Archive of Our Own

Juvia had always heard the story about one's red string of fate and she had always been torn on whether to believe it or not. She thought it was cute that there was already someone out there that was made for her. Her other half, her soulmate. She liked knowing that there was already someone who complimented her and she complimented them back.

But at the same time, she wasn't impressed. She wasn't impressed with the fact that she couldn't specifically choose who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, that it was already decided for her before she was even born. Life wasn't that simple. For example, she had been frozen for seven years. What if her other half had moved on? Seven years is a long time to wait for someone and there's no way that the person who was destined for her waited for her. That would be ridiculous, especially if they didn't believe in the red string.

She laughed a little bit to herself as she flipped through her magazine. Yeah it would be ridiculous, but isn't it ridiculous that she has been chasing after Gray for so long? Sighing softly, she looked up at the clock before putting her magazine away. She had agreed to go shopping with Lucy and Lisanna and if she didn't leave now, she would be late.

As she left her apartment, she glanced at her calendar and rolled her eyes. It was her 18th birthday tomorrow and honestly, she didn't even want to do anything. It was said that on your 18th birthday, that is when you are able to see your red string of fate. Juvia was going to wait and see if that really was true. After all, many people probably didn't even see the string as they got into relationships that either failed or succeeded.

~x~

"So Juvia, there's something that's been bugging us for a bit."

Juvia looked up from the dress that she was admiring. Both Lucy and Lisanna were staring at her with a questioning gaze. She nodded her head slowly, wondering what this was all about. Lucy decided to be the one to ask her.

"When is your birthday?"

Juvia's eyes widened as she looked back at the dress in her hands, not really wanting to answer the question. Lucy pouted when she got no response, so Lisanna decided to ask again, but with their reason why.

"It's just that we realised we've gone a few years now without celebrating it with you or giving you any presents, but you're always the first to give us presents. The first year we kind of thought maybe there was a reason and we'll let you have time to yourself, then the second year you didn't mention it again and well, now we want to know."

Juvia sighed and turned around to meet their puppy dog eyes. She averted her gaze in order to try and not fall for their trap, but whenever she looked back at them, they had gotten closer and they were trying even harder to grab her attention. By the end of it, she giggled and they burst out laughing with her as she nodded her head.

"Ah, Juvia's birthday is...this might be too much of a coincidence, but it's tomorrow."

Their jaws dropped as their eyes filled with rage. Juvia shuffled backwards, but Lucy grabbed her arm to keep her from running.

"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOUR BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW?! YOU WERE GOING TO LET A THIRD YEAR PASS BY WITHOUT LETTING US KNOW, WEREN'T YOU?!"

Juvia nodded weakly as they captured the attention of everyone else around them. "Please Lucy-chan, let's not make a scene."

Lucy turned to Lisanna. "Do you think I'm making a scene here?"

Lisanna wore a heavy glare as she shook her head, staring at Juvia. The water mage whimpered and looked away. Lisanna pulled out her phone to make a few calls and Juvia groaned.

Lucy then sighed and released her arm. "Juvia, is there a reason why you haven't told us about your birthday?"

Juvia rubbed her arm and sighed as they moved along the racks. "Juvia doesn't really like the attention," she muttered. "Juvia doesn't like being the centre of attention and Juvia doesn't feel like she deserves all the attention on her."

Lucy wrapped her arms around her and leaned her head on her shoulder. Lisanna who had finished calling whoever she was calling came to her other side to do the same thing. Juvia could feel her heart getting warm.

"But that's the whole point of a birthday. Even when you feel like no one ever pays attention to you, that's the day that everyone is supposed to do it. With our line of work, we're lucky to even see another day talk less of a new year. The Edolas me, she died. We were the same age and sometimes I shiver that it could've been me. I could have easily been the one to die, but I didn't. I've seen a new year. Tomorrow is your day and we'll be damned if we won't celebrate it."

Lucy did nothing but nod in agreement as their hold tightened on the girl. Juvia felt the emotion run through her as she choked, trying to hold back her tears. She always felt like she didn't deserve it. She had always felt like she was nothing, like she was an undeserving member of Fairy Tail. To know that she was loved and that she even had friends. If you had told her younger self that this was going to be her life one day, she wouldn't have believed it.

"Thank you," she whispered. The two girls giggled and kissed her on either cheek where she blushed heavily as they continued their shopping trip. Lucy winked at her.

"Don't worry, we've got this. We're paying for you."

Juvia's eyes widened as she shook her head wildly. "But Juvia has the money, why would you guys do that?"

Lisanna shrugged. "Because it's your birthday."

"But that's tomorrow!"

"You didn't really give us enough notice to be able to buy you some birthday presents, Juvia. So think of this as a present. I'll be buying your clothes."

"And I'll be buying your food! Don't look at us like that, this is what happens when it's people's birthdays! Some people even take advantage of it and celebrate it for a week! Besides, it's your 18th, you'll officially become an adult!"

Juvia looked at them like they were crazy before sighing and giving into them. It's not like it would really matter that she was now seen as an adult, they all drink like they are. She shook her head with a grin and they continued with their day.

Juvia woke up the next morning with a frown. Her place smelt so sweet and she didn't even know why. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before pausing. She saw the red string that was tied around her wrist in a dull red colour. It was very faint, as if it took a lot of focus to notice it there, but it was still clear as day. She followed the ends and watched as it disappeared out of her window and into the mass of people out in the world.

"How is Juvia supposed to find her soulmate? How does this work?"

Her thoughts were interrupted when she could hear her two friends talking again, so she pushed herself up from her lying position and made her way out of her room, the thoughts of her red string in the back of her mind. She could hear some light chatter, but they were voices that she knew.

"What are they doing here?"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Juvia blinked when she saw Lucy and Lisanna standing there. She then grinned and shook her head.

"You guys are here early. Is this part of a birthday celebration?"

Lisanna nodded with a wide smile. "It sure is! Whenever it's mine or Elfman's birthday, Mira-nee wakes up to prepare us some breakfast! Of course we do the same for her. It's nice to eat breakfast made by someone else."

Lucy pulled out a seat and motioned for Juvia to sit down, which she did. The smell of pancakes wafted up her nose and her stomach grumbled in time with it. She tried to sort out her bed hair as her two friends looked great while she literally just rose up from her bed. She regretted giving the both of them a key to her place now.

"Syrup?"

Juvia nodded with childish glee as Lucy chuckled and drizzled syrup all over her pancakes. Lisanna put a bowl of fruits on the table with jugs of water, juice, tea and even coffee. Juvia eyed it and wondered why there was so much. There was soon a knock at the door and as Juvia stood up to go and answer it, Lucy grabbed her hand and kept her in place as Lisanna went to go and get the door. Soon, everyone who lived in Fairy Hills was inside Juvia's apartment, eating breakfast together.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUVIA!"

They all hugged the girl one by one as she stared at them in shock. She blushed when she saw that she wasn't really ready for guests, but all the girls were in their pyjamas as well. They all grinned and sat around the place, munching on the breakfast that had been made.

Juvia felt some tears well up in her eyes. "Thank you everyone. This...this is the best birthday that Juvia could have ever asked for."

Erza hugged her into her side as if she were her younger siblings. "That's because you've never even celebrated one. I'm glad that we finally changed that this year. Here's to many more!"

They all raised their glasses of whatever they were drinking as they toasted to Juvia's birthday. The water mage had never been so overwhelmed before.

