Gray was in quite a predicament.

"SIR GRAAYYYYYYY~!"

Yes. A predicament indeed.

See, it wasn't every day a palace guard such as himself was chased down by a lovesick Princess. In all honesty, it wasn't all that bad, seeing as how the Princess was hot despite her atypicala blue hair and her slightly-too-ample bosom. Still, it was scary as heck that there was a practically rabid girl chasing him down. If she would just calm down and give him the chance to slow down and take it all in...

"GRAAYYYYY, COME BACKK!"

On second thought...

Gray, in his panic, didn't notice the ominous look of the mountain he was steadily approaching; rather, the darkness of the cave was inviting compared to... to...

He glanced behind him. Juvia was steadily gaining on him. Without really thinking, he plunged into the cave.

His hopes of being lost in a labyrinth of tunnels were quickly dashed when he found that the cave was actually a single tunnel curving inwards upon itself. Gray glanced nervously behind him, aware that Juvia could be rounding the corner any second. Turning around, he slowly floated backwards deeper into the cave, his eyes wide open and his pulse pounding...

"Hello there, Gray."

He froze.

Slowly, Gray turned to see a small mer-child with large, inquisitive eyes and long, pale hair that floated down, almost ethereal, down her back. He let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding and straightened his back.

"Are you... lost?" He glanced down at her. She was really quite small in stature, nothing intimidating about her at all. Then he frowned. "Ah... how did you know my name?'

"That's not the matter at hand here," the girl said, waving him off and turning towards one of the large shelves that lined the cavern walls. "What is the matter at hand here is the fact that I'm bored, and you..." She turned to smile coyly at him as she snatched a bottle off the shelf. "You could use my help."

"Help...?" Gray eyed the bottle. Was it just him, or was it... glowing? "I... I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, I think you do," her smirk grew into an almost sadistic smile, her eyes narrowed and glinting with excitement. "And I knew this would happen. Which is why I sent word to the King and Queen of the nearby Upper Realm."

"The Upper Realms?" Gray's eyes narrowed, and his hands twitched, fervently wishing that he had his spear with him, or something, anything... the Upper Realms were a taboo topic in the Underwater Kingdom. "What does a child like you know about the Upper Realms?"

"More than you," the girl scoffed. "And please, don't try to act pretentious."

"What-" Gray gave a start, but was cut off by the dangerously near sound of Juvia calling his name. The sound bounced about the walls of the cavern; Mavis smiled knowingly at Gray, who gulped.

"Oh, and I need you to pass something along for me, as a little favor in return..."

Moments later, Juvia swam into the dimly-lit cavern, only to find nothing but a queer disarray of items upon several shelves and a small mer-girl surrounded by an eerie glow that was quickly fading.

"Excuse me," she said gently, trying to hide the disappointment on her face. "But, have you seen a handsome, dark-haired, tall, dreamy guard by chance?"

"Oh, I have," the girl chirped happily. Her eyes shone mysteriously; her tone was enigmatic.

Juvia felt a sudden wave of unease. "You wouldn't happen to know what happened to him, would you?"

"I do," the peculiar little girl sang out just as easily, giving Juvia a satisfied grin. "He went off to run an errand for me."

____________________________

Nothing had ever been harder for Lucy to accept than the fact that, in this world, Natsu's mother was Erza Scarlet.

Actually, that wasn't quite accurate because Natsu's father in this world was Jellal Fernandes (which was almost equally unbelievable), and therefore, Natsu's mother was Erza Fernandes. And really, that minor change didn't make things any easier to accept because Erza barely looked any older than her (though grudgingly, Lucy had to admit that Erza's assets were a lot more mature).

"C'monn," Natsu was whining, his voice breaking into Lucy's thoughts. "I really don't want to get married to Gray." He grabbed her arm and tugged on it.

Lucy blinked and looked at Natsu and his adorably large puppy dog eyes. He fluttered his long eyelashes for a good measure, taking advantage of his newfound cuteness. Lucy scoffed. "Don't think you can use that trick on me, I invented- wait, what?" She stopped herself mid-sentence (at the same time shifting the cloth around her waist that was much too short so that it covered her lower body properly). "What do I have to do with you not having to marry Gray?" (Here, Lucy decided to take back her earlier thought: Gray marrying Natsu was way weirder than Erza being Natsu's mother.)

He looked at her in shock, his round lips parted in a delicate O and his eyes wide. She bit down on her lower lip, trying to fight back the barrage of thoughts that had suddenly begun to torment her: did Natsu really... think of her like that?

No.

No, she wouldn't allow herself to even hope-!

"I mean," Natsu spoke again, making a bizarre face, "we need to get married to escape this chapter, right?"

Lucy coughed awkwardly, wrinkling her nose at the sudden painful stab in her chest. "I... I don't know, to be honest. There are a lot of versions of this tale."

"Oh. Well then." Natsu turned around, his feet shuffling in the sand, his steps somehow more sluggish than usual. Lucy, her gaze averted to the quiet waves lapping at the beach as she trailed behind him, didn't notice.

There was another moment of awkward silence (which was extremely uncharacteristic of Natsu, but Lucy was a bit preoccupied with her own thoughts to really think much of it) before Natsu's pace picked up and he began dragging her by her wrist. It was a strange sensation- his fingers were soft and slender and had trouble wrapping around Lucy's larger and muscular forearm. Lucy let out a deep chuckle, all the while marveling at the alien change in voice. Mavis was really one crazy girl...

Lucy glanced at Natsu's torn dress as it rode up her legs and revealed his (her) slender, tan thighs. She quickly looked away, feeling an uncanny sensation deep in her belly.

Yup. Mavis was definitely insane.

___________________________

What the hell was wrong with him?!

A moment's consideration was all it took- it was definitely the boobs. Natsu glared irritably at his bouncing chest as he and the now-ridiculously-buff Lucy hiked back up the cliff path towards the castle. His chest was squeezing uncomfortably, and yet it wasn't in an unpleasant way. His heartbeat was picking up, although Natsu couldn't tell if it was from the effort spent going back up the cliff or if it was something else. His small fingers clenched tighter around Lucy's wrist.

