Summary: Is it just me that's bothered by the fact that Mashima draws Layla and Lucy in the same exact dress?

Pairings: Zeref/Lucy friendship, mention of Gray/Juvia, Natsu/Lucy, mention of Zeref/Mavis, and lots of other friendship feels.

Author's Note: According to Fanfiction none of your reviews exist. So thank you very much for all of the lovely reviews and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Lucy was reading in a private corner of the guild building. It was a perfectly ordinary day which, of course, meant there had been five brawls, three minor fires, and a broken window, and she was enjoying her peace and quiet before the next adventure was sprung upon her. However there was just one problem, earlier Lucy was unable to shake off this feeling that someone was watching her, at first she assumed it was Natsu (who had taken to try and bore a hole in the back of her head with his intense, dark green, eyes alone) but it had been two chapters later and Natsu was currently unconscious (thanks to Erza) and she still felt like she was being watched.

It was also not the back of her neck that felt prickly or her ears burning as she felt her embarrassment rise like they usually would when Natsu was watching her. It was, instead, a strange, eerie, awareness as she shuddered.

Finally unable to keep her concentration on her book Lucy looked up to find Zeref was sitting opposite her. His head leaning against a hand as he rested an elbow on the table and his dark, dark, eyes piercing directly into her soul….

Lucy dropped her book in shock. "KYAH!" she screamed as she almost fell out of her seat. She was barely able to grab hold of the table and pull herself back up when Zeref leaped back startled.

"Sorry!" he cried out, his cheeks a faint pink. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was just hoping for some peace and quiet."

"That's okay," Lucy reassured him with an awkward smile. She liked Zeref well enough in spite of his evil actions earlier that year but she still didn't quite know how to act round Natsu's older brother. "I was only startled because you were unnaturally quiet compared to…..well," she smiled sheepishly, "everyone."

"Yes they are all very noisy," Zeref agreed serenely as he turned to look at the rest of the guild. Gajeel was trying to perform while half the guild was trying to shut him up, Juvia was loudly declaring her love for Gray again, Elfman was boasting how manly he was on the top of his voice, and Mavis was laughing boisterously at something Happy was telling her. The softest, sweetest, look overtook Zeref's face when his eyes landed on Mavis but it vanished quickly when he faced Lucy again. "May I ask you something, Lucy?" he asked politely.

Lucy shifted uncomfortably as Zeref's eyes became intense once again. "Sure…." She said warily.

"When you marry Natsu," Lucy choked at that not that Zeref paid her any attention, "would you be wearing Anna's dress or go with the traditional white?"

"Who said I'm going to marry Natsu?!" Lucy cried out embarrassedly. Zeref gave Lucy a pointed look which made Lucy shift even more uncomfortably and her cheeks to heat up. She relented immediately though she would like to point out later that Natsu hasn't even asked her out on a date yet let alone marriage. "Wait what do you mean Anna's dress?" she asked immediately as her curiosity caught up with her.

"You don't know?" Zeref blinked in surprise. "It is a family heirloom. Actually, it was a gift from me," he looked a little chuffed at that. Obviously the idea that anyone would cherish a gift from him pleased him a little too much for it to be healthy. "As a thank you for helping Natsu and the others. Anna didn't have many nice things and she deserved a new dress for her wedding. So I brought her this pink frilly gown. It was humongous with such detail to it. It was made from such fine silk that I was surprised to see Layla wear it four centuries later," Lucy's heart stopped as all colour flooded out of her as realisation sank in. "but apparently the dress had been passed down from mother to daughter since Anna. So I was wondering…..Lucy?" Zeref glanced at her worriedly. "Are you all right?" he asked in concern. "You have gone very pale."

"That dress…..was….an heirloom?"

"Yes," Zeref blinked, "have you seen it before?"

"I've worn it before," Lucy said aghast, "My father…..he used to make me wear it all the time. I saw it as a symbol of my entrapment in that life….I….I tore it to pieces," she admitted sheepishly.

Zeref's mouth dropped open. "You…?"

"Ripped it to shreds," Lucy moaned as she buried her face into her hands, "I didn't even know it was my mother's let alone a four hundred year old dress. Oh God!" she groaned as a dark, depressing, blue aura fell upon her. "I tore up a family heirloom!"

"Pfft!" Zeref snorted in surprise. "Ha…" he giggled as he bit his lip desperately to prevent anymore laughter. "He…..ha….. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

He gave up fighting almost immediately.

Lucy shot up and glowered at him. "It's not funny!" she barked furiously.

"Yes it is!" Zeref cried out. His cheeks bright red as his eyes whined with mirth. "Pfft!" he snorted again. "You two are just perfect for one another," he informed Lucy solemnly. Her cheeks puffed out huffily and she opened her mouth to demand exactly what he had meant by that when Zeref suddenly burst out laughing. He collapsed against the table in a fit of hysterical giggles that Lucy never thought possible for the man who was once considered the most evil person in all of history. "Hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahaahahhahahahaahahahhaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha-"

"Hey Luce," Natsu appeared out of nowhere looking highly amused, "what did you do to Zeref?" he nodded to his hysterically giggling brother.

"I did nothing!"

"Sure you did," Natsu's eyes twinkled as Lucy shot him an irritated look, "you obviously infected him with your weirdness."

"Pfft!" Zeref sniggered as he lifted his head up. Tears of mirth were running down his cheeks. "If anyone has been infected, it's Lucy by you, Natsu," Natsu looked vaguely insulted at that, "she's just as destructive as you are. Trust me when I say you're truly meant to be."

Lucy spluttered at that.

"Awesome!" Natsu crowed (which caused Lucy to splutter even more). "Hear that Happy?" Natsu called out. "I infected Lucy with my cooties!"

"NATSU!"

Zeref collapsed against the table again shaking with hysterical laughter which caused several people to ask if he was all right and whether or not he was having a fit.

(Lucy, however, went into deep shock as she prayed her ancestors could forgive her for ripping their treasured dress.)