Rewritten. I cannot leave a chapter alone before it is completely perfect in all manner. Thats a problem of mine that i am trying to deal with, but perfectionist traits have always been some of the most relentless afflictions that have ruled the hearts of humans, since ages.

Anyways.

Chapter 11

Liana and Natsu stood holding hands before the old Etheria tree. Winds swirled past its leaves, making them dance and flutter. The sound of the leaves shaking filled the quiet surroundings, and chirping of the birds that were nowhere to be seen mellowed that feeling even further.

Liana gripped Natsu's hand tighter. "Are you ready, Natsu?"

Natsu looked up at the tree. At its long and winding branches, its leaves, big and small, and the colourful rainbow like glowing fruits dropping morning dew. His past was a mystery that he had never hoped he would be able to uncover, and never really desired to. Until this point. Would it solve the constraints and knots inside his mind to discover what really happened to him in the past? Would it answer his questions that burned inside his mind like coal? Would it bring him closure? Or create new emotional problems for him. According to Liana, the goddess One who stood beside him, reassuringly holding his hand, it would help him.

"I… I think I am." he replied quietly.

He looked at the tree before him. Beautiful, magnificent, unlike anything he had ever seen before. That tree was the link that connected him to his old world. His old life. His lost memories.

Liana grabbed his other free hand and turned him to face her. She had been happier ever since Natsu had helped her get through her troubled past. She had been able to let go of her pain that had tormented her for centuries, pricking and prodding at her being from inside and out. She had become a softer and brighter individual, all owing to Natsu's unfailing determination and devotion to help her out. And now, it was her turn.

"I will cast a sleep spell on you, to make it easier. However, you must know that I am always with you. No matter if your memories are… happy or sad. No matter if they scare you, frighten you, or trouble you. I will be right here, holding you close, making sure that nothing dark ever touches you. I will protect you with my life, Natsu. And if I need to go beyond that, I will happily do it."

She slowly placed her hand over his cheek, and looked at him lovingly and affectionately. "You just have to trust me. Do you trust me, Natsu?"

Natsu watched her, slightly confused. Why did she look so worried? Was his past that much of a dark place? She sounded as if he was going on a perilous journey, as if being at the risk of losing his life was a common given where he was going.

He placed his hand over hers that was over his cheek, and applied gentle firm pressure to let her know that he was brave and strong enough to get through whatever might come his way. "I trust you, Liana."

Liana smiled, glee obvious on her beautiful face. Those were the words she had been waiting to hear.

"Thank you, Natsu." she muttered.

She looked off into the distance and nodded, and when Natsu looked there, he saw a beautiful young woman walking towards them with a tray in her hand. She was as tall as Liana, white hair flowing in the winds, and fair and bright skin. Her eyes were covered with a cloth that went around her head. As if she was not supposed to look at anything.

"Who… who is that?"

"She is an attendant from my household." Liana replied. She looked back at Natsu, slightly anxious. "I created this world using my powers…. as a sort of meeting ground for you and me. We … had a lot to talk about, Natsu. I couldn't have waited any longer to see you."

Natsu watched her, his mind filled with questions. What exactly happened after he had managed to defeat Zeref? Why was he here in this place after that? Did he pass out? Did Liana specially bring him here after his battle? Was Zeref truly dead? What about his friends? What were they doing right now?

The woman that was approaching them walked over to Natsu, and bowed down before him, presenting him with whatever was on the tray she was carrying. Natsu looked at it, and realised that it was a fruit from the Etheria tree.

He realised what was going on. He picked the fruit up, and turned it around in his hands as he had a good look at it. Was he supposed to take a bite off it? Is that how he will come to be in touch with his lost memories? It made sense, strangely. To eat the fruit of a tree that was the only surviving link between him and his lost past–that's how he would be able to relive his memories. As if that tree carried those memories within it. A warmth, soothing and comforting, filled his hand as he held that fruit, and he found that he preferred to just hold the fruit in his hands to continue experiencing that feeling rather than do anything else with it.

Liana smiled at the other woman. "Thank you. Go and rest now. I will take care of the remainder."

The woman bowed deeply to Liana, and then turned around and walked away. Natsu watched her leave.

"Here, Natsu." he heard, and looked towards Liana, who was kneeling on the floor, her hands over her lap.

"Lay down over my lap. You can sleep here while you take a bit off the Etheria fruit. And so, I can keep a close eye on you and care for you while you journey through your past."

