Hey everyone! Heh... I've been away for more than a year and I know I said I wasn't going to be gone for long. I've been having major writer's block but I actually have two stories half written. I just couldn't get myself to finish them but finally, after a long, long time, I present to you, my newest fanfic! The beginning will jump around time a bit and it'll probably get confusing for some of you, and that's ok, so just sit tight and all will be explained later in the story. Also, please excuse my typos, I have reread it multiple times to edit it but they're hard to find.
So just a little bit of context, this is a soulmate fanfic and was inspired by a prompt from Tumblr. This is NaLu, but it does contain a little GaLe, Gruvia and Jerza. Also, just a warning for all the readers, the characters are extremely OOC (yea... I have a tendency of doing that...) and I'm so, so sorry but I just hope to reflect their personalities as much as I can paired with the situation I put them in.
Ok! So now that's all out of the way, my updating schedule will be every 2nd day usually in the morning AEST (but if I wake up late, then it might be later than that... heh). The exception of this rule will be the 2nd chapter, which will be posted a week after the 1st. From there, then I will update every second day. I will try my best to work with the updating schedule but if there happen to be any unseen circumstances, than I do apologise. This story is also only 11 chapters long so please keep reading till then!
Just a quick rant as well, I'm so emotional about the Fairy Tail manga... the last chapter comes out this week and I am not ok. My heart isn't ready and I don't think I'll ever be ready. Gosh, I just thought I'd address the manga as it's ending. It's been a good run but let's hope that the anime comes back soon to fill the void (and I'm praying for some amazing animation and soundtrack! Fingers crossed).
Anyways, without further ado... Enjoy!
Disclaimer - I do not own Fairy tail or its characters!
"No! Please! Don't… don't leave me…" The pink-haired teen shrieked as he held onto her arm. "Please… we can work this out. We belong together…"
"Natsu… stop being so selfish and childish." The brown-haired female bit her lip as she tried to hold in her tears. "It didn't work out so, why should I stay?"
"Because we love each other, right? These Matchers, they don't mean anything! It shouldn't mean anything!" Grabbing onto his shirt, as if a hole had been burnt through his chest, Natsu tried his hardest to hold on.
"Just stop… it's over. We honestly did try. I'm sorry, ok?"
"No… after everything we went through, you're willing to let it all go? You don't even want to be friends!"
"We can't be friends, it would be too hard… I just- I need to focus on getting into the college I want and us not being soulmates, is not going to help. My family's moving away too so, it's not going to work. You just have to accept that."
"I was there for you… and you were there for me… our history…" Natsu let go of her arm and dropped his to the ground. "Please don't leave me… Lexi…?"
"Don't… I know I'm being selfish, but we would never work outside of high school."
As Natsu kneeled on the ground, Lexi turned her head away from him and her past, walking out of the door.
"I'm sorry…"
"Don't… go… Don't leave me…"
'Prologue'
(This will occur later in the story)
The blonde female hadn't slept a wink last night. She hadn't even had a good sleep for months but the previous night had destroyed any hope for rest, along with her frail heart.
Looking down at the intricate piece of jewellery hanging from her neck that resembled a lock, Lucy ran her fingers across it. The blonde jumped out of bed and ran down her stairs, rummaging through every and any drawer she could lay her hands on. Fatigue took over as she tripped and ran into multiple pieces of furniture.
Finally, Lucy found the hardware she was looking for. Lifting the heavy hammer into her small hands, Lucy braced herself as she swung towards her chest, aiming for the locket. It struck both her ribs and the metal, sending her back a few steps. As if there was a delayed effect, the female suddenly felt a sharp pain at her side, then it coursed throughout her whole body. The necklace cracked slightly up the edge. Screaming in pain, Lucy collapsed onto the floor.
On Earth and across all the lands that are a part of the planet, live only a few types of magic. One of them, is brought through a piece of jewellery called a Matcher. On every child's first birthday, a ceremony occurs where they are brought to one of the million Matcher facilities to pick, on their own accord, their Matcher.
The piece of jewellery is then bonded to the holder and bonded to the corresponding Matcher and its soulmate. A child will either choose a lock or a key which will grow with them as they age. It is then, that the piece of jewellery will be locked, with no way to remove it until the day soulmates share another type of magic. However, Matchers will only ever be 'unlocked' if both parties share something.
This form of magic was created so the heartbreak of not finding love, not being loved or not loving, could be avoided. However, this way of life has proven to not be as efficient as the creators first thought. Many challenges can arise with this solution. Only prophesies, legends and myths are available to tell the story of how such a thing was brought into the world but none have been confirmed as fact, only folklore.
On Lucy's birthday, her mother and father took her to the facility and they laid her amongst millions of pieces of paper that had a certain code on it for the piece of jewellery. Some were crumpled together, some were folded and placed into a container to pick out from and most were just sprawled out on the floor. Lucy crawled past most of them but picked none. She sat in the middle and cried as her parents were confused about what the procedures were to counteract such a situation.
Suddenly, an unknown source of wind blew through and picked up all the pieces of paper. Once at the ceiling, the wind dropped and the papers floated down. Lucy's mother only describes the wind as being a kind of magic. Much to everyone's surprise, only one piece of paper landed on Lucy's small hands. Happily, Layla picked up her daughter, rambling about how cute the soulmate will be while she handed the paper to the worker.
However, something caught baby Lucy's eyes. She started screaming, crying and kicking and once Layla's put her on the floor, Lucy bolted to the door of the room. As fast as her little legs could take her, her little bottom swaying back and forth, the blonde reached the door. Leaning onto it for support, she pulled out a folded piece of paper from the gap in the door and waved in the air, giggling.
