When I woke up this morning I got dressed faster than I had in years. I ran towards the guilds library hoping to catch Levy before she headed to Gajeel's house.

I arrived a few minutes after leaving my apartment and thankfully, Levy hadn't left yet. I really needed to talk to someone. Normally I would just talk to Natsu when something was bothering me, but seeing as he was what was on my mind, I figured it was best to leave him out of this conversation.

I walked inside and found Gajeel passed out on the floor next to a mountain of books with Levy sitting all the way at the top. She looked up noticing my presence and smiled warmly.

"Oi... Lucy-chan what's up? You're here really early. Where's Natsu and Happy?"

I smiled brightly back to her. "The boys are going to go fishing, they go every Sunday, I'm supposed to be working on my novel but... I kinda needed some advice."

Levy's face turned serious as she climbed down the giant pile of books and made her way to sit next to me on the reading couch. "What is it Lucy-chan?"

"It's about Natsu." I sighed.

"Are you two fighting?" She asked me with such a sad look in her eyes that my emotional turmoil increased.

"No no, nothing like that. Its more like I'm confused about some stuff." I waved my hands frantically. I didn't want her to get the wrong idea. Natsu hadn't really done anything wrong, it was my own feelings causing me pain.

"Well what's up?" She shifted to a more comfortable position and readied herself to listen to me with all of her attention.

"It's just...you know how I feel about him. And tomorrow is a big day for us, but I don't think he remembers." My heart broke with every word I spoke. Had it really been a decade that he's been in my life? Have I really been free all this time, or did I just trafe my abusive prison for a heart shattering one?

"What's tomorrow?" She looked confused. Why wouldn't she be? I met Natsu while he was on a mission so no one knew how long we'd been traveling together before we arrived at Fairy Tail.

Together...

"The 10 year anniversary of the day we met."

"God has it been that long already?! " She seemed as surprised as I was at how quickly the time had passed. Over the years I had come to see Levy as my big sister. She was always there to help me sort out my issues and I was greatfull to have her in my life. But even my big sister couldn't make the pain I was feeling go away. Not this time.

"Yea." I said with tears forming in my eyes. "I can't get over him Lev. No matter how hard I try. I know he doesn't feel the way I do or he would've said something by now. But I can't get over this longing in my heart for him. I know tomorrow is just another day to him but to me it represents the day I met my real family."

"Oh Lucy."

Unbeknownst to the two girls, Gajeel had woken up and overhead their conversation. Quietly he snuck away to go knock some sense into that flame brain.

Bang bang bang!

I woke up to a loud knocking at my door. The sun was barely in the sky so I figured it was around 7 am. I groggly made my way to go see who rudely interrupted my peaceful dream. I was shocked when I opened the door to a fuming iron dragon slayer.

"Natsu you dumb ass!"

"W-WHAT? WHAT DID I DO?"

"YOU MADE BUNNY GIRL CRY!"

My heart dropped. I had made Lucy cry? How? What had I done wrong?

"Tell me Gajeel, how do I fix it?!"

"Quit being a pussy and tell her the truth already! Ten years is more than enough time Natsu! You're twenty fucking six years old, it's time to quit playing games with that girls heart and man up before someone else does."

"What do you mean?"

"Lucy is with my little dragon right now crying her eyes out about you and how her little heart is burned to a crisp."

"Tell me everything."

Flashback...

At the library levy and Lucy are deep in conversation, completely oblivious to the eavesdropping iron mage. He sits behind an unnecessarily large pile of books and listens to every word spoken between the blonde and bluenette.

"I hate to agree but, I really thought Natsu would've figured out by now if he loved you or not. I mean he acts like he loves you. Hell he even turned Lisanna down when she returned. And they were engaged since childhood!"

"I know levy but let's face it. I was 14 when I came to this guild. I'm almost 25 now. I've never had a boyfriend, I've only been on a handful of dates, I've spent ten years waiting on a guy that I'm not even sure cares about me...like that. I don't know what to do."

"Maybe it's time to move on then. If he really only sees you as a friend then you owe it to yourself to find happiness with someone else."

"But I wouldn't even know where to look."

"I know Hibiki was asking Cana about you last week. He has a huge crush on you, maybe you should invite him to dinner."

"Yea maybe..."

"And think of it this way, if Natsu really does care, then he'll get so jealous he'll have to tell you."

"You're right! I can't keep waiting around, as much as I love him, and as much as it hurts, I can try dating someone else. I think I'll get ahold of Hibiki and ask him out. I mean, I can always pretend he's Natsu."

"I think that's a great plan. Let's go shopping to get you an awesome date dress."

Flashback end...

I felt a low growl escape from my chest as the feeling of betrayal filled my heart. How could Lucy do this to me? Hibiki!? That pervert was 14 years older than her! How could she claim to care for me but still be willing to be with anyone other than me?

"You're an idiot Natsu. Just because you know she's your mate doesn't mean she does! You haven't even marked her yet!" I cringed as Gajeel raised his voice. Even though I knew I could beat him in a fight, over the years I had come to see him as an older brother and feared disappointing him. All of the dragon slayers, we were family. Brothers and sisters of a dying species.

"Help me make it right!" I pleaded. I dropped to my knees with tears spilling down my cheeks. I knew my big brother cold fix it if I was just willing to actually take his advice for once. "Please tell me what to do."

"Calm down ash breath. This is a very simple problem to fix." I was a little nervous because of his creepy smile but I didn't really care. All that mattered was I made Lucy cry and I had to fix it.

"Tell me Gajeel...what do I need to do?"

"Natsuuuuu! It's Sunday, why aren't we out fishing?" Happy cried.

The blue exceed was flying above his pink haired partner in crime with a frown on his face. He was very upset with the fire mage for canceling their weekly fishing trip in order to go shopping.

"Why did we have to come here Natsu? We don't need anything!" He whined, much to Natsu's annoyance.

The salmon haired man rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself. He just listened to the blue cat complain while he walked through the street full of different shops.

"10 years Happy." Natsu said quietly.

"What did ya say Natsu?" Happy replied.

"Tomorrow it will have been 10 years exactly since I met Lucy. That's why we're here. I have to get her a present." He explained.

"But I thought humans only celebrated anniversaries if they are married. Oh!" The blue cat stopped mid sentence and began to giggle. "You loooooove her!"

"Shut up Happy!" Natsu yelled as he, unsuccessfully, jumped up and tried to grab the flying exceed from the air.

"Natsu loves Luuucy! Natsu loves Luuucy! He wants to marry her and have thirty babies!" He sang teasingly.

Natsu groaned in embarrassment and began to get angry until the faint glimmer of gold caught his eye. "Hey Happy, look! It's perfect!"

They stopped their fighting and looked toward a semi hidden Shop on the corner of the busy street. Smiling at each other they ran quickly to the shadowy corner before someone snatched up his perfect gift.