"I hate you!"

Natsu was shouting at nothing, letting his words fill the air. He felt like punching something. Or even tearing up the whole world. The eight year old was seething in anger, sadness, and betrayal.

He ripped his scarf off, a token of bad memories. He threw it towards the ground and stomped on it, wanting to make it disappear. Tears swelled up in his onyx colored eyes, the remorse of what had happened tying a knot in his throat. He continued to stomp on his scale-like scarf, but it wasn't enough to vent out on.

"What's wrong?"

Natsu looked up and saw a small girl about his age, starting at him with soft brown eyes. She had long blonde hair that flowed past her shoulders, and a pretty natural blush coat her cheeks. She repeated her question, sounding sorrowful for him; a stranger she just met. Natsu felt a cry rising in his throat; he wanted to burst. He was so distraught that he wanted to shout, so he did.

"It's my dad!" he yelled loudly. "He decided just to divorce my mom and now she left us!"

The stress and stomping took its toll on him, and he fell to the ground, his leg numb and his hands clutching his pink hair. "I hate him!"

The girl blinked, then bent down and picked up the dirty scarf off of the ground. She attempted to wipe some dirt off it, then she neatly folded it and presented it back to the upset boy. "Here," she said. "You shouldn't give up like that. Everything happens for a reason. I'm sure this happened only because you're being guided to something better, so smile and look ahead." She gave her own sweet smile. "Face it head-on; It'll be worth it, I promise!"

She gave the scarf back and left, her figure shrinking in the distance.

He didn't know it then, but his dad would meet a wonderful woman and Natsu would have the best little sister. He would remember her words one night before going to bed and wonder how she knew. But then, he sat, staring after her retreating figure, wondering what her name was.

And that's how he met the girl who knew the exact right words to say.

"Ew, his hair is PINK! It's so girly!"

"He must've dyed it. It can't be natural."

Natsu rolled his eyes, and continued walking through the halls of his middle school. All these comments were really getting on his nerves, even though his pride wouldn't show it.

Seventh grade was stupid.

He shoved his way through the crowd of people to get to his class. He managed to get to a quieter hallway, when he bumped into a blonde. She turned around with an apology on the tip of her tongue when he spat:

"Yes, it's natural! I was born with it, I didn't dye it, so GET OFF MY CASE!"

It was his last nerve. And it snapped.

The girl blinked, staring. Natsu immediately regretted what he said; she didn't look like she was going to say that at all, and she looked so…familiar. He prepared for the fierce words he deserved in return.

"But do you like it?"

The pink headed male simply stared back at her, caught off guard by her simple question. "What?"

"Do you like it?"

He stood, confused, processing her question. His hair…his hair was what attracted all these comments and insults and pestering that made him want to strangle everyone. His hair! Maybe he should dye it. But it was his hair…the pink spikes on his head that he's learned to appreciate and that his true friends adored.

"Yes."

His answer slipped out and he was racing through his thoughts again as she smiled. A smile that he's seen before, he was sure…

"Then why should it matter to anyone else?"

She adjusted the books in her arms. "Personally, I like pink."

And Natsu kept his hair pink.

In his senior year of high school, his heart was broken.

Lisanna had broken up with Natsu for some guy named Sting at the other school. He felt like an empty soul inside of a body-a corpse, sprawled out on the roof of the school building, watching the clouds pass by.

He had no intention of moving, of attending classes, of anything. His stomach growled. It must be lunch time, but he didn't feel his hunger. His heart was taking all the hurt.

He heard the door to the roof open. He didn't do anything. He just stayed, listening to the footsteps come closer and closer.

"Someone else is up here too, huh?"

He directed his gaze to the blonde girl who sat down beside him. He knows her. Does he? He knows a lot of blondes…

The girl had her bento lunch in her lap and she looked at Natsu. A soft smile spread across her face. But it was all wrong. That smile…something was off for sure.

"Are you alright?"

Natsu was surprised at himself for talking to someone instead of sulking in his own misery. He was pathetic, he knows.

"I guess…" she responds. "I'll be fine. I should be asking you the same thing; you're practically drowning in sorrow!"

Natsu huffed. "My girl friend broke up with me."

"Oh really? My boyfriend broke up with me, too."

Moments of silence passed when she spoke up again. "I hope she's nice,"

Natsu looked at her. "What?"

The blonde smiled. "The girl he broke up with me for. I hope she's nice."

Natsu abruptly sat up, making her jump. "WHAT?"

Natsu felt REALLY ticked. He wanted to find that boy and punch him in the face. "After he broke your heart and left you for someone else, you wish for his happiness STILL?!" He took a breath and continued, "He's an idiot for ditching someone so PURE and LOVING like you! What's his name anyway?"

The girl looked slightly scared. "Uh, u-um, Sting Eucliffe…"

The pink-haired teen froze at the name. The guy that Lisanna fell for. The guy that stole everything away from him in an instant.

The blonde shifted uncomfortably at his sudden silence. Her face had a cute concerned pout on it. "I mean, everything happens for a reason, I'm sure this happened-"

"-Only because you're being guided to something better," he finished, looking directly at her.

And he knew.

He put his hands on each side of her face and pulled her towards himself, kissing her. It was a kiss well waiting for, a kiss that was bound to happen for over eight years. That one kiss meant all his sadness, his grief, his appreciation, his heart, his love.

They finally pulled away after what seemed like an eternity, and he smiled. A smile that he hoped would repay all the ones she gave to him.

"say, what's your name?"

"Lucy…Lucy Heartfilia."

Natsu grinned and took her into a hug. "Let's get married someday, Luce."

DWAAAAA that was cute.

At least I hope so.

Was it?

Anyways, it was a little one shot I whipped up, because, I don't know. Let's just all pretend I DON'T have a bucket load of homework to do! HAHAHAHAHAH I fail at life sometimes.

With love from hippos and ponies floating in the air,

Inksomnia