Lucy stared at Zeref for a long moment, trying to process what he had said. Natsu - her Natsu - was Zeref's little brother. Clumsy, Dense, lovable Natsu. Part of her accepted it, but another part of her couldn't seem to comprehend what it was the raven-haired man was telling her. It wasn't until Zeref shook her that she realized she'd been saying 'our Natsu' repeatedly, as if saying it enough would make Zeref deny what he had already confirmed.

"I don't understand," Lucy finally said. "Mavis said that it was a possibility, but I didn't really believe her. Natsu's the same age as myself - how on earth could he be your brother?"

Zeref sighed, "Of course he is. Natsu did die after all. Granted that was a long time ago, but it did happen. Natsu was very little when he became very ill and died. I spent so much time trying to bring him back, I finally managed it. Mostly."

"Mostly?" Lucy raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Zeref hung his head, "Natsu is part demon. I created the demon and put him in Natsu's body, but you can still see Natsu in there, in his courage, his kindness, his love for his family. That's the Natsu I remember."

Zeref looked up to see Lucy's eyes wide with horror. His gut twisted, knowing that she was shocked and terrified by his confession. Natsu was good, through and through, Zeref knew that, but that didn't stop the fact that there was a monster inside the boy that could take over at any moment. He shifted uncomfortably, knowing that was his fault.

"So what happened?" Lucy finally asked in a whisper.

Zeref looked up in shock, Lucy still looked terrified, but she was determined to know Natsu's history.

"What do you mean?"

"How did Natsu go from being a body with a demon to Igneel's son?"

Zeref sighed, "I'm not really sure what happened, to be honest. I succeeded in bringing him back, but he was in a deep coma. Then the final war came and Mavis, with the help of her friends, sealed me on Tenrou Island, I'm still not even sure how I managed to get off the island with you guys. Natsu was comatose when they put me away. I can only imagine that he finally woke up to find everything had changed. Without me he would be unsure of who or what he was. I can imagine that he managed to leave the lab, which would probably be ruins by now, and somehow Igneel found him wandering in the woods, lost and alone."

Zeref bowed his head again, too afraid to look at his girlfriend and see the judgment he knew must be behind those beautiful brown eyes. What kind of person could make his brother part demon? He hated himself for it, but back then he had been desperate to bring his little brother back and anything would have been okay with him, so long as he could see that beautiful, bright smile again. Natsu had been the one good thing in his life and when the boy had died, Zeref had fallen to pieces. He could see now how he had been wrong to fuse a demon with the boy, but overall he still wasn't sure that he had been wrong to bring the boy back.

"I do have one more question," Lucy finally whispered, sitting up straighter. "How is it that Natsu can't remember any of this, but he remembers his name?"

Zeref shrugged, "Your name is one of the first things a person learns. It's the easiest thing to remember. Natsu probably remembered it because it had been so ingrained into him. While he was comatose I used to tell him everyday 'Your name is Natsu. I'm your brother, Zeref, and when you wake I will show you the world.' Of course, when he woke I was gone."

Lucy watched Zeref in surprise. His heart was just as big as her best friend's heart was. All he really wanted was to have his brother back, after all. Lucy smiled softly, recalling the first time she met Natsu and how he had been searching for Igneel. The two were more alike than they knew.

She giggled at the thought of the two of them together. Even though Natsu didn't know he was Zeref's little brother, the two were still so much alike and already they were thick as thieves. Lucy frowned, recalling how they were. They might be too much alike, however, in the fact that they both felt Lucy should belong to themselves. She recalled what Gray had said about their fight and she squirmed uncomfortably, hoping that she wouldn't be causing them too much trouble. She didn't want them to be fighting, especially not about her.

Zeref looked at her in surprise, "Why are you laughing?"

She grinned, pulling him close to her so that she could kiss him, "Just that the more I think about it the more I see how much you and Natsu are alike. It was hard for me to believe at first, but it's becoming easier as I think about. You're both fearless, loyal, and caring. You give your all in everything you do. I can see that Natsu must have looked up to you when he was little."

Zeref smiled fondly at a memory that only he could remember, "Yeah, he did. He was always following me around, his little stubby legs were unable to keep up with me, but he tried. It was cute. Sometimes it would get annoying, but then he would grin at me and wave his arms around and I couldn't help but forgive him. He was so little the last time I saw him, but it was easy to recognize him with his giant grin combined with the pink hair."

Lucy giggled, trying to picture what baby Natsu must have looked like.

"I bet he was a cutie," She grinned.

He nodded, "Oh yes. And he was always so full of fire and life - like he is now. He wanted to explore everything, all of the time."

A pink head peaked into the room, a smile upon his face.

"Hey guys," Natsu said. "Erza demands that Zeref come out this instant and give everyone a progress report on Lucy's condition. She wants to know if Lucy can eat with the guild today."

Lucy face split into the widest grin any of them had seen in a long time when she answered, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."