Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail.

Summary: Mavis and Zeref work out there differences and agree on a way to defeat Zeref. Unfortunately, Zeref's got his fingers crossed and has other plans for the world.

Warning: "Character Death" I put quotations because no characters actually die, but they lose their humanity.

"This isn't a game, Mavis." Zeref whispered, staring at her. She didn't say anything, merely stared at him. This wasn't the Zeref she remembered. This wasn't the Zeref she loved. The man she fell in love with would've never been so horribly cruel to anyone. Much less the people he cared about. Sure, he could be terribly grief-stricken at times, but not like this, never like this. And though she knew this, she still kept her hand out-stretched. Perhaps he wasn't like she remembered. But she had changed in the past hundred years as well.

"I know this isn't a game, Zeref. But, if you would just listen-." He cut off her soft-spoken words,

"I don't think you really know anything. You're not even here, you're not alive! You're a ghost, and just because I'm talking to you, doesn't mean I can't choose to ignore your presence. In all honesty, it should be rather easy. I can't even hear you!" he raged. Taking one of the vases in his tent he threw it in her direction. Of course, it passed through her without hurting in the slightest, but she still believed throwing things at people, ghost or not, was wrong.

"Zeref!" she cried. "Stop acting like a child having a temper tantrum and see the reality of the situation. You've lost! There's no point in continuing this war. There's no need for you to keep killing innocent people!"

"I am NOT acting like a child!" he screamed.

"THEN PROVE IT AND STOP SCREAMING!"

"I'M ONLY SCREAMING BECAUSE YOU ARE!" Mavis growled in frustration.

"You are impossible!" she gave a cry of frustration and whirled on him. "Look, just because I am a ghost does not mean I can't tell you EXACTLY what I think of you!" he crossed his arms and settled on her with that infuriated gaze of deep crimson blood. However, unlike most she didn't cower from the gaze. In fact, she held it with her own dark look.

"And what exactly do you think of me?"

"I think you're a selfish brat!" she screamed. He raised an eyebrow. "You're a murderer. A despicable human being, if you can even be called that! Why can't you be nice for once! Why do you always wear black? Happy things are nice, colors are nice! But you can't do that because you aren't nice! You're a monster! It's no wonder your family died! No wonder I died! We all died because we couldn't stand being around you!" the room was dead quiet after her outburst. And the way his eyes flashed let her know she'd gone too far. Although, even if they hadn't she still would've known. A gasp escaped her, and she clapped her hands over her mouth. Oh, why couldn't she have more of a filter? "Zeref I… I'm so, so sorry." She whispered.

"Then why are you here?"

"What?" she asked, confused.

"If you're so desperate to be rid of me, then WHY ARE YOU HERE?" He growled. She was silent. "You didn't have to say those things to me Mavis. I already know. I know I'm a monster."

"No, Zeref, I was wrong. you didn't choose to… to murder people."

"I knew the consequences of getting cursed, and I didn't care. I'm a villain, plain and simple. I'm not someone who can simply walk off the path of darkness. I don't want your pity I don't want anyone else's. I chose this path. I chose to sell my humanity. I chose to become this. No one forced me to bring him back. I made that decision on my own. I chose this, I made the decision to become the evilest wizard on earth. I chose to make demons, and I chose to discard them to let them do as they pleased when I realized they couldn't help me. I decided to become this. It's my fault. All of this…" he gestured to everything. "Is my fault."

"No." she said. "Not all of this is your fault. Zeref you can't take the blame for everything, you know this. I know this. You're just…" she trailed off.

"Just what? Misunderstood? Don't make me laugh." He said, scoffing. Mavis frowned.

"Please stop Zeref."

"This is the life I chose for me, Mavis. No one else ordered me to do anything. I'm the black wizard. I don't stop for anybody. Especially not little girls." Zeref said, turning away from her.

"Number 1 I'm not a little girl. Number 2 I'm not just a little girl. Number 3 I'm the woman that you love."

"Loved."

"That's what I said, love." Zeref chuckled softly.

"I suppose I did miss your stubbornness." Mavis smiled.

