Two Hearts, One Wish

by bestangelbaby

When two people from different worlds make the same wish, they are brought together by forces and reasons unknown to them. Watch and see how the addition of this new person will affect Earthland and the lives of the people connected. No pairings as of yet, may change in the future. Will be rated M for language and scenarios in the future.

4. Chapter 4

Last time:

Looking over, I see Natsu also working out the kinks while glaring at Gray with a promise of death. Hmm, I should team up with Natsu for our revenge. Oh, and how sweet it will be. I silently promise myself.

---

The walk to the train station was much quieter than the one to the inn last night. Unless you want to count Happy making Lucy mad yet again and causing her to fruitlessly chase him down to try to get revenge. Natsu and I are still mad at our friends for the rude wake up call this morning. We walk side-by-side while trailing behind the others in sullen silence and I use this time to plot different ways to get even. As our group nears the station, I notice that Natsu's mood changes rather quickly from being frustrated to becoming quite nervous.

Turning my head to face him, I note that he is starting to sweat from nerves before I ask in quiet concern, "What's wrong, Natsu?"

He replies just as quietly, "Worried about being on the train. Its makes my motion sickness act up a lot." he then flinches before adding, "That and I'm hoping Erza won't punch me again."

My anger flares up and I snarl quietly in response as I glare at the back of Erza's head, "She won't if she knows what's good for her."

Almost stumbling from my barely veiled threat, he turns toward me with incredulous surprise, "You're serious?"

I glance in his direction before redirecting my glare back at Erza before replying in a tight voice, "Of course I am. I will not let her or anyone else hurt someone I care about undeservedly. As you said, 'family takes care of its own'." I then let my look soften along with my tone as I turn to face the dragon-slayer beside me, "I'm sorry that we don't have enough time to make you any ginger tea, or at least buy you a root to help out with that motion sickness. I promise to make sure to have lots on hand for the next time. I'll also check out herbal shops for other things that can help."

A look of cautious hope appears as he asks tremulously, "So there really are ways to help my motion sickness go away? You weren't just saying that?"

Feeling surprised, I answer back quickly, "Of course there is! Why would I lie about something like that?" He shrugs while looking embarrassed yet excited at the same time.

"Well, its just no one really stood up for me the way you did. And especially against Erza!" He lets out a small laugh and smiles at me widely in admiration. "No one, and I mean no one has ever stood up to her before like that and won! You're like my hero!" With that, he attacks me with a hug that almost knocks the both of us down. Yelping at the unexpected display of affection, we stumble a bit before getting our balance back. I chuckle heartily and pat his arm in an awkward manner since his hug is pining down my upper arms.

"I just said what should have been said a long while ago." I say, trying to pass it off as nothing special. He releases me out of the hug and smiles the widest I seen yet.

"Well it means a whole lot to me, so thank you!" he exclaims happily. I laugh happily, enjoying his obvious glee.

"Well don't thank me yet, we still have to see if those remedies even work for you." I chirp in merriment. Without realizing it, we reached the train station and Erza has already gone off to get tickets. We walk up to where Gray, Happy, and Lucy are waiting and they smirk over at us.

"Hey dragon-freaks, what are you two chattering about?" asks Gray in a tone and a grin that would set off Natsu's temper.

Not wanting to deal with a fight between the two, I step in front of Natsu to face Gray and Lucy. "Oh nothing much, the weather, how the local sports teams are doing, different herbal remedies to help ease his stomach…" I say casually at first, then I pin the other two with a hard glare before I continue in a deeper voice, "different ways to get unholy revenge for interrupting one of the best night's sleep I ever had." My threat has the desired effect as it causes Lucy and Gray to gulp loudly and huddle together in fear. Still close behind me, I can almost feel Natsu and Happy shivering as well. Hmm, not quite fearful enough yet. Need to add a little bit more to make sure this sticks.

I slowly allow a malicious grin to form before continuing in a gruff tone, "Yes, expect retribution. Soon."

Then with a twist of my feet that I learned from a jazz dance class I took what seems like a lifetime ago, I turn away from the unlucky duo. I tilt my head at Natsu to see that he is looking at me with wide, fearful eyes. The expression on Happy's face mirrors the dragon slayer's. I give them a pleased grin with a wink to clue them in that I wasn't being serious. Looking ahead I see a wonderful sight, a nearby empty bench to rest my achy feet. Taking large strides, I quickly take a seat to wait for Erza and the tickets.

I hear a soft, wobbly voice say behind me, "Too scary…" which causes me to smirk to myself. Maybe that will teach them for yanking me out of bed. Unless they do something else, I think the threat of revenge will be enough for now. Although I do have to teach Erza a lesson and intimidation doesn't seem like it will work on her. I sit down with a sigh of relief as the pressure on my feet subsides. Damn stone roads. I seriously need shoes.

I twist a bit until I'm sitting on the bench at an angle and I place one of my legs on top of the bench in front of me. Leaning forward with my leg bent, I use both of my hands to start massaging the ache out of my foot and an unexpected small stab of pain causes me to hiss quietly in surprise, more than in pain, to myself. I continue to rub my foot, taking the stabs of pain in stride now that I'm expecting it when I feel a thump on the bench. An upwards glance from where I'm bent over, shows that it's Natsu looking at me with concern.

"What's wrong? I heard you hiss in pain." he asks with some worry.

I let go of my foot as I straighten my back in surprise. My eyes widen with the shock before I exclaim loudly, "You heard that?!"

His concerned look melts away and is replaced by a sheepish smile before answering, "Yea, I have good ears to go with the nose."

I raise an eyebrow and ask drily, "Is there any other senses that you have that are good I should know about?"

He scratches his head as he thinks it over. "Um, eyes I guess." he answers after a couple of moments. I give him a light grin.

"What, no taste or touch?" I ask in a teasing tone.

He shrugs like it is of no importance. "Dunno, never really compared those." I shake my head a bit and laugh partly in disbelief at this man sitting next to me. Before I can make a witty retort, a metal clad hand clamps down on both of our shoulders. Natsu stiffens in apprehension, while I calmly look back to see Erza staring down at us.

"I got the tickets, we can board now." she states matter-of-factly before releasing our shoulders from her firm grip.

"Ok." I reply blandly before standing up with a small wince of pain and with that, Erza marches off towards the train. I rub the shoulder that Erza grabbed, silently appreciating the strength in her grasp and understanding more now why the others are fearful of angering her. I turn to see that Happy, Lucy, and Gray are already heading towards one of the cars of the train before I move to follow.

Behind me, I hear Natsu say a bit smugly, "So last night was one of the best night's sleep you ever had, huh?" I narrow my eyes and smirk as a golden teasing opportunity presents itself. Turning swiftly to look up into his eyes through my eyelashes, I lean towards him and place my hand lightly on the center of his chest.

"Yes, but it could have been much better." I purr out at him and end with a wink. His eyes widen as his cheeks blaze up a bright tomato red. I smirk and laugh at his embarrassment before grabbing his ever-present scarf and tugging on it. Turning around, I start waking towards the train with him in tow. "Come on, dragon-boy. We got a train to catch." I laugh over my shoulder while dragging him after me.

In the train, Natsu forgets what I said outside as he starts getting very nervous while we are taking our seats. No longer in a teasing mood, I sit next to him prepared to do what I can to ease his motion sickness, since I know what he is in store for. And to keep Erza's paws off of him. No one is going to hurt one of my patients while I'm around. I growl in my mind. We get a seat to ourselves a couple of sections away from the others since Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Happy already took over one section of seats and adding the two of us would make it too couldn't take a section next to them since those were already taken.

I glance over to see how Natsu is holding up and I'm distressed at what I find. Oh dear, the train hasn't even moved yet and he is already looking pale. I wrap my arm around his shoulders, and have him lean towards me as I start rubbing circles along his back. He sighs, and relaxes somewhat under my care. Happy, who has been strangely quiet all morning, flies over to sit in front of us.

He gives us that odd intense look again before saying, "You lllllike each other."

Natsu protests at Happy's statement while I shrug and say, "And?"

That causes the blue cat to get a weirdly happy look on his face and he starts having a giggling fit. Quick as a flash, he flies over to the others and starts talking with a hushed tone to where I couldn't make out what he is saying.

Natsu slumps in my grasp before whining, "Why did you say that? Now he will tell everyone we like each other and won't stop teasing about it!" I let go of his shoulders and turn in my seat so I can face him better with less strain on my neck.

"Well, don't we?" I ask him very seriously. He turns to face me in surprise at my question. "I mean despite the fact that we met yesterday and hardly know each other, we already accepted each other as more than friends, we're family. Doesn't that mean that we at least like each other to do so?" His mouths gapes open and closed like a fish before he can speak.

"That's not what I meant, of course I like you like that. Wouldn't think of you as family otherwise." he says almost indignant that I would imply otherwise. I interrupt what he is going to say next.

"Then what's the problem with Happy telling other people we like each other? I mean its not like he is spreading rumors that we are in a romantic relationship or other such things. Let other people think what they will. As long as we know how we stand with each other, that's what is important, isn't it?" A thoughtful expression appears on his face as he ponders over my words. He nods slowly to himself and I continue speaking. "Its usually better to just go with the flow when people try to tease you like that. They do it mainly for the reactions. If you don't react, they will stop usually after a while. I should know, I'm one of the teasers."

