This is a story I've had in my files FOREVER. Was reading thru it and finally thought I should post it. Enjoy!

The stars were her best friends. They were there, always overhead, always watching. When her mother had died, the stars comforted her with their silence, and beautiful twinkling. They lulled her to a peaceful sleep in the grass, more comfortable than any kind of bed she could possibly imagine. The stars were there to brush away her tears. Stars, Lucy thought, were home.

When she was thirteen she read a book left on the shelves of her houses old library. Wandering around the big house had become something of a hobby of hers with the absence of her mother, and stumbling upon this small library in the corner of the mansion was a surprising delight. The books were all covered in dust as thick as a blanket. Discovering a heavy book, the old binding and curious golden curls that wrapped around the spine like a dragon's tail, was almost like something from a fairy tale. Blowing off the dust left her in a coughing fit but she still thought it was worth it.

It was a love story, she soon discovered, between people who lived on other sides of the world. They only discovered each other when one happened to be lonely, and on a whim, a pure and desperate act of reaching out, wrote a lonely 'Hello? Anyone there?' on their arm in purple marker. And then someone wrote back.

Lucy found the idea so romantic and mysterious.

And so she did it.

With hurried fingers she scribbled in pink marker a tentative hello. She waited for ten seconds before she continued scribbling on her hand. 'My name is Lucy, nice to meet you. Don't freak out!'

No one replied.

I shouldn't be surprised, Lucy thought quietly, as tears dripped down her face. I almost expected the stars to reply.

Four years later and she barely thought of her lost soulmate like she used to. She still wrote on her hand and arms, with the same pink color. It wasn't to her soulmate anymore though, it was to the stars. This was her way of sending them messages. At seventeen she knew it was silly, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. Old habits die hard.

'Levy's party today' was written on her left hand, while more personal things were written in private places. 'Sometimes I forget to breathe' was written on her ankle, and 'Are you listening?' was on her hip. It was comforting, like her own personal communication line to the stars.

Lucy smiled tiredly at her reflection in the mirror. She was sitting at the dresser in her room, getting ready for Levy McGarden's birthday party today. Convincing her strict father to let her leave just long enough to attend the beginning of Levy's party had tested her patience. Attending at all, she supposed, was a blessing, but still. Lucy sighed.

Lucy Heartfilia, daughter to Jude Heartfilia, known among his peers as a rich entrepreneur, was nothing if not strict and, in most cases, unreasonable, especially when it came to his daughter. Perfect is what he expected from everyone he met, even those he barely knew. Lucy was not an exception.

Grabbing her purse, Lucy ran down the stairs and out the door before her father could change his mind. Levy's was just a short bus ride away, but Lucy still took her time. She had no reason to rush and she enjoyed her long walk to the bus stop.

The sun was shining and she felt a layer of sweat start to build on her forehead, but she paid it no mind. She was suddenly thankful she'd decided to wear a tanktop and shorts to Levy's party

Thirty minutes later she hopped off the bus and stared at Levy's home. Levy was only a year or two older than Lucy, but she already had her own apartment and was living by herself. Lucy was jealous of the girls independence and freedom. Lucy wasn't sure she'd ever escape her father's clutches.

Soon enough, after two flights of stairs, Lucy was face to face with a grinning, blue haired, Levy.

"Lucy!" she squealed. Lucy couldn't help but smile at Levy's excitement. It was contagious. "I wasn't sure you were gonna make it!" She looped her arms around Lucy's neck and squeezed. Laughing, Lucy patted her on the back.

"Like I'd miss your birthday? You know me better than that."

Grabbing Lucy's hand Levy dragged her inside. Lucy blinked at the crowd of people and the low thrum of music playing in the background.

"I didn't realize this was going to be a party party," she admitted quietly to Levy. She only knew about half the people in the room. Lounging on a chair was Gray, already half naked. He was talking to Juvia who was blushing like mad.

She couldn't see Erza but she did hear the familiar sound of her voice booming from somewhere in the apartment. She could even see Mirijane, her boss from the restaurant Lucy and Levy worked at, in the kitchen handing out drinks. When she saw Lucy she smiled and waved kindly. The rest of the people were complete strangers.

"Gajeel invited a lot of his friends for this and suddenly my apartment was bursting with people." She chuckled nervously. Lucy frowned.

"Speaking of, where is that piece of metal?"

Gajeel, Levy's boyfriend, was so full of piercings that it honestly scared Lucy the first time she'd met him. His size, constant glare, and dark clothing did not aid in the matter. And while he was rough around the edges, Lucy decided she liked him when she saw how gentle he was with Levy.

Levy frowned and looked through the crowd. "I could've sworn I saw him in here with Natsu…." Lucy raised her eyebrows.

