I'd like to go ahead and say that I'm extremely lucky to have the amazing Shell1331 to thank for being such an amazing beta! I am so grateful for you!

I would also like to say thank you to everybody who has left a review! I know I try to answer all of them, but in case I forgot somebody thank you! And to the two guests who reviewed the chapter before this one! Happy and Monika! Both of your reviews made me smile! So seriously thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Ranma 1/2

I'm updating this story every Tuesday, but if I get 10-15 reviews on this chapter... I'll update sooner :D

"Why is there a pig in the house?" Natsu asked the second he noticed Lucy playing with the small, round, and black creature. "Didn't your dad ever tell you that playing with your food is a bad thing?"

Not even a full second following his teasing words, he had to tilt out of the way so that he could avoid being hit by several flying books. "I'm kidding! Geez, you have absolutely zero chill." This time an encyclopedia hit its mark, and Natsu fell backwards dramatically, groaning all the while and his left cheek already reddening from the impact of the book's spine to his face.

"P-chan is not food, and if I ever hear you say something like that again, you're going to regret it." Lucy held the little animal close to her chest, and Natsu could swear that it actually appeared as though the thing was blushing.

"P-chan? What kind of name is that?" Natsu couldn't seem to stop himself from picking on Lucy over the matter, and the blonde looked away, a frown upon her lips. Clearly, she was losing her patience with him.

"P-chan is a cute name," she responded coolly as her attention returned to the cute little thing she'd quickly adopted. "It suits her just fine."

"Are you sure it is a her?" Natsu snickered, causing Lucy to blink before lifting up and turning P-chan so that she could get a good, long look to see for herself.

"Oh, I guess… I guess not." Lucy shrugged. "P-chan is still a valid name," she decided with another shrug of the shoulders. "Who is my cute little boy?" Lucy smiled fondly down at the animal as she rubbed the top of his head. Natsu watched with interest as the pig almost seemed to understand what Lucy was saying.

It creeped him the fuck out.

Promptly, Natsu walked over and plucked P-chan right out of Lucy's arms. Almost immediately, it began to squirm and fight against him, and there was something almost familiar about the look in its beady dark eyes as it glared at Natsu and tried its best to kick at him with its stumpy legs.

"Natsu!" Lucy was on her feet immediately and grabbed for the poor thing. "What is the matter with you? Don't pick on him! He is just a little bit, you can't go around picking on defenseless little animals!"

The pink-haired martial artist easily held the pig up and out of Lucy's reach with a relatively blank expression as he yawned. "I don't think I like this pig—how about you go find a different one?"

Lucy puffed out her cheeks into a pout as she finally gave up and folded her arms across her chest. She didn't want to accidentally hurt P-chan in her efforts to try to get him away from the brazen martial artist. "Natsu, I'm not going to get a different pig just because you don't like P-chan." Her hands moved to her hips as she stared at him expectantly and began to tap her foot impatiently. "Besides, there is no reason for you to not like P-chan!"

"Like hell there ain't! Just look at the way it is looking at me!"

"That's just because you're being so rough with him!"

"He was glaring at me the second I walked into the room!"

"You're being ridiculous, just give him back, Natsu!"

"No!"

"Give him back!"

"Get him back yourself if you want him so badly!"

At the challenge, Lucy's patience almost audibly shattered as she began to reach for P-chan once more. Natsu only stepped back in an attempt to continue their game of 'keep away.'

Except his heel caught the small step that lead into the dining room from the living room, and all of a sudden he was falling backwards. Which wouldn't have been a problem at all, had he not been holding a pig in one hand…and if Lucy weren't adding to the pressure as she tipped right along with him.

Natsu hit the floor with a loud thud and accidentally let go of the little black pig, who quickly scurried off and disappeared before either one of the martial artists could even react to what had just happened. Lucy stared down at Natsu's face—she'd landed directly on top of him.

He was warm, and she could feel the warmth of his skin through the clothes that he wore. She could feel the firm and toned muscles through his shirt as well. The blonde almost immediately got back to her feet when she realized how close together they were. Her cheeks flushed a brilliant red that could rival Natsu's Chinese shirt before she remembered the entire reason she'd been pressing herself so close to Natsu in the first place, and she looked around, almost in a panic.

"You lost P-chan!" Lucy accused as she stood up and began to look around. "I can't believe this, Natsu…" Lucy looked as though she were genuinely upset, and Natsu was a little bit taken aback by how that made his chest tighten.

"Hey, it is just a—" He cut himself off when he realized that it was pretty heartless to say that it was just a pig. Even Natsu knew that much. He never really understood the importance of pets, though he supposed if Lucy actually cared about the little guy. "Okay, look, I'm sorry. I'll help you look for him. How does that sound?"

Lucy still looked angry and upset, but she nodded.

