Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail.

Summary: Zeref is in the woods when a small child happens across where he is resting. Who is the child? And why is he here? The kind of life he lives may just shock Zeref into helping the child find a way home.

"Who are you?"

Zeref turned toward the voice. It was a young child. "And what are you doing in MY special place?" the child asked, his arms crossed with something similar to a pout crossing his features.

"Oh… I'm sorry, I did not realize I was in your… special place." Zeref told the small child. He stood. He should not be here; this child could be killed should he stay too long in his presence.

"It's okay… I guess." The child said his features twisting into a smile. "I mean, you didn't know you were trespassing Mr., so I guess it's okay." The child walked up to him and stuck out his hand. "My name's Natsu, what's yours?" Zeref was silent. Giving the child his name could prove to be a grave mistake, but Zeref didn't think a child so young would know who he was. At least, not really.

"My name is Zeref." The child's eyes lit up.

"That's such a cool name! I wish I had that name." he said, a sparkle in his eye.

"I don't think you should ever wish for such a thing child. You don't know what you speak of." The child blinked and chose to ignore what he said. Before Zeref could stop him, the child had plopped down beside him. "It's not wise to be near to me."

"Why?" Natsu asked innocently, staring up at him.

"Because I'm dangerous."

"Why?"

"Because I'm a black wizard."

"Why?" Zeref leveled the child with one of his infamous glares and did not give him the satisfaction of answering so the child could keep taunting him with this ridiculous game. "Aw! You're no fun Mr."

"My name is Zeref."

"Why?"

"SHUT UP!"
"Why?" Zeref groaned in frustration. Never had he met a kid more annoying than this one. He didn't say anything else and lied down on the grass to stare at the night sky.

"What are you doing out so late, child? Shouldn't you be at home?" the kid was silent.

"The truth is Mr.-."

"-Zeref-."

"-I'm lost! I was going through town and I decided I wanted to go to my special place. Let's just say I ran into some people." The boy unconsciously rubbed his arms. If Zeref squinted hard enough he could make out scratches and bruises. "I didn't have any money so…" he trailed off. "Anyway, by the time they left it was dark and I forgot the way back home and now I'm lost!" he burst into tears. Zeref frowned at Natsu. He wished he knew how to help, but he didn't. "And those people said they'd come back for me! Don't leave me Mr.!" Natsu cried and clung to him. Zeref scowled.

"Remove yourself from me at once!" he snarled. The child flinched and started crying even harder. Zeref sighed resignedly. Finally he said, "Do not fret child, you may stay with me until the morning."

"Really Mr.? Thank you, thank you!" he cried, sniffling. Zeref rolled his eyes and asked himself why he'd helped this child. After all, he was only one boy. Why on Earth would he help a child, for nothing in return? He was evil. He should leave this boy here and go on his way. Truly he was doing more harm than good by being here. He could kill the boy in his sleep if he was not careful. The child clung to him his tears dried on his cheeks. Zeref sighed and stared up at the sky. The stars, Zeref thought, were beautiful.

In the morning Zeref left the child. Well, at least he tried to. Natsu was following him around like a lost puppy. Zeref finally whirled on him with a scowl. "It's morning!" he growled. "I said that you may stay with me till morning! Didn't I?" Natsu nodded rapidly. "You see the orange ball of light? It's called the sun. It rises when all the stars go to sleep. Now that there are no stars it is MORNING!" he yelled. The child merely stared at him innocently.

"But mommy told me the sun is a star. That means there is one star. Therefore, it's not morning."

"Don't get smart with me, child! I could've left you for dead last night."

"But you didn't."

"That is beside the point!" Zeref pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to gain some semblance of calm. Slowly he kneeled in front of the child. "It is morning. You must leave, and we can never cross paths again. in the light you will surely find your way home. You can't stay with me any longer. Do you understand?" Natsu's face crumpled and he burst into tears. "Oh no, you are NOT going to persuade me with tears ever again." Zeref's scowl deepened as the tears didn't stop. Swiftly he scooped the child into his arms. He didn't need to fear the curse because at the moment he was too annoyed to love anything about this stupid child. "Now you listen here." He said sternly. "I'm going to take you back to that village myself if I have to. You ARE NOT coming with me, you got that?"

"NO!" Natsu screamed, thrashing in his arms. "NO! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! I WON'T GO BACK!"

"Don't you start throwing a tantrum or you'll wish those thugs had killed you when they had the chance!" Zeref hissed. The child went limp and sobbed harder. Zeref's eyes slowly softened. "Now, don't you want to go back to your parents? I'm sure they're dreadfully worried about you." he asked softer this time.

