. Smiles were plastered on their faces, even as they covered each other in the frozen powder. It all culminated with Ichigo tackling Erza to the ground and the two of them laughing as they rolled around with Erza managing to land on top. The two sat where they ended up, Ichigo lying on his back, half buried in snow, and Erza sitting up straddling his waist with the white powder stuck to her clothes and hair.

"Well that was fun." Ichigo said as he caught his breath.

"Agreed. Though we are going to be soaked when all this snow melts." Erza chuckled. The two were distracted by a small yawn as Wendy and walked up to where they had rolled. "Getting tired Wendy?"

The young girl nodded. "It has been a pretty long and exciting day. I think I'm ready to head home." She said in a small, weary voice.

"Sounds good to me. We'll walk you back to Fairy Hills." Erza said as she stood from on top of Ichigo and helped the man up after her.

Ichigo stretched his arms up over his head and groaned. "Alright ladies lets go home." With a quick motion, he hefted Wendy up onto his shoulders, with a delighted laugh from the small girl.

Erza walked next to them as the three chatted absently to each other. Ichigo and Erza were both putting up a good front, but it was obvious that they weren't nearly as tired as Wendy was. Ichigo could feel and Erza could see the blue hair girl starting to slump forward a bit on Ichigo's shoulders, resting on top of his head a bit. The orange haired man gave Erza a sidelong glance. She nodded and the trio continued past the turn up to Fairy hills and instead turned in the direction of Ichigo's home just around the block.

As they made it to the front steps, Erza helped Ichigo move Wendy down into his arms and pulled the keys from his pocket since he now had his hands full. A soft click of the lock, and they were inside. Neither spoke a word as Erza led the way to the spare bedroom, Ichigo close behind her. Wendy was gently laid in the bed, already deep in sleep, and the couple left for the room down the hall.

Erza entered the master bedroom first and Ichigo slowly closed the door behind him. Not a moment after the latch clicked into place, did he feel Erza's hands wrap around him and spread over his abs and chest.

He could feel her breath on his neck as she stood on her toes and worked his coat off of his shoulders. A groan passed his lips as he let her pull his shirt over his head next. Her lithe fingers worked into every muscle on his bare chest, tracing the faint lines of scars new and old. Tilting his head back and to the side, their lips met briefly before she pulled away from him and let him turn around.

Erza let her eyes trail up and down over Ichigo's body. Taking in the defined muscles of his chest, the tantalizing V of his abs that disappeared beneath his belt line. Licking her lips in seductive anticipation, she brought her eyes back up to meets his. Lifting a finger, she beckoned him to her as she backed up till her legs hit the edge of his bed.

Ichigo did as he was told, moving slowly till there were only a few inches between them. With a sort of gentle authority, he trailed the palm of his hand up the side of her neck and to the back of her head. Erza closed her eyes at his touch and let him pull her towards him. She felt his hot breath on the side of her ear as his hand trailed down to her throat and along her collar before slipping along the valley of her cleavage to rest at the top of her dress. A growled whisper in her ear set her legs to tremble

"My turn to unwrap my present."

The hand that had been on her chest tightly gripped the hem of fabric and soon his free hand found the other side. With a strong grip, Ichigo pulled the seam apart, pooping off the buttons on the way, to expose Erza's body beneath. She gasped in excitement at the sudden gesture as he pushed it off of her shoulders. His hands trailed her bare skin as he pushed the garment down to the floor, leaving Erza in just her underwear.

Stepping back, Ichigo took his turn to admire the woman in front of him in all her glory.

She wore a matching dark red set of lingerie that clung tight to her curves. Ichigo did nothing to hide how his eyes moved over her, drinking her in.

"Well you were right," he said as he stepped back to her again. "I much prefer what you were hiding underneath your dress."

Erza hummed and wrapped her arms behind his neck. "Mmm I knew you would." Spinning the two of them around quickly, Erza then shoved Ichigo to fall backwards onto the bed. She then proceeded to slowly crawl onto the bed until her hips were straddling his. With her hair falling in a curtain around them, she leant down to brush her lips against his. "Merry Christmas Ichigo."

"Merry Christmas Erza."

The End.