Thank you to everyone who has patiently waited for updates, who have read, commented, or liked this story. I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its lovable characters.

Enjoy!

January 1, x785

The following soul mate swap began much the same as the first year. The five girls were now turning nineteen and had survived their first semester at college. Many things had changed over the last year and yet somehow remained much the same. Cana was now living with her father, Gildarts, while she attended junior college. The other four girls were attending Magnolia University together and living in the dorms.

The afternoon after their first soul mate swap, Jellal had phoned Erza. He had politely introduced himself and offered his hope that his family had made her feel welcome and hadn't interrogated her too badly. After a brief conversation during which Jellal had learned a little about his red headed soul mate, he expressed his interest in getting to know her, despite the distance between them. Erza had expressed similar interest and before they even knew it, the two had patched together a long distance relationship. It had taken a while to get to know each other through phone calls, messaging, and emails, but the two had made it work. Jellal called Erza before their second soul meet swap to let her know that he had a special surprise in store for her this year. He had merely chuckled when Erza had tried to charm him into telling her the surprise.

Lucy had heard nothing from her soul mate over the last year and hadn't expected anything from their encounter. She just hoped that he had the common sense not to be roaring drunk this year. Cana was in the same boat. She sincerely hoped her lunatic of a soul mate wouldn't run her up a flag pole again and kindly asked her friends to make sure there were no climbable objects near to where they chose to watch the ball drop. Juvia just hoped she was fully dressed when she returned to her own body and made sure to put on a few extra layers, just in case.

Levy had called the phone number she had memorized from the dog's tag a few times over the last year but had always chickened out before speaking to the man on the other line. A few times she had stayed on long enough to hear his rough voice. It was incredibly deep as it resonated through the phone. Levy had immediately slammed the phone down onto the receiver, too scared to speak. It unnerved her that her soul mate had seen her face but she was still clueless as to his identity. She had his phone number and his area code put him in the same area as she lived. Had she seen him before? They may have even met. What if they had passed by each other in the past year and he knew exactly who she was? It was so unfair. She was determined to see his face this year and crossed her fingers that he was near a mirror this year.

The group of girls had dinner in the city before they picked a spot in the crowd to await the stroke of midnight. Once again, they would be watching the ball drop on the pier, but it was a lot colder than the previous year.

Erza was overcome with butterflies and her entire face was flushed. Levy was almost as anxious as she was last year, frantically airing out her armpits with a look of terror on her face. Cana was sipping her beer, trying to discretely check for flag poles that she wanted to avoid. Juvia was checking and re-checking that her clothes were all in place, hoping that the extra layers would keep her soul mate from undressing her. Lucy would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. She dreaded waking up drunk in her soul mate's body again. It had been such an unpleasant experience last year that it had turned her off from drinking for a long time. It had taken months for her to begin to forget the stomach roiling nausea and the smell of alcohol that had permeated his body.

The countdown began. Lucy watched with trepidation as the ball sank lower and lower.

Three.

Two.

One.

There was the familiar pressure followed by a piercing pain in her head, keeping time with the beats of her heart. Lucy's eyes were squeezed shut against the throbbing pain as she groaned in agony. Her stomach churned. She audibly gagged, trying desperately to gain control of the contents of her stomach.

Lucy was laying on something soft and comfortable. But that's where the comfort ended. She heard another noise nearby as she slowly tried to roll over beneath the blankets. The movements made her stomach churn. She tried straightening out her body. Her bare leg came into contact with flesh.

She slithered away, her eyes bulging open.

"Hello?" A feminine voice asked.

"H-hi," Lucy stuttered. She was surprised at her voice. It came out much deeper than she was used to hearing. The rumble of it sent a throb of pain through her head, which in turn caused her stomach to roil.

There was the sound of rustling followed by a click as the other person turned on a light on a bedside table. Lucy groaned as she shielded her eyes against the piercing light.

"Sorry," the other person grumbled. It sounded like they were in a similar state of agony.

Lucy finally removed her hand from her face as she took in her surroundings. She lay in a girl's bed, judging by the pink covers. She sat up slowly, remembering the pain from last year.

