Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail.
Summary: Zeref's home for Easter and he is enlisted by his father to be... what, the Easter Bunny!
It was April 21st, Easter. "You have got to be kidding me." Zeref said.
"Nope, I'm not kidding in the slightest." Igneel said, holding up the costume. Zeref scowled and shook his head.
"No." was all he said. Igneel glared.
"Don't you remember? You owe me Zeref. Now just do this for your brother. I'll pay you!... 20! I'll pay you a whole 20 dollars!" Zeref rolled his eyes. It was free twenty dollars. But he got paid more than that after two hours of work. He sighed.
"Fine." Zeref said. Igneel looked relieved. Zeref sighed, he couldn't believe he was doing this. Just as Zeref closed the door to his bedroom Natsu started hopping down the steps, excited because today, he, Lucy, Erza, and even that stupid Gray, were all going Easter egg hunting together. Igneel had even said that the Easter bunny was going to make an official appearance. Natsu was so excited. He couldn't believe it! He was going to see the Easter bunny for the first time ever!
"Morning daddy." Natsu said. Igneel smiled at his youngest son.
"Good morning, my little dragon. Finally awake I see." Natsu pouted and then started bouncing.
"Is the Easter bunny here yet?" he asked.
"He will be very soon. Daddy's already called him, and the Easter bunny is on his way." Natsu looked around.
"Where's Zeref?" he asked curiously.
"Nowhere!" Igneel said a little too quickly and then gave a small, nervous chuckle. "I mean… nowhere." He said more calmly. Natsu was still a little suspicious but shrugged and went on his little merry way.
"You have got to be kidding me." Zeref said as he walked down the stairs. "This is utterly ridiculous." Igneel turned around and spit out his coffee and started coughing. Zeref only stood at the foot of the stairs and scowled.
"You look…" Igneel trailed off.
"Ludicrous?"
"Aaaaaadorable!" Igneel exclaimed. "I just want to squeeze you to death!"
"Did you have to say it in a creepy way?" Zeref asked. Igneel shrugged. In his opinion, what he'd said wasn't the least bit disturbing. "Really? You have nothing to say for yourself?"
"Nope." Zeref rolled his eyes. "Believe me. Once you get out there and see those little faces light up, it will all be worth it!" Igneel assured him.
"Doubtful." Zeref said blatantly.
"I'll take it. You didn't say impossible, so I will take what I can get!" Igneel said happily. Zeref groaned.
"Whatever."
"Anyway, let's get out there!"
"Well, who's coming anyway?"
"Oh well, Erza and Mrs. Scarlet. Gray and Mr. Fullbuster, and Lucy and her sister, Mavis. She goes to your school, doesn't she?" Zeref paled.
"No. there's no way I'm doing this now." Zeref said and turned around.
"WAIT, NO!" Igneel cried. "I'll pay you… uh… fifty!" Zeref turned back around.
"I'm listening."
"Um… I'll pay you 60!"
"Getting there."
"Alright, alright! I'll pay you 100."
"Promise?"
"Promise." Igneel said, crossing his heart. Zeref sighed.
"Oh, alright. I guess I'll do it then." Igneel's eyes lit up.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he cried. "You will not regret this! You are going to make those kids so happy!"
"Shut up before I change my mind." Zeref grumbled. He knew he shouldn't have come home for something as minor as Easter. He should've known his dad would rope him into something tasteless and humiliating. Zeref worked up all the courage he had and stepped outside. Maybe Mavis wouldn't even come. Then there'd be no problem. Although, maybe she wouldn't even know it was him! but… it was kind of obvious. And his dad would no doubt, shout it to everyone he knew. And that included Mavis. Zeref sighed and put the head on. At least it was well made.
Then, he went outside. There, it was absolute pandemonium. There were only 4 kids, but they ran and screamed after each other. Zeref flinched and glared at his father. Igneel KNEW Zeref hated loud noises, parties, and virtually anything social. Oh, and he did NOT look adorable.
When Natsu saw him, he screamed. Zeref stood there shocked and wondered for and instant if he looked terrifying. "IT'S THE EASTER BUNNY!" Natsu shrieked. Zeref flinched again as Natsu barreled into him, knocking him over. The Easter basket in his hand went flying. Thankfully Igneel caught it and all the eggs didn't go rolling out. "ARE YOU GOING TO HIDE THE EASTER EGGS? HOW COME YOU ONLY COME ONCE A YEAR? DO YOU KNOW SANTA? ARE YOU REALLY THE EASTER BUNNY?"
