Day 4 of NaLu Week is here! I must thank my best friend for the idea for this story. Also, I'm sure everyone knows who Natsu actually is, but if not, this spoils chapter 465 and up.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

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Secrets (Day 4)

Zeref stumbled, bloodied-faced, falling onto his knees, but he continued to smile. His clothes were torn, but he was happy and proud…he was a proud older brother, but even though he was proud, the younger Dragneel brother couldn't be angrier. Zeref attacked his family, attempted to kill Gramps, killed the first master, and so many more. Now he's telling him a big fat lie about who the pink haired dragon slayer was?! If Zeref would just die, most of Natsu's troubles would vanish instantly! He was mad! If it was the last thing Natsu would ever do, it would be killing Zeref. Natsu would never stop until he was dead.

So he charged at him and seeing him smile made him even angrier! How can someone smile after causing a deadly war between two countries only because he wanted something they had smile like that?! It sickened him!

"You are a demon of the Book of Zeref," Zeref said, but Natsu refused to believe it was true. There was no way…no way at all! "Once you kill me…"

"…you will cease to exist as well," Zeref was happy as tears came to his eyes. He was finally going to die…finally! He would finally get to die with his beloved brother and reunite with Mavis…finally…

Natsu pulled his flaming fist back, "LIKE I GIVE A CRAP!"

Happy loved Natsu. He was like his father. He hatched him and raised him. He believed that Zeref was telling the truth. If it was a lie, when he shot a whole through the book of E.N.D, it wouldn't have hurt Natsu. It was all true…Natsu is E.N.D…and if that is true, then everything Zeref was saying is true too. Happy didn't want Natsu to die…

"NATSU~!"

"I WON'T LOSE SIGHT OF WHAT I CAME HERE TO DO!" Natsu shouted, "MY RESOLVE WON'T WAVER! I CAME HERE TO ERASE YOU…YOUR STORY DOESN'T CHANGE A FLIPPIN' THING!"
"This will be your very last chance to stop me."

Happy dove toward the bleeding and broken dragon slayer and grabbed him before Natsu hit him. He picked him up and few away from Zeref so his fire won't hit him

"Happy! What the heck are you doing?! Let me down!"

"I don't want this…" Happy sniffed, "Natsu…" It's been a while since Natsu had heard that sobbing noise in his best friend's voice. He turned his head to look at Happy to see tears streaming down his face and fear in his eyes…fear of losing him. "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU…NATSU~!"

"Let me down!" Natsu exclaimed, trying to reason with him. "Igneel's power is about to disappear! If we let Zeref go now, we'll never defeat him!"
"YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND, NATSU!" Happy sobbed hysterically. "AM I NOT THE SAME WITHOUT YOU?!"

Natsu was at a lost for words. Seeing Happy cry this hard made him feel empty, like he was the one who caused it. He remained silent as Happy flew farther and farther away from Zeref.

"I'm taking you home to the guild! Just try and stop me!" Happy shouted.

Natsu didn't argue and watched as the last of Igneel's power faded away…

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Not only does Natsu get nightmares of that day almost every night, but everything Zeref said about his back story…about being his brother…began to make sense. Dragons lived 400 years ago and he was raised by one. Then Igneel suddenly "disappeared" which led to him going through the Eclipse Gate, thanks to Anna and Layla Heartfilia. It just made sense now!

Something that worried him was Gray's reaction. Natsu is E.N.D and that's not something he could just ignore. He is a demon and the most powerful one at that. Gray is determined to put end to E.N.D because it was his father's last wish. Natsu was all for the idea and wanted to help Gray, but now…well, not so much. Natsu knows Gray would never hurt let alone kill him, but still…

Another thing was the other dragon slayers' reaction. Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue along with himself were all born 400 years in the past and brought to the present to kill Acnologia. Natsu was sure they wouldn't take it very well…knowing the reason their dragons abandoned them…

All of those scenarios would be okay in the end: Gray's a man, it might come to a shock to him and like before, he would never kill Natsu. He most likely try to find a way to get E.N.D separated from Natsu and then destroy it rather than just kill him altogether. Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue will face the truth and get over the shock. They'll finally know what really happened to them and their dragons and then continue on with life. Therefore, Natsu didn't have to worry about either of those scenarios, but there was one that thing that haunted Natsu day in and day out:

Layla and Lucy…

It just drove him insane! Lucy's mother died because of him. He knows how much Lucy loves her mother and finding out that it's his fault that she died makes him…so guilty…Lucy was his best friend – and not to mention, his favorite person – and he felt so horrible! If Lucy found out, she'll be so angry with him! She will never talk to him again!

Everyone at Fairy Tail was informed shortly after the war with Zeref ended that Natsu is E.N.D. As expected, it was a real shock to everyone; Gray couldn't believe it, but like Natsu predicted, Gray promised himself and Natsu that he would find away to separate him and E.N.D and then destroy it. Natsu and Happy also explained to everyone that the dragon slayers (minus Laxus and Cobra) were born 400 years ago and came here through the Eclipse Gate. However, before that day, Natsu asked Happy not to tell them about Layla's role. Happy agreed, but didn't like it. Lucy had a right to know. It was her mother for goodness' sake. She deserves to know how she died. Natsu agreed with him, but he wanted to tell Lucy himself. It would be easier if it wasn't in front of the whole guild.

