Final chapter! Thank you so much for reading. Here is the end of "Soul for a Soul."

. . .

"Why do I even bother… of course he isn't going to show up." Lucy Heartfilia sat at an open-air café, checking the time on her phone. The man she was waiting for, her fifth attempt at a date in two months, was already an hour late. She'd received no messages from him, and, based on how he didn't answer her calls, she guessed this was yet another fail at romance on her part. With a deep sigh, she checked her phone one more time for any text from her so-called date, but not even her friends had sent her a message today.

She'd never had any luck in the romance department for her entire life. She was already in her twenties, and the longest time she had a boyfriend was a few months before he cheated on her. It seemed like Lucy could never meet anyone who actually cared, and she had begun to give up on romance. She was starting to get the feeling that she would be alone forever.

Her phone keychains, three cats that she'd received for her birthday, clinked together when she stood up and pushed in her chair. She hadn't even ordered a drink out of suspicion this very thing would happen. She just wanted to go home and wallow in her books, maybe even finish that TV show she'd been saving for a day when she needed something to do. But unfortunately, her dear roommate Levy was having her boyfriend over at their apartment for their seventh anniversary, and Lucy had promised to stay out for the day until they went to dinner.

All of Lucy's friends had already found their soulmates. Everyone besides her already had someone they were determined to stay with forever.

Levy and Gajeel had met when they were all still in high school. Gajeel had been a loner who bullied others who messed with him and frankly, Lucy hadn't wanted much to do with him when they first met. But one day, small Levy was trying to climb a bookshelf in the library to get a book on the top shelf and had started to fall backward, taking the bookcase with her. Then like some beautiful fiction cliché, Gajeel caught her, handing her the book she wanted just for good measure. Levy fell for him hard after that and eventually, all the time they spent together led him to fall for her too. The two ended up an item sophomore year and have been together ever since. They were such an odd couple, Levy, a petite librarian, and Gajeel, covered in piercings and at least a foot and a half taller than Levy. Gajeel had quite a mouth on him, but whenever Lucy saw him and Levy alone, he treated her like a goddess, smiling and looking at her like she was the moon, beautiful and enchanting.

Lucy was sure this was the year Gajeel was going to propose to her based on him asking what ring style Levy liked best. Gajeel worked with metal and made exquisite work, so Lucy assured him that whatever he made, Levy would adore.

Those lucky bastards. They barely even fought minus the constant teasing. They were practically already married. Lucy would trade anything to meet someone perfect for her like Gajeel was to Levy.

And her other friend Erza, now there was a love story.

Her and Jellal had met as children, and it was clear Erza had been in love with him that entire time. How Jellal felt when they were younger, Lucy didn't know. She hadn't met either of them until middle school. The two were separated when Erza had to move away, and they thought they'd never see one another again. Right before Erza had to leave, they'd gotten into a fight, leaving them on bad terms. But Erza never stopped loving him. Then one day, she and Lucy were walking together from middle school when they saw him, in a uniform from the school only a short distance from their own. Lucy swore that she saw sparks between them the moment they made eye contact. It was the first time in her life she'd ever seen Erza blush. They got back in touch and slowly but surely rekindled that romance between them they thought would never appear again. He made Erza smile just by being nearby, and the way they looked at each other… it made Lucy want to cry.

They were on a date today, too, visiting Erza's favorite café for "Couples Eat Free" day at her favorite dessert hop. They went every month, and yet Erza never gained an inch of fat, Lucy was jealous beyond belief. Lucy couldn't ask to hang out with them, and then Gray and Juvia were having a movie marathon… Lucy had no one she could reach out to today.

"I guess I just have to kill time until 6 pm," she sighed, "Four hours of walking around town shouldn't be too bad I guess," Lucy mumbled to herself, sliding her phone into her bag.

Magnolia was beautiful this time of year. The sun made the breezes warm, and leaves fell like rain from the trees. Today was such a beautiful day that it surprised Lucy to see so little people out and about. No one was walking the streets as she left the café, and no one was at one of Lucy's favorite areas to relax: the cliffside by the ocean.

Granted, it wasn't the most popular spot to be. Most people preferred to be on the beach itself rather than on a ledge with a long drop to the sea, but when the ocean spray got caught in the summer breeze and splashed against the rocks, it was the most beautiful feeling Lucy could describe. There were no rails to keep anyone from falling, only signs that warned about the long drop and to keep their pets away from the edge.