Natsu felt a bit flustered at the thought of laying his head down over her lap again. She wasn't just a strikingly beautiful woman anymore. She was a goddess. To think he had been that close to one of the most powerful supernatural entities of their world and that of the unknown world beyond was a strange and complex thought. Most humans could only ever dream of this. Why did Natsu deserve this special encounter with her?

He slowly sat down before her, and looked at her face one last time. She smiled warmly and welcomingly. He managed a hurried smile as well, before turning around and laying his head softly and carefully over her lap. Liana placed her hands atop Natsu's shoulders, and caressed his skin gently. As soon as Natsu had laid his head down over her lap, the feelings of awkwardness and self consciousness flew away. It was almost as if the woman was using her powers to make him feel more at ease. She slowly slid her fingers up the back of his head, and muttered some words.

"I have casted the spell, Natsu. Now, take a bite of the fruit, and leave the rest to me."

Natsu looked up at her face once, before bringing the fruit to his mouth and nibbling off a little from its surface. Before he could experience the taste properly, his mind started to feel heavy and drowsy, and Natsu laid down into the depths of one of the most peaceful sleeps he had ever had.

The clouds had darkened and weighed down by the water in them, ready to fall onto the world. The sun was obscured by these temperamental weather systems, and could only produce a light glow onto the clouds that shadowed it.

Birds of varied colour and patterns hopped and chirped atop the trees, awaiting the rain and the storm that was to come. Some sprinkles of water had already rained over the dark soil of the forest floor, and more were on their way.

A little Natsu stood before a giant old tree, his clothes fluttering in the wind that picked up. His face was morphed into that of concern and doubts and debate, as he stared at the old tree. He procured his gaze at the long and winding branches of it, the leaves that danced and clattered in the winds, filling the surroundings with a subtle shaking voice, and the hundreds of colourful fruits that hung off those branches, calling for Natsu.

He looked up and down the tree, wondering how he should begin his climb. He had never succeeded at it, no matter how old and stout and short the tree had looked. The tree was old, definitely centuries old, but rather than grow up, it had grown wider and thicker, as most of the Etheria trees did. Their forest and island were full of these trees, and all of them were ancient, but this one in particular was by far the oldest one Natsu had known, and one look at it could prove that claim. It's roots spread over the forest floor like a jumble of primal webbings, and many secondary roots and tendrils dropped down off its branches like a thick and dense hang of curtains. Climbing one had always looked so inviting and easy, but Natsu would know that that wasn't the case.

He slowly approached the tree, caressing its old bark. That bark probably carried the essence of the hundreds and thousands of his own people that had climbed this tree before him, since centuries. He wished to assimilate their spirit and skill in him at this moment.

He spread his hands around the thick tree trunk, and pressed them against its rough bark, latching on. He lifted his feet and dug them into the notches and the small platforms that the trunk provided. Soon, he was off the ground, and hanging off the trunk. He exhaled as he somewhat struggled to hold on, and decided that he would rather climb than just keep hanging on to dissipate that feeling of discomfort.

He slowly inched his way upwards, small sections of the tree trunk one at a time. He was again met with the realisation of how something that looked so easy in his mind could actually be so challenging and impeding. A little distance off the ground, and he already started to feel starved of breath. He knew that it was because he was climbing it the wrong way, but as little as he was, he didn't have many options. He had to take what he got.

He managed to reach the point where the trunk started to bifurcate into the many branches of the tree, first splitting into two thick ones, and then shooting off into the many smaller ones that architectured the rigid crown of the tree. At this point, he knew that he couldn't climb the tree any further the way he was climbing. He had to hang off a branch now. Feeling glad that he wouldn't have to sustain the disconcerting and frankly uncomfortable way of climbing as he was doing, he readied himself, moving his body, and jumped off.

For a moment he took flight, and his eyes latched onto the branch that he was planning to hang off that he was steadily approaching. But soon were his dreams and fleeting moments of glee cut in half when he realised that he had started to be pulled back towards the ground, where he had come from.

He looked at the branch in the distance now one last time as his dreams and hopes started to spiral out of him, just as he was spiralling downwards. He braced himself for minor injuries and short moments of pain and stinging that followed him as he hurled towards the ground, but somehow, he slid into the curve of the trunk he had just climbed, and rather than falling straight down, he rolled down like a ball onto the ground, over the mossy stones and the bed of grasses that awaited him on the forest floor.