I wink and grin at the end, causing him to scoff and grin back. The train jerks into motion and his face turns almost ghost white. I make Natsu lay down on his side in the seat, with him facing the other seat of our section. I lean over to start rubbing his back, but stop as he starts to squirm. He moves around until his arms and head are in my lap as he lays flat on his stomach. No longer squirming, I start rubbing small circles into his back again.

I hear him groan out happily, "That feels better already. I don't feel like I'm going to puke right away."

I chuckle before saying, "That's good to hear. Heh, that's all I need now on my clothes is puke stains to go with the rest." He just groans again as a reply.

"Hush now, I'll help you get through this. If you can, try to go to sleep again. I'll be here for you. We can keep talking after we get off the train." I say to him softly before starting to hum. Natsu nods his head and sighs softly, relaxing his body. Soon enough, I feel his breathing even out like he is falling asleep. I stop rubbing his back after a few more minutes to give him time to fully go to sleep. Looking down at Natsu, I give a gentle smile. I'm glad he is feeling well enough to sleep. I don't like watching him suffer like this. Hopefully, the ginger tea will work for him.

I look out the window to watch the scenery go by in peaceful silence. Or so it was for what seems to be about an hour. A nearby thump pulls me out of my daydreams. Startled, I turn to look to see Erza sitting in front of me studying Natsu. I raise an eyebrow in question. She smiles slightly at him before looking up at me.

"I don't think I ever seen him look so peaceful on any sort of transportation before." she states with a warm tone of sisterly affection. I look down and notice that my hand is gently going through his hair. Huh? How long have I been doing that? Oh well, not like its bothering him. "You seem to be doing a lot of good for him." she continues in the same warm, sisterly tone.

"Well, I don't like to see anyone suffer if I can help it. And now that we are family, even more so." I tell her just as quietly. She shakes her head in disagreement.

"No, I mean more than that. He seems different around you." she firmly states.

I shrug before answering, "Well, I have been doing what I can to ease his motion sickness that no one else has tried to help him with besides giving him a punch in the gut. I'm pretty sure that would cause anyone to act differently." Erza flinches and looks down in guilt when I mention her previous method of taking care of the motion-sick dragon slayer. As I look back down at him I smile softly.

"That and there is just something about him that makes me want to take care of him, ya know? Its weird, I mean we just met yesterday and already I feel fiercely loyal to all five of ya'll. Like I'm willing to do everything I can to keep ya'll from harm. You guys are already like the annoying little brothers and sisters I never had." Until the words left my mouth, I didn't realize the extent of my affections for the group. Huh, I guess I didn't know it until I said it, but yea. I do want to care and protect them all.

"You don't have siblings?" she asks me curiously.

"Nope, single kid all the way. So in a way, even though I miss my mom and dad to bits, it's… not as lonely with you guys around." I confess to Erza before looking back out the window.

Still using that soft voice, I hear her say, "Well I'm happy that you consider us family despite the short amount of time we spent together. I know that I consider you a part of the family as well. I also know the rest of the guild will quickly accept you as one of us."

My heart warms at her kind words and I turn back to look at her with a small smile as I ask quietly, "What is Fairy Tail like?"

She smiles a little wider and a look of true content appears in her eyes as the red-head answers. "Home. That is what Fairy Tail is like. For people who lost something dear to them, or is going through rough times, Fairy Tail is the home where we accept everyone on equal terms. If you are happy, they are happy. If you are sad, then they will share their tears with you. If you are hurt, they will do whatever it takes to protect you until the end. It's family, it's love, it is home. That is Fairy Tail." I look at her in awe as she describes it. Unbidden, my eyes tear up in response as what she says strike a chord deep inside of me.

I whisper out, "It sounds like a wonderful place to be."

She nods before saying warmly, "It is. There is no other place like it and no other place where I want to be." I hear a low, muffled groan and look down at my lap to see Natsu starting to move. He digs an elbow in my thigh, which causes me to wince, before he settles down again. This time with him facing my stomach and slightly curled up on his side. A feeling of warmth and happiness grows in my chest as I look down at his peaceful face. Without thinking, I move his hair out of his face before slowly running my fingers through his hair again. A wave of lightheartedness sweeps through me, leaving me feeling peaceful. I lazily look back up to Erza to see her watching us while looking quite pleased.

"So what does Fairy Tail do as a wizard's guild?" I ask her, feeling at peace.

"When people have problems that they believe magic can solve, they put out a formal request to the guilds. Then one of our teams, or a solitary person, can decide if they want to handle the job. They let the guild master, or whoever is in charge at the time, know that they want to accept the request before leaving. The guild then lets the person who made the request know that it is accepted before the team arrives, mostly. Then the team either completes or fail the mission, and get whatever reward that is being offered if they complete it. Then they return to the guild to rest or take on another mission." she explains.

"So is that what you guys are doing? Coming back from completing a mission?" I ask. The look she has in her eyes makes me sit up straight and I snap into full alertness, my earlier feelings of peace and content quickly draining away. I can't place what the look means, but it puts me on edge.

"In a way, yes and no." She pauses for a moment like she is unsure whether or not to continue and I gesture to her that it is okay for her to explain. She takes a deep breath before continuing in a low tone, "There are requests that we have that are extremely tough, called S-rank missions. Only mages who are of S-rank are allowed to take them, because doing so otherwise usually means death for the unprepared." I feel shivers going up my spine at this. "So anyone who tries to take one that isn't qualified for them are either punished or expelled from the guild. It is better for them to be out of the guild and alive than still a member of the guild and dead." Erza pauses and looks down at her clenched fists before starting up again. "In a reckless act to prove themselves, Natsu and Lucy stole an S-rank mission to complete on their own. Gray went to stop them, only to end up joining them as well. When they didn't return, I went out to find them and bring them back."

Her look of anger at their recklessness gives me an urge to wrap my arms around Natsu protectively as she continues, "They broke the rules, so I went to bring them back for their punishment. Unfortunately, when I found them the situation for the villagers was at a point that if I didn't step in to take part as well, everyone would of died. So, because of the dire situation and Gray's surprising determination to stop the problem despite me threatening them with on the spot death, I stepped in and allowed Gray and the others to do what they needed to do to complete the mission. The morning after, as we were going to leave, is when we found you."

Her look softens quite a bit as she looks up toward me. "I'm sorry that I had to knock you unconscious after we found you, but we didn't want anyone getting hurt more than necessary." I rub the back of my neck, remembering the pain.

"That's ok," I whisper gently, "I was so scared at the time, but I could only think about protecting y'all since it seemed like ya didn't know that the demons were behind you. Even if my world doesn't have demons, we still have stories about them. When I was little, I got scared badly by a demon horror movie and I had nightmares for weeks about it. Anything demonic scares me right to the core even to this day. That's why I was constantly trying to run away from them. That and you guys for a bit. When y'all held me back before I was knocked unconscious, I thought you guys were in cahoots."

She nods in understanding, "I see. So it stemmed from a childhood fear."

"Yea, its stupid. I know." I say feeling a bit depressed at my weakness and I hang my head in shame. Erza's voice is full of gentle reassurance as she tries to help me feel better.

"It is not stupid to have fear in something. It is stupid to let the fear take over and not face it head on." she explains simply.

I wince at that statement, knowing fully well that is exactly what I did. "That's what I let happen. I let me fear take over and I ran away." I snorted a little bit in slight amusement before I added, "Well, would of ran away if ya'll would of let me."

"No." she says curtly. The speed at which she answered brought my head up to face her in surprise. "That first time, you faced your fear by going to attack what you feared just to save a bunch of strangers. That was bravery. It was also brave of you to go to them on the beach. And the heartfelt apology you gave, even though none of us could understand your words, we all knew what you meant. That was facing your fears. That Krysti was true bravery." I laugh softly and blush in embarrassment at this before looking down at the sleeping guy in my lap. I start running my fingers through his hair again before I answer her.

"Actually, that was mainly thanks to Natsu here. I'm not sure why, but this hothead has this calming effect on me. If he wasn't the one stopping me each time I tried to run, and if he didn't stay by me as we got near the demo… the villagers, I would of fought a hell of a lot harder than I did. Either you would have to have to knock me unconscious again or tied me up real well." I end thoughtfully.

She chuckles softly in amusement, "I have almost an entire guild of people who will argue with you about the calming thing."

I giggle a little bit with her as I reply, "If they act the same way as he does with Gray, I can see that." Looking up at her, I let my smile fade as I ask a serious question. "So what's going to happen to them when they get back?"

Her expression hardens before she states stiffly, "I'm not able to say. They will be punished for breaking guild rules, be assured of that, but what the punishment will be is up to the Master."

I nod in understanding before looking back down at the sleeping face in my lap and allow myself to get lost in my thoughts. She and I spend the next few minutes in companionable silence before a question pops into my head.

"Hey, Erza?" I ask quietly, still mindful of the dozing dragon slayer. She looks at me in curiosity.