The rocks were ragged, and sometimes Lucy would slip if they were wet, but being able to breathe in the ocean air with a beautiful view of the lighthouse in the distance and the crashing ocean waves, it was worth a few scrapes to the knees. There were no boats at sea today, and all the clouds above were fluffy and white, like pillows decorating the bright blue sky. It was almost enough to make Lucy forget she'd just been stood up.

Almost.

But it was depressing to think that out of all her friends, who were happily in love, that she had no one. Levy kept telling her that there was someone out there for her, but where were they when she needed them? All those dates where she was the third wheel, all the time she wasted with men that ended up being jerks or no shows… where was her special someone then? Where were they now when she was sad and giving up hope…

The wind caught Lucy's hair and blew a warm breeze to her face. The waves crashed against the rocks, and the clouds floated gently above. The beauty of it all, the warmth she felt in the moment; it was like the universe was telling her to keep her hopes up.

Lucy remembered that when she was younger, her mother had told her never to give up on love. She always said that love was the most beautiful gift life could offer. Her mother assured her that somewhere in the world, the other half of Lucy's soul was waiting for the day they would meet. She said that when she saw them, she'd know she was supposed to be with them forever. All her friends said the same thing about how they just knew they were meant to be with their significant others from the first time they saw each other.

They'd all met in different ways, and despite being happy together now, they'd also gone through a lot to get where they were. Erza and Jellal had met young but were separated, thinking the other hated them until they finally met again. Levy and Gajeel met in high school, but Gajeel hadn't trusted her feelings for him for a while before he believed he was worthy of love. And Juvia, poor Juvia. She'd loved Gray for so long, but he'd led her along for years before she managed to get Gray to admit his feelings for her. After all that, no matter how long it took, no matter what kept them apart, they ended up happy.

Who was to say Lucy didn't have someone for her out there? She could meet them today, or in a month, or a year or a few years from now, and it would make all the waiting worth it. She just really hoped it would be soon. Lucy was ready for her person to tease her and make her smile every day.

A small smile graced her face. "I won't give up on you. I know you're out there somewhere waiting for me just as much as I'm waiting for you." The breeze wrapped around her like a warm hug, and she felt all the sadness and insecurities washed away to the ocean, where the waves crashed them against the rocks. She felt okay again.

"Thanks," She whispered to no one in particular. She still had several hours to kill, so she figured she'd take the scenic route to go shopping.

The walking trail that she loved to take was a wide walkway surrounded by tall, luscious trees. The leaves were golden during summer, creating a canopy above the path that made it like walking in a fairy tale. Leaves were often scattered across the trail and would be blown around by the wind in mini-tornadoes that Lucy adored. Today must have been her lucky day because as soon as she arrived at the trail, she was greeted by a small whirlwind of golden leaves. No one was there beside her, which meant that Lucy could act however she wanted. She spun around with the leaves and laughed when some hit her in the face. She smiled and looked up to see the sun shining through the canopy of leaves.

"Alright, today isn't so bad after all."

She got her poker face back and started to walk through the tunnel of trees, keeping her eyes straight ahead. "I think I'll go look for some new books today…" Her thoughts came to a halt when someone rushed by her.

Usually, she would've kept walking, but she couldn't help but stop. That brief glimpse of whoever had passed her made her heart beat a little louder. Something was calling for her to turn around. To see the flash of pink that seemed so familiar, yet so new. She turned around and saw that the person had stopped too. She was surprised to see that the pink she'd noticed was their hair.

The man with wild pink hair was much tanner than her, dressed in more layers than she thought would be comfortable in the summer. His tan pants were rolled up just below his knees, and his white shirt with the sleeves rolled up was topped by a blue vest. He had a white scarf around his neck that barely budged despite the wind. Lucy met his dark eyes, and she felt it. A spark. Of recognition, of longing, of wanting to walk over and talk to him despite having never met him before.

There was something about him that made her feel like she'd known him for years.

He stared at her with the same look in his eyes, the look of someone who wanted to say hello. Suddenly, Lucy was conscious of her outfit. She'd dressed for a date, so she looked fine, but she'd been caught in the wind and ocean spray, her hair must've been a mess…

"Hey." A deep, friendly voice met her ears, drawing her attention back to the beautiful stranger in front of her.

"Hey…" She greeted back. "Isn't it a bit warm to be wearing a scarf?" She asked before she could even think about it.

He grinned at that, grabbing the end of his scarf. "I never go anywhere without it."