He opened his eyes to make sense of his surroundings after the fall, and saw the world before him spin. He slowly got up and sat over the floor with his legs sprawled as he held his head with one of his hands, attempting to cull the vertigo as if he could hold his head and stabilise it. It did appear to work somehow, as soon he wasn't under the spinning spell anymore, and the surroundings around him started to become clearer and still.

His heart thumped out of his chest as adrenaline surged into his system after the experience of that fall that could shake anyone's sense of balance and consciousness.

Birds continued their chirping atop the trees, as if having completely ignored what had just happened with Natsu. He was used to being ignored. That's what had happened all his life. He looked up at the tree, baring his white teeth anxiously and frustrated, still holding his head as some remnants of the shakiness still left his body.

He then sighed a deep breath out and laid back down over the soft bed of grasses under him, looking up at the dark clouds that hung high in the sky, far away from him. Some raindrops trickled onto his face, and his eyes shut as the recoil from their cold caress shook his warm body with contrast.

His hands grabbed onto the grasses by the side of his waist and pulled them out, crushing them within his overactive fingers, the juice from the grass staining his bright palms . He thought about that fall he had just constrained, and wondered if the grown ups ever fell from trees. They probably didn't, as they were stronger, taller and faster than him. They were smarter, more intelligent and more good looking than him as well. He thought of his elder brother, someone that he had always looked up to. He had all of those qualities that Natsu had just thought about, and then much more. Natsu felt happy that someone as cool and awesome was his brother, but he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of Zeref sometimes.

He looked at the fruits of the tree that he had just tried to climb, their rainbow like skin and their glowing pulp brightly poking in the darkness of the clouded skies, looking like lanterns and lights hanging off the tree. They had always appeared so beautiful, but always out of his reach. Those fruits were something that he had come to associate with grown ups, as without fail he had always watched them climb the trees and get them for themselves, while he had always failed. It was almost as if it was a privilege only reserved for the older people, like his brother.

"Natsu!" He heard a voice from the forest.

He sat up, his eyes widened, as he realised that the voice was close by. She had found him. He quickly sat up and looked around himself, unsure of what he was searching for, and then as if suddenly realising his next step, he started to dust down his clothes that had gotten slightly dirtier after his fall. If she were to see him in that state, she would swiftly find out that he was climbing trees again in the forest by himself, and then no one could protect Natsu from her wrath. Not even his brother.

Before Natsu could completely get rid of the stains that marred his vest and pants, the woman was already before Natsu.

Natsu looked up at her face, and managed a hurried insincere smile, as if that would protect him from her anger.

Mavis studied the little boy, slightly panting after running through the forest, but then coming to a rest as she witnessed his state before her. She knew that he was fearful of what she might say to him, and she knew that a berating was in order for the young boy, but… somehow, she couldn't bring herself to raise her voice.

Was it because of what had happened in the village?

She slowly edged closer to Natsu, and knelt down on the grass before him, wiring her eyes over his muddy clothes and bringing her hands to them to dust them properly off.

Natsu flinched as her hands approached him, but soon realised that she was only running off the stains of mud and dirt that had latched onto his skin and clothes. She… wasn't angry? Why?

He looked at the beautiful woman before him, at her deep dark green eyes that radiated concern and worry, surely for him, and her soft lips that remained forever pursed as she focused on getting the stains off his clothes and body. Mavis had always been so beautiful and pretty, but Natsu was just now realising just how much. Her brightly fair skin radiated a glow in the darkness of the overcast sky, and silky and soft golden hair danced irregularly in the winds.

Mavis had explicitly made him promise to her, with pinky fingers and all, that he wouldn't run into the forest alone and never climb trees by the river. He understood that she was worried for him and didn't want him to get hurt, but he never really gauged the true seriousness of that promise. He had a habit of taking things casually, just like his brother, as Mavis had been heard telling him crossly a lot of times.

The fact that Mavis remained quiet, and her eyes drowned in some form of sorrow and grief as she rubbed the stains off his clothes and legs, and picked off the twigs and leaves that had merged with his hair after the fall, hurt him more than it would have had she been yelling at him openly. Did he bring her to a point where she was so tired of his behaviour that she believed that berating him wouldn't achieve anything? Had he really pushed things that far this time? Would she… never talk to him again?

That thought staked pain through his heart, as he was really fond of Mavis. He loved her like an older sister, and if he hadn't known since childhood that Zeref and her were just close friends and not actually related, he would have mistaken her for his older sister from the way she cared for him and how close the two were. He couldn't see her upset, not in the least because of something that he did, and right now, that looked to be the case.

