So. If any of y'all have ships you would like to see in here now is the time to let me know so my muses can play with them a bit and decide whether they like them enough to use. I know Mashima made Gajevy canon, and I started shipping there, but I'm cracking everything else up. Yes we will see Desna's Pradeshes in Magnolia, we will also see several 'bad guys' become Fairy Tail wizards. Mention requested ships in comments. I can't guarantee they will happen, but it is more likely if I see it mentioned. No ships are concrete until they have actually said as much in the story. Just because two characters have chemistry or even end up in bed doesn't mean they will stay together.

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Somehow the fact that Alanza was not wearing shoes escaped the notice of her friendly kidnappers until after their train was well on its way to Hargeon. Freed was beside himself when it was brought to his attention. Juvia giggled about it, and Alanza was pretty sure Evergreen was smirking behind that fan of hers. Bickslow of course thought it was hilarious and was all but falling off his bench laughing.

"You're a huge ass, Bix."

"My ass is just the right, Spices." *just right, wanna see, so sexy.

"Pretty sure you wear a dress because all pants make your butt look fat."

"Ouch! *ah, ouch, so painful, fat daddy. Bickslow placed a hand over his heart and gasped as if in pain. "I can't believe you would say that!" He then hopped out of his seat and twisted around to look at his own backside. "It isn't fat! Tell her, Dewdrop. Tell the evil creature my ass is deliciously perfect!" *perfect, delicious, bitable. While he had set aside his hood and visor for the day he still wore the rest of his armor. Juvia turned red and steamed a bit as she stared at the tall man's backside. Then she met Alanza's eyes and grinned deviously.

"Juvia wouldn't know. As Juvia's sister said Bickslow wears dresses to hide the size of his behind." His babies laughed hysterically as Bix wailed and dropped back into his seat.

"Bickslow's ego aside we simply must procure footwear for Miss Alanza posthaste."

"That is why Laxus is having us take her shopping. Now. Let's talk style. What you are wearing today. Is this a good sample of your preferred wardrobe?" Alanza looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a floral print off the shoulder peasant blouse and tan pants thay stopped mid-calf.

"I... Well... This was what was available. I like the way the shirt fits. I want my guildmark to show. Thats why I picked this shirt. I already knew where I wanted my mark. I don't like the flowers though. I don't really do flowers. I want to get some sturdy boots that support my ankles for walking, but... I'd like them to be a bit cute too." She thought for a moment. She had never been real picky about her clothes. Also she was living in an anime world now, so she could choose a unique style to make her own without looking like a total weirdo.

"Ankle boots, with leggings or long socks that cover my knees. Shorts, but no skirts unless it's for a special occasion. I'll need a good jacket too, leather maybe. And fingerless leather gloves to protect my hands when I punch shit." Evergreen hummed thoughtfully.

"Colors?"

"Umm..." Normally she just wore blah colors to go with her blah self. She wasn't blah anymore though so... "Jewel tones. I've always liked those colors. They just... seemed to overpower me before." She smirked then. "I'm a Fairy Tail wizard now and I'll be damned if a few pretty colors scare me off."

"I like it. You are a bold person. It suits you." Evergreen had a smug look on her face. Of course as far as Alanza could tell Ever always had a smug look on her face.

"Juvia thinks Alanza needs a hat too!" Alanza eyed her warily.

"A hat? Seriously? Why?"

"Hats are the best thing to top off a perfect outfit!"

"Uhh..." She glanced at the Thunder Legion and received shrugs.

"I'll...think about it." She wasn't really a hat person, but Juvia seemed to take her headwear rather seriously. Come to think of it the only time Alanza recalled the water wizard being without a hat was when she was dressed to swim.

"Hey, lookie! We're here!" *here, here, let's go shopping. "Hey, till we get actual shoes on those pretty feet how about you let the babies carry you?" *carry you, carry you, let's fly.

"If you guys don't mind..." Letting Bickslow's babies carry her sounded like a bunch of fun. She had always wanted to fly.

"No probs!" *yeah, totally cool, no problem, help friends. Alanza faught the urge to fist-pump at the idea of flying with the babies. The group piled off the train, some of them more sedately that others who happened to have blue hair. Evergreen rushed them through the light drizzle toward a shop she proclaimed to be 'the best'.

