Lucy woke up in annoyance once again, in fact, she had been thoroughly annoyed for the past few months because every few weeks she would wake up to find her hair a rosy pink.

"Pink! Who the hell has pink hair!" She exclaimed startling her dog Plue. "He must be really close, Plue. It's a little unnerving… But I swear, whoever he is, I'm going to kill him for doing this to me." Sighing, Lucy swung her legs over the edge of her bed, Plue circling her, and trudged over to her bathroom to get a good look at her new hair color.

"What a pain…" Lucy huffed. "I don't have time to color it back this morning…" She glanced yearningly at the full stock of blonde hair dye that she'd been needing to buy with increasing frequency. Lucy hastily hopped in the shower to get ready for the day; she was to meet with her best friend, Levy, at a coffee shop in Magnolia. She internally cringed at the thought of going out in public with pink hair again for what seemed like the umpteenth time that month. Scrubbing furiously at her hair hoping that by some grace it'll go back to blonde, Lucy gave up and turned off the dial leaving her in the steam of the shower. Eventually making it out of her apartment, she walked the familiar path to the center of Magnolia to Fairy Tail Café to meet Levy. Walking in, she waved a greeting to Mira and Lisanna Strauss, friends of Lucy and baristas of the café. Glancing around, Lucy found herself confused when she didn't spot Levy; usually her little blue haired friend arrived before her.

"Lu! Lu-chan!" Lucy heard a call from behind her. A tiny girl with short black hair met her; her voice was that of Levy's.

"Levy?" Lucy questioned in confusion and the girl sighed, pawing at her hair.

"Yes, unfortunately that is I. It seems that we both woke up to a surprise today." Levy frowned slightly. "I do not pull off this black hair at all! I look like some wannabe Goth girl. I miss my hair already." Levy stated dramatically.

"I'm really getting fed up with dealing with this, you know?" Lucy griped as she sat down at a small table by the big bay window in the shop. "I mean, it's not like hair is my biggest concern, and you'd think I'd get used to this by now but, I really just want my blonde hair back!" Lucy cried out and Levy giggled slightly.

"I know Lu. But, I mean, pink doesn't look that bad on you!" Levy offered and Lucy looked at her appreciatively.

"I just hope that we meet whoever these guys are soon because I'm spending way too much money on hair coloring." Lucy complained. It wasn't that unexpected waking up with a new hair color when it comes to Fiore. The closer one gets to their soul mate, their hair color will change to the color of that person. Lately, Lucy had been waking up with pink hair so; her soul mate had pink hair, which, in her opinion, should be rather easy to spot. So, she hoped she found him soon just so she could strangle him for doing this to her. Only when you meet your soul mate does ones' hair go back to its natural color, once you find them, your hair won't change to anyone else's hair color without you changing it yourself. That day was the first time Levy's hair had changed color so, naturally, it was more than likely more of a surprise for the poor girl seated across from Lucy.

"Well, whenever we do meet these two, I hope it's when they have our hair color so we can make fun of them. I wonder what he looks like with blue hair?" Levy mused, her lips twitching into a smile.

"I don't know but it seems like they're close judging by the amount of times my hair has changed." Lucy breathed out.

"Well, maybe your soul mate is but mine just did it… Who knows when I'll meet him." Levy rested her head on her hands. Mira and Lisanna stopped by briefly to talk to the two, commenting on their change in appearance.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Lisanna agreed with a sulk, holding up a few strands of her hair. Usually it was a beautiful white, just like Mira's, but this time it was a deep, navy blue making the younger girl look much different. "Anyways, good luck you guys! Hopefully our situations work out soon…" Lisanna smiled, returning to help Mira.

"It seems like today is the day everyone is having a problem with their "other half"." Levy grumped, taking a sip of her tea.

"I guess it's not so bad, we'll figure it out." Lucy tried to cheer Levy and herself up.

"I hope that- Oh my Mavis…" Levy exclaimed, staring past Lucy.

"What? Levy, what's wrong?" Lucy questioned worriedly.