Before Mavis could properly finish rubbing her fingers over his clothes, he grabbed handfuls of her sleeves, and tugged gently.

Mavis looked at him, at the little frown on his face and his glistening dark eyes. Her lips parted and brows furrowed as she found out that he was hurt and sad about something, which was weird as she hadn't really yelled at him at all. Was he sad because she looked sad? Could he read her grief?

"Mavis… I am sorry. I… I broke the promise that you made me do. But I won't do it again. So… don't be sad, please."

Mavis narrowed her eyes as his words touched her heart. How dearly she wanted to tell him that she wasn't upset because of him, but rather because of what she had heard in the village just now. Which actually theoretically meant that she was upset regarding him, not at him.

She smiled and placed her gentle hand over his cheek, piercing into his eyes lovingly.

"Don't worry. I am not sad. Or upset. Not at you, atleast."

She frowned playfully for a moment. "But yes. What you have done is wrong, Natsu. I have told you that the forest can be dangerous. And what if you had fallen from high up while climbing the tree? Do you know how hurt I would have been if you had injured yourself?"

Natsu retracted his hands off her sleeves and let them down by his sides, looking down at the ground.

Mavis smiled again, lifted his face to meet her eyes. "Make me another promise that whatever happens in the village, you will never come out into the forest alone. If you ever feel lonely, you will talk to me or Zeref. Do you understand? And make sure you don't break this one."

Natsu nodded.

Mavis smiled wider and pinched his cheek. She thought back to her conversation with the village kids just now before she had come looking for Natsu. It wasn't a pleasant one. And it had made her realise something about Natsu.

"Who? Natsu? Ha! He wanted to play with us this morning, but there is now way we are letting that monster come near us!"

"I don't know why you bother yourself with him, Mavis. He will infect you with his curse as well. Stay away from him."

"Do you want me to be angry? Just tell me where he is!"

"Oh… uh… sure. He… he ran towards the forest after talking to us. We haven't seen him since then."

Her smile burrowed back down into her lips, and concern flashed over her face. She realised that that must have been the reason behind Natsu's constant running away from the village. She had always blamed his recklessness and carelessness for it before, but maybe all he had always wanted when he ran away was to spend some time alone, away from the people that treated him like an outcast. She had always known of the horrible ideas and opinions that the villagers carried for Natsu, but hearing it from their mouths first hand always wounded her painfully. If she was as disconcerted by those words, she always wondered how much Natsu was. He was little, and probably wouldn't understand the depth and gravity of that situation, but it was also true that Natsu was mature for his age, much more than the other kids. He was just now able to sense that she was saddened for some reason, even without her having to say anything. What if he understood everything that went on in the village? What if he understood that no one back there liked him? What if he felt… unneeded and alone?

Those thoughts brought love and affection crashing down over the docks of her heart like waves for him. An innate urge to protect him from those people and their harsh words filled her, and she couldn't help but pull the boy into an embrace.

Natsu's head lay over Mavis's shoulder as he stared at whatever was behind her. Zeref had taught him that whenever someone hugged him, he needed to hug them back. Was Mavis hugging him right now? Or was she checking his back for more mud stains? He wasn't sure, so he slowly slid his hands over her back as well.

"Mavis?"

Mavis snuggled into the little boy's shoulder, shutting her eyes dearly as she didn't want to look at anything right now, but just think of Natsu who was in her arms. She didn't know why she hugged him. Maybe after what he had to recently go through in the village, just like he had to go through it everyday, she perhaps thought that he needed it? Or maybe she needed that to let the tumultuous and hurting emotions inside of her to pass?

"It's nothing, Natsu. I am just glad to see that you are okay."

She assured him. That was half true anyway. The other half was just her… pretending as if she was shielding this little boy from the horrors that dotted his life. From the people that didn't care about him, would hurt him, and would blame him for things that he had no hand in, including their own misfortunes. Maybe her hugging him felt like she was close to him, and she was compensating for each of the times that she had spent away from him, leaving him alone to deal with his thoughts and pains. Maybe, she wanted to tell herself that no matter what happened, she was always there for this boy, caring for him, loving him, and protecting her with all her might and abilities, whatever they might be. Mavis had always loved Natsu as if he was her own brother, but sometimes, just sometimes, she would realise that she cared for him much more than that.

She slowly pulled away from his figure and his sweet scent, not before wiping her eyes off whatever wetness that may have embraced it or not, and managed a bright smile at him.