Naked.

Lucy was naked.

She was naked in bed with a girl.

No. Her soul mate was naked in bed with another girl.

She gasped as she clutched the sheets to her chest, not immediately realizing she didn't have breasts to cover. The girl on the other side of the bed slowly sat up, the sheet falling down to her naked waist, and they eyed each other carefully.

"Um, you might want to cover up," Lucy said, gesturing to the girl's chest and looking away awkwardly.

Confused, the girl looked down at herself before realizing the situation.

"Oh," she said, pulling the sheet up and covering herself. Lucy guessed it was the girl's soul mate in her body.

Lucy tried to fight the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her once again. She pulled her knees to her chest, braced her elbows on her knees and then rested her aching head in her hands.

"Do you know who I am?" the girl in bed beside Lucy asked. Lucy slowly rolled her head to the side to look at the girl.

"Sorry, I've never seen you before," Lucy responded with a negative shake of her head, which she instantly regretted when she felt stabbing pain. "Do you know who I am?"

"No, sorry," the girl responded.

The two continued to sit in awkward silence for a moment before reality hit Lucy. She must only have a matter of seconds left before she switched back. What could she accomplish in that time?

Carefully wrapping a blanket around her soul mate's body for modesty and heaving herself from bed, she then braced herself against the waves of nausea and dizziness that hit her anew. Trying not to gag, Lucy stumbled around the room. Scattered on the floor were heaps of discarded clothing. Finding a pair of jeans, Lucy slowly knelt down. The dizziness forced her to brace a hand on the floor to keep from toppling over. Taking deep breaths, she pushed through the accompanying nausea and plopped her bottom on the floor.

In her drunken state she began to dig through the pockets of the jeans. Her hands weren't cooperating with her foggy brain and her eyes found it difficult to focus, but she eventually brushed against a wallet. With a small whoop of victory, Lucy quickly tried to extricate the wallet from the pocket, which was much more difficult than she could have ever imagined.

"Lucy, pull yourself together," she muttered to herself with a growl. Frowning, she stopped wrestling with the wallet and stared at it menacingly. Then slowly, using all of her powers of concentration, she finally managed to pull the wallet out of the pocket. In that moment, Lucy felt the mysterious pressure return, making her raging headache worse and the nausea return twofold.

No! She hadn't had a chance to look in the wallet! And now she would be caught red-handed sitting naked (albeit wrapped in a blanket) on the floor digging through a stranger's wallet. Oh, no.

Blinking, Lucy realized she had returned to her own body. Once again, she stood in the same place she had left her body. It seems that her soul mate was no more interested in locating her than he was last year. This time she wasn't alone when she came to. Erza stood beside her, blinking in confusion.

"Are you alright, Lucy?" Erza asked.

She nodded. There were still a small remnant of nausea but she wasn't sure if it was lingering from the drunkenness or from embarrassment over being caught going through her soul mate's wallet. She was probably looking a little green.

The two girls set out to find their missing friends.

They heard angry shouting and followed its sound to the beach beside the pier. Shivering and looking like a drowned rat, Cana waded through the water, spewing profanities. Her clothes were piled at the entrance to the beach, hastily strewn in the sand. Cana stood in only her bra and underwear, an angry scowl on her face. Lucy and Erza quickly rushed around the end of the pier and onto the beach to help collect Cana's clothes and pull the bedraggled woman out of the cold ocean water.

"I'm going to kill that bastard when I find him!" Cana shouted. The water was ice cold on this chilly night. "I'm going to get him back next year," she vowed, stumbling out of the dark water.

"Lucy!"

Lucy turned to see Levy leaning over the pier, gazing down at the trio at the beach. She waved before she disappeared, making her way around to the stairs at the end of the pier.

"He left me out on a boat again!" Levy pouted, stomping her small foot in the sand once she approached the group. Lucy laughed, patting her friend on the shoulder sympathetically.

"Where's Juvia?" Erza asked. Levy shrugged.