Aggravatingly enough, his new feminine mind decided to remind him of several moments from past chapters, the most prominent ones being the moment his moment of confidence from the last chapter when he had been confident about marrying Lucy, the time he had licked her face clean of jam and how warm and flushed her cheeks had been and...

...the near-kiss with Lucy last chapter.

Come to think of it, why had he been so ready to kiss her? That wasn't normal, was it? Quite frankly, Natsu would have done it if it were a mission, but a kiss... wasn't Lucy always saying stuff about how first kisses were something special and were to be reserved for only people who were special?

But Lucy was special to him. So why was he feeling so weird?

Natsu glanced at his hand encircling Lucy's wrist and then felt that weird twisting feeling in his chest again. Quickly, he dragged Lucy up the last couple of steps of the path and released her.

"Natsu? Are you okay?"

He looked at her. As a man, Lucy had a particularly strong face. She had the same expressive eyes, and yet something was different about her. It wasn't just the cropped hair or the broad chest, and it wasn't the deep voice either. Something...

His chest thumped.

Natsu scowled, attempting to shake away those thoughts. After all, it was probably just the change of gender. Something about being a girl was obviously messing with his head, more so than the spell of the book itself usually did. "C'mon, let's go see Erza."

__________________________

Gray woke up with a pounding headache and a constricting tightness around his chest. There was a loud bump, and then another...

He sat up. Was he moving? Gray gave the space around him an incredulous eye; he was surrounded every which way by pillows and cushions, each of them varying shades of pink. Enclosed, small... it reminded him of one of the royal sea carriages except...

He blinked. Was this a land carriage? So they had those, too?

Gray excitedly pushed aside a fuchsia curtain to peer outside. Despite all the warnings from King Makarov and Sergeant Laxus about the Upper Realms, the scenery was breathtaking. Not as beautiful as the vivid colors of the Underwater but a sight to behold nonetheless. There were patches of ligneous brown, straight coral that seemed to erupt everywhere and sprouted green algae from the tips. The ocean was sparkling in the glare of the sun, and Gray found himself staring.

Suddenly, the carriage came to an abrupt halt, and his chest slammed against the wall of the land-carriage, inches from falling out of the window. He grimaced in pain, suddenly aware of a new sensation...

Gray slowly looked down and screamed.

A high-pitched girly scream.

_________________________
"Errzzaaa!" Natsu burst through the dining hall doors.

"Natsu!" Erza sat up from her place at the long oaken table, clearly already annoyed and incensed by the sudden intrusion. "What do you think you're-?"

"Calm down, honey," Jellal soothed Erza, gently tugging her back to seated position, and shot Natsu a disapproving glance as the Princess entered the dining hall. "Natsu, dear, we are in the middle of a very important discussion with the rulers of the neighboring country. As you can see," the navy-haired man gestured at an ornate mirror propped up on the table. It gave off a light shimmer, slightly distorting the air around it. Natsu regarded it with contempt- he hated not having magic. As if being a girl weren't bad enough!

"But this is more important," Natsu whined.

"More important?" Jellal's eyebrows furrowed. "How could it-"

"C'mon out, Lucy!"

Lucy emerged, peeking shyly from around the corner and then clearing her throat and striding forward. She was supposed to be a man, after all. Might as well try to be more confident...

She came to a stop next to Natsu and elbowed him lightly. "Lucy?" She hissed through clenched teeth. "That's hardly a guy's name!"

He shrugged, his long hair bouncing ever so slightly with the movement. "Oops?"

Jellal and Erza stared. Lucy grinned nervously and extended a hand. It was quite atypical, seeing Jellal like this (or at all), but... "Hello, Your Majesty," she said, trying not to wince when her deep voice threatened to crack. Jellal was still a stranger to her, really, and it was weird to be addressing him with such formality. Still, everyone here but Natsu was a stranger. Even Erza...

She looked at the older red-haired woman, who was regarding Lucy strangely. "Ah... You as well, Your Highness."

"Are you Gray Fullbuster?" Erza demanded, and Lucy realized that the Erza of this world had yet to meet Gray, and that the weird look she was being given was a look of speculation. Lucy suddenly felt very, very conscious of the fact that the only cover she had on was a scrap of pink cloth around her waist that covered her crotch.

"W-what?" Lucy squeaked, cleared her throat, and repeated in a voice deeper than necessary, "No. I'm not. Didn't Natsu just tell you that my name was Lucy?"

"Good." Erza nodded solemnly, ignoring her. "I wouldn't want my daughter to be married to a stripper like you, anyway." Her eyes trailed down Lucy's body. "Although that is a rather nice shade of pink..."

She didn't seem to notice Natsu's ripped dress.

"I-I'm not a stripper! Gray is!" Lucy felt her entire body turn hot in embarrassment, and subconsciously moved her hands to cover her private parts. "If you would just meet him, you'd see what I mean!"

"You know Gray Fullbuster?" Erza asked accusingly at the same time Jellal gestured impatiently at the mirror and said, "Well, that's what we're trying to address right now: a meeting between Natsu and Gray."

"That's what we are trying to get at!" An irate woman's voice squawked unpleasantly from the smooth surface. "There is no Gray Fullbuster."

Lucy shot a glare at Natsu, who shrugged; clearly, he was no more informed about this than she was.

"What do you mean there isn't a Gray?" Erza's voice was almost stoically calm now; rather, there was a dangerous undertone. "My husband and I received word from one of your men that you were willing to wed your son to our daughter and finally bring peace to both of our kingdoms. I'm sure that we want peace just as much as you do, but that can't be accomplished if you keep joking around like this!"

"We aren't joking at all," a man's voice sounded from the mirror this time, his voice slightly gnarled by age. "My wife and I... we have no children."

"What do you mean you have no children? The message-!"

"I think you are the ones who jest," the woman's voice in the mirror cut off Erza, abruptly hostile. "I am infertile. My husband and I have had no children. The next in line for the throne of our kingdom is my husband's younger brother."

A sudden silence overwhelmed the hall.

Jellal was the first one to recover, murmuring solemnly, "I apologize. We were... unaware."

