1. Morning kiss

Jellal kicked off his boots and hung his leather jacket on the front coat rack. Tomorrow night was his actual return date, but seeing as the job ended earlier than expected, he supposed he'd try his best to give his girlfriend a surprise birthday visit.

If only Ultear could see him now. Surprising his longtime love with roses—hey Meredy! Look at this sap go!

Jellal walked through her apartment, cautious with his steps. It was a good thing he wore socks; they enabled stealth on the hardwood. Erza would come armed after a single creak, ready to cripple any intruder. Biting his lip, he squared himself against the wall beside her bedroom door and twisted the doorknob.

He glanced into the room and cursed at the sight of her made bed. "Shit," he muttered.

"You really think that little of me, Jellal?"

He let out an embarrassed chuckle and turned, hiding behind the fresh bouquet. "You're right. I should have arrived earlier."

"But," she made a move for the roses, "you went to buy these."

Jellal handed them over. "Oh, these? I picked them from your garden." Erza snorted, and Jellal rolled his eyes.

"You know I'm kidding. You like them?" He asked.

She sniffed them. God—there was always such beauty when she did that. Such a simple gesture from her sent adoration spiraling through his body; he could write a poem, could have taken a picture and painted how the cardinal shade of the petals looked with her hair, as if they'd grown with her. "I do," she exhaled.

Erza walked forward and squeezed his torso. "I missed you."

He held her waist and kissed the top of her head. "Happy birthday, Erza."

2. Seductive kiss

"You know what they say," Erza purred, pursing her mouth merrily against the tip of him. "New year, new ways."

3. "War's End" kiss

She stands next to one of the infirmary tables, limbs held together in beige gauze. He stares at her for a while from the patch of grass he rests on, his attention rapt, and decides to approach her after Wendy leaves her side. She notices his stride before he even gets there.

"Erza," he greets with a slight nod.

The gash on her cheek keeps her from smiling all the way. "Hi, Jellal."

"How… are you?" He questions. "I mean, your injuries."

"I've had worse."

The benevolence of her gaze takes him away. Would it be wrong to touch her? "I see," he says.

"How about you?" Erza tilts her head down at his arm cast. "How's that?"

"I've had worse," he responds, rubbing his bandages.

"I see."

The tricky line of silence that occurs afterwards sets them both in whistling mood. He's deft in forcing out something else. Resting his hand on her shoulder, Jellal says the first tact thing that comes to him. "Erza, you…uh…"

Her face becomes flush. "Yes?"

"You…"

"I?"

"…You fight good."

She blinks. Jellal can hear the horrifying combination of Erik and Sawyer's hyena laughter from afar, and he closes his eyes in chagrined silence.

But, then:

Erza laughs too—it's everything he wants to cherish and listen to forever—and suddenly his lips are on fire.

4. "Goodbye" kiss

His goodbye kisses are not quite like his others.

Firstly, they're softer.

The first one is on her lips; the very last one warms her forehead. Most times, but not all times, they endure right before the door.

Secondly, they are silent and long.

The words are kept to a minimum. Most of it are said through a single breath, and the farewells never, ever come last; they come before he kisses her, before the one 'I love you' at the end. Here, less is important. Less is easier. Her lashes fall to the top-zippers of her eye bags, and in the time she has him close, she imagines his own eyelids blinking downwards and his brows giving their gentle twitch. She sometimes wonders if it hurts him too—to suddenly run out of air, and let go.

Lastly, they happen a lot.

It is why they are quiet. It is why they are that much softer, warmer, and long. She likes the breathing. The heat of his nose puffing into her hairline. His hand caressing her back. The other on the back of her neck. The little things. The living. After all, for them it had always only been about the living, (his existence, her existence…the existence oframpant and constricting affection) and hardly about the promise of return.

5. "I almost lost you" kiss

"You scared me," he panted, kissing her neck. "You scared the hell out of me."

With her injuries, she shouldn't have had the strength to hold him as tight as she did, but after almost losing each other too many times, she only wanted to give him the one thing they always looked for in each other the most—reassurance. Erza would never ask how many times he needed it in the seven years of her absence.

Fortunately, they both fitted on the infirmary bed. Erza kissed his chest and shut her eyes.

"I feel guilty," Erza whispered.

"You should," Jellal said.

"I know."

"You make loving you a terrifying thing."

"I'm sorry."

"I… thought you were gone. I thought you were gone again."

She looked up at him and saw tears. "You'll never lose me," she said softly.

6. Kiss on the temple

"Don't come any closer," Jellal said in a warning voice. Erza snorted and wrung out the damp towel in her hand.

"Too late," she said, patting the cloth over his forehead.

"Erza, I have a fever."

"I know. So can I play the loving nurse without your complaining, please?"

"You'll—" Jellal coughed, "get sick and—"

Erza waited, whistled, even took a drink of her tea while she was at it. When he stopped his thrashing and heaving, a flush stuck around the middle of his face. Erza clicked her tongue and asked, "Done?"

Jellal turned on his side. "I'm contagious," he said, the humor of nasal congestion hanging on his voice.

Erza chuckled and crawled over the bed. She hovered in close, gave a playful squeeze to his ear, and kissed his sweltered temple. "That you are," she said.

7. Exhausted parents kiss

"I always told you they'd have your hair," Erza chuckles, finding great purpose in snuggling up to her husband's side. Jellal smiles, croons a little, and holds her in place. His bedside absence earlier told her to search, and she'd discovered him in the room across the hall again, looming over the twins' crib and rewinding their mobile. It was hard to recognize him at first; his black robe made him blend into the chiaroscuro of the nursery.

"But they have your eyes," he murmurs.

"Our children, Jellal," Erza sighs. "It's still hard to believe."

"Yeah."

"How happy are you, on a scale of one to ten?"

"Two-thousand."

"Two-thousand and one for me," she smirks, before glancing up. "I love you."

When Jellal looks down at her, Erza wishes someone had let him know years ago about how much more handsome he appears when he doesn't hide his joy. She unwinds herself, gets on the tips of her toes, and winds back into his arms with a small and endearing kiss that with seconds, takes off into something deeper, teetering back and forth in rhythm with the delicate music running methodically in the back.

8. "I've missed you" kiss

Erza swung the screen door open and froze at the sight of Jellal standing in front of her. Slung over his shoulder: a dirty, patched up duffle bag. Smeared across his face: a crooked smile.

"You're home," Erza said quietly. Just pointing it out gave her a detailed sense of how catastrophic this'd be for her eyes. Jellal dropped his bag on the welcome-mat and lifted her from the ground. And what she felt from seeing him, feeling him, being kissed and loved again after ten months—she drowned in it; she was surrounded by it. Her heart pounded, and her breathing surged.

"I'm home," he whispered.

Author's note: well, it certainly has been a long while since I updated anything on here! hello to those faithful readers. I really do appreciate all of your existences. your nice words have encouraged me greatly. i'm sorry this wasn't very long. it doesn't seem like much, does it? I promise everyone that my next piece will make up for it. it's ten times longer.

so, here's what happened in the time I was gone:

I've been in the midst of improving my writing.

I've had to deal with numerous projects from school.

I'm studying for the SAT and my AP tests.

I turned 16!

if you want to see daily updates from me, visit blueleis on tumblr. I post all of my works there first. my new project should be posted here soon. until next time!