555draCdliW ereh htiw retpahc 41 fo dlihC fo ssenkraD. As you all read in the last chapter Zeref is back interrupting Natsu's confession to Lucy. How will both Fairy Tail mages respond to his return? Why don't you scroll on down to find out?

Looks at reviews. For the last chapter 43. Overall 304. Holly Fucking Shit. I never expected to see those kind of numbers, or get the grand total up that high so soon(honestly expecting #300 for this chapter with the average # of reviews for each chapter). All I can say is thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all the support you have all given this story and me. Kind of hard to believe I nearly gave up on, or adopted this story out to someone else during that three month hiatus between chapters 3 and 4(especially with how popular this story has become).

I Own Nothing.

Chapter 14.

Return.

"Is Lucy here?" Zeref asked again after the pinkette who looked beyond pissed to see him opened the door didn't answer him the first time.

"No she's not home." Natsu answered gritting his teeth as he restrained himself not wanting to worry Lucy about why he attacked whoever was at the door.

A look of disappointment spread across the black wizard's face. "Do you know when she'll be back?"

"No idea." Answering harshly as his scowl deepened.

'She's here.' He knew simply on how Natsu was acting. He also knew the longer the two spoke the more likely Lucy was to come see who's at the door. "Do you mind if I come in and wait for her to come home? I really need to talk to her."

"No you can't!" Wanting to slam the door in the mans face so bad, but knowing Lucy she'd be to kind hearted to not see who the person was to see if they were injured, or apologize for his behavior. Glancing back over his shoulder he saw the woman begin to stir the longer he stood at the door talking to whoever knocked on the door. 'I've got to get him to leave without Lucy seeing him.'

"Would you leave her a message saying Ceadra Talons is back in town looking for her?"

"No!"

"Why not?" Now starting to bet annoyed by the rude pink haired man's behavior towards him.

"Because Lucy doesn't want to…"

"Natsu who's at the door?" Lucy asked who was now halfway from the couch she was sitting on and the door.

Zeref let out a quick smirk in his victory, as Lucy would soon see him.

'Crap!' Natsu cursed in his head as he turned in attempt to tell her not to worry. To bad though for him in turning revealed the man at the door.

Lucy was taken back finally seeing the man who knocked on her door. "Ceadra!" The mere sight of him sent the poor girl into a mental confusion. Part of her angry as hell at him for leaving her. Another part of her happy to see him thinking that what Sylvia had told her earlier was right about him really caring about her. A third part of her unsure of whom she really loved between Ceadra and Natsu. Sure she had given herself to Ceadra, but after hearing few of Natsu's near confession to her only minutes ago did she begin to wonder if she loved him back the same way. Of course there were many more thoughts and emotions rushing through her head from his sudden appearance. So much so that she dropped to her knees from how emotionally draining the last couple hours of the day had been for her.

Natsu rushed to Lucy's side as she fell onto her knees. "Are you all right?" He asked only to get a confused look from her.

"Lucy." Zeref said finally seeing the woman he was looking for. Only needing a quick look he could see that the woman was pregnant putting on a look of shock. 'Good I just knew she'd keep it?' Zeref thought as he looked at what was his child growing inside the woman. Slowly he began to approach her.

"Stay back." Natsu warned after the man took one step towards them.

"I came to talk to Lucy." Looking at her with gentle eyes as she stared at him with confused ones slowly he lowered his eyes to her growing stomach. "And it looks like we have quite a bit to talk…"

"You don't get to talk to her." Now standing between the two.

"That's our…"

"Do you have any idea how much pain you've caused her?" Barely keeping his anger down enough so he wouldn't create any flame that would burn down the apartment.

"I…"

"Leave now!" Cocking his right hand back into a fist. 'I'll make sure you never hurt her again.'

"Not until I talk to Lucy!" Countering Natsu's angry glare with a defiant stare. 'Just try me Natsu. Even with me holding back you're still not ready.'