"What would you like to play, Natsu?"

Natsu smiled for a moment, before cocking that glee back down.

"But… aren't you busy?"

Mavis shook her head. "I am never too busy to play with you, Natsu. Always remember that."

Natsu smiled again. Before his childish mind could propose catch or hide and seek, he heard another voice calling for him from the forest.

"Natsu!"

Mavis looked back towards where she had come from, and chuckled, recognising that voice. She looked back at Natsu, and fixed his collar that had deformed after the fall.

"Look who's here. Just in time too."

Zeref popped up over some branches of the trees of the forest that fell in his way, his hair dotted with twigs and leaves, just like Natsu's was a few moments ago. He stared at Natsu and breathed a sigh of relief.

He walked forward, pushing the branches and the bushes and the shrubbery aside and stood some distance away from Mavis and his brother. He shook his hair with his hand, shedding the pieces of twigs and leaves in it.

He was a tall and slender well built young man, with a strikingly handsome gaunt face and deep dark eyes and sharp features that paraded his unnaturally beautiful looks around. Natsu had overheard the young women and even married women of his village talking about how Zeref was one of the most good looking men they had ever seen.

It was solely because of Mavis and Zeref that Natsu believed that a kid grew up to be extremely good looking in their adult age.

"You found him." Zeref said to Mavis in his calm and gentle voice. "Your nose is like a boar's when it comes to Natsu. You can sniff him out."

Mavis smiled at Natsu. "That's what older sisters do, don't they?"

Natsu looked at Zeref, who was almost a sight for sore eyes for him. Zeref was one of the few older people in the village that cared for Natsu, and had always been ready to do whatever for his brother. Natsu could see that and understand the love and devotion that Zeref had for him. He could feel it. It always made his heart fuzzy with warmth and admiration for Zeref whenever he looked at him. He felt like he could forget about every bad to worse treatment that the villagers threw at Natsu when he would place his eyes on Zeref once. That's why Zeref had always been so special to Natsu.

Zeref smiled brightly, his face glowing in the darkness of the skies, and approached Natsu, crouching beside Mavis, and before his little brother. He placed a gentle hand atop Natsu's head.

"So, little man. Care to explain what you were doing out here by yourself?"

Natsu watched Zeref's warm gazes placed into his, and already felt his problems melting away. The frustration from not being able to climb the tree, and from when he had been rejected by the village kids when he had asked if they would play with him that morning all felt as if they were leaving him. This was the magical effect that Zeref had on him.

Natsu pointed upwards at the tree, and locked his finger over one of the fruits.

"That."

Zeref looked up at the fruit, smiled once, and then stood up, and before long had already climbed the tree, merely a black nimble blur pushing upwards through the web of branches and leaves that scattered in his way.

Natsu found wondrous excitement robbing him of his disappointment over not being able to climb that same tree as he watched Zeref, quick as a monkey, sitting atop one of the branches. Somewhere, Natsu felt like he had climbed the tree through his brother. He had no complaints anymore.

Zeref clutched that fruit in his hands, and then quickly descended down the tree, jumping off the last few metres. His long clothes fluttered as he stepped onto the ground, and from that black blur manifested his crouching figure before Natsu, just as he had been before climbing up. His hand was extended out to Natsu, and clutched in that was the fruit that Natsu was looking forward to all morning.

Natsu gasped as a squeal of happiness left his mouth, and grabbed the fruit and forgot about everything else. He plopped down on the ground before Mavis and Zeref and started to fill his mouth with the bites of the fruit, happiness leaking off his little figure.

Zeref smiled, shitting his eyes. His brother had always been so pure. It never required a lot to impress and console him.

Mavis knelt beside Natsu on the mossy stones, and pulled his light figure enjoying his fruit onto her lap, to keep his clothes from getting dirtier.

She nuzzled her nose into the bind of his long soft hair, caressing his head lightly.

"You are the cutest, aren't you, Natsu?"

Natsu didn't respond. Mavis giggled.

Zeref looked at Mavis, at the beautiful and mesmerising structure of her face that was complimented even further by the love and adoration that she held for his brother at the moment. He had something for her too.

He brought out another fruit that he extended to her. Mavis detached her gaze from Natsu, who she was merely enjoying looking at as he ate his fruit, and looked at the new one that lay in Zeref's open palm.

She looked at Zeref, half smiling. "When did you get that?"

Zeref maintained his small smile. "Told you. I am a magician."

Mavis giggled at him and snatched the fruit off his hands. "Sure you are."