"Who's Natsu?"

"You'll meet him soon, don't worry. He's a bit..." Levy sighed. "I just hope he doesn't burn down my place." Lucy's eyes widened in alarm.

Before she could enquire more she felt a sudden scratching on her arm that startled her. Glancing down she stared wide eyed at the sudden letters that were appearing in fire red pen on her right arm.

'I'm boooooooredddd' it read.

Lucy let out a squeak of shock as her heart rate spread up. She jumped when a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. Levy looked at Lucy with concern filled eyes. "Are you alright, Lu?"

Lucy nodded quickly, mind racing. Had she really seen what she thought she had? The possible implications made her head spin. She glanced back down. The words were gone.

It took her a second to stop staring at the empty skin. She must have imagined it.

"I can't stay for long Levy," Lucy said, deciding to push this from her mind. Lucy couldn't help but notice the slight tremor in her voice. Levy's face filled with disappointment. "I'll stay as long as I can," she added quickly. She couldn't stand to see Levy so sad. Levy smiled brightly.

"Good!" Grabbing Lucy's hand Levy dragged her through the crowd. She met a bunch of people in a whirlwind. She met Mirijane's brother who strangely kept yelling "Man!" and a drunk named Cana. Cana had repeatedly tried to grab her boobs to Lucy's dismay. Despite this though, she liked her.

At some point Levy must have exhausted names to throw out because she suddenly exclaimed, "There's still one person I haven't introduced you to yet!" They wound their way through the apartment to the kitchen where Erza offered Lucy a gentle smile.

"Hey!" Levy yelled, her face suddenly turning red.

Lucy glanced at the girl, startled. Levy was glaring daggers at the hulking figure that was skulking through her fridge. Gajeel looked up guiltily, a piece of food sticking out of his mouth. A loud cackling started up and Lucy could only assume it was because of Gajeel's face.

She glanced over and saw what she could only describe as a pink haired ruffian, bending over and laughing like crazy.

Gajeel growled at the pink haired guy which only made him laugh harder.

"You look so stupid!" he finally got out, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Say that again, pipsqueak!" Gajeel shouted, which caused to food to drop from his mouth. The pinkett laughed louder. While Levy started yelling at Gajeel for making a mess, Lucy inspected the stranger closer. His hair was clearly a dyed pink, sticking up at odd angles. His eyes were a sharp green. A tattoo of a snake, or no, maybe a dragon, curled around his right shoulder and his ears were pierced. It was very clear he worked out, she decided, by the look of his muscles. He wore a blank tank top with a dragon on it and tight jeans. Despite his tattoos and piercings he honestly just looked like a goofball, though that was probably because he was still laughing.

Lucy's heart sped up a bit when he stopped laughing and noticed her stare. The intensity of his green eyes took her breath away a bit.

"Oh!" Levy said, turning from Gajeel. "Lucy, this is Natsu. Natsu, this is Lucy." Lucy smiled as pleasantly as she could manage. Natsu stared at her a second longer before breaking into a grin.

"Nice to meet you Luigi," he laughed. Lucy blinked. "You've got a strange name."

She grit her teeth and growled, "That's not my name. It's Lucy! L-U-C-Y," she spelled out. His eyes widened and he smiled in relief.

"Thank goodness, that's a much better name."

Lucy glanced at the wall clock and her eyes widened dramatically. "I'm sorry Levy," Lucy gasped, "I have to go, my dad will kill me!"

Before Lucy turned to go she saw something that made her heart drop. Levy ushered Lucy out and she barely noticed how her feet moved towards the door because what she kept replaying in her mind was Natsu, lifting his arm, and flashing a scribble on his skin, done in red marker.

When she got home she stared at where the scribble had been and started thinking. Maybe it had been a coincidence that she'd had the same color red suddenly drawn on her skin in the exact same place. Maybe she really had imagined it. Maybe she was psychic.

Then other thoughts entered her mind. What if they could communicate through marker. Would he see it when she wrote on her skin? Had he been seeing it and ignoring it? And why did it start now? When did it start? Or has he just never written on his skin before Levy's party?

It was too many questions for her to comprehend, so she did what she thought was logical. She asked him.

'You finally responded' she wrote. She sat there anxiously, staring. His message had disappeared after a few seconds so maybe it would be the same with hers. Maybe he missed it. Or what if he could write to her but she couldn't write to him. She thought of all of this while she stared manically at her hand.

Just when she'd given up her leg itched. Nearly ripping her pants off in the process, she looked and saw big red letters.

'I didn't know that I could."

Comments, suggestions, thoughts? Yes, no, maybe so?

I'm not sure whether I'm going to continue this. Please let me now your thoughts!