"I don't want to tame you. I want to keep you wild. I like you better that way."

Yukino reflected on those words she said only a few hours ago, and because of the soreness she felt all over her body she nearly regretted them. Nearly. Because of the glorious heated passion that caused her sore muscles, she would definitely go through the pain all over again. The first time had been magic and new but after saying those words to her mate a fierceness overtook him, and his inner dragon demanding more.

Now she was sated, sore, and lingering languidly in Rogue's bed. Her mate had someone curved his whole body around her. His back looked like it arched in an uncomfortable way. She frowned at the pain that may be causing him and shifted slightly. She re-situated herself and turned her head to face him. She stroked her fingertips along his bare chest in a caress that was intended to rouse him enough to get him to rotate his body. On one of the passes of her fingertips she unintentionally grazed his nipple. A red eye opened and peered at her. "I seem to remember you saying something about me being the insatiable one."

Yukino sighed in annoyance. "You looked uncomfortable. I was merely trying to get you to adjust your position."

Rogue momentarily debated on fighting her. When he grunted as he stretched out his back, he noted that it did indeed have some new kinks in it that were not there before.

"Since we are both awake perhaps we should talk some things through..." Yuki began.

Rogue almost retorted that he was 'nearly' awake but it wasn't really an argument worth having. He would rather be on his new mate's good graces for as long as possible. "What did you want to discuss?"

"Well, I...I don't want this to detour you or anything. But, so many dragon slayers mates are either pregnant or trying to become pregnant. I don't want to attempt to sort out that detail right away personally. I mean..."

Rogue put a finger to her lips. "Just say what's on your mind."

"Before, starting a new family I want to first reunite with the old. I want to find my sister first. I know that she's probably gone but I at least want to do some research and try to find where her life took her."

Rogue nodded. "If I had any blood family that I had lost I would feel the same." He paused and felt a melancholic smile grace his face. Yukino looked at him with cautious eyes. He cupped her chin and smiled a true smile at her. "How soon do you want to start?"

"Is after this festival too soon?"

Rogue shook his head. "Not at all."

Oric studied Meredy's profile. He kept pondering over and over again what she had said about Jellal being in love with Erza and what that may or may not mean. It was unfortunately a lot of unanswered questions. But perhaps it wasn't as difficult as he was making it.

"What if after the babies are born and everything seems to be going fine I asked you to stay behind? Regardless of what Jellal decides to do."

Meredy turned to look at Oric. "What are you saying?"

"My sister has been pestering me to join Fairy Tail. Honestly I've been putting off making any decisions. I was waiting to find out what your master plan was. But we both seem to be weighing our decisions based on another. I'm not so sure that is a way to get what we want in life."

"Oric, this...It's not fair to ask this of me now. It's not that I don't want to make a decision. It's that I can't. I don't know for certain that I would be put in jail myself. But I have to face facts, I have done some borderline criminal things myself over the years."

Oric nearly glared at her. It wasn't that he didn't believe her but she was truly grasping at straws. "Be honest. If that were a real concern you would have brought it up earlier."

Meredy couldn't fault Oric for being momentarily agitated. She nodded as she admitted that he was right in that regard. They both knew that she was stalling. "We don't know each other that well yet. I don't want to base my staying on our possible 'relationship.'" She used her fingers to do the air quotes pantomime.

"Okay, then. I have a proposition. When it gets closer to that time and we have gotten to know each other better. When we decide, and personally I believe we will, that we will want to be together we don't regret choosing one of two paths. Number one, we both become members of Fairy Tail and decide to stick around here. Number two, I join up with Crime Sorciere and we go on the road together."

"Living on the road is not a picnic. I wouldn't wish it on anyone."

Oric shrugged, "I doubt I would mind it if I were with you."

"Jellal would feel like a third wheel though."

"Not if things pan out well for him with Erza."

"That will be the day..."