~x~

Breakfast was great, but then the girls had to leave. With the way they were whispering, they had clearly planned some sort of party for her. They weren't being very subtle, and they always tried to throw surprise parties for everyone. It was so predictable.

"We know you know that we're trying to throw you a party."

Lisanna and Lucy were the only to stay back and they were amused when Juvia nodded at her.

"It's not exactly a secret when it's something you guys do for everyone. Juvia knew this would happen."

She tried her best not to sound rude about it, hopefully she didn't. It's just that she knew that a party would be thrown.

Lucy grinned as she leaned forward, her breasts almost popping out of her t-shirt. Juvia leaned back, feeling a little overwhelmed at the sight of them.

"Still, you have to act like it's all a surprise, so that means not being allowed anywhere near the guild until it's time for you to show up. Luckily for you, I have the perfect distraction for you."

Juvia laughed weakly. If it wasn't a job, what could possibly distract her? "Oh yeah? What's that?"

Lisanna chuckled and Juvia could see that they were both easily ganging up against her. She didn't feel comfortable with what they had to offer her right now.

"You're spending a whole day with Natsu and Happy."

Before she knew it, Juvia had grabbed Lucy by the shoulders and pushed her back as she jumped in horror.

"What?! Why?!"

Lisanna was laughing herself to tears when she saw Juvia's reaction. Even Lucy was trying so hard not to wet herself from laughter too. Juvia did NOT find that funny in any way. Did they know? Did they know her secret that she had tried her very best to hide away from everyone else? She thought she was doing a pretty good job in hiding her feelings this time around. Maybe it was just a coincidence?

"It's not funny! Why does Juvia have to spend her time with those two?!"

Lucy shrugged once she had managed to stop laughing. "Because he's not great with decorations. In all honesty, only a handful of guys volunteered to help out with the decorations. Natsu is one of those who we are NOT letting anywhere near it."

Juvia thought about it and then realised that she would have seen the whole guild on fire if they had let him. He would probably want to do things his way and that would end up in fights, anger and fire. She shivered at the thought of it and nodded. At least it was good to know that she hadn't given any clues that she liked him and this was all a poorly timed coincidence. But a whole entire day with just Natsu and Happy? She didn't think she would last.

She sighed and nodded her head in acceptance. "Fine."

"Glad you agree, because he should be here by now."

"YO!"

Lisanna smirked. "Oh, would you look at that? Right on time!"

Lucy skipped over to the door to let the duo in. Happy immediately flew in and Natsu stomped his way through. Juvia smiled weakly and Natsu grinned brightly.

"Yo, happy birthday Juves! You never told us it was your birthday!"

She nodded her head. "Juvia knows. Juvia was also hoping it would kind of stay that way too, but oh well."

Lucy and Lisanna glared at her as they then ran to the door.

"Well anyway, gotta run, see ya later!"

"You guys shouldn't piss her off too badly, but just make sure she doesn't get to the guild any earlier than the time we already told you, got it?"

Lisanna was giving Natsu a sharp look and Happy was standing on the couch, saluting at her.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that we don't get back to the guild before the given time. You might not trust Natsu, but you can trust me, aye sir!"

"Thank you, Happy!"

Natsu waited for them to shut the door before he ducked to throttle Happy for making him look like an idiot. The exceed practically screamed and flew up into the air. He then headed for Juvia and decided to hide behind her so that Natsu couldn't attack him.

"Can't fight, do you know what Erza would do to you?!"

Natsu growled at him and shrugged. That reminded Juvia of something.

"Juvia is very surprised that Erza-chan even let the two of you into the dorms. Juvia thought that there was no rule on Earthland that would make Erza-chan change the rules about having boys in Fairy Hills."

"Oh are you kidding? She went straight on a mission after having breakfast here, but she's gonna be back in time for tonight though. She kept saying she wants to get something unique for you. She has absolutely no clue we're in here and we're gonna keep it that way."

Natsu was barely paying attention to her as his eyes landed on the leftover breakfast. Juvia turned her head to see what he was looking at and she couldn't help but smile at his reaction. He looked so cute, especially with the way that he was trying to hold himself back from just jumping at the food.

"Juvia is going to take a shower and get ready for her day. You guys can eat whatever you want at the table."

They didn't need to be told twice. Natsu practically hurdled the sofa and put himself at the head of the table as there was still a heap of food there. Juvia turned sharply on her heels, locking her bedroom door behind her. She fell against the door, her eyes wide as she couldn't believe that she had her current crush in her apartment while looking like crap.

She tried her best to slow down her fast beating heart, but that had proven to be impossible right now. There was no way that she was able to do that right now. She also wondered if he would be able to hear how hard it was beating right now, just to add more embarrassment on top of everything.

Then again, probably not. He was preoccupied with the food that was on her table. The only reason he was doing this was because it got him out of helping out with the decorations and Lisanna and Lucy had probably told him of the greatest free breakfast he would be getting if he kept her away from the guild. There was no way that he would be here off of his own back.

She sighed softly to herself as she made her way to her en suite bathroom. In all honesty, right now she wanted a bath to soak herself in. She could already feel the day taking away all of her energy and she wanted to be as relaxed as possible. Fat chance that was going to happen, she's a member of Fairy Tail. The word 'relaxed' wasn't formed in their vocabulary.

~x~

"So hey Juvia, why didn't you tell anyone it was your birthday?"

Happy had buried himself on top of Juvia's hat, enjoying the softness. He actually purred like a real cat and Juvia couldn't help but coo at how cute he was being. She heard Natsu grumble next to her as if he wasn't happy about something, but she didn't hear his words.

"Juvia didn't want any unnecessary attention on her. Juvia has gone so long without celebrating her birthday that it's just not something she's used to. Juvia is sorry if she offended you all."

Natsu chuckled as he shook his head. "Offended us? Far from it, we just want to celebrate your birthday and give you presents and stuff. You're an important member of our guild, of course we wanna know. Your birthday is at least the one day where people have to pay attention to ya. I don't think it's fair that you happily celebrate everyone else's but never your own. Be a little selfish, okay?"

Juvia nodded slowly as she looked up at him. "You make it sound like Juvia isn't selfish enough. Is that a bad thing?"

Natsu shrugged. "It's good to be selfless, sure. But not all the time. You never end up doing anything for yourself, you get me? People start taking your kindness for granted and then you always get overlooked. Can't have that now, can we?"

Juvia shook her head and Happy laughed a little from the top of her hat. "Natsu might be an idiot, but he's an insightful idiot."

Natsu's eyebrow twitched at the insult, but ignored it. He just kept his focus on Juvia. "Basically, I'm saying that Happy and I are here to do what you want to do today. Not what anyone else wants to do, what you want to do. Name it and we're doing it. Even if on a normal day I would hate doing it, I'll do it for you."

Juvia could feel the joy spreading from her heart and all around her body. In all honesty, she had wanted to use the day to try and find who was on the end of her red string, but she always found that the more she tried to look for something, the harder it was to find. She was going to try her best to let them come to her.

"Ah, well Natsu and Happy have caught Juvia off guard. Nothing is really coming to Juvia's mind right now..."

Natsu stood there patiently as he waited for Juvia to think of something. He leaned on the wall where they had stopped and he shoved his hands in his pockets, watching her. His eyes were trained in on her wrist and he wondered if she could see it too. Only those who believed in the red string could see their own and that of others. It was a concept that Igneel had taught him of when he was younger and one that had actually fascinated him. He liked the idea of there being someone for everyone. Initially, he had been so worried that no girl would ever be able to tolerate him, but he was reassured that his soulmate was the only one who could ever understand him on a personal level.

