Hiro Mashima is the genius behind Fairy Tail, not me. However, I am going to try to keep in line with the series as best as I can. I've always hated the fact that Jellal was thrown in prison for something he had been manipulated into doing, with no way to make amends. So this is basically a "what if" type of story. Suppose, just suppose, Erza kept Jellal from going to prison with the Oracion Seis: How would things turn out, and what will the consequences be? Please enjoy, and feel free to provide constructive criticism as we go along, though I'd prefer to read necessary corrections via PMs, rather than the reviews section.

-+FT+-

This isn't right, was the mantra running through Erza's mind, as she watched the guard escorting Jellal to the carriage. He, along with the Oracion Seis, were being taken to prison for their respective crimes. She was either unaware or uncaring that Natsu was on the verge of throwing a fiery fit, and she had no interest in that Kotobuki oddball's circumstance of nearly wetting himself. Watching her childhood friend being marched away like cattle hurt beyond expression. He was guilty of trying to revive the R-System, and taking Simon's life in the process, of course. But he hadn't truly been in control at the time—he had been honest about that, at least, before Erza realized she had been tricked.

Suddenly, almost as if she could sense an impending fight, she recalled a conversation that she and the others had had with one of the former members of the Magic Council. It was a brief flashback, certainly, but it gave her an idea. Maybe…

"He didn't do it."

Everyone, including the guards, turned to look at her. Lahar stared at her in shock, then suspicion. "I beg your pardon?"

"I know for an absolute fact that Jellal had nothing to do with what he is accused of. First, I have it on very reliable authority that Siegrain disappeared shortly before Ultear caused the Council Hall to collapse. From what I know about thought projection magic, it takes a minimum of ten years to master it, but twenty or more for it to reach great distances, such as between the Tower and the Hall. And that is regardless of how powerful a mage's abilities are. So Jellal wouldn't have been able to learn such a skill within seven years, during which he and I had been separated from each other.

"Another problem is that my team and I were at the Tower the day the etherion cannon was fired. I confronted Jellal about Ultear and Siegrain, but he had no brother, and only met Ultear on a couple of occasions. We figured that's how she came up with the 'twin brothers' routine. Once he realized what was happening, he helped Natsu and I to destroy a majority of the Tower. Unfortunately, though, the structure became unstable, and he lost his memory when trying to stop the etherion by fusing himself with it. And today, he attempted to destroy Nirvana and aided these light guilds in defeating the Oracion Seis. If you truly doubt his innocence, at least allow him freedom based on his actions today. I personally will accept responsibility for his actions, should he do anything deliberately harmful."

Erza knew there was a chance the guards would take Jellal anyway, as they were more of a group of control freaks than anything else. But she felt she had to try and stop them, in the least violent way possible. She could tell that Jellal was watching her standing up for him, and was trying to keep his face as blank as his memories were at the moment.

Needless to say, Lahar was still suspicious of Erza's claims, and the look on his face showed it. However, the custody reinforcement unit did not have a valid warrant to arrest Jellal, since the Council believed him dead, and the sole reason they were there at all was for the Oracion Seis. If the coalition of guilds before him found out that he was acting out of his own volition, Lahar knew that they would report him. He would most likely lose his job due to insubordination. The Council might not have agreed with the actions of the guild representatives standing before him, and they certainly were in no way friends of Fairy Tail. However, they had to hand it to most of the light guilds for their integrity. Gritting his teeth for a moment, he gave his order.

"Release him."

"But sir!" One of the soldiers began.

The disgruntled leader snapped back at the man. "Right now! Do you want to get fired?" Lahar was now face to face with an unchained Jellal, who silently stood there. The former man remained stiff as he addressed the other. "If I ever, ever hear you've created trouble, you and whatever guild you're a part of will fall—be sure of that!" After seeing the other's acceptance of his demand, he turned to Erza, and continued. "And as you've asked, you're in charge of him. One misstep on his part, and you'll go to prison as well, as his accomplice." With that, the livid Lahar marched away, taking the custody reinforcement unit with him.

