A/N: First of all, I'm so sorry that update is so late. Second, I wish you a very super late happy new year AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I'm truly sorry though. I had no motivation after finals to write anything to be honest. Also I was playing a variety of games during break that included The Last of Us and Undertale, which are really good games btw. And then I got really busy over the last month so...yeah.

With that said, this chapter was originally going to be a bit of a filler but then I was like "screw that, I actually want to finish this story."

Thank you for all of the reviews! I really appreciate it! :D

ENJOY! :D

Chapter 9: Memories

Natsu's POV

The starry night sky looked over Natsu and Lucy as they feasted on a chicken by the warm campfire. It had been five days since they last escaped Alvarez, and they had just found a forest nearby Crocus to hide in.

"I still can't believe that you manage to convince the shopkeeper to give us food and other essentials," said Lucy in a astonished tone.

"What?" said Natsu, who had his mouth full of chicken. Swallowing hard, he added, "Luce, that was no big deal. That old man was an acquaintance of mine."

"But we were trying to lose the Alvarez guards at the market! We only had seconds to get out of there to begin with!"

"The way you caught the guard with your whip though? That's so becoming a classic."

Lucy went red. "I was desperate! And you needed the distraction anyway since you went ahead and picked a fight with the head guard!"

"What can I say?" Natsu put his arms at the back of his neck. "I'm a natural."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, either way, I'm glad we finally get to camp with blankets this time around." Lucy took another drumstick and took a bite. "Five days without one can really do a number on you."

"What are you saying? It was completely warm and I had the fire burning all night!"

As if on cue, the blonde sneezed and scowled at him. "Not all of us are Dragon Slayers, Natsu. And no, you did not have the fire burning all night. In fact, you pulled me into your arms while you were asleep, muttering mindlessly! What in the world were you dreaming about?"

"Hmmph." Natsu grunted and leaned back into his own blanket, blushing slightly. "M-minor details." He then started staring at the stars, which were glowing brilliantly in the sky. He then started thinking about the constellations as he laid back onto the blanket.

"Hey, Natsu," said Lucy. "Didn't you promise me that you would tell me what the hell is going on with our kingdoms?"

Natsu cringed. Crap. "Yeah. I guess I did."

"Well?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead."

After another awkward silence, he answered, "Are ya sure about this? Cause once you're in-"

"Natsu, I've been dragged into this ever since Zeref kidnapped us. Might as well tell me the truth."

He sighed, not wanting to talk about this at all. It was bad enough that Layla got dragged into it. But Lucy was right. There was really no point in hiding it. "Alright. Fine. It actually started when we were younger. Shortly before Igneel disappeared and I ended up at Fairy Tail...Look...I'll get to the point. Zeref wants to open the Eclipse gate."

"What?!" Lucy screamed. "But that's forbidden ma-"

"I know." Natsu took a shaky breath. "Igneel tried telling him that so many times. But...Zeref wasn't one to listen. Once his girlfriend died-"

"Wait, he had a girlfriend?"

"...Will you please let me finish?"

Lucy covered her mouth. "Sorry."

"Anyway," Natsu continued on, "Zeref had always been fascinated with life and death and how magic played a part in that. It wasn't that much of an obsession as it now but it was still there. But then he meet Mavis...and I don't know what happened. He was perfectly normal, but when she died, he went crazy about wanting to bring her back to life. He was murmuring her name in his sleep, asking for forgiveness. Sooner or later, I told Igneel what was going on. Zeref did not take too kindly that I was interrupting his research and he eventually revealed that he was going to find the Celestial Spirit Queen and have her open the gate."

Natsu looked up to the sky again. Memories of that day were as clear as sky above him. Zeref basically stormed out after Igneel said that she couldn't be revived. He apparently knew what was going on but Zeref had hated him ever since.

After a long period of silence, Lucy spoke up. "Maybe that's why he stole the key."

Natsu was drawing a blank. "Huh?"

"When I was young, my mum told me that if the Celestial Queen chose your body for residence, there was a trick to summoning her. She is the life force of all of the spirits so she can't live in the Celestial Spirit world to begin with. When you summon the queen, the key that you use breaks and gets reborn in the world somewhere else. If he were to use the key to open the gate..."

"He could reverse her death. He could prevent it."

"But Natsu...it has major consequences. If the Celestial Spirit Queen is summoned...the person it's summoned from can die. Since it's where the Queen would live, the body cannot take that much magic energy."

The chicken leg that was in Natsu's hand grew cold despite the fire. Just what exactly happened between Zeref and Mavis...?

"That's why he wanted me." Lucy scratched her chin as her eyes became calculating. "He needed someone to open the gate and summon the Queen. But..."

"The Queen is not in you, is she?"

Lucy let out a shrill laugh. "Highly doubt that she is. But if it were true..." She went quiet before saying, "Good night, Natsu."

She started to prepare her blanket before Natsu realized that he wanted her to stay up with him. He felt something stirring in him as he said, "Wait!"

The blonde stopped what she was doing and stared at him. "What is it?"

"I...well..." He stammered. "You wouldn't mm-mind staying up, would you? I just don't want to fall asleep right now."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him before obliging to sit back up. "Are you afraid to sleep alone?"

Natsu snorted, pretending to cover the obvious truth. "Please. I told my share. What about you?"

"Hmm...I guess it's only fair isn't it?" said Lucy. "Well...ever since the war started, Dad never let go anywhere. I couldn't go into town anymore because Uncle James was way too paranoid about what would happen to the future Queen." With a bitter tone in her voice, she added, "Hmmph. That's all he ever cared about since he couldn't have any kids of his own."

Another awkward silence fell between them. The mood had grown somber ever since he spoke about Igneel and Zeref.

"Natsu..." Lucy trailed off. "We can't let him summon the Celestial Spirit Queen. The consequences will be dire, especially for the mage that he's summoning it from."

"Hmm. What else is new? He'd need a Celestial Spirit mage in order for that to happen."

Lucy gave him a small smile and wrapped her blanket around her. "See you in the morning."

As Lucy went to sleep, he started to yawn, as his eyes started to close on their own.

That's when the dreams started.

He was back in his little cottage. Zeref was in his white tunic as he held a book in his hands. For a moment, Natsu wondered if the past few years had been a dream as opposed to the actual one right now. Zeref never stormed out that day, he never formed an empire and the both of them weren't on other side of their views.

But Natsu wasn't stupid. Everything right now was a dream. Zeref wasn't this calm or serene. His older brother turned towards him with his eyes closed, and said in an echo: "Bring her to me. This is not a dream, but a vision. A message. I will summon the Celestial Spirit Queen and open the Gate. You cannot stop me."

As Zeref opened his eyes, Natsu gasped. His eyes had turned red. His irises only got like that when he was truly angry. Everything around him started to turn to black. He was starting to be consumed by the darkness that was his brother's emotions.

And that's when he shot up, eyes wide with panic, breathing heavily.

Clutching his jacket, he looked around. Everything was the same. Lucy was still sound asleep, the fire was still suprisingly going strong.

What the hell did that dream mean? Or was it even a dream?

Lying back down, Natsu had a feeling that no matter the outcome, they were all going to be doomed...and he has no idea whether that was going to be his fault or not.