Cana quickly pulled her pants on over her wet underwear, but elected to wander in only her blue bra. She argued it was warmer than letting her shirt get soaking wet. The foursome made their way back to the pier, calling for Juvia and taking turns calling her cell phone.

They stood in befuddlement on the pier, looking for their blue haired friend.

"What's that?" Levy asked, pointing at the ground some distance away.

Cana jogged over to have a look. She bent down and then straightened with a royal blue shirt in her hand.

"It's Juvia's!" Cana exclaimed as the girls joined her and huddled around the discarded clothing article. "That stripper of hers must have taken it off!"

"That pervert!" Erza growled. "I will teach him a lesson when we meet," she vowed.

The group stood in shock as they looked around for their now-shirtless friend.

"Knowing Juvia, she would have freaked if she found herself nearly naked in public," Levy reasoned. "She must have ducked in somewhere to hide. She might not even have her cell phone."

With this logic, the group spread out, trying to cover as much ground as possible.

Lucy searched through the stores along the pier, calling out Juvia's name as she went.

A text came through from Erza. Found her skirt. West end of the pier.

Lucy began to make her way toward Erza, continuing to look in stores as she went.

Her phone buzzed again, this time from Levy. Pair of shoes, look like hers. I'm near the end of the pier by the viewing area.

Where was he headed when he was in Juvia's body? Lucy had a sudden thought. Perhaps he was making his way to the restrooms near the end of the pier?

With this in mind, Lucy began to make her way out of the store and toward the restrooms, searching for discarded clothing like some sort of bread crumb trail leading her to her lost friend.

There! Lucy spied Juvia's handbag lying in a flower bed near to the entrance of the restrooms. She jogged over, quickly pulling it from beneath the small shrubs. She quickly dug through the purse. Looks like everything is here, she thought. At least nothing had been stolen.

She quickly texted the rest of the girls, letting them know she'd found the purse in the flower bed by the restrooms. She received a few responses that the girls were headed her way.

Going alone, Lucy made her way to the restrooms.

"Juvia?" Lucy called, walking into the women's restroom. She peeked under the stall doors.

"Juvia, are you in here?" she called again. No bare feet stuck down where she could see. Strange. Lucy was sure she would be in here. Hold on a second….

Exiting the restroom, Lucy walked to matching door beside the ladies room. Lucy stood, deliberating for a moment at the entrance to the men's restroom.

"Lucy!" she heard Erza calling her.

"Over here!" she called back, waving across the pier at the girls who were turning on the spot, looking for the blonde.

They made their way over.

"What are you doing?" Cana asked, wondering why their blonde friend was staring intently at the men's restroom. "I think you're looking for the one to your right, blondie. Unless you have something to tell us?" she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"I-I think Juvia's soul mate might have tried to run to find a mirror but instead of running to the women's restroom…." Lucy trailed off.

"That idiot!" Erza growled.

"Juvia!" Levy called. She stood four feet from the door as if scared to come any closer.

Cana rolled her eyes.

"Oh for Mavis' sake," she said, strolling casually past Levy to pull open the door.

"Juvia!" Cana announced as she walked in, unconcerned by the few men utilizing the urinals at the time. Levy flushed red, covering her face with her hands as she quickly followed Cana. Lucy also blushed, avoiding looking at the men who turned curiously toward the women who were invading their restroom. Erza had a slight blush on her face but elected to wait in the doorway, using her body to prop the door open.

"Juvia!" Cana called, strolling through the restrooms and peeking under the stall doors.

"Cana?" they heard a trembling voice.

"Juvia!" the girls all called in unison, rushing to the stall where the voice came.

"Th-thank Mavis!" they heard Juvia shuffling behind the door as she unlocked the door. The door creaked open an inch, revealing a bright blue eye and blue hair.

"Juvia, we have your clothes," Levy reassured her, reaching out and offering the clothes to the nearly naked girl.

Juvia was flushed and her face was tear-stained.

"Th-thank you, Levy!" she warbled. Fresh tears sparkled in her eyes as she hastily took the clothes, fighting to keep the door from opening wider than she had to in order to accept the clothes.