"Yes, Krysti? Something on your mind?" she asks. I nod.

"I was wondering, if you don't mind that is, but what type of magic do you have?" I politely ask.

She shakes her head with a small smile on her face while saying, "No, I don't mind sharing. It's called Re-quip, or Ex-quip depending on who you ask. My specialty is switching between different armors and weapons during battle to suit my needs. Like this." At this point her clothes start to glow. I gawk at the sight and I suck in a breath when I see her armor change into a light purple cloth kimono-like armor.

"Wow." is all I am able to say at this point, stunned at this display of magic.

"Yes, it suits my fighting style immensely. As a battle changes constantly, I can change my armor or weapons to fit the need." she adds confidently.

"So do you make the armor and stuff with your magic?" I ask her while leaning forward, just brimming with curiosity.

"No, they are stored in what you can call another dimension. When I have need, I just access it and switch out the armor." she says, clarifying this point.

"It's just like a video game inventory!" I exclaim excitedly, momentarily forgetting that is Natsu asleep until he starts to shift around in my lap and lets out a pained groan. I immediately start rubbing his back while humming again to help ease him back to sleep. He almost instantly calms down, but I continue doing this for a few minutes to make sure he is back to sleep. Letting out a small relieved sigh, I look back up to see Erza watching me with a small smile and a raised eyebrow.

I shrug nonchalantly at her amused expression and continued what I was saying earlier, only more quietly, "I get it, you have a basically unlimited size backpack full of stuff you don't have to actually carry around."

She nods, looking pleased. "I don't know what a video game is, but yes you are quite correct in the description." I lean back against the seat to relax better and idly play with Natsu's hair some more, happy that I hit the nail on the head.

"Hmm, so do you have any sort of limit on how much stuff you can hold?" I ask while tilting my head a bit in my curiosity.

She nods again before answering, "Yes, there is a limit. But like most magic, the more I use it, the more I am able to hold."

"That sounds like a very handy type of magic to know." I reply in a thoughtful manner.

She turns her head to look out the window, before answering, "Yes, it has helped out many times over the course of my life." I hum an agreement as I glance down at Natsu to check his condition. Another thump catches my attention and I see Lucy now sitting next to Erza with a smirk on her face.

"What's up?" I ask her cheerfully.

"I wanted to see how you and Natsu are doing over here." she says with a particular glint in her eye.

"He's doing okay. Been asleep for almost the entire trip. He hasn't been throwing up which is good for the state of my clothes." I quietly inform her with a small laugh at the end. The blonde shakes her head in amusement.

"That's good to hear, but that's not what I mean." she retorts mischievously while waving her index finger back and forth.

"What do you mean then?" I ask, unsure of where exactly she is going to take this.

"Well, Happy has been telling us some interesting things, and I just wanted to confirm it." she says a bit too innocently.

Feeling a little leery at this supposedly innocent question, I cautiously ask her, "What interesting things?"

"Oh nothing much, just things like how you are constantly staring at him while he is sleeping, or how you're not denying that you like him." she chirps with a smirk growing on her face. So that's her game. A bit early in all respects to start up that line of questioning. Better play the naïve card for now.

I make sure that my expression looks puzzled as I answer Lucy with a tone to match, "Well, of course I like him. I like you guys as well or I wouldn't be here. And I'm not sure what you mean about how I keep staring at him."

Leaning forward, Lucy lowers her voice as if she is afraid someone will hear her. "Happy said it was on the ship. You barely took your eyes off of him the whole way." she replies. Erza, deciding not to take part in this particular conversation, gets up and goes to sit with Gray and Happy to let Lucy and me talk in privacy.

"Oh! That." I exclaim as in sudden realization. "Yea, I was watching him for most of the trip. But that was because I was keeping an eye out for any sign of changes in his condition. I had no idea at that time how long we would be at sea, or even how severe his motion sickness would be. So I was trying to help as much as I could to try to keep it from getting worse. If not treated properly, extreme motion sickness can be deadly if it lasts long enough." I explain.

Eyes wide, Lucy's face pales somewhat as concern replaces anything else she had planned. She looks down at the peacefully sleeping form of Natsu when she speaks barely above a whisper, "I had no idea that it could be that bad."

I nod before continuing, "It can be, but it does takes a few days before it starts getting to that point. That and if the person who is sick isn't taken care of. I didn't know how long we were to be at sea, so in case it was going to be longer than a day, I decided to take care of him so he wouldn't get in that critical of a condition. Especially since you guys didn't seem to care for his condition." I say that last sentence in a rough manner, my earlier anger starting to show up again. The younger girl flinches at my words.

"Yea, we were jerks, weren't we?" Lucy asks as she guiltily gazes down at her hands.

"Well, you already know my opinion of the subject." I retort in a flat tone and Lucy looks off to the side with a sad expression adorning her face. I look down to check on Natsu and a soothing calmness envelops me again as I watch his sleeping face. I turn my gaze to watch my hand as it constantly moves through his pink hair. Pink huh? Such an odd color, but he makes it work for him. I hear slight giggling coming from in front of me. I look up to see Lucy covering her mouth with her hand, her sadness now gone. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"What?" I ask curtly. She waves her hand in front of her face while looking away with an odd expression.

"Oh nothing." she says in a singsong voice. I look at her suspiciously. What is her deal? I swear she is as bad as that cat. Maybe I should turn the tables on her. I narrow my eyes at that thought.

Feeling wicked, I ask Lucy in a delightful manner, "So what about you? Hmm? Do you have a thing for dragon boy here?" She stiffens and whips her head around in surprise.

"What!?" she screeches as she lifts her arms up as if to ward off a physical attack. Mentally, I'm cackling worse than a witch from Lucy's priceless reaction. Natsu starts to squirm in my lap from Lucy's extremely loud screech.

I hiss out, "Shhhhh!" as I give her a fierce glare, and she slaps her hands over her mouth in response. Natsu yawns loudly and stretches his arms out.

"Are we there yet?" he asks sleepily. Still running my right hand through his hair in a soothing manner, I use my other hand to rub at his back again.

"Not yet. Just go back to sleep, ok?" I say softly. He nods with a quiet hum of agreement and snuggles closer to me by using his right arm to wrap around my waist. A small bubble of happiness wells up in my heart at his show of trust and my cheeks warm somewhat in response. He settles down and goes back to sleep after a few minutes. I look up at the blonde and give her a slight glare and Lucy by now is looking a bit sheepish.

"Sorry." she says softly. I give her a long hard look which causes her to squirm uncomfortably and I decide that I messed with her enough. I give her a big grin to show that all is well.

"No harm, no foul." I reply which causes her eyebrows to shoot up in question. "It's no problem" I reiterate and Lucy relaxes in her seat. "That is unless you want him to listen to us talk about him." I continue. Her cheeks turn almost as pink as his hair in response.

"No, I would rather not." she says rather quickly while looking down at her clenches hands. Interesting reaction.

"So you do have a thing for Pinky here?" I say to her as if I am just now realizing it. She looks up in alarm at this.

"No! I don't feel about him that way at all. We're friends. Family!" she protests in a quiet tone while waving her arms around frantically.

"Really? You seem to be protesting it a bit much if you don't have any romantic feelings for him." I retort with a wry grin and wicked delight for teasing her like this.

She blushes deeper and looks out the window before continuing, "Well, its not that I don't care about him. I do care, but I just see him more as the brother I never had. I just don't think of him as boyfriend material, he is too much of an inconsiderate goofball." I'm more than surprised at this. Natsu? Inconsiderate? Really? I can see goofball, but the other?

Now interested in hearing how this opinion came about, I question her. "What do you mean by inconsiderate? From what I can tell, he is very caring towards his friends, even though he likes to pick fights with Gray." She puffs out her cheeks in annoyance while crossing her arms across her body.

"He and that cat have been breaking into my house and not respecting my privacy at all." she says in quiet anger.

"Seriously?" I say incredulously, not quite believing her. I look down at the dragon slayer in my lap, reevaluating my thoughts about him.

"Definitely. That guy is dense and has no idea how to act like a gentleman. He has even been walking into the bathroom while I'm bathing without knocking." she huffs out. I frown in thought as I look at him. That is inconsiderate of him. But then again, he was raised by a dragon. They probably don't have the same manners as humans. If what Natsu says is right, and he really has been living in a house with just him and Happy all these years after coming to join Fairy Tail, it is possible he may not of been taught how to conduct himself properly. I look up at Lucy at this point and voice my thoughts.

"Do you think maybe its perhaps due to the fact that he was raised by a dragon?" I ask her pointedly. She straightens up and a thoughtful look appears on her face.

"You know, that could be it." she says slowly with a frown on her face as she continues to think about it. Lucy turns her head to gaze out the window, looking like she is lost in thought. I chuckle lightly at her before returning my gaze to the scarf-wearing fire user in my lap. My eyes grow a bit heavy so I let them close slowly. I sigh, feeling at peace again and I drift off to sleep.

