~Gajeel~

“Wake up, Gajeel!” Natsu snapped, kicking me off the sofa.

“What the hell?!” I growled, getting to my feet as he cackled like an idiot.

“We’re meeting Gray, Bixlow, and Elfman for burgers in an hour, so get dressed,” he said, heading towards the kitchen with Happy on his heels.

“You couldn’t have just told me that?” I grumbled, throwing on a pair of black jeans and a green T-shirt.

“Alright,” Natsu grinned, waiting for me to put on my boots once he had returned, “I fed Happy. You ready?”

“Yeah,” I grunted, following him to his car.

We rode in silence for a few minutes, listening to the radio. When he suddenly shut it off, I frowned over at him. “So,” he began, and I immediately knew where he was going.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I grumbled, regretting I had ever told him about my damned countdown clock.

“It’s at zero, Gajeel,” he said, “and you don’t remember when it got there. That also means you don’t remember your soulmate—and she probably doesn’t remember you. What if there’s a girl out there walking around with her clock at zero, thinking she’s all alone? Don’t you think she deserves to know you’re her soulmate?”

I crossed my arms. “That doesn’t matter, because it’s been almost ten years. She’s long gone by now; I’ll never find her.”Besides, I’m not sure I really  to find her.Finding my real soulmate would mean leaving Levy, and I couldn’t do that. At least not until she finds her soulmate.

Natsu frowned as if he were in thought, so I sighed. “What is it, Salamander?”

“Well, what if there was a way of finding her?” He asked. “Since the countdown clocks are linked together, maybe there’s a way of tracking the clock linked to yours.”

“Sounds pretty far-fetched,” I snorted.

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “I could ask dad about it if you want?” Natsu’s father, Igneel Dragneel, worked for the government, monitoring the countdown clocks and making sure they were running correctly.

“It’s fine,” I told him. “I’ve lived with it this way for my entire life, so it’s not a big deal. Just leave it alone.”

Natsu sighed. “Whatever you say.”

“Whose dumb idea was it to get burgers in the middle of the day, anyways?” I asked, knowing that changing the subject to food would distract him from me and my clock..

“Elfman,” Natsu chuckled, “He called this morning and said he was in the mood for some man food, and told me to get your lazy ass out of bed and meet him there. Gray and Bixlow had already agreed, so I figured we might as well go too.”

“His soulmate’s probably there,” I commented, dryly. “Why else would he want to go so damned badly?”

“Probably,” he nodded. “Bixlow’s going to have a field day if she is.”

“That almost makes it worth waking up so early,” I snickered.

“It’s noon,” Natsu frowned.

“It’s Saturday,” I retorted. “That’s too damn early on a Saturday.”

He rolled his eyes and parked the car. “Well, come on, then.”

“’Bout time you two got here,” Gray called, waving us over to the table where he, Elfman, and Bixlow were sitting.

“Not everyone wakes up at the crack of down,” I growled, shoving him over as I scooted into the large circle-booth.

“How’s the big guy?” Natsu asked, pointing to Elfman. He was sitting on the edge of the booth, looking around nervously as he searched for someone.

“He’s been all jittery since we got here,” Gray said.

“He’s acting like a woman,” Bixlow snickered, “gettin’ all nervous.”

“Shut up!” Elfman shot at him. “It’s big deal.”

“I bet you’ll be pissing yourself next week when you meet yours,” I smirked, laughing as he cursed and threw his silverware at me.

“One minute, three seconds,” Elfman said, standing. “I’m going to go buy a milkshake.”

“The waiter will be here in a little bit,” I frowned. He shook his head, walking over to the ordering counter. “Those damned clocks make people act crazy,” I grumbled.

“They’re linked to your brain, urging you to go wherever your soulmate is. You really can’t control it,” Natsu said. Since he was the only one of us who had met his soulmate, I nodded, figuring he was right about the reaction.

“Look, I bet that’s her,” Gray said, pointing to a woman behind the counter. She was watching her clock as she walked towards Elfman, her brows furrowed under her green glasses.

“She’s hot,” Bixlow commented, causing the three of us to roll our eyes at him—despite the fact that it was the truth. She had golden hair that hung down her back in the ponytail she had it tied in, and her face was quite pretty.

“H-Hi,” Elfman said, getting her attention.

She looked up from her clock, her eyes widening when they met Elfman’s. “Oh,” she breathed, her cheeks turning a light pink.

“I’m Elfman,” he told her, holding out his hand, “Elfman Strauss.”

“Evergreen,” she smiled, taking his hand. “So, I guess you’re it, huh?”

“I guess so,” he grinned, scratching the back of his head. I ignored Bixlow’s exaggerated gagging noises from beside me as I watched the two of them.

“So,” she said, crossing her arms, “what now?”

Elfman shrugged. “Want to go to the movies with me sometime?”

Her lips twitched up in a smile. “How’s Monday night sound? You can pick me up here around seven.”

“Great,” Elfman beamed. He returned to our table when she was called away by another customer.

“So…” Bixlow smirked as Elfman sat down. “Seems like things went well.”

“We’re going out on Monday,” was all he offered, picking up his menu and staring at it intently.

I exchanged a look with Gray before bursting into laughter. Who knew a guy the size of Elfman would turn to mush just from meeting their soulmate? The brute had a stupid, childish grin on his face the rest of the afternoon, and he kept staring off into space as he watched his soulmate work.

“You comin’ or what?” I asked as we all headed to our cars and he lingered behind.

“I think I’ll stay a little longer,” he said. “Catch you guys later.”

“Whatever,” I shrugged. “See ya.”

“That Evergreen must be somethin’,” I told Natsu as we lounged on his sofa, picking up on the game where we had left off the night before.

“What do you mean?” Natsu asked, shooting Bixlow in the back and laughing as he yelled cursed through the headset.

“You saw how Elfman was around her,” I said. “I can’t imagine many people being able to make a brute like him look like a sappy idiot.”

“Who she is doesn’t really have anything to do with it,” Natsu shrugged. “Honestly, it’s because of the soulmate thing. Your best match is someone who brings out the best in you, parts of yourself come out that you didn’t even realize were there. Your soulmate becomes your everything, and you want to do anything in your power to make sure they are happy—and the same thing goes for your soulmate. So, it’s not that she has some kind of special personality that makes him act like that, it’s because she’s his soulmate. It’s that simple.”

“It’s weird,” I frowned.

“I think you’re just jaded,” Natsu smirked.

“Shut up,” I growled, shooting him in the game. “I don’t care about any of that stupid soulmate crap.”

“I bet you would if Levy’s numbers matched yours!” Bixlow shouted through the headset.

“Bastard,” I grumbled, unable to deny it.

Natsu gave me a meaningful look, and I tried to ignore the pity I saw on his face. He knew mine and Levy’s numbers could never be the same. I was at zero after all, and she still had plenty of time left on hers.