And that was how instead of training, Natsu wound up outside with an umbrella. There weren't very many clouds in the sky, but Natsu had come to decide that he didn't really want to feel safe based on that. He had an inkling that Lucy had been right when she said that there may be more to the curse than just changing into a girl whenever he got hit by water. Because it really seemed as though cold water followed him everywhere he went.

"P-chan," he called halfheartedly as he walked around the backyard. "Where are you at, ya stupid pig? You're making Lucy upset." Truly, Natsu wasn't entirely sure why he even cared about that. It wasn't as though he cared about the girl that he was supposed to call 'fiancée.'

Though even as his thoughts came to that, he knew that he it was pointless trying to deny it. There was something so...different about Lucy that drew him to her in a way that he'd never felt drawn to another person before. It was honestly a bit scary, and Natsu wasn't sure he was ready for something like that.

He'd trained his whole life to fight people, not feelings or emotions. He'd never been very good at holding a verbal battle, which he supposed was why Lucy often got him flustered. She was a fairly well-spoken person, and that put him on edge a little bit. She also had been pretty quick to accept him despite his…condition. He supposed that was more than likely the reason that he felt kind of guilty over having teased her so much.

Just thinking about all of that was enough to make Natsu groan and run a hand back through his already messy hair. Why did Pop have to bring them here? Up until they'd been cursed, the two of them had been doing pretty well for themselves in the means of training. Natsu had truly become a great martial artist under his father's instruction.

All coming to the Heartfilia's had done was hinder that improvement. He didn't see how being there would be good for him as a martial artist in the long run, and wasn't that all his father ever said was important? From the time Natsu was able to understand, his pop was drilling it into his head that being a powerful martial artist was the only way to live a full and happy life.

"Dammit, P-chan," Natsu tried again as he looked around a couple bushes. "I'm getting real sick and tired of this."

He was still looking in the bushes when he sensed somebody come up behind him, fast. Almost too fast for him to actually notice in time.

"Natsu." Instinctively, the pink-haired teen spun on his heel, though he wasn't able to dodge or block the kick to his stomach. Pain splintered through his center before he smashed into the concrete wall that represented the end of the Heartfilia's property lines.

The concrete cracked upon contact with Natsu's body, and for a second, the pink-haired teen saw stars before he dropped to the ground, right back to his feet. He staggered for a moment before centering himself and dropping into a fight-ready stance.

In front of him stood Gray. Just as naked as he had been when he'd attacked earlier that day. He also looked just as angry. Steam appeared to be rolling off of his skin, but Natsu blinked, and thought that he must have been seeing things. Perhaps a result of having hit his head on the wall, who knew? Natsu certainly didn't pay any mind to it.

"Gray, c'mon. I don't got time for this." Natsu gritted his teeth as he took a step forward, shocked by the pain he still felt by the blow he'd taken. Gray was a lot stronger than the last time that they'd faced off with one another. In fact, Natsu wouldn't have been entirely surprised if Gray was actually on his level.

Though Natsu refused to actually accept that as a truth. He'd trained too hard to want to believe that he wasn't the strongest martial artist his age. Though he knew how ridiculous it would be for him to believe something like that. He supposed that winning all the time had made him a little bit on the cocky side.

"You don't got time for this?" Gray repeated before smirking. "Well, you're going to have to make time for this Natsu. I've waited a very long time for this moment, too long." With that, he pointed at Natsu angrily. "You've destroyed my life, my…my…" Gray seemed to be struggling to say what he wanted to, and for a short moment, Natsu truly felt bad for the guy. Gray was what he'd think a tortured soul would look like.

"How did I destroy your life? I haven't seen you in like…two years! You seemed fine back then, and you seem fine now! Well…other than the fact that you're naked." Natsu looked from side to side before returning his attention to Gray. "You should really work on that, Gray. You'll be called a pervert around these parts."

"How did you destroy my life?" Gray repeated Natsu's words for the second time, and Natsu could feel his own frustrations welling up at that. "You left for China without fighting me, Natsu!" Gray shook with a rage that Natsu couldn't understand. "Like the coward you are, you ignored my challenge. So naturally... I followed you to China. I wanted to make you eat dirt after not taking my challenge seriously."

Natsu frowned as he struggled to comprehend what Gray was saying before he blinked. "I didn't ignore your challenge, Gray. I waited for three days at the place you wanted to meet for the fight! Three days! You never showed up! I figured that you'd be able to find the place well enough since it was in the empty lot that was right behind your house."

Gray blinked at that revelation, but that didn't seem to appease his anger. "A true martial artist would have waited forever if that is what it took!"

"How is that fair?!" Natsu balled his hands into fists. "It isn't my fault that your sense of direction is completely hopeless! Pop dragged me away by the time the third day hit and you didn't show up. You should really learn how to get around before you challenge somebody to a scheduled fight! Learn how to show up on time!"

