Okay, first, a HUGE shout-out to my very first foreign language reviewer, AnzuxX, who gave me some great insight into the last chapter that helped me shape this one into something more complex and real than I think I would have written otherwise. Your review really jump-started my brain and gave me the warm fuzzies at the same time!

I don't normally do this, but I put a song in part of this chapter that you may not be familiar with. If you like, go to you tube, use this tag onto the URL: /watch?v=RiTGcfaM5BI and cue it up for when you hit Juvia's flashback. I think it will really add to the experience for you. I put information about the song and who's singing that version at the end, but if it were me, I'd want to have the song ready.

Other than that, sorry for the delay on this chapter, Juvia was eluding me a bit, but I think I found her with a vengeance...her backstory is really fleshed out now thanks to help from Grimnack and Perfect Memories! You guys rock my socks. And my shoes. And my toes.

And with no further ado, a 14k+ chapter for your reading pleasure…

Enjoy!

"JUVIA?! Seriously?!" Levy screeched, jumping back. "Holy-blast-from-the-past-Batman, I know her! We went to high school together!"

"You know Gray's soulmate?" Gajeel asked. "Fuck, what are the chances?"

The group eyed each other for a moment. Noting the fact they had ALL, in fact, been connected in some way or another before they had bonded.

Okay, so the chances were extremely good.

Erza smiled. "At least we won't have any trouble locating her. Well done everyone."

A round of congratulations and high fives went around the room (minus Natsu and Lucy who were still wrapped up in each other on the floor...and Gray, who was still tied to a chair).

That unmerited celebration was the first sharp noise letting loose the impending avalanche.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Gray's words resulted in perfect silence, even Lucy turning her head away from its place nestled in Natsu's scarf to look at him.

"Untie me. Right now," Gray continued, his tone clipped and controlled this time. Lucy could feel the hot waves of anger rolling off of him. Erza stepped smoothly forward and sliced cleanly through the layers of ropes connecting his torso to the chair with her freshly sharpened switchblade. The minute he was free, Gray stalked over to Levy, grabbed the pen out of her hand and leaned intimidatingly over her. Gajeel tensed.

"That was too far, Levy. I don't care if you know her or not, you had no right to contact my soulmate for me. What I say to her is my fucking business. Maybe you should worry about everyone else's relationships a little less, and your own fucked up homicidal past life problems a little more. Or maybe spend that time figuring out how to be a decent friend, because that was a really shitty thing to do." He turned his glare on Gajeel, expecting to see resistance from Levy's constant protector, but instead he got a hesitant nod of agreement.

"You're right. She shouldn't have done that," Gajeel agreed.

Levy, who had been glaring right back at Gray, looked up at her boyfriend with an expression of betrayal. "But you wouldn't even have known who she was without m-"

Gajeel cut her off. "No, Shrimp. That doesn't justify butting in that much. Sorry, man. I should have stopped her."

"Not your fault," Gray grunted. "She's her own fucking person and smart enough to know better." He turned back to Levy again, his glare slightly subdued now. "And yeah, you guys figured out how to get me in touch with my soulmate. Thanks a lot for that. Seriously. But you apparently didn't respect me enough to know that I can handle this without your constant interfering. So, I'm gonna be fucking pissed at you right now."

He continued to glare Levy down as she stubbornly met his eyes.

In her head, she was battling between the twinge of regret that told her he was right, the self-righteous voice telling it was for his own good, and the anger/betrayal she felt at him throwing her recent extremely traumatic experience back in her face.

The silence stretched heavily into the air. As Levy continued to stubbornly hold her tongue, Gray's eyes narrowed and then he shook his head in disappointment.

"Let me know when you get your head out of your ass and want to apologize. 'Til then, stay the fuck away from me."

Gray stormed out of the house, forgetting he was mostly naked and soaking wet. He made it half a dozen steps into the yard when he heard the screen door slam behind him.

"Gray! Wait up!" Lucy called as she practically tumbled down the stairs behind him. She held two phones in her hand.

"What do you want Lucy?" He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now. Except maybe...his gaze flickered down to the writing on his hand for an instant. No, he didn't think he was ready to continue that conversation just yet.

"I'm sorry, Gray. I helped tie you up, so it's partly my fault. Plus, the whole reason Levy pushed that on you was because I took so freaking long to meet up with Natsu. So, it was actually a lot my fault, I guess." She started to reach out a hand to pat his shoulder comfortingly, but stopped part way there, pulling back. "Also, I have your phone."

Lucy held out the device and he reluctantly took it. "Thanks. I guess it's a good thing it didn't get all wet...like the rest of me. He looked down at himself and grimaced. Walking back to the frat was going to be a bit uncomfortable. And chafey. "Not that I have anywhere to put it right now. God...this whole thing just feels like it got fucked up so quickly…"

Lucy couldn't help but hug him after feeling the anxiety humming around him like a swarm of bees. "It's gonna be okay Gray. It wasn't how it should have been, but we found your soulmate! Life is going to get so much better for you from here on out! And look!" Lucy pulled back and held up the other phone she was carrying, displaying a contact on the screen. "Levy had Juvia's phone number! I'll text you all of her information and you can contact her whenever you're ready." Her fingers flew over the screen as she spoke and a small vibration from his own device let him know he now had his soulmate's info. "Though, honestly, I think communicating by skin has its charms. Despite Levy's zealous approach to this whole thing, and our push to break the bond, there's no reason you need to rush things. Well, within reason. It would probably be a good idea to get to know her while you have the chance, before she comes with everyone else to break the bond." She giggled, her eyes lighting up.

Gray looked down at his roommate's girlfriend and couldn't help but feel the corner of his mouth curling up. Lucy's energy was always so contagious. It had him remembering that despite how things had gone down, they really had gone out of their way to help him find what he wanted more than anything: someone to share his life with.

That definitely counted for something. He leaned down and pulled her in close for a bear hug, lifting her off her feet.

"Gray!" she squealed. He laughed and set her back on her feet.

Then he suddenly remembered that she had just gone through all the pain that he had. Maybe more. He hadn't been able to see her face, tucked into Natsu's chest, but the tear tracks on his roommate's face had been on full display. And he doubted they originated from the pyro.

"Hey, are you okay? If I had known it would hurt you so much, I never would have let you do that."

Lucy waved off his concern with a hand and stepped back a little. "Like you had a choice tied up like that. It's fine. It worked. That's all that matters. And I've been through worse. I'm tougher than I look!" she exclaimed with a grin, hands on her hips and arms brashly akimbo.

Gray couldn't help but laugh at her pose. A real, full smile settled onto his face for the first time since he'd been cut loose.

"Don't I know it. You've gotta be fucking indestructible to put up with that fire-crotched loser of a soulmate you've got." His grin slipped into a grimace. "Or that best friend of yours. How do you deal with her controlling bullshit? That crap drives me crazy."

Lucy shrugged. "Yeah, Levy goes overboard sometimes. And she tries to take over the situation any chance she gets, but she does it out of love. Well, when she's not pranking someone. She just really wants everyone to be the best they can be and she forgets that some people don't want her help, or that their idea of 'best' and hers might be totally different. Even with that, I wouldn't trade her for anything. I know she's being a bit bitchy right now, but she'll come around and realize she was wrong. I know she's already starting to feel guilty."

"Yeah, guess that emotional radar of yours is good for something." Gray nodded and turned, starting to walk back to Fairy Tail. To his surprise, Lucy fell into step next to him.

"Aren't you going to wait for Natsu?" he asked.

She shook her head, tapping her temple lightly with her finger. "No. We decided it would be better if I walked you back."

"What? That jealous moron actually agreed to let us walk together?" he sarcastically proclaimed, a hand overdramatically brought to his chest in surprise. "Alone?!" he gasped.

Lucy giggled. "Well, he's not exactly happy about it, but he's trying to win our bet, so he's…" she paused while she seemed to zone out for a minute, then pouted. Gray assumed they were speaking mind-to-mind again. "Actually he's being a huge baby about it. He wants me to stay six-feet away from you at all times, like you've got some kind of rampant, world-dominating virus or something."

Gray laughed at that. "Pssh. Yeah, that sounds more like him. What bet is he trying to win? Anything I can help with?" The glitter of a new challenge that had the bonus of being an opportunity to pull one over on Natsu glistened in his eye.

