Freed wasn't sure what time it was when he woke up. It was morning at least, the room was full of light and the rain had passed and thankfully, he was feeling well again. He obviously needed that rest.

The man yawned as he sat up and stretched out his arms, feeling just a little bit sore because of stumbling down yesterday but other than that he felt okay. Now that he was awake he probably should leave Porlyusica's house as fast as possible so he wouldn't bother her any longer. He was already very grateful of all she did and he should definitely come back later and help her to fix all the shelves. He should also come up with a plan how he would replace everything he had broken.

Freed pushed away the blanket and just when he was about to step out of the bed he realized his foot didn't touch the floor like it should. He fell down with a yelp, sitting up on the floor and he was confused of what just happened.

He looked around and things were… Big. So big. They shouldn't look this big, should they? Freed blinked his eyes and looked at the bed which almost looked like it was lurching over him. The little nightstand beside him was now more like a huge bookcase and the room itself felt like it was ten times larger than last night when he went to bed.

What was happening? Freed quickly got on his feet but it just made him fall on his behind when something heavy was pulling him down. He quickly looked behind seeing something long, green, fluffy…

"What?" Freed murmured, not sure if he should believe what he was seeing. It looked almost like a …

"Freed?"

Freed glanced at the door and heard knocking.

"Freed, it's me", he heard a familiar voice.

"Laxus", the rune mage said. Now he remembered that Porlyusica had said she would call someone to pick him up in the morning.

The door opened and Laxus stepped in. In Freed's eyes he suddenly looked gigantic, but nevertheless he was happy to see his husband again after two weeks.

Laxus looked down and lifted his eyebrow.

"What's going on?" Freed quickly asked and once again he got on his feet, this time keeping his balance.

"The old hag wasn't lying", Laxus murmured. How the hell was that even possible?

Freed was standing there next to his bed, obviously he had fallen down because he hadn't noticed how small he was. Laxus had to say, his bright green fur with his long tail looked really nice, almost made him look like one of those fancy pansy purebred cats living in mansions and stuff.

He chuckled a little bit when Freed's other ear flickered angrily and his big turquoise eyes were narrowed as he was starting to lose his patience.

"What is going on?" Freed demanded to know. Laxus huffed and he knelt down, making Freed to fall back again because it almost looked like the blond was collapsing over him.

"We're not yet sure how things went exactly, but it seems like something has transformed you into an Exceed", Laxus explained and silence landed in the room.

Freed looked at Laxus who stared back and slowly he was starting to understand that his husband wasn't lying. He looked down at his hands, seeing green colored soft looking little paws with pink toes. He still had little bandages around them to cover his wounds. His legs were short, also green and fuzzy looking with little toes on his feet.

"An Exceed?" he asked rising his gaze back to Laxus who nodded.

"Seems so", the Thunder God said.

"So the thing behind me…"

"That's your tail."

"And do I have -"

"Big ears? Yeah, you have those too."

"But how?" Freed asked and his voice was still full of disbelief, but now he was also shocked. "How did that happen?!"

"I don't know, neither does Porlyusica. She did mention that it might have something to do with all those jars you broke yesterday", Laxus said and he got back up, rising so high Freed really had to turn his head upright to see his orange eyes. "Anyway, how are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere?"

"No", Freed said and once again he got on his feet, looking behind and seeing his tail.

"At least there's some good news then. Porlyusica is waiting outside, we should go see her."

Freed nodded and he was about to step forward when suddenly he realized something and looked down.

"I have no clothes", he gasped.

"Yeah, I noticed", Laxus snorted crossing his arms.

"This is not funny, Laxus!" Freed snapped and he quickly grabbed a corner of the blanket that was nearby, pulling it around him.

"What? Like I haven't seen you naked hundreds of times already."

"That is different! I can't go out looking like this!"

"You're a cat, cats don't need clothes."

"Find me clothes this instant!" Freed commanded angrily and it only made Laxus amused.

"You expect me to pull out a needle and thread and make you some little clothes?" he laughed.

"I don't care how you find them just find. Me. Clothes!" Freed demanded and he was ashamed. There was just no way he would walk around looking like this!

