Lucy watched Zeref leave with a heavy heart. He said he wasn't going to be gone for long, but she was worried. So many what ifs ran through her head, making her nervous about the trip. What if he got lost? What if he was injured? What if his magic started acting up? She worried about it constantly, but she knew that she couldn't keep him from going, he needed this just as much as she needed it. The two needed to learn how to exist without the other one constantly around. It was the only way their relationship would last.

Zeref turned, waving with a smile reminiscent of his brother's before once more heading out. This time without looking back. Lucy sighed as she watched him go, relief and loneliness warring for the dominant place in her heart. She would never tell him, but her boyfriend had been making her feel a little crazy the last few days as he had prepared for the journey. She shivered before turning back to her apartment.

"You're just going to let him go?"

She looked up in surprise as she entered her apartment to find Natsu there.

"He said he needed to go for a couple of days."

Natsu stood, eyeing her, "You realize that the darkest wizard to ever exist just left to be alone. Doesn't that worry you in the least? What if he's gone bad again?"

"He wouldn't do that. He just needed to go for a while."

"Go where? Do what?"

Lucy paused for a moment, Zeref had never actually told her what he was doing or where he was going. Just that he had something he had to do. She'd never questioned it, assuming that it was something important and he would tell her about it in his own time. Now she wondered if that was a good idea.

"I don't know."

Natsu looked at incredulously, "You let him go and you don't even know what he's doing or where he's going?"

"I'm not his jailer, Natsu. Zeref is free to go where he wants and do what he wants."

Natsu shook his head, "But he's not supposed to be."

Lucy shrugged, angry, "I trust him. After all this time, do you really not?"

"I trust him," Natsu said slowly, "I'm just worried that he'll do something that he'll later regret."

Lucy sighed, sitting at her desk. How could she possibly explain to her best friend what was really going on? How could she tell him that Zeref had only gone dark to save the only person he'd ever really cared about and now that person was the one person who was judging him the most?

"Look, Zeref isn't going to do anything dark, okay? Last time he did what he did to save someone he cared deeply about," Lucy explained.

Natsu stared at Lucy, wondering just how dense the blonde could really be. Sure, he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but right now he was pretty sure that he was brighter than Lucy. How could she not see what Zeref was doing? Lucy wasn't getting better, everyone could see that. No matter how much Wendy healed her, no matter how much rest the celestial mage got, she was still weak and tired easily. Nothing seemed to be really healing her and Natsu hated it. It was like watched Wendy put a band aid on a cut deep enough to need stitches.

Natsu knew the moment he'd heard that Zeref was helping Levy in the library what the black-haired mage was really up to. He worried about it though. Zeref would do anything to save Lucy, Natsu knew it because he felt the same.

"Lucy," Natsu finally spoke. "Maybe you should tell me exactly what happened last time Zeref tried to save someone."

Lucy swallowed, staring at her best friend before she finally sighed, nodding.

"You see," She began, "Zeref had a little brother who meant the world to him once..."

She launched into the story, telling Natsu it exactly how Zeref had told her. Leaving out only the name of the brother that Zeref had tried so desperately to save.

"So did he save him?" Natsu asked when the story was finally over.

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, he did."

Natsu sighed, gripping Lucy's hand tightly between his own, "And you really think he's not going to go dark while he's out there?"

Lucy nodded, "Why would he?"

"Luce, he's been spending so much time at the library doing research. Research on how to save you."

Lucy stared at Natsu with wide eyes as the weight of what he was trying to tell her finally sank in.

Zeref walked slowly, wondering how much time he had before Lucy finally figured out what he was doing and tried putting a stop to it. He didn't know what he would do when she finally found out but he didn't want to stop trying to save her. He rejected the idea of doing what he had done to Natsu. He did, after all, learn from his mistakes and he wouldn't put the woman he loved through that kind of pain. He could barely do it with Natsu, so there was no way he would be able to do it with Lucy.

He shivered as he ducked inside the room that he'd rented to turn into his lab, surprised to see that Levy was already there.

"You don't have to do this, Levy," Zeref whispered to her as the two began to go over their notes.

"Lucy is my best friend, I can't just let her die."

"She might get better if I stay away long enough."

"And how long do you think you can stay away before you accidently kill someone? It's not fair to lock you away just because your magic kills people when it's outside of your control. And it's not fair to kill Lucy to keep you alive. You're both innocent. Okay, well, she's innocent and you're learning. We need to do this."

Zeref sighed, nodding, "But you're an innocent, too. How can I ask you to put everything you love and hold dear on the line?"

"You're not asking. I'm volunteering."

Levy turned away from her friend, trying to hide the tears. This might be the beginning of something great, or it could be the beginning of the end. Either way, she was determined to save her friend.