The group gave a collective sigh of relief once the soldiers were out of sight. The first to speak was, of course, Natsu.

"Aw, come on, Erza! Why did you do that? I was going to get a good workout!" He pouted.

Her quiet yet firm response stopped any comment he might have further added to his argument. "Enough, Natsu. What's done is done; let it be. For now, let's get some rest, so we can go home in the morning." Erza felt little guilt, in spite of lying to the soldiers, and just as little fear.

Kotobuki had already made a dash for the woods the second the spell that trapped the group broke, and barely avoided humiliating himself. He now returned in time to hear Erza's declaration. "Indeed you are right, my beautiful Scarlet. The sooner we go to sleep, the sooner we shall smell the wonderful parfum of the dawn rising to greet us—man!"

Erza's eyebrow ticked at the man's obvious statement. She didn't know how much more she could take from him. Thankfully, a yawn from Lucy helped her refocus. "We'll break camp at sunrise and escort Wendy back to Cait Shelter, before heading home. Everyone needs to go to bed as soon as possible and sleep well." It was then that she noticed Jellal leaving their company, as silent as he could. That could only mean one thing, she surmised; he was planning to turn himself in. Not willing to allow him to do so, Erza Scarlet followed Jellal Fernandez away from the campsite.

-+FT+-

The confused mage didn't know where he was heading, only that he needed to collect his thoughts. If he had caused such calamity as Erza had told him, then why did she proclaim his innocence to those soldiers? Jellal found it hard to wrap his mind around all the events of the day, and it was even more difficult to understand what was going on in the beautiful red-haired mage's mind. He had half a mind to run after the guards and turn himself in, as an effort to alleviate some of his guilt. However, the desire to be near Erza overruled that idea. Perhaps she had sought to allow him the freedom to redeem himself. From what little he knew of her, it would be just like Erza to do so. Thinking it over fondly, he chuckled.

He stopped at an overlook not far from the camp and sat down, observing the lovely scene below him. There was someone following him, but it didn't really alarm him. He figured it was most likely Erza. It didn't take long to confirm his suspicions, as she stepped out of the brush he himself had just walked through.

"You lied to them," he stated. There was no anger in his voice, but worry did leak through a little.

The requip mage simply sat down next to him. "I didn't see any real point in letting them take you. Besides, I don't believe in imprisoning someone who was being controlled, especially when they're freed from their captor. There's a time and place for it, but this was neither."

Jellal let a small smile adorn his face. "Thank you, Erza—I owe you a lot."

"You owe me nothing, Jellal; but you're welcome, anyway. I must admit, though, I'm not certain I'll be capable of trusting you again for quite a while." Seeing that he was hurt by this, she continued. "I know that your memories being lost means a clean slate for you, but mine are forever embedded. It hurts so much, because I want to trust you like I did when we were kids. Please allow me time to heal again."

The star-based wizard, though he was still saddened by her statement, nodded in acceptance. "I will, Erza." It was then, when their gazes met, that he had a short flash of memory hit him, stealing his breath away.

"Hey, why not call you 'Scarlet'?"

"I remember…it's the color of your hair."

Erza's head jerked up when he said that.

"At least, I remember that much," he clarified.

A couple of tears streaked down her face, knowing her dear friend was beginning to heal.

-+FT+-

The group watched as Wendy's guild faded away before their very eyes, the child pleading with those in the "village" not to leave her. They tried to comfort her afterwards, but it only hurt her more. Jellal watched in silence as Lucy calmly tried to convince Wendy to join Fairy Tail, which was more like a family than a guild to its members. That was when he himself stepped forward. He kneeled down to her level as he addressed the girl.

"You know, you wouldn't be the only one joining. I'm sure Carla would love it, too, and once all three of us get the hang of it, we'll have the most amazing team the guild has ever seen. What do you say?"

Wendy said not a word; launching herself into his arms did all the talking for her, as she cried into his jacket.