This is something I shouldn't be doing. I really shouldn't be starting something else.

Allow me to my newest attempt at Fairy Tail fanfiction…

Those who Walk in the Light

Or, alternatively,

Punishment.

Characters are of course (c) of Hiro Mashima.

I hope you enjoy.

"Who was the mastermind behind this…botched escape?" the guard asked petulantly. "I'll only hold that person accountable. The rest of you will just get off with a slap on the wrist." He chuckled, and almost more to himself than to the children, he asked, "Am I benevolent or what?"

The six children cowered slightly, but one of the two girls, the older, redheaded one, opened her mouth and started to stutter, "I…"

"It was me," the blue-haired child said boldly, standing in front of the other kids. He didn't show any fear at all, and no one had heard the squeaky beginnings of the girl's false confession. "I planned it all and just told them what to do."

He felt proud of himself. He was scared, but he didn't show it. All he really wanted to do was protect all of his friends…in whatever way he could. They were the only family he had left in the world, and he wouldn't risk anything happening to them. These people could torture him if they liked, kill him, beat him—he didn't care as long as the others were safe.

But then the guard grinned, and said, "It was the girl, wasn't it?" and despite the blue-haired boy's protests that it wasn't Erza's plan at all, the burly men grabbed the redhead and dragged her away, even as she smiled bravely at him even though she was trembling uncontrollably.

"Don't worry about me…I'll be fine…" she said, her voice shaking. "It's just like you said, Jellal…it's not scary at all!"

Before she was even out of his sight, all Jellal could think about was saving her. And this time, they would escape, because it would actually be his plan instead of Sho's. And before the footsteps of her captors faded away, the blue-haired boy was already planning how to save her. He knew where everything was, after all, and he knew that she was scared. That was all he needed to know.

But then…then…when he found her there, huddled on the floor. Relief flooded him, and even though he was handcuffed he rushed over to her, called to her, and then turned her over.

"How…how could they do such a thing? What did we do to deserve this?!"

Blood washed the entire right side of the small girl's face, and she opened her mouth to speak.

All he could see was the blood, and that grotesque, gaping hole where her eye used to be.

Jellal Fernandez awoke in a cold sweat, panting. It was the same dream he'd had ever since it had happened…but it had never been so vivid before. It was as if he was reliving that horror and the guilt all over again, and he didn't want that. Because when he thought about the guilt, he thought about the pain, and when he thought about the pain he thought about his punishment.

It was the rule of Crime Sorciére, after all. Punishment, that is.

There were many punishments possible for the likes of him—the man who had caused so many innocent people to suffer and die for years upon years. Even if he had been manipulated by Ultear, before her reformation, he still blamed himself. He didn't think any punishment could ever suffice as payment for what he had done. At least Ultear had, at last, found her way. And then she was gone. Almost as if she never was, she disappeared. But he remained, as did Meredy, to try in vain to atone for the crimes of their past.

So what punishment could possibly do for a man like him? What could he punish himself with that would be strong enough…?

He had decided long ago, had even said it in front of Meredy and Ultear and tried to keep a calm face while his heart was breaking. Jellal had never realized how hard it was to say their punishments aloud until that moment.

I cannot fall in love with those who walk in the light.

In other words…I cannot continue to love Erza Scarlet. Not after all that he had done to her, especially.

I only hope that Erza can be happy forever.

It was a foolish thing to have said, but his heart was breaking and he had to add something, anything, to let them know that he truly did love her even though he said he couldn't. Because he did—he always had. Jellal Fernandez had always loved Erza Scarlet, deep down inside where Ultear's influence had never reached…at least until the beginning of Crime Sorciére. It was something he couldn't entirely understand, and he didn't care to. It simply was, in the purest form. And he could never corrupt that.

She was the one who walked in the light—who had always walked in the light. Erza was the only one who had remained in the light…so in the light he would leave her, as untainted by his darkness as he could possibly keep her.

If any guild in the world could be blessed with a blissful, carefree life, he wished it for Fairy Tail, because they truly deserved it. Each and every member he'd come in contact with, beginning with Erza, was so very deserving of every happiness that could possibly be attained. So, day after day, he watched over the redhead and her friends from afar, wishing her happiness with every fiber of his being.

If anyone deserved true happiness, if it indeed existed, it was Fairy Tail.

But despite how he tried to help by staying away, the fact was that Fairy Tail could never be completely carefree and blissful and he could never fully protect her from afar like he so desperately desired. There was only so much he could do from a distance, and there was only so much help that a guild walking on the edges of the Council's sanity could accept from a man like him. But even so, there had been so many times that Fairy Tail had been tried, and whereas they had never yet failed he feared for them.

He feared for Erza.

Jellal couldn't decide whether he was acting like an overprotective father or a star-crossed lover, but either way he knew it would be hard for him to go on much longer in this manner. And yet he knew he must, for it was his punishment as a member of Crime Sorciére.

The blue-haired and tattooed man sat up, his sleeping bag slumping around his waist limply. The cool air of the night was cold on his bare and somewhat sweaty chest, but he cared not. Jellal Fernandez was lost in thought, in reminiscence, and couldn't be bothered with such a trifling matter as a little chill. It was the same every time his scarlet angel crossed his mind—which was more often than was entirely healthy, he was certain.

"Jellal?" a tired voice said from beyond the divider in the tent. Meredy's voice was congested with tiredness, and yet she still cared enough to call out to him. He must have woken her sometime in the throes of his nightmare, or with the rustle of him sitting up. She had been the lightest of sleepers since Ultear had atoned for her crimes.

"I'm stepping out for some air," he told her softly, "I'm all right. I'll be just outside, so go back to sleep."

She made a soft noise of assent and he heard her snuggle back into her sleeping bag. He pushed the tent flap aside and stepped barefoot onto the dirt, letting a cool breeze ruffle his already mussed hair. He hadn't realized how badly he'd been sweating in his sleep until then when the air hit him as it ghosted between the trees. His hair was soaked and all visible skin was still covered by a thin layer of sweat. And still, he cared little or not at all.

This, too, was a form of punishment.

But…what of his atonement? Erza had once said something akin to Crime Sorciére's aim of eliminating dark guilds being a method of atoning, but he had put it down. It was a noble effort, but it couldn't possibly serve as atonement for all that he'd done. Meredy, he felt, should be pardoned for her crimes with this, but for him it could never be enough. He was atoning for something that happened before Meredy had even begun her brief strain of crimes. Something that burned people far deeper than anything the younger girl had ever done.

The breeze was chilly on his sweaty skin, but he suffered in silence.

Sometimes Jellal thought that all he knew how to do anymore was suffer. And though he did it all in the name of atonement, he knew it was wrong. Deep down, Jellal Fernandez knew that he was being foolish, and that maybe he should succumb to Meredy's suggestion of atoning for crimes done to Erza and the others by asking them what it would take…but he stubbornly reminded himself that punishment was the rule of Crime Sorciére. The one rule he would follow even if it killed him.

He couldn't taint her…because she walked in the light more than anyone.

And here ends chapter one. I haven't fully decided which name to call this, but I gave you both. This chapter is a pilot, to gauge reactions and see if anyone else is interested in reading it.

Thank you for reading.