"Quite," the woman said curtly. "Now, if you'll excuse us..."

The mirror shook violently once, and the ephemeral glow faded away.

Erza turned away, her expression darkening. "Whoever set this up...?"

"Now, now," Jellal's facial expression twisted. "I'm sure that it was a... honest misunderstanding."

"See, it was nothing, and that's why Lucy- ah, Luce here is more important," Natsu insisted. "She- he was on the beach, and we became friends and I don't think the poor guy has a place to go." He opened his round, feminine eyes as large as they would go and pushed out his lower lip. "Can I keep him, pleeaaaaassee?"

"Hey, I'm not a dog-!"

"No, you can't keep it."

"I'm not an it-"

"Pleeeasse, I'll feed it and everything!"

"Hey, I can feed myself perfectly fine!"

"No means no, young lady!"

"Erza," Jellal said sympathetically, looking tenderly at his daughter. "I'm sure that Natsu is old enough to handle this. Aren't you, dear?"

"Don't call me dear-"

"Handle 'this'?!"

"Natsu is not old enough-"

"I can handle taking care of him!" Natsu shrieked shrilly and then slapped his hands over his mouth in embarrassment, his cheeks tinged pink.

Erza shook her head disapprovingly and gave an exasperated sigh. Jellal seemed to take this as a

"Ah... Lucy, you may stay for as long as you need until you find a new home. Let it be known that we are not inhospitable to any of my daughter's-"

"Thank you so much, Jellal!" Lucy beamed as an excited Natsu dragged her out of the dining hall, blabbering about jelly and other random things that seemed to involve frying pans.

Jellal stared after his daughter in shock. "When was the last time we've seen our little Natsu so... forward?" He glared at the pink dress that was riding up his daughter's legs and pushed out his lower lip. "They... they grow up so fast."

He stared sullenly at the ground.

Erza straightened herself proudly. "It's about time she started acting more like me."

____________________________

"Natsu, where are we going?"

Natsu paused on the stone staircase and gave Lucy a look that screamed DUHH. "My room."

Lucy immediately yanked her hand back (totally not missing Natsu's warmth at all). "What-?!"

The pink-haired princess ignored the blonde's outbursts, claiming the man's hand again, and slender fingers intertwining with calloused ones. "What's your problem? Jeez!"

Natsu led Lucy through several halls, and she had to admit that she was impressed that Natsu had already memorized the labyrinth that was the large palace despite having only been in it for a single morning. His ability to pick up on anything that might be useful in a battle translated into other things as well, it seemed.

The corners of her lips curved upwards. Natsu was still Natsu, after all, breasts or not.

He was still just as dense, too.

"Natsu, a girl bringing a guy to her room usually implies certain things," Lucy hissed, finding herself too weak to wrest herself from Natsu's grip. The contact was doing funny things to her head. His hand was burning in hers.

"It's a bedroom," Natsu deadpanned, plowing ahead and slamming open a door to reveal a large, bright bedchamber complete with deep rouge curtains and a pink bedspread. "You don't really do anything in it besides sleep."

Lucy gave him a look of utter disbelief. "You want me to sleep? It's barely past noon!"

Natsu rounded on her, pushing her deeper in and closing the door. When he turned to face her again, his eyes shone with his characteristic tenacity. "Lucy. Take a nap."

She crossed her arms over her broad chest. "I'm not tired. Why should I-?"

Natsu rolled his eyes and suddenly tackled her, shoving her onto the surprisingly plush bed behind her and pinning her down on there. The air suddenly seemed too hot to breathe in; Lucy's heart hammered frantically in her chest. Really, Natsu had the same effect on her, even in a completely different body...

Natsu's breasts dangled in front of her. She quickly averted her gaze, unsure if she was simply jealous that his breasts in his female form surpassed hers ever so slightly, or if the feeling welling up in her gut was something else...

"Lucy, Lucy, you freak," Natsu chuckled, and Lucy bristled.

"Natsu, what are you doing?" she muttered, struggling to get up. In response, the dragonslayer grinned coyly and put his full weight on her.

"I know you better than you think," he insisted, "and you're tired. Take a nap."

"I told you, I'm not-" Natsu quickly cut her off, pushing a pillow against her face and muffling her words.

"Just take a nap. C'mon, you know you want to." His grin widened. "Just doooo it, Lucy."

Lucy blinked, about to protest that she really wasn't tired, so would he please get off of her before her perverted mind got weird ideas out of the situation that was Natsu on top of her, but then the full scent of the pillow hit.

The pillow smelled faintly like Natsu.

Before Lucy could even wonder how she could even recognize Natsu's scent so acutely, she found her eyes fluttering shut and her words slurring on her tongue. Above her, Natsu let out a sound that almost sounded like an amused giggle, but she was suddenly too drowsy to wonder what was so funny. There was something deeply comforting and secure about his scent, with a woodsy smell and the warmth of a hearth; faintly bitter as if like charcoal, but with a hint of wildflowers. And the sheets were just so comfortable, fit for a Princess... maybe she was tired, after all. Being transformed from a girl to a boy wasn't something one experienced every day, and anyways, she deserved a bit of a rest after a draining experience like that, didn't she?

The last sounds Lucy registered before drifting off were of the soft bed sheets whispering to each other as Natsu gently tucked her in and the soft click of a closing door.

___________________________

Natsu crept out of the room and let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't been sure he could actually get Lucy to fall asleep knowing how weird she was, but sure enough, the fancy-schmancy sheets had won her over. That was good, because all things considered, he wasn't really sure he could've come up with anything else to preoccupy Lucy while he was busy preparing for his surprise. And everyone loved taking naps, right?

At least, he knew he did.

Straightening himself up proudly (and giving himself a mental pat on the back for having adequately distracted Lucy), Natsu marched off to do his business.

Or at least, he was trying to. Natsu stopped short irritably halfway down the hall and gave himself a little smack on his cheek. He was supposed to be focused and had to get the surprise finished before Lucy woke up, so why did his mind decide to keep distracting himself with images of Lucy?

