Bonded

Chapter One: That Can't Be Right

Summary: Through an accidental blood exchange, Natsu comes to realize that Gray is his destined soul mate. The two quickly become inseparable and come to the realization that there are many side effects of having a Dragon Slayer as a lover.

Warnings: Mild swearing, violence, bad writing, sucky plot, and possessiveness.

Pairings: Gratsu/Natray and Gajevy.

Disclaimer: I do not own the cover photo. Dragon Slayers are so cool. Too bad there ain't an ice one. Oh, wait, that's me. My bad. XD Oh yeah, I don't own Fairy Tail. Or Slayer magic. Sigh.

I carry your heart inside my heart. You are my soul mate. I will always belong to you.

Why only love with all your heart, when you can put your soul into it.

Love is when he gives you a piece of your soul that you never knew was missing.

I will always lean my heart as close to your soul as I can.

Spoilers for chapter 412

As usual, Natsu and Gray were on the verge of breaking into a fight despite the fact that the great Titania Erza was in their presence. "Those two are just hopeless," Lucy sighed. The forest around them was quiet except for the occasional chatter of a bird or animal, and the celestial mage wished her two bickering friends would shut up so she could enjoy the sounds of nature. As if being able to read her mind, Erza stopped and turned to face the dragon slayer and devil slayer.

Finding themselves under a dangerous glare, Gray and Natsu stopped their bickering and pulled each other in a hug; a thin sweat coating their bodies as they shook hands and gave nervous smiles. "W-We're not fighting," Gray said.

"Aye!" Natsu added. The great Erza held her gaze on them a moment longer before turning around and continued on. The second she was facing the other way, though, Natsu and Gray went right back to their dark glaring and mumbling insults. Lucy gave a sweat-drop at the sight. "Yeah, definitely hopeless."

"I think we did a great job today," Lucy smiled, earning an agreeing nod from Erza. They managed to capture all of the bandits terrorizing a small town without destroying anything. Okay, so maybe one building got destroyed, but that was a miracle compared to all the other destructive missions they'd been on. For example, when Lucy had met Natsu he'd destroyed most of the harbor fighting Bora. The memory still brought a smile to her face.

"Lucy's got a weird look on her face," Happy pointed out.

"Shut your trap, cat," Lucy growled in return. Natsu entered the room with, much to the blond's dismay, several pillows stuffed in his arms and a mischievous gleam in his olive eyes. She didn't need to be a genius to realize where this was going. She got out of the room before the first pillow could even be thrown. A pillow fight between Natsu, Gray, and Erza was dangerous; it was more like throwing bricks than pillows.

She remembered the first time they had a pillow fight, she'd been excited about it…before one of the pillows made contact with her face and sent her flying outside. The next day at the guild, Gray and Natsu were actually bandaged up. It looked more like they'd gotten in a fight with a monster than a pillow fight.

Happy joined her in her walk, not wanting to get smacked by a pillow turned missile. But as she left the room, she glanced back over her shoulders just in time to see Gray – who'd been fast asleep – get knocked off the bed and into the wall by a pillow. That's when the fight truly began. Erza left the room with a smile, but Lucy knew she'd stay close to stop the boys if they got into a serious fight or began to use their magic. Lucy watched the two boys throw their weapons back and forth and even though they were glaring at each other, they both held smirks and their eyes held a playful and joyful gleam to them.

Two months ago, their eyes had held different emotions; ones Lucy wish she could forget.

Neither wished to talk about what happened during the Tartarus fight. Gray had found Silver, his deceased father, and had to fight and end him with his own hands. Natsu found Igneel, the dragon who'd raised him and suddenly disappeared one day, and watched him die before his very eyes.

Natsu had snapped at that and had gone on a flaming rampage, and no one could blame him. He'd spent so many years looking for his long lost father, only to watch him be killed by another dragon. The rage and heartbreak and pain in his screams had broke everyones heart. The way Gray had suddenly began to seclude himself from everyone else made the guild worry, and they desperately tried to get him to open up and talk about it. But he kept his mouth shut and his emotions in, just like he always did. Natsu was the same, refusing to talk about Igneel's death to anyone, even Happy.

Two of the strongest mages in the guild had their hearts crushed during that fight.

Then, suddenly, three weeks ago they sorta just snapped out of their gloom. They fought each other more, though, and it wasn't hard to tell they were taking out all their pent up anger and rage and sorrow out on each other with playful banters and sparring. Their eyes still held an unimaginable sadness to them when they thought no one was looking, and Lucy wished nothing more than for the pain in their hearts to fade away and disappear.

But that would not happen.

How long had it been since her own father passed and her heart still throbbed at the memory of him? She hadn't been very close to her father, so she could only imagine what Natsu and Gray had felt at losing their fathers again. She gave a sigh, her gaze softening as she left the building. She hoped the two mages would be able to overcome the pain that grew everyday in their hearts.

