Hey guys! I know I have two other stories, but this popped in my mind one night and I've decided to run with it to see if it leads me anywhere! I hope you guys enjoy this. It's a very slight AU, for some of the things I've added in or altered, but other than that, you should find everything in it's general vicinity. Please read and review! I don't own these characters, Mashima has that honor.

Personal note:I took my permit test today and passed it! Didn't miss a single question! Enjoy your day :)

You were born one of two things: normal, or a mage. If you were born a mage, it was apparent; in your demeanor, in your abilities, in the air around you. If you were normal, it was also apparent. It was such a sharp contrast from someone born a mage that it was easily distinguished. In Fiore, and most of they world, people were taught from a young age that no matter what they were, there was someone else out there that fit perfectly for them. Their "other half," they were mostly called. Others called them "soul mates," a term also easily accepted. It was said that you would be able to tell when you met your soul mate. They were a person who saw the worst in you and stayed, and brought the best out in you, so others would too. Soul mates existed for everyone, but for mages with dragon slayer magic, they were given a destined mate: someone they would love and protect, someone who would be the mother or father to their children, who would care for them unconditionally.

She sighed loudly while staring at her ceiling. It was a cold afternoon in late November, and she had just celebrated Thanksgiving with her nakama the other day. This was the first time she had been alone since the week of Thanksgiving, and to be honest, she was finding it all dreadfully boring. The blonde curled onto her side and sighed through her nose, watching outside her window. 'I wonder what Natsu and the others are doing.' Lucy groaned aloud, realizing it had not even been 24 hours and she was already busy thinking of her friends, especially her more destructive ones. Before she could entertain the thought of suffocation-through-pillow, she heard a knock at her door. Lucy laid there a moment, hoping that if she didn't move from her semi-warm spot on her bed, then the person would leave. No. Such. Luck. The pounding came back with a vengeance, and Lucy half screamed-half groaned so loud that the noise at her door halted. When she had finally made it to her living room, she heard them.

"Luce?" The blonde rolled her eyes. Flinging her door open, she looked on a very sheepish Natsu. She cocked her hip and crossed her arms.

"What are you doing here Natsu?" His onyx gaze skirted away from her own for a moment before he glanced back.

"I was bored!" He whined loudly, causing Lucy to jump back in shock. He dropped to his knees and clung to the celestial mage's legs. "Happy left me to go on a mission with Wendy and Carla! Can you believe that?!" The blonde squeaked and tried to pry the larger man off of her.

"Natsu!" She hissed, looking around to see if anyone saw the spectacle happening in front of her door. Luckily for her, there was no one, yet. After another minute of his clinging, the blonde clenched her jaw and gripped her best friend's pink locks, lifting his face to hers. His voice lifted at least three octaves, screeching in pain, before he focused on her face. "Are you finished?" Her voice sent a chill through the dragon slayer and he nodded briskly. "THEN GET IN HERE."

While she led her terrified friend inside, she couldn't help but smile. He did always seem to know her best. She brought the fire dragon slayer to her couch, forcefully sitting him down before walking to her kitchen to reheat some jalapeno poppers she had made for him for Thanksgiving. Meanwhile she made some tea for herself. Trying to keep her mind off of the chill in her apartment (her heat had been acting wonky for some reason) she started to speak.

"Have you been to the guild lately?" It was silent for a beat before Natsu decided that it must have been safe enough to speak.

"Yeah. I went there this morning. Everyone said that they hoped you had a great Thanksgiving, and they hope to see you soon. I also heard that Laxus was coming home soon." From the kitchen, Lucy furrowed her brows. She pulled her tea kettle off of the oven, hearing it whistle. She poured the hot water into a black mug that had a Shakespeare quote that read "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." She took a test sip, before grabbing her mug and Natsu's poppers, to head into the living room and sit on the ground in front of her table. He thanked her for the food with a signature grin before he dove in. Lucy smiled at him, before sipping her tea to cover it up when he looked at her again. She knew what he was going to say, but cut him off.

"It's been 2 years since I joined Fairy Tail and I still haven't met everybody yet?" She gave a small laugh. Natsu just watched her for a minute before she asked who Laxus was. Natsu seemed to perk up slightly.

"He's jii-san's grandson! He's a dragon slayer like me, Gajeel, and Wendy, but he's second generation, cuz he wasn't trained by an actual dragon." Lucy nodded, admittedly curious.

"I never knew we had so many strong mages." Natsu nodded furiously.

