Souls Entwined: Remake

Chapter 2

[Btw, a jumper is what people in Britain call a sweater.]

Frustrated beyond belief, Lucy sat cross legged on her bed, thinking about yesterday's events. They rushed through her head all at once and it was difficult for Lucy to make sense of it all. It was quite hard to get her head around the idea of having one mate, one sole person to spend eternity with but having two mates? It was going to be a challenge. She knew it wasn't a joke because no offense to Bickslow, but Lucy just didn't think he would be smart enough to go along with it.

Also, it explained a lot of things she'd noticed about the two. More specifically, the staring and how close they used to stand to Lucy even if there was lots of empty space in the guild. Come to think of it, whenever she asked a guy out within earshot, she always seemed to be stood up or they suddenly had no interest in her.

Lucy went over the pros and cons of her situation. She started with the cons first. Obviously, it would look bad if she suddenly started a relationship with two former enemies. Lucy didn't know if she would be able to handle the judgement, she was a textbook people pleaser and didn't like the idea of someone hating her. Another con would be that Lucy would have to deal with all of the jealousy. It was obvious that the two men weren't going to be the best at sharing. Cobra and Bickslow weren't the first to come to mind when she thought about considerate people.

On the other hand, Lucy knew how valuable a mate was to a Dragon slayer. Wendy and Gajeel had mentioned before that they would be treated with respect, compassion and love. There was nothing worth more to a Dragon slayer than his/her mate and Lucy presumed the same goes for Soul Magic. Lucy always knew that she was loved by many friends but she had always wanted to have someone to be just hers and for her to belong to someone. It was no secret that Lucy was a hopeless romantic and her situation was just like out of a fantasy novel. She had the choice to break both their hearts and possibly never find true love, or give them the chance they so desperately desired and possibly find herself the happiest she's ever been. Lucy chewed her lip in thought, when she put it like that, it was hard to disagree with.

Shaking her head, Lucy got out of her thoughts and stood up, stretching and walking towards her bathroom. Surprisingly, this morning she had awoken to find that she was in a Natsu-free bed. Not that she was complaining, he always made it too hot to sleep right and Lucy would feel disgusting as she always woke up covered in sweat. Lucy didn't know if it was because he was on a mission, or he finally realised that a locked window means she didn't want company, or maybe the scent of Cobra and Bickslow threw him off. If that was the case, maybe she should have them around more often.

Lucy walked over to her wardrobe and got dressed for the day. Recently, she had been trying out new outfits to find a different style, one that was more practical and comfortable to wear. After staring into her neatly organized clothes, she decided on on a white tank top, black leggings, knee high black boots and a baby pink woolly jumper since it was cold outside. It was nearly summer but today's weather didn't look so good, if the dark clouds were anything to go by and Lucy didn't want to risk a cold. She also tied her hair up into to a messy bun and wrapped a white scarf around her neck. She wrapped her belt around her waist and clasped her keys onto the loop on the belt. On a recent mission, she had gotten a new belt that had a charm on it so that no one would be able to steal it. Since buying it, she was more at ease, knowing that no one could take her keys and she would be left vulnerable.

Humming a small tune to herself, she walked along the side of the pier like always. She had been tempted to try balancing along the edge but didn't want to take the risk of falling into the icy water. She had reached the guild in about ten minutes and many people were curious towards Lucy's clothing choice but didn't say anything. After all, it was her decision to wear what she wanted, although Wakaba and Macao were very disappointed indeed. After doing a quick scan of the guild, she found that she was one of the first people here so she didn't see Levy or anyone from team Natsu. She saw Mira behind the bar and smiled, walking over to her and sitting down on one of the stools, right in the middle. Mira smiled, "Good morning Lucy, what can I get you?" Lucy pretended to think, "Can I have a strawberry smoothie please?"