"Well, actually," Lucy laughed. "Based on your past skills, you're probably more qualified to help him!"

Gray raised an eyebrow at her emphasis on the word 'skills'. "What's the bet?"

"I bet him that we couldn't go a whole week without...having sex." Her cheeks turned a little pink talking about it so openly with him. Inside, her instincts still told her that ladies didn't discuss such intimate topics. "If we do it even once, he has to stay here when I leave for Tenrou."

"And what does that have to do with my 'skills'?" Gray inquired, confused and a little disturbed. All his male brain could think of to explain her reference to his 'skills' were perverted things. Not that she would even know about his skills in those areas...they had never gotten that far.

Lucy just stared at him for a second, her mouth open. "You're kidding right? You're like the king of cockblocking! If anyone can keep us from getting frisky, it's you!"

Gray blinked at her for a second, his brain abruptly halting its requisite stray thought about what having sex with Lucy would be like, before his eyebrows slunk down. "Hey! It's not like I did that on purpose! Jesus, how many times does a guy have to apologize!"

Lucy laughed again. "Hey, did I say it was a bad thing this time? No. You will notice, I did not."

"Well, you want to win the bet though, right? So me cockblocking Natsu would be a bad thing in this case, wouldn't it?" Gray reasoned.

"Well...I do and I don't. I don't think Natsu should come on the trip to Tenrou with us, and this is the only way I can think of to get him to stay behind, so I want to win. However, I also think abstaining from our...extra curricular activities is something that needs to be done. It's starting to scare me how out of control my body is. Let alone what my bond powers did to Natsu last night…" She shivered just thinking about it.

In her mind, she was still freaked out a little about what had happened. She knew she should be afraid to even be around him. But her body was telling her a whole different story. Even though she could still feel pain between her legs from his brutish claiming of her, her body still wanted him. Every fiber of her being wanted to rub her naked skin all over his and feel him inside her. She could feel herself getting wetter by the second just thinking about it.

Natsu growled in her head.

Lucy picked up her pace trying desperately to convince herself that the best option was not turning around and running back into his arms (Ultear probably wouldn't be cool with a quickie in her bathroom anyway). Gray matched it without thinking. He'd been shortening his stride to keep pace with her anyway.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that. What happened last night? You guys were acting really weird this morning," he asked, letting his curiosity finally get the better of him when she gave him an opening.

"It's...not something I really feel comfortable talking abo…" Lucy trailed off, as she realized that as one of the soul-bonded, he actually had a right to know what she was capable of. "No, actually, I probably need to tell you about it. But I don't really want to talk about it in public." She quickly sidestepped a jogger coming at them down the sidewalk who was too distracted by Gray's naked body to avoid her.

The male runner wolf whistled at him sharply and Gray automatically flipped him off.

Or you could just NOT tell him… Natsu grumbled in her head.

He deserves to know that I could drop a bomb of emotion on him at any time without knowing it! And it's hard to explain how I know that without mentioning yesterday. Out of everyone, he deserves to know. He's been with us since the beginning.

...fine.

Gray furrowed his brow, already forgetting about the ogling 't the first time he'd been hit on by a guy. Probably wouldn't be the last. "Okay. Let's talk in my room at the house then."

Lucy nodded. "Thanks."

They finished their trek to the fraternity in comfortable silence, both having more than enough to think about. When they got there, Gray unlocked the side door closest to his and Natsu's room and held it open politely for her. Once they were comfortably settled on opposite sides of the beat-up couch, he gestured for her to begin.

Lucy took a deep breath. "So, you know how the bond gives me the power to feel the emotions of the other soul-bonded?"

Gray nodded.

"Well, I haven't really told anyone, but I can manipulate your guys' emotions too," Lucy continued, looking a little guilty.

Gray's eyebrows went up. "Whoa. That's crazy...wait, how does that work? Like you can just suggest that we're angry and, bam, we're mad? Can't we tell that it isn't our natural emotion?" He liked to think he would be able to tell the difference if she used her bond voodoo on him.

"Well...the only times I've really tried to use it have been more to soothe emotions than incite them. Like, after the fight yesterday between you and Natsu? Everyone was really on edge, so I kind of just soothed that anxiety until everyone was calm and happy. It made cleaning it up much more pleasant, I think."

Gray blanched. Apparently he had no idea when someone was changing his emotions. That was more than a little disconcerting. "Lucy, that's kind of fucked up."

Lucy hung her head. "Yeah...I know. I mean, it was actually really amazing at first, because I was able to use it to help with Natsu's trauma. He had a flashback to when he was in Pergrande, and I just wanted to help him so badly, and then suddenly I was able to burn all this pain out of him! It felt incredible! Did you know, he hasn't had a nightmare since? I can even touch his neck now and he doesn't flinch at all!" Lucy knew messing with people's emotions was a huge violation of their trust, but she really wanted, no, needed Gray to understand why she had done it.

Then it struck her, wasn't she doing the exact same thing as Levy? What made her good intentions any less invasive? She was suddenly filled with shame at her actions. Was the bond just slowly turning her into a worse person? Or a better one? She couldn't figure it out.

Quit being an idiot. You're a great person, Luce. The bond has nothing to do with it, so stop worrying about it.

She smiled. Thanks Natsu.

No problem. Nothing but the truth anyway.

"Whoa, seriously? That's crazy. If you can really help heal mental trauma like that...the implications for that are huge." Gray couldn't help but feel a little bit of hopefulness sprout just at the idea of not having to relive the pain of his parents' deaths every time he thought about them. However, the look on Lucy's face kept him from asking into it any more. There was clearly more to the story.

"Yeah, I thought it was a pretty good thing too, but...apparently, recently, I've been affecting people's emotions unintentionally. The power is just leaking out of me or something. Last night, I got, um, really...turned on and apparently I got all of you horny too…without even realizing it."

Gray coughed on his own spit, glancing briefly at his desk chair and away as he thought about what he'd been doing in said chair the night before. "Holy shit. That's not good."

Lucy's frown deepened. "No. It's not. And apparently it's worse if you happen to touch me while I'm spewing emotional baggage all over the place. Because Natsu touched me last night and…" Lucy swallowed hard. And winced, dreading saying exactly what Natsu had done. After all, he hadn't been himself. He hadn't even been capable of thought. "He...turned into...not himself."

Silence smothered the space between them.

"Lucy, what did Natsu do to you?" Gray's voice had dropped an octave and the temperature in the room felt like it followed, dropping by ten degrees in an instant.

THIS is why I didn't want you to tell him, Natsu mentally sighed.

"It wasn't his fault," she hastened to defend her soulmate. "He wasn't even capable of thinking, Gray." She ignored Gray's muttering about how he was never capable of thinking. "All he could do was answer his baser instincts. His head was completely empty," Lucy protested weakly, her body drawing more in on itself with every sentence until she had her knees tucked up under her chin and her arms clasped tightly around them.

"What. Did. He. Do?" Gray ground out through his teeth. "Are you saying he forced himself on you?!"

Lucy hesitated just a second too long to answer and Gray saw red.

"I'm gonna kill him!" He was halfway to the door before Lucy could grab his arm, making him freeze in place.

"NO! Gray, it wasn't like that. Not exactly. I wanted him to sleep with me, and that was the problem. I wanted it so badly, I unintentionally manipulated his emotions and it completely blitzed his control. His brain checked out entirely. Yes, it was a lot rougher than I would have preferred, but...Gray, it wasn't him that was doing it. I was in his head the whole time and he honestly had no clue what he was doing. The minute he let go of me, he came back to himself and he was horrified. Trust me. I've felt his guilt too. There is nothing you can do that is worse than what he's already doing to himself in his head." Tears streamed down her face and she sighed as she swiped them away, her shoulders sagging. Then her spine straightened like someone had dropped an ice-cube down her back. "Dammit Natsu…" she mumbled. "I'm okay...you don't need to do that."

Gray, still pissed as hell about what he'd heard, but no longer charging out of the room, gave her a look. "What's the fucker doing now?"

Lucy shook her head with a wet, humorless chuckle. "Natsu's having someone hug him again. Since I started crying."