The lightning dragon slayer sighed scratching his neck and he looked around. Better not make Freed even angrier, but there wasn't really much they could use… Freed's shirt was far too big and same went with his pants. He grunted and took the white scarf, giving it to the rune mage.

"This will have to do for now", he said. "We can ask if someone could make you something at the guild."

Freed growled and he snatched the scarf pulling it around him and Laxus managed to find him a little ribbon to use as a belt. The scarf was enough for him to cover himself properly, though he hoped it would look a bit better.

"There, now you're clothed", Laxus said and he picked up Freed's other clothes and stuffed them in his backpack. "You want me to carry you?"

"Don't you even think about it", Freed said annoyed and he finally felt like he could leave the room. Laxus chuckled when looking at the green Exceed stomping his little paws against the floor, not looking very convincing if he was trying to look intimidating.

"Suit yourself", he just said and he closed the door after them.

Once Laxus had his coat and boots with him, they went outside and Freed hopped down the stairs. It was actually easier said than done, he had no idea what he should do with his tail and it just ended up moving around. He almost fell, but Laxus was quick to catch him before that happened.

"I just make sure you won't get hurt", Laxus said when Freed gave him a glare.

They got down and Laxus let go of the angry Exceed. They circled the tree and found Porlyusica from the door by his cellar, looking inside with a frown.

"There you are", she said when she noticed them coming.

"Good morning, Porlyusica", Freed said.

"It's about time you wake up, I just told Laxus to carry you away if you weren't awake yet."

"You know I wouldn't have done that before we get more information about what the hell actually happened", Laxus grunted.

"I already told you everything", Porlyusica tisked. "Your man came here, almost passed out because of exhaustion and destroyed whatever he could in my cellar."

"He came here because you asked his help!" the lightning dragon slayer snarled. He couldn't get mad at Freed because of what happened after all this, but he sure as hell could get mad at Porlyusica.

"I never asked him to come here in the middle of the night when there was a storm outside! He can only blame himself. How is your condition?" the old healer asked looking at Freed.

"Fine, I guess", he said. "Except of how I look right now. What were in those jars?"

"I haven't been able to yet fully examine everything you broke, but I have at least some good news. That transformation isn't permanent", Porlyusica said and Freed sighed relieved. "But I don't know how long it will last."

"How long might it take?"

"I can't be sure of that. Could be days, could be months. In worst case, it might take over a year."

"That's a long time", Laxus growled.

"It's still better than if this was permanent", Freed said. "It can't be helped."

"Since everything seems to be fine, get lost", Porlyusica said and closed the door to her cellar. "Contact me if something else happens, but otherwise stay away", she said and walked back to the front door.

Laxus grunted and he looked at his husband. Yeah, of course things could be worse but he was still pretty pissed because he had been planning all kinds of things they could do with Freed when he would be back, but now everything was ruined.

"Why did you have to come here?" he growled annoyed as they started walking towards the town. "Why couldn't you just come back home?"

"I wanted to finish everything so I wouldn't need to worry about it later", Freed explained and he had to almost run so he could keep up with laxus' pace.

"I get that, but still. I thought the first person you would want to see after coming back would be me…" Laxus murmured with a little pout and it made Freed chuckle. "And what were you doing in her cellar anyway?"

"I wanted to help her by taking away some jars while I was leaving."

"So you decided to be a gentleman even though you were exhausted and cold. Now that was wise."

"I honestly thought everything was fine and I could still walk back home", Freed assured. "I wanted to come home as soon as possible."

Laxus stopped and he looked at Freed.

"You're slow", he stated and Freed frowned. "Can't you use your wings like other Exceeds?"

"I don't know how to use Air Magic", Freed reminded.

"Oh, right. And guess you can't use Rune Magic when you're an Exceed?"

"I don't know, I haven't yet tried it but I think that might be true."

Laxus huffed and he looked ahead seeing the long path in front of them. He crouched and grabbed Freed, lifting him up and on his shoulder.

"Just sit there", he said. "The sooner we get to the Guild House and can actually start planning what we should do, the better."

"I don't really like the idea of going there looking like this…"

"Too bad, you can't just hide inside our house either. This way they might be able to help you, who knows?"

Freed sighed and he nodded, finally giving up and Laxus continued walking towards the town.