"Oh! Well, there's this one dessert place that Juvia has always wanted to try out! Ano, maybe it's too early for dessert...we should go later! I-is that okay?"

Natsu grinned as he pushed himself off the wall and patted her head where Happy wasn't. "I already told you, we're doing what you wanna do. Of course we're happy to go with you."

"And who made the rule that it's too early for dessert?! It's our money, these businesses should cater to people like us who will eat desserts at any time!"

Juvia giggled at Happy's outburst. "Happy-chan seems to be passionate about that. Don't worry, Juvia will take you guys there later. It's a kind of dessert that Juvia has never had before and she was curious. But Juvia has thought of something. Juvia has always wanted to learn how to fish."

Happy flew over to Natsu as they both stared at her weirdly. "Are you sure? Natsu wasn't lying when he said to be selfish. You don't have to do something that the both of us like and pass it off as something you've always wanted to do."

Juvia smiled and shook her head. "No, seriously. Juvia has always wanted to fish. Juvia has seen how calm the both of you get and Juvia wondered if it was something that was extremely therapeutic or if you guys were just concentrating really hard."

Natsu laughed as they started walking again. "Honestly? It's a bit of both. Sitting still makes all the fish grab the bait, but it also teaches me how to sit quietly so that when I meditate, it doesn't feel like some sort of chore. I hope that doesn't sound stupid."

Happy raised an eyebrow, wondering when Natsu started caring about whether or not others found what he was saying was stupid. Juvia shook her head with a gentle smile. "No, it's a great explanation."

In all honesty, Juvia couldn't believe her luck. She got to spend a whole day doing things that she wanted with a guy she liked. She could feel her cheeks heat up as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

The three of them talked about anything and everything as they were on their way to the lake. "Don't you guys have to get any equipment or anything?"

"Nope! We leave our gear at the lake. It's in a huge box that's padlocked and it's way too heavy for a regular person to lift it. Hell, even I've got trouble tryna shift it! We keep everything that we fish with in there."

Juvia nodded, very intrigued. "So do you only have two rods?"

"Nah, we got three, but Happy's is a custom made one because he's so small."

"Yeah, yeah, make fun of the short guy." Happy rolled his eyes and Juvia giggled at their exchange. Natsu grinned widely as he ignored Happy.

"I have two rods just in case a situation like this comes up. If one of my friends ever wanted to fish with me, I've at least got a spare rod. You'll be the first one to ever use the spare rod though. Maybe it can just be yours if you enjoy fishing with us and wanna do it again sometime."

Juvia's heart pounded in her chest at the invitation as she found herself nodding eagerly. Natsu laughed. "Don't agree to it now, you might not like it! But I've still gotta ask, are ya sure that you wanna fish with us? I've honestly never seen you interested in it. I mean, you've never asked to fish with us."

Juvia sighed. That was simple enough to answer and that's because she was too shy. However, she wasn't going to tell him that. "Juvia is a water mage, so she really doesn't need to fish. Still though, it's something that Juvia would like to do. At least see what the appeal is. Sometimes, Juvia doesn't like to use her magic much and this is the perfect activity for Juvia to learn how to do something without using her magic!"

At least that wasn't a lie. She really did want to learn how to fish and she also wanted to be able to spend some time with Natsu. This was all too good to be true. Natsu shot her a toothy grin as they arrived at the lake. "Well alright then!"

He led her over to the box that he had spoken about and he unlocked it. Happy pulled out his rod and Natsu handed one over to Juvia. She held it gingerly, trying her best to not damage it and Natsu snickered before going back into the box, pulling out some bait. He glanced at her.

"How are you with live bait?"

Juvia shrugged. "Juvia is okay with them. Juvia is the one who gets the bugs out of everyone's flats back at Fairy Hills. It doesn't bother Juvia."

"Good, I think I threw out all the fake bait, so this is all I have. Don't worry, we came fishing yesterday, that's why I have live ones. Anyway, I guess we're all set. Happy, you got the blanket?"

"Aye!"

"Then we're ready!"

Juvia nodded her head as she could feel the excitement buzzing through her body. She was really going to spend some time with Natsu! She really wasn't lying when she said she had always wanted to fish, but she left out an important part and that was with him. She would have never even dreamed about fishing if it was something that she had to do by herself.

When they stopped at what was clearly their usual space, Happy handed the blanket to Natsu as he gently placed everything down on the ground gently. He spread out the blanket and offered Juvia to sit down first. She smiled sweetly and sorted out of her skirt so that she could sit comfortably. Her legs dangled over the side of the bank. Natsu sat beside her and Happy sat on the other side of him.

Their arms brushed against each other and Juvia could feel herself turn into jelly. Her breath stuttered in her throat as she tried her best to stay strong and not give away that she had her heart set on him.

"Okay, so I'll help you hold the rod in a particular way, show you how to use the reel and then we can put the bait on the hook. So like this."

Juvia's mind came skidding to a stop when Natsu did what he did. He slotted himself right behind her as his arms circled around her. His hands grabbed hers gently as he placed them where they should be on the rod. Juvia's breath was caught in her throat and she wasn't sure if Natsu could notice or not. Happy was off in his own little world, barely concentrating on the two of them. He kept muttering to himself about how much fish he was going to catch, a dreamy look in his eyes.

"You need to hold the rod like this in case you get a big bite and you suddenly need to pull it in with a lot of strength."

He took her hands in his and moved them to the correct position. She thought that once everything was in position that he would release her, but he was yet to do that. Her eyes widened a little as she wondered why he was still behind her.

"Ano, Natsu? W-won't you go and set up?"

"I will, but later. I wanna help you if you catch something for the first time. Now, here's your pot of bait. Just put it on the hook."

Juvia showed a face of disgust when she realised that she basically had to stab the poor bait, but she didn't let it phase her too much. She did as he said and then waited patiently for his next instruction.

"Now, you pull your arms back like this...and then let it fly."

He helped move her arms the way he wanted her to do it and the line landed in the lake. It was almost like Juvia could feel Natsu grinning behind her at this point.

"Now we wait. It might take a while cos we're in the lake and not at a stream. Still, there's loads of fish here."

Juvia nodded her head, now over the fact that Natsu was going to be staying for a while. Well, she wasn't over it, but she couldn't let him know that she could barely function. "H-how often do you guys fish?" She could almost drown herself because of her stutter.

"Hmm, not often as people would think. We used to do it weekly back when it was just me and Happy. As soon as we made a team with Lucy, we stopped fishing as much as we used to. Mostly because we started taking really fun jobs that didn't give us time to fish and also that Lucy didn't enjoy it with us. It went from once a week to once in two months to once a month and now it's whenever we've got time."

Juvia nodded her head and then Natsu asked her a question as well. "What about you? What do you do in your spare time?"

Juvia shrugged. "Nothing like this, that's for sure. Juvia sews clothes and stuff like that. Juvia makes all her own outfits, so Juvia enjoys doing that."

Natsu gasped loudly in her ear. "You do?! Woah, that's amazing! I didn't know you made your own clothes! Have you ever made anyone else an outfit?"

Juvia smiled and shook her head. "No, Juvia hasn't, no one's really asked before. Juvia isn't really sure that the other girls will like her designs. As you can see, Juvia dresses pretty conservatively compared to everyone else."

Natsu chuckled and Juvia felt the tips of her ears burn red. "Oh yeah? I hadn't noticed," he joked. Juvia pouted, wondering what he felt about it. Would he notice her more if she changed her sense of style? Does he even care about how girls dressed?