"Did you now? Just my stubbornness."

"No… I missed. I missed you." Mavis curled her hands into fists. How she really, really wanted to kiss him right now.

"Come here, please. Can I just, just hug you now?"

"How could you, you're a ghost." Mavis pouted.

"So, what? That doesn't change the fact that I still love you." Zeref made a surprised expression. A shy smile crossed his face.

"You… you still love me? Even though I just threw a vase at you?" she giggled.

"At least it was only one object this time. I know I'm infuriating and you hate it that feel you can't get properly mad because you know I'm laughing at you. But don't take your wrath out on the poor trees."

"… you were laughing at me?" Zeref asked. Mavis gave him a small smirk.

"Of course, I was." she giggled.

"I wish… I wish I could've heard it.

"Heard it?"

"Your laugh means the world to me. Even if everything was terrible, you were there. I may have… possibly actually liked our conversations. But just a little. I mean… even if I was having the worst day you were there… heaven knows I cried a lot."

"You cry?"

"I do, almost every day. Except on the days you would talk to me… then I'd be too angry to cry. And being angry was one of the best feelings I've had. You know more then anyone, that I'd like to be happy. But you also know that isn't possible. Being angry was the next best thing for me. The anger was something other than the large hole of blackness. Thank you for making me angry on the days that otherwise, wouldn't have been worth living for."

"Well… your welcome, I guess. Glad to know my ability to infuriate you was useful. Now, surrender. You know you should. I know you should. Plus, I have a surprise for you."

"Mavis, you know I hate surprises." Zeref said, scowling. She giggled.

"I know, that's why I've made it a surprise."
"You know, I take back all the nice things I said to you."

"Too late, no backsies." She giggled. Zeref still scowled.

"What kind of surprise is it." She sighed.

"Fine, I'll tell you. We've found a way to make me come back to life." she said, smiling. "And… it includes how to make you die."

"What?" Zeref asked, incredulously.

"That is, if you want. The spell we want to use means we have to take a life to give one. I'd feel guilty if it was anyone but you." Zeref's scowl deepened. "Not in the way you're thinking I assure you. It's not because I don't care about you, I just thought that maybe… I wouldn't feel so guilty taking your life because you've told me again and again that you want to die. I thought you would be happy to know that, but… I'm not forcing you. No one with a heart and a soul would force you." Mavis said quickly, trying to make him understand.

"I see."

"It would include you surrendering though. No one wants you… able to attack us at any moment you know."

"Yes, I know." Zeref said, glaring. His features softened after a few minutes. "Alright, let's try it. I'll surrender."

"Yes!" Mavis cheered. "I would kiss you right now, but well…" she trailed off. Her face turned sadder. "You know, a life without you wouldn't be the same."

"Good, maybe you'll experience a fraction of the guilt I felt when you… when you left me."

"Oh Zeref, I didn't leave you. I'm right, here aren't I?"
"Yes, I suppose you are." He said quietly.

After getting into the guild hall and sitting in across from each other, Mavis started the spell. She stared straight into his eyes. "This spell only works if the person willingly gives up their life with no regrets." Zeref nodded.

"Alright." Mavis knew this was a risky move, bringing Zeref into their base. She could never understand exactly what was going through his mind. And now she never would. She took a deep breath and started chanting but was interrupted.

"What's going on out there?" Mavis asked, walking over to the window. What she saw could only be described as an extermination. She turned back around. "Zeref what-." She stopped midway. Zeref was gone. Mavis growled. This was all a setup. "It figures." She growled and stomped down to the basement. "ZEREF!" She screamed. He turned to her with a victorious smirk on his face.

"What is it? My dear Mavis."

"You tricked me! You… I can't believe you would use me as… as another one of your pawns!"

"And just why wouldn't I? this is war Mavis. I saw an opportunity to win, and I took it."

"You… aren't the Zeref I loved, are you?"

"Oh, you speak in past tense now, my dear? How unfortunate."

"This is madness Zeref, you have to stop." He took a few steps toward her.

