Chapter 22: Everlasting

'What they want?'

Natsu doesn't understand it, but Lucy gives him such a confident smile he can't help to just follow along with what she'll say or do next.

"They want to hurt me, you know. Zeref's clients and any people he can get to follow what he says." Lucy continues.

Minerva inches closer to them and she finally catches the glimpse of something sparkling at the corner of her shirt.

"Whatever that is, you can't hurt with me it. Zeref promised me more money than you could ever imagine for bringing you to him."

'And she believed him?'

His lies seemed never ending.

She arches a brow as Lucy shifts the collar of her shirt down to reveal her scar.

It's the first time Natsu's seen it a while and he realizes it's gotten bigger, a long ugly gash that makes Zeref's followers and Minerva pause.

"You've been tainted by him already?" Minerva whispers in surprise.

Lucy nods, pulling the collar from her shirt back up while discreetly reaching into side of her bra.

"So tell me him this if you have anything to report back to him that I am not nor will I ever consider being his lab rat!" She snapped, tossing down a smoke bomb as the room became flooded with a thick gray fog.

Natsu blinked in confusion, coughing as his eyes began to burn and tear up before he felt Lucy's hand tugging him away from the scene.

"How and why did you sneak that into your bra?!" He asked, smirking at the rise of red to her face once they were far enough away from the smoke.

The commotion had caused the other guild members to scramble and once again the sickening feeling of guilt pressed on her stomach.

People constantly seemed in danger or in trouble around her too much as of late.

"Shut it, Gajeel was the one with the connection to all types of gadgets like that and I had to hide it on myself somehow in case things went bad without bringing notice towards it either!"

Natsu continued to beam naughtily, shaking his head.

"If you say so Luce!" He hummed in a singsong voice.

Well, he clearly doesn't believe her.

They weave and move until they're finally far enough away from the chaos, sucking in further gulps of fresh air.

"Always have a backup plan." Lucy breathed out quietly.

Because she knew from somewhere in the area, Zeref was still close by.

"Are you okay?" Natsu questions, bringing her back to reality and she nods, trying to ignore his stare back to her covered up scar.

"You…you never told me it got that bad." He mentions gently.

Lucy shrugged, hoping the topic could be dropped quickly.

"I just haven't tried to look at it that much lately." She replied, but her voice cracks and she knows Natsu heard it.

It's an ugly reminder.

Of things still left undone, that Zeref is still trying to hunt them down.

"Let's go home." Natsu abruptly suggests, making Lucy blink before shaking her head.

"We just got here though." She points out.

And leaving would only make it seem like they've lost, that they've finally let Zeref get to them.

But she can't take as much enjoyment out of seeing the new furniture and sights the guild has bought over the vacation, everything in these shiny hardwood and marble tiles reminds her that at one point in time just months ago this was all in shambles.

'How much longer will this keep going on? I don't want to keep endangering the people I care about.'

"Are you alright?" Makarov questions, approaching her from the side as she continued to look around.

She gives him what she hopes is a pleasant enough nod and smile, stomach doing flips at seeing the faded scar nearly hidden by his silver hair.

"Yeah, just checking out all the different cabinets and fixtures, they look nice. Goes with the rustic feel from before." Lucy notes, trailing a finger across dark mahogany wood.

Makarov nods and they both gaze towards downstairs, Natsu has taken up the opportunity to engage in the middle of an arm-wrestling contest with Gray with Gajeel watching overhead betting on who will lose.

This is the normalcy she longs for, what's been lost to her for so many months now.

"Natsu's had quite the effect on you these past couple of months, hasn't he?" He asks knowingly.

Her face reddens at being caught staring, eyeing him with a small grin. "That obvious, huh?"

"At the start of spring semester last year he had proudly boasted he would be able to change your mind when it came to men and dating. Didn't seem like he would rest until he knew you were his and vice versa." He chuckled.

'I wonder if getting involved with Natsu has brought more harm than good though.'