Layla kneeled in front of her and smiled, knowing that that was the one. Giving, it to the worker, who mumbled something about having to clean up the mess, he put the code into the system and went to the back to grab Lucy's Matcher. A few minutes later, he emerged from a vault and handed an intricate locket with a chain to Layla.
The mother took a glimpse at the unclasped chain and slowly clipped it together, letting it hang on Lucy's neck. The chain glowed gold and readjusted the size to the small figure. Lucy giggled and bounced up and down as Layla kissed her lightly, looking up a Jude who simply smiled back.
Around 2 years before 'prologue'
"So… what school did you go to?" Lucy asked as she twirled spaghetti onto her fork.
"I was actually home-schooled by my father. He was a professor at the college in my hometown. Even though it sounds like I'm some smart, stuck-up kid, I actually really suck at studying… my dad doesn't like that at all." Mike sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling at himself.
"I bet he wouldn't. I was actually home-schooled as well till high school but…"
"Let me guess: you're smart too."
"I wouldn't say that… Although I did get a full scholarship into high school." The blonde tucked a blonde strand of hair behind her ear, batting her eyelashes as she blushed.
"How is that possible? You're beautiful, funny and smart? How is that… how is that even fair?" Ruffling his black hair with his hands, he smiled at her, his eyes crinkling at the sides.
"Well you can't talk! Didn't you just tell me that you made into Cambridge Falls Academy? That's got to be one of the best colleges in Fiore."
"What about you? I haven't heard you talk about a college yet. You probably got a full scholarship to Anton Burke Academy, didn't you? When we first met, you had 'pride of Anton Burke' written all over your face!" Since he had finished his dinner, he leaned forward on his arm, getting real close but Lucy didn't mind.
"I'm actually not going to attend college. I feel like it isn't my thing. I don't know where I want to go from here on out so what would I study? I just… I think I'll find another way to stable my life."
"Well I just want you to know, that whatever you do, I'm sure it'll all work out. You're capable of anything, it seems." Mike leaned back and took a deep breath, rubbing the side of his face. "I've had a really good night, Lucy."
Wow… he's such a dream boat. He must be the one. We've been on, what? 4 dates now? I hope he's the one… after the hundreds of dates and hundreds of 'trial boyfriends' that I've had, my luck has to be on someone.
"As did I. We really seem to click, don't we?"
"Hm. I know this is a little sudden and abrupt but I just don't want to go through heartbreak after a possible serious relationship. I just..." Mike looked down at his lap as he bit his lip nervously. "I don't want to send any hard feelings…"
Lucy sighed, her shoulders slouching. "I know what you're getting at. You want to try our Matchers, don't you?"
"W-w-well… if you're ok with it, of course."
"Don't worry about it, I understand that you want to make sure. I have a lock… do you happen to have a key?" Lucy pulled the necklace out from her cleavage, showing him.
"Phew, that's a good start. I've got a key." Mike leaned in close, their noses almost touching and around them, people stopped what they were doing to witness a life changing moment. Mike laughed as he sat back into his seat, giving the starers weird glances. "Do you want to go for walk? Maybe a little privacy will be better?"
"I'd like that. Except, I'm paying."
After bickering like children for close to 10 minutes, they ended up splitting the bill and Mike joked, hoping that it won't happen every time. The couple walked next to a river, the stars reflected onto its dark surface. Lucy felt instantly calmer. Stopping at a bench, they sat down.
"Are you ok?" Mike inquired.
"Y-yeah. I'm ok. It's just that I haven't had very good luck with these things."
"I guess it's up to chance. I just wanted to say, that I really like you, Lucy." His cheeks went rosy, anyone could see, even in the dark.
"I really like you too…" The blonde tried her best to hide the hopelessness in her voice but failed as she already knew what would happen.
The both reached for each other's Matchers, feeling the cold material in their fingers. Lucy placed the key into her own necklace delicately. There was no turn, no click, nothing. Pulling apart, Lucy turned away to wipe her tears that had somehow made their way down her cheeks.
"Hey… Lucy. We can still be friends. I know that it hurts but your soulmate is out there and unfortunately, it's not me. But I assure you, whoever is your soulmate, is one lucky person." Mike wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"Thank you, Mike. I think we'd be better as friends anyways. I just thought I'd grab onto any sliver of hope that I can."
After walking Lucy home, Mike said his goodbyes and the blonde felt even more alone than she thought she would. Walking into her house, the female collapsed, her knees and body becoming weak under all the weight. This was the last straw. After so many dates and people she's met, none seemed to be her soulmate. She had lost count at how many times she's failed. In her mind, her mother's hopeful face flashed before her.
"Mama… what am I supposed to do…? This is so stupid I shouldn't even be that sad but I'm so frustrated! If this stupid piece of jewellery is supposed to make my love-life easier, it's not! I just… it's not fair! Everyone seems to find their soulmate as soon as they're out of diapers but me?" Lucy crawled to her lounge room window, opening it up, feeling the wind on her tear stained cheeks.
Looking at the stars, Lucy rambled on, "What if…? Mama… what if my soulmate doesn't exist? What if I'm an anomaly in the system and there wasn't even a soulmate out there for me to begin with. What if, somewhere out there, they died? I know we're supposed to be bonded but what if there's something wrong with me and I didn't feel it. You always told me that I had some magic in me, that you saw it on my first birthday. What if instead, it was a curse?"
Lucy had stopped crying and her body felt numb. She had come to a conclusion.
Next time, on Unlikely Match: The Key:
Natsu grabbed her arm, stopping her from going any further. "Are we going to see each other again? You're weird..."
Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter and the preview! Please hang around for the next chapter that will be posted next week! (Tuesday morning AEST).