Natsu was about to charge him until he felt something pull on the back of his one sleeve shirt(year X791 shirt). Looking back he saw it was Lucy who had stopped him. She raised her hand up so he could help her stand back up which he was careful in doing so.

Doing her best to compose herself she spoke softly. "Natsu, Ceadra is right we need to talk." Nervously rubbing one of her wrists. "Alone."

"But Lucy…" Natsu began, but she put her index finger to his lips silencing the man.

"I'm sorry, but it's a talk I need to have." Looking at him with eyes saying no was not an answer.

With the look Lucy was giving him there was no way Natsu could tell her no. Giving into the woman he made his way towards the door and Ceadra. "Hurt her in any way and they'll never find your body." Natsu threatened with a low and dangerous tone that only Ceadra could hear as he walked past him. Once the threat was given Natsu did as Lucy requested and left the two to talk. Walking aimlessly through the streets one thing kept repeating in the young man's mind. 'Please don't take him back Lucy.' Several images of the two happily being together flashed in his mind. Pulling at his pink locks. "Mavis I need a drink!" Now making his way towards the bar inside Fairy Tail.

Inside Lucy's apartment her and Ceadra stood looking at each other in silence. A million questions running inside the woman's mind, while the man was trying to think of where to begin.

"Lucy I…"

SLAP

Zeref stumbled backwards as a strong stinging sensation filled the entire left side of his face, which now had a perfect imprint of the woman's hand on it. 'What's the deal, she shouldn't be able to hurt me like this.' Looking at the woman did he see an intense anger burning in those gentle brown eyes, yet at the same time could see tears readying to fall down her delicate face. 'Then again that's just more proof I found the right girl.'

"Why?" Lucy asked with both anger and sorrow.

"Why what?"

"Why did you leave me like that?"

Looking away from her slightly with a look of guilt. "I…"

"You told me you loved me." This time only sorrow could be detected in Lucy's voice as the damn broke. She raised her hand up again to slap him again only for it to get stopped as he gently caught hold of it. "You took all of my trust and threw it back in my face." Now trying to free her hand.

"I meant what I said that night. Every word of it." 'Even the parts about my past.' Reaching out with his free hand touch her face. "I didn't want to leave you that night." Wiping her tears away.

"Huh?"

"One of my team mates informed me they had caught a lead on the man we've been hunting down all the way from Enca."

Thinking back to the train ride to the Akana Resort Ceadra did tell her he was tracking down a wanted criminal. 'That's right the reason he was in Fiore was for a mission. So that's why he left me?' Feeling dumb about forgetting the reason he was in the country in the first place, but then again. "Then why didn't you leave me a note."

"I had two reasons for that."

"What were they."

"The man we were tracking down killed forty of my countrymen before fleeing Enca. The only way we were able to track him here was through a series of murders all the way to Fiore." Thinking back four hundred years of all the brutal murders he'd seen tracking the man down. "At first I wanted revenge for my people, but after the night we shared I thought of what would happen if I didn't leave as soon as possible. What if my delay aloud him get off another kill or two. What if the trail somehow brought me back here to your apartment to find you…" Zeref became silent not wanting to say dead. Instead he let Lucy take in what he had just said.

All the anger that had built up inside Lucy over nearly five months was fading away, quickly turning to regret. "What was the second reason." His first one was more than enough for him to leave, but he said he had two.

"I hate written language." He said bluntly.

"Why would you hate written language." Asked the inspiring author.

Zeref released Lucy's hand now holding it off to the side. "Depending on how it is written it could be read a different way." Using his magic he wrote some words in the air for Lucy to read. "Read them out loud please."

"Sorry I had to leave." Lucy reading what Ceadra had written in the air.

"That's as much as I would have been able to write down."

"Then why didn't you at least write that down then?"

"How would you have read it?"

"The same way I just did."

"How would you interpret them?"

Looking at the words more carefully she thought back to that morning. "I would have thought you said it sarcastically like you only saw me as a one night stand."