"Uh…" Zeref though, soon learned that these questions were rhetorical.
"You hide the eggs! We'll close our eyes real tight!" he cried.
"Alright, no peeking." Zeref said. Natsu blinked at him.
"Why do you sound like my brother." Zeref opened his mouth to answer, and then realized he didn't have one. Thankfully, he didn't need to because Natsu had already moved on. "I guess you just have the same voice. Oh well, who knew the Easter bunny had a girly voice." They all shrugged. Zeref glared. His voice was not girly was it? Don't kill them, Zeref thought.
"Okay, I'm going to hide the eggs now." Zeref said.
"OKAY!" They all screamed. Zeref flinched and went to go hide the eggs. When he was done all the kids started screaming and running.
"HEY! Z-E-R-E-F!" Igneel cried. "Mavis wants to talk to you." Zeref's eyes landed on the petite woman just behind Igneel. He gulped and glared at his dad who shrugged.
"Hey, can I talk to you?" Mavis asked. Zeref slowly nodded and then realized she couldn't see inside of his rabbit costume.
"Um, sure." Zeref said and she led him by the hand away. Zeref took off his head piece so he could look at her. she blushed.
"I almost wish you'd kept that on. It would be easier to confess." Zeref blinked. Confess? What did she do? she took a deep breath and let it out. "Zeref, I like you. I've liked you for a long time and the reason I came here with Lucy today was to finally own-up to something I was too scared to admit in high school… and I understand if you don't have the same feelings as me. I still want to be friends, but I just had to tell you, so I didn't feel like something was hanging over my head for the rest of my life." she gave a nervous laugh.
"Oh…" Zeref said quietly. His throat was constricting. He wanted to tell her, he needed to tell her, but he just wouldn't speak. "I-I like you too!" he blurted, probably a little too loud. She blinked at him and then giggled.
"That's good I guess. I honestly thought you were gonna think I was weird." She gave another laugh. "But I'm glad to know I didn't have to go with my second option." She said. Zeref raised an eyebrow.
"Second option?" Zeref asked.
"The person I was going to confess to if you said no." Zeref blinked at her.
"Oh… well, do you like him better?" Mavis rolled her eyes.
"If I liked him better I would've confessed to him first, dummy." She said with a giggle. Zeref nodded dumbly. Mavis bit her lip. She looked cute, he wanted to kiss her. just as he thought this Mavis stood on tip-toe and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. She pulled away blushing furiously. It made Zeref feel like a love-sick high schooler instead of a young adult in college. She waved goodbye and then ran off with a red face.
Later that night, when Natsu was about to go to sleep, his younger brother was telling him all about the Easter bunny. Apparently, it was the best thing in the world. Zeref was smiling and nodding. He supposed it WAS kind of nice to know that he had been the one to be responsible for that look of pure joy. "It sounds like you had an eventful day." Natsu yawned and nodded.
"Yeah, it was great." Zeref smoothed his covers down and kissed his forehead. "It's sad you had to miss it."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Natsu flipped over and burrowed under his covers. Zeref sat there, watching for a moment longer, slightly wishing that he was the small child in that bed. It was wishful thinking he knew, but it was nice.
"Goodnight Natsu."
"Night." Zeref then stood up and went back downstairs. Igneel looked up from his work.
"Hello." Igneel said, grinning. "So, tell me, was it worth it? To see how happy, he was." Zeref rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. I guess." He grumbled and then flicked his eyes up. "But it's not like that's going to get you out of handing me that 100." Zeref said. Igneel pouted.
"I was hoping you'd forget."
"Wishful thinking." Zeref said. Igneel scowled and slowly got up and went to get his wallet.
Igneel returned and opened the wallet and started sifting through its contents. "You are happy that you came back for the holiday though, yes?"
"Yes." Zeref said with a sigh. Igneel grinned.
"Good, no changing your mind now." Zeref raised an eyebrow. Igneel gave Zeref a bill. Zeref looked at it. It was a one-dollar bill. "There you are now, 100 cents." Zeref blinked at the dollar confused, before realizing his father never said he'd give him $100, just that he'd give him 100. By the time this clicked Igneel had already slammed his bedroom door and locked it. Zeref stood there for a few more seconds before lividly rushing to the door and threatening to break it down.
"DAAAAD!"
A/N Shoot, I totally forgot about Easter. Oh well. Thanks for reading reviews/favs/follows all appreciated.