He couldn't believe that this girl, the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, had stopped to talk to him. When he'd passed her, he hadn't even meant to stop, but she was so pretty that he couldn't seem to help himself. She made a white tank top and a black skirt look better than any fancy dress. Her long, blonde hair was perfect despite the wind all around them. Nature seemed to bend to her will, the sunlight shining off her hair to shine like gold. And her eyes, those beautiful brown eyes… the moment he'd locked eyes with her, he knew this was a girl he wanted to be in his life. The fact she'd stopped to talk to him at all was a miracle. Now he just had to make sure he didn't mess this up.

He was exactly an expert on romance, oh, what was he thinking? He needed to get her to be his friend before he got ahead of himself with love. But a part of him knew the rapid beating of his heart and the permanent smile on his face were the result of feelings he'd never had before. Something about this girl made him think maybe Gray's blabbing about love was right.

"You pull it off well…" Lucy trailed off, asking for his name.

"Natsu. And you are?"

"Lucy." She smiled when he grinned again. He had a contagious smile, one that beamed with kindness.

"Nice to meet you, Lucy!" He slowly walked forward so he could offer a hand to shake.

She was surprised he'd approached her rather than just going on his way. Her smile brightened, and she shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you too, Natsu."

Lucy wasn't sure what else to say, but she didn't want him to leave.

"Hey, do you wanna get a drink with me? It's the perfect day to sit at a café." Natsu asked, looking casual to her, but internally freaking out. He couldn't believe he'd asked her out! She was going to say-

"Yes, I'd love to get a drink. I know a great café; I didn't get to get anything when I was there earlier. Do you mind sitting outside?" Her smile grew brighter and brighter the more she talked to him, absolutely giddy that he'd asked her to spend time with him.

"That's the best way to eat! After you then, Lucy."

Lucy found that Natsu was easy to talk to, and he was great at making her laugh. They chatted and joked all the way to the café, and she couldn't stop smiling while she was with him. They each ordered a drink from the café she'd been stood up at. She was overwriting those memories with all the things she was learning about Natsu. Like how he got his scarf from his foster father and that he worked as a firefighter. She found herself eager to hear everything about him, and in the process, she ended up telling him lots about herself as well.

"So you're a writer? That's awesome! You got anything published?" Natsu was enthralled by their conversation, not even touching his drink.

Lucy smiled, both her hands on her cheeks with her elbows rested against the table. "Not yet, but I have a story that I've been working on. I think it's going to be great. I just need to finish it."

"I bet it will be! What's it about?" Natsu didn't read much. Well, at all. But seeing how her face lit up when he asked, suddenly he was willing to read an entire library if she would smile like that again.

"It's a fantasy novel about wizards and magic. The main characters are a boy with fire magic and a girl who uses keys to summon spirits. It's funny actually, I always imagined him having pink hair like yours." She could see her character so well in Natsu.

"Most people look at me weird for it." Natsu pulled at one of the strands to look.

"I think it looks nice. I have friends with other unique colors, but between you and me, I think I like yours best." Lucy complimented him, smiling when he grinned at her again. "I also really like that keychain you have, I know someone who makes keychains like that."

Natsu pulled the keychain from his waistband to show her better. "I got it from a buddy of mine. He's a jerk, but he makes great stuff with metal."

She recognized that keychain; she had one at home. "Is his name Gajeel by chance?"

"Yeah, it is, you know him?" Natsu asked as he put the keychain back.

Lucy laughed. "He's dating my roommate."

Natsu's eyes widened when a realization hit him. "Wait, you're Levy's roommate? You're that Lucy?"

"Yeah, I am! You know her too?"

He brightened up. "Yeah! I met her through metalhead! I guess I've known her a while now, at least since she started dating Gajeel my sophomore year in high school."

Lucy paused. "Wait a minute, you went to Magnolia High?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I did. I was buddies with Gajeel and Gray Fullbuster. Sometimes I'd hang with Erza Scarlet and Levy too, but I was always pretty busy with sports." Natsu laughed at the memories. "I was a troublemaker back then. They called me Salamander."

"Salamander... wait a minute! You're the guy who blew up the chemistry room! You burned Erza's eyebrows off! You're the pyro she always complained about!" Lucy exclaimed with a smile.

"Yep, that was me. She kicked my ass bad after that, but it wasn't even my fault. She's the one who trusted me with the chemical mixing." Natsu laughed before he paused. "Woah wait a minute, if you know about that then... we went to high school together? I don't remember seeing you at all! What crowd did you run with?"

"I was in Speech and Debate with Levy. Her, Erza, and Juvia were my best friends. I don't remember seeing you ever, and I think I'd remember you." Lucy pointed to his hair with a laugh.