However, every time Natsu approached Lucy, he would just chicken out. There would definitely be tears and probably yelling and a heartbreak and Natsu just couldn't handle seeing Lucy break like that. Also, every time she approached him, he would zone out on what she was saying and would just think about how heartbroken she would be when she finds out the truth…and angry. Let's not forget about that. Lucy would be so mad that her mother died because of Natsu…

Natsu kept putting it off. Whenever Lucy would come up to him, he'd dart off, saying he had somewhere to be and that he'd talk to her later. At first, Lucy would just shrug, but now that he avoided her for the millionth time, she knew something was up. He was hiding something; he was keeping secrets from her.

Lucy wanted to know what the problem was. So therefore, she left the guild hall, late at night, and made her way toward Natsu and Happy's house. They had stopped breaking into her house just to avoid her and Lucy will be honest…she misses the warmth Natsu gave off when she was sleeping.

She knocked when she reached his house and tried not to be mad. She was mad because he was avoiding her, but she didn't want to show it. She could see in his eyes each time he ran away that he was hurting…and she didn't want to make the pain worse.

Natsu opened the door and widened his eyes when they met hers, "L-Lucy?!"

She smiled, "Hey Natsu. I really need to talk to you about something. Can I come in?"

Then she saw it: the pain reflecting in the eyes. It made her want to throw her arms around him and comfort him in any way she possibly could. It hurt her seeing him, the Great Salamander of Fairy Tail, hurting on the inside.

"U-uh…" Natsu shifted his weight on each foot. "I-I can't right now, Lucy. I'm a bit busy. I'll talk to you later."

He began to shut the door, but Lucy put her foot in the way before to stop it. It hurt, but she didn't cringe and that let Natsu know that she was serious.

"Natsu, this is important. Please?"

He hesitated before sighing and opening the door for her. He knew it would come down to this sometime. He knew what she was here for, but he still wasn't ready to tell her yet.

Lucy stepped him and grabbed his hand after he shut the door. He let her pull him to his couch where they sat down.

Happy perked up from his fish and looked over at them, eyes widening when he saw Lucy. "L-Lucy!" That look in their eyes…Natsu was finally going to tell her…he grabbed his fish and a couple more and said, "I'll leave you two alone…" and left. It was dark out, but he left the house anyway and went to the guild hall.

When they were alone, Lucy turned to Natsu who had his head down, hiding his face. She scooted closer – as if they weren't any closer: a mere few inches, but they didn't care about the closeness – and squeezed his hand. Unlike any of the other times, the closeness and held hands didn't bother them; it wasn't awkward.

"Natsu?"

"…Do you…know how your mother died?"

Lucy's eyes widened. Out of all the things she expected this problem to be, it wasn't about her mother. Why would he even ask that? She's her mother's daughter. Of course she knows how her mother died.

"Well, yeah of course. It was a sickness."

"No, it wasn't."

She blinked, "huh?"

"…400 years ago, when the other dragon slayers and I were going to go through the Eclipse Gate, Anna used the twelve zodiac keys to open it for us."

"Who's Anna?"

"Your ancestor."

Her eyes widened as she blinked a few times in astonishment.

"400 years later, your mother opened it again to let us out, but…there was a slight problem…" When Lucy remained silent, Natsu continued, "She was missing the Aquarius key…so she used her life force as a replacement and died that same day."

Lucy could feel tears prick at her eyes, "h-how do you know this?"
"Zeref told me…at first, I didn't believe it, but with more days going by, I began to realize that it was true: that I'm E.N.D, I'm Zeref's brother, I was born 400 years ago…and that it's my fault your mother died…"

Lucy made a face, "wait, what?! Hold on a sec-"

Natsu violently shook his head, tears coming to his own eyes, "No! No! It's my fault! I know how much you love your mother and it's my fault she's dead! I'm so sorry! Lucy, I'm so so-"

"Natsu!" Lucy grabbed his shoulders to settle him down, her own tears running down her cheeks as well. It hurt, anything about her mother's death always hurt, but no matter how you slice and dice it, it wasn't Natsu's fault. She would never blame him. "Mama's death isn't your fault!"

"Yes, it is!"

Lucy sighed and wiped her tears away, finding her composure, "okay, let's say it is your fault. That would make it Wendy and Gajeel's fault too, not to mention Sting and Rogue's. Natsu, my mom had to open the gate. She didn't have a choice and she couldn't wait for the Aquarius Key to come to her…and listen, I'm thankful-"

Natsu's head shot up to look her in the eyes for the first time. They were bloodshot and had bags under them, probably from lack of sleep. "Thankful?! You're thankful for you mother's death?! Lucy-"

"I didn't finish!" Lucy said, "Just like anybody else, I wish my mom hadn't died, but if that was the case, I wouldn't have been able to meet you…and in a way, I'm thankful for that."

"Don't say that, Lucy! I'm a demon! I'm not-"

"I don't care!" Lucy took Natsu's face into her hands so he was looking her directly in the eyes. "I don't care if you're E.N.D. I don't care who you're related to. I don't care if you're over 400 years old! You're my best friend, Natsu, and I love you. I don't care if you're a demon."

Natsu blinked a few times, trying to grasp what just happened, "Did she…just say what I think she just said?..."

Lucy could see the question in his eyes and pulled his face toward hers to tenderly peck his lips. "Don't keep secrets from me, okay?" She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't keep secrets from me."

"Okay," he buried his face in her neck as his arms wound around her waist. "I love you. I won't keep any more secrets from you. I promise."

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Ta-da! I hope you enjoyed and Happy Fourth of July for America! This is one of my favorite holidays! I love fireworks!

-zEllie