Lucy stirred in her bed the next morning. "Natsu?" she asked, but she received no reply. 'I guess that wasn't really just some messed up dream then' the Celestial wizard thought to herself. She decided to get ready for her day by picking out an outfit and taking a shower. As she was putting her clothes on, she heard a crash in her room. Sprinting out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, she was greeted with the sight of a familiar blue exceed that was buried in the contents of her desk, which were now strewn across the floor. "Happy?"
"Aye sir."
"What are you doing here this early? And where have you been?" Lucy began bombarding the cat with questions.
"I got back from a job with Wendy and Carla this morning and was looking for Natsu. Have you seen him?" Happy asked.
"Not since yesterday. And I don't think I will be for awhile" she trailed off.
Happy looked stunned. "What do you mean? Did you two have a fight?"
"Not exactly. Let's go to the guild, I'll explain everything on the way. Besides, maybe Natsu will be there by the time we get there."
"Aye sir!" Happy shouted.
...
Juvia was walking out of Fairy Hills in a less than pleased mood. She didn't get to see her Gray at all today, she was still sore from having her internal organs almost boiled the previous day, and she got next to no sleep because a certain dragon slayer tried to sneak into her bed last night. Juvia let out another tired sigh as she walked out of the door, only to be greeted by the root of two of her three major problems staring her right in the face. She growled "What are you doing here?"
Natsu seemed unfazed by Juvia's attitude though. "You don't remember what we talked about yesterday?"
Juvia's expression softened a little bit, but she was still grouchy due to her lack of sleep. "Juvia isn't sure what you are referring to?"
"I thought you said you wanted to have a little bit of fun with our guildmates today? You still up for that?" Natsu then flashed her a toothy grin. Juvia then smiled along with him.
"Sure, Juvia had forgotten about that. That sounds gre-waaah!" Before she could even finish her statement, Natsu had grabbed her hand and started hauling her into the middle of town. "Where is Natsu taking Juvia?"
"We've gotta go get some things first. Don't worry, I already have a few ideas, the rest we can make up as we go!"
And with that, Natsu stormed into the center of Magnolia, while the water mage trailed behind, still latched onto him.
...
"So that's the deal then, huh" Happy said to the blond wizard as the duo approached the guild hall.
"Yup. And I'm not too sure I really wanna face Mira's punishment. So I think I'm gonna have to stick to her rules" Lucy said as she opened the doors.
Both blondie and exceed looked around but found no sign of Natsu. Looking around, the two did find Gray sitting at a table and walked over to him. "Sup Lucy. Hey cat" the ice wizard greeted them.
"Hi Gray. Have you seen Natsu?" This ice wizard shook his head at Happy. "That sucks. I feel kinda bad about leaving without him."
"Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine. He's probably just hanging out with Juvia" Gray said, which caused Lucy to tense up. This action didn't go unnoticed by either of them. "You okay Lucy?"
"Yeah, it's just a little weird when you think about your boyfriend hanging out with some other girl." This caused Gray to chuckle.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Juvia is just as bad as you are right now. A day without seeing me is probably driving her insane" Gray tried to comfort her.
"Well someone surely thinks highly of themself" Happy mocked Gray, causing him to howl in laughter.
"It's not that cat, I just know how she is. Hey Lucy, you wanna go on a job to take your mind off of things?" Gray asked her. Lucy seemed to respond positively to the thought of money.
"Yeah, that sounds good. I do have rent to pay after all!"
"You and that damn rent. Alright, let's go find a job. You coming Happy?"
"Aye sir." The trio made their way up to the request board and evaluated their options.
"Eliminate a group of bandits causing trouble in Hargeon. 500,000 J. I haven't been to Hargeon in awhile either. This sounds perfect!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Alright then, looks like we're off to Hargeon."
Before the group took off though, the front doors banged through the hall. "Good morning Fairy Tail!" Natsu shouted as him and Juvia walked in holding hands.
"Damnit Salamander, why do you always have to be so loud!"
"Geez, can't a guy enjoy his booze in the morning."
"A real man doesn't need to shout in the morning."
"Yeah, cool off flame head."
"Aww, come on guys," Natsu started, "pull the sticks out of your asses and lets party!"
"Just what the hell is he up to?" Gray muttered to himself.