"When I truly would have meant it to be in its most sincere form."

"Is this why you left no note in any of the envelopes?" The blonde pointed at the four resting on the coffee table.

Zeref nodded his head. "When I left I thought I'd be back in less than a weeks time. Unfortunately that bastard took us up until last week before we put an end to his reign of terror." The mission that showed Zeref just how dark humanity can really be. "I worked so hard to get to you as soon as I could. The longer I was away from you the more I thought of you. After a few weeks I had this strange feeling, like I did this to you." Placing his free hand on Lucy's stomach. "How badly I wanted to rush back to you once that thought creeped into my mind, but all I could do for you was send you money."

'So he really does care about me.' Feeling guilty about cursing the man she thought abandoned her when he really didn't want to. Slowly she dropped down to her knees. Halfway down she felt a pair of strong arms slow down the fall so she wouldn't hurt herself. Slowly tears made there way down her face once again. "I'm so sorry." She whispered as she wrapped her arms around the mans chest placing her forehead into the crook of his neck. "I'm so sorry."

Adjusting his grip so one arm was around her hugging her back, and with the other on the back of her head soothingly petting her soft golden locks. "What are you sorry about?" Feeling her shake in his grip.

"This whole time I thought you used me." Low sob. "I thought you didn't care about me."

"Its okay." Still petting her hair. "I'm here for you now." Looking up for a split second he notice that each envelope still had all the jewels he had sent her had gone unused. 'Sylvia was right. She did have too much pride to accept support in that manner.' "Why didn't you use the jewels I sent you?" Moving the hand on her back to touch her growing stomach. "After all I was sending them to you had this happened to you."

"I was too angry to see things the way I should have." Lowering one of her hand to place it on he one he had over their baby. "I thought you were mocking me with a way to support me." Gulp. "But now I see it was your only way of giving me and our baby support while you were away."

The black wizard stopped stroking the celestial mages hair so he could use it to cup her chin in it so he could look her in the eye. 'I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you." Staring tenderly into her lighter brown orbs.

"I'm so sorry for thinking so poorly of you all this time." Guiltily looking into his darker brown orbs.

Looking at the younger mages face did Zeref for the first time see just how young Lucy was for the first time. 'She's so young.' Seeing all the pain, guilt, anger, sorrow, happiness and several other emotions all grace her beautiful face since he came back to her. 'I need to remind myself that I'm dealing with someone who to me is a baby herself.' Having lived over four hundred years ago at one point were all these emotions familiar to him, until the day he became the infamous black wizard of death. But for this task he had to relearn them to play the act. For some reason though around this young girl he didn't have to act, as a matter of fact he was starting to feel the way he did before he became what he now is. Almost as if his long past was on replay right before him, with a few twist between past and present.

Lucy only looked at the man as he looked at her with concerned eyes over the last several minutes. "Is something…" She stopped talking when out of nowhere the man picked her up bridal style. "What are you doing?" wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You've had a long day." Zeref said softly. "You need some rest." Looking down at her belly. "You both need it." Slowly making his way to the girl's bedroom where he laid her down on the bed.

Feeling emotionally exhausted the entire time she was carried did she feel the call of sleep. But she felt something else needed to be done, and be done soon. "We need to go to Fairy Tail." Slowly sitting up and getting ready to get off her warm comfy bed that was calling out to her.

"What?" Not understanding what she meant by they needed to go to Fairy Tail. Taking a glance at the clock he saw it to be a quarter past nine. "What you need is some sleep." Now looking at her exhausted face. "We can go to your guild in the morning." Trying to get her to lie down again only to fail.

"Like I was telling you I was so mad at the way you left me…"

"I didn't want to…"

"My anger rubbed off on my guild so they marked you as public enemy number one."

'Like they'd even be able to hurt me.' A nervous look spread across the mans face. "We can take care of that in the morning."

"If I know Natsu like I know I do he'll be at the guild in at the just a few minutes." Now with a worried look on her face. "He'll tell them you're back and at my place."