Gray's heart squeezed when he thought about the first time his roommate had come up with that solution for his soulmate's tears and his body released its tension. He knew better. Natsu would never rape Lucy. Or force her in any way. Or any woman for that matter. And, as he'd just gotten done telling Levy, it really wasn't any of his business, as long as Lucy was safe. And happy.

In fact, he'd been way too involved with their relationship for a long time now. Since the beginning. Really, he'd almost been a part of it ever since that stupid hug.

He looked down at his hand, where Juvia's message was still sitting unanswered. He really needed to learn to take his own advice.

"Okay. I'll let it go. But Lucy, if he ever does something like that again, in or out of control, I'm gonna tie him up and lock him in the darkest, coldest room I can find, to rot." He gave the blonde a warm look, even if he couldn't bring himself to smile. "And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Lucy sighed in relief and let her shoulders droop. "Natsu says if he ever does something like that again, he'd let you."

"Oh, and don't tell Erza about this. Unless you actually do want him to die…" he warned. "Man, this really sucks though. I was gonna see if Natsu was staying at your place tonight so I could have a little peace and quiet to sort this madness out in my head, but I guess that's out."

"Yeeeeeah," Lucy agreed. "There's no way we can sleep in the same room without going at it. I think at this point we'd screw each other in REM without even waking up…" she mused.

Gray choked on nothing again, coughing harshly. Some things he really did NOT need to mentally picture. Then he realized the implications of what she said. "Lucy, you can't be serious. He basically attacked you, right? How are you even okay being in the same room with him right now?! Hell, you were just clinging to him! Are you some kind of masochist?"

"I told you, it wasn't his fault!"

"But still! That kind of shit scars you! I've talked with sexual assault victims before, Lucy. You should be freaking out at the thought of sleeping with him or anyone," Gray retorted.

Something inside Lucy snapped a little.

"Hell, I don't know, Gray! Maybe it's the stupid bond, or I'm screwed up in the head, or I just love him that much! I just WANT him, okay?! My body is sore, and tired, and overloaded by all you people's godsdamned emotions, but it still wants him. And it's honestly hurting me more not being with him right now, than it would to go through the same shit again that I did last night! But my brain knows this isn't normal and so I'm trying to resist. So, yeah, Natsu and I need to not be in the same room tonight. So fucking sorry to ruin your plans," she huffed, with no remorse, turning around to kick the corner of the covered couch she'd just been sitting on.

But instead of connecting with a couch leg, her foot slipped under it, dislodging a poorly stacked pile of magazines and DVD cases that cascaded across the floor.

"Oh, sorry," she said automatically, dropping to her knees to pick up the mess. Gray realized a little too late what it was she had discovered.

"WAIT, I'll get that!" He was too late, Lucy was already frozen in place, a magazine featuring a girl on the front cover wearing nothing but a giant cat head and holding a dildo between her bare breasts. Gray swore he could hear her neck as it creaked towards him.

"Um...Gray…" she deadpanned. "You are into some seriously kinky shit…" She dropped the magazine, picking up two DVDs and the other magazine that had come out. The DVDs sported the titles, "Big Trouble in Little Vagina" and "Sex Starved Fuck Sluts #22" and the other magazine had a cover shot with a girl bending over and looking back through the triangular gap in her widespread legs...with a ball gag in her mouth. Which Lucy definitely knew was used for BDSM play. A big thanks to Laki for ruining her innocence forever.

"What?! That shit is not mine!" Gray immediately denied.

Because it wasn't. He got his porn off the internet, like any other self-respecting millennial who grew up sharing a house with two women. Two judgemental, slightly sadistic women.

"Are you trying to tell me this is NATSU'S?!" Lucy's voice reached a-whole-nother octave by the time she finished her sentence.

"No, I don't think any of that is his either," Gray admitted, scrubbing a hand through his hair and sprinkling his bare shoulders with the water still clinging to his follicles. Which was when he realized he was still sitting around in just his now thankfully dry boxer briefs, and went to put on some godsdamned pants.

"Then, what the hell is it doing here?" Lucy accused, lifting up the little flap of fabric that hid the space under the couch. With one swipe of her arm, an almost unbelievable amount of porn, in several mediums, spilled out from under the couch, like she had just dumped out the bag of Mary Poppins' perverted little brother. Such classic titles as 'Tits of Fury', 'Rimmerama', and 'Snow White and the Three Dwarves' topped the pile. In fact, the titles were all so fucking terrible that Lucy couldn't look away, like a particularly nasty subway accident...if the subway train was big-breasted...and into anal. 'Dude, Where's My Dildo?', 'The Fat, The Bald, and The Ugly', 'Sandwich of Love', 'Airtight Granny', 'Ri Dick U Lous-Chocolate Can Hardly Handle It!', 'Hamlet: For The Love of Ophelia #1'...they just kept on coming (or maybe she should say...cumming. Ew). She picked up not one, but two that were literally just titled, 'Sex' and waved them at him. "Come on! I can't decide what is worse, the terrible puns or the complete and utter lack of imagination and effort of these gems! Gray, you should be ashamed of yourself!"

"What the-WHY?! None of that shit is mine! Someone stole our couch during the Moon Drip party and replaced it with porn! When everyone had claimed what was stolen from their rooms, that was what was left, okay?! We just put the couch back on top of it and forgot about it. It's an immutable house rule that you can't trash porn, and any porn in the house has to be hidden from sight, thanks to the great Bitch Raid of '76. This is a fraternity after all, and some things are sacred. No matter how fucked up they are." Gray tried his best to sound like he believed his own words, but even he had to admit that something titled 'Anal Chiropractor' deserved to be burned before it infected someone with an STD.

"I should really have a word with Cana…" Lucy muttered as the slightly OCD part of her started stacking the magazines and movies in separate neat piles.

"Knock yourself out," Gray barked back at her. "If you can get her to find somewhere else to store this crap, more power to ya. Though, knowing Cana, she'll probably want to watch it all like some sort of perverted film festival." Then he really looked at what the blonde was doing. "Lucy, quit fucking organizing the kinky porn stash! Watching you do that is seriously creeping me out!"

Lucy glared at him and slid her neatly stacked piles back under the couch to live another day...preferably never in the light of said day again. "If you're going to keep all that...refuse, the least you can do is tidy it up a bit," she shot back like a fucking lady before she picked herself up off the floor and brushed off her skirt. "Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have to go find something to occupy myself so that I don't break down and beg my hot as fuck boyfriend to bend me over your desk. Again."

The door slammed securely behind her.

"OH COME ON! NOT AGAIN!" Gray yelled at the closed door, pulling his stash of Clorox wipes out of the bottom drawer of his desk and once again wiping down everything on its surface. It might just be more effective to blow the thing up at this point.

He hadn't even made it halfway across the abused piece of furniture before he felt an odd and yet familiar sensation across the back of his hand. He glanced down and saw lines appearing next to the words scrawled across the back of his hand. The sensation creeped him out so much he subconsciously reached a hand down to unbutton his newly donned pants.

What are you doing? There's bleach all over Juvia's hands!

Gray looked, rather stupidly, at the wipe in his hand for a little too long. Then dropped it and rubbed his palms on his jeans. Then he grabbed a pen off his desk and, after giving it a sniff to make sure it didn't smell like sex (just in case), sat down in his desk chair to write back.

Sorry, I was disinfecting something. I forgot that stuff transfers.

Are you finished?

Gray looked over his desk. He'd hit all the open surfaces. And from what Lucy said, it sounded like she was the one touching the desk instead of Natsu's naked ass, which was just the slightest bit more acceptable, so, it could probably wait.

Sure. I'll go wash my hands.

No need.

Almost immediately after her message, his hands were suddenly covered with soapy water. He quickly held them away from him, so he didn't drip all over his pants. "Gee, thanks for the warning," he muttered.

He patiently waited, watching mesmerized as the soap on his hands swirled and then disappeared. He'd seen all kinds of crazy things appear and disappear from Natsu and Lucy's skin, but it was a totally new experience when it was his own body. When she seemed to be done, he waited to see if she would write something. But she didn't. So he picked up his pen.

You seem to be taking this whole soulmate thing pretty well. Aren't you suspicious that I might not be telling the truth?

Why should Juvia be suspicious? Soulmates are bound by fate, right?

