Gray was walking towards the house of his rival. He wasn't really sure why he was going to Natsu's place, but his feet had unconsciously led him here instead of to the guild. Now he was too lazy to turn around and walk all the way back to the guild so he just took the chance and knocked on the door to see if someone was home. So Gray knocked, but there was no answer. No one opened the door, no voices were heard from the inside and no noises were coming from the house.

Just when Gray turned his back to walk to the guild either way, he heard something falling inside the house. That couldn't have been an accident, so Gray felt the door, which wasn't locked like always, and just went inside "Sorry for the intrusion, I was bored," Gray yelled into the seemingly empty house. Then he heard noises coming from Natsu's bedroom and he could hear the two voices of the inhabitants of the small cottage clearly.

"Quick, hide it!," the voice of Happy whisper-yelled
"What about this one!?" Natsu's voice was heard
"Just pray he won't come in here!"

Now Gray was really getting curious. Just what was Natsu hiding in there? He sneaked towards the door and threw it open, only to reveal…

… Natsu in a dress.

It was a green dress that reached to the dragon slayer's knees, and Gray stared at the pinket in awe. The way the dress formed around his body, how it accented Natsu's chest muscles and hips. He didn't want to admit it, at all, but Natsu looked absolutely gorgeous wearing that dress. The green matched his hair perfectly and the few frills attached to the dress made him look cute almost.

"Natsu. You…" Gray started but was soon interrupted by Natsu "Shut up! I know what you're going to do! You're gonna laugh, take a picture and tell the whole guild about this so I can't show my face there again for a month, aren't you!?" Natsu yelled, his cheeks tinted a bright red and tears brimming in his eyes. Happy had by now flew out of the window to escape from Natsu's embarrassment.

Gray shook his head, how much everyone would've expected him to do that, the thought hadn't even come up in his mind yet. He was just looking at Natsu as if he was the most beautiful girl on the prom. "I wasn't going to do that. But now you've reminded me, I might snap a pic to enjoy for myself," Gray said as he got his lacrima phone from his pocket and snapped a pic of the very embarrassed Natsu in the dress.

"S-shut up!" Natsu stammered as he started reaching back to the zipper on the dress to get out of this humiliation as quickly as possible. But the zipper got stuck and Natsu wasn't able to get out of the dress as easily as he had hoped, leaving him struggling to get the dress out in front of Gray.

When Gray saw Natsu was struggling with the dress, he walked up to the pink haired teen and helped him pull the zipper down. But what he saw beneath the dress was even better than just seeing Natsu in a dress. He had never expected the dragon slayer to have gone all the way, but underneath the dress. Gray spotted a dark blue lacy bra and bright red women's panties. A blush creeped up to his face immediately and as he started stammering, Natsu realised that he was still wearing the women's underwear underneath his dress.

Het turned around quickly and sat down on the bed.
"Is this some kind of weird hobby you took up recently Natsu?" Gray asked the pinket
Natsu shook his head and looked down sadly. When he looked up again, Gray saw something in his eyes he couldn't make up. Sadness, anger, uncertainty maybe?

Natsu shook his head and build up the courage to finally tell Gray "No. It isn't some weird hobby I picked up recently. I've been doing this for a while now… Ever since I was ten, maybe eleven, years old; I've felt different. Different as in, perhaps not meant to be born in this body. I've felt weird and thought long about what this meant, until I found out about transgender people on the internet. They were like how I had felt up until then and I felt like I finally understood what I was. I never told anyone but Happy and Gramps… Gramps tried to help me by talking about it but that never really seemed to work. In the end I was still the freak born in a body of the wrong gender. If that's even possible… It's too late now to change everything again, and I've learned to live with it so it's honestly not that big of a deal…

Gray shook his head and sat down next to Natsu on the bed "Natsu, you should've never had to learn how to live with it… I can't imagine the confusion and pain you have gone through. I probably won't ever be able to understand how you feel. I-"

Natsu cut him off "Gray! Honestly, it's okay. I understand not many people will understand how I feel. And I'm not asking you to understand me. Honestly, I expected you to start laughing at me and take pictures to show to the whole guild, or maybe even the Sorcerer Weekly." Natsu explained.

"I would never do that…" Gray said, a bit sad because Natsu honestly thought he would do such things to him. Sure, they might fight. A lot. But Gray would never do something as terrible as that to Natsu. Whatever the pinket might think about him, Gray still saw Natsu as his best friend.

"Really? We fight a lot you know, so I-", Natsu said but was cut off by Gray.
"I would never do that…" Gray repeated "Because you are my best friend Natsu…" he added this time.

Natsu blushed, he had never expected Gray to be so blunt about it. Did Gray really see him as his best friend?
As Gray looked at the pinket blushing in front of him, he thought Natsu was looking extremely cute. With the pink bangs down in his face, the green frilly dress still on and the blush spread all over his face. Gray didn't know what he was thinking, or doing. And suddenly his lips were on Natsu's, and he didn't mind one bit.

