Chapter 1: The Secret


"Well," Mavis and Zeref pushed for the fifteenth time.

"Well what?" Natsu asked, even though he knew the answer.

He was too exhausted to argue with the couple, having multiple sleepless nights. He was never given a break with them (and he wasn't talking about his brother and his wife Mavis). They must have gotten it from Natsu since their father was one of the calmest people you would ever meet. He was ready to fall asleep standing up. It wasn't until his brother kicked him that he realized he had fallen asleep. Screw being a S class wizard and SS class jobs. This job was ten times harder.

The pink haired mage looked down at the little matching pink haired toddlers in their separate cribs, peacefully sleeping under their blankets with their initials stitched onto it (a gift from Mavis; one of many). At least some of them were getting some rest. The circles under Natsu's eyes were dark enough to rival Gray's hair. At least the twins were potty trained so that gave him some form of ease be but nighttime was still often a problem. You would think after almost two years they would be better, but they still kept him up more often than not. Something the two got from him, definitely not from their father. And speaking of him...

"Well, are you going to tell him or not? This is the first time you've seen him since, ya know..." Mavis tilted her head in the toddlers direction.

The emerald eyed male shrugged his shoulders in response. "Maybe."

"Maybe? Maybe! He needs to know Natsu!" The no longer dead first master said loudly while her husband silently nodded in agreement.

The three adults looked over to see the toddlers blinking, their big cobalt blue eyes slowly opening. The female blinked a couple of times before giggling and putting her arms out. "Mama!" Natsu scooped her up and sighed, sending both of his siblings –both blood related and non– an icy glare.

"The zombies woke you up, huh?" He said to the almost two year old child as he rubbed her back soothingly, swaying from side to side in hope that she would fall back asleep.

Instead of closing her eyes, she giggled and pointed at the blonde. "Hi Aunnie Mae! Hi Unnel Zee!"

No such luck then. Zeref shot him a glare for the nickname he gave the no longer cursed "dead" mages before sighing. "Think about Crys and Nix. They deserves to know who their father is."

"Papa?" The toddler's male counterpart piped, now fully awake as well.

"They have a father." was the simply reply.

The blonde put her hands on her hips. "You know what I meant. I meant their actual father. Not you, who's technically their mother."

He just shrugged. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell Crystal and Phoenix's other parent about them. Who knew what he would do? He didn't even know about who Natsu really was and the fire mage didn't know if he wanted to see his ex's reaction. He would most likely yell at him or be disgusted with him or pretend they didn't exist. And God forbid, try to take vengeance and attempt to kill him. Natsu unconsciously picked up his son and held the twins closer. No one would separate him from his children. He refused for that to happen.

"He would never harm you." Zeref read his baby brother's mind. "He's not blinded and consumed by his anger and hatred"

"...anymore." Mavis added, knowing that he used to be hell bent on destroying everything associated with the black wizard, including and especially, E.N.D.

Not to mention the black wizard himself. But the ice mage was not an idiot. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance with the powerful mage so he turned his attention to the demons until after the war and it was announced that Natsu was killed along with the demon E.N.D (something not that far from the truth). Of course no one believed him. He was Zeref after all. The face of all evil and the creator of E.N.D, hence the indirect cause for Natsu's "death." And the guild –as expected– went batshit crazy with everyone, especially Team Natsu, attacking the black wizard. Erza had requipped into her nakagami armor in less than a second along with Lucy, who had been ready in her star dress: Leo form, with Loke next to her and ready to pounce. Wendy was already in dragon force and Gray had let all of his devil slayer magic out, the tattoo spreading across his entire right side until he ended up in the same form he was in when at the Avatar guild. The four –five including Loke– had all attacked simultaneously and that first single attack would have killed anyone else, even Mavis herself, but it was Zeref so while harm was definitely done, he had self healed seconds later; something that had pissed Team Natsu off. At least the black wizard had the sense to stay down.