---

A sudden jostling wakes me up quickly. I blink a few times trying to make sense of what is happening before I remember that we are on a train heading to Fairy Tail. Looking around, I see my friends standing up already and grabbing their gear off the racks. Feeling movement on my lap, I look down to see Natsu starting to wake up as well. I grab his shoulder and shake him lightly to wake him up faster. He quickly sits upright with a loud yawn and a bone-cracking stretch. One side of his hair is flat from where he was laying on my lap, and the rest looks wilder than usual, most likely from how much I was playing with it. I giggle softly at the sight which has him turn to face me.

I giggle loudly at the sleepy grin he gives me before I cheerfully greet him, "Good morning Pinky, its seems we're at our stop."

Hearing this, he wakes up fully before gleefully shouting, "Alright! We're home!" Without looking, he reaches up to the luggage rack and grabs his pack. Letting it fall, he uses the momentum to swing it onto his shoulders in a fluid motion. Quickly, he steps out into the aisle of the train to get off. I stand up more slowly, before following Gray and Lucy off the train. Out of the windows, I see Erza exiting further down the train, tugging with her that wagon of luggage she carries. How much stuff does she take with her if she has that Re-quip magic AND that wagon? Almost sounds like me when I play an Elder Scrolls game. I take everything and I mean EVERYTHING.

As I step clear of the crowd exiting the train behind me, I stretch to get the kinks out and pop my joints while waiting for everyone to group up. A few moments later, I finish with the stretches and after a quick decision, I walk over to where Natsu is to check up on him. He is almost hopping in excitement to be home and Happy is flying by his side looking almost as happy as his surrogate father.

"Hey Natsu, how do you feel? Were you able to sleep okay?" I ask him pleasantly as I near the excited duo while carefully checking the dragon slayer's reactions.

He grins at me in a joyful manner before exclaiming, "I feel wonderful! That was the absolute best experience riding the train, ever!" Complexion seems normal, eyes seem like they are dilating normally, no sluggish movements.

Nodding in response, I question him some more, "And the sleep? Were you able to get any rest?"

At this question, he looks away before looking back at me so fast I might not of noticed it if I wasn't looking for a reaction. "A-ah yea. Slept like a baby through the whole thing." Hmm, now seems to be a tad jumpy and nervous, and he is blushing. Something happened and he doesn't want to say. Most likely a dream, I won't ask about it. He will tell me if he wants me to know. I close my eyes and give him the biggest smile I have.

"I'm glad that you had a good time on the train!" I very cheerfully reply before opening my eyes again. Looking at him, he turns his head to the side and starts chuckling a bit nervously. Ok, now I'm curious. What is going through his head? I hear snickering from nearby, and I looking down to see Happy pointing and laughing at Natsu. This causes him to blush more and I tilt my head in confusion. Well, Happy sure knows what's going on…

"Let's get back to the guild now everyone." calls out Erza and effectively breaking my train of thought. We all cry out a chorus of agreement as we go to leave the train station behind as a group. As we enter the streets properly my happiness falls somewhat. Damn it, a stone road. Well, at least it isn't cobblestone this time. Hopefully the guild isn't too far away. Continuing down the street at a normal pace my feet soon start getting stabbing pains again, causing me to start limping. Already trailing at the end, I slowly start falling further behind the others. Luckily for me, they are staying on the same street so even if I lag behind them, I won't get lost.

About what I guess to be halfway through town, I hear Natsu practically exploding with a loud, "We're back!" His arm is pumped into in the air in his excitement. I chuckle at the obvious exuberance he is displaying. He really does love his home, doesn't he?

"Back!" cries out Happy like he is a backup singer.

"But man… all that work, and one key is all we get?" Gray complains almost bitterly from in front of Erza.

Happy flies next to Gray and quickly adds, "And it was a full-blown S-rank quest, too."

"It wasn't a proper job. This much is about right." Erza says calmly.

Lucy adds cheerfully, "Yup! Yup! No complaints!"

Looking back at Lucy from where he is flying, Happy flatly tells her, "You're the only one it's of any use to, Lucy!" He pauses, then says, "Let's sell it!"

In surprise she blurts out, "You thieving cat!" Lucy recovers quickly and continues on in a lecturing tone, "Besides, there are only 12 of the gold "Zodiac" keys in the whole world! They're super-duper rare, see." Gold zodiac keys? What the heck are those? Do they have something to do with her magic? Curiosity peaked, I shamble closer to the group to hear more about these keys.

Natsu looks over at Lucy with some weird grin on his face before asking, "That cow and maid?"

Sounding upset, Lucy snaps back, "As I progress, my spirits will get way stronger!" Spirits? Cow and maid? Hmm, if it's the zodiac, the cow would probably be Taurus. But who would be the maid?

Turning to look at her over his shoulder, Gray stops walking and asks, "So, what's the key we got this time?"

Sounding happier, Lucy replies while stopping as well, "The Archer, Sagittarius!" My eyes widen at that. That's my Zodiac sign! Almost behind the luggage wagon, I move up towards Lucy intending on asking her about it.

In surprise, Gray flips around to face Lucy and asks her, "Isn't that half-man, half-horse!?" You can almost see him picturing a guy with a horse head.

Turning partly away, Lucy says, "No, I think it's the other way around." This time I picture a proper centaur. Natsu just stares ahead and you just can't help but get the feeling that he is imagining something weird.

Getting the same vibe as me about what he is thinking, Lucy says, "That's not either a man or a horse..." I'm fully caught up with the group by now and I open my mouth to start asking about these spirits when I'm cut off by Erza.

"Easygoing, aren't we?" she says normally before stopping behind the rest of us. I pout at the change in subject. She continues more sternly, "You haven't forgotten that you'll be punished when we get back, have you?" The three younger mages look back at Erza in shock.

Looking scared, Natsu blurts out, "Punishment?" Then in unison, they turn around to face the red-head.

Lucy cries out in protest, "I thought we'd dropped that already!"

Still looking stern, Erza replies, "Don't be silly. Accepting your actions was a field decision on my part. You still must receive your punishment." They flinch in fear, while Happy looks terrified.

"Oh, no!" cries out Lucy.

Not pulling any blows, Erza continues, "I think you should be mostly forgiven for what happened this time. However, your judge will be the Master. And I have no intention of defending you. So be prepared to take your punishment."

"He's not gonna make us do that, is he?" wails out the flying blue cat in fear. That?

Absolutely terrified, Gray turns away from the group, clutching his head and cowering in fear before yelling, "Wait a sec! I never want to do that again!"

Becoming more scared because of Gray's reaction, Lucy cries out, "What is that?" She starts shaking in terror. Even I'm feeling uneasy about this punishment, even though I'm not the one in trouble. Unlike his earlier reaction to the news, Natsu has a easygoing grin on his face as he addresses Lucy.

"Don't sweat it. We did a good job, so gramps'll be impressed!" he says cheerfully while patting Lucy's shoulder in reassurance.

She gives him a disbelieving look before saying, "How frightfully positive of you…"

Erza cuts in with, "No, I think its pretty much decided already. I look forward to it." she looks back at them with an almost mischievous smile on her face. Natsu tries keeping his grin in place, but it turns forced and you can literally see the sweat starting to drip off of him which causes Lucy to start freaking out again. Before I could register that he even moved, he was already past me and almost past Erza. So fast… Turning to look, I see that she caught him by the scarf that I have yet to see him take off. Falling on his butt from the force of the sudden stop, he seems dazed for just a second.

"NOOOOO! Not that! Anything but that! Nooo!" he cries out in pure terror as Erza starts dragging him down the street, her luggage forgotten. My heart went out to him from the pure abject terror of his face, but I didn't do anything to help. Erza already explained to me that they broke the rules and needed to face the consequences. And if its one thing I am, it's a stickler for rules. Gray is quivering in terror on the ground, not moving an inch.

Lucy shouts up to the world, "Like I said, what the heck is that?!" I feel sad because I want to help them, but I know I can't. They broke the rules and need to learn a lesson. But at least I can maybe try to help ease their fear. I walk over to Gray and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He flinches at first. Thinks I'm Erza, I guess.

"Hey, Gray." I say to him softly. He relaxes under my hand when he realizes it isn't Erza.

"Hey, Krysti." he says in pure relief. I crouch down to look him in the eyes.

"Try not to think about it okay? The more you do, the worse it will be on you. Its better if you go in with happy thoughts then get the punishment, than going in dreading it the whole time." I say trying to cheer him up. His shudders calm down somewhat before he turns to look at me.

"Thanks for trying to help me feel better. It does help some." he says with a tremulous smile. I smile back before standing up and reaching out with my hand to help him up. His cold hand grasps mine, and with a heave I pull him up. I see over his shoulder that Lucy is still trembling in fear, so I go to try to get her moving as well.

"Hey Lucy, it will be ok." I start off calmly.

"How can you say that? You're not the one getting punished!" she wails.

I shake my head before responding, "You don't know that." In confusion, she stops and stares at me. "You don't know what is going to happen, and I don't know the rules and what happens when they are broken. Who knows, I may get punished even worse because I delayed you guys from getting here as soon as you could."

"But that's not fair!" she protests. "You didn't have anything to do with it! Nothing should happen to you!"