Gray was kissing him. Natsu was shocked and really happy at the same time. He was shocked because his long-time rival was kissing him after having seen him in a dress and even in feminine underwear; and he was happy because Gray didn't hate him or think he looked ridiculous or would do something do blackmail him.

When they broke up, Natsu wanted to say 'I love you', but Gray was quicker with saying something and asked "Hey Natsu? Aren't those panties very… 'limiting'?"

Natsu looked at Gray with eyes wide and a blush on his face. There went the mood Gray had created by kissing him, and with a question like that too…

"Umm… Actually not. They're pretty comfortable. Wanna try on a pair?" Natsu asked the ice mage. Gray thought that Natsu looked pretty cute with the enthusiasm he had shown when he asked Gray if he wanted to try on a pair of panties. And however Gray thought it was a bit weird, he said nothing about it and just nodded "Sure, why not?". Natsu laughed. "Well, that was just meant as a joke, but if you really wanna do it, who am I to stop you?" Natsu said and stuck his tongue out as he got up and walked towards his closet.

Gray watched as the dress fell down Natsu's body but Natsu didn't seem to care as he was rummaging through a drawer which seemed to contain his underwear. Gray leaned some more towards Natsu to look into the drawer.

He saw not only the feminine underwear, but a large amount of male underwear as well. "What kind of underwear do you wear when you go to the guild?" Gray suddenly asked. Natsu looked up and back down to the drawer again. How had the two of them suddenly become so close, was it all because of that one kiss?

"It depends. I always wear panties at home because I feel at ease wearing them. When I go to the guild it depends from day to day. But on quests, even alone with Happy, I always wear male underwear. Because they're still the most comfortable to fight in…" Natsu admitted.

Then he finally reached back into the drawer and said "aha" as he kept up a pair of underwear that looked like normal boxer briefs with a snowflake pattern on them. "This is what I was looking for! Snowflakes for my ice princess," Natsu teased the raven haired teen as he handed Gray the fabric.

Gray seemed to be inspecting it as he held it up in front of his face. Then he just shrugged and walked off to the bathroom.
Not much later, Natsu heard Gray's voice from the bathroom again "Are you sure this isn't going to crush my balls?"

Natsu laughed "Of course not! I gave you one of the comfortable ones," Natsu yelled back and he heard Gray mumble something in the bathroom that he couldn't quite make out. A bit later, Gray yelled "Aren't these panties a bit too revealing, you can see my entire dick through them!"
"Well, they aren't originally made to have a dick in them in the first place," Natsu yelled back as he opened the door of the bathroom and saw Gray looking at his crotch in the mirror. Natsu burst out in laughter and Gray immediately covered his crotch. Natsu shook his head and said "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. If anything, I should be the one being embarrassed," as he pulled Gray's arms up to get a look. Gray blushed as he muttered "But you feel good wearing these…"

"You are right in that," Natsu said as he let the dress slid down his body and made his way to the hanger where his usual outfit was hanging. When he started slipping up the pants, Gray noticed the reluctance in the movements he made and stopped his arm from pulling up the baggy pants "Gray, what are you doing?"
"Why don't we stay here a little longer and you get that dress back on?" Gray proposed as he put on his own boxers again. "Gray, you don't have to do this…" Natsu said but Gray shook his head "I can clearly see you much rather wear that dress than this outfit, so do me a favour and wear something you want to wear while we stay here and talk. I want to be able to understand you better," Gray said and walked out of the bathroom again.

Natsu hesitated, was it really okay to just put on the dress again? After a while, he just did as Gray told him and put on the dress again before he walked out of the bathroom as well. He found Gray sitting on his bed and silently sat next to him. Just when Gray was about to say something, Natsu beat him to it and asked "Gray, what do I mean to you? Why did you kiss me? What are we now?"
Gray looked up at the pinket in surprise. "I-I don't really know Natsu? Do you want to be something more?" he asked and Natsu blushed and stammered out "I d-don't know. I never really thought a-about it…"
Natsu looked up through his bangs and Gray felt his heart thump faster upon seeing the image before him. He couldn't be falling in love, could he? And yet here he was, leaning in to kiss Natsu again. He wanted to feel those lips more; and Natsu just looked so perfect right now…
Their lips touched again and Natsu melted into the kiss.

When they broke up the kiss again, Gray didn't waste any time asking "How did you realise you were… not meant to be born a guy?" His choice of words was maybe not the best and it came out pretty unsure. He didn't know how sensitive this subject was to Natsu after all. Would the pinket be okay with him asking him about it?

"At first I never really thought about it. You know, I was raised alone in the woods with a dragon, I had never seen any other kids so I didn't even know there was a difference in gender. It was a bit before I arrived at the guild that I started noticing something was different. I was taken in by an elderly woman for a while before I travelled further to Magnolia and she was the first to cut my hair. When I asked her why she was doing that, she said it was because all boys had short hair and if she didn't cut my hair people would think I was a girl. I said I didn't mind but she scolded me about it."

