I've updated my other three main ongoing fanfics since I got home for spring break, so I suppose I could update this one now, too.

Allow me, then, to continue with the story of Jellal and his punishment in,

Those who Walk in the Light

(or alternatively)

Punishment,

Chapter 2.

Characters remain the property of Hiro Mashima, of course.

Enjoy!

Jellal didn't know how long he sat there, staring into the night and pondering his self-imposed punishment, before being jerked from his silent contemplation by the unexpected appearance of Meredy. She draped one of their threadbare blankets around his shoulders before settling next to him, her own blanket upon her shoulders, as she began to revive their campfire. In a few seconds, she had a decent flame, and she then poured water from her waterskin into the banged up pot they used for cooking. A few tea leaves were dropped into the pot, and it was dangling over the fire before Jellal had time to protest and tell her to get some sleep.

"You should really be sleeping," he finally said, after his original astonishment had worn off.

"No," she said stubbornly, though tiredness still laced her voice. She leaned her head against his shoulder then and echoed his thoughts in her own way, "Our rule is punishment…so I'm punishing myself."

Jellal sighed in exasperation, though he wore a slight grin that went unseen by the younger girl. "Why in all of Fiore do you need to punish yourself by sleep deprivation?"

It was a long time before she answered, but at length Meredy shocked him.

"I can't do anything to appease the suffering you feel, so my punishment is only to experience what you must go through with you. You can't sleep so therefore, neither can I."

Jellal was speechless for a few moments, then managed, "There is no need for that, Meredy. There's nothing you can do about it. It's part of my atonement, to suffer like this. I don't need your pity—as you can see, I've got enough of my own."

He achieved his goal when he heard her chuckle, and she leaned away from him to look him in the eye.

"I know that," she shoved him playfully. "But I can't help it. You're like…" here she paused, as if uncertain, then steeled herself for what she wanted to say, "you're like a lovesick puppy, Jellal. It's impossible to ignore it and impossible to not feel for you. You stick to the rule of punishment more firmly than Ultear and I ever believed you needed to."

"Well…punishment is the sole rule of Crime Sorcière," he tried, although he knew it wouldn't appease the younger woman.

As expected, she huffed, and then slowly started in on what he had expected would come next.

"I know you won't listen to me this time, because I've told you time and time again…but for your atonement, you could just ask. I'm inclined to believe that you have already done enough, and I'm sure much of Fairy Tail would agree."

He hated to cause her pain, but he simply couldn't do what she had suggested. He couldn't bear the thought that she was wrong, or the thought that Erza might hate him for all that he had done, even though their last few meetings had clearly indicated otherwise. Anything could happen, and people change. Jellal himself was a prime example of that. And then there had been Ultear, who had changed even more than Meredy and Jellal…for she was the reason they had both turned out as they were, though both were truly kindhearted. And when her misunderstanding of the past had been swept away, she too proved to be just as kindhearted as any he had ever known.

Yes…he knew all too well how people could change.

"Don't just sit there brooding!" Meredy's reproach broke through his thoughts, and he brought his thoughts back to the present. "Jellal, you can't keep living like this."

"I appreciate your concern, Meredy…but I can't live in any other way. You know how I feel on this subject, because we've gone over it time and time again. There is no other way."

"There has to be," she stubbornly insisted, "there has to. And you just won't look for it because you're too afraid of what you'll find! You're afraid that the punishment you're clinging to is really unnecessary after all, and you're afraid of losing the one thing that keeps you away from her more than anything. You're afraid that you're too old for her, even though I've heard you tell someone we've helped that age is just a number, when their difference was twelve years, not seven. You're just…afraid."

He chuckled dryly, trying not to let her see how much her arguments affected him. They were the same arguments every time, but each time he felt the force of her conviction acutely. But, as with each time before, he had to say something, so to follow up his chuckle he said, "I think we're both afraid of finding out what comes after our punishment."

This made her start, and she looked away, somewhat ashamed. Jellal knew his comment would strike her especially because she had yet to fully understand what she needed to atone for. She had been almost raised by Ultear, and brought up on her cruel ways. She had acted just as she'd learned, but knew all the while she was doing wrong. And she had done so much to atone that he was certain her atonement had already ended. But even if he said it, she wouldn't believe him, just as he wouldn't believe her. They were similar that way. But after some thought, he knew Meredy would be back to normal and, though he didn't want to wound her, he felt relief knowing that she wouldn't feel it so strongly for very long.

Maybe it was true, though. Maybe they were both just afraid of what came after they had atoned. Life as they knew would change, and Jellal wasn't ready for that. He'd spent a while in jail, thinking she might detest him for refusing Fairy Tail's help, then seven years, part of it in jail and part of it out, despairing that she was dead and finding new purpose in atoning for his sins. And for the last year and a half, he had been filled with a relief that she was alive, and a burning desire to always be at her side. He had been held back, however, by his decision that he could not taint her with his darkness, because she belonged to the light.

It was his punishment, and he clung to it like a lifeline.

"We're a couple of fools, Jellal," Meredy finally spoke again as the tea came to a boil. "We do whatever we can to tell ourselves that we will never be done atoning for our past mistakes—and in some ways, there is no route to atonement—and we refuse to let go of that belief." She watched the bubbles rise in the pot. "We're a couple of fools in a world full of them, but we may be the biggest of them all."

Jellal couldn't help but chuckle, and softly, he agreed with her in a low, gentle voice.

At least now it had been firmly settled that they were both foolish and stubborn.

In his mind, though, he would never give up the thought that she had far less to atone for than he had, and in hers the thought that he just needed to ask Fairy Tail what they thought it would take would always be prominent.

They were a pair of fools in a foolish world, indeed, Jellal mused, for who else would voluntarily submit themselves to such pain? It was rather masochistic of them, but somehow, it suited them.

As the sun began to rise, light filtering through the trees, Meredy pronounced the tea ready and switched the tea pot out for a pot that had been on the edge of the fire, kept warm, since dinner the night before, and went to reheating their leftovers for breakfast.

And so another day dawned on Crime Sorcière.

Another day of punishment awaited, and they would have to venture into the nearby town to replenish their supplies, hopefully without being recognized as fugitives from the law of the Council.

PLEASE READ THIS NOTE.

This is NOT my priority story at the moment as it is the most recent of all of them, and therefore chapters will be shorter and most likely take longer, as the greater part of my attention and time will be focused on the other three. As I have stated in the most recent chapter in the three stories I have updated over this Spring break so far, I am currently buried by schoolwork and any updates may take upwards of a few months. I have taken on more than I should have and free time to write or use for my own amusement is suffering greatly.

I ask you to be patient, and do NOT beg for updates or ask me to update soon, especially when I have expressly asked you to read this note on how updates will be delayed.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have enjoyed this update!