A/N: This started as just a one-shot, but somehow ended up evolving and turning into a way longer story than I'd originally intended, so I'm making this into a multi-chapter story instead, :) This is just a crazy idea that popped into my head, and I wanted to see where it could go. Highly inspired after reading the Xmen Evolution fic "Switched!" by Jamie August (check out her story on ! My original inspiration for this story, haha!), as well as watching the Teen Titans episode "Switched", XD. This is my take, with Fairy Tail!

I actually just remembered that Fairy Tail has also had an episode ("Changeling") where characters swapped bodies/magic, haha! Well, this will be a bit different! ;)

Summary: While out and about in Magnolia shopping for outfits for the first annual Fairy Tail Christmas Ball, Gray, Juvia, and a handful of others from the Fairy Tail guild run into a mage who has the ability to swap people's souls around. When the smoke clears, chaos runs supreme!

Pairing(s): Gray/Juvia, Natsu/Lucy, Gajeel/Levy, (minor) Jellal/Erza, (minor) Bacchus/Cana, (hinted at) Loke/Lucy

Switched!
By: Kitty Taylor (Pen Name: RyanGosling4Ever)

"How the hell did we get dragged into this?" Gray muttered, looking irritable as he, Natsu, and Gajeel walked with some of the girls of the guild down the streets of Magnolia. Despite the chill to the December air, it was a still a gorgeous day. The sun overhead was bright, as the group walked towards a more shopping district-centered part of town.

"Juvia and Gray-sama must pick out their outfits for the Christmas Ball!" Juvia replied brightly, from where she walked by his side. She smiled up at him, clear excitement shining through in her dark blue eyes, while simultaneously grabbing at his arm affectionately. Gray looked uncomfortable by the sudden contact, but, perhaps due to being used to her signs of affection and mannerisms by now, did not pull away.

"Yeah, but-" he grumbled. Glancing down at his ensnared arm, and at the girl who currently was hugging it happily, he sighed and looked pointedly away, a slight pink tint coloring his cheeks.

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad for you guys, is it?" Erza asked, from where she walked slightly ahead of them. She turned her head to glance back at the three boys and Juvia, amusement in her tone.

"Eh, if they don't wanna see us girls changing and trying on outfits, that's their loss," Cana waved her hand in the air dismissively. Next to her, Levy looked shocked at her bold words.

"C-Cana!" The petite blue-haired girl stammered, looking alarmed. Her face flushed, as she chanced a peek back at Gajeel. Noticing her friend's expression, a knowing smirk grew on Cana's lips. Before she had a chance to teasingly razz Levy about her not-so-secret crush on the Iron Dragon-Slayer, however, Lucy spoke up.

"C'mon, you guys!" Lucy said. She looked around at all of her friends with a fondly exasperated expression, her gaze lingering on Natsu a bit longer than the others. "I just thought that… Well, it's rare that all of us have a chance to hang out together like this. Someone's always out on a mission, or busy with something, or… or something. It's beautiful outside today, and since we all needed to get stuff for the ball anyway, I just thought…"

Her words trailed off as her gaze lowered, but she quickly glanced back up when she felt a hand land on her shoulder supportively.

"I think it was a great idea, to get everyone together like this today," Erza gave her a smile. At her words, Lucy immediately brightened.

"So… speaking of the Ball," Cana piped up. "Who's all going with who?"

"Juvia and Gray-sama will be going together, of course!" Juvia volunteered immediately. She released Gray's arm long enough to clap both hands to her cheeks, a dreamy expression coming over her features. Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson. She turned to beam up at Gray. "Right, Gray-sama?"

"Er… y-yeah, sure…" Gray muttered, his own cheeks mirroring hers, as he adamantly refused to meet her eyes. Noting his friend and rival's embarrassed expression, Natsu grinned, unable to pass up this golden opportunity to tease him.

"Haha, Gray, you pansy," Natsu cackled gleefully. "Are you actually blushing?"

"It- It's this wind!" Gray yelled, shooting Natsu an irritated scowl.

"Pppfft," Natsu scoffed. "Since when have you been affected by a little cold wind, Mr. Strip-Until-I'm-Completely-Naked-Even-In-The-Winter?"

Gray immediately confronted Natsu. "What's that got to do with anything?!" He snapped. "That's just a personal habit of mine! I don't even realize what I'm doing half the time I do it, so it doesn't count!"

"Does too!" Natsu retorted, more than eager to get in Gray's face as well.

