Chapter Text
Natsu jumped and reached for the ball put together from hay and leather scraps, but his brother just went higher and dangled the prize just out of reach. Only when Natsu pretended to have lost interest in the game, did Zeref lower the ball. Then quickly snatched it away when Natsu lunged for it.
One way or the other, he was going to get that ball. With a yell, he climbed up his brother’s side. He was knocked right off and landed in the muddy grass. Great, now they were going to make him take a bath too. He cried out in frustration.
“I told you not to play with your brother like that.” Mommy looked over her shoulder. “You’ll hurt him.”
Zeref dropped into the grass too, holding the ball in his lap. He looked sorry, but he wasn’t. He never was. Not when it came to games.
One of the two big men Mommy was talking to, shook his head. “Do you not see what is in front of you? This will not go the way you want.”
Natsu made another grab for the ball, but Zeref still wouldn’t let him have it. He ran away laughing while Natsu gave chase. Was this just a game to him? Getting that ball was a matter of pride!
Zeref ran to where Daddy was watching the meadow, sitting with his back against a rock. He sighed grumblishly when Zeref used him as a stepping stone to get onto the rock. But no matter what way you looked at it, Natsu was too small to follow him up there. He dropped to the ground, waved his arms, and let out another cry of frustration. Zeref was so mean!
“Alright, enough.” Daddy took the ball from Zeref, whose taunting grin dropped from his face, and gave it to Natsu.
“No!” Natsu refused to take the ball. “You ruined the game, Daddy!”
“Yeah, Dad,” Zeref joined in. “You ruined the game.”
Daddy pinched the bridge of his nose and lifted Zeref off the rock. “The gods or whatever creatures that are out there couldn't have prepared me for the two of you.”
Zeref asked, “Not even Mom?”
“You see, there’s only one of her.”
“We’re two,” Natsu said. There was some sort of weird something-y feeling coming from across the meadow. “I think Mommy’s mad.”
Mommy was coming toward them, her hands balled up. The whole meadow seemed darker. Natsu hid behind Daddy’s leg.
“Not at you.” Daddy patted his head. “But it’s time to go home.”
Zeref pouted. “Not fair. I want to stay here.”
Daddy grabbed his arm, but didn’t look at him. He was looking at the two men behind Mommy. Why were they coming here too? Why did they come here at all? No one was supposed to interrupt their playtime.
Mommy turned on her heel. “I gave you my answer.”
Only one of the two men had said a word so far. That one had long black hair and was very pale. In the light of the setting sun, his eyes seemed red. Kind of like Mommy’s when she was very mad. He now said, “You may make this choice for yourself, but those like us don’t belong here. It’s short-sighted.”
“Wouldn’t you know?” Mommy snapped. “I was a child, afraid. And you promised me a future. That was short-sighted.”
“Does my past mistake nullify the ones you will make?” The man sighed heavily. “In my attempt to prevent a tragedy, I brought about an even greater one. I failed you, it’s true. But I beg of you, do not make the same mistake. Do not invite disaster.”
“You failed me? That’s hardly true.” Mommy’s voice turned harsh. “The word failure cannot begin to describe what you did to me, Father.”
Grandpa?! Natsu didn’t get all those difficult words and weird phrases, but he understood that. He went to nudge Zeref, but Zeref put a hand over his mouth.
She continued, “You destroyed me and now you dare warn me of a disaster that’s nowhere to be seen.”
“Are you blind?” The man who hadn’t said anything yet spoke. “You watch the disaster unfold before your eyes. When will you acknowledge it? When blood starts to flow? When your village is destroyed? Or will life need to be lost first? What happened to you was a horror, but now you shift that very same burden onto an innocent.” He breathed out. “But I supposed you can’t be blamed for not forcing butchered trust back to life.”
Mommy turned her head. “Why are you even here?”
“Your distrust is reasonable. Your willful ignorance is not. Let me take him.”
Mommy looked at Daddy. “Darling, why don’t you go ahead? I’ll be right behind you.”
The bed trembled for some reason. No, the whole room was. Maybe even the whole house. The very ground? An earthquake?
Natsu leapt to his feet and ran to the bed on the other side of the room. Except, there was none. There never had been. There was only one bed in his house and it was his own. So why had his first instinct been to run across the room to wake the person sleeping there? Had he forgotten Happy slept in the same bed? For that matter, the shaking had stopped as quickly as it had started. Maybe Gray had been practicing his ice hammer at the edge of town in the middle of the night again? Or Gajeel had eaten some bad metal and had let out a fart that could be felt across the continent.
“Natsu?” Happy’s blue head popped out from underneath the mountain of pillows. “What are you doing?”
“Hmm.” Good question. “Did you feel that earthquake right now?”
“Earthquake?!” Happy dug himself into the pile of pillows. “Where?”
“Here, obviously.”
Happy slowly pushed himself out of the pile. “No, didn’t feel anything. Why?”
“I could’ve sworn the house was shaking.”
“Maybe you dreamt it.”
“Yeah, that must’ve been it.” He dropped back in place and closed his eyes. Sleep claimed him almost immediately. The blanket was pulled to his chin.
Wait, no. He was laying on the blanket. No way Happy had pried it out from under him without Natsu noticing.
Where was he?
He was home.
Don’t worry, Natsu. Mom will be back soon.
Natsu could almost feel it pressed against his chest, that old ball the two of them had abused until the leather scraps wore through and the hay had come falling out. He remembered, even though it was just a flash, trying to fix it and only making it worse.
He turned his head. That was it. The right side of the room was his. The left side….wasn’t. But that had been another room. “It was Zeref.”
Happy sat up straight so fast that his wings popped out and he hit the ceiling. “Zeref’s here? Zeref’s making an earthquake?”
“Zeref’s dead.” He turned on his side, hit by the urge to shove his bed to the right wall. “Finally.” He’d never thought someone deserved to die, except in this case. Zeref had deserved to die. He’d suffered enough. It had been for the best. For Fiore, the guild, the world, and Zeref himself too. For Mavis who’d gone with him too, Natsu thought. But for the first time, he felt incredibly sad about it.
Happy landed in front of his face. “Then why did you mention him?”
“I think I just remembered something. Something from a very long time ago.”
“Oh.” Happy said no more. They both went back to sleep and Natsu didn’t think about it again for a very long time.
What good was it, chasing after ghosts of memories of people he’d all but forgotten and were long gone, far beyond his reach? It wasn’t like with Igneel, who he’d known had been out there somewhere. These people were dead, with not a bone of them left to bury.