Gray had been the last one to keep beating him, his stamina outdoing Erza's; not that it was a shock seeing as how he was Natsu's mate. His supposed "death" had broken the ice devil slayer. Neither Zeref nor Mavis told the fire mage that tidbit. They knew that he would go into an automatic depression knowing that he was the source of his mates despair. That was why they had made sure to keep the now twenty three year old as far away from the Fairy Tail guild as possible. The greater the distance before mates, the easier it was to not feel the others emotion through their bond. The two had only been mates for a short while –although they had feelings for another for a much longer time than that– so Gray didn't know exactly how the process worked and that he would be able to tell if Natsu, was indeed, dead. It wasn't until Mavis confirmed it that they all believed her. It took over two years until the black wizard was accepted into Fairy Tail, and he was still more or less a loner save for Mavis of course (the guild wasn't exactly ecstatic about the two's relationship), Gildarts (only due to the fact that he had helped Natsu escape at the time when he was pregnant with the twins and was like a father figure to him up until his godchildren were one years old. He didn't have a choice but to at least check in with the guild and give them any information he found out about him), and Happy (since he knew the truth and his best buddy had accepted Zeref only because Natsu did).

It wasn't easy to break Ankhseram's curse and both Mavis and Zeref had almost died during the process, but between the combined power that was unlocked when he went into his E.N.D form and Fairy Heart, it had been cured, a true miracle. At first the fire mage was adverse to the idea of having anything to do with Zeref, but Mavis had persuaded him to give the dark haired mage a chance. He was Natsu's only blood related family left and he would regret it later on in the future if he didn't give him a chance.

So with extreme reluctance, the fire dragonslayer got to know his brother and they had managed to form a brotherly bond within the past couple of years. Afterwards, the black wizard had to be convinced that he wasn't a complete monster and that it would be difficult to not give up on humanity with everything that he had seen. It didn't excuse his attempt at a complete human genocide but with another outlook shown by Natsu and some persuasion, he had started to use his power for good.

If he didn't do it for himself than he could at least attempt to make a change for his baby brother; it was the least he could do after resurrecting him as the ultimate demon (something no else save for Gildarts and obviously Mavis knew) and tying their lives together. After a while Zeref didn't need to be convinced anymore and started to do good on his own. It was hard to not become a better person with Natsu. He brought out the best of everyone.

"And he's a lot nicer and less icy, still a little sad and upset at times, but he's gotten much better and has almost made a full recovery." Mavis lied through her teeth.

When the two saw that Natsu wasn't going to give them a response they slowly shook their heads in exasperation. "Just think about it."

"Hn," he grunted as he watched her leave his children's room in his small one bedroom and one bathroom loft, since his old cabin had been destroyed a year after his "death". Apparently, the reminder was too hard for the others. No matter how much the three older adults wanted to help financially, the pink haired male refused. It wasn't as if it was too expensive. It was a perfect location, far on the outskirts of town, making it cheaper at only 35,000 jewels.

While Natsu had been on the run he had done some training in his –very little– free time with all three adults when they were available and had learned some things, such as simple imitation magic that he would use for whenever he went into any towns to gain money with small jobs and to leave in and out without suspicion rising. Zeref had also taught him how to cover his scent so that no dragon slayers would be able to detect neither his scent nor his voice. That had also went for any and every person he made contact with. Gildarts had finally given in and fought Natsu full out, mainly due to his E.N.D powers being acquired. Zeref had destroyed his book once he was cured since he would no longer need it for Natsu to be safe. However, it did not change the fact that he was still an Etherious who had not only dangerously strong magic but also had the ability to use curses as well, both that needed to be controlled. Mavis had wanted to kill her husband when she saw the amount of magic power he had given his brother. It was almost unlimited like Fairy Heart; which was why he was on the run from him (well one of the reasons). He was seen as a threat and needed to be eliminated.

Since Gildarts had a vast amount of destructive magic along with Mavis whose magic power was unlimited, they had taught him well. So while he had been taught by the very best, he had still had a form that needed to be contained. He couldn't exactly walk around with red scales covering the top half of his face and running down his outer arm with claw like hands and black wings to match the intricate markings that started right below his facial scales that ran down the right side of his face and neck. As much as it was a nuisance at times, he preferred his hair salmon instead of blood red with black streaks. His emerald eyes were appreciated more than the pitch black and amber ones that flashed red. And the horns were definitely a head turner, but not in the good way. He could usually keep his form under control. The only time it ever appeared was whenever he sensed a threat to his children.

Surprisingly, the children weren't bothered in the least. Everyone came to the conclusion that even though the form was terrifying, the twins knew deep down that it was still their mother and he was protecting them. It was a draconic instinct that they seemed have to been born with, something that disturbed Natsu to his core. He had been the same way and he knew why now. It made perfect sense, but he still didn't want to believe it.

Natsu looked down at the almost two year olds raise their noses to sniff the air before their eyes widened and they exclaimed simultaneously "Happy!"

