Heading back to Magnolia after the ''Gender Swap'' incident, Natsu knew she couldn't show himself at the guild. There are simply too many reasons why such an idea is terrible. A. She could be ridiculed by other guild mates, B. Erza and the Master would have her skinned alive for taking a Shichibukai request that was meant for their Guild's strongest member, C. Older members like Macao, Wabaka and god knows who else are gonna hit on her, and worse of all, she's gonna have to deal with the girls, who were probably gonna tease her or try to pair her up with several male guild members that she used to hate, heck, she could feel Happy plotting to pair her with Gray behind her back. If she was to do things strategically, she would have done it alone, but her new feminine attitude made her far to submissive and shy, her only option was to ask others for help.

''Happy?'' asked Natsu as they walked along the port.

''Yeah Natsu?'' Happy replied, fly alongside her.

''Do you... think they'll laugh at me?'' asked Natsu, ''I mean... I insulted Gray, took a mission far beyond my league to try and prove myself, failed, and now I am returning to beg for help.''

Natsu dropped to her knees as a throbbing pain was felt in her chest, tears forming in her eyes as she could feel all the shame she would usually see Lucy feeling.

''I feel so humiliated.''

''NATSU! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!'' Happy yelled as he grabbed Natsu by her jacket, ''YOUR SHAME IS MAKING YOU FORGET WHAT YOUR FRIENDS TRULY ARE! THEY LOVE YOU! AND I'M SURE THAT IF THEY CAN FORGIVE LAXUS, THEY CAN FORGIVE YOU TOO!''

But mentioning Laxus only made things worse.

''NOO! WHAT WILL HE THINK OF ME?! I CAN'T DO IT!'' Cried Natsu, running away.

''Natsu! wait!'' Happy yelled out, but it was too late, as Natsu had already taken off.

''Happy? what are you doing here?'' suddenly came a voice behind him.

Looking back, he came face to face with the rest of Natsu's team.

''Oh, hi guys.'' Happy smiled nervously.

''Where's Natsu, isn't he usually with you?'' asked Lucy.

''Oh, uh... are you looking for him?'' asked Happy.

Before anyone can even say a word, Erza picked him up by his head, staring at him with great intensity.

''Don't play dumb with us, we know you guys took the shichibukai request from the S-class board, now tell us where Natsu's hiding!''

''I-I don't know!'' said Happy.

''Don't lie to me!'' Erza said, squeezing Happy's head.

''I SERIOUSLY DON'T KNOW, HE RAN OFF THE SECOND YOU SHOWED UP!'' Happy squealed in pain.

Erza let out a sigh.

''Everyone, spread out, we're gonna find him!'' said Erza.

Somewhere in Hargeon...

After a few hours of running, Natsu was breathing heavily, her breasts felt like weights, putting her back in serious pain.

''I should have asked Ivan for a bra before coming back, this crop top is seriously not doing it.'' Natsu said to herself.

Looking around, sudden realization hit her, she was at Hargeon, the same place where she met Lucy for the first time.

''Great, my outburst left me over 2 miles away from my initial destination.'' she said to herself.

It was an awfully hot summer too, and the sun was raging hot, especially at noon, beating down on her body, sticky from all of her running. on days like these, the scarf Igneel gave her worked against it's initial purpose, practically acting like a cage, trapping in heat withing her neck region. She forcefully removed her scarf and Jacket, wrapping them around her waist, exposing her bare stomach.

She knew that sooner or later, she was gonna have to return to the guild. So, before Erza can have her head mounted on her wall and her bones carved into a sword with Dragon Slayer Magic, she was gonna have to disguise herself and wait for things to blow over. it was Mid-August, and she was in the middle of a shopping district, so with the little money she had left, intended to pay a sailor to sail her back to Magnolia but not used since Ivankov provided a ship to sail her back for free, she decided to shop for some new clothes.

''I'll start with pants.'' she said to herself.

walking into a nearby outfit store, she quickly breezed through the aisles, trying to pick what to buy. To her surprise, looking for a new pair of pants and shoes were a lot tougher than she thought. Her feminine side made her heavily indecisive of what to wear. The next thing you know, she came in and out of the changing room eight times, half of which she came out looking either like a slut or like a front page model for Sorcerer Weekly. After an hour, she settle on a pair of crimson leggings, from which her black jacket wrapped over, making a makeshift skirt.

Proud of her looks, a sudden realization struck her, she was having fun. Such a mundane activity that she would have usually turned down was amusing her. Looking at the mirror, thoughts like ''Am I too erotic looking?'' or ''Does this scream ''me'' flooded her mind.

''Damn... Ivan wasn't lying.'' she said while putting one hand on the mirror, ''I've really turned into a girl.''

Lucy, Levy, Juvia, She started understanding why they enjoy such activities. Back then, Natsu would just sit in the background, wondering ''what in the world's taking them so long?''. The world of a woman had just opened up to her.

Taking the leggings to the cashier, she heard him compliment her, telling her that the legging suits her really well, making her smile. It was just a mere compliment from some guy she never knew, but somehow, it made her happy. Walking out of the store, she felt like a new person, as if the ''Fire Dragon Slayer, The Salamander of Fairy Tail'' was just a persona she had dreamed up, and now, she had finally woken up.

Suddenly, she heard her name being called from behind, making her practically jump. slowly turning her head, she met up face to face with the last guy she wanted to face: Gray.

TO BE CONTINUED...