I look her straight in the eyes and ask, "How do you know? Are you that certain? Depending on how the Master is, I could be in for it as well." No longer scared, she gets a determined glint in her eye. That's what I'm looking for.

"No, you shouldn't get punished. You did nothing wrong. And if the Master tries, I will do everything in my power to stop him!" she says forcefully.

Gray walks up to us and adds, "The same here, I'll help make sure he doesn't do anything to you." Good, now both of them are no longer scared. Too bad Natsu is being dragged by Erza, or I could try to calm him down as well.

I smile at the both of them, "Then let's get back to the guild. The sooner, the better." They nod in agreement and start walking off. I take two steps before looking back at Erza's wagon. I look ahead and see that she isn't stopping to come back for it. Guess she forgot about it. Well, time to get some use out of me. I reach down to grab the rope handle with one hand and I give it a tug. It doesn't move. I grab it with both hands, and I pull. It moves, somewhat. Letting go of the handle with one hand, I turn until the other one still holding the rope is behind my back.

Taking the rope back into both hands, I dig in my feet despite their protests and start pulling. I had to rock it a couple of times, but I got it moving. Once it started to move, it was easier and I slowly followed my friends who are now a fair ways ahead of me. Lucy glances back behind her a couple of minutes later and stops walking, shock written all over her face. Gray stops to look behind as well when he notices Lucy stopping. He looks at me with a stunned expression.

I say nothing to them as I concentrate on pulling the wagon. Now I have a better idea on why they are scared of her. She is strong if she can pull this easily with one hand. Almost unnoticed by me, Gray and Lucy look at each other and nod before walking back towards the wagon. Within seconds of them passing me, the load suddenly lightens. I look behind me on both sides to see them smile at me while they help push the wagon. I smile and nod at them both in thanks before looking ahead and planning on catching up to Erza and Natsu.

---

When we finally catch up to Erza and Natsu, as they were standing by a gate that was in front of this big 3 story building that had a look of a small castle. So they are definitely going with the fairy tale theme it seems. On an arch above the gate were giant letters spelling out Fairy Tail. Ohhh, so its tail as in an actual tail, not a story tale.

"Thank you for bringing my luggage you three. I would have retrieved it later." gratefully says Erza.

"Well, I didn't want to risk anything getting stolen." I tell her truthfully. She nods and then turns to open the gate. Walking up to the front of the building, I start feeling a bit nervous. What is this place like? Will they accept me as easily as these guys? What if I'm not allowed to stay with them. The thought that I might be kept away from my new family, causes fear to clutch at my heart. They enter the guild without a second thought as I stand outside those saloon doors. I hear cheering and welcoming shouts from those inside. I take deep breaths to try to calm my rapidly beating heart.

One of the doors swings open towards me and I step back to not get hit. Natsu is standing in the doorway, looking at me with a curious expression. I smile at him and already I start calming down a bit.

"What are you doing just standing out here? Come on, everyone is waiting for you." he says with a big grin before grabbing my wrist to drag me inside. As I'm pulled in, I'm greeted by the sight of what looks like a large tavern with tables and benches strewn about. Looking a bit empty, there are a few guys and fewer girls inside. I see Erza and the rest standing before a lovely young, white-haired girl. Is this the Master? I hear whispers starting up within the guildhall as I'm brought up toward the others all the while still being dragged by Natsu. Looking around shows me that the people inside are mainly staring right at me. Becoming extremely nervous, I give them a small smile and a wave.

"Where is the Master?!" shouts out Erza, which causes me to almost jump out of my skin. That is the loudest I ever heard her speak since we met. Well, that answers that question. An older gentleman with dark, slicked back hair and a giant metal S necklace steps up to answer.

"He had some kind of council something-or-other meeting, or whatever…He's been gone since yesterday." he answers in a bored fashion. All my friends but Erza release a sigh of relief from hearing that.

Natsu cries out joyfully with a big grin, "We're safe for now!"

"All right! None of that until gramps gets back!" adds a pumped up Gray.

Happy jumps off the ground with tears of joy running down his face. "Thank goodness! We can put off staring into the gates of hell for a while longer!" he shouts out joyfully.

Lucy starts pulling at her hair in fright, "Tell me what it is already! I wanna know so bad! It's freaking me out! It's even scarier when I don't know what it is!" she demands.

"Be quiet!" Erza yells in an irritated bark without looking behind her. Frightened, the other 4 of our group jumps to huddle behind me which completely catches me off guard.

"What the…!?" I exclaim in surprise as I turn my head to look at the shivering forms right behind me. So now I'm being used as a shield?

Still in a stern voice, but with a lower volume, Erza continues with her questioning, "When will the Master return?"

The white haired girl gives Erza a worried look, "It shouldn't be long now…" With a quick spin, Erza turns to address the huddled mass behind me.

"When the Master returns, I will immediately ask for his decision. Going on an S-class quest without permission is against the rules, period. Be prepared for the consequences." she intones with finality. This causes them to become even more scared. Next thing I know, multiple arms are wrapped around my waist causing me to yelp in shock and everyone is shaking madly.

"And what consequences should I be prepared for, exactly!?" wails out a terrified blonde. I look down at their shaking bodies, and a wave of protectiveness takes over. I'll help them through this, one way or another. Finalizing my decision before I second guess myself, I look over into the hard eyes of Erza and lock gazes with her.

Standing as tall as I can, I firmly tell her in an unwavering voice, "Then include me in their punishment as well." The trembling behind me stops as I continue speaking. "They were not here to receive their punishment for breaking the rules as soon as they should have because of me. I am not asking for any leniency for them or for you to defend them. I simply wish to join them in their punishment." At this, silence sweeps through the tavern.

"What are you doing?" a voice from behind me questions in a hissed out whisper. Erza shakes her head in disagreement.

"No. I cannot allow you to join them since you are not a member of Fairy Tail and also have broken no rules." she says coolly.

Not breaking eye contact, I answer, "They are my friends now. My family. Their happiness is my happiness. Their sadness is my sadness. Their punishment will be my punishment. For they are my family now, and I will stick with them through it all. So I insist in taking it with them." I rest my hands on the arms around my waist, and I stand my ground. I don't know why I feel so strongly protective of these people that I barely know, but I will help them through this. Whatever it will be. For even though I known them for less than two days, they feel as much of a part of my family as my parents do.

Feeling my determination rise, I silently challenge Erza to try to stop me. I didn't hear anyone even breathe as we had our contest of wills. For over a minute, silence reigns over the guild. Finally, she closes her eyes and ducks her head in acquiesce. Loud sounds of people letting out their breath fill the room.

"If you insist then I have no choice, but to have the Master punish you as well." she says with a smile on her face and a gleam of what I think might be respect in her eyes.

I nod my head in thanks to her before replying, "That is all I ask." Next thing I know, there are hands on my shoulders that start shaking me like crazy.

My head gets whipped back and forth from the violent motion and a voice yells at me, "What are you thinking!? Do you not know how bad this is!? Why would you do such a thing!?" Taking a step back to get away from the voice shouting in front of me. I shake my head in an attempt to clear my mind. Someone shouts something about being a man that makes no sense to me so I ignore it for the time being. Coming back to my senses reveals a fuming Natsu standing in front of me.

"What do you mean 'Why would you do such a thing'? We're friends now. Family even, remember? I can't let my family go through this hardship alone. I'm going to be there with you every step along the way." I simply state, my determination to help them rising again. He gives me an indescribable look when he sees that I am completely serious about what I said. I'm engulfed by hugs on either side of me which turn out to be Gray and Lucy. Happy plops onto my head to hug me as well. I look at them and smile before wrapping my arms around the two at my sides. I give Natsu a proud look as I turn my gaze back towards him.

He gives me a long look before replying with a happy grin, "You have no idea what you're in for."

I nod my head in agreement and add, "But I will be with my friends, and that is all that matters." He puts his hands behind his head and grins even wider which causes me to smile happily as well. His warm gaze causes another feeling of warmth and happiness to spread within me. I feel a blush rise to my cheeks in response, but I don't break eye contact until a small cough catches our attention.

Its the white haired girl from before and she has an odd gleam in her eye before she politely asks, "I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?"

Still smiling, I introduce myself, "I'm Krystina Skye VanHawkins, you can call me Krysti. I'm hoping to become the newest member of Fairy Tail."

---

After being introduced to everyone present in the guild, the lovely white-haired girl, who was introduced as Mirajane, gets everyone to settle down. Gray, Lucy, Natsu and Happy go towards a table in the middle of the hall to sit down. Krysti follows with Erza and Mirajane close behind. Taking a seat near Natsu, the brunette grimaces while trying to hold back a hiss. Worried, the kind-hearted Mirajane goes to check on the newest applicant.

"What's wrong, Krysti? Are you hurt?" Mirajane asks softly.

Krysti just waves it off, "Its nothing really. No shoes and stone roads don't mix."

"What happened to your shoes?" Mirajane asks in a wondering tone. The other woman gets an odd look to her face.

"Well, it's a bit of a weird situation…" she trails off. Silent, Mirajane only nods in encouragement. Taking a breath, the brunette continues, "To put it bluntly, I'm from another world. How I got here, I don't know. I was asleep when it happened so I didn't have any shoes on." At this, Mirajane only blinks.