"He's one of the strongest, and part of the Raijinshu, one of the strongest teams in Fairy Tail. His other members are Freed, Evergreen and Bixlow." Lucy nodded, immediately recognizing the names. She had seen Evergreen with Elfman on more than one occasion, and Bixlow likes to terrorize people (particularly her) with his little dolls. So far into her thoughts, she didn't realize that she was shivering until Natsu spoke.

"Are you cold, Lucy?" The blonde snapped out of her musings.

"Eh? Oh no, I'm fine Natsu!" She tried to smile at the dragon, but when his dark black eyes narrowed on her, she inwardly deflated.

"I watched you shiver Lucy. You're cold." He told her. Just as she was going to tell him he was full of it, another shiver wracked her body. She blushed at his smug look, despite the cold, and ducked her head. He laughed aloud, and she heard him pat the couch.

"Come sit with me Luce! I have enough heat for the both of us." Sighing loudly, the blonde stood, before sitting on the other end of the small couch, her feet tucked under the cushion Natsu was sitting on. He only grinned at her as she felt his temperature rise.

They had hung out well into the night, with Lucy barely able to keep her eyes open. Natsu, on the other hand, was chattering excitedly, talking to her about life when he had grown up with Erza, Gray, and the others. Lucy had to admit that it was cute, seeing his face light up with a childlike joy at all of his good memories.

"And then Cana had walked over, completely starting the fight between Mira and Erza...let me tell you...-" faintly, Lucy could hear him trail off, but she wasn't sure why. Before she could ask him, she felt warm hands grasp her upper arms, and under her legs. She heard the dragon slayer grunt slightly, and she felt airborne. Still, she was curious as to why her best friend had stopped telling her about his childhood. After all, it was much better than her own. She blindly grabbed for Natsu's arm, murmuring for him to "Don't stop." His deep chuckles met her ears, as he responded just as softly.

"Lucy, you're such a weirdo...can't you tell you're asleep?" Before she could ponder on his words, darkness engulfed her.

Slowly, as if she were still dreaming, she could start to hear the traffic below her apartment. Listening, she found her house to be quiet, except for the sound of quiet snoring, along with a firm grip around her waist. Still, she felt as though she were still asleep, and paid no mind to it. Only when the grip tightened, and she felt someone nuzzle into her side, did she finally awake with a start. The blonde looked down, seeing a shock of salmon hair. She was quick to anger, and ripped the covers off of herself and Natsu, before a cold blast of air had her wrenching them back over. She shivered for a few minutes, before she tried to shake out of Natsu's grasp. "Natsu!" She yelled, not in the mood to play this game. His snoring stopped, and he sat up, blearily blinking at the celestial mage.

"Huh?" He questioned, the blanket falling off of his shoulders. He was shirtless, as usual, but he seemed unaffected by the cold. Lucy silently envied Natsu for his fire magic and higher-than-normal body temperature. She groped for the covers as she watched recognition enter his coal orbs before he grinned.

"Morning Lucy!" The blonde couldn't help but roll her eyes. By now, she had wrapped herself tightly in her blankets, watching Natsu with a glare that rivaled the chill in her bedroom. He situated himself, facing the mage crisscross with his bright grin. She was finding it hard to stay mad at the dragon slayer. Lucy took a slow and deep breath, before she decided to start.

"Natsu..." she began very carefully. He jumped to attention. "Why are you in my bed?" His broad grin faltered, but only slightly. He looked at her as though she were stupid.

"It was cold," he explained. She felt him raise his body temperature. "it still is." he commented, reaching for Lucy's comforter.

"Don't make yourself at home and sneak into my bed!" She yelled. He winced slightly at the high tone, but he frowned at Lucy.

"I meant that you were." His large hand wrapped around her upper arm, his heat a sharp contrast to the cold room. Lucy was left staring at him, dumbfounded., realizing what he had meant. Before she could try to form some sort of apology, Natsu brushed her off, grinning.

"Lucy is so silly..." Before she could ask him 'just who he was saying that to?!,' a tapping at her window broke her out of her violent thoughts.

A frozen little blue cat was staring at them with an icicle dripping from his nose. Lucy and Natsu watched him in shock, while he waved. Natsu seemed to unfreeze first, jumping across her bed to wrench open the window. It let open a blast of cold air, and Happy. Lucy shrunk further into her covers, her teeth chattering.

