WARNING PEOPLE! This might get a little confusing but just understand that I'm going to be mentioning the person by the body they are in at all times to save confusion (hopefully!) I tried to keep their habits and the way they usually speak the same so it should hopefully be obvious who is who! Good luck and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Chapter 8 - Changeling

Natsu trudged behind Lucy and Laxus, glaring at the tall blonde. Laxus, ignoring Natsu, stayed by Lucy's side the ENTIRE way back from Galuna Island. He felt protective over her, especially around Natsu. Maybe it's because he's a dragon slayer too. Whatever. As long as nobody tries anything... Lucy is mine. He felt more and more at ease about having to be around Lucy. He hadn't heard that voice in his head for a while and the black junk disappeared from his chest sometime during the job, so he knew he was doing SOMETHING right. Still, he was having a hard time wrapping his head around possibly DATING this girl. He wasn't sure if he wanted to date or not. As long as I stay near her I should be fine. Maybe now that the voice is gone...

No other. Only Lucy.

He sighed. Fucking voice... fucking Lucy...

As they arrived at the guild hall, Mira popped next to Laxus in an instant and gave him a hug.

"Laxus! You really did go and bring them back! Thank you!" Mira chimed happily. Laxus tsked and put an arm around Mira in an awkward side hug.

"A real man helps friends when they are in danger!" Elfman said, giving Laxus a thumbs up.

"You sure you're Laxus?" Wakaba cackled, his cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"Shut the fuck up already." Laxus grunted, releasing Mira from the hug. He glanced over at Lucy who was glaring at him. She huffed and strutted over to the job board as Laxus stood there in confusion. Gray, seeing the interaction between them, stifled a laugh and made his way over to see what Lucy was reading, followed by Natsu. Lucy plucked the job request off the board and sat at the nearest table to read it better. Loke popped up behind Natsu to see what was going on. Mira, oblivious to what just happened, made her way back to the bar, but not before teasing Lucy about going on the job with Natsu.

"I'm so glad you, Natsu, and Gray are alright! So Lucy!" Mira smiled sweetly. "Did you and Natsu fair ok on your own for that first night?"

Laxus barely contained the growl that wanted to rip through the chatter in the guild at the way Mira talked about Lucy with Natsu. Never gonna happen Mira... Instead of heading to the second floor like he usually would, he decided to ask Lucy the question that's been on his mind since their return. Noticing that everyone was huddled around a strange job request, he peered over Lucy as she read the job out loud.

"Ugo deru rasuchi boro kania... Hmm I wonder what that means." Suddenly a bright, colorful light shined through the guild hall. After a short while the light died down...

"Why the fuck is it so cold?" Gray said. Everyone looked over at Gray with confusion.

"Huh? How can an ice wizard be cold?" Elfman asked. Sparks of electricity started coming off of Laxus.

"W-What the hell?!" Laxus said urgently as he looked at the tendrils of yellow coming off his hands. "Ah! I'm going to be electrocuted!"

"Uh Laxus?" Happy said before he screamed, looking at his paw. "W-Why am I... A CAT?!"

Loke glanced around the guild. "Huh? Why am I wearing... glasses?" He pulls them off his face and squints his eyes. "Ah! I've gone blind!"

Natsu pushed up his 'glasses' and eyed Loke in shock. "More like, why do I NOT have glasses?! And why the hell am I looking at myself?" He looked over and saw Lucy smiling next to him and he let out a scream and ran for the exit.

"Natsuuuu! Why are you running away from me?" Lucy pouted.

"Huh? What are you talking about Luigi? Man, why's everything so dark?" Loke mumbled, as he looked back at the glasses and put them on. "That's better... WHY DO I NEED GLASSES?!"

Macao, watching everything transpire, rubbed the back of his head and signed. "Everything seems a little off somehow..."

"I have two neat boobies on my chest! See! See!" Lucy says excitedly cupping her breasts to show off. The men in the guild blushed and let out an excited exclamation "OH!"

Happy on the other hand looked mortified and jumped up and kicked at Lucy's arm "Stop that!"

"That doesn't hurt at all." Lucy smiled as Happy fell to the floor.

"W-What is happening?!" Happy yelled from the floor. Laxus stalked up to Gray and growled lowly.

"Laxus? Is that you?" Laxus questioned, static still coming off of him.

"Gods... Lucy what the fuck did you do?" Gray looked over at Lucy and saw her showing off her chest and instantly noticed that he didn't feel the normal pull he felt when near her. However...

"LUCY! What the fuck are you doing woman?!" Gray seethed. Happy, still on the floor, trudged over to Gray and tugged on his pants. Gray glanced down and glared at the cat but saw the tears welling up in his eyes. "Fuck... Is that you Blondie?" The cat went from crying to seething in the blink of an eye.