Hands clawed at each other ripping at each others' backs. They tried to pull each other closer but there was already no room between their bodies. Each felt the physical reactions the devouring kisses and caresses were implementing on the other.

Erza pulled away and took a deep cleansing breath. Unfortunately that was also the moment that her mind decided to wake up and realize what was happening. A blush infused her already heated cheeks. "I..what...what are we doing?"

"I'm not sure. But I would still like to find out." Jellal tried to pull her back into another kiss. But Erza pushed him away.

"You are trying to make this seem easy."

Jellal expunged a sigh of frustration. Erza would know how to beat the conversation into the ground. It was part of her appeal. But right now it was definitely more so his enemy.

"You said you loved me."

"Yes, and you only claimed to desire me."

"What do want from me wine and roses? I can't give you that."

"No but I would like to know that what I feel for you isn't one sided. All you claimed was that you desired me. Love and lust, you can have one without the other."

"I don't think this is a fair conversation."

"Why? Because I'm trying to get you to say something you don't want to?"

"Yes, but not in the way you mean." Erza tried to follow Jella's movements as he began to pace the length of the floor. "I can't make you any promises, Erza. None. I can't offer you any kind of future. I've tried to turn you away numerous times. I've tried to get you to stamp out a new life for yourself. I wanted you to find a new romance so you would definitely have a future."

"That would be a great disservice to this fictional man in that so called life. He would always in my mind be compared to you."

Jellal wasn't sure what to do with that comment. He looked out the window and let his mind drift away. The time he stood there was endless. It felt like hours had passed as he mulled things over but it was probably closer to minutes. It was when he felt her arms curl around his middle that he melted. "I am willing to compromise."

"What kind of compromise?"

"I'll share this moment with you if you can promise me that it's not just lust you feel inside. If you can promise that if we can have more of these moments you won't turn away from them. That you will embrace them and open up to me."

Jellal looked Erza in the eyes. "How could it ever just be lust? In some measure I think I have loved you just as long as you loved me."

Before he could blink Erza requipped into a soft lavender negligee that did little to hide her body from his probing gaze. She grasped his hand and pulled him toward the bed, a sultry smile growing on her face. "That's all I needed to hear."

Their fingers woven together Juvia guided Gray to Fairy Hills. Once they reached the gate Gray tried to back pedal. "Whoa, I'm not about to get thrashed by Erza. If you take me in there and she were to find out.."

Juvia's feminine musical laugh chimed through the air. "Sorry, it's just I know that Erza will be tied up at least until tomorrow. Probably even longer then that."

Gray would have been lying to himself if he didn't at least admit that he was apprehensive about going into the all girls apartment complex. He was curious of course. What Fairy Tail male wouldn't be? The guild was full of striking women that happened to live in the dorm.

Juvia felt Gray pull back again as she walked into the foyer. She tugged at his arm. "Come on," she momentarily wondered who scared him more in that moment herself or Erza.

Gray found himself in a large common room. It housed a large sectional, coffee table, and a large bookshelf that mostly contained movies. Juvia sat down on one of the plump cushions of the sectional. She patted the cushion beside herself. He felt relieved. He thought she was going to try to corral him into her room or something. He had heard from some of the other girls that there were objects in her room that made it seem more like a shrine to himself then an actual place to rest. Even considering the thought left a nervous tingling sensation running down his spine.

Juvia went from silly and happy to serious fairly rapidly. "Gray, you need to tell me what is going on in that head of yours. You are giving me all sorts of mixed signals. It's honestly not fair."

Gray arched an eyebrow at her. "You were seriously joking with me not 2 minutes ago, and now I suddenly feel like I have to be on the defensive here. Care to clue me in?"

"Let's start with me telling you that I thought of leaving Fairy Tail, and your reaction towards that."

"You shouldn't have to leave Fairy Tail because of me. You're a kick ass mage. You have made so many friends. It would be a damn shame to throw what life you have made here away."

