Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail.

Summary: Zeref, the greatest wizard in all the land!... is sick. He doesn't know how, he doesn't know why, but his immortal body that can cure every injury in half a second... is susceptible to the common cold. Natsu, who is alone for the evening, happens across the dark wizard, passed out by a tree... what will happen next?

"I honestly didn't know this was possible." Zeref said, opening his eyes. It was early morning and not even the forest was awake yet. "This must be the most annoying thing I've ever had to deal with." He mumbled to himself, slowly he readjusted himself on his tree. Such movement made his body hurt. And why was his face wet? Why was he wet? "Oh…" he realized, looking up at the cloudy sky. "It's raining." He supposed he should've guessed such a thing. After all it was blatantly obvious. Why else would he be wet? It wasn't like he made a habit of sleeping in the river. Zeref let out a moan and brought his hand to his head. He had a severe headache, which should be impossible. He was immortal, wasn't he? That meant his immune system should be much less susceptible to illness. Unfortunately, he supposed that didn't mean he was immune, as was obvious since he felt sick. It had been hundreds of years since he had last been ill, but he remembered feeling similar discomfort. Zeref didn't know how ordinary humans dealt with it year after year. Zeref sighed, lying out in the rain was what probably got him sick in the first place. But he didn't have anywhere else to go. So, he closed his eyes. Whether he passed out or just fell asleep, Zeref did not remember.

Natsu was coming home from a mission. Happy wasn't with him because he'd decided to stay with Wendy and Carla, the traitor. So, Natsu was alone tonight. He would stay with Lucy, except she and Erza were having a sleepover for a reason Natsu would rather not know. He could still go to her apartment, break in, eat her food, but it seemed rather pointless since either way he'd be alone. he didn't go to Gray's house for obvious reasons, but surprisingly, it had to do more with the fact that Juvia would be under his bed, rather than the fact they were rivals. And that's how he ended up running into… well, Natsu didn't remember his name but he did remember who he was… a little. Natsu didn't know how long he stood there, merely observing him, but it had to be at least a few minutes. But what was the black mage doing, sleeping in the rain? Wasn't he supposed to be like, a genius? Well, Natsu knew one thing. The longer he stood out in the rain, the harder the rain came down, the wetter he got. "Hello?" Natsu asked cautiously, wondering if the mage was truly asleep. "Hello?" he asked a little louder. "HELLO?" Natsu shouted at him. still, the "sleeping" mage did not open his eyes. Natsu bit his lip. Maybe he should just leave. Natsu reasoned that he had every right to. So, what if he caught pneumonia and died? Good riddance, right? Only, Natsu would feel like a horrible human being if he did that. Surely even this guy didn't deserve to die in the rain, cold and wet, right? He wasn't sure many people would agree with him, but Natsu had never really cared if someone's opinion happened to conflict with his.

And that was why Natsu suddenly found himself carrying the black mage to his house. He was a little too light in Natsu's opinion. Almost like he was hollow. It was an unsettling weight on his back. It wouldn't feel so bad if he was simply light, but it wasn't like that. It was like he was empty, and that thought unnerved Natsu enough to get him rethinking his earlier, albeit, reckless decision. Natsu kicked open his door with no respect for the wood at all. Why would he treat his own door with respect if he treated no other? That didn't make sense in Natsu's opinion, though, thinking about respecting doors in the first probably didn't make sense. Natsu waded through the sea of junk and placed the black wizard gently on the couch and tried to recall his name. what was it? Zered, Zerked, Zerl… Kevin? "UGH!" Natsu slammed his head on the wall. Why did he have to be so forgetful? It sucked. Natsu slowly turned back to his guest, realizing more with every passing minute that he should not listen to his first impulse, which had been to help the person who was in trouble. Maybe Natsu should tie him up? That didn't seem like it would make much of a difference though. He hardly wanted to go traipsing through the rain again to give him the magic council. Speaking of which, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to show up out of the blue and tell the council he had the black wizard. Thousands of things could go wrong with a plan such as that. For example, what if he woke up before they could properly contain him and kill everyone in the city? That didn't sound appealing in the slightest to Natsu. He came to the rather obvious conclusion that the best place to go would be nowhere. The black wizard in the woods where no humans were was probably in everyone's best interest… well, everyone's best interest except Natsu himself.