Lucy as a guy was decidedly weirder than Lucy as a girl, Natsu decided promptly. Her trademark chest was gone, instead flat and broad, with a lean build. Not muscular like his normal body, but built nonetheless. Her eyes, the same shade of chocolate-hazel as they always were, had seemed more heavy-lidded than her usual feminine eyes; rather, they had narrowed almost imperceptibly and seemed longer and more piercing. And her hair... the way the short, cropped blonde locks had curled about their ends behind her ears as he pushed her down on his bed, the way Lucy's long, and yet somehow still masculine eyelashes had fluttered shut as she relaxed under his arms was just-

Wait, what?

A maid turned the corner just in time to see the Princess of the castle slapping herself over and over, muttering under her breath about things that sounded like 'girls that are too manly', and 'stupid freakin' magical books making me moody', and grew even more concerned when the Princess proceeded to bash her head against the nearest available wall.

"Er, Princess..." The maid approached cautiously. She had, after all, learned that this particular royal family could be quite eccentric and that to deal with any one of them during one of their moments meant being extremely careful... "Are you alright?"

Natsu's head snapped up- he hit it against the frame of a particularly sturdy painting in the process, and cursed under his breath. "No!" He growled, clutching his head. "Lucy is a man!"

The maid blinked. "E-excuse me...?"

"And she doesn't have boobs anymore!" Natsu wailed and suddenly grabbed the maid's shoulders. She bit down on her lip, wondering if approaching the Princess had been a good idea. Natsu shook her with shaky hands. "And she hasn't tried to seduce anyone once for a freakin' price reduction or anything! Do you know why? Cuz she's a man! What the hell is this?"

"I-I don't know? the maid tried. The Princess glared at her for a long moment, and then sighed and released the maid, who rubbed her shoulders warily.

"Okay, I'm done now," the girl sighed and looked down at her dress. "Wait."

The maid gasped in horror as the girl in front of her proceeded to rip her expensive silken dress up to her hips on both sides so that it hung loosely in front and behind her. "Okay. Now I can actually walk without cramping."

The maid gaped.

"Anyway!" Natsu smiled brightly, patting the maid reassuringly. "I need your help with something!"

"Uhh," she tried, her mouth opening and closing like a fish's might out of water.

"I want you to prepare me a lot of candles," the Princess spoke promptly, starting to stride down the hall and not glancing back to see if the maid was following. The maid scurried after her.

"C-candles?"

"Yeah, candles."

"Y-yes, Princess. But may I inquire as to-"

"No, I'm not telling you why. But make sure you prepare a lot of them. Really pretty ones, too," Natsu said, gesturing pointlessly. "Oh, and... you'll probably have to give me some matches."

Natsu, for some reason that the maid could not comprehend, looked incredibly sulky having to ask for matches.

Another servant approached, this time a butler that seemed slightly harried. "Princess Natsu? Your parents request your presence in the dining hall."

"Again?" Natsu scowled, crossing his arms (with some difficulty) over his bosom. "I already told you, I'm not getting married!"

The butler looked askance. "I'm afraid you must obey your summoning, Princess."

Natsu blew out his cheeks and, after giving the maid one last set of instructions, marched down to the spiral staircase that led to the dining hall, pushing past the butler irately.

The maid sighed nostalgically. "I remember when I was that age. Always so moody!"

Beside her, the butler coughed awkwardly. "Margaret, get back to work."

_____________________________

The first thing Natsu saw entering the hall was a raven-haired beauty with large breasts. The second things he saw were narrowed, droopy eyes on what seemed to be a bruised face.

Naturally, Natsu's first reaction was, "IT'S YOU, YOU ICY BASTARD!"

Jellal and Erza were still seated in the same places as before; however, this time, a distinctly Gray-looking girl was sitting next to Erza. Jellal stared at Natsu's dress, ripped all the way to the girl's hips, and fumbled wordlessly, mouth agape.

"What was that?" Gray snarled, twitching in his seat.

Erza cleared her throat ominously; the two immediately settled down. "Natsu, this is... Gray Fullbuster."

Jellal coughed. "Not... quite what we expected."

Natsu snickered. "What the hell? I thought Gray was supposed to be a guy! Instead Gray has this stupid high-pitched voice and these boobs... Haha! And what's with the stupid cuts and bruises on your face? Did you trip and fall on your dumb-looking face?"

"You idiot, you have a high-pitched voice and boobs too! And your face is even more dumb-looking!"

Natsu jutted his chin out and glared pointedly at his chest. "I don't normally have them!"

Jellal and Erza stared at Natsu, befuddled, as Gray shrieked, "Neither do I!"

Natsu whirled on his temporary parents, blowing out his cheeks in a huff. "What's with all this? I thought the other kingdom-thingy didn't have a Gray Fullbuster! And why is he a girl? Don't tell me I have to... to..." He trailed off in horror.

"NO!" Gray screeched, voice cracking across several octaves. "I am NOT here to marry you!"

Natsu gestured wordlessly and gaped at Erza, who shrugged. "She's not here to marry you, but for some reason she insists on relaying a message to you. However, she knows nothing of the fake marriage arrangement." She cracked her knuckles, eyes darkening. "I... asked."

Natsu and Gray shuddered involuntarily, simultaneously.

"So, get on with it then," the pink-haired Princess mock-yawned. "What's this stupid message?"

Gray clenched his fists. "I have no idea who you think you are, you hothead, but if you keep that up-"

Erza cleared her throat again.

"-I'm going to... give you a great big hug!" Gray finished nervously. Erza smirked her approval. Natsu stared at his feet; Gray fiddled with his fingers. "Anyway... someone named Mavis told me to tell you something."

Natsu stilled. Mavis? As in the first guild leader, Mavis Vermillion? "What is it?" He asked excitedly. Surely someone as great as Mavis would have something epic, something amazing and awesome to tell him that would make him stronger or cooler or, or-!

"Mavis says not to go through with your little surprise," Gray finished. Natsu drooped.

"That's really stupid," Natsu sulked, and turned to leave. "Is that really it?"