Putting the pieces together. "So they'll come here looking for my head if we don't go soon." Letting the woman go so she could grab her things.

Lucy nodded her head as she started to gather her keys, whip, purse, and her winter jacket.

Zeref opened the door for Lucy as she walked up to it. 'I guess not all parts are going to unravel the way they did before.' Thinking of his past as he stepped through the doorway so Lucy could lock it. The two started to walk to the guild in silence. Feeling just how cold the night was he pulled the blonde in with one arm to keep her warm. He felt her shiver under his arm. "Cold?" Wrapping the other arm around her.

"I'm more nervous than cold." Wrapping her arms around him as the night air felt like it was getting colder with each step bringing them closer to Fairy Tail.

"What are you nervous about?" He chuckled. "After all I'm the one with a dead or a alive poster up in your guild."

"That's why I'm nervous." Once again feeling guilty for all of her blind hatred. "I don't want to see you get hurt because of me." A look of worry made itself present on her beautiful face once again

Zeref felt genuinely touched by what Lucy had just said. 'How long has it been since anyone has actually cared about me?' "After we explain to them the situation they'll understand." Feeling her shiver again. "Sure you're not cold? We're not to far, so we can go back to your apartment if it's too cold for you."

Lucy shook her head. "I have a bad feeling." 'Especially about Natsu.' Thinking back less than twenty minutes when he all but said he loved her during his confession. 'If not for me he would have gotten into a fight with Ceadra.' And from what she saw it wasn't going to be like a typical brawl. She could sense a strong killing aura coming from him. Lucy was confused by who she loved. Obviously both men loved her. She loved Ceadra before he left that night, but after hearing his side of the story the love she had for him was returning to what it was. Natsu on the other hand up until an hour ago she only thought of him as her best friend, but now after his near confession she was starting to feel more than just friendship for him.

Less than an hour ago the Celestial mage thought no one loved her, and she'd end up raising her child with Loke as its father. Now she had two men who loved her. This turn of events almost made her cry out of sheer happiness, but if she did that now they'd end up freezing to her cheeks. Sadly as happy as she was she knew she could only have one man, and before to long she'd have to choose and the sooner the better before they get into a real fight.

Zeref kept one eye on the street and the other on Lucy. Over the last couple of moments she was lost in deep thoughts, so much that she didn't hear a thing he had said. "Don't worry about it." He said once again trying to encourage her nothing bad will happen. "Everything will be just fine."

Finally snapped from her thoughts. "I hope so." Said Lucy unable to shake the unease that wouldn't leave her. After all she knew all to well just how protective her family is over everyone of its member. How they're do anything to see them happy again. In her case they'd think it best to teach Ceadra a lesson in hurting one of their Nakama. With each step bringing the two closer to Fairy Tail the stronger the bad feeling Lucy had only grew. 'Something bad is going to happen tonight.'

End Chapter 14.

Next Chapter.

Bad Feeling?

For those of you thinking Lucy forgave Zeref to easily don't forget she has a really big heart almost to a fault. Now the question is how will the guild react to seeing Zeref after he caused their Nakama all the heartache, and missing half of her pregnancy? With feelings for both Zeref and Natsu who will Lucy end up with? Will the bad feeling Lucy have happen and if so what will happen? What happened in the past that turned Zeref into the infamous black wizard? Keep reading to find out.

I was planning on getting this chapter out a couple of weeks ago but I ran into a major problem. I picked up Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, and simple could not stop watching it. First off let me say FMA is one of my top three animes of all time, and FMAB completely blew it out of the water. If you haven't watched FMAB go watch it. If you haven't seen either one of them skip FMA and watch FMAB because like I said it outclasses FMA in every way possible. Like I said FMA was in my top three but after FMAB I can't see myself watching FMA again FMAB is that amazing.

As always I hope you all enjoyed.

Please continue to support Child of Darkness and my other ongoing story Dragon's Tear.

WildCard555 Out.