Against his better judgement (although he didn't have very good judgement to begin with) he placed his hand on the black mage's forehead. As he half expected, it was burning with fever. Natsu didn't think he had any medication for a fever. Especially for a fever, considering Natsu never had any problem with heat. In fact, Natsu couldn't remember the last time he was sick. Hm… maybe he'd break into Lucy's apartment and steal some of her pills. Or you could go to the store and buy some, a voice inside his head insisted. "What like a normal person?... nah."

Once he'd gotten back from Lucy's apartment, he warily poked his head inside the door. The black mage was still on his couch and he hadn't seemed to move. Natsu figured that he couldn't give mage medicine until he woke up, or risk choking him to death. Natsu sighed, and wished, not for the first time, that he had gone to Lucy's apartment. If he had done that he wouldn't have even known that the black mage was sick, and therefore, would have no guilt hanging over his conscience had he been left in the rain. What was his name? Natsu had also borrowed a few history books and was now flipping through them. Finally, he found the page he was looking for. Zeref… Zeref, of course! How could Natsu have ever forgotten. "His name is Zeref… remember this time, idiot." Natsu mumbled to himself as he closed the book. Natsu turned back to watching Zeref. What did you even do for someone who had a fever? They were usually burning up so maybe something cool? But he also remembered Lucy telling him that despite the patient's body feeling warm, sometimes they could get the shivers. Natsu hadn't known what the heck Lucy was talking about until now as he saw Zeref shivering despite the fact he was burning up. Natsu tore through his closet until he finally came upon a blanket. Natsu had no use for one, since he was his own blanket. This one was one of Happy's old ones. Natsu threw it over the black mage, regardless of the fact that it was small and thin. Natsu growled unhappily to himself. Not only did the cloth seem to have no effect, but now it was getting wet. Slowly Natsu took the covers back and glared at Zeref. It wasn't his fault but Natsu needed to be angry at someone. "Nope." Natsu said shaking his head as soon as the idea came to him. "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope." He stared at Zeref's wet clothes. They were probably half the reason he was shivering. "Nope, nope, nope, nope." This was followed by more nopes and banging. "I have to do it, don't I?"

Yup. His brain said.

"You know, I could just throw him back out in the rain." Natsu reasoned with his mind.

Nope. His mind said.

"Why am I even arguing with you? You're my mind! You have to listen to me!" Natsu shouted. His mind was silent. He was arguing, out loud, with himself. Did that make him crazy? Natsu wasn't sure.

Now dressed in some of Natsu's spare clothes, Natsu piled three more blankets on top of him. He let out the breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. That had probably been the most stressful thing he'd ever been through in his entire life. well, next to Erza's "special" training. Natsu shivered at that thought. After a few minutes, Zeref stopped shivering and his breath wasn't as shallow and strained. Natsu wasn't sure if there was much else he could do while Zeref was asleep. He'd already put a wet rag on his forehead. So, that was out of the way.

Natsu glanced out the small window beside him. it was pitch black outside, so it must've been pretty late. The tired mage let out a yawn and flopped onto his hammock. Sleep came fairly easy after that.

Later that night Natsu awoke to a crash. His eyes shot open and he quickly jumped out of bed. "Ouch…" he heard a quiet mumble. Who else was here? Was it Happy? Then Natsu remembered how he'd made the biggest mistake of his entire life. he had brought the black mage into his home.

"Zeref?" Natsu whispered quietly. He made a quick dash across the room and flicked the light switch. The room instantly flooded with bright light. Zeref was on the floor, having tripped over one of the many items scattered about.

"Don't you know you could kill someone." Zeref grumbled to himself, looking around at all the tripping hazards. "Wait a second… where am I?" Zeref seemed to realize instantly that this was not where he was supposed to be. Natsu jumped on him the second he realized Zeref's expression. Panic.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." Natsu reasoned.

