Prompt: Soul Mate. Words have never been Natsu's strength. He's more of a fight first and say sorry after type of guy. If he wants to confess to Lucy, he'll have to learn, and learn quick how to express himself.
Her head still stuck on Natsu's 'good thing you're not too skinny' comment, Lucy stomped out of the west exit of the guild. Letting the door slam behind her, she grimaced at the suddenly bright sun hitting her eyes. Screwing her eyes shut, Lucy vented to herself. Muttering complaints against both Happy and Natsu - she only stopped after walking into her dragon slayer.
It could have been anyone - but no one had the same exotic scent as her partner, nor had such warm skin. Who else smelled like a delicious campfire? Only Natsu. Lucy felt ashamed of her behaviour. But being ashamed was a luxury she couldn't afford.
"Hey!" Against her better judgement, Lucy looked at her partner. "I'm in a hurry!"
"Me too!" Natsu smiled. An easy, wide, beguiling smile. "And you're the person I need to see!"
"Even as fat as I am?" Lucy wanted to bite her tongue. Shit! Why had she blurted that? Gah! "I mean, too bad I'm not skinny."
Cocking his head at an angle, Natsu focused on Lucy. "You gotta know you aren't fat. No matter how many times Happy jokes about having issues about carrying you, you're no where near my mass."
"But you don't think I'm thin!" Aghast at her stupid tongue, Lucy clapped her hands over her mouth.
"You obviously don't know anything of what I think." Natsu sighed. "What I care about is the real you, Lucy."
Lucy realized Natsu had his hands on her waist, his fingers laying warm on the bare skin of her back. Voice shaky, she asked, "Why? I'm nobody special to you."
Heat surged under Natsu's skin, that had struck a nerve. Natsu looked at Lucy in disbelief. "…" He gulped in air and tried again, "You're my partner!" Unable to hide the hurt in his expression, Natsu shook his head, trying to clear his brain. "How can you say that? Lucy." Natsu shuddered and wound his arms higher, holding onto Lucy's shoulders. "We're like two halves of one person."
Trying to pull away and failing, Lucy stopped fighting. Natsu's warmth was a drug habit she needed to kick. If she couldn't push him away physically, she'd do it verbally. He didn't have it in him to give her what she wanted - so being brutal was her only choice. "No. We're too different from each other."
"Nope." Assertive and brash. Typical Natsu behaviour - he ploughed forward. "You're wrong. We're the exact amount of different from each other that we need to be." He let go of her shoulders, jamming his hands into his pockets and pulled out a folded square of paper.
"What?!"
"Yes!" Natsu nodded and grinned. "Isn't it better being different? Having the qualities that the other lacks?"
"What are you talking about?" Despite herself, Lucy wanted to hear something sweet from Natsu's mouth - even though that had a dismally low percentage of happening.
Natsu unfolded the paper, glancing at Mira's long, long list of information. Brows furrowing, the tip of his tongue poking out the slightest amount, Natsu found the phrase he wanted. "Kindred soul, a person with whom one has a strong affinity, shared values and tastes, and often a romantic bond." He wadded it up and put it back into his pocket.
In typical word lover fashion, Lucy parsed what her partner had said and skipped thinking about the context and instead defined the term. "Most people just say soul mates."
"Yeah! That's what we are!"
Lucy watched Natsu smile, his sincere happiness spread all over his face. All she could do was nod dumbly.
He repeated himself, "We're soul mates!"
A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews, favs and follows. I will be working hard on adding to this year's fluff fest story. ^^ Here's hoping I get more feedback to stoke my fire ;) I truly don't mean to come across as demanding, but writing into a void is not exactly motivational. Really wanna get me going? Send me a PM! I'll chat back!