Gray cocked an eyebrow. I guess. That seems to be how this whole thing works... I have friends who are also bound to their soulmates, so I know quite a bit about it. Have you had any flashbacks yet?

It took her a long time to respond.

Flashbacks? Which ones?

Well, that was a weird way of asking that...

Of our past lives. I saw bits of them when we bonded, but haven't had a full flashback yet.

When we bonded?

Yeah...you know the super painful scraping of your brain as you were assaulted with images of, I assume, me? In our various lives together?

Oh. So, that was because of you. Juvia thought…

What?

Oh, Juvia, thought that was just happening because she was drowning.

Gray felt like he'd been hit in the stomach with a bowling ball. WHAT?

Juvia was surfing in the ocean when it happened.

So, you almost drowned!? Fuck, I'm SO sorry. Gray's eyes refused to blink. He had almost killed his fucking soulmate before they even met. He was starting to think he was actually cursed.

It's fine. It's not the first time Juvia has almost drowned. Juvia is used to it.

How the fuck did someone get used to DROWNING?!

Uh, well, I'm still sorry. If we hadn't bonded, you wouldn't have almost died.

There's no way of knowing that. Soulmates are tied by the red string of fate. Perhaps your bonding with Juvia saved Juvia's life.

Maybe. Ok, I've got to ask, why do you keep referring to yourself in the third person?

Um, no reason.

Ok. Gray wasn't sure what to do with that. He twirled the pen in his hand, trying to decide what else to write. But apparently that wasn't the real explanation. Tiny cramped script flowed at twice the speed it had over his arm.

Ok, actually, I have a confession to make. Juvia is sort of...passed out right now. This is her friend Meredy. I was surfing with her when you guys bonded and I'm the one who kept her from drowning. I also know Ultear, who's told me a little about your guys' situation, so I knew exactly what was happening when I saw your writing. Juvia was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, so she took a bath and fell asleep. I didn't want to leave you hanging, so I responded. And then you started with the bleach, so I had to say something.

Gray just stared at the long message extending up his arm and flopped onto the couch releasing cat hair and dust into the air around him. He couldn't even bring himself to care. Did no one have any respect for privacy any more?

Well, can you have her contact me herself when she wakes up then? No offense, but I'd rather talk to her about this.

That's fair. Before I wash off her arm again, can I just tell you one more thing?

Why not? You've already butted in this far.

Jeez, soooorry. Listen, Juvia is my best friend. And she's had a hard time dealing with people in the past. So, please, be patient with her, okay? Some of her habits might seem really weird, but she's learned to cope with stuff in her own way and I'm really really proud of her. Don't do anything that could set her back.

Gray waited to see if she was going to write anything else before responding.

I've got issues of my own, so I don't intend to judge her. I'm glad she has a friend who cares this much, but please don't tell me anything more. I'd rather hear it from her. Gray remembered some of the images he'd seen in those flashes of their past lives together. Images of bruises, and blood, and tears. When she's ready.

Okay. Thank you for listening to me. And sorry for butting in like this. I'll wash all this off now.

No, I've got it. Can't be easy to do that without waking her up. Hopefully we'll meet someday and I can thank you for saving her life.

Likewise.

As Gray carefully scrubbed off the marks on his arm, he wondered just what Meredy had meant by that. Maybe she'd just meant she looked forward to meeting him someday too...but for some reason, it felt like she'd meant something heavier...

Then he sat back down in his chair, pen in hand. If Juvia hadn't been the one writing back, then that meant she might not have seen Levy's message. Which meant he had a do over. He couldn't waste this second chance.

With a smile, he clicked his pen a few times, bit his lip, and started to write.

Levy had just located Juvia's number in her contacts when her phone was plucked from her fingers.

She turned to glare up at Gajeel with her hand held out to him, not even trying to jump for the device now held above her head.

"Give it back, Gajeel."

"What are you going to do with it?" he replied, sounding a little too condescending for her liking.

"I'm going to call my friend and help her deal with the fact she just soul-bonded to someone! She's going to have questions!" She reached half-heartedly for the phone, but Gajeel pulled it even further from her reach.

"Then, you can't have it back. You need to leave this the fuck alone, Shrimp."

Levy pouted at him. "But she's my friend."

"But she's his soulmate. And I'm sure he'll mention that he knows you, so if she wants to know any more, she'll call you. Until then, leave them alone. Haven't you done enough damage?"

"...I maintain that I haven't done any damage at all," she persisted stubbornly.

Gajeel narrowed his eyes at her. "Then I maintain that you shouldn't be around your phone right now."

"But-"

"Nope."

"It's just-"

"Uh-uh."

"Gajeel!"

"Shrimp!"

They stared each other down, the blunette being the one to finally back down, sticking out her lower lip. "Not even a quick text message?"

Gajeel thought it over. He opened up her phone and went to her messaging app. Finding the only Juvia she had listed, he typed in a quick message and then put her phone in his pocket. "There, you messaged her to call you if she has questions."

Levy gaped at him. "Hey! That's MY phone, what the hell?!"

Gajeel shrugged. "You wrote on Gray's arm, I messaged on your phone. Which one do you think is a bigger invasion of privacy?"

"SERENA STRIKE ME DOWN, I GET IT ALREADY! JESUS! You're not my keeper, Gajeel! I'll apologize when I feel like it, alright? So give me back my phone!" she steamed, stamping her little foot.

Gajeel smirked darkly down at her. "I don't think so. Honestly, I don't give a shit how bossy or controlling you want to be with everyone. As long as it doesn't affect our relationship, or fuck up my friendships with people, you can do what you want. It's even kind of hot. But I am sick of never having your attention. This soulbonding shit is all you think about anymore! We haven't gone out in a while, we've still got the rest of the night off from the shop, and I have something important I want to talk to you about. So," he tapped his pocket. "I'm keeping your phone. If Juvia calls you, I'll give it back. Otherwise, you're shit out of luck, buttercup."

Levy rocked back on her heels, reeling a little from hearing her tough-guy boyfriend say the word buttercup. He had a point. A date sounded...nice. Something that would help restore some miniscule semblance of normalcy. A part of her still poked at her brain, telling her the bonding stuff was way more important than dating was right now...but, looking back, she found he was right. And it wouldn't hurt anything to take a few hours off from her search for the answers to the universe. At least where soul-bonding was concerned. "Okay...you have something to talk about?" She offered her words as a pseudo-olive branch; an apology without the admittance of a grievance. Gajeel saw right through her, but accepted it.

"Yeah. Let's talk over dinner. I'm starving." He steered her towards where his shiny new bike was parked carefully next to the curb.

"Sure! Thunder Legion Pizza okay? I'm jonesing for a slice of pepperoni."

"Sounds good to me." There was no such thing as a bad time for pizza. Gajeel passed her the shiny orange passenger helmet she had picked out herself to match her favorite chucks and they took off.

It was right before her second slice of pizza that he sprung it on her.

"I want to move in together."

Levy's mouth hung open, her cheese-burdened slice halfway there and forgotten. "Huh?!"

"We're both busy, our lives are about to get even busier, we spend every night you're not at the library or the dragon lady's place together anyway, and the bed at your place is way too small. Not to mention your fridge is always way to fucking empty. Plus, the more time I get to see you, the less anxious I get, so it would make way more sense just to move in together. Also, obviously, we'd save on rent."

Levy's mind couldn't seem to process what he was saying as he rambled through reason after reason. Moving in together was what adults did. But she wasn't an adult yet...was she?

"Neither of our apartments are really ideal, so we'd probably have to find a new place, but if we did then we could find somewhere with enough space for me to build custom shelves in for all your books."

She just stared at him, still not moving. A piece of pepperoni slid off the drooping tip of her slice and hit her plate. A fantasy of her flying around on a rolling library ladder like Belle from Beauty and the Beast immediately popped into her head.

She shook it to clear out the lovely image. Bookshelves were not important right now! Even if the offer to build her a library was above even being proposed to ala Regency-style letter on her list of BEST THINGS THAT COULD HAPPEN TO HER EVER. Was she ready for something like this? This was her first real relationship! Wasn't that too soon to live with a guy? Wasn't she supposed to be a free and independent woman for at least a little longer? Like maybe a year?