"While true that is a crappy throw away answer."

"Wha?"

"Can you tell me that when I told you that you weren't even a little upset?'

"Of course I was upset. I would be upset if any of our guild members wanted to leave though. In regards to family I haven't been all that lucky. I'd hate to lose any more family then I have already."

Juvia took a breath. It would be shitty of her to crap on that answer of his, because a great part of it was most definitely true. But he still was avoiding the sole fact that it was her they were talking about. "Fine, that much is true enough. But I told you the reason I couldn't be here anymore is because of what it was doing to me. How it made me feel to want to be with you and knowing you would never want me in the same regard. I need to be a little selfish here. I can't go on hurting myself the way I am."

"I thought I was the one hurting you."

"Indirectly maybe, but I'm the one holding out and making a fool of myself."

"You're not a fool."

"Oh no? If I weren't a fool I would just grow up and accept Lyon's feelings for me."

"Fuck that!"

Juvia couldn't contain the eye roll that she aimed his direction. "Again, that reaction makes no sense. Any time I bring up Lyon at all you react with this insane jealous rage. Why the hell would you be jealous?"

Gray paused a moment. Jealous? Was he jealous? He shook his head and said aloud, more to himself than her. "I'm not jealous."

"Sure could have fooled me. The only logical answer to your reaction to him at all is that you are jealous. He makes romantic advances, you intervene. I mention him you look like you are going to propel ice shards from your eyeballs. He enters a contest to kiss me and you suddenly have to be there to one up him."

Gray reflected on that recent scenario. He really didn't know what propelled him to stand and get in her line. But jealousy would definitely explain some of it. He admitted something to himself though also. While he waited in that line he began to want to kiss her. He wanted to see what her luscious lips felt against his own. He wanted to know how her own lips would mesh against his. He had suddenly been caught up in a heat of desire in those moments he didn't register it. Then we he did kiss her. Even that small pecking kiss became his central focal point. Even remembering it now had his own body reacting to way it had made him feel. Was it merely a fluke that it coaxed that kind of reaction?

"Juvia, I...I don't know what to say. I really don't think I'm jealous of Lyon. But...I guess it's possible I'm lying to myself."

Juvia turned to look at him with hope reflected in her eyes.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm still unsure. Because of that I can't really promise anything either. But perhaps, we should explore this. I mean. Fuck!" Gray took a deep breath and tried to collect his thoughts. He wasn't one to make speeches so he had to stop and think about what things bothered him and ways they could potentially fix them. "We have the rest of this festival to get to know each other again. I want you to strip away any preconceived notions you have about me. I want to get to know each other not on a guild mate level but more on a friend level."

"So? Are you saying we should take this opportunity to date?"

Was that what he was saying? Gray took a moment to roll around the word in his head and compare it to his idea. "I guess there's no better term for it is there?" He tried to fight the half grin that lit his face but the term date seemed somewhat silly in that moment.

Gray decided soon after that he should probably go. They made plans for the following day to meet up at some of the food stalls near the park around lunch time. After Juvia shut the door behind him she ran up stairs nearly tripping in her hurry to get to her room.

Once in her sacred blue walls she pulled out a large trash bag from her closet. She had planned on throwing everything in it out but now she ripped a huge hole in the bottom. It didn't take her long to sift through the items to find it.

Juvia stood in the middle of a huge mess clutching a large stuffed Gray doll in her arms. "I guess I won't give you up just yet. But hopefully I will be replacing you with the real thing in the future." Then she noticed the mess she made and quickly began cleaning it up. Only shortly after making another mess when she realized she had to decide what she should wear tomorrow.

I do pre-apologize to the Jerza fans that are reading this.  But I will not be doing a NSFW chapter for them.  I don't hate the pairing at all.  In fact I support in wholeheartedly after the one episode that they almost kissed in.  But I have never really "understood" either character on a deeper level to be able to portray them properly and I would hate to disappoint anyone. :)