Lucy has had the watch for as long as she can remember. Every person does, and somewhere in the world, there was a person whose watch had the same numbers as hers. From the moment she was born, Lucy's watch had been counting down the years to her fated meeting.

When she was younger, Lucy dreamed of her soulmate. She pictured handsome men who would sweep her off her feet with extravagant gifts and sweet words. Her dream man had changed as she aged, however, and now all she could imagine was a blank mannequin face.

Some of her friends were lucky, like her best friend Levy. The small blue haired girl met her soulmate, Gajeel, their first week of high school and had been together since. Ezra even met her soulmate when she was a child, and they'd been together for years. Lucy's clock was never close to being done, so she began to stop bothering with it. She accepted that she would meet her soulmate when it was time, and worrying about it was only going to cause her pain.

So it was both exciting and terrifying when she saw she only had 3 weeks, 2 days, 45 minutes, and 12 seconds until she met the one.

"What do you think he looks like?" Mira asked during lunch one day, just as Lucy's watch turned to exactly 3 weeks.

"I don't have a clue," Lucy admitted, swallowing her food.

"Do you have any thoughts on who it could be?" Cana slurred, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"If I met them already then we wouldn't be waiting for my watch to count down," Lucy reminded her, bumping her shoulder. Cana laughed.

"Whoever it is better be okay with sharing," she huffed, draping an arm over Lucy's shoulders and pulling the blonde girl into her chest. Lucy didn't try to struggle, it only made the suffocation happen faster.

"Don't kill her before she meets him," Mira scolded, freeing her from the boobs of death. Lucy looked at her thankfully.

"I wonder what he'll be like, or how you'll meet him. It must be away from school, or you'd have met him already," Levy said, looking over from talking with her boyfriend, Gajeel. The dark haired boy hummed his agreement, chewing on the end of a spoon.

"Either way, if he hurts bunny girl, I'll have to kill him." There were only a few boys in Lucy's friend group: Gajeel and Loke. Gajeel had grown oddly attached to Lucy since she was close with Levy, and treated her almost like a daughter. Loke, on the other hand, claimed that Lucy would obviously be his soulmate, despite the fact that his clock wouldn't countdown until a year and a half after hers, and they'd already met. He seemed to ignore these facts.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Levy dismissed, smirking at Lucy. "He'll be Lucy's soulmate after all."

Despite the attention her clock grabbed and her constant talks with her friends, Lucy was ashamed to say she didn't feel excited to meet her soulmate. As odd as it seemed, the idea of meeting him scared her. What if he didn't like how she looked? Or acted? Or her friends? Questions like this plagued her so often that it made sleep hard to attain. 

What really worried her, however, was Levy's comment about meeting him. Sure, he could transfer into her school, but the idea seemed unlikely. Chances were that she'd meet him on a street somewhere, and then what? What if he was visiting from another state, and she'd never be able to see him again after that? She'd heard of online relationships, but the idea was just as scary as the thought of meeting him. 

So the weeks slowly passed by, these insane and dark thoughts constantly plaguing her mind. It was only when she had two days until her fated day that she shared her doubts with Levy. 

Levy and Lucy had been best friends since they were five. Their moms had worked together, and after Lucy mother's death, they'd gotten very close. Lucy trusted Levy with everything, even her life. So when the blue haired girl had noticed her lack of excitement, the blonde easily opened up and admitted the truth. 

"There's nothing wrong with that," Levy said as soon as she was done, looking thoughtful. "I was terrified of meeting Gajeel. I was always wondering what he'd be like or look like, but all my worries disappeared as soon as I saw him." She looked up and smiled at Lucy. "Whoever your soulmate is will love you. They'd be crazy not to." 

Lucy smiled back, leaning her head against Levy. She closed her eyes and let her friend's familiar warmth wrap around her. "Thanks Levy." The blue haired girl chuckled and wrapped her arms around Lucy in response. 

Lucy tried to keep Levy's words in her mind as she was on the final day, but the worries only got worse when her dad decided to take her out shopping. As a way to keep him from worrying, she had told him that she still had weeks left until her clock stopped. Now, she had a half hour left until zero, and her dad was making her try on dresses. 