The pillow fight hadn't lasted very long, both the fire and ice mage had tired of it before it could escalate into a battle where bandages would be needed afterwards. Gray, though, did have a rather dark bruise on his shoulder from when he was knocked into the wall unexpectedly and tried his best not to raise his arm above his head or move the hurting joint. Natsu, on the other hand, was perfectly fine except for the fact he accidentally bent one of his fingers back a little too far while catching a pillow and found the joint was a little sore the next day.

"Serves you guys right for having such fierce pillow fights," Lucy had said. "Really, a normal person would die in one of your battles." She received no answer, and the worry in the back of her mind began to grow. Looking back, she was relieved to see they were only face to face growling insults at each other. Giving a sigh, she walked over to the boys and was about to try and break them up when her foot caught on a rock and she began to fall forward.

"Well if you weren't such a wuss, then you'd–"

"You calling me a wuss, you cry baby?! I'll kick your ass!"

"Yeah? Bring it on, bastard!"

"Oh, you're gonna–" Something hard smacked into Gray's back, causing him to pitch forward into Natsu. The pinkette, who'd been in the middle of a yell, snapped his mouth shut when Gray was thrown into him, and he felt the taste of iron enter his mouth. Both mages fell hard to the ground with Gray on top of Natsu. The ice mage gave a curse as he leaned up onto his elbow, using his free hand to touch his bleeding lip. Natsu did the same, and he realized that when he shut his mouth, he'd cut both his and Gray's lips.

Meaning…they'd accidentally kissed for a moment.

He could taste his own blood run down his throat, and a sweeter tasting liquid mixed with it. It took him a moment to figure out that Gray's blood had mixed with his own during that quick kiss. "I got your blood in my mouth," Gray shivered, the thought slightly disturbing him. His own blood was one thing, another person's blood going down his throat was another. Although, he had to admit, Natsu's blood tasted fairly…sweet.

He pushed himself off Natsu and spat the remaining blood out, wiping his mouth and giving a light hiss when the back of his hand came in contact with his injured lip. He chanced a glance at the pinkette and noticed Natsu hadn't moved; his fingers still at his bleeding lip and his wide eyes staring at the sky above. The ice mage gave a worried look. "Natsu?"

But the dragon slayer was lost in his own mind. The moment his and Gray's blood mixed down his throat, he could see it. His body reacted to the instant fact, and Natsu was ecstatic beyond words that he found the one. Gray was his mate. He could tell through the blood; a flash of what the future held for him appeared in his mind, him and Gray holding each other close. Igneel told him once that a dragon can tell who their soul mate is through blood.

And an exchanging of blood between soul mates meant they were officially bonded as a couple.

They were mates for life.

But then another thought occurred to him. Gray, of all people, was his soul mate? That couldn't be right, right? Did the ice mage even like guys? He secretly loved Gray, he couldn't remember when the feelings first started though. Maybe since the Clover incident? Possibly before that? He loved Gray, he loved to be around the mage. It was probably the reason why he'd been hanging around Gray for the last few weeks. He knew Gray was experiencing the same pain of loss as he was. He could trust him, believe in him, and it comforted him knowing he wasn't truly alone in his sorrow.

But the thought of Gray pushing him away because he harbored special feelings for the ice mage… The thought of being rejected and pushed away, having to watch the mage from afar… That actually hurt. It made his heart throb painfully, and he nearly let out a groan of pain at just the mere thought of it. Why? Why did a little thought like that suddenly hurt so…

Because they had just bonded by accident.

Natsu gulped. Once a dragon bonded with its soul mate, staying away from them was a hard thing to do. And he had to pretend everything was normal from now on? He let out a nervous chuckle, realizing that wasn't going to be an easy thing to do. Dragons were also very territorial of there mates, and very, very protective. But there was a good reason they were protective. Because when a dragon's mate dies, they–

"–tsu! Hey, answer me!" Snapping out of his thoughts, he saw Gray leaning over him with a look of concern. Lucy, Happy, and Erza also stood over him also looking worried. "Hey, are you alright? You were zoning out pretty hard."

"Y-Yeah," Natsu finally said, pushing himself onto his feet and trying not to make eye contact with Gray. "I'm fine. Sorry, just a little tired I guess." He started to walk once again, feeling the ice mage's eyes watching him closely. He resisted the urge to turn around and look at his soul mate. The urge to stay by Gray's side nagged at his mind but he pushed it down. He had to keep his feelings hidden, he rather stay as a friend than to be forced to watch from afar.

Now, all he had to do for the rest of his life was push down his dragon instincts, make sure Gray stayed alive, and hide his feelings from the ice mage all at the same time.

Yeah, piece of fucking cake.

Three stories at once is my lucky number. I will not be adding any more stories until these three are done! …Unless it's a one-shot. Anyway, hope you guys like this first chapter. And can you guys help me out? I don't know whether or not to put my story Possessive either after Tartarus or after the Magic Games, and right now the vote is at 3 and 3. And I can't update it until I decide. So please help me out on that?

And please review on this! I'll try to update soon! More will be explained about dragons and their soul mates in later chapters. I intend to add things about them that most people don't in their stories. :]

~»roo the ice elemental psycho«