As she parked, Lucy decided to make this adventure a fun one. So what if Natsu avoided her? That meant that she would have to just try a little harder. She sure wasn't Juvia by any means, but when she knew what she wanted she went after it. Lucy knew that Natsu was her soulmate. Her clock was counting down to prove it, and Lucy didn't have to look at his clock to further her point either.

Lucy's determined mindset gave her enough momentum to give herself a pep talk. It was just what she needed after the stressful day at work, and finally she had the motivation to get out there and go for what she wanted. All she had to do was actually inspire herself, which could prove harder than she thought.

"C'mon Lucy, you've got this! Okay, so maybe Natsu doesn't completely notice you quite yet, but he will! Now let's get out there and do this thing!" Lucy said, a bright smile now working it's way onto her face. Lucy pinched her cheeks for a just-flushed look and went out there to wow him.

Popping open her car door and climbing out, Lucy sauntered over to where she saw Natsu and Levy sitting at the park. One of the bands was already playing, and Lucy realized that her pep talk to herself had taken a little longer than normal. Levy already had a hot dog set up for her across from Natsu, complete with all the toppings that she liked. Her best friend really knew the way to Lucy's heart, and she was glad for that. After a busy day like this at work, all Lucy wanted to do was kick back and relax with her friends.

And it would be easy to do so. That is, if she didn't have a major crush on one of them already. Lucy felt her pulse quicken and palms begin to sweat as Natsu looked her way. Lucy put a little more oomph into her steps as she walked, finally sliding into the seat next to Levy with almost complete ease. She wouldn't let her nerves best her this time!

Lucy greeted Levy with a hug and a soft squeal, and she then turned to Natsu and wanted to say something to him to ease the tension. He had been staring into her soul for the past two minutes now, and she had to make something up so then he would stop!

"Hi!" she greeted, and Natsu raised a hand at her greeting without saying a word. Natsu bit into his hotdog and happily chewed it. Lucy decided to do the same along with the now quiet man. He had never been this quiet before...

Her nerves really acted up as she chomped into the hotdog without even caring. Lucy polished off her meal in three minutes flat with a satisfied belly rub, and Natsu's eyes dropped to her mouth when she finished.

Slowly, Natsu leaned towards her, and it felt as if all the air was being sucked out of the room. Lucy's eyes widened as she saw the man's lips twitch, and she pulled away at first out of confusion. His green eyes looked even brighter in the sunset, and Lucy hoped to God that she didn't have any relish stuck in her teeth. Natsu's face looked just as handsome close up than it did far away, and Lucy felt her eyes close in anticipation. Her lips puckered, and a soft grin inched its way up her face. This was it!

Instead of feeling anything remotely pleasurable or soft, she felt something rough wiped on her face. Lucy's eyes snapped open, and she pulled away quickly. Finding that he had just wiped something off of her face, she pressed her fingers to her face in a search to find what he had removed.

"You had some ketchup on your face," Natsu answered simply, and Lucy felt her face heat up as he crossed his arms across his chest with an amused look on his face.

"Jeez, Luce, I didn't know you were so desperate to kiss me," Natsu said with that accursed chuckle, and Lucy's face burned.

"That's not-I didn't-" Lucy started, and Levy giggled softly. Lucy glared at her friend, but Levy's giggles continued. She looked like she was about to burst.

"I dunno, Lu, it looked like you were about to kiss him to me," Levy said, a twinkle of evil in her eye now.

The music began to start, and Levy jumped up from her seat with a cheer and waved her hands in the air. Lucy rose slowly after sipping the rest of the drink that Levy had gotten for her, and Natsu threaded his hands behind his head and stood with a smile. Amazingly, Natsu looked like he loved the music despite it being completely different from what he'd like. The piano solo was long, but once the melodious notes crashed into guitar and drums, Natsu let out a whoop and his grin grew.

"You like this stuff?" Lucy practically yelled over the thrashing of the drums and guitar shredding, and Natsu nodded and began to tell her something with the smile that Lucy adored so much when they heard a loud thump.

Both of their heads turned towards Levy, and they found that she was now on the floor with a large bump growing on her head. Lucy gasped and ran over to her best friend, and Natsu rushed over to help pull the small woman to her feet.

