My first ever fic for a fandom week! I'm so happy! I love Nastu to death and Zeref isn't far behind ^^

Day 2: Family

Fairy Tail and it's characters belong to Hiro Mashima.

"Onii-chan."

The dark haired man turned over, looking for the voice.

"Yo. Zeref-nii."

He was close by. It was his little brother. The one he desperately wanted to see. The one-

"Wake up!"

Jolting awake, Zeref gasped aloud as he looked around his room. Standing next to his bed was Natsu, his annoyingly adorable little brother.

"What," Zeref sighed as he flopped back down onto the pillow, "what is it?"

"You promised to take me shopping for Lucy's birthday gift today," Natsu leaned over the bed so he could stare into Zeref's eyes with a pleading look.

"Yeah, but right now? It's.." Zeref glanced at the clock on the wall, "Natsu it's 7 in the morning. Can't it wait?"

"NO! I have to get the perfect gift!" Natsu pounced onto Zeref causing both boys to tumble onto the floor.

Sitting up, Zeref rubbed his head, glaring at the pink haired menace, "fine, let me get dressed."

"Yosh! I'll be waiting in the den!"

Standing, Zeref shook his head. He loved his brother, but any more of the wake up calls and he would have to hurt him.

Natsu bounced around the room. Sitting on the love seat, then the couch, then the recliner. He paced the hallway as he waited on his brother, who finally appeared a few minutes later, "Took you long enough!"

"You are too impatient," Zeref walked past him into the kitchen. Looking for a small snack.

"OII! Let's go already!" the 16-year-old pulled on his brothers coat like a child.

"Here," Zeref handed Natsu crackers, water, and two pills,"I'm ready. Let's go."

Natsu swallowed the pills and raced after his brother, shoving the crackers in his mouth.

They got in Zeref's car and took off. Natsu leaned back into the seat, not wanting to risk the pills not working. Zeref glanced at him several times, hoping he wouldn't have to clean vomit out of his car, again. Those pills had a 50/50 chance of working.

Arriving at the mall, Natsu hoped out with new life. Zeref pushed Natsu towards the door before he kissed the ground.

"What do you want to get her?" Zeref asked as they walked past a few stores.

"Um.. I don't know.." Natsu mumbled under his breath.

Zeref sighed, "She's your girlfriend and you don't even know what she wants for her birthday?"

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" he yelled the same line he spouted almost every day, "She's my best friend.."

Zeref eyed the blush on his brothers face, it seems that liking blondes ran in the family.

"OK then," Zeref pointed to a jewelry store, "What would your best friend like for her birthday?"

Natsu thought long and hard, he knew Lucy best didn't he? "Oh! This way!"

Natsu took off like a bullet in the other direction, and if Zeref hadn't been in the shape he was in he would have lost Natsu.

"Here! She'll like anything in here!" Natsu happily pointed to the book store.

"I see," Zeref tried to catch his breath as Natsu looked around the impressive store, "what kind of books does she like?"

"She reads all the time, so like I said, anything!"

"Natsu," Zeref watched as Natsu zipped from isle to isle looking around, sending an apologetic smile to the store clerk, "Zeref-nii!"

Zeref found Natsu on the young adult isle, he was sitting in the floor with four books laid out in front of him, "which one of these do you think she'll like best?"

Squating down next to him, Zeref scanned the books, "We'll I think you can count out Eragon."

"Huh? OH! No, that one is for me!"

Zeref sorted, "I thought you were done with reading after what Harry Potter did to you."

"Yeah I know, but this had dragons in it! Lucy read it and liked it. So I thought if I read it too then we could talk about it.."

Zeref knew how Natsu felt, after all, he had done the same with a book about fairies.

"Fine, we'll get that one for you," he pushed the blue book to the side, "now which one do you think she'll like. What are they about?"

"Well this one is about vampires. Levy said it was good, but it looks stupid to me," Natsu pushed aside a book with an apple on it, "This one is the one everyone's always talking about."

"She might like it. You might too, since the main character is called 'the girl on fire'," Zeref picked up the book to read the full description.

"I guess," Natsu picked up the last book, "but I think she'll like this one more. Since it's not as popular."

Zeref looked at the green cover of the book Natsu was holding, "Why's that?"

"Well, she had a chance to be popular and be a part of the cool crowd when she moved here," Natsu started, looking at the book with fondness in his eyes, "but she chose to hang out with me and the gang instead."

Zeref felt pride swell up in his chest, Natsu wasn't a child anymore. He ruffled the spiky pink locks, "Then I think she'll love it."

"Watch the hair! Onii-chan!"

Zeref took the books to the counter to pay for them, "That was fast. Did you want to get her something else?"

"A cake."