Quickly she shut the door and the rustling of changing clothes could be heard.

"Juvia, what happened to you?" Lucy asked.

"J-Juvia does not know," Juvia wailed. "Juvia woke up in her underwear by the mirror and there were strange men around so Juvia ran into the stall to hide!"

"Oh, Juvia, we're so sorry!" Levy sympathized, clasping her hands before her chin. She really felt for the shy girl.

"Juvia wa-was so scared!" Juvia stuttered. "She didn't know where she was and she didn't have a phone."

"It's alright Juvie," Levy called to her. "It's all over now and we were able to find all of your stuff!" Levy tried to cheer her friend up.

Finally, the door opened and Juvia emerged from the stall. Her face was still tear-stained, but she was now fully clothed.

"Juvia stood on the dirty floor barefoot," she wrinkled her nose in distaste. She was still holding her shoes in her hand.

"Here," Erza said. She finally abandoned her post as door stop and quickly wet a paper towel in the sink.

"Hop up here," Cana patted the top of the sink. Quickly making sure the counter was dry, Juvia hopped up.

Erza squirted some soap onto the wet towel and handed it to the bluenette who quickly began to scrub her feet meticulously as if she was trying to scrub out the memory of the last twenty minutes. Rinsing her now soapy, but clean, feet in the sink, Juvia asked for another towel with which she dried her feet. Slipping her shoes back on, the bluenette hopped down from the sink, slightly more cheerful now that she was clean and fully clothed.

Thoroughly exhausted from their adventure, the five girls made their way to Erza's car, choosing to discuss their soul mate swap where they had access to a heater. They climbed into the small car, huddling near the vents and shivering. Erza and Levy sat in the front seats, the rest of the girls were piled in the back .Cana, who was still dressed in a jacket over her bra, began leaning across Lucy's lap as she struggled to remove her bulky coat and then reached behind her back to her bra clasp.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked, immediately suspicious of her brunette friend.

"Taking my bra off," Cana answered, unashamed, as she struggled to reach behind her in the cramped car.

"Do not strip in my car!" Erza snarled from the front seat, turning to face Cana.

"But my bra is wet!" Cana argued. "And watch where you're driving!"

"Cana, no!" Lucy squealed as the brunette continued to wrestle with her awkward position in the middle seat.

"Cana, yes!" Cana said, chuckling to herself.

Juvia and Lucy took action, immediately wrestling with their friend and shrieking for her to keep her bra on. Cana wiggled, trying to escape.

"Lucy, your boobs are smothering me!" Cana shrieked, laughing.

"Shut up about my boobs!" Lucy huffed. Cana continued to wiggle, trying to bend her arms back far enough unclasp her bra.

The trio wrestled until they were all slightly sweaty and out of breath.

"I give!" Cana relented, huffing. The girls laughed, keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't try to reach behind her again.

The group chatted animatedly on the rest of the drive home, Cana griping loudly about finding herself nearly naked in the ice cold ocean in the middle of the night and Juvia countering her with the argument of finding herself nearly naked in a men's restroom.

The group of girls finally made it back to their dorms where they quickly unloaded from the car and sprinted across the lawn, shrieking loudly from cold. Finally settling in the dormitory and pulling out the necessary chips and drinks, the girls came to rest in the small living area and turned on the TV.

"Erza, did you find out what your surprise was?" Lucy asked, choosing to interrupt her bickering friends. She had noticed that Erza had been looking at her phone a lot and guessed she was texting Jellal.

"Jellal made my favorite cake," Erza glowed. "Strawberry shortcake and he left a note." Her happiness was evident in the smile on her face.

"What did his note say?" Levy squealed.

"That he hopes we can meet by next year and maybe even spend New Year's together for the next swap," Erza said shyly, blushing red to the roots of her scarlet hair.

"Aw, good for you, Erza," Levy cooed.

"Is he texting you right now?" Lucy probed.

"Y-yes," Erza stuttered. Cana sniggered before the girls turned their attention to Juvia.