"I can't! they're dead! I live with a bunch of other kids. And I get hit and I'm always hungry and I'm always getting locked in my room and the other kids all hate me because I have pink hair!" he shrieked and sobbed. Zeref sighed. such annoyances needed to be dealt with.

"I understand you're scared, but you'll be in even more danger if you travel with me, understand?" the child slowly nodded sniffling. "Very good." He said kindly. "Now," he set the child on his feet. "Walk with me." He held his hand out for the child to take. Natsu did and they started walking together, with Natsu leading Zeref in what he hoped was the right direction. Of course, it was very possible Natsu was merely talking nonsense and was unsure of where to lead him. "Natsu, are you sure we're walking in the right direction?" the child paused.

"I think so." Natsu said. "I'm not sure." His eyes filled with tears. "Please don't be mad and hit me!" Zeref was silent for a while. Then he took a deep breath and put on a calm face.

"I'm not mad, and I most certainly am not going to hit you." Zeref told him. "Now come along, I'm sure we'll stumble upon civilization soon." Natsu breathed a sigh of relief and nodded enthusiastically. A smile crossed the boy's innocent features.

"Okay." Natsu squeezed Zeref's hand and started to skip along beside him.

As they were going along Zeref heard rustling around in the forest. A force with malicious intent was near them. Zeref hushed Natsu and pulled him slightly closer as they walked. After a while the presence became more of an annoyance than anything else. He stopped walking and Natsu looked at him with wide, scared eyes. "It'll be okay." Zeref whispered before turning back to the forest. He eyed the trees skeptically and his grip on the child tightened. "Show yourselves, you cowards!" Zeref snarled his eyes darting around the tree tops.

"Well, if you know we're here, then there's no point in hiding ourselves." An entire gang of people came out. It seemed they had surrounded the duo. Natsu let out a scared gasp and clung to Zeref.

"T-these are the people who attacked me last night." Natsu whispered, burying his face in Zeref's robes.

"Let us pass now and I'll consider letting the lot of you live." the gang rolled their eyes and slowly started approaching them.

"As if." Zeref sighed. why must humans be so insistently stupid. Zeref was growing quite tired of humans.

"Well then, it seems I have no choice. Child let go of my robes and run as far as you can." Natsu looked up at him, whimpering.

"But what if you leave me."

"I will not leave you in this forest child. Now go." Natsu sniffed and ran. He did not look back, but that didn't stop him from hearing their pained screams.

"Beating a child, that is one of the cruelest things I've seen humans do." Zeref kicked one of the dead bodies before leaving them in favor of finding that very child. Zeref could only hope Natsu had not gotten caught in the death blast. "Child! Child, it is alright now!" Zeref heard a small rustle in the bushes. He tensed, ready for an ambush. But then Natsu came running out and threw his arms around Zeref.

"I was so scared Mr.! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for them to hurt you too! Hey…" Natsu paused looking him up and down. "You don't even have a scratch! How?"

"I am a very powerful mage. They did not stand a chance." Natsu looked at him in absolute awe.

"You should teach me to do magic. I'm sure I would be awesome at it!"

"I'm sure you would be. But remember, I'm taking you back to your village." Natsu sighed and took Zeref's outstretched hand once again.

They walked through the forest in silence. Neither had another thing to say. But of course, the peace couldn't last when Natsu was around. Soon the child started humming, and then much to Zeref's annoyance, singing. "Would you kindly stop that racket?" Natsu ignored Zeref's request.

"Ooh look at that!" Natsu cried, pointing at the river.

"It most certainly is pretty, isn't it?" Natsu didn't answer him, and instead was running toward the river. Zeref, alarmed, quickly followed him. "Not so fast, you'll fall in! Wait, stop you annoying brat!" Zeref exclaimed quickly catching up to him. Natsu did not listen to his warning in time, tripped, and tumbled into the river. Zeref caught him by his pink hair and yanked him out of the water before he could drift down stream.

"Ouch!" Natsu cried, tears in his eyes.

"OUCH? OUCH! IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF? OUCH! YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Zeref screamed. "YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN SERIOUSLY INJURED! JUST WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Zeref raised his hand to smack Natsu's head but stopped half way because of the terrified shriek that left Natsu's mouth.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll never do it again. Just please don't hit me!" Natsu exclaimed, sobbing. Zeref slowly lowered his hand.

"It is… it is fine. I'm the one who should apologize. It's not right, to smack a child. Now, let's get you dried off. I wouldn't want you to catch your death."