Alanza was astonished by the variety of footwear she was exposed to over the next half hour. It's not that she had never gone shoe shopping before, she had, it was just that there were styles here that were... Dramatic. There weren't really magical shoes per say, but there were shoes that had magic in them. For example it was apparently common practice to have dirt repellant spells 'woven' into shoes. It didn't keep them clean however. It was more of a dirt resistence than being dirtproof. Evergreen pushed for Alanza to choose something with heels, and Bix being himself seemed determined for her to leave the store wearing something crazy. Thankfully neither of them pushed hard, and both Freed and Juvia encouraged her to choose something she liked.

In the end they were all pretty happy with the boots she chose. Black leather with a practical tread and a slight heel, they reminded Alanza of biker boots. They were a little more than just ankle boots and had strapps and silver buckles all the way up the side. They had both dirt and water resistant spells 'woven' in. She had jumped and stomped all over the place to ensure the boots fit and that the buckles wouldn't jingle. She strongly objected to sounding as though she were wearing spurs. A second pair of boots was ordered to be delivered to Fairy Hills.

Their next stop got her some sturdy jegging type pants, a handful of off the shoulder tops in solid colors, and several pairs of short shorts. She had hesitated at just how short, but Bix and Juvia assured her they looked 'tempting as melted chocolate'. Those were Bickslow's words of course, but Juvs had agreed with the concept, especially when they got the water wizard into her own pair of shorts and Bix had been even more encouraging about those. All three girls took home shorts.

Bickslow dragged them into the next store. It was... Punky. They found over the knee and theigh high socks in lots of colors and patterns, fingerless leather gloves with small metal spikes around the wrists, a leather mini-skirt, and a belt that was just this side of being a 'utility' belt. Alanza went with the belt because she dreaded hauling a purse around all the time.

That was also the store where Juvia won the hat debate. Alanza's new headwear was a cross between steampunk, pirate, and adorable as fuck. The tiny top hat was made of a sapphire blue and white brocade fabric and trimmed with silver braid. There were two feathers tucked into the purple velvet hatband, one looked like a black ostrich feather, and the other was a peacock feather. She hadn't known there were peacocks in this universe, but apparently there were. The medallion that secured the feathers Alanza had not liked, but Juvia claimed Gajeel could make her a cute little Fairy Tail symbol to replace the horrifyingly floral thing. Really it was the most useless hat ever, but Alanza liked her sarcasm hat. It gave her look a touch of quirky, elegant fun.

There was a good deal of debate and argument when they went hunting for Alanza's jacket. In the end it was decided that it was still early in the warm season and a heavy coat could wait. A black leather bolero type jacket with three quarter sleeves was found. It didn't even close in the front, instead framing the part of her chest her shirts left bare and drawing the eye to her guildmark. It was simple in design, and bold as well because small leather was badass and sexy.

Walking from that last store into glaring evening sunlight had Alanza squinting in mild irritation until she heard Juvia gasp. The look of awe in those blue eyes had the whole group grinning proudly. They had chased Juvia's rain away simply by laughing and spending time with her as friends. Alanza linked her arm in Juvia's and pulled her out into the sunlight.

"See, Juvs? Told you Fairy Tail would help you find the sun."

"You've got us now, Dewdrop. Means you never have to be so lonely that the rain won't leave ever again." *never alone, no more sadness, don't worry, be happy.

"It's so beautiful! Thank you!" The whole group was astonished when Juvia dropped Alanza's arm and launched herself up to just about strangle Bickslow. "Juvia is so happy she has friends to chase away the rain and help her be happy!" She planted a kiss on the wide-eyed man, dropped back onto her own feet and ran off down the road in the direction of the sunset.

"Well damn." *did not see that coming, happy sunshine, awesome.

"How much do you wanna bet she doesn't realize she kissed you?"

"Hey! That's not nice, Ever!" *not nice, wounds daddy so, ouch. Alanza grinned and bumped him with her shoulder.

"You mean you Want her to think about kissing you?"

"I want her to at least stick around long enough for me to kiss her back!" *kiss her back, kiss and run, not fair.

"Just because it is a kiss, or because it is Miss Juvia?"

"Y'all can shut it. Come on babies! Let's catch up to Dewdrop before she runs into the ocean!" *run, fly, wet Dewdrop, go, hurry. Bix and his babies flew off.

"Wait just a flying second! Does refusing to answer the question mean Bix is crushing on Juvia?"

"Presumably."

"I think so. They are pretty cute together."

"And here this whole time I thought he was just being his friendly self."

"Did-" Freed hesitated. "Does your magic not tell you about relationships?"

"A tiny bit. This I didn't see coming. They are, like, a minor crack ship I guess."

