Welcome to the second last chapter! What a ride we've been on, eh? Thanks for those who stuck around for this long, I really mean it. Anyways, I'll save the sappy stuff for the last chapter. Things are starting to get juicy! I'm sorry this chapter is so short compared to the others but I had to leave it on a cliffhanger once more, just to keep you on your toes. Enjoy!

Disclaimer - I do not own Fairy Tail

Blushing, the male whispered, "soulmates…"

"O-o-oh!" The blonde tripped slightly, her cheeks also flushing red. "W-well then…"

"Y-yeah… I was just curious…"

Straightening herself back out, Lucy cleared her head. "What do you wanna know?"

"Huh?"

"About soulmates? I was in the library with Levy today researching about soul-" choking, Lucy realised what she had said. "I-I mean! I wasn't researching anything! I was just in the library hanging out… But!I might know some things about soulmates that you could be looking for?"

"So, that's where you were at lunch! I had to take the lunch time shift today because I didn't 'have a good enough excuse not to'. Thanks for the betrayal." Natsu strutted off, his hips swaying sassily and his head held high.

"I'm sorry! I completely forgot! My mind's been in the clouds lately and the library usually clears my head!"

"How could you forget? We have lunch together every day!" The male pouted as Lucy held onto his arm to stop him from walking any further or faster.

"You're right. I'm sorry, Natsu. I should've told you that I was going to library so you could come with me."

His face turned pale. "C-c-come with you? To the li-library?"

"Of course! You always want to hang out so you would have to come with me, right?"

In a high-pitched voice while looking off into the distance, Natsu squeezed out a measly, "right…"

Lucy laughed as she swatted his arm lightly. "I'm only kidding! You don't have to go anywhere you don't want to!" She continued to laugh as he stared at her, his face relaxing. "What?"

"Luce… you seem… happy."

"Of course I'm happy. Is that a bad thing?"

"No. It's nice to see you enjoying life without a care in the world. I like it, it's been a while." Natsu grinned, the corners of his eyes wrinkling.

Lucy blushed and swatted him again and even threatened a kick this time too, just for good measure. "Well… I still have worries! It's not like I'm completely happy! You're just being weird about it…"

"Hey! You're the weirdo here! Don't just blame the weirdness on me!" Natsu threw his arms up in the air.

Then, Lucy also threw her arms up in the air. "Nice, Natsu! We were having a moment before you ruined it! It was touching!"

"I didn't touch anything!"

"I never said you touched anything!"

"But you said 'it was touching'!"

"That means something else!" The blonde face-palmed but started to giggle from behind her hand.

"LUCY?! Are you calling me are pervert?! I didn't touch anything!"

"Stop! Stop! My stomach!" Lucy hunched over, her shoulders shaking as she tried to contain her laughter.

"What the fu-" Then, suddenly, Natsu joined in to the contagious illness and started laughing too.

Onlookers gave them weird side-glances but it didn't seem to matter. All that was important to them was each other. The sun had already set and the darkness was creeping in, shadows overcast on the figures.

"Well, we've been here long enough. Head home?" Lucy got rid of her last giggles before dragging Natsu down the footpath.

"Yeah."

"You staying at my place tonight?"

"Probably. Sound like a plan?"

When they arrived at Natsu's house, Lucy had a shower while he found food that they could eat. He phoned up a pizza place and ordered half the menu. After he realised the price it was going to be, Natsu finished up the order and ran to Lucy's bedroom, waiting for her to finish her shower so he could get a turn too. He begun undressing, leaving his clothes all over her floor as he wrapped a towel around his waist. Going through her drawers, Natsu found his spare clothes and stood in front of the bathroom, tapping his foot impatiently.

Lucy came out not too long later and was told that food was going to arrive soon. As if on cue, someone rang the doorbell and the blonde ran down the steps, nearly tripping. After setting down the food on the table, and getting furious at the price she had to pay, Lucy went upstairs to tell Natsu to hurry up. Upon arriving, she noticed his clothes scattered on her floor, further upsetting her.

She started picking up his sweater, then his shirt, then his scarf, etc. while mumbling profanities under her breath. "Natsu… I swear to you, one of these days I'm going to-" The blonde stopped herself after picking up his pants. "It's… heavy… maybe he left his phone in there."

Throwing the other clothing items into the laundry basket, Lucy emptied out the contents from the pockets. A wallet and phone plopped out, just like she had thought but what followed peaked her curiosity. It was a dark blue velvet box, not too small, but smaller than her palm. Ideas rushed through Lucy's head about their conversation on soulmates and her heart began to sink as she realised Natsu might have already found his.

Crouching down to pick it up, a shock pulsated through Lucy's body, making her fall back onto her bottom.

"What the…?"

The blonde cautiously crawled to it and poked the mysterious object. But, nothing happened. Now comfortably seated on the ground, Lucy scooped it up in her hands and flipped the lid open. Inside, a silver bracelet with a lock, glinted in the light.

"A boiling hot shower! Now that's what I needed-" Natsu, who was drying his hair with a towel stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Lucy on the ground, holding the one object he was trying to hide from her. "Lucy… what're you-"

"Natsu…" looking up from the ground with tears in her eyes, Lucy's lip quivered as she tried to speak. "Whose Matcher is this? Be honest…"

Walking over and kneeling next to her, Natsu shook his head. "N-no ones, Luce. You don't have to worry about it." He didn't know why, but he felt obligated to lie to her, to protect her from the truth.

"I don't have very many memories of my mother, but what I do remember, is her Matcher. What I don't understand though, is why and how you have- Igneel… Igneel gave it to you, didn't he?"

The face of betrayal that Lucy bore sliced through Natsu as he tried to explain himself. "Lucy, I… yeah…" it was hard enough hurting her, so he decided not to say much to make sure he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

"Why didn't you tell me he gave you this? Was it really such a secret?"

"Lucy… I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I was going to give it to you at the right time. You've been through a lot lately so I thought I'd wait. It wouldn't mean anything if I just handed it to you."

"Natsu, you purposefully hid this from me. I know it was only for a few hours but I believe that I have a right to know." Lucy ran her finger over the surface, making her feel sorrow and nostalgia. "I thought... I thought you had found your soulmate, and you were going to marry them! There were so many things going through my head... This didn't have to be a secret, Natsu."

"I asked my dad why it had to be a secret too. The thing is…" sighing, Natsu rubbed the back of his head, trying to find the words. "The thing is, dad thinks we're soulmates. He's set on the idea. I told him it's not possible but he said that your mother and him couldn't be together because we were meant to be together, or something like that. He's certain. That's why I went to visit him. I didn't plan to get your mother's Matcher, I just needed to know what we did wrong. I just… I don't know what he wants me to do…" Breathing in deeply, Natsu looked deeply into her chocolate brown eyes. "Luce, for a while now, I've been in lo-"

Heh... I'm sorry for the cliffhanger guys. It was going to happen and you knew it. You should've seen it coming. How will Lucy respond? They aren't soulmates but their feelings remain? What if they did do something wrong the day they tried their Matchers?

Next time, for the final chapter:

"Cupid's magic? Love?"

What are they talking about? For the last chapter, we get some insight on the history of Matchers and Lucy and Natsu will embrace the bond between them.