"T-that's not what I'm worried about." Zeref whispered, struggling in Natsu's grip. Zeref wasn't sure who was on top of him and he didn't know what to do. he didn't want to hurt this person, but hurt was better than kill, was it not? "Get off me before I am the one to hurt you or worse. You should not have helped me, I would've been completely fine. now if you don't want to die I suggest you let me go." Zeref told him.

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's advice." Natsu slowly let go of him. He was starting to second guess his idea of not tying the black mage up.

"Whatever. I brought you here because you were sick." Before he turned around to meet his host, Zeref looked down at himself.

"What happened to my clothes?" he asked. his voice didn't sound angry like Natsu had half expected, but he merely sounded curious. Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"They were… uh… wet, so I took them off. Those are my clothes." Natsu said. Finally, Zeref turned to him.

"Natsu…" he breathed. "I've… missed you." Natsu stared at him blankly for several moments.

"Um… Zeref, you're delirious from your fever. I'll get the medication I stole from Lucy's ho-… I mean bought." Natsu let out a slightly nervous laugh. "Here, why don't you lay back down, and I'll get the pills." Zeref's eyes narrowed slightly.

"How do I know you're not trying to drug me."

"I am trying to drug you." Natsu said mater-of-factly. Zeref sighed. he knew the medication probably wouldn't even affect him, but if it made Natsu feel better, than who was he to refuse?

"Alright." Natsu went to the kitchen and grabbed the bottle. He read the label. It was a magic pill so one was advised. If the fever was really bad you should take two, blah, blah, blah. Natsu actually didn't know if Zeref had a fever anymore. He didn't have any pills, so why would he have a thermometer of all things? Natsu shrugged and poured one pill in his hand. If it didn't seem to have any effect, then Natsu would give him another. But, he'd rather be safe than sorry, right?... what was becoming of him? it was Lucy's job to be careful for the both of them! Just that thought made Natsu want to ignore the labels and give Zeref as many pills as he saw fit… but he didn't.

"So, how do you even take a pill?" Natsu wondered, staring at the small round thing. "Hm…" maybe Zeref would know. Natsu walked back into the room and shoved the pill into Zeref's hand.

"Um… do you even know how a pill is taken?"

"No, so why don't you tell me."

"Well, usually you have water." Natsu ran back to the kitchen. He searched through the cupboards for about ten minutes before he found a cup and filled it with water. "Then…" Zeref said once Natsu came back. "You place the pill on your tongue, take a drink of water, and swallow it." Zeref then demonstrated.

"Wow… how did you know that?"

"I've been sick a few times before. although I'm not sure if the pill will even do anything." Zeref said with a shrug. "I forgot how horrible and uncomfortable it was though."

"Yeah, why don't you lay down now." Natsu said quietly, pushing him down on the couch. Zeref didn't protest and groaned once again.

"Natsu… thank you, for this. I don't like being wet."

"Well, no one likes being wet, so…" Natsu trailed off and shrugged. "I guess I can't blame you." Zeref weakly nodded and closed his eyes.

"Yeah…" he mumbled softly." Natsu felt Zeref's forehead once more. He was still burning. If the pill was going to work, it should be working soon. since it was a magic pill it worked almost immediately. Well, things couldn't get any more complicated and weirder, could they? Natsu wasn't sure and he didn't want to find out. He sighed and turned out the lights again and went back to sleep.

Then next morning when Natsu woke up, Zeref was still very much asleep. He looked dead to the world at that very moment. "Hey… Zeref, you awake?" Natsu whispered quietly, just to make sure. When Zeref didn't respond Natsu let out the breath he'd been holding. He still couldn't quite believe what he had done. This was surely treason, wasn't it? Who knew what the kingdom would say if they ever found out that Natsu housed the dark mage in his home for the night and helped him when he was sick!