Sure enough, no more than five seconds later, the blue cat flew into the twins room. It was things like that that scared the fire mage. They had draconic senses but were never taught magic of any kind. They definitely had the reserves. Their father and his father were and are both incredibly strong devil slayers and their mother was a mage with three different powers: dragonslayer magic, Etherious curses, and his unique combination of both fused with black magic. Not to mention their uncle was the strongest wizard ever and his other family member…. well he wouldn't go into that. He's the reason Natsu is running and the reason he has refused to teach his children dragonslayer magic.

"Hey Nix. Hey Crys." The exceed yawned as he flew into the only closed off room, aside from the bathroom.

They looked up to the cat like a big brother. He tried the uncle card but it wasn't the same. They couldn't take him seriously enough for that. He slept on the recliner while Natsu took the fold out couch. The only reason the pink haired could even afford this place (aside from the location) was because Mavis and Zeref paid for the down payment when he returned to Magnolia after being away for those years (not that he had a choice). He was eternally grateful for everything his brother and sister and law had done the past two months of his return.

The only reason he had even returned was due to hearing of the current master's condition. He was sick and although it wasn't serious and Porlyusica said he would be fine, the man was still old and the fire mage would never forgive himself if he didn't see gramps again. He was here for that and other reasons. Natsu was already upset, feeling guilty that Crystal and Phoenix had never met the rest of their "family." He felt even guiltier that his family thought he was dead. Happy had to feign sadness everytime he came to the guild to "check in" seeing as how he had joined Gildarts and disappeared for months on end (the longest being a little over a year). Zeref and Mavis both had pretended to go on long missions; when really the blonde had been acting as the fire mages midwife. Thankfully, they had given he and Gildarts those new cellphone lacrimas to contact them. At first the crash mage didn't care for it and therefore had no idea how to work it, but he learned quickly when Natsu had to go to the hospital to give birth to the twins. They had used a henge on Natsu and the babies.

It was quite amusing to see the big bad strong mage running around frantically. It had been a distraction for Natsu's pain at the time. After the years gone, he was back for who knew how long. He had saved up money that would be used for the next six months of his rent and necessities for the twins. The one thing he hated most (aside from being away from family and friends during his entire life with the twins) was his never having Igneel meet his grandchildren. He would on occasion return to their cave at times when he missed him and it was the first place he took his kids after they were born. Of course it wasn't the same as when he lived there; however, the twins had still taken a liking to his old home. But the cave had its downsides. It had originally saddened him as a reminder that he only had one immediate family member left. But at least he wasn't alone.

Besides, Natsu had a new family, even if it was a little broken. It wasn't like he could go up to the guild and ask if anyone wanted to help him build a new place to live in. It had been over two and a half years since they had spoken and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of their wrath (particularly Erza's) when they found out the truth, despite their willingness to want to help. They would train ten times harder and attempt to protect all three of them, and Natsu couldn't bring himself to put them in any more danger than he was already in.

The idea of his nakama –of Gray– getting hurt because of him was too much to bear. The fire mage shook his head to clear his thoughts before looking down to give the twins a soft smile reserved for them only. He didn't need to think about the ice mage and his deep blue eyes. He was a part of an old chapter of Natsu's life. His new little blue eyed bundles of joy was the new chapter and the only one he would focus on. They were his number one priority. After taking the twins to bed and singing them both a lullaby, he gave a relieved sigh when they had fallen asleep. He gave each a soft kiss to their forehead before placing them in their respective cribs again. The pink haired male checked to make sure the baby monitor was on before leaving out, only to see the couple still in his apartment, only this time Mavis had made herself comfortable on one of the plastic stools at the small round four seater plastic table next to the one-wall kitchen. Natsu could hear that Zeref had left out, most likely to take care of things pertaining to the guild.

"Don't you have a certain husband to get back to? Black hair? Matching black eyes? Very moody personality? Overly confident in his powers? Yet very socially inept? And somehow the brother that I've come to actually like?" The pink haired mage said sarcastically.

Mavis didn't bother to bristle at the insult since it was a joke. Instead she sighed and shook her head, knowing that there was no getting through to the stubborn male.

"Just think about it. He deserves a chance." The fire mage shrugged and avoided her eyes.

The blonde made her way to the front door. "He will find out one way or another so at least put yourself in his shoes. How would you feel if you found out through a stranger that the love of your life who you thought was dead was indeed alive and raising your two beautiful children you knew nothing about without him?" With that she left out, leaving the parent to sit and percolate.

Dammit. He thought. Why does she have to be right?