"It sounds crazy, but we believe it is true." chimes in Lucy.

Natsu nods before adding, "Yea. She had this really weird smell on her that just didn't belong. We went to check it out and we found her on the ground unconscious."

"So that's how you found me in those woods. I was wondering." Krysti says as she turns to face the dragon slayer. She frowns in thought before asking, "Weird smell you say?"

"Very weird. It was irritating and strong. It wasn't natural." he confirms while nodding his head vigorously.

"Natsu thought you were a demon." adds in Happy while raising his paw in the air.

"Huh, it might have been from the bleach when I was cleaning the kitchen." the brunette says thoughtfully, ignoring the cat's jab.

"What is bleach?" asks Erza.

Snapping out of her thoughts, the large woman replies, "Oh it's a cleaning chemical used as disinfectant, and stain remover. It does have a very harsh and irritating smell if it is concentrated too much. Its toxic in large amounts so you have to be very careful in handling it."

Natsu wrinkles his nose before asking, "Is that more of your science stuff from your world?"

Brightening up, Krysti flashes him a smile before answering, "Yes, it is in fact."

"Science?" mummers Mirajane quizzically.

"There is no magic in the world I'm from, so we developed this thing called science. In its most simple definition, Science is the study of everything." Krysti says as if it was perfectly natural to be discussing different aspects of another world. Mirajane nods her head in understanding while choosing to ignore the bombshell that the woman in front of her is a being from not only a different world, but a world without magic.

"The study of everything. That sounds like it is complicated and very time consuming." she murmurs politely.

"Oh, it is." starts off Krysti, warming up into one of her favorite subjects. "But to help make it less confusing, we break down the studies into branches. The scientists, those are what we call the people who are doing the studying, they first choose something they are interested in. It could be anything from a certain plant, a grain of sand, a particular fish, the way a storm works, how fast the sun and moon travel in the sky, the way business works, how our muscles work in our bodies, even why people react the way they do." She stops to take a breath before continuing the explanation excitedly.

"If you have a question about anything, we use science to find the answer. And if it turns out the answer is wrong, we try again until we find the right answer. If later on the answer we thought was right turns out to be wrong, we will look again until we find the right answer. Everything about science is based on fact. We go through trial and error, time and time again until we can say things with certainty. Many mistakes have been made. Many people have even lost their lives in the pursuit of science. But we still press on. It is the basis of our culture and understanding of the world. Without science we would still be in tiny villages living in fear of everything and thinking that each time a storm comes along it must be some god that was angry. And we have to sacrifice a virgin girl to appease them." She ends in a passionate rush.

During her speech, her eyes gained a fire to them and a smile grew on her face without her realizing it. She was blushing and extremely animated. As her friends all watch, they recognize that look in her eyes. It was the same look on her face when she was talking to Natsu about dragons.

"Wow, Krysti." starts off Lucy, "You must really love this science stuff." Still in the grasp of one of her great passions, she nods quickly while still smiling widely.

"Oh yes! I love science so much! I just love to learn new things, so I'm always looking up different sciences to learn more about it. Learning something new about my world, or about me is so interesting! One of my favorites is called Biology, which is short for the science of life. I can lose myself for hours just learning about how living things work." she looks close to swooning while in the midst of talking about her life's passion.

"You must be very smart to always be learning this new stuff." says Gray while looking clearly impressed. At this, Krysti waves it off, the blush growing as she looks down in embarrassment.

"No, I'm not that smart actually. There are tons of people much smarter than I am. I just have a passion to learn." she replies bashfully.

Erza looks down at her newest member of the family and says warmly, "Well, I'm glad that you have something in your life that you're passionate about. It gives you a more fulfilling life to have things you care about."

Looking up at Erza, Krysti closes her eyes and says cheerfully, "Thank you Erza, it has made my life better after I discovered my love for it. That's why I decided that while I am in this world, I want to use science to learn all magic." Silence meets her statement, and confused, Krysti opens her eyes to see why. Looks of surprise are on every face. The smile leaves her face and concern replaces it.

"Um, did I say something wrong?" she asks cautiously.

Shaking out of her stupor, Erza explains, "No. No, you didn't say anything wrong. Its just, that's a giant undertaking. Most people spend their whole lives mastering the one magic that drives them the most. While some may have one or two minor magics to go along with their main, it takes extreme mental fortitude to master more than one magic. Not many wizards are able to do that. And even more so for just three magics. To learn all magic has never been done before that I have heard of."

"Oh." says Krysti before she looks down in thought. A few seconds later her head pops up with her widest grin as she says with determination, "Well then, I guess that just means I have to try really hard then!"

Erza clamps a hand down on Krysti's shoulder and says, "That is a wonderful goal to try for. And as your family, we will help you every step of the way." Cheers of agreement erupt from the table before Erza continues, "It will be a long and hard road you're going to travel down, so be sure of your convictions."

Krysti just nods and smiles as another round of cheers sounds off from her new family in encouragement. As she looks around, her smile falls off slowly as her thoughts turn inwards. Being the first one to notice, Gray catches the others' attention with a quick shush and the cheering abruptly stops.

"Hey Krysti, what's wrong?" he asks worriedly.

Broken out of her thoughts she says in a low voice, "Actually, I was thinking about what am I going to do."

"What do you mean? You just said you're going to use science to learn all magic!" exclaims Natsu in disbelief.

"She is very forgetful, isn't she?" Happy declares to no one in particular.

Krysti shakes her head before clarifying, "No, I mean for support. I don't have any way to pay for food, clothes, and other necessities. I don't have anywhere to live, or any way of making money that I know of. That and I don't want to have to rely on charity the whole time I am here."

"Well that's easy, you can come with us for missions and we can share the rewards with you. That way you can have the money you need and not rely on our charity." states Natsu firmly.

"And you can live with us, we have plenty of room!" says Happy in a cheerful manner with Natsu agreeing close behind. Lucy gives the blue cat a shocked look, but doesn't say anything.

"No, it wouldn't be right for a young maiden just at marriageable age to alive alone with a man she is not married to." Erza tells the blue cat in reprimand. Without warning, laughter bubbles up from the brunette in question.

"How old do you, hehe, think I am Erza? Hahaha" Krysti asks between her laughter.

"You would have to be around 16, maybe 17." she says without hesitation.

"Oh gods, it's the same over here isn't it?" she says, getting her laughter under control. "I'm sorry Erza, but you're wrong. I'm not 16. I'm 27." she ends with a grin and a twinkle in her eye. Shocked silence descends upon the group, then the table erupts in shock at the news. Her grin widens at the expected reactions. She waits for everyone around the table to calm down somewhat before she turns to look at Natsu and Happy.

"Are you two sure that it wouldn't be a problem to let me stay at least until I can get my feet under me?" she asks worriedly.

Still grinning happily, Natsu confirms it, "Of course not! It would be fun to have a roommate!" he ends with a laugh. Krysti then turns to look at Erza who looks disapproving at the current state of events.

"Is there some sort of cultural taboo that a guy and a girl can't live in the same place?" she asks the red-head.

"Not taboo per say… but it is looked down upon…" Erza starts off with a frown before Mirajane puts out a hand to stop her.

With a distinctly odd gleam in her eye she says, "It's okay, Erza. I'm sure nothing is going to happen. After all this is Natsu we are talking about." The dragon slayer in question doesn't hear this since he has already left the table to go to the request board at the other side of the guild hall to look at the available missions. Gray soon follows with Happy close behind.

Looking reassured, Erza smiles a little before replying, "True. Since this is Natsu we are talking about, it should be okay."

At this point the large brunette straightens up in sudden realization before turning to Mirajane. "Oh Mirajane, by any chance do you have any ginger roots on hand?"

Looking surprised the young woman can only nod. Becoming curious about what the boys are doing, Lucy also goes to the request board. Looking over, Erza sees where her charges have gone, and heads after them in a stiff march. This leaves Mirajane and Krysti alone.

Not paying attention to the others, Krysti explains her reason for asking, "Well, while traveling to get here, I found out that Natsu gets extreme motion sickness. The poor guy. So I want to help him out. I know this herbal remedy of using ginger, honey, and lemons that should help out. If it doesn't cure, then it should at least weaken the effects. I want to start making him some today to see if it works or not." The white-haired woman claps her hands together in happiness.

"Oh that's wonderful to hear! Motion sickness has been plaguing him for years, and we didn't know anything we can do about it!" she gushes out in joy.

"So I recently found out." Krysti growls out as her expression darkens.

"Eh?" asks Mirajane in confusion.

"I found out yesterday from Erza, that no one except for her, has tried anything to make him feel better. And all she did was punch him in the stomach to knock him unconscious! According to them, no one has even tried asking around to see if there was a cure!" she says heatedly.

"My, you really do seem to care about Natsu's well-being, don't you?" says Mirajane, a little taken aback at the anger in the brunette's eyes.

"Yes, I care. I hate seeing people in pain or misery and it riles me up when I find out that no one would even try to comfort them. And now that I consider him as family, even more so!" Krysti says, some of her earlier anger at his mistreatment showing through.