But he was her soulmate! It wasn't like they were going to break up or something… And all the points he had made were logical. Maybe there was a book that could tell her when it was the right time to take that step...

Surely Dr. Phil or someone else with a psychological medical degree had something to say on the subject of the pace a healthy relationship should take…

"I'll throw in homemade meals. And freshly ground coffee every morning."

"Sold. When do you want to go look at apartments?" she replied automatically. Wait, had she really just done that?! For food?! One part of her mentally slapped the other. She wasn't sure if it was the side that despaired of her inability to resist a cup of coffee, or the side that had suggested his coffee wasn't totally worth moving in with him for.

And that side had a good point. He made really good coffee.

Gajeel grinned. "I actually have a couple of places in mind. I can text the realtor now if you want."

Levy swallowed, unsure whether the butterflies in her stomach were due to nerves or excitement. "So...we're doing this then."

"If you're in, then hell yeah we are."

"Okay then." Levy set down her pizza and took a long pull of her soda. Maybe a good dose of sugar would help the fuzzy feeling she had in her head and fingers. "I guess...message the realtor then."

She couldn't help but smile back at the look on her boyfriend's face.

Well, everyone had to grow up sometime, right?

Welcome to adulthood, I guess.

Erza tightened the laces on her cross trainers and pulled her ponytail a little higher on her head. She checked the bandage on her side, twisting a little bit to make sure her stitches didn't hurt or pull. The doctor had cleared her for light physical activity, but it never hurt to be cautious. Hitting play on the music app on her phone, she double checked her earbuds and took off running.

A nice evening run was just what she needed to clear her head. Just her, the road, her music, and the stiff autumn breeze to worry about. For just a little while, she could forget about being bonded, and Jellal, and school, and her idiotic childhood friends finally all finding someone to care about, and Mystogan's proposal, and…just...everything.

She didn't realize where her feet were taking her until they stumbled to a stop in front of the door. She hadn't even broken out in a sweat yet, since she'd been trying to take it easy…

The window display seemed to beckon her in.

Closer.

Closer.

Her nose hit the glass.

Too close.

But, it wouldn't hurt to just go in, would it?

Wendy stepped out of the meeting with her shift manager and breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't anticipated there being a problem with taking time off for the trip to Tenrou as long as she got her shifts covered, but there was always a chance bad luck would strike down her plans. It wouldn't have been the first time. Though, it helped that she hadn't asked for a day off since she started, and often covered shifts for everyone else. So, covering her shifts had been as easy as pulling out her list of IOUs.

Speaking of which, she opened up the memo on her phone with the list (because, yes, she absolutely kept an actual list) and checked the boxes next to three of the names. It felt a little like she was a sketchy loan shark or something, but she wouldn't apologize for her methods. The world of surgical medicine was cut throat (no pun intended) and she'd do what she had to in order to keep her blood in her carotid where it belonged.

Her phone vibrated in her hand and a notification popped up at the top of the screen that she had a message from Romeo. A smile immediately took up residence without her permission and she typed back a quick reply before slipping the phone back into her pocket and heading to the ICU for her afternoon rounds.

It made the day go by so much faster when there was someone new to share it with. But, also slower. Because waiting to see him again made her body buzz with pent up adrenaline.

About an hour before the mall was set to close, Natsu squinted down at the rows of diamonds winking at him from the case and wrinkled his nose. "I don't know…they all look the same to me," he hedged noncommittally.

Mystogan fought the urge to smack his fraternity brother on the back of the head. "Nothing stands out?"

The pinkette scratched the back of his head and had another look. "I mean, it's not like Erza went around gushing about what kind of engagement ring she'd want someday as a kid. I don't know what you want me to say."

"You've known her for a lot longer than I have. I just need someone to give me a second opinion." The blueberry saw something that caught his eye and tapped the glass, letting the salesman watching him like a hawk know he'd like to see something from the case.

Sure, Erza hadn't said yes or anything yet, but if she did, he wanted to be ready. If he was going to be out of the country and away from her in a little less than a week, then a primitive part of him (that he was a little ashamed to admit even existed) wanted her thoroughly marked as off-limits to the men of Magnolia, Fiore, and, hell, the whole continent of Ishgar. He might have made it seem like no big deal to go on the trip without her, but he could feel the bond pulling on him to stay. At least, he assumed it was the bond. He hoped this would help ease that anxiety.

If she said yes, that is.

"That is a lovely choice, sir. I'm sure the lady will love it," the salesman said smoothly, setting the ring he'd asked to see on a small velvet tray.

Mystogan looked at it. Honestly, all the rings were starting to look the same to him too. How the hell did guys do this without asking their girlfriends first? It was so much pressure! She would wear the damn thing for the rest of her life!

If she said yes, that is.

Natsu sidled up next to him and wrinkled up his nose. "It's got too many little diamonds. She'd lose half of them after her first trip to the gym," he said immediately. "And you probably want something that doesn't stick up so much or it's going to catch on stuff and cut through skin."

Mystogan pulled back and gave his girlfriend's foster brother a look. "That...actually makes a lot of sense. So, something more durable? Would it be better to get something without stones? Maybe just a plain ring like the men's ones would do better. Tungsten is super durable…"

Again Natsu shook his head. "Gods, no. Are you kidding me? It's Erza we're talking about. She spends more on manicures and clothes than she does on cake. Which is saying something, trust me. No, it's gotta be sparkly. And diamonds are probably the only stones tough enough. She broke a ruby ring her parents gave her once when the guy she was going to punch dodge and she hit the wall behind him. Just get one with a couple big stones instead of a bunch of small ones. Or maybe something where they're set flat in the metal. I really don't want to know what it feels like to get cut in the face with a diamond…" he cringed.

Somewhat stunned by the picture they were painting of Mystogan's presumed fiance, the salesman still jumped in with suggestions. "It sounds like a tension setting may be what you want? And platinum is more durable than the white gold you're looking at now." He led them over to a different case, where the tops of the diamonds were even with the metal around them. They looked a little more modern, but a lot less sharp. Mystogan had to agree with Natsu: getting cut by a diamond did not sound like a good time. And gold was a really soft metal compared to how hard Erza was on...everything.

"Do you have anything in titanium?" Mystogan said, only half joking. The salesman laughed.

"Not in the women's rings! Your girlfriend sounds like a real ballbuster!" he chuckled.

"You have no idea," they replied in unison, neither smiling.

Of the ones in this case, he saw one that stood out. It was sort of wavy instead of just a straight band and had a line of seven diamonds set flat into the band, graduated in size from one end to the other. "What about that one? It's kind of cool...and even the smallest diamond isn't too small is it?"

Natsu looked at the ring as the salesman got it out of the case. "Yeah, that would work. If they're tucked in like that they'll stay put okay, I think."

"That's called a journey setting when a series of graduated stones travel in the setting like that. Actually, that's supposed to be a wedding band meant to go with this engagement ring here…" The boys followed his gesture as he pointed to a ring that literally fell into every single category they were avoiding. They both shook their heads and turned back to the simpler band.

"Would it be possible to just get another one that goes in the other direction for the wedding band?" Natsu asked. His inner artist liked the idea of having two sets of diamonds that faded out past each other. It felt sort of symbolic too. Like all the past lives they'd had together finally meeting. Briefly, he wondered if Lucy would like the ring.

And promptly blocked that thought thoroughly before she overheard it and got ideas. He was nowhere near ready to get married. Even to Lucy. Just her squealing in his head when she'd realized why he was going ring shopping with Mystogan was enough to make him wary. Weddings were just not his thing. From start to finish, they were a huge waste of time and money, and very rarely did the bride and groom actually seem that in love. Usually they were more worried if the food was coming out on time, or the bridesmaid dresses were wrinkle-free.

"Yeah, that would be cool," Mystogan agreed.

The salesman ran a hand over his beard and hummed. "I think so... Hold on, I think I've got another one of the same ring in the back, why don't we flip it around and see!" While he went to check, the two men looked closer at the ring.

"So, do you think she'll like it? I like that it sort of looks like a line of stars. And it's something she can wear all the time without worrying about it, right?" Mystogan mused.

If she said yes, that is.

Natsu shrugged. "It's sparkly and delicate-looking, but durable enough that she won't break it immediately or ruin anyone's face with it. I think you found a winner."