"I see."

"A who and the what now?" Evergreen wrinkled her nose up in confusion.

"They are unexpected basically, but I agree. They could be super cute." And Bix would heap attention on the poor girl. Juvs needed that.

"Bickslow doesn't usually... Pursue people. I mean he flirts and sleeps around a lot, but... wonder if he saw something..." Ever and Freed both stared after the blunettes with thoughtful looks on their faces.

"Can we find dinner now? I'm starving." She had been dragged away from her lunch and tortured with shopping all afternoon. She needed a break. Shr really liked hanging out with Juvia and the Thunder Legion, but shopping was definately not her thing.

"Sure! We are basically done. We can go to my favorite cafe!" Evergreen took off in a totally different direction than the one Bix and Juvs had gone in.

"Uhh... What about the crazy, flighty blue haired people?"

"Bickslow is aware of Evergreen's preference for this particular dining establishment. They will locate us once they are finished... Being excited." She smirked at Freed's description of their friends behavior.

The cafe Evergreen led them to was a cute little place with an outdoor eating area and umbrella covered tables. They settled under a red and yellow umbrella to wait. Alanza didn't even notice the music playing until Evergreen laughed at her for unconsciously dancing to it and humming along. Then a wide grin spread over her face at the fact that Star Wars apparently wasn't the only thing their universes shared. The voices were a bit different, but she knew this song. Freed covered his face with his hand when she started singing and dancing in her seat. That might have been because she couldn't really dance. Or sing.

"This thing! Called Love! I just! Can't handle it! This thing! Called love! I must! Get round to it!" Evergreen joined in then. "I ain't ready! Crazy little thing called love!" The waitress giggled at them when she came over and handed out menus.

"Glad to see you all enjoying yourselves. Can I get you something to drink?"

"Hot earl grey please." Evergreen wrinkled her nose at him.

"Old man. I'll have a tipsy melon garnished with blueberries." Alanza blinked.

"A what now?" Evergreen smirked and snapped her fan open.

"A blended mojito with cucumber and honeydew melon. It's a special here. You simply must taste it when it gets here."

"Why are you drinking?"

"Why not? Bix will have a whole pitcher of pina colada when he gets here." Alanza raised an eyebrow at that.

"For real?" That was... A lot. Wasn't it? She had never had alcohol before so she was just guessing.

"Oh. Are you expecting more party members?" Freed smiled at their waitress.

"Indeed. Two of them. I imagine Miss Juvia will wish for water before anything else. Her magic will require it."

"I'll make sure to get a pitcher of water and pina colada out once they arrive. And you?" Alanza opened her mouth to ask for a latte, bit Evergreen cut her off.

"She'll have an irish coffee, blended, and topped with extra cream." She gaped at the pushy woman when the waitress took off after their drinks.

"Ever!"

"What?"

"I... I've never drunk actual alcohol before."

"I guessed as much. You are a Fairy Tail wizard now, though. We need to work on your tolerance. And I noticed Mira brings you coffee. You'll like this. Trust me."

"But- But- Freed?"

"Evergreen is correct. Would you rather drink with Cana your first time?" Alanza winced at that idea.

"Fine. You have to keep me from doing anything embarrassing though." When she received deadpan stares from both of them she got so nervous she felt her face actually do that sweatdrop thing. Her hand actually twitched with the need to swipe it away, but she restrained herself.

"Hey guys!" *hey, sup, hungry, found Dewdrop.

"Juvia is sorry she ran off. Juvia just got so excited!"

"Bix! Your teammates are trying to get me drunk!"

"On what?" *yeah, what, nothing to drink yourself drunk on. "Besides why is that a bad thing?" Alanza faught the urge to wimper and flee when all four of them just looked at her curiously.

"Ugh! You guys are hopeless."

She said that, but she had loads of fun that evening. They laughed, ate, drank and told stories about each other. They ended up going through three of Bickslow's pina colada pitchers because he shared with the rest of them. Juvia drank most of one on her own in addition to her own blue lagoon. Apparently having a body made of water ment her tolerance level was ridonkulous.

Alanza had never really hung out with people like this. Before Mystogan brought her here she had stayed to busy to make any real friends. By the time Freed herded their overly giggly, wobbly group along with all their shopping bags, onto the train to head back she had come to a happy realization. Even if Myst could send her back and even if it ment she had to deal with all the bad stuff she was trying to help Fairy Tail avoid she wanted to stay here. Because... Nakama really ment something to her now.

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(Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen)

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To be continued.