"And what if it was Gray, or Erza?" Mirajane asks, trying to probe how far the brunette's feelings go for her new family.

"It's the same for them." came the reply without any hesitation. Before Mirajane could probe any deeper, an odd glow fills the room. Startled, both girls look around to find that the glow is coming from the table where Erza, Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Gray are at.

Macao, who turns out to be the guy with slicked back, dark hair from earlier, walks towards the table with the odd rainbow-like glow while asking, "What's this?" Beside him is his longtime friend and rival, Wakaba.

"So, some people get so terrified of punishment, they'll sprout rainbows?" asks Wakaba in confusion while puffing on his pipe.

Turning to his friend with the large pompadour, Macao answers, "No, I don't think that's it…" The glow dies down a minute later, leaving the guys around the table dazed.

"Groggy…" says someone quietly.

"I'm cold!" yells out Gray as he starts shivering violently to warm up.

Elfman, the larger, burlier, younger brother of Mirajane questions, "Why's an ice-user cold?"

Gray's teeth start chattering as he exclaims, "What the heck? My whole body is way too cold!" Most of the guild, who has now gathered near the others, are all surprised by Gray's statements.

Jerking in sudden realization, Lucy exclaims, "Something…friggin' heavy! My chest area is like really, really heavy!" in a lower voice than normal, she leans over the table and puts a hand on her back before complaining, "My back is killing me…"

In the crowd someone asks, "Are you okay, Lucy? Your voice is lower than normal…"

Gray looks over while still shivering and says in a confused tone, "That's not… AHHHH!"

Suddenly an orange haired guy with glasses pops up off of the ground from the other side of the table and asks, "Oh? Why was I on the ground?" In response, Natsu's entire demeanor changes, he touches his nose like he is adjusting glasses and gets a sultry look on his face. You can almost see the sparkles around him.

"And wait… why am I standing?" he asks in a soft tone that no one has ever heard from him before as he looks around in a puzzled manner. When he sees that he is standing by Lucy, he jumps back and screams in fear before running away like he is being chased by a demon.

Looking angry, Lucy raises her fist and takes a step in his direction before shouting, "Hey, Natsu! Why did you run away when you saw my face?" She then pauses, looks confused and asks more to herself, "What's with my voice?"

Looking stunned, Macao puts a hand behind his head while saying, "T-they're acting different from normal…"

"What in the world is all this ruckus?" demands Happy in a very stern tone while staring firmly at the other guild members.

In a little kid like voice, Erza calls out, "Natsu, check it out! Wait, who's Natsu?" she starts looking around confused.

The orange-haired guy answers while looking irritated, "Huh? What? And man, why's it so dark in here?"

In the same child-like voice, Erza says, "I got two neato boobs stuck to my chest! Look! Look!" At this, she grabs her breasts and starts squeezing them to show them off, much to the enjoyment of most of the male members of the guild.

Looking scandalized, Happy goes for a high-flying kick while shouting, "Cease that!" When he makes contact with the armor, he collapses from the pain.

Erza just says, "That didn't hurt much." She and the oddly acting people surround a crestfallen Happy.

To himself, Happy mutters, "What is the reason for this cat form? Wait…I truly am a cat! I don't remember requiping this!"

Cana, the heavy drinking, bikini top wearing, beautiful brunette, complains from a nearby table at how she can't drink in peace while a young boy next to her exclaims at how he thinks magic is cool. Chaos starts to reign as the 5 magic users freak out over their situation. Krysti and the rest of the guild could only watch in stunned disbelief as their friends seem to be losing their minds.

In an attempt to regain control, Happy yells out in obvious frustration, "Haven't you realized it yet? Our minds and bodies have … switched places!" One second later, the other 4 start yelling out of shock.

Falling to his knees, the orange haired boy urgently asked the cat, "What do you mean, Happy?"

Happy loudly answers back, "I am Erza!" The boy looks at the cat in confusion.

Erza yells at the boy, "I'm Happy! You're so mean, Loke…"

"Be quiet!" Happy, who is now Erza, snaps.

Timidly, Gray says, "Which means…"

"Natsu and Loke… Gray and Lucy… And worst of all, Happy and I have switched places!" states Erza while in Happy's body.

"EH!?" shouts the entire guild at once.

"What do you mean, 'worst of all'?" indignantly protests Erza, who is actually Happy.

"Magical words of ancient Umpera-ese. You have activated Changeling." solemnly says a small old man by the entrance of the guild. The 5 affected mages run up to the old man with greetings of 'Master' and 'Gramps', which tells Krysti that this man was the Master she was waiting for.

Not bothering to greet them back, the Master continues, "That request is the cause. When you read that spell, the people nearby swap minds. That is Changeling."

Lucy in Gray's body trembles in fear as she repeats the name of the spell. While Gray in Lucy's body clamps his/her hand onto the shoulder of the orange-haired boy, named Loke, who is now occupied by Natsu.

"You're Natsu, right?" Gray asks.

"Yea." Natsu replies before getting pulled to face a very angry Gray.

"What the hell have you done?!" Gray demands loudly.

Pushing his face closer toward Gray, as per usual during their fights, Natsu yells back, "Don't ask me! All I did was try and read the request a little! And would someone turn on the lights!" he yells that last demand to the rest of the guild, not realizing that he is wearing sunglasses.

"Enough, Lucy! I mean, Gray. It's not just your minds that swap… Your magic swaps as well." wisely states the Master of the guild. The mind-swapped mages all get shocked by this fact. "And one last thing! If you don't undo the spell within 30 minutes of activation… You will never be able to return to normal. Or so the legend goes." he finishes darkly. The group gets shocked again at the fact of their worsening situation.

Natsu runs to Mirajane and asks her, "How long has it been since then?"

"16 minutes. So you have 14 minutes left." she states in all seriousness. Hearing this, Krysti frowns in thought.

Feeling desperate, Natsu turns back to the guild master and cries out, "Gramps! What's the spell to return us back to normal?"

Glancing away, he scratches his nose before answering, "Well, it is an ancient magic… When it comes to something this old… I have no clue!" he declares, almost proudly. Any hope the group felt has been dashed by that declaration. He then continues in a wistful tone, "And I was so looking forward to punishing you for going on that S class quest…" He walks past the group and heads toward the bar while and says, "That's out of the question now! Well, give it your best shot!"

At this, the group starts breaking down in despair, while Krysti follows the Master's progress with her eyes. When he settles himself down, she gives her friends a worried glance before moving to meet the Master as he watches the 5 mages and how they are handling the situation.

---

I take a deep breath to steady my nerves and hopefully calm down my heart. I walk over to the short man who is the Master of this guild, and the man who would determine if I would be able to join Fairy Tail. As I near him, he doesn't seem to notice my presence until I am only a few feet from the bar. He turns to look me over before greeting me.

"Welcome young lady. Is there something I can do for you?" he asks politely. I bow to him as a sign of respect before standing back up straight to answer him.

"Greetings, Master. It is an honor to meet you. My name is Krystina Skye VanHawkins and I would consider it an honor if I would be allowed to join the guild." I say as respectfully as I could.

"Oh? And what makes you want to join this guild, young one?" he inquires a warm smile spreading across his face. I smile as I think about my friends.

I answer him, "Honestly, it was Erza who gave me the idea. The way she spoke about this guild and how much it meant to her, struck a chord in my heart. She made it sound so warm and happy. It sounded like this was such a wonderful place that I couldn't help but want to be able to be a part of that. That, and it would mean that I would be able to spend more time with my friends and have a chance to make even more friends just as wonderful as they are"

He rubs his mustache in thought for a moment before asking me, "And how did you come by to meet Erza, if I may ask?"

"I don't mind. I met Erza yesterday, before she and the others left the island to come back to the guild. They found me in the woods and brought me here." I say softly. He motions for me to take a seat by the bar, and I bow my head in thanks.

"Something tells me there is more to the story than you first let on child." he intones as a gleam of wisdom shines from his eyes.

"Yes there is, but much of it I don't know. I guess I should start from the beginning." I say with a sigh and a light chuckle. He nods his agreement and I continue, "The only explanation that I can give, is that for reasons unknown to me, I was brought here from another world. I remember falling asleep just outside of my home while I was stargazing. Then I woke up with Natsu's face hovering over mine. I have no idea at all how or why I am here."

He looks at me with wide eyes. "Another world? Are you sure?" he asks me gravely.

I nod back with equal seriousness. "I am completely positive. I am from a world that has no magic. The only magic is what is mentioned in stories, but those are over a thousand years old. If there ever were magic, it is long gone by now, considered to be only myths and old superstitions. I don't know how I was able to get to this world, and I have no idea how I may be able to get back home." He looks down, seemingly in deep thought.

"It is hard to imagine a world without magic." He starts off before looking back up at me and continuing, "But if you have no idea how you have gotten here, it will be difficult to find a way for you to get back. If at all. Are you prepared for that?" I look down, feeling sad that he doesn't have an answer on how I may return to my world. At the same time, I feel relieved that I will get to be with my friends longer.