"You don't understand!" Gray's face twisted unpleasantly. "Mavis was really insistent on that. Said something really bad would happen, something you two wouldn't be able to handle. Said someone named... Lucy, I think, would get seriously hurt. "

Natsu stiffened and whirled back on Gray, striding up to the wooden table and slamming his palms on the table. "There is nothing that we can't handle! Lucy is stronger than you think, and she can take care of yourself!"

"I thought Lucy was a guy," Jellal said unhelpfully.

"And even if it were something that she couldn't quite handle herself," Natsu hissed lowly, leaning in with an intimidating leer, "I would be there to make sure that nothing happened to her. You understand?"

The former palace guard glowered. "I was only relaying a message. But you're kind of a bitch, so I'm out of here." With that, Gray stood and walked from the hall.

Natsu stared after him, still heaving from the effort of his sudden outburst, and felt suddenly overwhelmed with frustration. Whoever this person was, even if they shared a name with Mavis Vermillion, they couldn't possibly know the lengths he was willing to go to so that he could protect Lucy. In fact, they couldn't possibly know anything about either of them!

He would go through with it, anyway. After all, it seemed like an awfully Lucy thing to do, and Natsu had known it was a good idea when he had first thought of it. He wasn't scared of whatever this old guild leader had to say, and if Mavis didn't believe in him and Lucy, then he wouldn't acknowledge Mavis as a true Fairy Tail leader anyway! This was all just stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Natsu ignored the confounded looks on his parents' faces, and stalked out of the room.

____________________________

Lucy awoke with a yawn, sitting up to stretch her lean arms over her head. Natsu had been right, after all- naps felt deliciously good, and she could always use some relaxation. She felt much more energized now, restored, and-

Lucy caught sight of herself in the large mirror opposite of the bed and stared. Yes, she felt energized, restored, and surprisingly good-looking.

Ah, but first things first, of course. Lucy creaked open the door and waited for a servant to come by. Sure enough, a maid holding several towels was walking briskly by; Lucy called out to her, and several moments later, found herself holding a rather elegant-looking set of clothes. Thanking the maid, she closed the door.

The clothes the maid had fetched were strikingly similar to the clothes Natsu wore on Earthland; cream trousers and a long and dark, gold-trimmed waistcoat that hung past her knees when she put it on. There was an undershirt included, but Lucy carefully chose to exclude it. Pulling on the trousers, she turned to admire herself in the mirror.

"Not too shabby," she murmured, and checking to see that no one was around, she then struck a pose. Her chest was left open, and while not as buff as Natsu's, her body was still quite good looking and her light skin was complimented quite well by the ebony color of the waistcoat. "Pretty hot," Lucy preened smugly, posing again. "I'd go out with myself!"

"That's really weird, Lucy."

Lucy yelled out in surprise and instinctively moved to cover her chest before realizing that hey, she was a guy, and slowly lowered her hands. "N-Natsu, you're back!"

Natsu, for some odd reason, was perched precariously on the sill of the open window, his eyes somehow determined, as if he was recently angered. However, once he caught sight of Lucy, they brightened considerably, and his trademark grin found its way back on his face. His long, rose-colored hair glowed in the light of the late afternoon sun, giving it a shining hue, and Lucy found herself staring.

"Lucy, you look exactly like me!" He easily hopped into the room and regarded her, giving her the once-over. Lucy glowed proudly. "So how do I look?" She asked, deepening her voice to a low, sexy growl.

"Hmmm," Natsu dipped his head slowly, eyes lingering on her chest before they flickered up to meet her own expectant gaze. "Yeah. You need to work out more."

She faltered mid-pose and sagged. Typical freakin' Natsu.

While Lucy looked miserably at her reflection in the mirror, Natsu traipsed across the room and opened the door. "Well, let's get going!"

"Where?" Lucy mumbled unenthusiastically, turning away from the mirror. "I just woke up, please don't tell me we're going to go do something stupid, or-"

"Just come with me," Natsu interrupted eagerly, his face flushed with excitement, expression animated. "I promise you'll like it. Please?"

Biting down on her lower lip, Lucy considered for a moment, and then let out a sigh. "Why not? I suppose we aren't getting out of this fairy tale any time soon." Picking herself up, she followed a practically skipping Natsu out of the room.

____________________________

Somewhere deep under the sea, Mavis Vermillion was very, very amused.

She wasn't omnipotent and nor was she psychic; however, Mavis did have a touch of something otherworldly as well as powerful magic, and she could tell that Natsu's little surprise plans weren't going to end well; as a magical being herself, she knew the book's behavior, and she knew that Natsu and Lucy likely wouldn't appreciate what was coming next.

Still, she admired the spunk that Natsu Dragneel had, especially when it came to that blonde stellar spirit mage, Lucy Heartphilia. The tenacity and vigor they had, the camaraderie and all that came with it, was exactly what she had hoped would be the spirit of the guild she had founded. These children were the essence of everything she had dreamed of.

Still...

It wasn't every day that one got sucked into a magical book. True, there were magical items abound in Fiore, but this book in particular had a spell too strong for just anyone to break, including spirits- not that she had tried. If Mavis were to be completely honest, she found the mages' situation to be downright hilarious.

And, well... truth was, Mavis had known Natsu would go against her wishes, would be furious by her lack of faith, and had deliberately asked Gray to add that little show of distrust into the message just to prod the fire dragonslayer on. Being the powerful spirit that she was (she mentally preened, here), Mavis was able to see a variety of scenarios that would result from any possible choices the two mages could make, and she had to say, her favorite of the scenarios was Natsu screwing everything up royally.

Humming to herself, Mavis settled down in a corner of her cavern and eagerly awaited what happened next.

___________________________
"The beach?" Lucy asked incredulously, trying to catch her breath as Natsu threw off his expensive shoes and ran, barefoot, on the sand as they descended the last parts of the cliff. "Why are we here again?"

Natsu gestured vaguely at the beach, but Lucy found that her eyes were stuck on the setting sun, hue after hue of pastel each melting into each other and creating a grand display that reflected, rippled, into the sparkling sea. With each gentle wave, the orange glow in the waters rippled and became clear, only to broken by yet another wave; a mesmerizing chain.