"What does Natsu think about the way Juvia dresses? All the other girls say that Juvia should let loose, but Juvia can't help but be shy..." She surprised herself by asking the question. She felt his grip tighten on her hands slightly.

"Uh, well I think you should be allowed to wear what you wanna wear, right? Like whatever makes you comfortable I guess. Do you wanna let loose?"

Juvia shrugged her shoulders. "Juvia doesn't know...maybe?"

"Well it's all up to you. Whenever you wanna let loose, let me know. I'll do whatever you want."

Juvia bit her lip as she felt her heart skip a beat. Natsu was basically saying that he would want to hang out with her at another time as well! She couldn't believe her ears!

"Ano, Juvia would love-wait, is that a bite?!"

She would have been yanked into the water had Natsu not been holding her. She yelped as she moved forward slightly and Natsu held onto her tighter.

"Don't worry, I've got ya," he whispered into her ear. "But I think you might have a big one there! Okay, so hold yourself strong and start reeling it in as you pull backwards as well. Yeah, just like that...almost there!"

Before long, some huge fish came flying out of the water and all three of them gasped loudly as they watched it soar into the air and land on Juvia's lap, flapping about. The water mage squealed in surprise as Natsu laughed, her reaction hilarious. Happy wanted to come over and inspect, but he didn't want his line thrown into the water. Instead, he just called out to her.

"Nice first catch, Juvia!"

"Th-thank you, Happy-chan! Ano, where does Natsu want this?"

"Put it in here." He showed her a cooler and she dumped the fish right into it. She stood up straight and Natsu grinned at her, holding his hand up for a high five. She smiled back and high fived him. Natsu's fingers clasped around hers as he shook her hand a little bit before letting go. Juvia's eyes widened, her heart racing in her chest, pounding against her ribcage.

"Okay, so now you've got the hang of that, you should be all good on your own now!"

Juvia wanted to say no she didn't and that she wanted him to hold her again, but she found herself nodding her head. "Yes, Juvia should be okay to fish by herself now. Thank you for teaching Juvia."

Natsu grinned widely. "No problem. Anything for you."

There it was again. Natsu seemed to be making a lot of careless comments that sent her heart into overdrive. "Remember Juvia, he's doing this because it's your birthday, not because he likes you in that way. Just calm down."

She took a deep breath to pull back her feelings as she smiled softly at him, still grateful that even if he was just doing this for her birthday, she appreciated it a lot. No one had ever gone over and beyond for her.

"Thank you, Natsu."

She watched as he blushed slightly and she giggled at how cute he was. Seriously, a blushing Natsu, it was so adorable to see. He beckoned her back over.

"C'mon, let's fish some more before we move onto the next thing you wanna do!"

"What is this place?"

Juvia grinned as she dragged Natsu to their next activity. She had gotten bold enough to hold Natsu's hand and arm when she realised that he didn't mind and Happy was settled on top of her hat, purring contently at the amount of fish he had eaten.

"It's some golfing thing. Juvia always thought that golf was for old rich men, but this seems like fun! It's almost like a golfing version of bowling. No one's had enough time to go with Juvia, so Juvia would like to go. If that's okay with you guys of course." She still had a hard time remembering that they were happy to do whatever she wanted. She was used to such attention.

Happy nodded and flew up in excitement while Natsu switched the roles around and started dragging Juvia into the building. "No need to explain anything to us, Juvia! We said we'd be happy to do anything that you wanna do. So let's go!"

They headed inside and Natsu pulled out his wallet, much to Juvia's horror. She quickly reached out and placed her hand on his. There was a jolt that seemed to stop her train of thought for a second, and judging by the look in Natsu's eyes, he had felt the same thing that she did. She could feel her cheeks heating up from the fact that they were basically holding hands, but she collected her thoughts.

"What is Natsu doing?!" She hissed at him. He blinked blankly at her before getting distracted by the woman at the till.

"Hello, how many will be playing today?"

"Two of us, unless you've got clubs for this guy's size."

The woman gave him an apologetic look when she saw just how small Happy was and she shook her head. "Sorry, we don't have any clubs for exceeds here. So just two then. How many games do you want to play?"

Natsu turned to Juvia for an answer and she held up two fingers. Natsu turned back around. "Two games please."

"Sure thing. How are you paying, cash or card?"

"Cash."

Juvia was going to speak up again, wondering why the hell Natsu was paying for her, but Happy just tugged on her sleeve and shook his head. "Trust me, it's rare that Natsu pays for anyone else. He doesn't even do this on anyone else's birthday, so just accept it."

"But still..."

"He's right, I don't really take anyone out on their birthday to spend any money on them, so I guess you can say you're the first person I'm doing this for. Anyway, here's your card, let's go and get all the stuff that we need! They said that all the clubs are in the bay, we just have to get the balls. 40 because we picked two games."

"Oh, that's a lot. Still, Juvia is very excited! Has Natsu played golf before?"

"Not at all, but it can't be that hard, right? Just gotta hit the balls and hope it lands in one of the pits to give us a score, right?"

"While you guys do that, I'll be nursing my food coma. I ate a lot of fish."

"You mean too much fish."

Happy glared at Natsu. "You can never have too much fish. I just had a lot, not too much though. Anyway, it looks like you guys need to collect the balls from this machine."

They stopped in front of the huge machine that had buckets at the side. They followed the instructions on the screen and kept the buckets at the bottom to hold the falling balls. Juvia could feel Natsu staring at her and when she looked up, she caught his eyes. He grinned at her and she blushed with a small smile.

"What?"

"I'm excited to do this! I've never even heard of this place before, so I'm excited! And I've never really gotten to hang out with you before."

Before Juvia could respond, Happy was talking which ruined the whole moment. "That's because you don't have any hobbies. You just go on jobs, challenge Erza to fight you and eat. Get out more! I'm gonna see if Carla will come on a date with me here!"

Natsu snorted as he picked up his bucket. "Yeah right. Carla doesn't like you. She'll never willingly go on a date with you!"

Happy's face crumpled and Juvia felt her heart bleed for him as he found himself walking over to her side. Juvia couldn't help herself as she glared at Natsu and hugged Happy close. The fire dragon slayer actually flinched at the way she was looking at him.

"That was so mean of you! Carla-chan might be a bit snobbish, but even Juvia can see that she is warming up to Happy-chan a lot more than she was before. There's still a chance for him!"

Natsu held up his hand to show that he conceded and Juvia made sure that Happy was okay. She completely missed the smile that he had on his lips as he stared at her making sure that Happy was okay and not emotionally hurt by his words.

"This is our bay! Ooh, there's a menu and we can order food and drinks! You wanna eat, Juvia?"

She nodded. "Yes, we can eat as we play. Juvia would like a few cocktails! If we're celebrating Juvia's birthday, we might as well do it properly, right?"

"Right," Happy and Natsu replied as they nodded in agreement. Juvia glanced up at the screen and saw that their names were already on the board. She spied the clubs that they would be using.

"What do you want, Juves?"

The said girl felt her heart burst at the nickname that he had given her. She felt like they were getting closer and closer. She really didn't know if Lisanna and Lucy knew about her crush on Natsu or if it was purely all by coincidence. Either way, she was grateful because she got to spend the whole day with him. It would be even better if Happy wasn't with them, but this was still okay.

"Juvia will eat whatever Natsu is getting. For the drinks, please get Juvia a pitcher of purple rain. Juvia would like to try that."