"I know it's madness, and I don't have to do anything. You're at my mercy. You shouldn't be telling me what to do." Zeref said, with that steady smirk that made her want to scream and throw the nearest object. While she couldn't interact with humans, inanimate objects were a different story. She growled, turned to the washbowl that was used to clean the crystal, picked up the bowl and threw it at his head. He side-stepped and she screamed in frustration. Next, she picked up the wet cloth ran up to him, and as quick as she could, smacked him across the face with it.

"That was for lying to me." She smacked the other side of his face next. "That was for making me love you!" she started smacking the cloth everywhere, not caring where it hit. "For breaking my heart, for hurting my guild, for hurting the world, killing people, and for merely existing. Oh. I wish you'd just die! I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you!" she shrieked hitting again and again before collapsing where she stood and sobbing. Zeref merely clucked his tongue.

"Now who's acting like a child?"

"You're a wicked, wicked monster." She screamed. Zeref shook his head and went to the crystal. It held her body. Her body, her magic, was going to be used to destroy the world. And she'd let it happen by trusting her enemy. She hated him. she hated him so much. She hated him because she understood why. When hope was lost to a person, they did many horrible things.

"Nothing matters anymore." Zeref told her sadly. "In fact, when you think about it. Nothing ever truly mattered in the first place."

She sniffed and glowered up at him. "I loathe you." She snarled. He smirked.

"Good. I'm glad I have no one left to disappoint. Everything becomes far to difficult when it involves people who care about you. It's better this way, and you know it too Mavis. I think you secretly knew something was going to happen, that I was going to betray you." Mavis shook her head.

"No, Zeref." She said quietly. "I truly thought I could trust you. And even if I couldn't. I thought I could trust your overwhelming desire to die." Zeref chuckled.

"No, why die when I could make the world suffer as I did? Doesn't that sound much more exciting?"

"No, it doesn't. there were people in this world who cared about you Zeref. And you pushed them away."

"That's where you're wrong Mavis." He said quietly. "In this world no one has truly loved me for centuries. No, not even you. It's okay though. I understand no one will love me. I've accepted it."

"No, you haven't. no one could ever except that no one loves them. Not even someone as horrible as you." Mavis snarled. Her face slowly softened as she looked into her former lover's eyes. "It's sad, the fact you think no one cares. It's sad."
"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I truly don't care." Zeref said. He touched the crystal and gently rubbed the tips of his fingers along the surface. "I haven't cared about anything in a long time." He whispered. "It's sad. the fact that after all this time you can't understand me. You've had 100 years. And you still can't tell when I'm about to betray you for the third time. It's sad the fact that you simply don't understand."
"Just what don't I understand?"

"I truly did love you Mavis." Mavis could tell he had almost absorbed Fairy Heart. She could literally see the magic swirling off him. "I loved my brother. I loved my friends, my family, my home. This world took everything from me. It took my family my hope. It took my love, my soul, my sanity. And I can never have any of that back. I should be dead. I should've been a genius. I should've made the world better. I should've saved people. I should've loved the world. I should've married the love of my life. should've had children, raised a family. I should've been better. I should've gotten to live my life like anyone else!" he screamed.

"I know." She whispered. He shook his head.

"No, you don't. and… it's okay. Because unlike you I understand." She frowned her eyes filled with tears. "I understand things never are what they should've been." And then he was gone. A monster replaced him. and only Mavis, the love of his life would ever remember the shy smile of the boy who should've been loved. And she watched him destroy everything they loved. All this started because he had loved too much to let go. In a way she partly understood. He had always been good. It was fitting for the world to end the way it began. It all started because he loved. In a way she guessed that he loved their world to pieces.

"No… they never are." She whispered softly.

A/N one more update this week. I have a little extra time because my Monday's free this week. Although... it's usually pretty free. Anyway, I hope you liked it, thanks for reading, reviews and constructive criticism is appreciated. Also, I have the first chapter of my new story out finally. It's called, My Darkness, Your Light, Our Humanity. Also, Zeref's still fighting the Black Dragon, so he's not here again. But he'll be done soon and be back! Bye!