She finished her laugh, and brought the fruit close to her mouth and nibbled a piece of it. The fragrant and sweet honey-like taste of it filled her senses of taste, and then came the usual surge of happiness and comfort that these fruits brought. She felt happier eating that. She was someone that didn't really like fruits, but she couldn't say no to one that Zeref had brought her. That, and somehow, these Etheria fruits were an exception to that rule of hers. She basked in the subtly spicy taste of the peel of those fruits, that mixed in well with the sweetness of the pulp, and more than she enjoyed the taste, she enjoyed the psychological feelings that the fruit brought her. It was almost as if these fruits held magic within them, not to mention their eerie glow in the darkness, and during the ripening season, even in broad daylight. These fruits were special and unique, somehow different than the rest of them that she had meagerly tasted. Not to mention that these grew only on their island and forests, and nowhere else in the world. It was almost as if they had been blessed by them.

Some rain did fall from the skies, but it didn't interrupt the afternoon that the three spent by the river and the old tree. The most it did was spell the winds that flew past them with refreshing droplets of cool rain water, as if someone had sprinkled them onto the air. It was uncommonly peaceful and quiet, the silence only blotted with the sweet chirping of birds and the occasional croaking of the frogs that peered outside the calmly flowing river water.

Mavis looked down at Natsu, who was soundly asleep in her lap, grabbing fistfuls of her gown and having a small content smile perched atop his lips. Mavis realised with a gleeful smile that Natsu had enjoyed their time there. She was glad to have been a part of it. She stroked his hair that spread atop her lap.

She then sadly continued that realisation with the afterthought that soon Natsu would have to go back to the village where… he wasn't welcome at all. The village that had never accepted him as one of their own. His home where he was never at home. She sadly pinched his soft and warm cheek as she wondered what the point of this momentary time of happiness and peace even would be if this little boy's world would go right back to the hell that he had escaped from. Maybe Natsu was too little to hold that deeply cynical and existential thought in his mind, but she wasn't. She deeply worried for his future in that village, surrounded by its people who very ironically called Natsu a 'monster' or a 'demon', never the wiser about the fact that it was them who deserved those titles.

She knew she was with Natsu all the way, always more than ready to care for his every need, protect him, feed him, nurture him, teach him things about the world and tell him stories, let him sleep in her lap just like this or embrace him with adoration and love whenever the time called for it. Natsu was special to her. Important. More than anything else in the world. But… would just her love and affection for him be enough? Was there ever such a thing as loving someone so much that they didn't ever need anything or anyone else? If there was, she was ready to be the one to fill the gaps of Natsu's heart that he was missing. She was prepared. She was willing.

She looked up at Zeref who had been sitting quietly for a while. Everyone in the village used to think that he was a quiet and reserved man, never saying or uttering a single word that he didn't need to, but she knew the truth. He could be a wonderful and beautiful talker when given the right time. This was the right time, with only her and Natsu in his vicinity. So why was he so quiet? Why did he behave as if he were in the village?

She knew the answer to that.

She slowly snuck her hand atop Zeref's that was lying over the ground next to him, and gripped it gently, yet firm enough to break him out of his thoughts and let him know that she was there with him, watching him.

Zeref looked at her, and presented her with an insincere smile. He had probably guessed that she was concerned for him, but didn't know how else to get her out of that except for a half smile.

Mavis didn't buy that. "What are you thinking about?"

Zeref studied her for a moment, as if weighing up and down the option of whether he should tell her or not.

He sighed and looked away again.

"Natsu."

Mavis half nodded, even though he wasn't looking at her. "What about Natsu?"

Zeref felt winds lift his long hair off his forehead, and contort them into a dance. What was he thinking about? Usually, the thoughts of his dear and beloved little brother filled him with happiness and warmth, so what was this void he was feeling in his chest?

"I was… thinking about his life here. It isn't… what I had hoped it would be." Zeref revealed.

He picked up a stone from the ground and flung it across the river by him, making it hop along the surface of the water before drowning into the depths of darkness and uncertainty. Feeling a weird connection to that stone, he continued.

"When Natsu was born, I… I was the happiest person in the world. I couldn't believe I had a little brother. It was… a dream come true. I… I swore that I would care for him and protect him with everything that I have. And if I didn't have what I needed, I would achieve it. I was sure that I would do my best to become someone that Natsu would be proud of. Someone he could happily tell others about. Someone he looked up to. I… felt like a parent."