Natsu nodded as he caught the attention of a passing worker who took the order. As they were speaking, Juvia was staring at her red string. She could see it flowing from her arm and then it got lost in the sea of other red strings that belonged to other people. The person on the other end of her red string could be here and she would never know, just because of how lost it was.

"You okay?"

Juvia stopped staring in the distance and found Natsu trying to look off into the distance to see what she was trying to look at. Her cheeks burned red as she shook her head in embarrassment. She doubted that he believed in the red string of fate, so he probably wouldn't understand it if she asked him about it.

"I-it's nothing! Juvia was just staring off into the distance! Is Natsu ready?"

He nodded as he stared at the screen. Juvia herself glanced down at his wrist and saw that he had one too. It went into the masses as well and Juvia couldn't help but wonder if he ever thought about things like that. She knew that dragon slayers had mates, Gajeel told her that much. She wondered if the mate and the red string were tied together.

"Looks like you're going first, birthday girl. Choose your weapon."

Juvia looked over to see what he was pointing at; it was a bunch of clubs and she didn't even know which one to use. She inspected them closely and decided to go for the driver. Not like the names meant much to her, but it looked like it would actually hit the ball.

"Okay, so like Juvia said, she's never done this before and therefore she might make a fool of herself. Please don't bully Juvia."

Natsu smirked. "If you're asking me not to laugh at you, no can do. You can laugh at me of course."

Juvia scowled playfully before registering the ball. She set the ball on the peg and tried to copy the stance that she had seen old men adopt whenever they played the sport. Natsu and Happy snickered and she turned around to give them a plain look and they tried to stop. She turned back around, positioning her hands on the club, bending her knees and then trying to swing. She missed the ball completely after the feeble attempt she had and she immediately covered her face as the other two burst out laughing.

"Th-that was hilarious!"

"You need more oomf in your swing!"

Juvia waved the club at them, a bitter look on her face. "Juvia will definitely put some 'oomf' in her punch!"

That just made them laugh even harder as she gritted her teeth and tried again. This time, she connected with the ball, but it didn't get very far. It just rolled a bit away from them as Natsu and Happy started laughing yet again. Juvia rolled her eyes and pointed at Natsu's basket.

"Natsu's turn then."

He nodded and grabbed the hybrid club and Juvia bumped him with her shoulder in a competitive way. He grinned at her before registering his own ball.

"I might have never done this before, but I'm definitely not as bad as you. Watch."

Juvia crossed her arms at Natsu's arrogance, but decided to do as he said. Besides, she now had the perfect excuse to look at him. Just staring at him took her breath away. She watched the way he flexed his muscles without even realising it. How broad his shoulders were. Juvia found herself biting her bottom lip the longer she stared at him.

She watched as his arms shot up and a loud crack was heard as the ball went soaring into the air. Both Juvia and Happy's jaws dropped.

"Natsu lied! You've definitely done this before!"

They watched as he got three points on the screen and his fist pumped the air, turning back with a large grin. "I'm not lying, I'm being dead serious! I've never done this before! Maybe you should use this club instead."

Juvia put the driver away and snatched the hybrid out of his hand, ignoring his shit eating grin. She registered her second ball and got ready. She mimicked the stance that she saw Natsu use and tried her best to replicate it.

She found the club a lot lighter than the driver that she had used at first.

"Spread your legs a little more. They're too close together."

Juvia's skin felt hot when all her brain could register the double entendre that Natsu had just said to her. The worst part was, Natsu is way too innocent to say something like that and understand why it was wrong.

"Natsu, you've gotta be more careful when you say things like that."

Juvia's blush deepened when she came to realise that Happy knew exactly what it also meant. She found her hands gripping the club a little tighter as she tried to stop herself from steaming up.

"What? I didn't say anything weird, right?"

Happy sighed and Juvia wanted to know why Happy's mind also went to the gutter. He should be innocent too!

"Yeah, okay."

Juvia decided to ignore them as she swung the club. She went a lot higher than she did on her first go and went for it. There was a crack noise, but it was quieter than Natsu's. She managed to send the ball flying straight into a two pointer. She jumped up and down as she pointed.

"Did you guys see that?! Juvia did it!"

"Sure, I bet it was a fluke thought. Your stance was completely wrong."

She handed him the club with a glare, but it softened when their hands brushed against each other's. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him to see if he felt what she felt. There was a little jolt, one that sent her standing up straight, heat spreading around her body.

She wasn't sure if she imagined it, but Natsu shot her a wink as he pulled the club gently out of her hand. She bit her lip and was grateful that Happy wasn't paying attention to the both of them.

"Watch me carefully."

Juvia wanted to be insulted that Natsu was trying to teach her something in a very patronising way, but she couldn't help but find that she really liked this side of him. Even though he obviously had no clue on how to teach golf, she liked his confidence. He looked hot when he spoke like that. Who was she to not watch him?

She watched his legs as they were spread shoulder width apart. He looked like he had a strong base. Happy then patted Juvia's hand and it took a lot for her to pull her attention away from Natsu.

"Is Happy-chan okay?"

"Yeah. I just got a text from Lisanna. She's sending me a list of things to do. Sorry, I've gotta leave you with Natsu. Is that okay?"

Juvia's heart thumped in her chest. This was perfect! But now she was suspicious. Lisanna definitely knew about her feelings then. There was no reason that she would send for Happy on any errands when he was supposed to help Natsu keep her away from the guild until it was time.

"Y-yeah, that's fine. Juvia will see later then."

Happy nodded and flew off, leaving Juvia alone with Natsu. She tried her best to slow her heart rate down, but nothing was working. Then the screen showed that Natsu only hit one point which made him groan in annoyance and Juvia laughed.

"After all that, you only got one point."

"This game is so shitty."

"Sure. Anyway, pass the club over, it's Juvia's turn now."

She reached out for it, expertly missing his hand this time. She didn't want to get caught out again, so she decided to fully avoid the situation. She was pretty sure she saw Natsu's lips pull down into a frown and she pulled a ball out of her bucket.

She stood into the stance that she had seen Natsu use, but this time, she heard him tut. "No, no, you're doing it all wrong."

Juvia sighed and stood up straight, watching as Natsu came towards her. She held out the club and tilted her head to one side.

"You show Juvia how to do it then, seeing as you're so good."

Natsu smirked, and instead of grabbing the club, he reached out for her waist, quickly spinning her around so that her back was against him. Her face was now bright red and steam was pouring out of her ears. Her body was heating up at dangerous levels and she hated how easily she had lost her cool.

"Na-Natsu! Wh-what are you doing?!"

It took a lot out of her to stop herself from moaning when she could feel the way his fire swirled around in his chest. This was even more intimate than when they were fishing.

"I'm helping you out. I've gotta feeling that you're kinda like me. Y'know, you're more of a hands on kinda learner and I'm a more hands on kinda teacher."

He was definitely doing this on purpose. There was no way he was saying this stuff without realising that he was also meaning it sexually too. Maybe he wasn't as innocent as she thought he was.

"O-okay."

He repositioned her hands on the club, placing his own over hers. Juvia's face glowed as she felt him close the gap between the two of them. She could feel his every muscle through her dress and his breath lightly puffed on her ear. She almost melted in his arms, but she managed to stay strong.

"Okay, so move your legs to about here...When you swing, you've got to make sure your arms are like this and then swing up to here...and then..."

He helped her swing and the ball went hurtling into a far away hole, giving her three points. She grinned and let go of the club, immediately turned around to hug him tight. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and she pulled him closely.

"Thank you! That was so good! Juvia takes everything bad that she said about Natsu back!"