Lucy didn't realize that she was holding her breath in awe of the sea's beauty until Natsu interrupted the moment by pushing a rowboat next to her. She gave a start.

"What are you doing, Natsu?" She frowned. "Don't tell me... You're trying to escape the book by boat!" Now that she thought about it, it did seem like an awfully Natsu-like thing to do, minus the fact that he was normally sick to his stomach by the thought of boats. "You do realize that we're stuck in a world, not some place you can just row off and out of, right?" And he did remember that he hated transportation... right?

Natsu gave her a startled glance, and perhaps it was just her, but there was an almost... hurt look in his eyes. However, he quickly turned away, back to the boat. "Don't be stupid, Lucy," Natsu said, pulling her into the rowboat. "This has nothing to do with that." He pointed at a seat, and then regarded her for a moment, gaze intense. Lucy shifted uncomfortably.

"Uh... yes?" Lucy murmured, wondering if it wasn't perhaps strange that a 'man' such as herself was feeling this shy and unsure under the gaze of a 'woman' easily more petite than he.

"Are you comfortable?" Natsu asked abruptly. "Enough leg room and all that?"

She blinked. "Y-yeah, why?" Lucy glanced around the rowboat; while not large, it was sizable enough so that she could sit comfortably, without tucking her trouser-clad legs under herself.

"Stay put," Natsu said, and turned around, his feet kicking up the sand behind him as he ran to a small boatshed that she hadn't seen before, tucked behind a jagged outcropping by the cliffs.

"O...kay...?" Lucy stared after the recently-turned Princess. Was Natsu being deliberately enigmatic, or was this just a result of his single-minded determination, unable to think of anything else besides... whatever it was that he was doing?

As Lucy fidgeted in the rowboat, Natsu came trudging back with a burlap sack slung over his narrow shoulders. As he approached the boat, Lucy stood up, thinking to help him, but the Princess held up a hand and stopped her short.

"Just sit," he insisted, putting a hand on her shoulders and pushing her down. He heaved the sack into the boat and pushed it off from the beach, hopping into it (here, his torn dress flapped up; Lucy's head snapped away, face burning).

"Are you going to tell me what's in the sack or not?" She asked as they slowly drifted out, her curiosity making her fidget even more. Natsu's impatience was rubbing off a little on her, it seemed. "And why are we out here? What's-?"

Natsu reached into the sack and pulled out a small, ornately decorated candle, giving her a toothy smirk. "-going on...?" she finished, staring as Natsu carefully placed it on the side of the boat. Carefully, Natsu pulled out candle after candle, placing them around the boat until the sack drooped, and the rowboat floor was covered with candles of a variety of shapes and sizes, each the same cream-peach tone. This scene was vaguely familiar to her somehow, but as she struggled to recall exactly where it had come from, Natsu rolled up the sack, tucking it under his seat and taking out a box of matches. Making a face of disgust (but of course- he'd never had to resort to matches before), he attempted to light it. Lucy chuckled quietly at his attempts, his face so focused it was almost funny. Finally, after several attempts, it lit. Face dimly illuminated by its glow, he smiled the softest smile she had ever seen on him (but then again, it might've been softened by his feminine face) and said, "Did you think I'd forget?"

"Forget...?"

He lit a candle. "Happy birthday, Lucy."

The stellar spirit mage could only stare, unable to form words as the boy-turned-girl in front of her proceeded to light all of the candles until their legs were bathed in the combined glow of the candles and the setting sun.

She continued to stare, even as Natsu picked up the oars and began to row, the wood slowly breaking through the surprisingly gentle and quiet sea, a rippling and calming sound keeping the silence from becoming overwhelming.

However, what was overwhelming was the sudden flood of thoughts that poured into Lucy's head. Without realizing it, her eyes began to water, and her hands flew up to muffle the sudden sob that threatened to escape her. Natsu looked up at the sound, startled, and suddenly panicked, releasing the oars and reaching awkwardly across the short distance that separated them, hands fluttering uselessly. "L-Lucy! Why are you crying? S-stop that! I thought you would like this, but, I mean, if it's really that bad, I mean, I think it's kinda boring, but I thought-"

"Oh, be quiet," Lucy sniffled. "It's, it's n-not that at all."

Natsu's hands fell back to his sides and drifted back to the oar handles. "Er... if you want to leave..." He waited, but when Lucy gave no response, he started up again, voice suddenly unsure. "I mean, I remember reading one of those silly things you wrote, and the main scene had a guy with a rowboat and the girl was really happy, and Happy thought that you wrote that as one of your fantasies and even though we both thought it was stupid... I mean, why would you bother going out to sea and not catching any fish? But, I-I mean, I figured that since it's been a really long time in this book, you'd probably want something nice for your birthday, cuz I mean, you're kinda weird, and I just thought... but we can always just go back and eat, cuz food is good, right? I mean, you're a guy now so I guess maybe you feel a little different about stuff, and we could totally fish too, cuz I think that's smarter too, but-"

"Stop ranting," Lucy choked out, and Natsu immediately fell silent. Tears streamed down her face, uncontrollable, and her large frame began to shake. The dragonslayer awkwardly glanced around, looking at anywhere but her face; when she spoke, he gave a little start. "You're a girl," was the first thing she said.

"Hey, I'm a guy through and through," Natsu grumbled. "L-look, let's just go back..." For some odd reason, his skin had a pale sheen.

"No." She wiped away her tears and, pausing only for a moment, wiped her hands on her trousers. "Thank you, Natsu." She looked at him, blurrily saw the panic in his eyes melt away, and smiled, her sniffles morphing into choked laughter.

"You freak," he mumbled, rowing again, but his relief was evident in his voice despite its shakiness.

"This is all so stupid," Lucy declared suddenly, throwing her head back and staring at the orange-purple sky. "I'm a man. I'm in a rowboat filled with candles and you're a girl and yet you're rowing and that just shouldn't be right. I mean, I'm the guy, I should be rowing, and your dress is torn, do you even have any idea how expensive that probably was? And... and..." Her eyes met his again, and she felt the smile broaden. "You remembered my birthday." She suddenly felt euphoric, and... and in love. Natsu, her dear Natsu, was always so... so himself. Stubborn and straightforward, honest and trustworthy... he was this sweet even without meaning to. She folded her hands together and squeezed tight, hoping that the sudden pressure in her chest would disappear. It was almost overwhelming.