"Levy! Are you okay?" Lucy said, her eyes widening and her pulse quickening. Something had to have occurred for Levy to fall over like that. The woman definitely wouldn't have fainted; Levy had an iron stomach that rarely became queasy or upset. Lucy, on the other hand, seemed to get food poisoning wherever they decided to go out to eat and her stomach turned whenever something gross was shown on television.

Levy roused after a few minutes, and Natsu handed her a cup of water and watched Levy carefully. Just because they weren't dating anymore didn't mean that he didn't care about her any less. Lucy's heart swelled with the look he gave her friend, and Natsu cupped Levy's elbow and led her back over to the picnic table where they sat before Levy fell over. Lucy sat next to her friend, and Lucy asked her a few questions just in case Levy was in shock.

"What's your name?" Lucy asked, looking into Levy's eyes, which were unfocused for the first time that Lucy had seen.

"Levy McGarden," Levy said, her voice dazed. That was weird; Lucy had never heard Levy sound like that since she had known her. Lucy's brows raised, but she continued with the questions.

"And how old are you?"

"I'm 23, but three months older than you," Levy said, her voice taking on a teasing tone for the second time today. Yep, Levy was definitely going to be okay if she had her sass.

Lucy scoffed while rolling her eyes, but her lips curved in a relieved smile. She was grateful that Levy was alright. But now there was a question to tend to, and Lucy couldn't focus on Natsu's cute easy smile that he now knew his friend was alright. If she focused on Natsu, it was only going to prove even more fatal to Lucy and Levy's friendship. She wanted to be there for her friend even when it wasn't a big deal.

"So what happened, Lev?" Lucy asked, and Levy's body went limp in Natsu's arms. Lucy's eyes widened more than they already were, and a cold ice rushed through her body. What was happening?

"Whoa!" Natsu exclaimed, holding Levy's body steady. Lucy waved a hand in her friend's unfocused eyes, but Levy smiled.

"Levy, what is going on?" Lucy urged, grasping onto her friend's hand.

"Black Haven," Levy murmured with a smile before actually fainting. Lucy didn't think that was possible for Levy. Her friend was as level-headed as they come; how would she possibly faint over something like this?

What the hell was 'this' anyway?

"Huh?" Lucy said, her brows furrowing in confusion until Natsu grasped Lucy's chin softly and pushed it towards the stage.

"Look," Natsu said softly, and Lucy finally began to see what all of the uproar was about. There were feminine shouts of 'Aah! Black Haven!' and loud screams in the crowd. Lucy tipped her head up to the stage and saw a man playing a guitar in a white suit. He was aging but still handsome, and his salt and pepper hair was long and cut jaggedly and in need of a deep hair conditioning with how rough it looked. The man's eyes were a sharp crimson, and he had piercings where eyebrows usually would be. His lips were thin but the lyrics coming from them were rougher than anything Lucy had ever heard. The melody was good, but his voice was so rough and shocking that Lucy had a hard time focusing on just the music. This was what Levy had fainted at?

Lucy did remember, however, that Levy had quite a few songs on her iPod that were rough like this, and she had talked about Black Haven before. But never would Lucy think that this man would be behind it. He was a one-man band, and he played guitar with his nimble fingers and drummed with his feet. The tone was sharp and sour, but the lyrics were happy. The man on the stage certainly didn't appear what Lucy would think happy would look like with his dark clothing and many piercings.

"He's got the best lyrics and the best voice, and oh, his body! You should've seen the calendar with him on it, Lu," Levy said, sitting up now. Natsu's hands still held her up, and hurt panged in Lucy's chest when she realized how close they were sitting.

'They're broken up now,' she reminded herself with a slight huff, and let the feeling go. She would not let this get to her. Levy wouldn't do anything to hurt Lucy, especially when she was talking about a man like this.

"Tch. My body's pretty nice too," Natsu said, crossing his arms across his chest once Levy rose to her feet.

'Boy, I bet it is,' Lucy said, her eyes sweeping carefully from Natsu's head to his feet. His body was still aging because of the whole soulmate thing, but he aged like a fine wine. A few soft wrinkles had appeared around Natsu's mouth, but it only made his smile look more boyish. And Lucy could stare at his strong arms and legs all day…

Natsu realized her stare and winked at her, and Lucy flushed for what felt like the thousandth time today. What was it about this man that could make her flush so much? Surely it was how he made her feel. However, his attractive body didn't help her thumping heart and quickened pulse any.