She felt him wrap his arms around her waist and she felt a little tug on her wrist. She looked at her red string to see it tightening a little bit and she wondered what that meant. Still, she let herself indulge in the hug a little before pulling away. Natsu tugged her forward, making her fall into him again.

"Just a few more seconds."

Juvia couldn't believe her ears. Did Natsu really want to hug her for so long?

"Is Natsu okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he breathed into her ear. When he finally pulled away, he shot her a panty dropping grin. "I just really like hugging. Anyway, we should get back to the game. You're winning right now and I don't like that."

Juvia snickered before a waiter showed up. "Here's the food you ordered. Will you be paying by cash or card?"

"Cash. Here ya go."

Natsu handed over the cash and Juvia felt uncomfortable yet again as he paid for her. Still, she was excited to drink the purple rain that she had ordered.

"It's a shame that Happy-chan had to leave before the food arrived. Juvia knows that he would have been super excited for it."

Natsu shrugged as he bit into a chicken wing. "All the more for us, dig in!"

Juvia laughed at the way he stuffed his mouth and decided to do as he said. It was a very good thing that Happy wasn't here.

~x~

"The second game was really close, but even you weren't a match for me. Still, I guess you were only good because of my demonstration."

Natsu wriggled his eyebrows at Juvia who blushed at the memory. She still couldn't believe that he had done that and she became abashed.

"Whatever, Juvia didn't know that Natsu was such a show off."

"Yeah right, I always show off with Gray. Anyway, let's head to that dessert place that you wanted to go to earlier. After all that food, I want something sweet."

Out of nowhere, he grabbed Juvia's hand in his as they started walking. The water mage couldn't help but look up at him, flabbergasted by his actions. She knew that Natsu was a very touchy person, but that was usually with Luce and usually because he was doing something rash, like running on an S-class job that he had just stolen. Right now, he had consciously taken her hand into his and they were slowly walking.

"Natsu?" She questioned him. He glanced down at her and smiled with a shrug.

"There's a lot of people out and about right now, I don't wanna lose you in the crowd."

That was a poor excuse as it wasn't really that busy, but that didn't stop the dreamy smile that crawled up on her lips. She knew that Natsu would have rough hands, but she never realised just how big they would be in comparison to hers.

"It's more in the town centre, so it will take us a while to get there from here. We don't have to take a carriage, Juvia knows how much it will upset your stomach."

Natsu looked queasy just at the thought of it, but he shook his head. "No, it's your day. We can get on it if you want. I won't mind."

His voice cracked at the end and Juvia couldn't help herself as she giggled. "It's so funny that you dragon slayers utilise this great lost magic, but it comes at the price of not being able to go on transport. It's so funny to Juvia."

"Ha ha ha, I'm laughing hard."

That set Juvia off again and she leaned forward and held her stomach from laughing so hard. She missed the look on Natsu's face as he was watching her fondly.

When she finally stopped laughing, she stood up straight with a wide grin that he couldn't help but mirror. "But honestly, Juvia is very happy to walk. Juvia is used to it at this point. Gajeel-kun is actually a huge whiner, so to get him to stop, Juvia just walks with him."

Natsu nodded his head. "That's nice of you, but what else was I expecting?"

Juvia raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"It means that you're a really nice person and that I shouldn't have expected less from you. It's why I agreed to 'distract' you today. You hid your birthday from all of us after all this time, yet you're the first to bake a cake for everyone else and help plan a party. I also knew that you're the one who made me that Igneel plushie when it was my birthday. Really good detailing by the way. I'm guessing you saw him when he...came flying outta me?"

Juvia ducked her head as she nodded. "Y-yes. How did you know it was from Juvia?"

"Lucy mentioned how you used ta sew teru teru bozu dolls, so I kinda put two and two together. That and I could smell your scent on it. It's why I always know who my secret santa is."

He gave her a toothy grin as she smiled back. At this point, Juvia didn't need to have a birthday party. She was more than content with what she had done with Natsu. She got to spend a whole day with him and even though he wasn't her soulmate, she got to spend the day with him before she went on to find whoever is her soulmate.

"Juvia really wishes that it could be Natsu, but Juvia doubts it. Besides, Juvia would have seen the string connecting us by now."

She didn't actually know how quickly one's soulmate was made known to them, but she had been hanging out with Natsu for a whole day. Surely she would have seen if it was him or not. She was going to go with not.

They spoke about anything and everything they could think of and Juvia was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't an awkward moment between the two of them. The two of them had never been alone together and she had been scared that they would run out of topics, but they hadn't.

They finally got to their location and Juvia dragged Natsu inside. "This dessert is called bingsoo! Juvia thinks it's from Caelum, she's not too sure. It's almost like a snow cone and you add whatever toppings you want! Sounds good right?"

"You sound really excited about it."

She smiled with a nod. "Juvia loves sweet things, so Juvia can't wait to try this."

They waited in the queue for their turn as they both stared up at the board that had the menu. "It sounds good if you think it sounds good."

It was comments like that that had Juvia wanting to swoon. Every time he said something thoughtful like that, she felt like her heart was getting pierced by cupid. It made it seem like she actually had a chance with him.

"Natsu is so nice. Juvia would have never known."

She caught his eye as he shrugged. "We've never really hung out together, so I can't blame you for not really knowing me well enough. But I don't really know you either, other than you're in love with Gray."

Juvia hid her face in his arm as Natsu laughed. "Natsu! Don't bring that up, that is so embarrassing! And it's also wrong information. Juvia doesn't love Gray, not anymore. Juvia wonders if she ever did in the way that she thinks she did."

"Oh really?"

She was definitely hearing things. She looked up at him as he sounded too hopeful when he asked her that question. Still, she ignored it and continued.

"Yes, really. Maybe Juvia just took her gratitude a bit too far."

"Gray said you found him hot before you even spoke to him. Is he your type?"

Juvia could feel the panic rising from inside her. This wasn't going to go down well if she said that he was. If anything, she didn't really have a type. Bora and Gray couldn't have been any different.

"No, Juvia doesn't have a type. Juvia just liked guys who gave her attention. Sad, isn't it?"

Before Natsu could speak, they were at the front of the queue.

"Hello, are you ready to order?"

Juvia stood up straight, trying to let go of the depressing tone that they had decided to take and she nodded while pointing.

"Juvia would like a medium sized strawberry bingsoo please."

"And I would like the large chocolate one please!"

The cashier nodded. "Coming right up. Cash or card?"

"Cash."

Juvia had gotten used to Natsu paying in wads of cash and she remembered him saying that he never really took his jewels to the bank to be deposited. He kept his money on him at home. It just seemed so him.

"You guys look so cute together."

Juvia's cheeks tinted and as she was about to correct her, Natsu squeezed her hand that he was still holding and nodded his head.

"Thanks."

They were given a buzzer and told that when it buzzed, they would be able to collect their food. Finally, the two of them let go of each other's hands as they went to go and find a place to sit. Juvia found a nice little booth for just the two of them. She slipped in on one side and Natsu slipped in opposite her. In her mind, Juvia thought that it would be cute if the two of them were on a date. Speaking of which...

"Why didn't you correct that woman when she said that we're a cute couple?"

Natsu gave her a one shouldered shrug. "We were holding hands, we would look like lunatics if we said we're not one. Besides, I think we would look good together, don't you?"

Juvia's mind came grinding to a halt as she just blinked blankly. Was he seriously asking her that question? She didn't even know if she could form an answer as she tried her best to think of a way to say yes but. In the end, she gave up and just nodded meekly.

