The room Zeref found himself in was familiar. It was a simple room with white walls, uneven wood floors, and simple furniture adorned the area. Zeref's head swam as he shifted upwards in the bed. The door that mirrored the cot he was on was propped open, meaning someone had just left recently Zeref concluded.

Suddenly, everything came back to Zeref and his head felt like it was on fire.

"Ah, you're awake, welcome back. I thought I noticed you stirring." Mr. Ojii said as he walked back in, the floors creaking under his stern body.

"How's-"

"Your mom and dad are dead." Mr. Ojii said coldly, cutting Zeref's words like a knife. The man let the raven-haired boy process what he had just said. He would never see his mom's gentle smile, hear his dad's jokes, see them laughing again, oh God Natsu.

"Mr. Ojii, is Natsu also?" Zeref asked quietly and innocently.

"He's alive, barely, but he's alive." Zeref stared at him with wide eyes before jumping out of the bed and rushing out into the hallway. He had been to Mr. Ojii's house many times before so he knew where the other medical rooms were located.

Zeref barged into every room until he found his brother. The fifth door in the hallway was for critical patients, so in case Natsu wasn't there, he opened this door more softly.

His brother was lying in the bed, a healing spell placed by had been placed on him. A newly developed air tank had been strapped to his face, and a magic I.V. was placed into his right arm. His waist down was covered in casts, wires protruding from his hips. His whole body was covered in bandages and he looked so small. Natsu was not skinny by any means, if anything he was quite muscular for a five-year-old.

"I did what I could. But he's in rough shape, I highly doubt that when he wakes up he's going to have any feeling in his left side, much less any vision. He's a strong boy, but what he's gone through many adults don't survive, much less a five-year-old. Just don't get your hopes up, Zeref."

"But he's alive, right you stabilized him? He'll be ok, he has to. I-I can't be the only one left, I need my baby brother!" Zeref cried.

"I'm so sorry, but yes I did stabilize him. If he survives tonight I'll say he's got a decent shot, all things considered, of living." Mr. Ojii said as he patted Zeref's head, his tuft of hair at the top popping back into place. "Even if he did live, he will have a hard time walking for his entire life, his hip, both legs, and especially his right foot is demolished, burned basically to the bone. It's an extremely gruesome sight."

Zeref did not reply, he just trotted over to his baby brother. Natsu's breaths were quick and uneven as if even though he was unconscious he was still in pain. I'm so, so sorry, Natsu, Mom, Dad. I may end up being the last Dragneel after all.

xXx

A week had passed since the fire and Zeref was still recovering from the smoke that entered his lungs. Natsu had survived the first week, greatly increasing his chances of survival overall. He hadn't woken up yet, but that was to be expected. Zeref was to head back to school the next day, he wanted to get his mind off the fact that he and his brother were now orphans, and the great Tetsuya Dragneel and the genius Aya Dragneel were dead.

The incoming weeks were a blur. He continued his work on ethernano, now looking into its possibility of healing dead or severely injured people. He wanted to use it to help Natsu in whatever way he could, even if it meant losing favor with the gods.

A week later, Zeref did the impossible. He had found a way to use ethernano to save his baby brother. Zeref was born with strong magic abilities, allowing him to cast a spell to bind his brother's soul to an old book with relative ease. The only side effect seemed to be that Nastu was no longer human though, if he could save his brother, Zeref thought it was worth it. He dubbed him E.N.D or Etherious Natsu Dragneel.

Soon, three months had passed and Zeref was on his way home from school, feeling weird about his actions three months ago. He carried Natsu's book with him at all times to keep it safe and for him, when he woke up, to not see it and question Zeref about it. The walk back to Mr. Ojii's house was a long one. In the time since the fire, Mr. Ojii had become the boy's legal guardian, as he was a close friend and knew the boys. Of course, that meant higher taxes for Mr. Ojii, which Zeref felt guilty about, but the city had to get its money somehow.

Zeref was rapidly approaching the house when he saw the old man standing outside, beckoning him in with a hushed hurry.

"Your brother, he's awake." Everything seemed to slow, his mind trying to go a million miles a minute.

Zeref pushed Mr. Ojii out of the way in a rush, causing the old man to stumble backward. Nothing else mattered at the moment though, Natsu was awake.

As he shoved his way into the medical room where Natsu was, he rushed to his baby brother's side. His eye was open, his normal forest green eyes were murky, more like a foggy swamp than a lush forest. His left eye was covered by a pink-tinged bandage, his salmon-pink hair was patchy from his hair being singed off. Zeref gently cupped Natsu's right side of his face in his hands, careful not to hurt the boy.

"Hey, Natsu," Zeref said with soft tears streaming down his round face.

"Z-Zeref, i-is that you?" Natsu said softly, barely above a whisper, his voice was dry and rough.

"Yeah, I'm here brother."

"I didn't die? Is mama and dad ok? Are you ok?" Zeref gently stroked his face with his thumb.

"No Natsu, you didn't die. Mom and Dad didn't make it, I'm so, so sorry, Natsu, I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you, or mom or dad." Natsu didn't respond, and if possible, his eyes became even more murky, undoubtedly processing what happened that night.

"Hey, big brother."

"Hm?"

"Can you take me to that cove? I don't- I don't think I can walk, but, please?"

"Of course, once you get the clear to go outside," Zeref explained softly.

"It hurts."

"What's hurtin' Natsu? Do you want me to go get Mr. Ojii?"

"No, Just my whole left side and parts of my right side."
"That's to be expected, honestly. What does it feel like?"

"Pins and needles? I don't know, I can't really feel anything on that side besides pins and needles." Natsu slowly slipped back into the void that is sleep after a little bit more slurred speaking.

_xXx_

Natsu was having his bandages changed when Zeref returned home from school. Natsu's left side of his face was red and blistered, some parts bleeding. His eye was still intact but the normal green iris that he got from mom was replaced by gray, his pupil was completely cloudy and he had his eye half closed. The burns singed off all of his hair, exposing the burnt scalp. His arm lay limp on the bed, almost completely shriveled up down to the bone. The worst part was that his legs were mangled. Both legs were horribly burned and in unnatural positions. Natsu would never run again.

"Welcome back, Zeref," Mr. Ojii said with a kind smile. Zeref appreciated that Mr. Ojii let him and Natsu into his house with open arms, without him, Natsu would have definitely died.

"How are you, Mr. Ojii?"

"I'm good, as you can see, I'm changing out Natsu's bandages. He's kinda out of it right now because I gave him a tranquilizer so it didn't hurt as bad. He's still under my healing spell, so thank the gods I learned how to do that when I was part of a guild!"

"You were part of a guild?" Natsu chimed in quietly, words slightly slurring.

"That I was, it was called Saber Tooth. Was an amazing place! But now I settled down here in Fiore, helping out the sons of the man who I thought of as my own son, hahaha!"

"Anyways, how're you feeling Natsu?" Zeref redirected the conversation back to Natsu.

"I wanna sleep," he said simply, "but Gramps said that I could wear normal clothes again and leave this room soon, Zeref! You can take me to the grove!"

"Of course, Natsu. That's fantastic though!" Zeref was truly happy to hear Natsu was recovering from all of his burns.