"I need a volunteer," the man boomed from the stage, and his speaking voice was as scratchy as his singing voice. The man's smirk spoke volumes, and it was actually quite attractive if one thought that way. Lucy knew that Levy definitely did, and Lucy barely had time to blink before Levy was racing up to the stage as fast as her short legs could carry her. Being tiny really had it's advantages. Levy was dodging taller and bigger women left and right, and Levy made it up just in time for his eyes to sweep right onto hers.

His grin was as wide as his guitar, and he pointed directly at her. Lucy groaned as Levy was ushered up to the stage.

"What do you think he's going to do?" Lucy asked Natsu, and he focused his eyes on hers with a smirk.

"Something perverted, probably," Natsu said, and Lucy gasped. He wouldn't-!

"What?!"

"Here's a bunny suit. Go change underneath the stage," the man's voice seemed to ooze amusement, and Levy flushed six shades of red. Before Levy could retaliate she was shoved down the small stage stairs and into a small room. Lucy ran up to the stage, Natsu following along with her. What the hell was happening?

The crowd sounded confused but also amused. Maybe this was something that the performer did all the time.

"Let go of me! I can change myself just fine!" Levy's voice carried through the stage, and the audience laughed. Lucy growled under her breath, and a few moments later Levy made her way up onto the stage.

She was now wearing something reminiscent of a one piece bathing suit, but with a bunny tail and bunny ears. The cranberry red popped against Levy's skin, and Lucy swore she saw the gruff performer blush at her appearance.

"This song is dedicated to my soulmate. You gotta come out sometime, woman!" the singer laughed gruffly, and the rest of the audience laughed along with her. Lucy stomped her foot.

And then Levy began to dance next to the one man band, a spotlight trickling down on her skin and making it shimmer softly. Levy's pale skin glimmered in the light and the dark-haired man couldn't keep his eyes off of her. They were now full of lust, which made Lucy narrow her eyes and want to give him a taste of her fist.

The song went on for a few moments, and the man sang a few words about love and how it is all made up, which made Lucy even madder. How could he dedicate a song to his soulmate and then say that love was all fictional like that? How dare he?!

Finally, the song ended, and Levy huffed when the man announced that it was his last song of the night and took his leave off of the stage to give the next band their room.

"Hey! Just wait one minute!" Levy yelled after the man, but he ignored her completely and continued walking. Lucy decided to let her sassy friend beat the shit out of the idiot. The tiny woman could pack a punch, and she would let the performer decide that for himself.

"You want an autograph, shrimp?" he said, whirling around with a smirk.

"Not likely!" Levy said, and she aimed for his face with her tiny fist and nailed him right in the nose.

"Ow!" the man pulled back once her fist made contact with his face, and he rubbed his now bloody nose with a large hand.

Levy was now the one to smirk and crossed her arms across her chest. Victory!

"I barely even felt that, shorty," he said, and he leaned down to look Levy in the eyes.

"You better get your ugly mug out of my face right now or else I'll-" Levy began, but then something hit her. And that something was stopping the usually articulate woman in her tracks.

A wrinkle on the man's face was now disappearing right before her eyes. The edge of the line was slowly erasing itself, and she watched it as he grinned. Levy's eyes widened, and her hands flew to her mouth in shock.

"Cat got your tongue, short stack?" the man grinned, and Levy stared up at him, her chocolate eyes full of anger.

Lucy and Natsu watched the scene unfold with amazement. This couldn't be happening! How in the world did Levy end up finding her soulmate right then and there? And the much stranger thing: he was one of the most famous singers in all of Magnolia!

"I don't have time for this. I have a question to ask you. What is your name?" Levy said, and she felt one of her own wrinkles erase on the back of her hand. She stared at it in both confusion and amazement. De-aging was a strange feeling.

"What's it to you?" he asked, and Levy stomped her foot in annoyance. The nerve!

"Just answer the question!" Levy shouted, staring up into his eyes with even more anger now.

The man chuckled. He liked his women feisty, and this one definitely was. And she was cute too.

"Gajeel Redfox. Yours?"

"Levy McGarden," Levy said. She paused for a moment before continuing, "And I think you might be my soulmate."