"Does not!" Gray wasn't backing down. "You wanna piece of me, Flame Brain?!"

"Does too!" Natsu wasn't either. "Bring it on, Ice Perv!"

Noticing Erza's vein throbbing irritably at the two boys' bickering, Lucy gave a nervous laugh. "Hey, guys, knock it off!" She said. "Do you guys want Erza to have an aneurysm?!" She paused, before her gaze landed on Natsu once more. "Actually… Natsu…. Is it really so bad to be asked to this Ball…?" Lucy's voice held a sad, uncertain tone, as a blush rose steadily onto her cheeks.

"Huh?" Both boys abruptly stopped their fighting, and stared at Lucy. Natsu blinked, before he processed what it was that she was implying.

"I…" Lucy hesitated. She drew in a deep breath, as if to steel her nerves, before slowly letting it back out. The warmth of her breath, coupled with the frosty air, produced wisps of vapor that swirled in the air for just a moment, before it vanished. "I… I was going to ask you….."

A brief hush fell over the group of friends, during which the conversations of nearby Magnolia citizens and various other city sounds became suddenly crystal clear. It was Cana who broke the silence first.

"If you say no and break my girl Lucy's heart, Natsu, I'll never forgive you!" The brunette declared, draping an arm over Lucy's shoulders, and fixing Natsu with a pointed stare. He recoiled.

"Geez, Cana, what's with that face?!" Natsu asked with a scowl. His gaze shifted to Lucy, and he regarded her carefully for a moment. Under his gaze, Lucy's face turned completely crimson.

"I-If you don't wanna go with me, that's fine!" She finally yelled out, looking completely flustered. Her head shook violently from side to side, and her eyes were squeezed shut. "I j-"

"What are you talking about, Lucy?" Natsu asked, looking both surprised and confused by her reaction. "I never said I didn't want to go with you…"

His words gave her pause, and her head snapped up in surprise to look at him, a soft gasp of surprise escaping her lips. The beginnings of tears had started to gather at the corners of her eyes in preparation for the rejection that she was so sure was coming, but instead…

The tears dropped, spilling over and running down her flushed cheeks, as she suddenly burst into tears. Through her blurry vision, Lucy's eyes softened, as she fixed Natsu with a genuinely fond look.

"C-Crap!" Natsu looked panicked and startled at Lucy's suddenly-teary features. "What did I do?!" He walked over to Lucy, lifting her chin to more closely examine her face. "Lucy?! You okay?!"

Lucy sniffled, swiping at her eyes, before offering Natsu a watery smile. She shook her head. "I'm fine," she assured him with a laugh. Throwing her arms around him, her smile grew bigger, as she buried her face in his neck. Natsu blushed, but held Lucy to him. Their friends smiled.

"Now who's blushing?" Gray remarked with a smirk.

"Bite me, Gray!" Natsu retorted back. However, he didn't turn around. Finally, Lucy released him, and the two fell apart from their embrace. There was a brief moment of embarrassed silence, before Lucy spoke.

"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly, reaching up with one hand to tuck a loose strand of blonde hair back behind her ear. "I- I don't know what got into me…"

"Alright, enough of this mushy crap…" Gajeel interrupted, his voice and demeanor as rough as always. "Weren't you girls going shopping? Let's get this over with. Sooner we get done, sooner we can leave."

"You guys need to shop for some clothes too, you know!" Levy reminded him, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, but we'll be in an' outta there in no time," Gajeel argued back. "Tux, shirt, tie, pants, and shoes — how hard is that? You girls, on the other hand, are gonna take forever!"

"He has a point," Gray agreed with a shrug. "I'm gonna go as soon as I find an outfit." A disappointed whimper at his side made him glance down at the blue-haired water mage beside him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Gray-sama's not going to stay and see Juvia's outfit?" She asked, sounding hurt. "Juvia hoped that… that Gray-sama, you will help with picking out Juvia's dress, and helping her with trying it on…"

"I- I can't do that!" Gray yelled at her, gaping at her incredulously at her suggestion. No matter how hard he tried to push the thought away, however, Juvia's words brought to mind images of her in lingerie. Heart thumping wildly in his ribcage, beating so loud and hard that he was sure every one of them could hear it, the ice mage swallowed.

"Forget it, Juvia," Gray adamantly refused. He felt her hand loosen their hold on him, and he chanced a quick glance at her. Her head was bowed, and her eyes were downcast.