"Stop calling me BLONDIE!" Happy huffed and turned away, arms crossed over his chest. Gray groaned and made his way over to the table they had been huddled over and read over the weird looking job request. He couldn't understand it, but he knew it had caused them to switch bodies somehow. His eyes traveled around the room and realized that it only seemed to affect the ones that were closest to the table at the time the spell was read aloud...

"We have to change back." Gray solemnly said.

"The ancient Unpela-ese "Changeling" spell has been set in motion." Everyone turned their attention to the entrance of the guild hall. There stood their Master. "That job flier was the cause. Reading a certain spell aloud will cause the personalities of nearby people to switch. That spell is the Changeling spell. This spell switches more than just personalities. It switches magic, too. One more thing... If the Changeling spell is not lifted in 30 minutes of it's activation... you will remain changed for the rest of your life. So the lore says."

"Is there a way to change us back?" Happy asked hopefully.

"Well it's ancient magic so it goes without saying... I don't know." He shrugged. Everyone gulped and started to panic.

"Wait! I may be able to help." They looked towards the bar and saw Levy coming over. Gray handed over the job request, because if anyone could figure it out it would be the script mage.

"Yeah! Levy can figure this out!" Happy cheered.

"I'm fine either way!" Lucy smiled happily.

Gray looked from Lucy to Laxus to Levi. "You can fix this right? I want my fucking body back." As well as Lucy's... Wait.. I don't feel that pull anymore. He let his thoughts wonder and thought of other women he's had in the past and he still didn't feel right. Must still be affecting me.. Aw shit... He looked over at Laxus, who kept his eyes trained on Lucy. This is going to be a big problem...

"I think I can figure this out! Give me just a few minutes." Levi said confidently, sitting at the table with a few books as she used her magic to read through the books at an alarming pace.

"Hey Macao! How long has it been since we switched bodies?" Loke asked, feeling nervous about how his body ran away.

"Uh.. about 18 minutes." Macao suggested, shrugging.

"18 minutes! Come on Levy!" Loke panicked.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Levy sighed.

Loke glanced around the room at the people who were switched and gulped.

Lucy smiled and gave Happy a fish and Happy cheered.

"Wait. Why am I so excited about this fish? Oh no! I'm going to have to eat fish for the rest of my life!" Happy cried as Lucy started to munch on a piece of fish herself.

Laxus towered over Gray, glaring down at him.

"What the fuck is going on with your head?" Gray instantly snapped to attention and took Laxus aside.

"Don't leave Lucy's side. Stay in control."

"How the fuck do you stay in control?! What the hell's this voice? Why's it telling me-"

"SHUT. UP." Gray looked around to make sure people weren't listening and sighed. "Just do what I say. We'll be changed back soon enough."

"What if Levy can't find a way before the 30 minutes are up? What am I going to do?! Why is your body reacting this way? I certainly don't have those kinds of feelings for Lucy-ACK!" Laxus bent over in pain, gasping in air. Gray put his face in his hand, trying to contain his irritation, but glad he isn't the one feeling the pain this time.

"She has to figure this out... Macao! How much time is left?" Gray asked.

"5 minutes!" Macao replied urgently.

"Fuck. Levy! Anything yet?" Gray urged as he turned his head in her direction. She peered over the book she was reading and hesitantly gave a short shake of the head 'no'. Happy started bawling.

"I-I'm gonna b-be a c-cat forever!" Happy wailed. Gray looked down at the cat and stiffly walked over and picked the cat up. Happy looked up at Gray in surprise and hugged Gray. He awkwardly petted the cat's head and Happy smiled contently. Laxus watched the interaction carefully and then his eyes shifted to Lucy who was calling out for a Spirit. Oh boy.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Happy gasped as he turned and saw Lucy gripping onto Taurus's key.

"I'm trying to call one of Lucy's keys!" Lucy exclaimed with excitement.

"You damned cat! Quit messing with my keys!" Happy ordered, jumping out of Grays arms and gasped as he suddenly popped wings and floated in the air. Determination set in his eyes as he charged toward Lucy.

"Hehe!" Lucy ran around the guild hall holding the keys away from Happy who was flying after her angrily.

"I'VE GOT IT!" Levy shouted and everyone stopped and moved closer in a hurry, right as Natsu came running back panicking about the constant fire bursting out of his mouth. Loke pulled him over and started yelling at him for running away.

"30 seconds!" Macao informed. The blood drained from many faces.

"Ok! The only possible way to change back is if you have an open heart to the one you've switched with! I think it also means that you can't have any secrets... Once you've opened your heart to that person and they have done the same, only then can you switch back!" Everyone stared.