"Ano, yes..."

And the smile that he gave her was blinding. Juvia had seen Natsu happy before, everyone had. But there was something about this smile that just took her breath away. It lit up the darkest corners of the Earth and it made her heart light knowing that she was the one who caused it. Her heart thumped at the sight of seeing Natsu be happy that she agrees with him on them being a cute couple.

"Hey Juves? I've always wanted to ask you something. Do you believe in the red string?"

Her head popped up and at the same time, the buzzer for their food went off, causing the pair of them to jump. Natsu muttered a low "fuck" before shuffling out. Juvia went to shuffle out of the booth too, but he stopped her with a smirk.

"I've got this, birthday girl. You just sit tight."

Juvia slowly nodded as she sat back down. Natsu was doing crazy things to her body right now. The way he looked at her, the way he was smiling. His words, his voice. Now he was asking her if she believed in the red string. For him to even know about it meant that he did too, right? Or maybe it was something that he heard in passing and he wanted to ask her about it.

"That has to be it, right? There's no way that Natsu really believes in it and even if he did, it's not like we're soulmates...right?"

Soon, Natsu was back with a tray and their desserts were sitting on it. Juvia marvelled at the sight of the bingsoo and found herself licking her lips. Unbeknownst to her, Natsu was watching her lick her lips and he found himself wanting a bite of her instead of the dessert.

"This looks so good!"

Natsu hummed in agreement, but he wasn't looking at the food in front of him. He was still staring over at Juvia. His eyes trailed from her face and went downwards. He grinned to himself when he saw the outfit that she was wearing. It was her usual winter wear and he wanted to laugh at how she'll never change.

"Oh, but to answer Natsu's question, Juvia does believe in the red string. Juvia would have never thought that Natsu would believe in it too. Does that mean you can see yours?"

He nodded his head and Juvia could have sworn that she saw relief in his eyes. "Yeah, I've been able to see it since I was 18. Luce doesn't believe in it and neither does Erza. I never even asked the ice bastard if he did cos he doesn't look like the sort. I knew I could count on you."

"He has got to stop saying stuff that makes Juvia melt. Juvia will become a puddle very soon!"

"Juvia has never really discussed it with anyone. Juvia believed and she really hoped it was real from this morning. However, Juvia can't see where it leads to. Juvia was originally going to spend the whole day trying to see how far she could get by trying to find who was on the other end of it, but Juvia is enjoying her day with Natsu a lot more."

As Juvia spoke, she could have sworn that she saw a certain level of sadness creep into Natsu's eyes when she mentioned that she couldn't untangle her red string to see who was on the other end of it, but he brightened up when she spoke about how much she was enjoying her day with him. Juvia didn't want to ever upset him. He had done so much for her on her special day, she couldn't let him down.

"Does Natsu know who is at the end of his string?"

He hesitated before nodding and slipping a spoonful of bingsoo into his mouth. His eyes widened in delight as he pointed down at the sweet treat with his spoon.

"This is good! You gotta try yours."

His eyes were on her like a hawk as she placed the spoon in her small mouth. The way she hummed in pleasure sparked up something in the dragon slayer sitting opposite her. She licked the strawberry sauce off of the spoon with little kitten licks and Natsu shifted in his seat to make himself more comfortable.

"Wow, this is good! Super cold though, Juvia wasn't expecting that. But Juvia is jealous that you know who's at the end of your string. Juvia is desperate to know now."

"Are you hoping it's anyone? Like Gray?"

Juvia made a face that showed that her answer was no. "No, not Gray. Juvia hasn't liked Gray in that way for ages now, you know this. There is someone who has caught Juvia's eye, but Juvia is positive he doesn't like her."

Natsu looked taken aback. "What, why?! Who wouldn't want you?!"

Juvia smiled sadly. "Like Juvia mentioned before, Juvia went for guys who gave her the smallest bit of attention because she was desperate for it. Because of this, people think that Juvia is this obsessive girl who pines after anyone. They're not wrong though, Juvia's past behaviour warranted that reaction from everyone, so she can't blame them. It's a hard reputation to shake off as not many believe that Juvia has changed. That means romantically, Juvia has screwed herself over."

Natsu shook his head, not buying into it for a second. "I don't believe that at all. I don't think of you in that way. Not everyone thinks of you in that way and I'm sure that the guy at the end of your string doesn't see you like that as well. You're so thoughtful, kind, strong and assertive. You give a good fight and you cook like a fucking god. Any guy would be nuts to pass you up."

To hear all those words coming from Natsu, nothing else seemed to matter. Juvia could get murdered here and she would die happy, just knowing that Natsu thought that way about her. However, it also let her know that Natsu isn't her soulmate. He would have said something by now. Still, they were words that she loved to hear from him.

To stop herself from blushing too hard, she shoved so much bingsoo in her mouth and ended up cringing hard. Natsu laughed and leaned across the table as she whined from the brain freeze. She couldn't believe that she was continually embarrassing herself in front of Natsu! What did she do to deserve this?

"Here, I'll take it away."

Before she knew it, his hands came in contact with the sides of her head and he transferred his heat from his hands to her head. She stared deeply into his eyes as he stared back in silence. They were in their own little world as they ignored everything around them. It was just the two of them. Natsu found himself leaning forward, staring down at her lips before he shook his head and removed his hands. Juvia came back to reality as well as they both remembered exactly where they are.

"How does it feel?"

Juvia averted her gaze. "It's all good now. Th-thank you."

Natsu also stared down at his bingsoo with a blush on his face, something that rarely ever happened. "That's good to know. Well, once we finish this, I better drop you off home to get ready for the party. It's almost time."

Juvia nodded, still unable to look him in the eyes. "Juvia needs to shower. She smells like fish."

Despite the embarrassing moment, the two of them still found themselves holding each other's hands when they left the cafe.

Juvia was wearing a similar dress to the one that she had shown up to the casino that team Natsu were in that night when Erza got captured. The only difference was that it was glittery and instead of a Fairy Tail necklace that had accompanied the other dress, this one was accessorised with a blue gem in the shape of a flame. She had found the present on her doorstep when Natsu had dropped her off. There was a note inside, but the person hadn't signed it.

She had picked up the box, staring at it from all angles and Natsu was looking at it curiously from over her shoulder. She quickly opened it, mentally praising whoever wrapped it as it was done so beautifully. She let out a soft gasp when she moved the wrapping paper to see what it was.

It was simple, but beautiful. A blue gem in the shape of a flame.

"Are you going to wear it?"

She had almost forgotten that Natsu was there as she had been staring at the necklace in awe. What made her deserve such a present? "Yes, Juvia will. This is a really nice gift and Juvia wishes that she could thank the person who got it for her. Can you help Juvia put it on please?"

Natsu had smiled at her and nodded. She handed him the beautiful piece of jewellery as she turned around and moved her hair out of the way. She could feel how close he was to her, his fire magic burning through her as well. She couldn't help but feel shy as his hands came forward and the cold metal touched her neck.

"It suits you," he said softly when she turned back around to face him. She blushed and thanked him before looking down into the box and seeing a note. Whoever had gotten her the necklace also wanted for them to meet up with her on a cliff after she had cut the cake tonight at her party. She sagged a little bit, knowing that it wouldn't be from Natsu, but she was determined to find out whether or not this person was her soulmate.

"I should let you get ready. I'll see you later, okay?"

Juvia looked back up to see Natsu's soft gaze on hers. She nodded and thanked him for the day yet again before she headed inside.