As Lucy was drinking the smoothie, she heard the guild doors open and watched as Levy scurried inside from the cold. The petite, blue-haired girl rushed to her usual corner and tried to warm herself up. Lucy thanked Mira for the smoothie then walked over to sit next to Levy. Instantly, she felt two small arms around her, "Good morning Lu-Chan, you're so warm. I should have done the sensible thing like you and worn a jumper." Lucy giggled and hugged Levy back before giving her a serious look. She turned in her seat to face Levy, "Something happened last night and I don't know what to do." Levy gasped, but looked ready to help her. Levy was always so supportive and helpful, it was why she was Lucy's best friend.

Lucy slowly explained yesterday's events to her in detail, telling her everything that happened with Cobra and Bickslow and what they had told her. Levy said nothing the whole time that Lucy was talking but smiled at her when she finished. Levy leaned in close to Lucy, "I'm going to tell you a secret Lu-Chan, that was almost how Gajeel told me that we were mates". Lucy wasn't really shocked at this new information but pretended to be for Levy, "What, you're mates?" she said in a very quiet voice as to not gain any unwanted attention. She was happy that Levy was with the man of her dreams. Levy eagerly nodded, "Yes and he answered all of my questions and he told me that it was actually common for some dragon slayers to share a mate with other rare magic users. But he could sense that there wasn't a third mate with us because he felt complete with me." Levy blushed as she spoke and Lucy smiled, "Aww~". Lucy received a small slap on the arm but she laughed it off.

Levy got her attention again by clearing her throat to show she wasn't finished talking, "My best advice is to just go along with it, you can be very happy with them if you commit yourself to your relationship. I've never been happier since I've been with Gajeel. You could be like that as well Lucy". Lucy nodded and thought it over and she knew that all she ever wanted was someone to love her and take care of her. By giving Cobra and Bickslow that chance, she could get everything she's ever wanted. She concluded that she would commit herself to the relationship and would try making it work. The only thing that she struggled with was the fact that it was two men and not just one. It would be hard for her to divide her attention equally between the two men.

The two girls sat talking about anything they could think of while waiting for Cobra and Bickslow to arrive. They didn't arrive together of course. Bickslow was the first to enter into the guild with the rest of the Thunder God tribe and looked over at Lucy but she couldn't tell what he was feeling with his mask on. Cobra arrived almost an hour after Bickslow and sat at the bar. It wasn't long before Bickslow made an excuse to sit next to Cobra on the stools and Lucy could see the two talking to each other but they were too far away to know what was being said. Lucy looked over at Levy who gave her a smile and two thumbs up, "You can do it Lu-Chan!"

Lucy hesitantly got up and walked over to Cobra and Bickslow who didn't even try to hide their enthusiasm to Lucy approaching them. She looked downout of nervousness, "Will you come to my house at five please, there's something we need to discuss". Cobra was the first to respond, "Of course Princess, why wouldn't I?" Lucy was still a bit agitated with her new nickname since she still attached negative thoughts and feeling to it. She looked up to lock eyes with Bickslow, well, lock eyes with his mask more like. He gave her a small nod, not being able to find any words to speak.

Lucy assumed that he had told his team mates about the situation with her since they were all staring down at her and glancing back and forth between her, Bickslow and Cobra. Of course, this made sense considering Laxus was a Dragon Slayer and would likely know all about mates, even if he didn't have a Dragon to teach him about it. Lucy awkwardly smiled at the two men before turning around and walking back to Levy's table in the corner. They talked away for most of the afternoon, with Levy doing a great job of distracting Lucy's thoughts until she realised the time. She gave Levy a goodbye hug and promised to tell her how everything went the next morning.

Lucy's boots clicking against the cobble path was the only sound that she heard as she walked home. She had her arms wrapped around herself due to the growing cold winds that attacked her body. Her pace increased to reach her house quicker and she finally escaped the cold and was safe inside the warmth of her house. Lucy sat on her couch with one leg propped over the other and shifted in anticipation every so often. She was worried about this, she didn't have a clue what she was getting herself into. Just as she started to feel that this wasn't a good idea, she heard a knock on her door.