Did Makarov know after all the darker nickname he held, the things he had done in the dark underbelly of Fiore's night life?

And after all, Natsu's presence in her life had brought about changes and things she had learned she could never take back or forget. To truly breaking up with Loke, to learning more of her mother's past, and finally to being on the cusp of truly maybe finding a cure for the insomnia that still kept her on edge.

Yes, the past months had gone by like a whirlwind indeed.

And when Natsu finally picks up on her stare on him, he sends her a warm smile she knows is reserved only for her.

'Stop worrying so much.' She coaxes herself.

This is a welcome back party in spite of everything that's gone on.

'Still, there's one thing I need to clear up…'

"Before you go Makarov, I had a question I hope you could answer…regarding the past guild masters of Fairy Tail." Lucy asks nervously, tugging him back from walking away.

If anybody holds the precious key to the locked away memories of Fairy Tail's past; it's him.

Makarov cocks his head in puzzlement, before nodding in understanding and gesturing for her to follow him to his office.

It isn't easy, but the rest of the time she spends indulging herself with the latest gossip Levy and Juvia have for her and when it's time to go, Natsu wraps an arm around her shoulder loosely and whispers in her ear they've had a long day.

The night is cooler than usual, air filled with the scent of freshly cut grass and pine. Happy greets them with an excited purr upon their arrival, blue fur nuzzling and clinging at their legs before trailing after them to the bedroom to curl into his usual spot at the edge of the bed.

"I don't see myself getting much sleep tonight. I don't even feel tired." Lucy huffs despite the yawn that creeps into her voice.

Natsu chuckled, leaning closer to press a kiss against the pulse point of her neck. "I can do a thing or two to change that."

He smirks at the rush of warmth that rises up. "N-No, not like that!"

But he opts for rubbing soothing circles along her back instead, waiting for the slow rise and fall pattern of her breathes to return.

She hadn't needed her sleeping medicine in nearly a month now; a record for her.

Though the harder nights, the nights where it was well past 3 am and she was awakened from her nightmares, bloodshot eyes scouring the cabinets for the tablets made him worry just how deep Zeref's words or effects were getting to her.

A cracking noise pierces through the silence, the sound of glass shattering coming from the direction of the kitchen.

He waits until he's sure Lucy is deep enough in sleep, it's only then that he turns and looks over to the lone shadow that's trailing closer towards the bedroom. A golden gleam settles into his ebony eyes, gaze becoming smoldering.

"I didn't think you would ever resort to breaking and entering Zeref."

-X-

"You know why I'm here." Zeref muses, surprisingly keeping his voice low.

And his onyx fall to behind him, towards Lucy finally asleep within the crevices of their pillows.

Natsu stops him before he can even take a step forward, fangs elongating as his jagged scar begins to shine in the darkness.

"Don't even think about it." He growls, voice menacing and dark enough that Zeref holds up his hands in playful surrender.

"I don't even know why you're so against me conducting my research Natsu. Both you and Lucy could benefit so much from what I could do. You could go back to be known as the Dragon who-"

"No, why the hell would you think I would want to go back to that life again?!" Natsu spat, interrupting him.

He hears Lucy groan from behind him and frowns, pushing him until they're both far enough away from the bedroom.

Moonlight seeps in through breaks in the clouds along the curtains, Zeref remains in the shadows; face half lit with light while the other half obscured.

So much like the mask he put on for his clients.

Zeref shrugged, tugging at fanciful jewelry along his arms. "I thought you wanted to be famous, be known for your strength and power."

Natsu shook his head, memories flashing of dried blood bleeding into the cement, men and women alike tearing into their skin as addictions ravaged their mind…

"Not like that, never like that." He murmured, anger dissipating from his voice.

"I can't let you take Lucy. Once upon a time, you were actually a good doctor known for saving lives, even my own. The man who stands before me now has been too corrupted by loss, by the sins of greed and wrath." Natsu sighed.

Zeref clicked his tongue, own gleaming canines sparkling in the light as a wicked grin split across his face.