"Of course I remembered your birthday," was the easy response. "After all, you're-"

My friend. The words hung, unspoken, in Lucy's mind.

Lucy pursed her lips, her hopes sinking. Of course, it was Natsu's thing, after all, to put his friends and comrades first. Anything more than that was beyond asking for. But still... her smile didn't falter. Natsu like this was fine, too. She looked at him expectantly; he seemed to have trouble finishing his sentence, fumbling comically. Lucy tried not to laugh- he was just so cute. He didn't have to change, really. This was the Natsu she had fallen in love with.

I'm in love with Natsu Dragneel.

She recalled the older, mature Wendy from the Sinbad chapter, remembered the woman's soft, reassuring smile, and her confident, 'He'll come into realization of his own feelings in time, but you, you have to wait it out.

Continue to love him unconditionally, and he'll eventually recognize and reciprocate it.

"After all," Natsu finally finished, breaking into her thoughts, "You're Lucy." He grinned cheekily, and looked down as if suddenly shy (but of course, he was Natsu, so that would never happen).

Lucy beamed.

'After all, you're Lucy.'

She looked at Natsu, who, even as a girl, still retained his sharp gaze and easy stubbornness, whose care for her hadn't changed despite that everything around them kept shifting.

'He'll eventually recognize and reciprocate it.'

I'm in love with Natsu Dragneel. I'm-

"Natsu," Lucy said quietly, a surge of determination rising up in her chest. Now was perfect, after all. They were by themselves, the setting was gorgeous, the mood was right, and why not? She could do it. She would do it, because who knew when she would get another chance? And maybe, from her confession, everything would go uphill from there. Sure, it was a little farfetched, but she just had to let him know!

"N-Natsu...I..."

She could do it-!

"What?" He seemed extremely uncomfortable, but she had to say it...

"Natsu, I'm in lo-"

Natsu gave a sudden lurch and threw himself to the side, retching- evidently, the motion-sickness had finally broken through his impressive willpower. His weight unbalanced them, and in his queasiness, he didn't notice that he was tipping the boat and causing the candles toppled over one another. With quite the dramatic flair, the rowboat caught on fire.

Lucy fervently wished for something large and fiery to fall out of the sky and hit her.

Natsu wiped his mouth, shakily standing up, not perturbed by the flames in the least. "I guess the candles weren't exactly a good idea..." He straightened, and the boat was unable to take anymore, toppling over and hurling them into the sea.

Lucy shuddered in the plunge, and looked about the icy darkness, forcing her eyes to bear the prickling saltwater until she spotted a green-looking Natsu. Grabbing his limp hand, she gave a mighty kicked that propelled them up through the water.

"You idiot," she spluttered as they broke the surface. "Why did you have to pick the sea? Of course some wave would knock the candles over! You couldn't have picked a nice calm lake or something like in the freakin' book I wrote?"

He looked blankly at her; beside him, the underside of the boat had somehow caught fire. "It was a lake?"

Lucy stared at him with disbelief, and then decided that it simply wasn't worth the effort. With harsh strokes, she began to swim back to shore, muttering under her breath the whole time. She stopped her groaning only when she had to catch a breath or when a well-timed wave silenced her. Although Natsu could have normally swam past her with no effort, his recent bout with transportation and his female body left him weaker, and so, he trailed just behind her.

They arrived on the shore coughing and spluttering, the salt water stinging their eyes. The water had suddenly churned up, the waves beating against their backs. The sky had darkened ominously, something Lucy hadn't noticed in her hurry to return to the beach.

"What's going on?" Natsu grumbled, looking down at his dress (at this point, it was nearly unrecognizable) "The sea was fine earlier." He threw a look at Lucy, his lower lip pushing out ever so slightly. "You were fine earlier."

She ignored the sullen comment, more frustrated that she hadn't been able to confess than with the ruined moment (although that was greatly frustrating as well). "Something tells me this isn't natural." Lucy tried to brush off the wet sand from her person, wrinkling her nose when the sand stuck to her clothes and itched against her skin. She wriggled her feet. "That's just too quick of a change..." Dark clouds had suddenly blanketed the sky, the sea churning and roaring in a stark contrast to its previous tranquility.

LUCY.

Lucy's head snapped up at the sudden sound; she stumbled to her feet. "Wh-who's there?"

"What are you talking about?" Natsu came to stand beside her, scratching at his sand-spotted legs. "It's just us-"

LUCY, YOU INSOLENT CHILD!

Suddenly afraid of the deep, resounding voice that seemed to sound from everywhere, Lucy grabbed Natsu and tugged him away from the hungry ocean. Its waves lapped at their feet and curled about their ankles before retreating, as if the sea was trying to devour them. Once they were clear of the pull of the waves, Lucy broke into a run, dragging Natsu behind her; out of nowhere, rain had appeared and pelted at their bare skin ferociously.

The sky was briefly illuminated by light as lightning flashed.

Natsu's eyes narrowed. "This storm reeks of magic."

"Not just any magic," Lucy murmured in response, clutching at her head as a sudden stab of pain hit her skull. Natsu supported her despite his diminished size and the two slowly made their way towards the cliffs, away from the raging sea.

HOW DARE YOU VENTURE TO THE UPPER REALMS?

"I'm sorry!" She moaned in pain, the pain in her head intensifying. "But you don't understand! I had to!"

THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS AND THERE IS NO PITY TO THOSE WHO DEFY THE LAW. There was no doubt about it now; the voice was that of an enraged Makarov. She had left without a warning, had underestimated the effect that being a mermaid would have on the story, and now her makeshift father was furious. Clearly, this was a completely different Makarov than the one on Earthland, and although her mind already had a difficult time comprehending the anomaly, the pain was making it hard to even think clearly. What had happened to the small and laidback Makarov from earlier? Were the 'Upper Realms' really that taboo?

