A/N: Here's the next chapter. I was just rereading all my reviews and I was like, these people are so nice! Thank you everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and/or followed CHCM! Now without ado, the next chapter!

Awesome cover by BakaFangirl.

All rights to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 6: Hearts Meet Again

Lucy stared at the man in front of her in disbelief, sure she had heard something incorrect. "What did you say?" she demanded, voice higher than normal in her panic.

"His younger brother," Makarov repeated, "is in our guild."

"You're lying," Lucy whispered, "Zeref doesn't have any family, he can't. He is the vilest creature on the face of the planet without an ounce of love in his body."

"Maybe so, but a valued member of our guild is this man's younger brother," Makarov assured her.

Lucy stared at the old man for a moment longer, before throwing her head back and laughing hysterically. The final piece to the puzzle had been so close, yet so far this whole time. Of course Zeref's only living relative would be a part of Fairy Tail. It made sense. As ironic and terrible and hilarious as it was, it made sense.

"Is she alright?" Lucy vaguely heard Makarov asking Virgo. Virgo did not respond verbally, but Lucy was sure that she nodded.

Lucy let out a few more bursts of laughter before stopping abruptly and snapping her head to face Makarov once more. "I want to meet the younger brother of Zeref Dragneel. Bring him here at once," Lucy demanded, her eyes hard and cold. She was so close to ending the suffering she had endured since she was born, the suffering her friends had endured with her.

"O-of course," Makarov stuttered in surprise. He pulled a cord hanging down behind his desk. In moments a white-haired girl stuck her head through the door.

"You called Master," she said in a sweet voice, ignoring all the strange figures in the room.

"Yes, Mira," Makarov replied, "I need you to bring Natsu up here. Our guests would like to meet him."
"Right away Master," Mira smiled and left.

"It'll be a minute," Makarov sighed, leaning back in his chair. Lucy simply nodded and sat in silence. She was fairly good at waiting.

The door opened again and a pink haired boy stumbled into the room, pushed from behind. "You called Gramps?" the boy asked yawning slightly and scratching his stomach lazily.

"Yes," Makarov's face was stern, "our guests wanted to meet you."

"Oh," Natsu blinked at the girl standing front of his master's desk. "Wait a minute, Layla?!"

"My name is actually Lucy. I take it your real name is Natsu, Igneel?" Lucy responded, stepping forwards and shaking his hand.

"Ah, yeah," Natsu blinked in confusion, "so you don't work at a bookstore?"

"No," Lucy sighed, "I am the leader of the Celestials."

"Oh," Natsu said.

"So moving on," Lucy started to say turning to the desk, but Natsu interrupted.

"LEADER OF THE CELESTIALS!" he roared suddenly, gaping at her.

Lucy frowned slightly at him and responded in a calm voice, "yes."

"THAT BASTARD LOKE BELONGS TO YOU THEN?!" Natsu continued in a louder than necessary voice.

"He is my friend, yes," Lucy replied, eyes flashing dangerously at Natsu's choice of words.

"He needs to apologize to my family and to me," Natsu demanded.

"Leo need not do such a thing," Lucy scowled at the boy, "but unless you shut up, I'll have him take a go at everyone else in your precious family." Natsu gulped and shut up. "Now sit." Lucy pointed to the chair in the middle of the room. Natsu sat.

"Here is the picture, my Lady," Leo, with his hood still on, handed Lucy the picture of Zeref.

"Thank you," Lucy said, not taking her eyes off the slouching boy in front of her. He could hardly be called a man right now, despite his actual age. Whatever that was.

"Do you know this man?" Lucy asked Natsu, handing him the photo.

Natsu took it and studied for a solid minute before shaking his head. "Never seen 'em before." He handed the photograph back to Lucy.

"He doesn't even look remotely familiar?" Lucy pressed, "not even the slightest tickle at the back of your mind."

"No offense, but it'd be kinda weird if a piece a paper with a strange lookin' man on it tickled my mind. You might wanna go get that brain o' yours checked out, weirdo," Natsu replied scratching the back of his head.

Lucy's eye twitched in annoyance, but she suppressed it. "It's a figure of speech Natsu," she explained, "I meant, do you really have no recollection of seeing this man anywhere at all, no matter how young you were."

"If that's what you meant, you coulda just said so in the first place, weirdo," Natsu eyed the girl, "lemme think cause now that you says so, I mighta seen somethin' similiar somewhere."

"I'm not weird," Lucy hissed at the boy, her patience almost gone. Good lord this boy was wearing on her nerves.

"The library," Natsu said suddenly, ignoring Lucy's remark, "I saw 'em in one o' the books in the guild library. It was a real thick one next to the fish books."

"What were you doing in the library?" Makarov groaned in horror, thinking of the destruction that had probably been brought upon the place.

"Happy wanted to look at pictures o' fish the other night, so him and I snuck in after everyone else went to bed. Otherwise ya wouldn'ta let us," Natsu informed the old man. Makarov paled.

"Never mind that," Lucy snapped, "lead the way dragon boy."

"Dragon boy?" Natsu looked at her, "you sure are weird, weirdo, I'm a human."

"Sure, sure," Lucy answered distractedly, swinging her cloak back around her shoulders, "let's move out."

Natsu stood, yawned, and stretched. "It's this way," he mumbled sleepily and wandered out of the room.

A/N: This was another kinda short chapter, but I'mma post it anyway, because I think that it is a good place to end a chapter.

Thanks for reading (and reviewing and favoriting and following and all that jazz),

Artistofthemind