"You sound just like Roy before I got rid of him for good."

Bile crawled up his throat at how easily those words left his lips, Roy hadn't been his favorite person in the world (well, not even someone he liked to consider even a person at times for his actions) however…

'He's dead?'

At his stunned expression, Zeref laughed; ominous chuckling echoing against the walls.

"What? Did you honestly think I was going to keep him around after all those mistakes he kept making time and again? No, you should know me better than that little brother."

He swallowed the dry spit on his tongue, forcing his mouth to move.

For his fists to tighten.

"Get out of this house. Now."

Zeref crackled his own knuckles, stepping forward.

"No."

The first blow connects with his stomach, spray of blood escaping his lips as he finally breaks that stupid grin off his face. He slams his own punch straight into his jaw and he grits his teeth and twists his head before any of his teeth can be knocked out in the process.

"You're still so weak. You should just give up and come with me; I can make you stronger than you've ever dreamed and Lucy…well I can take away all those sleepless nights once and for all." He teased, dodging his punches far too much with annoying precision.

For every hit he lands, Zeref can land two in return.

And despite the heat of rage scorching from his scar to all throughout his body, he's getting tired…

Sweat drops into his eyes, blurring his vision as he sweeps low to shake Zeref off his feet.

The abrupt movement gives him only a second, one second to jab out those flashing ebony eyes of his.

He barely scrapes the edge of his right eye before being knocked back again.

"Give up Natsu. You and Lucy can either come with me willingly or not." He hisses, flash of a blade slipping from his underneath his sleeves until a feminine voice cuts through.

"Stop this Zeref!"

'Mavis?'

No, it can't be her…

But he turns towards the sound of her voice, surprised to see Lucy standing at the corner of the room holding up a grainy image on her laptop.

Mavis looks back at him, tears streaking down the corner of her eyes.

"Zeref, please don't do this! You didn't spend all those years in medical school to go against the principals of all that you learned! That we learned together!"

This is a recording he realizes as he glances towards the date at the edge of the screen, a moment captured in time so long ago by one of his old associates.

A minute later he hears his own voice come in, the painful words he had can never take back spill from his lips.

"Mavis, you can be either with me or against me. The underground market is lucrative and allows me to further expand those very principals. If you think it's twisted, then that's your own opinion; not mine."

His younger self looks away from the camera, not seeing the subdued anger in Mavis' expression, jade eyes filling with tears before being hurriedly blinked away until only a flat look remains.

"If…If that's what you want then I want no part in it." She whispers.

He isn't sure if his younger self has heard her, turned away towards piles of books littered about.

The screen flickers and buzzes, his associate gets yelled at to leave and the screen goes black.

Silence fills the room, Zeref eyeing the empty screen.

"How…how did you find that? I was sure when Mavis died that I got rid of any and everything that reminded me of her or that she owned." He muttered.

Lucy smiled faintly. "Mavis kept secrets from you too, secrets she locked away in storage areas that only a precious few people she trusted knew about."

He arches a brow, they had had so many of the same friends.

"For example, she knew Makarov wouldn't exactly be on your radar." She finished.

'Ah, of course.'

Fairy Tail.

The guild she once happily ran and that she spent so many precious hours working, partying, or even sleeping in.

He had never understood her fascination with the university's club until recently.

Lucy lowered her laptop down to the ground, staring between the two men nervously. It had been a gamble to search through piles of old books and memorabilia of Fairy Tail's past when Makarov had given her the access key to explore through the dusty files and books of Magnolia's history Mavis had kept for herself.

It felt odd to be prying into her life in such a way, scourging through her journals and private entries.

They were filled with her hopes and dreams, sweet yearnings that kept her up at night until she had gotten sick…

Zeref was often mentioned too, the mysterious raven haired man who made her blush and her heart skitter.

"She wouldn't have wanted you to do this, please think of that before you do your next action." Lucy croaks out.