Mavis narrowed her eyes in thought as she realised that Zeref was leading upto the point where she and him would have been thinking of the exact same things. About Natsu's life. How it was far from the happy and perfect life that he deserved. It was strange how their minds both had clicked onto the same folder of thoughts and were burrowing through them, at the same time.

She sensed grief and disappointment in Zeref's tone, and tightened her hand comfortingly over his. He continued.

"But… I have failed. I couldn't be what I wanted to be for Natsu. I couldn't protect him. I couldn't care for him the way he deserved. I… I can't even keep him safe from the angry villagers that insult him each and every day and blame him for all their misfortunes. I… I can't even be there for him when he needs me the most. Like… today."

Mavis's eyes narrowed, and she stared at Zeref, an anger of an unknown origin drifting through her and painting her red inside and out. She realised that Zeref was blaming himself for the horrible way that the villagers treated his brother, when each and everyday, all she had seen him do is to prevent that from happening.

"That's not true." She said firmly.

Zeref looked at her, as her interjecting in the middle of his monotone brought him out of some of the quicksand of emotions and turmoil that he had half buried himself in.

Mavis brought her other hand and held Zeref's hand up with the both of hers. In her eyes that she panned across Zeref's face was anger towards him for even going in the direction of thoughts that he was going, but there was also forgiveness for it all the same. She understood what Zeref was going through, and such unstable and horrible ideas about himself were a given where he was treading. But she had to bring him out of those. That was her duty as his closest friend. As someone… that loved him.

"I have seen the way you care for Natsu, Zeref." She began. "I have seen your unfailing and undeterring love for him. I have seen you trouble yourself day and night thinking about all the hundreds and thousands of things that you could do just to make his life a little better. I have seen your righteous anger on the behalf of your little brother. I have seen your devotion and admiration for him. Everything that you do… is somehow for Natsu. In this… in this horrible place surrounded by these horrible people that Natsu lives in, you are probably the one good… no, you are the best thing that has happened to Natsu. If you weren't here, Natsu would have succumbed to the quality of life that he lives long ago. He… he wouldn't be as pure and kind-hearted and bright as he is now. He would have become… one of them. You have protected him. You have preserved his innocence. You have helped him and nurtured him more than you ever could think of. Don't ever say that you couldn't care for him. I don't want to hear it. You are an amazing and brilliant brother. Whatever happiness Natsu feels in this horrible situation that he lives in, it's all because of you. "

A drop of tear left Mavis's glistening eyes and watered a blade of grass that sat below her. Zeref watched her, the turmoil in his heart coming to a sudden stop and be replaced by the kind of peace and happiness he had never known. This was the effect that Mavis had always brought to him. Her kind words… her hope and resolve, her unfaltering strength and courage that she would fill him with just by being close to him, it had always been unbelievable to him. Fascinating. If what she said was correct, and he was responsible for having preserved Natsu this long in this unfavourable environment, then she must have been responsible for preserving him.

He looked away and laughed. "Sorry. I was getting too deep into my own problems. I have nothing on my plate when it's compared to Natsu's, right?"

Mavis smiled at him. She loved how he had plunged himself so deep in his troubles and was able to surface so fast above the water level just as well. "We all have our own problems."

Zeref shook his head. "You always know what to say. How do you do that?"

Mavis only managed a small smile. Somewhere, she now found herself thinking about something hard. This was a thought that had crossed her mind a lot of times, but she had never been able to word them properly. If Zeref truly was as worried about Natsu as he seemed to be, and Mavis knew that he was, would he listen to her this time? Since they had already brought up the topic of Natsu's future, this must be the perfect time to talk about this. They had talked about this before, but she had always found herself on the defeated end. She wondered why she would always give in to Zeref's relentlessness regarding this debate. Was it because she had a soft spot for him, just like she did for Natsu? Or was it because… he was correct in his side of the argument?

"Zeref?" She began.

Zeref looked at her. "Hmm?"

She found her eyes wandering over the forest floor, before she zipped them up tight and found enough will to look Zeref straight when making her proposition.

"You… Do you love Natsu?"

Zeref fell silent as he heard that. Where was she going with that?

"I… I do." He replied sincerely.

"And do you… love me?"

Zeref found himself further down the path of non-understanding, as he felt that something heavy was atop her head. Was she doubting his love for her?

"I love you, Mavis."

Mavis felt unimaginably glad to hear that. So much that a smile invariably crept up her soft lips. But the battle had just started. A battle of ideas.