Natsu sighed and looked up at Gray to see if he was still following the story before he continued "When I got to the guild, it only got worse. I still had no clear image of what the exact difference was between boys and girls, but it suddenly got very clear when I joined. The girls had long hair and got to wear pretty dresses while the boys all had short hair and wore shirts with pants. I envied the girls and wished many times to get my long hair back, but it never happened. And then one day you called out to me 'Hey pinky, flashy hair colour for a guy. You sure you're not one of the girls,' and I started wondering it myself too…"

The colour drained from Gray's face and he apologised to Natsu for having teased him with stuff like that his entire youth. He was probably one of the causes why Natsu was so unsure of himself now.

"Don't worry about it," Natsu said and concentrated back on what he was telling Gray "Not long after that, I went to Makarov with my questions and I don't really think he had ever heard of it before cause I can still see him sitting on the desk with him mouth wide open in surprise. A few days later, he called me back to his office. He had done some research about it and was able to give me some kind of brief explanation. He was very understanding and helped me where he could. I'm still happy for that… I kinda suspect he told Gildarts about it too, but I'm not sure. I don't mind that much though. Gildarts is like a father for me anyway.
After that, the whole matter was kept mostly quiet. I was able to fit right in with you all. No one really judged you for who you are in the guild and I just kept wearing the clothes I had and kept my hair relatively short. It wasn't as if I had money for anything else anyway back then…"

Gray just sat there in silence as he listened to what Natsu had to say. How had he never found out about something like this? Close as he was with the pinket, he had never been that close to him… until now that is…

"It was only when Erza started forcing us to bathe together that I realised what was the real difference between boys and girl. And that 'extra part' in between my legs started to annoy me more and more. I quickly got over that and got used to it. And then puberty came along…" Natsu said with a sigh. "That was honestly one of the hardest parts, when puberty started. Suddenly, the difference between girls and guys was very clear; and however my body looked exactly like a guy, I felt like a girl. But my body developed more and more and my hopes to be a girl were practically crushed back then. The first few times when I got an erection that just didn't want to go away, I took care of it in the shower crying," he admitted and looked down ashamed "Now I've just come to terms with it and if it doesn't go down on its own, I don't mind jerking off anymore…" Natsu explained and Gray looked at him with a sad expression on his face "Oi, don't go pitying me now, you ice bastard!" the pinket yelled but was surprised when Gray hugged him. "G-Gray…"

"You know Natsu, it's not too late yet. You're still young, you can still change!" Gray said enthusiastically but Natsu just looked at him in confusion "Change? Are you gonna tell me I just have to get over this?" the pinket asked and Gray shook his head "Sorry, I said it wrong. Your body can still change. With the right hormones and an operation, especially with the medical magic they have right now, you-" Natsu shut him off "I don't have to money for all that. It's too much… It's over 2 million jewels for only the operation. And then that doesn't include doctor's visits and hormones… Even if I did a few big quests without damaging towns, I could never pay for that…"

"Seriously Gray, I've considered it before. But I just can't…"

Suddenly, the two of them were kissing again. When they broke up this time, Gray asked "Natsu, do you wanna be my girlfriend?"
It was a bit weird to call Natsu his girlfriend, but he knew that was what Natsu would want so he gladly did it for her.
Natsu looked up a bit shocked by the sudden question, and most of all by the fact that Gray had accepted everything he had told him just now so quickly and had actually asked him to be his girlfriend. Not boyfriend, but girlfriend. Tears unconsciously slipped out of Natsu's eyes as he happily hugged the raven haired male in front of him and said "yeah, I'd like to be your girlfriend."

When Happy returned later that night, hoping that Gray had left and Natsu had gotten over the initial embarrassment, he didn't find what he had hoped to find. Instead he found something even better. Gray was laying in Natsu's bed cuddling with Natsu. Their faces mere inches apart as they both peacefully slept. Happy grinned as he snuggled into Natsu's arms and quickly fell asleep as well.

The next day, they announced their relationship to the guild where everyone started celebrating the new couple.

And while Natsu was drinking with some of their friends, Gray sneaked off to see the master in his office. "I expected you to come here," the short man said "Natsu told you, right?"
Gray nodded and sat down "Is it really not possible to get some money from the guild to get hormones for Natsu while she saves for the operation?" Gray asked and Makarov smiled at Gray's use of pronouns for Natsu. "I've wanted to pay for those hormones for years Gray, but Natsu never wanted to accept them. She doesn't like being in debt I guess…" he had been using those pronouns for years when talking alone to Natsu so it was almost natural for him. Gray looked down, that was so typical Natsu to not accept help from anyone else.
Then suddenly Makarov got off his chair and started rummaging through a drawer in underneath the table. He got a little package out of there and slid it to Gray over the table "What is this?" Gray asked and Makarov grinned "Natsu's eighteenth birthday is in a few weeks, so I got her a present that's not food this year," the old man explained. Those are male to female transitioning hormones. Natsu deserves a chance to be who she really is."
Gray smiled and said "You're the best gramps!" Makarov laughed as he joined Gray back to the guild hall.