"Juvia's soul mate was at a party," Juvia began. "He was in his boxers drinking beer and there were a lot of people around."

"Pervert!" Cana snorted.

"What did you do while you were in his body?" Levy asked.

"Juvia found a mirror," Juvia said as Levy squealed in excitement. "Juvia's soul mate is gorgeous," she said smugly.

"What does he look like?" Lucy asked.

"Why is Love Rival interested?" Juvia said, beginning to exude a dark aura. Lucy put her hands up in surrender, backing away from the angry bluenette.

"I-I'm not interested, Juvia!" Lucy exclaimed. "I'm just excited that you saw your soul mate." This seemed to placate the female as her threatening aura disappeared and a smile returned to her face.

"Juvia's soul mate has black hair and dark blue eyes," Juvia continued as the girls giggled excitedly.

Cana winked conspiratorially.

"Come on, you said he was just in his boxers! You checked him out didn't you?" she said.

"He is nice to look at," Juvia said, turning rather shy. Cana guffawed. Trying to direct everyone's attention elsewhere, Juvia moved the conversation on to Levy.

"He put me on a boat again," Levy groaned. "It was the exact same as last year. When I came to, he was in the bathroom at the mirror again."

"Did he leave a note for you or anything?" Juvia asked.

"No, I don't think so," Levy frowned.

As Levy continued to mentally search for clues, the attention turned to Lucy.

"My soul mate was passed out drunk," Lucy frowned. "He was naked and in bed with a girl! And I almost threw up again!"

"Did you get a peek at his junk?" Cana asked.

"Of course not!" Lucy exclaimed. "Do you have to ask that every year?" She rolled her eyes at her friend. "I found his jeans and tried to get a look at his ID but I switched back before I had a chance to open his wallet. When he came to, I was on the floor with his wallet." She made a face. She was still embarrassed. It was sort of an unwritten rule that those who swapped shouldn't invade their soul mate's privacy too much and here she was, in his naked body and digging through his wallet.

"I applaud your stalker skills," Cana grinned.

"I wasn't stalking!" Lucy defended. She huffed out her cheeks in annoyance, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"What else did you find out?" Erza prompted.

"Nothing else," Lucy shook her head.

"You should have gotten a peek at his goods," Cana reprimanded her. "Put those stalker skills to good use," she winked.

"Ew, Cana!" Lucy groaned, blushing. "Can't you keep your perverse comments to yourself?" she begged.

"Nope," Cana grinned.

Lucy and Cana continued to bicker back and forth over the sounds of the TV, complaining loudly about their respective soul mates.

"What if we pulled a trick on them next year?" Cana suggested a while later.

The girls looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"Be serious, Cana." Levy said. "What on earth could we possibly do to them?"

"No, hold on Lev," Lucy said. "Cana is on to something here."

"Well, it seems that my soul mate's goal each year is to annoy me to death or kill me with some stupid stunt," Cana grumbled. "And Lucy's soul mate can't hold his liquor for the night. Juvia's soul mate is a perv," Juvia huffed from her spot on the couch. "And Levy, maybe your soul mate intentionally puts you on a boat each year so you can't do anything?"

"Oh! I hadn't thought of that," Levy said. "And meanwhile he's running around in my body. Do you know he didn't even have ID on him? I checked. No cell phone and no wallet. I even tried to get the boat's license number but it had been removed. Do you think it was intentional?"

"I have no doubt," Lucy said. "We have to get them back for this!"

The girls spent the rest of the night scheming and thinking up ways to get back at the boys. There was no way they were putting up with this treatment without a fight. The first rays of sunlight were just peeking over the horizon when the girls finally began to doze off. Lucy smiled around the room at her friends who were sprawled out on any available spot. She giggled to herself, thinking about the events of the last twelve hours before she finally drifted off to sleep. She was woken a few hours later by Erza yelling at Cana for spilling beer on the carpet. There was never a dull moment with these girls. Lucy laughed, watching Erza chase the still-bra-clad brunette around the dorm before Lucy pulled one of the couch pillows over her head and tried to go back to sleep.

Thanks for reading!