"None of that matters anymore!" Gray shouted. "What matters…is that it is your fault that I'm the way that I am! It is because of you!" On that note, Gray began to attack Natsu again, not seeming to hold anything back, and Natsu cursed as he had to give it his all just to avoid getting hit by another one of those solid punches, much less actually counter with an attack of his own.

It was as he was dodging that he came to a realization. Something Gray had said… Something that Natsu should have picked up on sooner…

China. Gray had followed Natsu to China? Could that mean…?

"Gray!" Natsu shouted. "When you said you followed me to China…what did you mean?" Fear began to grip Natsu's heart as he thought of what Gray could have been meaning… Had Gray fallen into one of the cursed springs as well? Was Gray also cursed? Natsu supposed if that were the case…he could understand Gray's rage. It was completely reasonable… But it wasn't Natsu's fault that Gray had decided that he wanted to follow Natsu all the way to China. "Are you talking about Jusenkyo?" Natsu asked hesitantly.

Despite knowing that it wasn't truly his fault…the teen did feel guilt when a look of pain crossed Gray's face at the mention of the cursed springs, and Natsu knew in that moment that he'd hit the nail right on the head. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and both Natsu's and Gray's heads jerked up to see that the sky had become quite cloudy during their little skirmish, and once more, Natsu felt sure that Lucy had been right about her little theory on the Jusenkyo curse.

"Gray, what do you…?" Before he could ask, rain began to fall, and Gray cursed before running off.

"You'll never find out if I have anything to say about it, Natsu! Just know…that I'll get my revenge on you. Just you wait!"

Gray was gone before Natsu could think of anything to say, and the pink-haired male barely got his umbrella open in time before it really started to pour.

"P-chan!" Lucy's voice shouted, reminding Natsu of the entire reason he'd been outside in the first place, and he sighed lightly.

"He isn't out here, Lucy," Natsu called. "I'll go out and look to see if he left your yard, just wait inside." He then spun around and took off in the direction that Gray had gone.

"Gray!" he called, "Come on, Gray, I'm sorry that this happened to you, but you can't honestly blame me for falling into one of those cursed springs! Come on out, okay?" There was a rustling behind him, and Natsu turned to see a dog growling at him. The dog was black, and angry.

"Hey, calm down, all right? A dog, huh? That isn't um… that isn't too bad." He felt his chest tighten again, and once more he felt the guilt rearing its ugly head. Natsu felt so guilty. If he had just expressed how important the match with Gray had been, the idiot wouldn't have felt the need to follow Natsu. Gray wouldn't have fallen into one of those wretched springs. Gray would still be normal. Natsu couldn't even imagine what it would be like to lose his humanity to his curse. He really didn't give his pop the credit that he deserved for putting up with being an on-occasion panda so well.

"I'm sorry, Gray…" Natsu looked genuinely apologetic as he stared down at the dog who continued to growl. "We'll find a way to get back to our old selves. Don't worry! You can stay with me and Pop! I'm sure the Heartfilias wouldn't mind!" The dog had stopped growling and instead watched Natsu with apprehensiveness as the martial artist started to try to grab it.

When all was said and done, Natsu, drenched by the rain and in his female form, had several bite and scratch marks all up his arms and even on his face. He had managed to finally wrestle the dog into submission before picking it up, and carrying it back to the Heartfilia house.

If he hadn't had to turn into a girl, Natsu was sure that he'd have been able to get the dog to submit a lot quicker than he did. He was pretty sure that one or two of the scratches would wind up scarring, which he didn't really mind too much.

Every scar had a story! He was sure that one day he and Gray would be laughing over the whole ordeal, when they finally managed to get rid of the curses anyway.

It wasn't until after he'd taken off his shoes that he realized that he had forgotten to do one very important thing.

"P-chan," Natsu whispered, "Lucy is gonna kill me…"

"Natsu, is that you?" Lucy called, causing the redhead to grimace. "You were outside a long time, I was just about to go out and—" Lucy rounded the corner and jumped in surprise when she took in Natsu, his female form, and the dog. "Why…?" she asked slowly, and Natsu's eyes fell onto the black bundle that Lucy was holding in her arms and lit up.

"Oh, good you found P-chan!" When Lucy nodded, Natsu looked back to the dog that he had carried in. "I found this little guy outside and thought that maybe we could give him a nice and hot bath? Look at how dirty and cold he looks!"

Lucy frowned. "Well, as nice as that is, Natsu… I don't think the Conbolts would appreciate you taking their dog like that."

Natsu blinked at the revelation before looking back down at the dog.

"Wait… This is somebody's dog?"

Before Lucy could answer, there was a loud rapping on the door. Lucy sent Natsu a glare before pulling the heavy door open with the hand she wasn't using to hold P-chan to her chest.