Mystogan smiled down at the ring in his hand. "Me too! Now what size do I get?"

Natsu stared blankly at him. "How the hell should I know?" He stared off into the distance for a second then shook his head. "Lucy has no idea either."

The blunette stared back at him. "Well, shit. Do you know anyone who might know?"

The pinkette shrugged again, squinting at the ceiling as he thought it over. "Um...probably...Irene might know. She used to keep measurements of all of us on hand in case of 'fashion emergencies'." Natsu made air quotes around his last two words with his fingers, the look on his face showing just how not seriously he'd taken those 'emergencies'.

Mystogan paled. He'd spent more than his fair share of time with Erza's mother while they'd been stuck in the hospital and wasn't ready to deal with that particular obstacle. Yet. "So you think there's any way she'd tell me without me mentioning that I proposed?" He suspected the elder Scarlet would not appreciate that she hadn't been consulted, he looked down at his shoes as he calculated the risks of contacting her at the present time. It felt too risky. Maybe he could…

"Yo, Irene, what ring size is Erza?"

Mystogan's head snapped up at Natsu's casual question, finding the pinkette already holding a phone to his ear. He tried to catch the flighty pyro's attention so he would avoid saying that it was Mystogan who wanted to know, but like the ADHD kid he was deep down, Natsu had already started circling in the store, totally missing the cues.

"Oh, Mystogan wants to know. He's picking out an engagement ring."

Mystogan nearly strangled him right then and there.

When the salesman came back, he found the pinkette waiting with his friend's credit card at the ready while the blunette explained wearily over the phone why six hundred people was not considered a small wedding.

And that a thousand people was just as unacceptable.

Because they didn't need to invite every cop in the city.

And Erza hadn't even agreed to marry him. yet.

"He'll take that in a size 7, please," Natsu explained, handing over the card and pointing to their ring of choice. He was proud to notice, the wedding band would look stunning with it when they came back for it.

Mystogan nodded at the salesman to let him know he approved the charge and allowed himself one last glance before he went once more unto the breach in the battle for control with Irene Scarlet.

He really hoped Erza would like it.

If she said yes, that is.

Juvia Locksar, college student and water enthusiast, was having a strange dream.

She stood on a small stage platform, surrounded by darkness and cigarette smoke, a single spotlight dimly pulling her delicate features from the darkness around her. Behind her a slow, sweet melody flowed out of an upright piano, the player cloaked in shadow below his slanted fedora as his fingers flowed over the keys. She clutched the heavy metal microphone in her gloved hand, the carefully sculpted finger waves of her long, thick hair falling just over one eye as she stepped slightly forward. The sequins of her blue floor length gown winked in any light they could get as she snuggled up to the mic stand. Her eyes were downcast, focusing on the music coming from behind her instead of the sea of small tables full of murmuring bar patrons in front of her.

This song wasn't for them. Not really.

Not tonight.

She took a deep breath as she felt the piano hold her opening note in a fermata just past what the sheet music called for, and then she let all the sadness of her hopeless love flow out of her as she sang the popular ballad favored by lovers from coast to coast. It had been a decade since the song was written, but its popularity had never died. However, she was the only one who sang it quite like this...with a depth of melancholy that only her cursed existence could carry.

(link in A/N for recording)

All I do is dream of you,

the whole day through...

And with the dawn, I still go on,

dreaming of you…

You're every thought.

You're everything.

You're every song I ever sing.

Summer, winter, autumn...and spring.

And were there more than twenty-four

hours a day.

They'd be spent in sweet content

dreaming away…

Skies are gray.

Skies are blue.

Morning, noon...and nighttime too.

All I do, the whole day through

is dream….

of you.

She let the piano take over for a few beats and continued, repeating the lyrics as the song dictated, letting her mind lose itself in the joy and concordant sadness of expressing how she really felt. Only when she performed could she let her true feelings show. Only that usually suppressed outflowing of expression caused the chairs to fill before her set and the room to hush as she made love to the mic with her honeyed voice.

It was her only escape.

The only time she could be with him.

The song ended and she stepped back, plastering a false smile on her face and ducking her head in a small bow before leaving the stage. She always did that song at the end of her set.

It allowed her to leave the stage to cry.

With the appearance of calm, she sidled seductively off stage. Once she'd made it past the door dividing the front-of-house from back, her shoulders slumped and she gathered up her long skirt in her hand, swiftly racing for the back door. She burst into the alley, clutching the flared out bottom of her skirt to her chest to keep from soiling it in the grime below her T-straps. She doubled over, and the tears flowed silently down her cheeks.

She shook with quiet sobs, her hair falling over her shoulder, hiding her from anyone who managed to see into the dark of the unlit alley.

It wasn't normally this bad. Most of the time, she shed a tear or two in her dressing room and pulled on her professional mask to mingle with the clientele and her fellow musicians with barely a hitch. But tonight was different.

Tonight was their last night performing the song, because tomorrow morning he was leaving on a train to somewhere far away from her.

Her sobs were so strong, she didn't hear the door crack open behind her, or the quiet footsteps that approached her until strong arms wrapped around her waist. His chin settled onto her shoulder, and her fingers dug harder into the thick fabric of her skirt, the sequins biting into the clenched fists her hands had become.

"Please…" was all she could manage to get out as his talented, piano-playing fingers tried to draw her back against his chest. She fought the way her body responded to them, as it had so many times before.

She could see his bare forearms exposed where he'd rolled up his sleeves. He always rolled them up when he played. His nose nuzzled her ear and her heart squeezed with the injustice of fate to bring him into her life to begin with.

"Please...don't make this so much harder."

"It doesn't have to be hard," he whispered back. "Just come with me. Leave this place behind. We'll find somewhere we can be together…"

She shuddered at the words, wishing they were true. "There isn't anywhere. Which you know. It's illegal everywhere for someone like you and someone like me to be together. They'd have you lynched in the streets within a week."

It was the only thing holding her back. Knowing that the color of her skin would someday kill him. If her racist, gun-toting, asshole of a husband didn't do it first. If the two of them hadn't brought so much business into his bar, she suspected her husband would have killed her lover already. And no cop in Chicago would have called it murder. At least, no white cop in Chicago.

When the opportunity to play in New York City had come up for him, she'd made sure he took it. Even if she never saw him again, maybe someday, somewhere, she might still get to hear his beautiful music at least one more time. He would continue to gift the world with his glorious sound.

"Porter, please...just leave me alone. We're done now. If someone sees us like this, it will all be for nothing," she whispered, savoring the feeling of his arms around her before they drew away for good.

And they did draw away.

"I hope you'll sing for me again one day." His voice could have abraded her skin, it was so rough. Nothing like the gorgeous baritone she knew he could produce when it was just the two of them, singing duets quietly in the hotel room they had frequented twice a week for more than a year. Most of the time, they didn't even make love. They just talked or sang where no one would find them and tell them how wrong they were to love each other.

Neither would probably ever find as good a duet partner again.

She knew she sure as hell wouldn't.

The door slammed shut loudly behind him as he left her alone again.

Just like she'd asked him to.

Juvia awoke with a start, splashing the cool bath water in which she was slowly turning into a prune.

Meredy, hearing the splash, dashed into the bathroom they shared. "Juves! You're up! Do you want some tea? I was just about to haul you out of there, but…" she shrugged. "I figured you'd be more relaxed when you woke up if you were still in the water."

Juvia smiled in appreciation at her best friend and roommate. She unzipped her soaking wet sleeveless wetsuit a bit at the throat as she remembered being dragged back home by Meredy after almost drowning and immediately taking refuge in her bathtub. As she always did when things got scary. "I would love some tea, Mer. Thanks."

"Alrighty then. One Earl Grey coming right up. Why don't you dry off and get dressed while I put the kettle on?" The pinkette didn't wait for a response, already walking to the kitchen. Honestly, she didn't need one. In situations like this, Juvia always followed her lead.

She stood up in the tub and drained the water, unzipping her suit and peeling it off of her to leave in the tub. Meredy did not like it when she left puddles all over the floor. Even when they shined so pretty on the hardwood.