Natsu and Juvia walked over to the bar still holding hands. "Good morning. Looks like you two are getting along quite well" Mira said to the 'couple'.
"Yup, you sure know how to make a pair Mira" Natsu said with a gleeful smile.
"Yes, Juvia is very much enjoying her time with Natsu."
"Flame brain.." "Natsu.." Gray and Lucy growled simultaneously. 'Just as planned' Natsu and Juvia both thought. Happy then flew over to Natsu.
"Hey little buddy, what's going on?"
"Sorry for leaving without telling you where I was going Natsu" Happy confessed. "I went on a job with Wendy and Carla."
"Hey, it's alright. You gotta spend time with your girl and I gotta spend time with mine" Natsu said as he wrapped his arm around Juvia's shoulder.
"Not. Your. Girlfriend." Gray and Lucy both could be seen with steam pounding out of their ears.
"Bye Juvia-chan." Natsu then walked away from the two while Juvia walked behind the bar and began to talk to Cana. "Bye Natsu-kun."
"You two are such terrible actors" Cana said to Juvia when she approached her.
"W-What?" Juvia stammered.
"Come on, stop acting all lovey dovey, you know that you two are putting on a terrible act. Course it seems my drunk ass is the only one that can really seem through it." Cana then nodded her head toward a fuming Gray and Lucy and an oggling Mirajane. "Your plan seems to be working though. Even though you've only been 'together' for like a day."
Juvia smirked as she placed her hand underneath the edge of Cana's barrel. "Looks like you caught us. Too bad." Juvia then began to giggle. Cana let it slide for a minute before Juvia then crashed over to the back of the bar.
"You okay over there Juvia?"
"Yup! Juvia-chan is just fine!"
"You gave yourself a title? Are you sure you're alright?" Cana asked again. Juvia just nodded as she placed her hand on the keg behind her. "Whatever then. Damn, this rum tastes like shit!"
By this point, Natsu had come back from what he was doing in the guild to see Juvia on the ground laughing her guts out. "What happened to her?"
Cana shrugged as she took another drink. "Not sure."
"Hey Juvia, time to go!"
"Oh Natsu-sama! How you doin?" Juvia then continued to giggle.
"Is she drunk?" Natsu asked Cana.
"I'd say so. Though I'm not sure when she would've."
'Shit' Natsu thought. 'She must've absorbed all that alcohol instead of just distorting it. I gotta get her out of here now!'
"Hey Gray-sama, you like what you see?" Juvia began to seductively rub her hips against the ground (in her mind anyway, it really just looked like a drunken snake attempting to burrow a hole.)
"Hey Juvia, we should be going" Natsu said, picking her up.
"Is she drunk?" Gray asked.
"Oww, what the hell?" Gajeel screamed. "Who the hell changed all the guild's forks to plastic?"
"Pfft, this beer is piss warm!" Macao shouted.
"I think someone tampered with my booze, too!" Cana hollered as she leaned over to grab at Juvia, who was swiftly pulled away by Natsu.
"Tampering with people's food and drinks isn't manly at all!" Elfman hollered, now sporting a completely blue grin thanks to some dye Natsu had slipped in his food.
"Bye guys, see y'all tomorrow!" Natsu hollered as he ran out of the guild carrying the water mage on his back.
Lucy huffed and Gray's eye was twitching due to the scene that had just unfolded in front of them. Lucy then turned her attention to Gray. "Still wanna go on that job?" Gray simply nodded and the two made their way out of the guild.
...
Natsu laid Juvia down in his bed once he got to his house. In his dead sprint away from all his angry guild members, he really couldn't think of a better place to take her. The water mage looked really peaceful as Natsu laid her down in his bed and covered her up. He then got a glass of water and some painkillers ready for when she woke up and began to prepare her something to eat. Once the food was done, he sat the plate over the fire he had started to keep it warm for her. He then sat down and watched her sleep.
'This is the most I've ever talked to this girl before. I mean, I miss Lucy and fighting with Gray already, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying myself. It's different for Gray and Lucy though, they were already friends. I hope Juvia and I can stay friends after this whole swap thing is over.'
...
A/N: Well I hope this version is a lot better than the other one, even though it's almost 1000 words shorter. Much slower paced and a lot of changes without psycho Lucy.