"I was in football and basketball, so I was gone with the boys for sports most of the time. I hung out with Erza whenever her friends were gone at... Speech and Debate tournaments. That's so awesome! You were the blonde she always talked about!"

Lucy laughed. "That's crazy, we had the same friends back then and never met! Do you still meet up with everyone?"

"Well yeah, whenever they're not out on dates. They're all gooey couples, so I usually only hang out whenever there's more than just two of them. We all get together once in a while, but with my job, sometimes I can't go. I live with Gray, unfortunately. Since he's a cop, we usually end up working together, so we're sharing a place until he and Juvia inevitably get hitched soon. They literally kicked me out today so they could "watch movies." Yeah, right, they're just gonna bang all day." He rolled his eyes and cringed at the thought.

Lucy rolled her eyes too. "Tell me about it. Those couples are all obsessed with each other. If it makes you feel better, Levy and Gajeel have a date in my apartment today too. I'm only out today because I was supposed to have a date, and they took advantage of that to hog the apartment. You know Gajeel made her a ring, I think he's going to propose, on their anniversary of all times! He can be pretty romantic when he's not acting like a jerk."

"No way, he's gonna ask her to marry him? Poor Levy stuck with metalhead forever." Natsu smiled when Lucy laughed at his comment, but his smile dropped a bit at what she'd said. "So... you're going on a date, huh? Am I holding you up?"

Lucy frowned and huffed in annoyance at the memory. "No. I was supposed to, but the asshole stood me up. I knew he would too. He wasn't even my choice. My friend Mira tried to set me up with some patron at her bar that mentioned he was single."

Natsu couldn't help but feel relieved. "Well, he's an idiot for standing up someone as cool as you. But that sounds like something Mira would do."

"You know her too? How haven't we met before this?" Lucy laughed.

"I don't know, but it looks like we were destined to meet, huh?" Natsu smirked.

Lucy's face flushed slightly, but she couldn't agree more. "Seems like it."

"I guess I missed out on knowing you back then, but I'm glad I met you now." He gave her a brilliant grin that made her heart jump.

He made her feel so happy she could hardly believe how she'd been in a sour mood earlier. Now, her cheeks were sore from smiling so much, and her favorite drink sat untouched in front of her. Her heart swelled just by looking at Natsu, and for the first time in so long, she was having fun out with another person. Was this a date? It felt like it. She hoped it was because she could already feel her heart falling for the man in front of her.

"Yeah, me too. You know, I'd much rather be here with you than on a date with that douchebag who stood me up." She smiled at him.

He couldn't help but blurt out, "I'll make today the best date you'll ever have so you don't even have to think about that loser."

She smirked at him. "You talk a big game. I'm looking forward to the best date ever then. I wager the same for you, consider this your future best date too."

"Alright! Let's talk for a little more, and then I'll take you for some dinner. After that, we can go bowling!"

"Bowling? But I'm so bad at it." Lucy remembered last time she went was for her senior trip and she'd granny bowled a game of straight zeroes.

"I'll teach you! In exchange, you can take me somewhere you wanna go after." He took a sip of his drink finally, disappointed that it was watered down.

"Alright, you can go stargazing with me then! I have a telescope we can grab from my apartment once the lovebirds leave." Lucy grinned, excited for the rest of the day she was going to spend with her new friend.

"Sounds good to me! We've still got some time to kill until dinner hours, so what do the wizards in your book do? How'd they meet?" Natsu wanted to see Lucy light up talking about her book again, and his wish was granted when she smiled brightly enough to warm his heart.

Lucy eagerly accepted the invitation to talk about her writing. She smiled began the story, which felt like more than a simple tale in her heart.

"Well, it all started with a lonely girl, a rowdy dragon slayer, and a place called Fairy Tail…"

End

. . .

So Fairy Tail Ending 15 is my favorite ending out of the whole show, and I adore Kimi to Kare to Boku to Kanojo to by Breathe. As soon as I started rewriting this story, I knew I wanted to put a little Easter egg towards that beautiful ending here. See the thing with soulmates is that no matter what they will meet again, no matter if one life ends in tragedy or even the one after it, there will always come another chance to meet again and fall in love again. I sincerely believe Natsu and Lucy are meant for one another, and the concept of soulmates suits them well.

They met again, and this time, they will have no curse or villain to separate them.

Thank you for reading this story, and I sincerely hoped this ending was enjoyable. I might do a small drabble on their lives in the real world, but I think it's fine to leave it like this.

Thank you again, the story I will be working on next is called A Dragon's Star, and it's a pure fluff romance story, so if you would like something less tragic or sad, then it will be updated soon! You guys are fantastic.