Mavis loved Magnolia's town park.
She would sit on her favorite bench and listen to all the kids playing on the playground. Laughing and happy.
She loved seeing their joy.
One day, she stopped in the park with her book on the way home from her part time job at Fairy Tail cafe. Sitting on her favorite bench, she tucked her (very) long blonde hair behind her ear and started to read.
Only to look up when she heard someone crying.
Glancing around, Mavis saw the source of the tears.
It was a little boy, no more than seven years old, with salmon pink hair and black eyes full of tears.
Mavis stood up from her place on the bench and walked over, intending to help him. She always liked to help others, her heart too full of kindness for her not to.
Kneeling down in front of the crying boy, she smiled gently and spoke to him.
"Hi there. Is something wrong?"
The boy sniffed and used his sleeve to wipe away his tears. "No talking to strangers. That's what Zeref says." His eyes widen. "Oh no, I talked to a stranger. I'm not supposed to."
Mavis nodded her head. Whoever this "Zeref" was had taught this boy to be safe around strangers.
But she couldn't help him if he wouldn't talk to her.
Mavis says to the boy. "That's good advice. You're very smart to listen to it."
The boy smiles when he hears this.
Mavis continues talking. "My name's Mavis. Now you know my name, so I'm less of a stranger."
The boy nods his head, this probably makes sense to him.
Mavis asks him once again. "What's wrong?"
The boy looks sad again. "I'm lost."
"Who are you looking for?" Mavis asks him.
"My brother Zeref." The boy says, looking up at Mavis.
So, Zeref's his brother. Mavis thinks to herself.
She stands up and, after brushing off her skirt, offers her hand to the boy. "I'll help you find him." She says cheerfully.
The boy smiles and takes her hand. The two of them start walking around the park in search of his brother.
"What does Zeref look like?" Mavis asked after searching for a while. Knowing what he looked like would help the little boy find his brother.
The boy's face looked like he was thinking of the best possible description of his brother when he saw something on the other side of the playground.
"I saw Zeref." He says while pulling Mavis's hand. "Let's go."
"Alright." Mavis laughs as the enthusiastic little boy pulls her along.
Mavis was expecting to see an older version of the little boy when they found his brother. Not a tall boy with raven black hair and deep black eyes.
Mavis felt her cheeks heating up as she and the boy walked over to his brother.
A few feet away from him, the boy broke away and ran to his brother. "Zeref!" he called excitedly.
Zeref dropped his cell phone away from his ear and immediately scooped the small boy into his arms. He said to the boy. "I was so worried about you Natsu. What happened?"
So, his name's Natsu. Mavis thinks to herself as Natsu explains that he and his friend Gray had gotten into a race and ran too far.
She's snapped back to the present when Natsu says, "But miss Mavis helped me find you."
Zeref looks at her and she waves at him, praying that she's not blushing too loudly.
Looking back at him, Mavis sees that he's blushing two. Just, less noticeable than her.
"Thank you for helping Natsu." He says, glancing away.
"It was nothing." Mavis replies, waving her hands in front of her face.
Natsu blurts in, "Can Mavis come for ice cream with us?"
Both teens glance at the small boy. He looks up at his brother and says again. "Can she?"
Zeref and Mavis glance at each other again and blush even deeper.
Zeref clears his throat. "Natsu and I were going to get ice cream. Do you want to come?"
Mavis thinks of the plans she made with her friends Zera and Rita. The three of them were going to the movies later and then having a sleepover.
Mavis smiles at the two brothers. "I've got nothing planned."