"Lucy, look! Look out the window, oh my… They're coming in here!" Levy panicked as Lucy whipped around to look at what Levy was in hysterics about. As she turned, Lucy noticed two men walking in the direction of the café; one was a tall, muscular looking man with black hair. Next to him was a slightly smaller but strong looking guy with… Pink hair.

"Oh shit… O-okay, keep calm. KEEP CALM LEVY!" Lucy felt herself practically screaming, obviously the one needing calming.

"Okay, we don't know anything for sure. If our hair doesn't turn back to our own colors then it's not them! Let's just calm down…" Levy reasoned and Lucy tried to relax. It wasn't everyday that they got to meet their soul mates so it was very nerve wracking. Finally, the two men reached the door, both fully engaged in their own conversation. Levy and Lucy stared at them not hiding the fact that they were studying them intently. Suddenly, the pink haired one turned slightly making eye contact with Lucy causing her to gasp.

"Oh man…" His features that were boyish but extremely handsome took Lucy aback. He gaped back at her causing his friend to scowl at him, trying to get his attention back. Abruptly, Lucy heard Levy squeak out in surprise.

"Lu!" Levy frantically whispered, gesturing to Lucy's head. Unbelievably, Lucy watched as her hair slowly faded back to blonde, both she and the pink haired man were locked in a practical staring contest. Lucy broke away momentarily as she caught, out of the side of her eye, Levy's hair doing the same thing.

"Levy… I don't know what to do." Lucy stated as she watched Levy's hair turn back to the familiar blue she always had.

"Me too?" Levy cried out in shock causing the black haired man to turn and give her a stony look.

"U-um…" Lucy wasn't sure where to go from there and an awkward tension was building between the four. Then, out of nowhere, the pink haired man broke into a broad smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners making Lucy feel more comfortable. She found herself wanting to smile back.

"Yo! I'm Natsu." The one that had been staring at Lucy greeted them. His friend reluctantly followed as Natsu approached their table. "This is my cousin Gajeel. I guess we all have some talking to do, right?" Lucy felt instantly drawn to Natsu. His personality was so welcoming that Lucy felt as though she had known him forever.

"I-I'm Lucy, it's nice to meet you… This is my friend Levy." Lucy gestured to a quiet Levy who was looking timidly at Gajeel.

"H-hello." She squeaked out and Gajeel grunted in response making Levy frown.

"You're awfully small ain't chya?" Gajeel's deep voice rumbled out.

"Hey, it's not my fault! Sorry I'm not up to you standards." Levy retorted, her usual fierce personality coming back out.

"Uh, Gajeel, stop being a dick." Natsu scolded Gajeel bluntly.

"Those are some rather extensive piercings you have." Levy folded her arms across her chest, a competitive edge presenting itself around her and Gajeel.

"Um… Anyways, d-do you guys want to join us?" Lucy asked nervously.

"Sure!" Natsu agreed cheerfully pulling up a chair next to her. Surprisingly, Gajeel scooted a seat next to Levy and sat down without a word while a blush appeared on her friends' face.

"Do you guys live near here?" Natsu queried causally.

"Obviously they do since this whole situation happened, idiot." Gajeel grumped.

"Uh, yeah actually. I live just a few blocks away from here." Lucy answered, attempting to ignore Gajeel's bad attitude.

"Yes, I live in the Fairy Hills apartment complex just down the street." Levy added.

"Great! I don't live too far from here. Gajeel just moved here so, he's crashing with me." Natsu informed them. So, that's why Levy's hair changed so suddenly today.

"Very interesting. I suppose we were bound to meet each other sooner rather than later." Lucy offered a smile to the boys.

"So, are you full grown, shrimp?" Gajeel directed the question at Levy who glowered at him.

"How rude!" She exclaimed.

"Gihi… I'm just kiddin', shorty." That was the first time Gajeel showed a smirk and Levy blushed furiously.

"Actually, now that I think about it, I'm very frustrated with you, Natsu!" Lucy pouted at him and he looked back at her, stunned.

"What for?"