…Damn it…

"...Fine, I'll stay…" Gray muttered. "But I'm not helping you with trying on the dress!" He expelled a sigh, eyeing Juvia warily. "You're scary, you know that?"

"It's okay, Juvia is just glad that Gray-sama will stay by her side through this whole shopping trip," the water mage smiled. Somehow, Gray had the feeling that that had been Juvia's aim all along…

Finally arriving at the hustle-and-bustle shopping district of Magnolia, with its many stores and shops, the group spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon visiting one store after another. Indeed true to Gajeel's prediction, the guys found their outfits relatively quick, while the girls were infinitely more picky with theirs. They ducked in and out of endless dressing rooms, twirled before countless mirrors – oohing and aahing over each new outfit tried.

Finally, satisfied with each of their choices, the group paid for the various outfits, and started on their way back to the guild hall. The girls were especially excited to officially try on their new dresses, except for Juvia, who insisted that Gray alone would be the first to see her in hers.

Halfway home, Natsu suddenly stopped everyone in their tracks, glancing behind him with a suspicious look.

"Someone's been following us ever since we left the shopping district," he said quietly, his eyes narrowed. "I couldn't be sure before, as there were so many people around, but now, I'm sure of it. There's definitely someone there - I can smell 'em…" So saying, he turned to the masses of overgrown shrubs and trees growing on the side of the road. "Hey! Who are you?! Show yourself!"

For a moment, there was silence. Lucy turned uncertainly to Natsu.

"Are you sure-?" She began, but Natsu held up a hand.

"They're still there!" He insisted. Scowling, he marched over, and stepped into the wooded area. "Oi! Get your ass out here!" The others all exchanged glances, but those glances quickly turned to alarm when a large fireball exploded from within the thick growth of trees.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelped. "What are you do-?!" Her sentence abruptly cut off, followed by a small gasp of surprise, when Natsu reappeared, triumphantly dragging along a young boy by the shirt. The boy was scowling, and struggling against Natsu's hold on him, but could not escape the Dragon Slayer's grip.

Reaching the others on the road, Natsu unceremoniously dumped the kid down onto the ground. The boy winced, as his bottom made contact with the rough gravel of the road. The others all stared at him, surprised.

"Alright, kid, start talkin'! Who are you, and why are you following us?!"

The kid refused to meet Natsu's eyes, and defiantly turned his head to the side, saying nothing.

"Talk!" Gajeel stepped up, glaring menacingly down at the boy, who flinched. "Or I'll make you talk!"

"…Okay, okay…." the boy muttered, finally raising his eyes to meet the others. The mages all drew back in surprise when the light finally hit the boy fully in the face, and they were able to see it clearly for the first time.

"Whoa…" Gray blinked.

One blue eye, and one green eye, stared balefully back, defiance blazing. The kid was filthy from head to toe, and looked like he hadn't had a decent meal in days.

"Wait a minute…," Levy's eyes widened, as a look of dawning realization crossed her features. She crouched down, to get a better look at the boy before her. "You're Xander… aren't you…?"

"Xan… who-?" Gajeel raised an eyebrow.

"Xander…" Levy repeated, staring at the kid. The boy looked away, a scoff of disgust slipping past his lips. Levy stood. "He's a runaway," she told the others quietly. "I remember a request that we recently got from a couple who needed help in finding and bringing their son back home, after he ran away… They described the child as having each eye of a different color…"

"They're not my parents!" The boy suddenly yelled, startling everyone. His face twisted in anger and frustration. "They- They…!" Whatever he was about to say was left unsaid, as he suddenly clutched at his head.

"No…. No! Not again…." For the first time since he'd appeared before them, the anger and defiance was gone completely from him, replaced by unadulterated fear. The boy raised his eyes to them, fear and panic clear in his expression. "Leave…" he pleaded with them through clenched teeth, his voice barely above a hoarse whisper. "Now, before it's too late…! I… I don't want to hurt you… like I did them…! But… I can't hold back this power…!"

"Wha-?!" Natsu gaped at him.

"Leave! Go now!" He screamed, arching his back. A massive wave of dark purple energy shot out from his body, knocking everyone back several yards. Everyone cried out in shock, as the force caused them all to fly through the air and land on the ground, eight bodies crashing down together in various areas of the road.

Everything went black.

To Be Continued… XD … Feel free to let me know what ya'll thought! Currently, I'm working on this story, "What He Truly Wanted To Say", and another (currently unnamed) Fairy Tail/Avatar The Last Airbender cross-over Gruvion fic — so be sure to keep an eye out! :)