There stood a very wet and slightly irritated-looking Cana.

"Romeo saw some redheaded girl take Bones and come to your house, so I thought I'd stop over and see—" Cana blinked and stared at Natsu, who continued to hold onto the now squirming dog.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Cana…um… This is…" Lucy looked to Natsu with panic in her big brown eyes. She had no idea what she was supposed to say in the situation placed before her. "This is…"

"I'm Natsu's twin sister, Natsko." Natsu grinned widely before remembering why Cana was there in the first place, and Lucy almost laughed as she watched Natsu's smugness melt into something of embarrassment. "I um…" He looked at Lucy and glared upon noting the blonde's clear amusement. "I just saw the cute doggy, and I was worried that it would get sick!" Natsu moved to hand the dog over to Cana.

The brunette appeared suspicious but accepted Bones, squinting at Natsu apprehensively.

"How come you never told me that Natsu had a sister, Lucy?" Cana asked, not removing her gaze from Natsu as she spoke. "Why doesn't she go to school with him?"

"Oh that's…because Natsko is homeschooled!" Lucy laughed anxiously. Fortunately though, it was at that time Gildarts returned from…wherever it was he occasionally went during the day. He stood behind Cana, not wanting to bump into her. He held an umbrella over his head.

"Well, aren't things lively today?" He laughed boisterously. Slowly, Cana turned her head to look at the new speaker. Lucy watched as her friend tensed.

"Gildarts," Cana spoke evenly, taking everybody by surprise as she did so. "You've got balls to come back here."

Gildarts's jaw dropped as he looked Cana up and down, clearly taken aback by what the teenager had said to him. Lucy had never seen the loud and proud man silenced before. She wasn't sure that it was something she particularly enjoyed witnessing.

"Hey, I mean…sure Pop does some…questionable things. But that doesn't give you the right to talk to him like that." Natsu might fight with the guy often, but he really did care about Gildarts. He wouldn't let some girl talk to his pop like that.

Unfortunately, that was all it took to be on the receiving end of Cana's silent fury.

"Pop? What the hell are you saying?" Her eyes were on Gildarts again. "Is that your kid?"

Gildarts's mouth continued to open and close, though no sound came out. Which only further pissed Natsu off. "Yeah, I'm his kid!" Natsu had to restrain himself in order to keep from actually hitting this girl. He was almost positive that doing something like that would only make matters worse. That…and he was not a fan of fighting girls. He didn't do it at all unless it was absolutely unavoidable.

Cana, without a word or any kind of indication as to why she was so upset, left. Leaving everybody to wonder about what the hell had just happened.

"What is it with you Clives and getting people so worked up?" Lucy looked displeased, but mostly…she looked confused. She'd never seen Cana act like that before. Not even when Erza had accidentally spilled grape juice on Cana's favorite shirt.

"I've never even seen that girl…" Gildarts finally said, seeming to snap out of his frozen state once Cana had left. "I don't know what I could have done." Lucy couldn't help but laugh at that.

"First Natsu and Gray, now you and Cana? I should really be careful around the two of you. Clearly you're both trouble." Lucy laughed again before she looked down at P-chan. "Let's go get you warmed up, you're still so wet! Don't worry, I'm not going to let that bully touch you again." She sent a pointed look at Natsu, who only laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

He watched Lucy disappear around the corner before he turned and looked outside through the still open front door. Gray was out there, somewhere. He was suffering all on his own. Natsu wanted to find him, but also knew…that there was a good chance that Gray didn't even know where he'd wind up when he stopped running.

The possibility of Natsu finding him was small. Especially since the sky had grown dark.

"You should close the door, Pop," Natsu said as he finally began to walk away from the entrance to the house, making sure to take off his drenched shoes. "It's weird to stand there with that dumb look on your face." Gildarts seemed to have been too busy contemplating about something deeply in order to hear his son's words, so Natsu figured that it wouldn't do any good trying to talk to him at that point.

What he really wanted was a nice, hot bath. He was ready for the day to end.

He would take a bath, return to his normal self, maybe eat a snack…then go to bed. If fate would allow such an easy end to the day.

Thankfully…due to his father's confusion, he wasn't drawn into any unnecessary fights and was able to get into bed relatively easily.

Despite his exhaustion, Natsu couldn't help but think about all that had unwound that day. If that dog hadn't been Gray, Natsu wondered what Gray's cursed form was. It had to be something pretty bad to get him so worked up and angry over it.

He wanted to know more about why Lucy's friend had lashed out at Gildarts the way that she had. There had to be a reason, right? He supposed the only thing he could do was sleep on it—it wasn't as though he would get any answers just thinking about it.

Better leave all trouble up to future Natsu.

Sleep greeted the young martial artist the moment he closed his eyes.

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