Her heart won't stop thundering against her chest, auburn eyes flickering between the gleaming blade still in his position to the droplets of crimson beginning to stain against the floor trailing from Natsu's skin.

'I was almost too late.'

A painful minute passes before the clinking of the knife to the ground sounds through the air, long sigh erupting from Zeref's lips.

"Is…Is that the only video of Mavis you managed to find?" He asks quietly.

Lucy doesn't answer immediately, looking towards Natsu who nods at her.

"No, I-I have the happier moments too." She whispers out.

For the first time she thinks a true smile crosses his lips then, weak and fragile in a way that maybe Mavis always saw him as.

He wipes at tears shimmering into his eyes as Lucy clicks on to another video, clearer than the other as Mavis's bright grin fills the screen, tossing wavy blonde locks from her face as she attempts to read a complicated looking book and ultimately fail.

"I forgot how happy I wanted to make her, how much I just wanted to be with her." Zeref mumbles as the screen cuts off again.

"The same can be said for the patients and even clients who believed in you." Lucy brings up gently.

Zeref doesn't answer, only clicking on to the next clip.

And the rest of the night goes on in a sea of gritty and rough images, Mavis's laughter and voice filling the quiet.

In the morning he leaves, only presence of his arrival being in blood stained tiles and Natsu's freshly bruised skin.

"Is he…going to be okay? Is he going to come back for us?"

Natsu winced, biting back a curse as Lucy poured too much alcohol unto a particularly deep gash along his stomach.

"No, I think Mavis reminded him of the person he used to be, the one who wasn't consumed with experimenting and corrupting others…speaking of which, could you lay off the rubbing alcohol Luce?! I'm not injured that bad!"

Lucy stuck out her tongue, pressing a patch of gauze to the wound before leaning close to brush their lips together.

"Toughen up Dragon."

-X-

'364…365. I made it…a whole year.' Lucy smiled at herself proudly, crossing another X through as a new day arrived.

One year without insomnia.

An entire year without needing medicine, Juvia and Levy would surely want to go out to celebrate such a milestone!

Her scar no longer ached like before, fading lightly into her skin as a memory. Natsu's too only seemed to come alive when they were deep in lovemaking now, sparkling and heating under her gentle caresses.

Spring brought about the return of warm nights and breezy days, sweet scent of blooming petals and freshly budding grass wafting through the air.

'I can't believe last year around this time I had still been dating Loke.'

Her gaze drifted to the man currently occupying and hogging all the blankets of her dorm bed.

Natsu.

Okay, so not all her one year plans had gone exactly the way she expected, especially not when she had declared to her group of friends she was going to swear off dating.

She walked over to her bed, bumping him until his face hit the wall.

"Ow, what's the big deal?!" He huffed.

Lucy crossed her arms against her chest, pointing to the clock. "Big deal? You're sleeping in my dorm bed once again and you're going to be late for class if you don't get a move on!"

Natsu grinned lazily, tugging her down into the sheets with him. "Oh, is that all?"

And try as she might, she's still having difficulty ignoring his kisses and touches. His fingers thread to underneath her tank top, reaching dangerously close to the claps of her bra.

"This is important Natsu, graduation is next month and I want you to be walking across the stage too!" Lucy grunts out, pushing his hands away.

Natsu chuckled, turning them so he hovered above her. One hand moves forward to begin his assault on her breasts while the other remains possessively close on her stomach.

"A lot can happen in one year; can't it? He purred lowly by her ear, rubbing the spot affectionately.

Lucy nodded, moving her own hand up to grasp it in his as he pressed against the slight bulge.

"Yes indeed."

-x-

I think I'm truly finished now! I'm so sorry this took so long to update, I guess the way Fairy Tail's manga ended kind of left me on a sour note lol (teasing all those couples and yet nothing official sigh). Anyways, I hope this ending was satisfactory, it was a difficult to write and I would keep starting and stopping until I finally pushed through to the end. Thank you again to all that took out time to read, favorite, and follow; I appreciate it!

Let me know your thoughts!