AN: Hey ya'll I'm still alive and survived my first year of college (yay!). This semester was really hard but fun! I studied really hard for this one class and not to mention that my laptop's keyboard broke and it took like 2 months for it to get fixed (the first time I sent it in it didn't even get fixed I was so pissed). So I was having trouble writing with constantly getting laptop rentals from my school and managing accounts and files as I jumped from laptop to laptop. It really sucked especially since one of my classes included a computer programing aspect to it. But here is a chapter to celebrate! Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Natsu

Natsu sighed as he decided to hand the shivering girl his cloak. She was lucky he had it on, as the weather was still warm. He usually kept his coat on him when he traveled as a precaution. He sometimes traveled through cold terrain to reach mission sites and he didn't need any body being suspicious about him not being affected to the cold. He was only wearing it now due to the fact that his shirt got destroyed while he was fighting the monster on his last mission. He would now have to walk to his hotel room without a shirt, which made him feel uncomfortable since others could see his mark.

He was about turn back and start walking again when he noticed that the girl, Lucy, was in some sort of trance like shock. Curious about her sudden change in demeanor, he watched as the girl walked closer to him and approached his body. He watched as she lifted her hand and reached toward his mark. He let her touch it, hoping that the wish of him finally meeting his mate was finally coming true.

He let out a small gasp and his eyes widened as he felt sparks course throughout his body. He looked down at Lucy and his eyes went immediately towards the spot where their mark was supposed to be. He disregarded any form of modesty and lightly ripped her shirt from the collar to see if the mark was where it was supposed to be. He ignored her squeak when the sound of tearing fabric filled the air.

He saw it. The mark. He finally found her. After centuries of waiting and longing for his mate, she was finally there in front of him. He stared at her mark for what felt like hours which were just a few moments then pulled her body towards his to revel in the sparks that filled them as each other's skin made contact with their marks. He felt her sigh and relax into his body, and returned his embrace, enjoying their first interaction as newly found mates.

Lucy

Lucy felt blissful. It was the first time since the death of her mother that she felt safe and warm. She didn't care that the embrace lasted way longer than it should have. She was happy where she was and was able to truly relax for the first time in years. She started to feel the tiredness affecting her consciousness. The night's events had been tiring and her mate's body was just so warm. She let herself fall asleep in the embrace, completely trusting him.

Natsu

He felt his mate's body start to slowly sag and looked down to her eyes closed. He listened as her breathing and heart rate slowed and saw her muscles relax as she drifted into unconsciousness. A small smile appeared on his face. He was happy that she trusted him to protect her while she relaxed and slept. He held her body up and wrapped the cloak around her body. After the cloak was securely wrapped, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to his hotel.

When he arrived and went into his room, he immediately placed his sleeping mate on the bed. He left the cloak on her, it was now hers to keep, like intended. Years ago when he first purchased the cloak, he decided that it would be a great idea to enchant it for his mate. He spent months putting cursed infused magic into the fabric, making it nearly indestructible for her protection. The cloak would serve as a form of shield that would protect her if she was attacked, had a seal that would release a powerful spell that would harm her aggressors, and notified him of when she is attacked. Since the cloak had been enchanted, he would constantly infuse more of his curses and magic into the seals and ruins to make them more powerful. On top of those functions, he also made it to where the cloak would always regulate her body temperature as a way of preventing her from being tempted from taking it off during hot days.

He looked at his sleeping mate for a few more moments before sitting down in front of her bed and closed his eyes to go into a light meditation, intending on keeping watch until he brought her to his home.

Lucy- Next Day

Lucy woke up feeling warm. She was cocooned in a warm fabric that carried a smoky smell. The smell wasn't that of the overbearing, choking smoke that you run from when identified from a dangerous fire, but that of a more comforting smoke, like a campfire or a nice, musky smell of a scented incense. She cuddled into the fabric when she remembered the events of the previous night.

She shot up from her bed and looked around frantically into the room. She mentally noted that he was not in the bed with her. Nor was her clothes removed from her body or felt any unknown soreness to her body. She took this as a good sign. She had heard stories of other soul mates where one of the partners tried to force completion of the bond on the night that they meet, even if their bond mate did not agree.

She found him at the floor where the foot of the bed was. He seemed to be in a semi-conscious state that she too found herself in when she was traveling on the road and wasn't able to find some sort of inn to stay at overnight. She moved to the end of the bed where his head rested against the bed, still wrapped up in the cloak that he gave her the night before.

