The Red String Of Fate

Chapter 2

He was a bit taller than her and had dark, tan skin. His pink, fluffy hair seemed to defy gravity. His eyes were a deep brown. She felt like she was swimming in them. It was her new favorite color. "Hi! My name is Lucy! And I'm delighted to meet you!" She said, stumbling over the words her father taught her to speak to new and vital guests. Natsu took in her appearance. She had golden hair that seemed to gleam. He bet that her hair could light up the darkest of the dark. Her eyes were warm and light brown, almost honey-like. She was smaller than him with round cheeks.

If he had to pick any word to describe her, it would be warmth. "Yo! My name's Natsu Dragneel!" He smiled widely. His eyes reached hers, and they held eye contact for a second or so. They both looked away when Lucy's mother shouted that the food was ready. That was the moment Lucy Heartfilia met her best friend, Natsu Dragneel. Coincidentally, that was also the time her clock reached zero.

The next time Lucy thought about the tiny red numbers on her wrist was when she was seven. It was the day of her mother's funeral. Her mother died about a week or two before; to be perfectly honest, she had no idea how much time actually went by. Everything had been a blur for a while. She remembered crying, a lot of crying. She also remembered small, warm arms hugging her as if the person the arms belonged to was trying to comfort her. She knew it was Natsu.

. . . . . 

Ever since the first night they met, Natsu had been Lucy's best friend. She was in the room where the funeral was being held. She was desperately trying to cling to the memories of her mother. That's when she remembered the night when she met Natsu. The moment right before she went off to play was spent talking to her mother. She looked at her wrist. It was at zero. Lucy became confused.

Did that mean she didn't have a soulmate? Had she already meet hers? Sadly, those were questions she was going to ask her mother in the future when she grew older and matured a bit. Knowing that her mother would never be able to answer those questions for her brought her to tears, which led to her thinking about all the times she would never see her mother smile again or hear her laugh. Lucy broke down crying again. And also, Natsu comforted her.

The next time Lucy thinks about the clock on her wrist is several years later, when she's fourteen. She and Natsu were still friends. They were still best friends. And this time, her father had taken up a new hobby, ignoring her. As sad as she was, she couldn't blame him. She knew she was starting to look like the spitting image of her mother, and she knew that every time he looked at her, he broke a bit more inside. Sometimes she did too. And at those times, she would call over her best friend, and he would stay for hours.

He would tell her silly little things to make her laugh, getting her to join in and tell him jokes and stories. Sometimes she would repeat a story or a joke, but he would still laugh if it made her happy. One day, after the laughter died out, a comfortable silence rang out between them. Suddenly, he spoke up, interrupting the silence. "How much time do you have left? For your clock, I mean." He asked.

How would she respond? She didn't have any time left. Was that normal? Did that make her a freak? Having no time wasn't normal. It wasn't right. So, she did what she thought was the best course of action at that time. She lied. "A lot. I have years left." She responded, trying to sound nonchalant. 

"Yeah, me too. I have years left too."