"Mr. you're the nicest anyone's been to me since mommy and daddy died." Natsu said, smiling. If this was what Natsu considered nice then Zeref wondered just how cruel people were being to him. perhaps he should let Natsu travel with him… no! what was he even thinking? Zeref shook his head to clear his thoughts. "It's getting late, Mr." Natsu yawned.

"Yes… we should rest for the rest of tonight." Zeref was silenced by Natsu crawling in his lap and curling into a ball. Zeref resisted the urge to aww at the sight. He was the dark wizard. This child was not going to worm his way into Zeref's heart. Zeref had to make sure of that. Tomorrow Zeref would have to make sure that Natsu found his way home. After, Zeref would most definitely leave. He took a deep breath and looked up at the stars. He watched them all the time.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" the little pink ball whispered. Zeref nodded.

"They are indeed." Slowly Zeref combed his fingers through Natsu's pink hair. "I honestly don't understand why those children don't like your hair. I don't think it to be strange in the least." Natsu snorted.

"You'd be the first besides mommy. Even my daddy thought my hair was girlish."
"I think it's beautiful."

"That's what mommy would always say… you know what, I'm glad I found you Mr."

"Why?"

"Anyone else would've left me to die of hunger." Natsu said, smiling.

"Oh… I'm sure that's not true."
"It is." Natsu said firmly. He flipped around and snuggled into Zeref's chest. Zeref sighed and continued to look at the sky. He stayed awake that night, just to make sure that no one ambushed them.

The next morning Zeref woke Natsu up rather early. He was determined to find Natsu's village that day. Even if they had to travel all day to find it. "You're going home today, child. And nothing is going to get in my way. You are not to run off today you understand?" Natsu sighed and nodded.

"Alright." The child said reluctantly. Then his eyes flashed annoyance. "Hey, wait just a minute. You're not the boss of me." Natsu cried, crossing his arms. Zeref raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" he asked. Natsu nodded, glaring at him.

"I'll run off if I want!"

"I see. Well then, if you're going to do what you want then I'm going to do what I want."

"What do you want?" Natsu asked excitedly.

"To stay here and take a nap." Natsu frowned.

"But you have to come with me." Zeref gave him a questioning look.

"Oh, so, you can do whatever you please, but I can't?" Zeref asked.

"Yeah!" Natsu exclaimed. Zeref rolled his eyes and lied down on the forest floor.

"You're not the boss of me child. I'll do whatever I please if you are." Natsu pouted

"That's not fair!" he whined.

"Hm… life isn't fair now, is it?" Zeref said.

"You're mean!" he cried and stomped his tiny foot. Zeref rolled his eyes.

"Alright, enough games. Come with me before I make you." Zeref said coldly, standing. Natsu growled and took Zeref's hand. "No running off, you hear me?"

"Yes Mr." Natsu said with a sigh.

"Very good." Zeref said smiling. As they walked Natsu hummed and sang and danced. He did cartwheels and ran in circles. He tried to climb trees and would've even done a back flip off one branch if it weren't for the warning look Zeref had given him. "Would you stop fidgeting all over the place." Zeref growled, clearly annoyed.

"But I'm bored!" Natsu groaned. "Running around and playing games is fun." Zeref rolled his eyes.

"If by fun you mean a complete waste of time then I undoubtedly agree." Natsu rolled his eyes and grabbed Zeref's hand again.

They continued walking for the whole day before they finally found the village. By that time Zeref had been forced to carry Natsu because the boy had crashed a few hours ago. "Here we are." Zeref whispered to Natsu.

"No… I don't want to leave you." Natsu cried. Zeref looked at him somewhat sadly.

"It's okay child. Why don't we sleep here tonight, and you can go home tomorrow? Does that sound good?" Natsu sighed but nodded. Like he'd been doing for the past two nights Natsu curled up in Zeref's lap and Zeref ran his fingers through Natsu's hair.

"Goodnight Natsu." Zeref whispered softly. Natsu stared at him in mild surprise before a sleepy smile crossed his face. Natsu wrapped his arms around Zeref's neck and whispered.

"Goodnight Zeref." Before sleep claimed him.

The next morning Zeref was gone.

A/N Hi again, one more update for today. So, I don't really remember how I made this one... but I do remember it was supposed to be WAY different then how it turned out! But, I'm happy with the results so I guess that's what matters. I like the idea that Zeref and Natsu are brothers, but I can also picture Zeref being a sort of father-figure, and helping Natsu out when no one else will... you know, like family! Reviews and constructive criticism are deeply appreciated!