Now positioned to where she was right behind his head, she stared at his hair. She like it, as far as she knew at the moment. Most people would balk at the idea of a man having pink hair, but it seemed to fit his skin tone and style perfectly fine. She also wondered how his hair stayed up the way it was. It looked like he did not use any form of hair product, but still somehow stood up in spikes in a messy way that fit him. She freed a hand from her cocoon and reached for his hair.

His hair was soft. Softer than even her own since she didn't have the luxury of her previous expensive hair products and a shower every night. She moved her hand around his head carefully, not trying to hurt his head with her motions and slight tugs. To busy playing with his hair, she did not notice his eyes open. She heard a small sigh of content come from the man below her and felt him push his head further against her hand. She smiled, pleased that he enjoyed her ministrations of comfort. She continued playing with his hair for a few more minutes before being the first one to utter their first words as known soulmates.

"Good morning." She said quietly, not entirely sure how to start a conversation with the person who was her soulmate, yet still a stranger.

"Morning," he replied in an equally as quiet voice, "did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I was very warm and comfortable. Thank you for taking care of me."

He turned to face her. "No problem. Do you want to go to Magnolia with me? I could take you to Fairy Tail if you still want to join."

His face looked impassive, but she could see that his eyes held the emotions that he was feeling. "Of course!" she replied with a smile. She didn't really care for joining Fairy Tail as much as before, if she was rejected, she would still want to go with him to get to know him better.

They checked out of the room and traveled to Magnolia by train. While on the ride, she started a conversation with Natsu, wanting to get to know him better. She learned a few things about him, like how his favorite color was a dark red, he had a cat named happy, and his relationship with his guildmates. Despite not knowing much about his guildmates, she could tell he somewhat cared about them, how much, she wasn't sure, but she guessed she would figure out more about their relationship while staying, and potentially living there.

They arrived outside the guild around noon of that morning. The stopped at the entrance before entering. While Lucy was reaching for the door, Natsu spoke to her. "I need to go back home to get a new shirt, I come back later." Lucy nodded to him.

"Okay, I'll see you later then. Hopefully, I'll be a member by then as well." She smiled up at him and gave him a small hug. She felt him relax into the hug before letting go. She watched as he walked down the street for a few moments and wrapped the cloak she still wore closer to her.

She took a deep breath and opened the door.

She did not expect there to be a fight in the middle of the hall, but was slightly glad that there was. Most of the attention was on the brawl going on, and was able to stay unnoticed to the others until she spoke to the bartender and model Mirajane to ask where the masters office is. Mirajane greeted her kindly and showed her where the masters office was before returning to her post at the bar. She thanked her and knocked on the door. "Enter," said the guild master.

The guild master was not what she expected. First of all, he was rather short. Second, the outfit he wore was rather strange, even for a mage. She bowed to him, introducing herself. "Hello Master, I am Lucy, I was wondering if I could join your guild."

When Lucy returned downstairs with a new guild mark on her hand, the fight was still going on. She decided to stand closer to the bar, where she could duck behind it if needed, and watch until someone decided to put an end to the brawl. A few moments passed when a black haired guy approached her, normally she wouldn't mind, but he only had his underwear on.

"Who are you? I haven't seen you here before." She covered her eyes and looked away as his underwear seemingly disappeared.

"Um… can you please put your underwear back on?" Lucy squeaked out.

"Oh damn! Hey who got my underwear!?" he screamed towards the brawl. He got no answer and turned back to the new face. "Hey can I have yours?"

"What the.. NO!" She exclaimed in shock.

The black haired was about to continue when he felt an intense heat behind him. He turned around and noticed two things. One the fighting stopped to look at the second thing, a very angry Natsu. This was very shocking, and even he would stop in the middle of a fight to see what made Natsu show emotion. A negative emotion that he somehow caused. It wasn't that Natsu did not have any emotions, everyone did, but Natsu rarely showed his or any interest in the on goings of the guild unless it was to get a mission. He would normally just go to the second floor, grab a mission, and leave with out batting an eye to the fights or events that happen, much like the never seen Mystogan.

"What the hell did you just ask Lucy?" Natsu asked with a deep voice. Shivers ran down Gray's spine.

"Ah ha ha nothing… I'll just… Head back to the brawl…" Gray slowly walked back to the center of the guild, trying not to provoke the S class mage.

"Natsu!" Lucy greeted cheerfully. The others look on in surprise as the new recruit hugged one of their most introverted members. "I got in! We should go on missions together, ne?"

He lightly returned the hug. "Sure, let's get you settled first."

"Yeah, let's go look for apartments, I need to find a place to stay…" the conversation trailed off as the couple left the scene at the guild.

" uhh… guys… what just happened?" a random guild member questioned out loud.