Another pang hit her head; this time, she fell to her knees. A worried Natsu caught her, but was unable to fully support her weight in his new body, and stumbled. "What do you want?" Her body grew clammy with dread, her limbs shuddering uncontrollably, and not just from the cold.

A hiss now, seeping into her brain: He will suffer.

The pain in her head intensified so much that she nearly missed the loud creaking and groaning that came from above as lightning struck yet again; Natsu wouldn't normally have missed it, but in the split second that she was able to open her eyes, she saw his entire body was curled protectively over her, and in that instance, Lucy knew that the only thing on his mind was her. He was shouting her name, pleading and furious at her lack of response, but the blood was rushing in her ears; she heard nothing, saw only his eyes, so filled with concern for her. There was no way he would be able to see what was coming for him.

Her heart gave a tug. Her dear, dear Natsu. There was absolutely no way she would ever risk losing him.

"LUCY!"

She didn't think; she didn't hesitate. With all the effort that she could muster in her pain-induced state, Lucy lunged and pushed Natsu aside just as a tree came crashing down from the cliffs and slammed into her.

____________________________

When Natsu opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the dark crimson of blood.

The next thing he saw was Lucy. Lucy, sprawled under a tree, legs buried under its sizable trunk. Branches cut into her clothes and sand smattered against her fair skin. Her waistcoat was torn, her trousers burnt. Clusters of leaves blocked her face from view. From under her, he could see the first thing that had greeted his sight- splatters of blood on the wet sand.

Lucy.

"Lucy." He crawled to her. "Wake up."

No response.

"Wake up," he repeated, leaning down towards her, holding his breath. Slowly, he brushed aside the leaves and stared at her face. Was it him, or did she seem paler than usual? When she didn't show any signs of responding, he tried again. "Lucy. Hey... Lucy." With his weakened female form it took a few tries, but he was able to push the tree off with some difficulty. However, the moment he did, Lucy gave a several violent spasms. His stomach clenched, fear knotting in his gut.

One of the larger protruding branches had pierced her side, and the blood from the wound was staining the sand a deep red.

He dropped to his knees.

"Lucy."

Silence.

"Damn it, you've been through so much more than this!"

She didn't respond.

"Hey... the people back at Fairy Tail are never gonna let you live this down if you don't wake up..."

Why the hell was he acting so... so... panicked all of a sudden?

"Lucy!"

And why wasn't she waking up?

"LUCY!"

Natsu suppressed the urge to pick her up and shake her violently, knowing that despite her stronger body frame, any hit like this could still be fatal. Her lack of magic in this world, too, would make her weaker, more susceptible to wounds. She knew that. And she still-

"Wake up," Natsu demanded. "You're stupid, you know that? You're so freakin'..."

Mavis was really insistent... said something really bad would happen.

Natsu trailed off mid-sentence.

Said someone named... Lucy... would get seriously hurt.

The sky had begun to brighten and the downpour had slowed to a drizzle; still, a particularly large raindrop managed to hit both of his cheeks somehow, and trailed down his jaw. One drop trickled into his mouth; oddly enough, it was salty.

"I'm so stupid," he said quietly. Carefully, he tore off what remained off his dress sleeves and attempted to bandage her wound, but there was simply too much dirt and sand- gritting his teeth, he tried to bring himself to clean it, but found that, for some reason, his hands wouldn't go near the wound. His entire body shook just by looking at it.

A thrumming noise suddenly replaced the sound of rain, distinctly magical in tone. Natsu looked around, bewildered, and saw that Lucy's feet had begun to dissolve into sea foam, disappearing into the sand, leaving a faintly dark patch that quickly melded to match the rest of the damp beach.

"What- damn it all!"

Frantically, he grabbed Lucy's ankles and attempted to slow the magic from taking its toll, but the spell stung his hands and simply continued its course, eating away at her body.

Even if there were healers back at the castle, Natsu knew there wouldn't be enough time for him to get them before Lucy disappeared completely. For the first time, Natsu felt completely helpless. "You idiot," he seethed, brushing his tangled hair from his face, not caring that it was covered in sand. "Lucy, you idiot!"

Lucy.

Lucy, pale and bleeding and strong and stupid, and, and...

Lucy.

Without thinking, his head dipped down to allow his lips to brush her cheek. His head was pounding.

For a moment, nothing happened.

And then a sudden rush of magical power exploded outwards from them, the sand whipping up around them and spiraling towards the sky. The foam stopped eating away at Lucy's thighs; another onrush, a flash, and Lucy was a girl again. A prickling sensation tickled Natsu's spine and then filled his body, expanding and stretching until his entire body shuddered with the magical power that had been bestowed on his body; he didn't have to look to know that he was a male once more.

His eyes were stuck on Lucy's face; back to normal, she seemed even more delicate and fragile, and he felt a strange emotion that seemed like...

He wanted to protect her. He blinked. But Lucy... didn't need protecting.

The magic grew even stronger- here, Natsu was sure it was the book's magic by its familiar essence- and the wind around them howled, the spiral of sand bulging from the spell's power and then ceasing to exist altogether, replaced by a screeching cyclone of magical wind.

Lucy's body began to take on a strange hue, a golden shimmer that suited her and gave her hair an almost metallic gold in its soft shine. Her face, pinched up in pain, relaxed, as if the glow from the magic itself had healing properties. He caught a whiff of it- cinnamon?

His stomach unknotted.

Before Natsu had time to even wonder as to why he was feeling so weird (and around Lucy no less!), the glow emanating from his own body caught his attention.

It was... green?

Unlike the previous times where the glow they had taken on had been identical in every way- magical thrum, color, even scent- his was starkly different from hers; deep, strong, and smelling faintly of pine.

The onrush of magic quickened, the world around them seeming to blur.

All too late, he realized what was going on. With a muffled shout, he reached for Lucy's limp hand, but the magical presence suddenly tore into two, jerking him just out of reach and confirming his suspicions: the book was separating them. His fingers brushed the cold tips of hers for a split second, and then he was buffeted away.

His eyes squeezed shut, and with a newfound desperation, he bellowed, "LUCY!"

Her still form was the last thing he saw as he disappeared from the chapter.