"WE DON"T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!" They yelled. Levi nervously backed away, scratching her head.

"Well maybe the time isn't really a factor? I didn't see anything about a time limit." She mentioned, tapping her chin in thought. Laxus grabbed Gray's hand and pulled him away from the group and away from other listening ears. Soon after Happy tugged at Lucy and begged her to follow him to 'find some fish'. Natsu pushed Loke out of the guild hall to have some privacy as well.

"I guess no one wanted to share any secrets." Mira giggled, passing a beer to Makarov.

"A real man would do whatever is comfortable with his or her friend!" Elfman grinned.

"What a mess." Macao sighed.

"Anybody wanna put money down?" Cana smirked. "I bet Laxus and Gray are going to stay that way for quite some time." She smiled cruelly.

"That's not very nice Cana..." Mira chided, handing Cana some money.

"You're betting on it?!" Wakaba cackled, watching Mira head back to drying mugs behind the bar as if nothing happened.

With Lucy and Happy...

"Where's the fish?" Lucy pouted.

"Listen Happy! We have to change back! What if Natsu needs you and you can't fly and help him anymore?" Happy pointed out. Lucy gasped and teared up.

"But Natsu and I are a team!... Ok! What do I need to do to change back Lucy?"

"Well do you have any secrets?"

"Nope! Oh! I like when Natsu and I go fishing!"

"Uh ok... not really a secret but anyways... Nothing else?"

"Nope!" Lucy smiled brightly. Happy sagged in defeat. The faster I get this over with, the sooner I'll have my body and my Spirits back. With a fire in his eyes he looked up at Lucy.

"I am Lucy Heartfilia! The heiress of the Heartfilia family." Happy said seriously. Lucy just stared happily back.

"Ok!"

"Uh ok... Also... I.." Gulp. Why is this so hard to say. No! I need to get my body back! "I like Laxus! I feel complete when I am with him! I also have two new tattoos.." She added lamely. Hoping it was enough.

"Lucy! You liiiikke Laxus?" Lucy teased and then gasped. "Lucy! Have you kissed Laxus?!" Happy blushes.

"Yes." She answered honestly.

"Lucy! Are you going to have babies because you kissed him?" Happy gaped at Lucy, his face turning a dangerous shade of red.

"W-WHAT?! Uh..." She thought back to that night and sighed. "I don't know Happy. We still don't know very much about each oth-" A flash of light interrupted Happy. Lucy looked down at her hands and smiled hugging herself. "I'm back to normal! Thank Gods! I need to find Laxus! Oh... Happy... If I give you this fish will you not tell my secrets?" Happy drooled at the sight of the fish Lucy had miraculously pulled out of nowhere and he nodded enthusiastically. Lucy smiled and handed over the fish and Happy instantly started munching on the fish. She quickly ran off in search of Laxus.

Lucy made her way back to the guild hall and her eyes searched for Laxus. Where is he? Oh! There's Gray! Or I think it's Gray... She walked over to Gray who was sitting at the bar, drinking a beer.

"Gray? Or Laxus?" She asked hesitantly. Gray smirked, taking a sip of his beer.

"It's me Lucy. Laxus had some interesting things to say in order for us to change back..." His eyes slid over to her. "You guys should go out some time and get to know each other. I think you guys would make a good couple."

"WHA-!" Lucy blushed red.

"What was that Gray?" Mira's sweet voice drifted over to them from the other side of the bar. Both Lucy and Gray paled.

"N-Nothing Mira!" They stammered. Suddenly Natsu slumped onto the seat next to Gray and sighed.

"Anybody else get more than they wanted to know?" Natsu questioned. Gray nodded enthusiastically while Lucy shrugged.

"Cats don't seem to really have secrets..." Lucy smiled.

"Hmm... I wonder what secrets you had to say to that blue fuzzball... He's not exactly great at keeping secrets." Gray wondered aloud. Lucy gulped.

BANG! In came the flying fuzzball chanting: "LUCY HAS A SECRET! LUCY HAS A SECRET!"

"YOU DAMNED CAT! COME HERE!" The guild laughed as Lucy chased the cat around the hall. Laxus smirked from his spot on the second floor.

"Laxus! There you are. We have a job." Freed said.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

I wonder what Laxus had to say to Gray! Although I'm sure you guys have an idea. How long until everyone finds out about Lalu?! Can you guess what Laxus wanted to ask Lucy in the beginning of the chapter? I felt like this chapter wasn't really necessary but it was fun to write! Anyways! Hope you guys liked it and please let me know what you think! Please leave a review and as always, I will try my best to have another chapter up by next weekend! Love you guys!

BugBite