Zeref looked at the determined look on his brothers face, "Sure. What kind? We can go down to the bakery and get one."

"No. I want to make it for her."

Gulping, Zeref thanked the store clerk and turned to Natsu, "You.. want to bake a cake?"

"Is that a problem? I can cook ya know!"

"Yes, you can cook well," Zeref and Natsu left the store, Zeref tried to lead them to the bakery but Natsu grabbed his arm and pulled him to the small grocery store, "but baking? It's a little different."

"So? How hard could it be?"

Apparently, a lot harder. An hour later Zeref stood in his kitchen staring at the cake batter on the celing.

"How did you even get it up there?"

"The mixer went crazy on me!" Natsu cried as he mixed batch number two by hand.

The mixer was now a broken mess on the table.

"Hold on, hold on!" Natsu stopped stirring and glanced at Zeref, "I'll help you, just slow down."

Natsu smiled his famous grin, "thanks onii-chan!"

They had to start over, since Natsu put too much water and oil in the second batch.

Natsu watched carefully as Zeref explained step by step what to do and how much to add into the bowl. Zeref let Natsu mix the batter, but much slower this time. When he was done, he flung the extra off the spoon behind him. It landed on the cabinet and on Zeref's face.

Blinking chocolate batter out of his eyes, Zeref grabbed the bag of flour and grabbed a handful.

"No! Wait!" Natsu yelled as the flour was flung his way.

"Look in a mirror Natsu, that's what you'll look like when you're an old man," Zeref held his stomach as he laughed at the scowl on Natsu's face.

He looked into the silver bowl he was holding and saw his pink hair was now white.

Growling, Natsu sat the bowl down and grabbed two handfuls of flour and dumped them all over Zeref.

"Hey!" Zeref coughed.

"You'll be an old man long before I will!"

"I'm five years older than you, we'll be old around the same time."

"Your hair will turn before mine! And it'll show up more because yours in black!"

"That doesn't even make sense.."

"Yes it does!"

Before Zeref could answer the oven beeped,"We'll talk genetics later, put the batter in that pan and put it in the over for about 20 minutes."

Natsu did as he was told. Humming a little song that Zeref taught to him when he was little. Zeref sat at the bar wiping his face when he heard it, he often sang that to Natsu when he had bad dreams, he didn't think he remembered it.

"You remember that song?"

Natsu shook the flour out of his hair as he stood across from Zeref, "Kinda. Not all the words though."

"I see," Zeref smiled as he closed his eyes, remembering all those times he would let Natsu sleep with him when he was scared of the storm or after a day when he and Gray got into a big fight and he was still upset about it.

"Did you have a good childhood? With just me around?" their parents died not long after Natsu was born, they were raised by their uncle Igneel. But most of the time it was just them at home because he worked a lot, and even he passed away a few years back.

"I had the best a kid could ask for," his famous grin spread across his flour stained face.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I feel more bad for you. You kinda had to raise me, so you didn't really get a childhood," Natsu put his arms on the bar and leaned on them.

"What are you talking about?" Zeref shook his head, "I couldn't ask for a better way to grow up than taking care of my little brother."

Natsu stared at him for a moment before grinning. Zeref smiled, but he felt odd. It felt like the room was getting hotter.

"Family is the most important thing to me, onii-chan."

Zeref blinked, where did this come from?

"I won't let anything happen to my family."

Zeref was about to ask what he was talking about, but Natsu's head was tilted down and he was talking in a low, dangerous voice. The room felt like it was on fire.

Zeref tried to speak, but his voice wasn't working. He closed his eyes, he felt like he was choking. It was suffocating.

"ZEREF!"

The black haired mans eyes opened, the scene before him was much different before he closed his eyes. No longer was he in a cozy kitchen with a brother who loved him.

No.. he was now on a desolated battlefield. And in front of him stood an angry.. no.. a furious dragon slayer who was kneeling next to a blonde who was gripping her side in pain.

The dark eyes that matched his looked at him with such hatred, it literally burned just staring at them.

"Ah.. A dream in the midst of battle.."

Natsu stood, flames erupting from his fists, "I told you that I would never let you hurt my family! I won't let you hurt them.. I won't let you hurt her.. I'll turn you to ash!"

Zeref looked around the area. His curse did this, he killed again. The blonde must have gotten near him, which is why Natsu was so angry.

Yes. Get angry. Get angry enough to kill.

"Let me ask you something, Natsu," Zeref stepped forward, his red, murderous eyes glaring at his little brother, "is family the most important thing to you?"

I hope you liked it ^^

The books: Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling, Eragon belongs to Christopher Paolini, Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer, The Hunger Games belongs to Suzanne Collins, and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones belongs to Cassandra Clare.