"Giving me that damned pink hair! I missed my hair color…" Lucy knew she sounded silly but she had said she was going to give him hell the day that he finally showed up.

"Well, it was no trip for me walking around with blonde hair… And it's not pink!" Natsu countered.

"Of course it's pink! Who has naturally pink hair? I mean it's pretty but it's not for me! Plus, blonde is a more normal color so, it couldn't have been that much of a hassle." Lucy figured.

"So, you think my hair is pretty?" Natsu gazed back at her devilishly making Lucy's face heat up.

"Uhh…"

"Yeah, thanks Gajeel for making me look like some creepy, dark weirdo." Levy pointed blame at the boy next to her.

"Geez thanks. It's just black hair, calm down." Gajeel muttered.

"Yeah, black hair is fine but not for me!" Levy pointed out.

"Well, if we're talking about who has what color hair, who has blue hair naturally?" Gajeel wondered in amusement.

"Me!" Levy frowned and Lucy couldn't help but let out a giggle at her friend.

"You guys are funny." Natsu snickered giving them a one over.

"It's rather interesting that we all ended up here today." Lucy pondered, "Like magic."

"I supposed the fact that we all just met our soul mates could be considered magic. That's kind of weird to say out loud…" Levy ended quietly.

"Doesn't really leave room for uncertainty. I guess we're stuck with each other, gihi…" Gajeel grinned impishly.

"It's a strange concept but hey, we can't do anything about it! I hope no one's disappointed." Natsu chuckled and Lucy smiled.

"No." Lucy felt herself say out loud and immediately felt embarrassed. However, Natsu beamed over at her with that wide smile that he seemed to have.

"Me either." He admitted making Lucy's heart flutter.

"Gajeel seemed to be a little dissatisfied." Levy raised her eyebrows, challenging him.

"Hey, I never complained about ya I just pointed out the obvious." Gajeel replied cheekily and Levy scowled at him. "No complaints from me." He repeated again and Lucy deemed him to be not that bad of a guy, he just had a gruff exterior.

"Well, seeing as we do have a lot to catch up on, how would you both like to go out to dinner with us? We were going to meet up with a few of our other friends and I'm sure they'd love to meet you." Natsu asked and Lucy looked over at Levy you seemed to deliberate it but then nodded.

"Sure, we'd love to!" Lucy smiled at the group in excitement.

"Great! Is six alright for you guys?" Natsu wondered and the girls nodded.

"Yes, that's fine, we weren't sure what we were going to do tonight anyways so this should be fun." Levy smiled, brushing her hair over her shoulder.

"Geez…" Gajeel murmured under his breath, his face seeming to have acquired a slight blush making Lucy giggle.

"Something the matter, Gajeel?" Lucy questioned innocently and he glared slightly at her.

"Nothin'." He responded stubbornly. Lucy put a hand on the side of her mouth and mouthed, "he likes you!" to Levy who ended up looking flustered.

"It's a date then! I'm excited to learn more about you, Lucy. Oh, you have to meet my cay, Happy!" Natsu's eyes lit up as he spoke of his cat making Lucy's affection for him soar.

"I'd love to. You'll have to meet my dog, Plue, then." Lucy bartered and Natsu smiled at her.

"Oh, you have a kitty! How adorable." Levy clasped her hands to her chest.

"I have a cat too!" Gajeel practically barked and Levy giggled copiously.

"Then I will have to meet him… Or her?"

"He's a guy, his name is Lily… Well, Pantherlily actually but I call him Lily…" Gajeel rubbed his neck, his cheeks slightly flushed.

"Well, I'd love to meet Lily then." Levy smiled at him friendlily.

"Yeah, sure…" Gajeel muttered, turning his face away.

"I'm glad you can come tonight, it will be great." Natsu grinned. Lucy felt like she had only been smiling since she met Natsu, she was extremely grateful that he was the way he was, she felt as though she really lucked out. The anticipation for the night ahead of them was exciting and she was glad that they would already be meeting their friends. Lucy hoped that they would like her; she was ready to start a new adventure, an adventure with her soul mate.