Rose Coloured

Chapter 32- Dull

Over the years, Natsu grew to have a bad perception of hospitals. He used to stay long hours here after school whenever Grandine had to work late, and though he'd been indifferent to them at first, he slowly grew to hate it. 

He'd spent a lot of time here as a patient, and it just always brought back bad memories. 

I should've brought Happy… Natsu left his comfort animal at home in his rush to get here, though Wendy would be there to give him company by now. He made a beeline for the room the woman at the front desk referred him to, not wanting any setbacks right now. He'll have to suck up his own anxiety because Mavis needs him.

He hated that the room was two flights of stairs and an entire hallway away. It was as if they were trying to hide the fact that Zeref is here, but all it did was stress Natsu out more and more as he searched for the room.

Finally on the right floor, his strong ears quickly picked up the sound of crying. It was very familiar crying, and he was honestly tired of it. He didn't want Mavis to cry over Zeref anymore. 

"Hey…" He spoke gently as he approached her, "I'm here."

"N-Natsu…" Mavis wiped her eyes with the tissue in her hand, "Oh goodness… I'm so s-sorry…" 

Natsu shook his head as he took the seat beside her and gave her a tight hug. The chairs were across from the room Zeref should be in, but there was no way of seeing through, "How… How is he?"

"I d-don't know…" She hugged him tightly, needing some way to ground herself, "I just got a phone call that he was here, and then they said  there wouldn't be an update on his condition for a while… He just got out of surgery, and now I'm just waiting to see if it was s-successful…"

"Hm…" Natsu couldn't help but feel guilty. Zeref finally came home a few weeks ago, and other than a couple of phone calls, he hadn't made any move to properly welcome him back. 

At first it was because he wanted to give Mavis and Zeref their alone time together, but then things became conflicting. His relationship with his brother is quite literally the definition of complicated, and he was honestly stalling on seeing him. 

He didn't really reach out as much as he knew he should've during the decade Zeref was locked up. It's not like Natsu doesn't love his brother, but confronting certain issues has always been difficult for him. Now, he grew to regret not visiting him when he had the chance, and the anxiety it brought only made him avoid things more.

 It shouldn't have taken Zeref getting shot for Natsu to decide to see him. 

"Oh Natsu," Mavis pulled away from him to pull out another tissue from the box in her lap, "I don't know what I'm gonna do… I just got him back, we just got married, I… I c-can't lose him!" 

"C'mon now," Natsu pulled her into his side, "It's gonna be okay, you hear me?"

"But what if it's n-not? What am I gonna do without him? I'll be lost, there'd be nowhere for me to go…" 

"Hey, now… Stop talking like that. If worst comes to worst, you know you can always come to me. You'll always be my big sister, and I'll always be here for you." Mavis truly did have a lot to lose right now. Her family disowned her years ago because she chose to date a prisoner, and although there's the family that is Fairy Tail, it wouldn't make up for such a loss- something Natsu understood very well. 

He couldn't imagine what she must be feeling right now. Of course he's terrified of something happening to his big brother, but this is her soulmate. She's given up so much for him, and Zeref's even the reason why Fairy Tail was established in the first place- losing him would be detrimental.