"Then… let me ask you again. Why do you… why do you still prefer to stay here?" She asked. "Why don't you want to leave with me and Natsu… I have asked you this before, and you know that I won't quit unless you tell me the exact reason for your unwillingness to go through with this. Why can't Natsu, you and I leave this place? We can… go far away from here. Live our lives together. Find our own place in the world beyond this island."

Zeref came to realise what she was getting at, finally. He felt his until now firm gaze into her eyes deterring, and he looked elsewhere, but was soon brought back to look at Mavis when she held his head and turned it to face her.

Zeref found in her eyes longing and grief that he never wanted to see. He never wanted to look at her being so sad and dissatisfied with something that he was doing or wasn't, as she was looking right now.

Mavis smiled through the grief painted on her face. Zeref could sense the signs of a cracking heart somewhere within her.

"You already know how much I love Natsu, Zeref. I love him to bits. He is… mine. He is like a kid brother that I never had. You know that I can go beyond any norms of humanity to care for him and protect him, even with my life. I can feed and nurture him. And as much as I already care for him, which is the most out of anything in the world, you know that I can care for him even more. I can… raise him as my own. You know that I am capable of that. And…"

She caressed his cheek. "You know how much I love you… right? We can… run away far from here. Build a world of our own. I promise that I will try to make Natsu and you the happiest that I can. And… you two already make me the happiest that I can be. We will be fine. As long as I am with you, I promise that we can do it. I will help you in any way that I can. And I know that you will too."

Mavis's eyes filled up with more tears, a testimony to how deeply and heartfully she was speaking to Zeref. That was proof that she had worded everything as best as she could. That was her dream, to live a life free from shackles and relationships with these people that she barely even liked. To live a life with just the two people that she cared about the most in the whole wide world. And she wished deeply that Zeref wanted the same. She hoped for it.

Zeref stared at her face, his thoughts getting fuzzy and filtered. He couldn't think clearly. Mavis's beautiful face, and her deep dark eyes filled with tears were staring at him longingly and expectantly, and all his physical and emotional strength in the world that he sometimes prided himself over failed before her. He loved her so much. He wanted what she wanted so much. He just had to say the small word 'yes', and that dream of his would become reality. He could even just nod at her, and he knew that she would take care of the rest. She had always been that strong and fierce. He knew she would be the perfect mother for Natsu. And he knew that she was the perfect person for him.

So why did he falter? What was this burning and incensed feeling in his heart that felt like it burnt through each and every emotion within him, and filled him with nothing but husk? Where was his heart when he wanted to dearly listen to it? Where were the fibres of his being that all wanted to pull in the same direction and comfort Mavis with an affirmative nod of his head? Where was his mind when he knew what Mavis was suggesting would be the best idea for him and Natsu?

He looked away.

What was this darkness within him that pulled him back from nodding at her? He had experienced this darkness before. What was this chaos and disarray inside him that pulled him away from her? What was this fear?

What was he afraid of?

He found the answer to that question right now after the many times he had pondered over it before.

Was he strong and capable enough to give Natsu and Mavis the life that they deserved? Did he have enough courage and strength in him to protect them and care for them? Did he have enough bravery and fibre in him to love them both beyond any measures of reason or question, just like they deserved? If they were to leave the island, and he became the head of their family that they would start… did he have it in him to keep it up and stable? Could he feed them? Could he nurture them? Could he protect them from the darkness that lurked in the hearts of men beyond the island? Was he dependable enough?

The only answer that he could find in his mind to all of those questions was… no. He wasn't brave enough. He wasn't strong enough. He wasn't dependable enough. He didn't have enough courage. Not enough fibre or decisiveness. He was afraid of what might come. He was afraid that if anything at all happened to Mavis and Natsu while they lived away from the island… it would be his fault. He was pathetic and weak. He was frightful and afraid. He was terrified.

He stood up hurriedly, and picked Natsu off Mavis's lap.

"It's… it's about to rain, Mavis."

Zeref latched his sleeping brother over his shoulders, and started to walk towards the village.

Mavis stood up after him, silent, quiet, thinking. Her tears had stopped flowing–that's how heartbroken and grieved she was. But one last drop trailed down her bright and soft skin, and dropped off her chin.

He had given his answer again. And it was the same as ever.

She looked up at the clouds that formed over the island, and the thunder and lightning that crept in through between them. It started to rain, as a morbid and grim sign of what was to come.

The next chapter is already done. I will soon update it once i make sure that no typos infect it.