Summary: Inspired by 30 Rock. Natsu refuses to believe that Zeref is real and not a figment of his imagination so Zeref takes some extreme measures to prove he is real.

Pairings: Brotherly Natsu/Zeref, implied Natsu/Lucy, implied Zeref/Mavis, mentions of Mavis/Cana friendship, and implied Natsu/Happy friendship.

YouTube Prompt: Fairy Tail tribute to Ringin' In My Head by Black Stone Cherry.

Lucy was used to out of ordinary things happening in her day to day life.

It was such a regular occurrence as a Fairy Tail mage with normal afternoons in the guild ending up being transported into a parallel universe or an easy job rapidly turning into a life or death scenario, that Lucy would be in the wrong guild if she didn't get used to out of ordinary.

Regardless, nothing in the world had prepared Lucy to open her front door to find Zeref and Mavis smiling on the other side.

"OhmyGod!" Lucy blurted out.

She then promptly slammed the door shut and blinked rapidly (and pinched herself a few times as well) in order to make sure that she was awake and not going mad.

She then opened her front door again to see Zeref and Mavis still standing there but now looking a little uncertain.

Lucy hesitatingly reached out and pinched Mavis on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Mavis squeaked out. "What was that for?!"

"You're real!" Lucy breathed out.

"We are," Zeref replied gently, "and I can understand it must be unnerving for two previously assumed dead people to turn up on your doorstep but I can assure you that you are not going insane."

"I thought I saw you a while back," Lucy admitted sheepishly, "at a book release party but then I kinda thought I might have just imagined it."

"No that was us," Mavis reassured her, "I think we was partially reincarnated or something? I don't know, the Gods work in fucked up mysterious ways, but we only just got our memories back yesterday."

"And we were – well I mean I was – hoping to see Natsu," Zeref added eagerly.

He had a bright earnest expression similar to a puppy dog or another Dragneel brother that Lucy knew far too well.

"And you thought he was here?!"

Lucy felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment that Natsu's ex-evil, cursed, brother that sort of came from the dead knew that Natsu spent more time at Lucy's apartment than he did at his own house.

Good lord, does everyone in Fiore know that Lucy and Natsu share a bed more often than not?!

She might just die on the spot if the answer is yes!

"Well, he wasn't at his house," Zeref said nervously, "and Mavis said this was the next best place to look."

"You just missed him," Lucy said quickly as her face burned more intensely with mortification, "Natsu and Happy already set out for the Guild to look at the request board for our next job."

"Oh," Zeref looked a little disappointed, "...could you please take us to see him?"

"Sure!" Lucy said a little high-pitched. "Probably best I do, I'm sure you and Mavis know the way without me but the others might not react well to seeing you, it's not that you're horrible now, it's just that we're still kinda rebuilding parts of the town from your invasion...?"

Lucy trailed off as she caught sight of Zeref's bemused expression and Mavis trying her hardest to not laugh in Lucy's face.

Urgh, being a babbling lunatic was not an impression she wanted to leave with Natsu's older brother.

"Let's go," Lucy said hastily before it could get any more embarrassing.

The walk to the guild building was (thankfully) uneventful and other than some horrified gasps, a few broken glasses from shocked people dropping them, and Cana letting out an ecstatic scream before she crushed Mavis in a suffocating embrace, Zeref and Mavis' appearance in the Guild was uneventful as well.

That is until Natsu and Zeref laid eyes on one another.

There was a long, intense, silence as Natsu stared at Zeref blankly and Zeref gazed back hopefully. For a worrying moment, Lucy thought Natsu might snap and sink a fist in Zeref's gut...

(Which you know, no one could blame Natsu if he wanted to seeing as Zeref mucked about with Natsu's very fibre of existence with all the demon magic and then erased his memory and sent him the future to be left abandoned until Fairy Tail found him... and that's not including the near murder recently!)

….instead Natsu just blinked and shook his head. "I'm going mental, Happy," he said loudly, "because for a moment I thought I could see Zeref."

"Erm, Natsu..." Happy sweat-dropped. "You can see Zeref. He's standing right there."

"You must be going mental too, Happy!" Natsu exclaimed. "It must be the stuffy air in this building. Let's go for a walk."

And on that odd note, Natsu rushed out of the building.

Zeref, Lucy, Happy, and Mavis all exchanged bewildered glances before they too hurried out after Natsu.

"Natsu!" Zeref called out desperately. "I know you have a very good reason to be mad at me but I promise you I'm not cursed any more and we can take the time to mend our relationship the way Mother and Father would have wanted us to."

"Hey Luce," Natsu turned round, "Can you hear that? Because it almost sounds like my brother came back from the dead but that's mental, right?"

"Natsu," Lucy said softly, "I know it sounds insane but Zeref has come back from the dead."

"Nah!" Natsu shook his head rapidly. "You've always been a weirdo Lucy, you would say that."

Lucy's eye twitched at the implication that she was a lunatic but she took a very deep breath and reminded herself that it was perfectly natural for Natsu to want to live in denial when it came to his homicidal dark lord brother coming back from the dead.

(She would give him an extra Lucy Kick in the near-future when he does something to deserve it again.)

"It's not that weird," she said gently, "Lisanna came back from the dead, remember?"

"Lisanna didn't really die!" Natsu retorted. "She was just transported to a parallel world but Zeref actually did die. I was there! So he can't come back now!"

Lucy bit her lip unsure what to say when Zeref stepped between her and Natsu.

"I understand you need proof that I am real," Zeref said calmly, "well then if I was a figment of your imagination then I wouldn't get hurt, would I?"

"Zeref?!" Mavis said worriedly.

Zeref smiled serenely as he took a step out into the road and was promptly flung into the air by a speeding magical vehicle.

"OH MY GOD!" Lucy shrieked.

"OH MY GOD ZEREF!" Natsu yelled. "I TOTALLY MISSED THAT DO IT AGAIN!"

"NATSU!" Lucy and Mavis screamed furiously.

Zeref, however, merely threw his head back and laughed as he accepted Natsu's hand to help him up. The two awkwardly embraced as they patted each other's backs and Lucy tried her best to not well up at the touching sight of two brothers reuniting.

It was just so sweet!

...Zeref's easy acceptance of Natsu's violent and childish behaviour wore off very quickly when Natsu poked him for the millionth time later that day.

"For the last time Natsu, I'm real!" He snapped irritably as he slapped Natsu's hand away. "Now quit poking me before I glue your fingers together!"

To be honest though that was saintlike in Fairy Tail standards, Lucy would have kicked Natsu hours ago if she was in Zeref's shoes.