Grabbing a towel, she dried off quickly, wrapping her hair securely on her head and grabbing her robe from the hook on the door. Appropriately covered, she dashed down the hall to her bedroom and fluttered around, grabbing comfy clothes to settle in for a cozy evening after what had turned out to be a turbulent afternoon.

Her fingertips brushed over the lines of thin scars over her thighs as she covered them in velour sweatpants. Similar scars on her stomach disappeared beneath a long-sleeved t-shirt with a cartoon teru teru bozu on it.

It was a gift from her friend Levy who had moved away after high school to go to college. It was supposed to help combat her terrible luck, which hadn't really worked, but the little ghost-like chibi always made her smile. To complete the outfit, she pulled on fluffy socks with whales on them.

She pushed the sleeves up her arms in preparation to brush out her long, wet, blue hair when she saw something written on her hand.

Hi Juvia. Ask Meredy about soulmates. And then call me. X-XXX-XXX-XXXX. I'll be waiting to hear from you.

-Gray

Juvia felt her blood pressure spike as she read the clearly male handwriting scrawled across her arm. She swiftly pushed both sleeves further up to make sure there wasn't more writing and slid out of her room at full speed, slipping and sliding down the worn wood floor of the hallway to the kitchen, wailing at the top of her lungs.

"Meeeeereeeeeeedyyyyyyyy!"

Meredy jumped to her feet, trying to figure out what could have set Juvia off so quickly before she'd even had time to explain about Gray. Juvia burst into the room, running right into her, tears running down her face and her forearm held out in front of her in accusation.

"Meredy! Who the hell wrote on my arm? It was a guy right?! I guy I've never met? Did I miss something earlier? Was I given mouth-to-mouth by some stranger or something? Did he see my scars?! Was I NAKED?! WHO THE FUCK IS GRAY?!"

Meredy read Gray's latest message and sighed. She supposed it could have been worse. "You were never naked, and I gave you CPR," she started calmly, used to Juvia's overreactions and exaggerations. "But...you know my friend Ultear from my coven, right? The one who's really into past life regression? Well, a couple of months ago, she stumbled onto a group of people who all share past lives back for generations. They've basically decided the pairs of people that keep bonding together with weird things happening to them, like being able to communicate through writing on their skin, are soulmates. And that's what happened to you. You bonded with Gray, your soulmate, while you were surfing. You almost drowned as a result, I saved you, had a short conversation with him through your skin, washed it off, and...that pretty much catches you up."

Meredy braced herself, knowing Juvia wouldn't take this news lying down. Or standing calmly for that matter. Anything out of the ordinary that happened to her was too much for her to take at first. She had habits ingrained deeply from a lifetime of experience expecting the worst. Because, by some strange and sadistic twist of fate, the worst was ALWAYS what happened to her.

Juvia took a deep breath.

She looked down at her arm again and pulled her sleeve back over it.

She went to the sink and turned on the water, letting it run over her fingers. Her breathing sped up and she started hyperventilating.

She spun around and walked frantically to the table where a large vase full of irises sat (Meredy worked for a florist and kept their home full of blooms all year round).

Juvia pulled the irises from the vase, dropping them on the table.

And then, she grabbed the vase and upended it over her head, the water cascading over her clean, dry clothes before splattering all over the linoleum and kitchen table.

All in all, Meredy thought Juvia took it rather well…

...for Juvia.

Lucy stared at her bedroom window, not sure whether she wanted Natsu to magically appear through it or not.

Ok, so she definitely wanted him to be there. But she also definitely knew she needed him to stay the fuck away.

So she had tried really hard to distract herself the rest of her day.

She had diligently taken notes through her remaining classes, diving into the pursuit of knowledge with a zeal Levy would have appreciated. But after five, there were no more classes for her to bury herself in.

Then she started to do her laundry, but folding her lingerie just reminded her that she had some Natsu hadn't seen yet. And that she wanted him to rip it off her. The responsive images he sent her way in reply to those thoughts didn't help her will power at all.

Then she had worked on cleaning her apartment, so it would be nice and neat for when she got back from Tenrou. There was nothing more relaxing than returning from a long trip to a clean house. Or so she heard. Unfortunately, the areas that needed most cleaning were those Natsu had bent her over, or set her on, or pushed her against. And then of course there were all the places he was still picturing taking her...the most intriguing involving the towel bar in her bathroom and a contorted position she wasn't entirely sure she was flexible enough to pull off. No matter how much Natsu insisted that she absolutely was.

Then, when all else had failed, she tried to lose herself in a book.

Which had lasted exactly 50 pages, since she'd been stupid enough to choose a romance.

And so now, she lay in bed wondering if it was possible for women to get blue balls when they didn't have any, because she ached inside, thinking about him inside her making her ache in an exponentially better way.

She was ten hot little seconds from throwing on her hottest lingerie and a trenchcoat to hunt Natsu down, wherever he'd ended up for the night, when his voice groaned in her head.

GodsDAMNit LUCE! You're killing me over here! Can you please stop thinking about sex!

It's not like I'm trying to, Natsu! Dammit, where are you? I don't even care about the stupid bet anymore. There is no way I'll be able to sleep like this!

NO! I am not telling you where I am. Mostly because I don't know myself. I had our pledges blindfold me and tie me up somewhere so I don't come find you. So you can just stop thinking about me going down on you on the edge of your dresser. Or in the kitchen. Or on the piano...wait, you don't even have a piano!

DAMMIT, now I really want to fuck you on a piano! Someone fucking untie me!

Lucy could feel him straining against rough restraints from his wrists, around his chest, and all the way to his biceps. Even his feet were tied together. Lucy couldn't help but picture what she could do to him with him at her mercy like that...if she just knew where he was… She pressed her thighs together and closed her eyes, sliding her hands over her own skin under her blouse and picturing it was his ripped torso that she touched.

Fuuuuuuuck, Natsu groaned into her head. Luce...if you're going to touch yourself at least touch the parts I want you to…

A spark of adrenaline zipped straight down Lucy's spine at his thought. Like...where? Where would you touch me if you were here?

Natsu caught onto her thought immediately. I could tell you...Or we could just switch places and I could show you…

I don't know...is it too weird to switch places so you can masterbate in my body? Because it seems way too weird…

Natsu salivated at the thought. Nope. Just weird enough. Just say the word and your body will fuck itself like it's never fucked itself before.

...too far. It just got weirder.

Yep. My bad. Got carried away there.

But the offer still stands.

Lucy thought about it, her fingers making little circles over her flat tummy as she vacillated between her body's demands and the sheer absurdity of what he was suggesting they do. She lifted her hand and looked at it, imagining him controlling it.

So. Weird.

Never mind Luce, if it makes you that uncomfortable, we can just...talk. He was no stranger to phone sex. And that was basically what this was, right? He just got to feel what she was doing to herself while she did it...honestly, he didn't know why they'd never tried it…

Oh right, because actual sex was better in almost every way.

No...do it. In a split second, she made her decision, throwing caution to the wind. It's not any weirder than anything else about us, right? And...I want you inside me...even though this is REALLY not what I was thinking of...

Natsu didn't wait for an engraved invitation. Beneath his blindfold, he opened his eyes and saw through hers, her dim bedroom coming into view. Then he synced up their breathing and their heartbeats. Finally, he grabbed the rampant desire flowing through him to be where she was, and twisted, finding his consciousness slammed into her body for the third time.

Third time's the charm, he thought with pride. He was getting pretty damn good at the whole bond power thing if he did say so himself.

Natsu rotated the delicate hand he held up in front of him and sat up, trying to see more of Lucy's body. He remembered where her mirror was and popped up to check out Lucy's smoking body from her point of view, his green eyes the only indication that she wasn't herself. While his green eyes looked pretty sexy on her, he personally preferred her brown ones.

His hands came up to cup her breasts and squeezed, groaning at the feeling of the soft flesh spilling through his fingers and the friction of her nightgown underneath his hands. Luckily, she wasn't wearing a bra, because he was definitely not confident in his ability to take one off while wearing it. Mostly because he had never tried...because he'd the inclination to wear one. He knew from Lucy's experience they could be fucking uncomfortable.

Natsu looked again at the mirror and stripped off Lucy's silky nightgown, revealing a pair of blue satin panties with white lace, and a whole lot of naked Lucy.

