A/N Sorry for the wait! I'm working on a lot of projects at the moment, so it'll take a bit longer for me to update. Here's the chapter!

The train rushed by. Team Natsu was silent. Natsu was out because of motion sickness, and Lucy sat by Zeref, since nobody else wanted to. Gray was trying hard not to lash out and kill the guy, though, it was not like he'd die anyway. Erza remained calm like usual, to Lucy's surprise, since Zeref gave her a rough past.

"What is Fairy Tail like?" Zeref asked, attempting to cut the ice.

"Why do you want to know?" Gray huffed.

"Gray!" Lucy said, right before Gray's brow twitched in annoyance.

"If anyone should be asking questions, it's us!"

"Gray, now's not the time," Erza stated.

Lucy knew that Erza was being cautious, since they were in a public area. It would be bad if someone discovered Zeref's presence.

"Tch."

Things silenced for a minute, but Lucy spoke up.

"Fairy Tail is a family, not a place. And, anyone is aloud to have a second chance there," Lucy explained.

"A second chance?"

…

Zeref didn't think he deserved such a thing after all he had done. He had obviously done something to upset the man known as Gray Fullbuster, and the woman known as Erza Scarlet seemed to be holding back fierce emotions as well.

He gazed at the unconscious Natsu that was resting on Erza's lap. Natsu was someone that was, and would always be precious to him, even if Natsu didn't know it himself. If Zeref didn't want to improve himself for his own wellbeing, perhaps he would do it for his brother's sake. Yes, he would reforge their lost bond to the best of his ability, and if he failed, Fairy Tail would be there to take him out.

"That sounds nice," he uttered, to everyone's surprise.

He looked up and saw Lucy's bright smile. It was a smile that could make even the devil blush. The irony in that thought was that the devil was in that room, unconscious. Though, the devil didn't act very demon-like.

Zeref looked away. He felt some heat sweep over his cheeks, and hoped that no one saw. However, a certain blue exceed was giving him a certain look, and Zeref gave him a glare that said 'I will kill you in your sleep if you say anything' in return. That prevented the cat from speaking, but the smug look was still there.

The train eventually pulled to a stop and everyone got off. Natsu was still moaning, somehow managing to completely ignore Zeref's presence, and Lucy did her best to help him recover.

"We're here," Erza stated.

Zeref gazed upward and saw Fairy Tail. It was bigger than he imagined. Mavis did a good job creating the place.

"Now, Zeref, I'm sure our fellow guild members are going to be alarmed when you enter, so do not to anything rash, and let Lucy and I do the talking. Understand?"

He nodded, not wishing to upset the redhead.

Erza shoved the door open and held it in place with one arm. Lucy and Gray were the first to enter and Zeref followed closely behind, trying to stay as hidden as possible.

"Welcome back!" a white-haired girl at the bar counter greeted.

"Mira, can you get the master? There's something we need to tell him," Erza said.

"Sure."

Mira ran off and Zeref took some time to examine the area. There was a giant fight in the center of the guild that was happening right in front of an empty stage. Some members were stuffing their faces with food, others were drinking, and there were only a few that were having civilized conversations.

'This is Mavis's guild? The guild that was watching over Natsu all these years?' he thought, not sure what to think.

But, if people as kind as Lucy Heartfilia could come out, it must not be too bad. Zeref has always had a tough time remembering not to judge people by a first impression.

Mira came back with a short old man that he assumed was the current master. He had a look of confidence that showed proof of experience.

"Quiet, brats!" the old man hollered.

The room went silent, to Zeref's shock. He didn't think it was possible to quiet any of them down.

"Now, what is it you want to tell me?" he asked, Erza.

Erza made a gesture to Lucy and Lucy stepped away, revealing Zeref. People gasped.

"Is that..."

"Yes. I am Zeref."

"You let the darkest mage of all times into our guild?!" everyone bellowed.

"I tried to tell her not to, but she and Lucy were persistent," Gray retorted, not wanting part in any of what was happening.

"I want to punch this guy's face, but they won't let me!" Natsu complained, fully recovered.

"You got a lot of nerve coming here!" a spiky black-haired man yelled, as iron covered his arms.

So, the guild had more dragonslayers than Natsu. Interesting.

"Gajeel!" the master exclaimed.

"But-"

Every mage had their magic ready. There were other exceeds to, and one was in a big, muscular form. As far as Zeref could tell, there were three other dragonslayers than Natsu there, but one wasn't a first gen.

"Everyone, stand down!" he ordered, again.

They all paused, but glared at Zeref. Lucy was ready for any of them to attack, despite how she clearly didn't want to hurt any of her comrades. All of Team Natsu was ready to defend him, even though most of them didn't like him. He didn't understand. Why were they doing it? Was it because of Lucy, or something else?

"Someone, explain."

"We were on a mission when Zeref saved us from this monster that was immune of our attacks. We were going to take him out, but Lucy defended him," Gray explained.

"And, what's your explanation, Zeref? Why did you save them?"

"I-I don't know."

It was the truth. He only intervened, because Lucy was involved. Well, and the fact that his brother was there. If it wasn't for that, he would've disappeared before the monster got close to him.

"Was it out of reflex, or did you have other intentions?"

It wasn't a question he was supposed to answer.

"Either way, you saved their lives, so I'll thank you. However, if you hurt anyone, I repeat, anyone, don't think we'll go easy on you."

"Master, what are you saying?" a girl with brown hair and glasses asked.

"I'm saying that I'm going to give Zeref a second chance. Zeref, do you want to join Fairy Tail?"

Everyone, including him, was awe-struck. He didn't think the master would ask him something so big, so soon, or at all, without any punishment.

"Even after all the trouble I caused?"

"Our guild is about moving on for the sake of finding happiness. If I let someone like you forever drown in despair, I would never be able to forgive myself."

The master was a noble man. Zeref now understood why Fairy Tail was a respected guild, though, he bet that they weren't going to be kind to him when he first joined.

"I want to join Fairy Tail," he decided.

"Wha-"

That was Natsu's voice, but he did his best to ignore it. He needed to move forward then more than ever before.

"Mira, get the stamps."

Mira nodded and ran off.

"My name is Makarov Dreyar, and I'm the current master of Fairy Tail."

He went through a list of names, and gestured to everyone in the guild. Zeref was a quick learner, so the names stuck pretty easily.

Pretty much all of them gave him angry or concerned looks. They all knew it was a bad idea to to let him join, and he had a feeling that something would happen, but he was surrounded by a bunch of powerful mages, and one that was immune to his curse, so as long as that was the case, they should be able to keep him under control.

"What color guild mark do you want?" Mirajane Strauss asked.

Normally, he would've said 'black', but since he was hoping for his time at Fairy Tail to improve himself, he decided against it, since that color normally gave negative vibes.

"White."

"Where do you want it?"

He got it on his wrist.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Zeref."