"Dad, you really don't have to do this," She said for the hundredth time, struggling to pull the silky fabric over her head. The dress had so many layers that she kept confusing where the opening was. Finally she managed to pull it over her head, slipping her arms through the appropriate holes. The bodice of the dress was black with a pink flower on the strap, while pink silk flowed down from her cinched waist. It was a pretty dress by itself, and Lucy was surprised to find that she looked good in it as well. She stepped out of the dressing room so her father could examine her, carefully hiding her arm behind her back. "This is really unnecessary."

"Nonsense!" Her father protested, smiling as she appeared. He stood up and tucked her hair behind her ear, stepping around her to see the dress from all angles. She moved her arm to keep the clock out of his view. He grinned proudly, coming back around to her front. "It's never unnecessary to buy a dress for such a pretty girl."

"It is when said girl has fifty at home," she muttered, but he ignored her. He tilted his head and sighed, looking thoughtful.

"You look just like your mother," he said softly, and Lucy felt her heart stop. Se looked over at him, but his eyes seemed almost unfocused. They were both brought back to reality when something beeped. Lucy looked down instinctively, and felt herself pale when she saw there was only three minutes on her clock. Her father was smiling at her when she looked back at him, and she gulped, realizing he knew the whole time. "Did you really think that you could hide it from me, Lucy?" 

"Kinda," she admitted reluctantly. Her dad laughed, shaking his head. 

"Just like your mother," he sighed. "Come on, lets get this dress checked out." 

Lucy turned to go back into the dressing room, but paused when her dad grabbed her arm. He began to pull her towards the checkout counter just as her clock beeped again. Two minutes. 

She followed him slowly, her eyes darting around the shop for a sight of her soulmate, but there wasn't a single boy in sight. Her nerves only increased when they approached the counter, and then her heart stopped. 

A boy was standing behind the counter, looking down at some magazine. Lucy saw from a distance that he was handsome, despite his odd coloring. Pink hair and black eyes? Why did the sight of him make her heart race oddly. Panic seized her when her clock beeped for the final time, signifying one minute. Was this the one? 

Her feet stopped moving, jerking her dad to a stop. He looked back at her curiously just as the boy looked up. Lucy felt the world freeze when their eyes locked and everything seemed to fade away. She took a step forward...

And then she bolted. With a nervous squeak she sprinted out the door and out into the street. She could hear her dad call out after her, but Lucy didn't allow her legs to stop moving. 

It took Lucy thirty seconds to realize what she'd done and stop. She froze in the middle of the sidewalk, breathing hard, while people bustled all around her. Her heart pounded from its sudden restart and to her surprise, she felt tears on her cheeks. What was she doing? That was the one, she knew it, yet she had ran away from him like a coward. Heat of regret and sadness filled her chest, and the feeling only got worse when someone grabbed her shoulder. First she'd ditched her soulmate, and now she was going to be abducted. Could the day get any worse? 

"Hey," a smooth voice said, as Lucy covered her face with her hands. Two warm hands wrapped around her wrists and pulled her hands away from her eyes. She lowered them slowly, blinking in surprise at two black eyes. Her mind just registered it was the boy from the store when two simultaneous beeps filled the air. Their eyes widened and they looked down at their arms. Lucy's watch read zero, and she saw that his was the same. Her heart rate quickened as she looked up, meeting his eyes shyly. He smiled brightly. His grin was so great that she felt her own lips stretching into a smile. "Hey there soulmate, I'm Natsu."

"I'm Lucy," she whispered. She felt so out of breath, but she knew it wasn't from running. It was from the breathtaking boy in front of her with the giant grin, that intense look in his eyes, and the way he had referred to her as 'soulmate'. This was her soulmate. This was her other half. 

"It's nice to finally meet you, but I hope you know, I don't plan on letting you run away." He smirked at her, taking her hand and pulling her closer to him. For a second, Lucy was slightly terrified, thinking he was going to kiss her already, but Natsu only pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. The hug was such a secure one, one full of such love, that Lucy instantly sank into it. Her heart pounded, but it was with excitement, not fear. 

"That's okay," she muttered into his chest, just as his arms tightened around her. "I don't plan on running away."