A/N: Day 4 already? WAHH! I need to pick up the pace on these one-shots, I still have about three more to write *panics!*.

Enjoy more fluff :)

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Day 4: Serenity

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Thunder rumbled outside and rain beat against the windows in heavy sheets. The lamp on an oaken desk burned brightly as a ten-year-old Zeref sat, practically buried in a sea of papers. He had so much he needed to and wanted to get done for school that he lost track of time and was working well into the night. Another clap of thunder shook the house, accompanying the multiple bright flashes of lightning.

That's quite a storm. Zeref noted, I hope Natsu's able to sleep through it.

Zeref's seven-year-old brother, Natsu has a paralysing fear of thunder and lightning, but at the same time he's the heaviest sleeper Zeref's ever known. Natsu even puts their father to shame with how much he can sleep through. But there was the rare occasion that Natsu didn't sleep through the storm.

This was one of those nights.

The door to the study creaked open, the draft making the fire in the fireplace flicker ominously. Zeref stopped writing and faced the door. Peaking out from behind the door was a head of sakura pink hair.

"O-Onii-chan?" Natsu squeaked.

"Yes Natsu?"

"C-Can I come in?"

Zeref was about to reply when a loud boom of thunder cut his off. The room rattled violently and some of his papers slid off the desk. Natsu screeched in terror and even Zeref jumped. Natsu didn't wait for his older brother's answer and ran into the room out of fear and hid under the desk, throwing his arms over his head.

If it had been anyone else, Zeref would most likely ignore such a sight, but Natsu was a different story. Zeref slid out of his chair and ducked his head under the desk.

"Natsu?" he asked softly.

"Onii-chan? Why is it so scary? Why is the thunder so scary?"

Zeref pondered for a moment. Truth be told, he didn't understand why the thunder was so scary to Natsu, but Natsu did need to know it's okay.

"The thunder is Ankhseram. He gets angry sometimes and when he does, he stomps around and throws a big tantrum."

"I-Is Ankhseram angry with me?" Natsu whimpered.

Zeref's eyes widened, noticing his mistake. "No. No of course he's not angry at you. Ankhseram just has outbursts occasionally. Like you do."

Natsu removed his hands from his head and crossed them over his chest.

"I do not have outbursts." he huffed.

Thunder crashed again overhead and Natsu threw his head again, eyes screwed tightly shut in fright.

"I can't sleep through this!" the boy whimpered, "It's too loud and scary!"

Zeref wanted to help Natsu sleep, but he did have work to get done. The two sides of him were fighting each other over this decision. His studious side told him to continue his work and let Natsu calm down on his own. He'd drift to sleep eventually and he needed to learn how to deal with his fears. Not that Zeref didn't mind helping him, but Natsu needed to grow up to be able to face it alone because Zeref wasn't always going to be there to comfort him when a thunder storm hits. But his brotherly side told him to help Natsu sleep through the storm. The work could wait. It's not like it was going anywhere and he was about a week ahead of the curve and Zeref had a pit of doubt in his stomach that Natsu wouldn't be able to sleep through this storm.

And thus, his brotherly side won.

Zeref smiled softly. "How about we read that story you like? The one with the wizards? Maybe it can help you get to sleep."

The seven-year-old's face brightened and he came out from under the desk. Zeref pulled the thick leather bound book off the shelf and sat down on the rug before the fireplace with Natsu and opened the well-worn novel.

It was a long tale about a group of wizards who went on never-ending adventures. A man who had a habit of striping and power over ice, a woman with hair red as a sunset and the unique ability to change her weapons and clothes, another woman who could bring the stars to earth, and the last one was a man with the strength and power of a dragon. He was Natsu's favorite character.

The storm raging overhead faded into nothing but background noise, overshadowed by the amazing adventures the wizards had. From a cursed flute that could kill people by the droves to a frozen demon on a cursed island to a guild seeped in jealousy and blood-lust to a tower in the middle of the ocean with the power to raise the dead.

The wizards came home to a festival that took a frightening turn. They joined forces with other wizards to defeat a dark guild and their scheme to use an ancient magic to destroy the world. They gained a new friend and travelled to a foreign dimension where magic was lacking.

With each new story, they became more and more absorbed by the webbing of words. Zeref even almost stopped reading a few times because he wanted to keep going himself. The adventures went on and the brothers were so captivated by the intricate story to notice that they had drifted into a peaceful sleep together before the fireplace with the storm raging overhead nothing more than a distant thought.

A/N: Fluff, fluff, fluffity fluff. Bet you guys caught that the story they were reading was a parallel to the manga :)

Gahh! I love writing these two as brothers who aren't trying to kill each other. It almost makes my heart as happy as when I write my NaLu fanfic :)

Hope you enjoyed the fluff chapters because now it's going to get dark, so brace yourselves and I'm sorry ahead of time because I know you all are going to want to kill me after the next chapter.

Next chapter:

Sacrifice