"Natsu?" he heard Zeref mumble. Natsu jumped and whirled around, ready to fight. He ALMOST felt bad for taking a defensive position. Zeref was squinting at him and coughed before bolting upright. "Natsu! So last night wasn't a dream…" he whispered quietly. He coughed again and stood up. Natsu didn't relinquish the defensive position. Zeref was still the evilest wizard on earth, ill or not. He'd probably walked out of an explosion that tore him to pieces… well, would've torn him to pieces had he not been the evilest wizard on earth, that was right, wasn't it? Natsu felt that for once, it was.

Zeref stumbled toward him. Natsu kept his fists up and stood still, almost as if frozen. All at once Zeref tripped over another of his items. Natsu, thankfully, caught him before Zeref hit the ground. Sitting here with him, Natsu thought Zeref could've almost been an ordinary teenager. "You've got to be more careful." Natsu grumbled.

"You're the last person I want a lecture about safety from." Zeref said, a small smile adorning his face.

"Gee, I feel so loved." Natsu said sarcastically. Zeref just kept smiling softly and even chuckled a bit. Natsu felt Zeref wrap his arms around Natsu's neck. Natsu wasn't sure what was happening. "Zeref, are you okay?"

"Yes, I feel much better. I think I'll be leaving today. Your scarf has protected you this long. I don't want to think of what will happen if it's protection runs out before I leave your presence… but, Natsu… thank you. For everything. Helping me, letting me stay here, simply being here. You've made me happier than I have been in a long time. I was beginning to think there was no hope left for your kind." The last part was said in a whisper.

"Um… your welcome I guess." Natsu said, a slow grin coming to his face. Though, for the record, Natsu was always grinning so, nothing was new there.

"I will take my leave now so I'm no longer in your way. And thank you." Zeref kissed Natsu's forehead. That was a little too much thanks in Natsu's opinion, though he supposed it was a black wizard thing? Natsu wasn't sure of the reason, but he didn't find himself cringing like he thought he would. "Goodbye, Natsu."

"Um… goodbye." Natsu smiled and waved as Zeref took his still slightly wet clothes.

"Oh, do you want this back?" Zeref pointed to the pajamas.

"Uh, you can keep them."

"Really? Thanks! You truly are kind hearted." Natsu didn't know why he was thanking him but shrugged and said your welcome anyway.

"You know that next time we meet we will probably be enemies, don't you?" Zeref asked a small frown finding his features.

"Yeah, but this wasn't about helping or not helping an enemy. This was about doing the right thing and I knew that I couldn't leave you out there in the rain to die."

"You know that I wouldn't have died."

"Well, the point is that it was the right thing to do. I did for you what I would've done for anyone else in that situation." Natsu said.

"I see…" Natsu grinned and patted Zeref's shoulder.

"Take care… well, I mean. Just, get better from whatever you caught in the rain, okay? That's what I meant. But just know that the next time I see you… I'm gonna beat you into next week, got it."

"Yes."

"That was a joke."

"I hadn't realized."

"Well, it wasn't just a joke. I will beat you, but it will be no less than into next month." Natsu grinned at the thought of that.

Zeref waved to him and smiled softly. And Natsu gave him a thumbs up. Natsu thought that this encounter had been a strange one, but it was one he hadn't completely regreted. Maybe he should listen to his first instincts more often. He supposed that they were right more often then not. He had good judgement. Take THAT Lucy!

Later that day at the guild hall Natsu was eating his lunch when Lucy came up to him to inquire about something taken from her household last night. "Hey Natsu, I found that some bottles in my medicine cabinet were missing, do you know anything about that?"

"Uh… nope, I had nothing to do with that."

A/N So, I wasn't supposed to update until this Thursday (Valentines day) but I'm super bored because we're snowed-in here and can literally, not get out of the driveway. It's terrible. So, here's a new chapter that I hope you enjoyed, because I had fun writing it. So, thanks for reading, I will update sometime later today (again, because I'm bored and no other stories have new chapters yet). Then again on Thursday. I also have and new story out called The Devil and Me, a Zeref x Natsu multi-chap in which Zeref is an incubus, and Natsu wants an extraordinary life... until he doesn't. First two chapters done, next out on Thursday along with my Valentines day special. Reviews/favorites/follows are all appreciated so drop one of those if you liked this. Thanks for reading this, have a good day, bye!