"H-happy!" Natsu crushed his friend into his chest, and Lucy felt the temperature skyrocket. In a matter of moments, a dry and noticeably warmer Happy was ambling towards Lucy. She allowed him entrance under her covers, where he curled up at her chest, purring out an 'Aye!' Natsu sat down on the edge of the bed, still shirtless.

"Why did you fly here in this kinda weather Happy?" The exceed frowned, trying to remember, although it was hard with Lucy petting him so gently.

"Oh, Laxus is back!" Lucy suppressed a smirk at the simple cat, while Natsu's excitement became palpable. In a flash, he had on his vest and scarf, gripping Lucy's upper arms.

"Get dressed Lucy! What are you waiting for? C'mon, we need to get to the guild NOW!" He ran out of her room, cackling, barely able to contain his energy now. The blonde sighed, shaking her head, before nudging Happy off of her apologetically.

The wind was biting as the two mages set out for their second home. Happy was bundled inside of Lucy's winter coat, while Natsu didn't even bother grabbing anything else but what he normally wore. The celestial mage shook her head at the oblivious slayer, but trudged forward, intent on getting to the guild before she lost feeling in all of her toes and fingers. The two finally made it five minutes later, and Lucy wasted no time in entering.

Despite the cold weather outside, Fairy Tail was warm and welcoming as usual. Everyone had turned to see who entered, which made Lucy believe that they had missed the original festivities.

"Hello, mina-san!" she greeted cheerfully, unzipping her coat, to release Happy. She had gotten a few funny looks at the randomly appearing cat, but they all greeted her nonetheless. After hanging up her coat, gloves and scarf, she made her way over to her usual seat at the bar. Natsu, on the other hand, immediately screamed for Laxus to come fight him...as he stood right behind Lucy. The blonde turned to punch the boy, preferably in the mouth, before she heard the man's voice cut through the ruckus.

"I suppose you think you can beat me?" The guild quieted almost immediately, and Lucy tensed. Something about the voice rang familiar. Natsu didn't notice his best friend's dilemma, and only grinned in anticipation.

"Of course!" As she watched dark grey boots step down the stairs from the second floor of Fairy Tail, she felt like she was going to have a panic attack. With each 'clunk' her heart seemed to beat faster and faster. When he finally reached the main floor, Lucy's chocolate gaze flicked to his, finding herself frozen in amber orbs. Amber orbs that were watching her as well, a flurry of emotions passing through them. She gripped Natsu's vest tightly within her small hand, causing her knuckles to turn white. The mage finally noticed, and turned to her with a frown. She wretched her gaze from Laxus to Natsu, who immediately registered the terror in her eyes. Swiftly, he placed himself in front of her, blocking Laxus. He leaned into her face, and she could easily read the worry in his inky gaze.

"Luce?" he murmured.

He didn't know what was wrong. One minute, they were fine, she was about to punch his lights out for screaming in her ear, but she was fine, and the next, she looked scared out of her mind. Seeing her watch Laxus so intently, he figured it must've had to do with him, so he blocked the older dragon slayer from view. He tried to get her to focus on him, but she seemed so lost and afraid, it was admittedly breaking his heart to not be able to help her. He could hear Laxus stepping closer, and he knew Lucy could too, by the negative emotions that were building in her scent. He didn't think. The fire dragon slayer growled, low, deep and warning. Laxus had halted at that, as the others all held their breath. Even Lucy. He turned, keeping Lucy against his back as he bared his teeth in a sneer at the lightning dragon slayer. Laxus raised a blond eyebrow, amusement flashing through his honey eyes. The pinkette could see Gajeel, watching with lax curiosity, although his frame was tense, ready to jump in the moment he was needed. With a slight surprise, he found Wendy sitting next to the elder dragon, her expression fierce, no doubt sensing Lucy's terror. When Laxus took another step forward, Natsu's onyx gaze snapped back to him, unforgiving. Laxus laughed now.

"What treasure is this dragon protecting?" His deep voice was slightly taunting, and it only riled Natsu up further. He felt Lucy shudder out a breath behind him before she pressed a dainty hand to his back.

"It's okay Natsu, he's nakama, remember?" Despite what his instincts were telling him, he moved aside. His blonde best friend stood, and he could see that all of those emotions she had earlier were wiped away, and she was smiling. The blonde held her hand out towards Laxus, a genuine smile on her face.

"I'm sorry about that. My name is Lucy, I'm a celestial mage. It's nice to finally meet you Laxus!"