Experimentally, he ran her fingers lightly up her sides, around her heavy breasts (seriously, the amount of strain on her back was insane) and into her hair. Pulling the ponytail holder out of the bun on her head and letting her locks fall, he enjoyed the pleasant sensation of the silky, golden curtain caressing her back as he swished it back and forth. He guided her hands back down to the lacy edges of her underwear and eased them over her hips, letting them drop unceremoniously to the floor.

Lucy, you are so fucking beautiful, he thought at her as she watched (as him, through her own eyes...which was beyond weird) while he ran her hands over her body, taking in the softness of her skin through palms that were just as soft.

Lucy, in Natsu's restrained body, could do nothing but watch and feel as Natsu sidled back to her bed, savoring the pleasure that zipped to her bare core with her thighs sliding past each other. Gods...please just touch me already Natsu…

Natsu pulled Lucy's lips into a sly grin and laid her body back down.

Before I really start, I just want to make sure...this doesn't count as sex does it? He licked her index finger and ran the slick digit around the very outside of her nipple, feeling it perk up and beg for attention.

He repeated the action on her other breast and then paused, swiping the sensitive skin under her breast next.

Lucy inhaled sharply. ...I'm willing to overlook it.

Alright then. That was all he needed to hear. He lifted one of her legs, sliding a delicate hand from the inside of her knee to the curls between her legs as he pinched her nipple hard. They groaned in unison as he dipped a finger into her moisture and dragged it over her clit.

The different angle threw him off for half a second, as did the odd feeling of touching parts of himself that didn't normally exist, but he forgot all of that in the waves of pleasure crashing through her body every time he pushed the pad of her finger into the little bundle of nerves. And his curiosity got the better of him as he slid her hand lower, slipping her finger inside of her.

The angle was difficult to get used to. He tried a number of ways to achieve more depth, by widening her legs, tilting her pelvis and even sitting up, but he just couldn't achieve what his own fingers could do. This is so frustrating. Being a girl sucks.

Lucy couldn't help but laugh, the sound coming out in Natsu's deeper timbre. Well, sorry on behalf of the female seeeeeeeex-aaaaaaaah, THAT. Do THAT again.

Natsu used the side of Lucy's thumb to flick back and forth over her clit, feeling the tension building up in her stomach. He finally felt like he was delivering a little on what he'd promised.

Lucy rolled Natsu's eyes at his thought. Honestly, all it took was the disconnect between her mind and hands to amp up the experience for her. Not knowing what her hands would do when added so much more than she could get from just pleasuring herself. Though, it was still best when they did it together. Showers would forever be her favorite part of the day. Though showers were oddly one of the only places the two of them hadn't had sex.

It was like a sacred space. Somehow, they both knew that even physically joining in the same space couldn't compare to those first moments they'd discovered each other's longing so many weeks ago. Just thinking about it made her hard.

That is, it made Natsu's body hard.

Oh, that is soooo WEIRD!

It was an entirely new experience for Lucy. She wriggled in Natsu's body against her bonds, trying to find a way to get comfortable as his dick strained to be free. Thankfully, the pleasure from her body was streamlined into his and she could feel his member pulsating in sync with her body's core. She groaned, rolling onto her front awkwardly to relieve some of the pressure she felt, working Natsu's trim hips against the bed he'd been thrown on. She desperately hoped there was no one around to see what she was doing, but as she hadn't heard any indication she had observers, she stopped worrying about it. Because rutting into the mattress was at least helping take care of the almost painful arousal she felt as his body strained for hers.

Then Natsu's hard work paid off and her body exploded into orgasm, spasming around the fingers he shoved into her at the very end, so he could feel with her hands what he'd done to her. Natsu's body followed suit and Lucy moaned at the relief.

Until she felt the damp, sticky boxers his body now wore. Natsu...switch us back. Yuck. Being a guy totally sucks.

Natsu laughed her melodic chirp of a giggle and began the mental process of snapping them back into the right bodies. It was harder than he expected to go back. Lucy's body, drained of stress and boneless, was so insanely comfortable he almost didn't want to leave.

NATSU!

Ah, sorry. Getting right on it!

They slammed back into their right bodies with a deep gasp. Lucy sat up and immediately got up to go to the bathroom and clean up, grabbing her clothes along the way.

Natsu groaned in her head. Fuuuuuck. I literally jizzed in my pants. This fucking sucks.

What did you think was going to happen? You know we basically always come together.

I KNOW. But it's so sticky...and now that stupid song is my head.

Lucy was about to ask what song he was talking about when a funny set of lyrics set to a sort of rap/hip hop beat pounded in her head.

Last week - I saw a film

As I recall it was a horror film

Walked outside into the rain

Checked my phone and saw you rang and I

Jizzed in my pants

Lucy burst out laughing as she washed her hands and wiped down her thighs. A shower would have to wait until he was untied.

Speeding down the street when the red lights flash

Need to get away need to make a dash

A song comes on that reminds me of you and I

Jizz in my pants

The next day my alarm goes off and I

Jizz in my pants

Open my window and a breeze rolls in and I

Jizz in my pants

With every new line, she burst out laughing anew. OH MY GODS, there's NO WAY that's a real song!

100% a real song. We're totally listening to The Lonely Island the next time we see each other.

It's a date! Lucy responded playfully. Our third, if I'm not mistaken.

Sounds great, he replied before singing another verse in his head

When Bruce Willis was dead at the end of sixth sense I

Jizzed in my pants

I just ate a grape and I

Jizzed in my pants

I went-

Wait, our third date? Something clicked in Natsu's head. Die Hard! We were gonna watch Die Hard for our third date!

Oh, right. I've never seen that movie. You really like it, right?

She could almost feel Natsu's condescension from across town. Like is putting it extremely mildly. That movie is a fucking masterpiece.

Ooookay then. I guess it's a good thing we're going to watch it then, huh? When do you want to do that?

Well...I'd say sometime this week, but I suspect even sitting on a couch with you watching something as action-filled as Die Hard would end up with us fucking.

...true. So, when I get back then?

When WE get back. I'm gonna win this bet.

Lucy quirked an eyebrow and stuck her freshly washed index finger into her mouth, her tongue laving and twirling around it as she sucked hard and drew it slowly out of her mouth, nibbling the very tip of it softly as it left her mouth.

Natsu resisted the urge to jizz in his pants.

Again.

He swallowed.

Point made. Still, it's only a week. I went a whole year without fucking, even I can hold out for a week.

Alright, there it is. While I've already started the next chapter, my husband and I also just sold our house and have three weeks to get totally moved and painted and stuff, so no promises for the time being. Granted, I tend to do better on getting out chapters when I have TONS of other stuff to do, so who knows?

Anyone catch my little social distancing joke?

Too soon? XP

The song Juvia sings in her flashback is a song I know from Singing in the Rain, but it was actually written in 1934 for another movie, Sadie McKee. It's been sung in lots of styles by lots of different artists over the years, including Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, and Gene Kelly. For those of you familiar with Singing in the Rain, this is NOT the version that the Coconut Grove girls sing and dance to, but actually a version that was meant to be sung by Gene Kelly and was cut. It's slower, and sweeter, and I LOVE it. I searched through all the recordings to see if I could find something close to how I perform this song (I was a musical theater major my first semester of college) and the closest I could find was Emmy Rossum's here: you tube's site and then /watch?v=RiTGcfaM5BI I also put it at the beginning of the chapter, but in case you're not the type to read the initial author notes, here it is again.

Gray's flashback character (because he's the pianist in Juvia's flashback) is based off of an African American pianist from the 1920s named Porter Grainger. The dalliance with Juvia is completely made up, and I moved him in time to the 1940s so I could use the song, but he did start off in Chicago and moved to New York, which is when his career took off.

So… the weird long-distance sexting scene? Ever since I spontaneously had them switch bodies I've been playing with the idea of doing a scene like this...but I'm still not sure it's not too weird. Oh well, either way, this is totally something a couple of horny, body-sharing, body-switching, college students would do. Especially if one is Natsu. So, it happened.

A shout-out to charbrown226 for reminding me about the porn stash and suggesting that Lucy find it. I'm so happy I could find a way to work it in!

In case you somehow don't know the song at the end there...just look it up. It's hilarious.

Hurray for you tube!

Riot out. See you soon!