She straightened her hair, wore the beautiful necklace that gleamed in the light and she was surprised to know that it also had tints of red whenever it was in the right angle. It must have cost whoever bought it for her an absolute fortune. It was her mission to find out who bought it for her. They were clearly from a member of the guild, so that narrowed down her search.

She shivered at a certain thought. "Unless it was Lyon."

She made her way to the guild by herself, passing many people who complimented her and men who swooned. She was a smiling mess the whole entire way, but their words didn't matter. If she heard the same words from Natsu's lips, she would combust on the spot.

She stood outside the guild doors and braced herself. She pushed open the door and everyone started cheering, popping party poppers and so on, all screaming "SURPRISE!" In her face.

Although she had been expecting it, it really caught her off guard how well they had decorated the place. It was all water themed with many water fountains and the place had different shades of blue all around. Juvia's eyes lit up in delight just knowing that they had done this for her. She was touched as she felt a tear roll down her face, but she quickly wiped it.

"Thank you so much! It's so beautiful, you guys must have worked so hard on this."

Her eyes found her friends who had been in charge of the planning as they came forward and gave her a tight hug. She was so grateful to have friends like Lucy and Lisanna. Sometimes, she wondered what she did to deserve such an amazing guild.

"Anything for an amazing friend! Come on, come and eat!"

Everyone came forward, telling her happy birthday, showering her with love and care and even gifts. She was told she was beautiful and drinks were thrust into her hands as everyone sang happy birthday. Juvia was giddy from the overwhelming love and joy she could feel from everyone. Just why didn't she tell them earlier when her birthday was? She was always the one who was happy to bake people a cake like Natsu said, give gifts and make the birthday celebrant happy. She had always shied away from being in the spotlight. Natsu was right, she deserves this for once.

She gasped silently as she looked around, looking for the one person who had made her feel worthy of celebrating her birthday. She found him talking to Gray and he seemed to be looking up at the same time that she saw him. He grinned and waved at her and she shyly waved at him.

"Kami, you are so obvious!"

Juvia jumped as she saw Lisanna and Lucy smirking at her. She blushed as she averted her eyes from them. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Honestly, you hid it really well. I say that because you did a whole 180 with how you acted with Gray, so it was a big surprise when we finally realised that you like Natsu."

Juvia groaned at Lisanna's words. Lucy patted her back. "No honey, don't be embarrassed! We think it's cute! I think you guys will definitely suit each other!"

Juvia looked up in surprise at her two friends who were smiling warmly at her. "Really? You think that we would be a good couple?"

Lisanna laughed. "Yes! You guys are more alike than you think, but also very similar. I don't think you realise how calm Natsu is around you. You enable his craziness, but you also know how to deal with it when it gets out of hand."

"And when you come on jobs with us, you minimise the amount of damage taken. Admit it Juvia, you're the only one for him. You need a guy who's not shy to show you just how much he likes you. You need fire in your life."

Juvia didn't know what to say. She was amazed that her friends had been able to see through her, but she appreciated it. She was glad that it didn't seem too weird that she liked Natsu. She hugged the two girls again before Mira and Erza called her over to come and cut the cake.

She remembered the note that came with her necklace and told Lucy and Lisanna about it. The two girls nodded.

"We'll distract everyone and then you can go, okay?"

Juvia could honestly burst into tears right now, she really does have amazing friends. "Thank you. Juvia doesn't know what she'll do without you guys."

~x~

She managed to slip out of the party after she had cut the cake and was heading towards where the note had told her to meet. Lisanna and Lucy had done a very good job in creating a distraction for her to leave. She felt her heart pounding in anticipation as she drew nearer. The whole night, her string was slowly tightening, as if tugging her towards her soulmate. She could no longer ignore the call and the grand finale to her wild goose chase finally coming to an end.

She was finally on the cliff, staring at the back of a man who had a blanket laid out on the floor. He turned around once he could sense her presence and he grinned widely as she tried to calm her stuttering heart. There was just no way he was here!

"N-Natsu..."

"You took your time. I was waiting for you."

Juvia knew that he wasn't talking about the time she took to get to the cliff, because she had gotten there on time, if not earlier. She glanced down at her wrist and gasped slightly when she saw that it was now pulsing a strong red colour. When she followed it with her eyes, she saw that it was attached directly to Natsu's wrist. She rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't seeing things. It was still there, attached to Natsu's wrist and he was grinning at her.

"What the-"

"We bonded, so it finally tightened through the mess of all the people when you were trying to find me. I'm glad it did, I've been waiting for you."

Juvia couldn't help herself as her eyes filled up with tears. Natsu approached her as he held open his arms for her.

"I hope you're not disappointed with me."

She fell into them immediately with a laugh and tears in her eyes. Was this all real right now? "Disappointed? Juvia is delighted! All day, Juvia has been hoping that it would be you and now that it is...Juvia couldn't be any happier."

Natsu smirked as he hugged her close to his body. "Oh really? You wanted it to be me?"

Juvia nodded as she snuggled into his chest. She loved the way his fire magic made her feel. His warmth spread throughout her body and she felt as if she were on fire, but she loved it.

"Yes. Juvia has liked Natsu for some time now. But enough about that, when did you even get the time to plant the necklace and the note?"

"You know when Happy left? I got him to do it for me. I had to pay him in so much fish so that he couldn't tease me all day about how much I like you."

Juvia couldn't help herself as she threw her head back and laughed at what he had just said. Her heart was full of so much love that she couldn't help herself.

"You really had this all planned, didn't you?"

"Yup! I was so excited when Lisanna and Luce told me that I got to be your distraction for the day. I was wondering if Happy told them about my feelings for you."

Juvia shook her head. "Nope, but they knew how much Juvia liked you and Juvia guessed that was their fuel. We're both a mess. But what's the blanket for?"

He pulled away from her, but he reached out for her hand instead. He sat down on the blanket and pulled her down into his lap. She yelped before laughing when she landed. His arms were wrapped around her waist nicely as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Luce kept going on and on about how there's gonna be a meteor shower tonight. Everyone was gonna watch it at the guild, but I wanted it to just be the two of us. I know they're definitely looking for you. After all, you are the main star for tonight."

Natsu cackled and Juvia shook her head with a smile at his antics. She turned her head to face him and she summoned all the courage she needed in order to plant a soft kiss on his cheek. She did so, her plump lips leaving an angel's touch. She watched as it was his turn to be the one blushing. She giggled at how cute he looked, as if his mind had short circuited. She decided to do it again which deepened the blush, making her laugh harder.

"It's not funny!"

"But it is! Juvia can see why you constantly try and make Juvia blush! It's so cute!"

Before she could tease him some more, he grabbed her chin, turned her head and placed a quick kiss on her lips. Her eyes widened as she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. As he laughed at her stunned look, he was immediately silenced by Juvia's lips. Her lips lingered on his and he realised that this wasn't a peck. He wove his hands into her hair as she placed a hand on his cheek, holding him even closer to her.

They were interrupted by a bright light and turned their head to watch the meteor shower above them. They stared up in awe as Natsu moved his arm around Juvia's waist. He moved his eyes to watch Juvia staring up at the sky, a serene smile on her face. He couldn't help himself as he kissed her temple.

"Happy birthday, Juvia."

The water mage pulled her eyes away from the sky and giggled softly before leaning back into his chest, his fire giving her warmth. "Thank you, Natsu. You made it one that Juvia can never forget."

Natsu grinned as they stared up at the sky together, their red string pulsing gently on their wrists. They had finally found each other.