I have a major soft spot for this pairing, and I really, really want to make this a long fic. But we'll... see. It was a fun au to work with, but there's so much else I've got going that it will probably be shelved indefinitely. So for now it remains a oneshot.

Oathbreaker.

Lucy had heard the tales, just like everyone else in the village. And just like the rest, she'd paid the appropriate amount of public shock and disdain for the king that had run from his duty, leaving his brothers to squabble over the throne in his place. In private, she'd been more or less disinterested in the whole affair. It didn't matter much to the peasantry who was in charge. The landowners and the nobles would still treat them like garbage all while using the tax money they'd bled from the people to buy themselves fancy clothes and exorbitant jewelry. That one of them had fled from such a life was incomprehensible to most.

She had never imagined that she would ever meet the man. Let alone that he would turn out to be her quiet neighbor, who always kept to himself and was unfailingly polite to her.

Actually, now that she thought about it, that part should have tipped her off. If there was one thing Lucy had come to expect of men, it was that they always leered the second her chest swung into view.

But that hardly mattered, now. Her village was gone – burned to the ground. Her parents' graves hidden beneath the rubble and soot. There was nothing left there for her.

All because of the man standing before her, the royal crest that was proof of his identity etched into his face. All because of the men that had come looking for him, and when they hadn't succeeded, they'd burned everything. Because they could.

Mystogan… no, Jellal Faust, stared pleadingly at her. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Lucy had heard many lies over the years. From her parents, trying to protect her. From lecherous men, trying to trick her.

But Mystogan's words weren't lies. She could tell instantly just how sincere they were.

So she swallowed thickly, and wiped her eyes with her dirty forearm. When she had composed herself, she met his gaze head on, with determination. "Then you should fix things," she told him, stern. "Fix them, so that this never happens to anyone else."

The man stared at her for a long moment, before he bowed his head. "I swear to you: I will keep that promise."

"Then I'm coming with you."

His head snapped up, eyes wide with alarm. "You can't… that's foolishness! What if… I think I've already proved that I can't protect people, yet. It's too dangerous."

Lucy's jaw was set, her eyes fierce. She offered him a smile, but there was no joy in it, only the steel of her resolve. "If you think I'm going to trust someone called Oathbreaker to keep a promise, you've got another thing coming. I'm coming with you to make sure you don't stray from your path again. Are we clear?"

Mystogan stared at her, dumbfounded. And then a genuine smile spread across his face. "…Thank you," he said, and the emotion behind the words nearly broke Lucy's heart.

"Don't thank me yet," she informed him. "I've been told that I'm tough company."

He laughed lightly. "I think I can deal with that."

Despite the circumstances, Lucy thought that this was the start of something amazing. An adventure the likes of which she'd always dreamed.