Lucy's head was still spinning when she walked into the guild.
She had the strangest feeling she was being watched.
She looked around until her she found Levy who was looking very at ease leaning back into Gejeel's arms with his face buried into her neck.
He looked the calmest she had ever seen him as she took a deep breath and walked up to them.
"Hey Levy, can I talk to you?"
"So it seems we finally know who Natsu's mate is" Gajeel smiled at Lucy knowingly.
"How do you know?" Lucy said with raised brows.
"Levy will answer that question while you both talk, make sure you say whatever you want now though. We won't be around for about a week."
"Why not?"
"Levy has agreed to be my mate for life" Gajeel puffed his chest proudly as he said this.
"So why won't you be here for a week?"
Gajeel raise his eyebrow at Lucy as though she should already know the answer, but instead of answering just stood from his seat lifting Levy as he done so. He kissed her cheek before he walked away and in the back of her mind Lucy noted that she had never seen him be so gentle.
"So you and Gajeel huh?"
Lucy knew she shouldn't tease but she needed to break the tension some how.
"I could say the same about you and Natsu" Levy said with a cheeky wink
"Well that's actually what I wanted t9 talk to you about, I am confused and conflicted"
"And you wanted to talk to someone going through the same thing? Its okay I understand Lucy, you must feel really overwhelmed. I know I did"
Lucy felt relief in knowing she was not alone, seeing Levy so happy with Gajeel also helped sooth her worries slightly.
"So I am guessing you have some questions right? You better ask them all before I leave"
"About that, why are you leaving? I know Gajeel said you agreed to be his mate but why does that mean you have to go?"
"Didn't Natsu tell you anything about the mating and bonding?"
"He didn't want to overwhelm me, why what is it?"
"I can understand why he thinks it would, it can be very intense and I will tell you if you want to know but you should sit down first"
Lucy moved to sit across from Levy feeling more apprehensive then ever.
"Okay I'm ready, tell me please"
"So it happens in stages, tell me to stop talking at any time if you have heard enough and want time to process it okay? I know I did"
"Now you're making me nervous"
"Sorry, anyway a dragon bonding and mating is very sacred, nothing can break it and once you say yes that's it there is no going back.
It starts with accepting to bond, you say out loud to your dragon slayer that you want to be there mate for life. Its after that the really heavy stuff starts happening.
After you accept them you can a few days to complete the bonding or do it right away, Gajeel wanted to make it more romantic which is why we are going away. It takes anywhere from 5 days to two weeks for everything else to happen"
"What do you mean by everything else?"
"I'm getting to that". Levy cleared her throat. "So after you accept them the next step is the bite".
Lucy paled abit at this but said nothing.
"You bite him first, this is known as the mark of acceptance. From the moment you bite him your life force becomes as tied to his as his is to yours, if he dies so will you".
"Wait! I could die?". Now Lucy really felt ill.
"If you accept the bond Lucy everything works both ways, Natsu would already die if you died. Accepting the bond just means you would become as tied to him as he already is to you, now do you want me to finish?"
"Yes please".
"Okay so after the bite of acceptance comes the mating, there are many ways to describe it but to put it simply you have sex. This is where the mating and the bonding become intertwined. Natsu will tranform into his dragon form and bite you back, this is called the mark of bonding. Both the bites will stay on you and him forever to show others that you are mates".
"Wait! I have to have sex! I can't have sex! I am nowhere near ready to have sex!"
"Lucy you have months left of mating season to think about all this and decide what you want to do calm down! I don't know if I should tell you the rest, you need to stay calm and have an open mind!"
Lucy didn't know if she wanted to hear the rest.
'Calm down Lucy, just rip the band-aid off and give yourself more time to process it all'.
"No please tell me".
"Are you sure? This is the part I struggled with most"
"Yes Levy, I need to know and its better to know sooner"
"Well Lucy, there is a reason the call it mating season, during to bonding Natsu won't fully be himself. He will be driven completely by instinct and he will only have two purposes".
"And what are they?"
"To take care of his mate... and to get her pregnant. That's one of the reasons why the season last so long, to give each dragon slayer the chance to breed there mate, it will be all he wants and after you receive his bite you will be driven by instinct too".