Feeling the conflicting emotions in me, I look back up and answer, "Yes, I have been thinking that there is a possibility that I may never return home. And I am prepared for that eventuality if it comes to pass. But that doesn't mean that I will stop trying to figure out how and why I am here. And how to get back home." He nods in acceptance again at my answer.

"Well Krystina, if I find out anything about this, I will be sure to let you know." I duck my head in thanks.

"Thank you, Master. It means a lot that you are willing to help." I say with a smile.

"Think nothing of it, young lady. I am most happy to help." He replies warmly. A loud shout catches our attention as more people I don't know have joined in the ruckus. I remember what I asked of Erza that she was suppose to bring up to the Master. With this going on, she is in no state of mind to be talking about punishments and stuff. But this is mighty suspicious. He lied to them. He knows something about the spell. I frown slightly and decide to confront him about this.

"Master." I start out slowly.

"Yes, child?" he inquires.

I look over at him before saying, "This is an interesting punishment that you have going on for the group. It is too bad that Erza and Loke were caught up in it."

"What do you mean by that?" he says while fixing me with a hard stare. I don't let the look bother me as I clarify.

"This Changeling spell. It's clever that you're using it as a punishment. Or if this was not the punishment that you have planned, it was quick thinking to change it into the punishment by making them think the body swap is permanent." I tell him.

"Oh? And what gives you the idea that the change isn't permanent?" he inquires.

Taking a deep breath, I tell him my suspicions in a soft tone so no one else hears me, "Well the first thing that caught my attention was the fact that Mirajane told everyone that 16 minutes passed by when in fact it was more like 3. Next, was when you said you had no clue about the magic. You looked away while scratching your nose. Tell-tale signs of when someone is lying. Third, was the way you acted to the fact that they would be permanently stuck the way they are now." At this point, Mirajane comes over to stand with us and I nod at her while continuing.

"If this place values family and taking care of their own as much as I have seen with my friends, then there would be no way that the Master would care so little about the well-being of the people under their charge. Rule breakers or not. So, either this was the main plan of punishment for them that Erza and Loke got caught in by accident, or this is a harmless spell to where you added danger that isn't there to take the place of the original punishment you had planned for them." I finish explaining and leaving me feeling slightly out of breath.

He gives me an appraising stare, one to which I don't back away from. "That's an interesting theory young lady. What do you plan on doing with this information?" he asks slowly.

"Nothing." I state simply. He raises an eyebrow in question. So I add, "Either way if this was on purpose or not, they are still being punished. Erza explained on the way here what has happened, and I agree that you need to be taught a lesson if you go breaking rules willy-nilly." I look over to see everyone else in the guild doing what they can to help their friends. "Also it seems to be helping the guild bond together better through adversity. A welcome bonus in my opinion." He nods without saying anything.

"Oh, I have one other matter to bring to your attention Master." I inform him.

"And what is it child?" he asks in curiosity.

"Erza was to tell you, but since she is otherwise indisposed I guess I should tell you myself. I wish to join Natsu and the others in their punishment." I tell him. Eyes wide, he looks at me askance. Before he says anything, I continue.

"They are my family now. Family shares the good times and the bad. It is because of me that they did not arrive here as fast as they should have been able to. I caused the delay, so I should not be spared from the punishment. I know that I cannot join them at this moment for this particular lesson, but I will accept whatever you think would be appropriate." I bow my head with closed eyes, waiting for his judgment.

I hear him 'hmm' like he is in thought before he says, "I will need some time to reflect upon this before I can judge fairly."

"Thank you Master, I look forward to your decision." I politely reply. I turn my attention back towards the others to watch what happens.

---

After a short, pixie-like, blue-haired woman, who Krysti later found out was called Levy, figured out how to solve the spell, she immediately started casting it. The spell at first seemed to of worked, but only on Gray and Lucy. Due to a slight error in pronunciation, other nearby people were caught up and swapped bodies as well. Levy tried a few more times before she was able to finally get the words correct. After that, it was smooth sailing and everyone who was mind-swapped returned back to normal.

The usual chaos soon occurred as the people affected were now in their original bodies. A party broke out with Levy as its target, which embarrassed the short girl. More guild members returned, who all joined in the party even though they have no idea why there was a party. A brawl started between the males, the two usual suspects being the cause of it, and Levy was able to get away unnoticed to make her way over to her blonde best friend, Lucy.

"Hey, Lu-chan?" Levy starts out cheerfully.

"Yes, Levy-chan?" answers Lucy, curious at what her friend wants.

"Why did you guys pick out that request anyways? It's not a normal one you guys would do." Levy asks.

Lucy shrugs before answering, "Beats me, Natsu was the one who picked it out actually."

"Really? Natsu picked out the request that needed knowledge of old languages to complete?" Levy asks in disbelief.

"Yea, which seems really odd for him. I pegged him as more of the type that wants adventure and fighting." says Lucy thoughtfully.

"That's my point! He is that type!" exclaims Levy.

"We could always just ask." says Lucy before turning to face the brawl. "Hey! Natsu!" she cries out hoping to be heard over the din. Natsu appears near them at the edge of the fight, dodging furniture and fists.

"Whatcha need, Lucy?" he grunts out after taking a kick to the stomach. He tries dodging the punches while paying attention to Lucy. Getting fed up, he grabs one of Levy's teammates and tosses him through the crowd, knocking down several people and giving him some breathing room. Wiping his hands and taking a deep calming breath, he walks over to the girls. "Sorry about that Lucy, I didn't hear what you said."

Wide-eyed, the girls share a look that screamed I can't believe that Natsu, OUR Natsu willingly stepped out of the middle of a brawl.

Huffing in slight annoyance, Natsu prompts them with, "Well, what is it?"

Not fully recovered from their shock, Levy answers for Lucy, "We were wondering, Natsu. Why did you take this strange request in the first place? It doesn't seem something you would be interested in."

Nonchalantly, he answers without hesitation, "It isn't what I would want to do as a request. But Krysti said she needed to earn some money for food and clothes and stuff. That request looked like a very easy way to get some money to get her started." Then his eyes widen in realization as he smacks a fist into his palm. "Oh, that's right! You solved the meaning of the words, so the reward is yours, Levy." A chair flies out of the din and pegs Natsu in the back of his head. Suddenly angry again, he flies back into the crowd to defeat the chair thrower.

"So it was for Krysti, that's… surprisingly thoughtful of him." Lucy trails off.

"Who is Krysti? She new?" asks Levy. Lucy points toward the bar where said woman was dodging flying furniture and having a tough time doing so. The brawl continues in usual fashion until the Master gets fed up.

"ALRIGHT! CALM DOWN YOU BRATS!" he yells out, effectively stopping the fight. He coughs and continues in a more normal voice. "We have here someone who wants to join the guild. Please welcome, Krysti." A chorus of cheers from the crowd causes the large woman to blush from the attention. As the cheers die down, the Master continues, "She has also requested that she join our rule breakers in their punishment." Silence falls over the crowd before a lot of voices start whispering to each other.

"I have thought hard about this and came to a decision!" continued the Master before he pauses to take time to look out over the crowd. Krysti uses this time to walk towards the majority of the guild before turning to face the Master's judgement head-on.

"My decision is this: She cannot join Fairy-tail." He states very gravely. Immediately a ruckus of disagreement flows from the crowd, but none louder than from Lucy, Gray, Happy, and Natsu. They fly to the bar and stand in front of the Master to argue.

"What the hell, gramps!" yells Natsu.

"This isn't fair!" cries out Lucy.

"We are her friends, she is already family!" declares Gray.

"No fair!" cries Happy. The master just looks at them with a hard stare.

From behind them a soft voice says, "Guys, it's okay. If that is his decision…"

"No! It's not okay!" roars out Natsu. "You're already part of our family and you should be allowed to join!"

"That is cruel Gramps! You can't not let her join!" Shouts an angry Gray. Krysti puts of both her hands on each of the shoulders of the guys in front of her. They turn to look to see a sad soft look in her eyes.

"It's okay. Really. You guys have already done so much for me. Thank you. It was too much to hope for to be allowed in, especially since I'm not a mage. I'll figure out some other way to pay you back for all the kindness you have shown me." she says in that same soft voice. Stepping in past them she bows down to the Master before saying, "Thank you for at least considering my application to the guild. And thank you for passing a fair punishment, Master. I shall take my leave." At this, she stands up straight and slowly makes her way to the doors.

In a flash, Erza blocks her way with outstretched arms. "Master!" she calls out forcefully. "I cannot stand by your decision to not let her become a member! I too believe that she belongs with us. Already she has helped us out more than you know in only these two days that we have known her."

"Che, damn brats. You didn't let me finish." says the Master irritably. The rest of the guild is slightly taken aback at this. "I said that she can't join Fairy Tail…" He pauses to see if anyone is going to interrupt again. As no one is protesting, he continues, "She can't join because in her heart, she already is Fairy Tail." He sits back in his seat and lets a smirk cross his face as he watches the smiles in realization start appearing on the young faces in front of him. "You can't join something that you already are a part of in your heart." he finishes with a look of pride shining in his eyes. Cheers erupt from the guild as everyone is laughing, crying, and cheering all at the same time. None more so than the newest member in the center of the celebration.