Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Pairing(s): Natsu Dragneal x Zeref
WARNINGS: Slight AU , Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read
Firelight and Shadows
By V. Shalyr
Scroll XLV: In Past and Present
Open
There was a dragon in the sky.
It was not an illusion, and it was not friendly. Worse, it quickly became apparent that it was not alone.
A sudden realization made Lucy cry out, and her hand flew to her Gate Keys. "They're coming from the direction of the gate! You don't think—?"
The gate allowed people to travel in time.
Once upon a time long, long ago, the world had been full of dragons.
"But the Keys." Yukino put a hand to her key ring then remembered that she didn't have her golden Gate Keys with her.
Lucy fumbled with her own Gate Keys, chose one of the Zodiac Keys at random and raised it.
"Open, Gate of the Twins."
Nothing.
Her face drained of color, and she tested her other Zodiac Keys in quick succession, expecting and receiving not so much as a glimmer of energy.
"Someone must have replaced them with fakes," Yukino's voice shook a little when she spoke, and Lucy thought that the other Celestial Wizard's spirits meant as much to Yukino as Lucy's did to her.
"We need to get to the gate and see what's happened."
The first dragon they had seen landed in the middle of the street, laughing as people ran and reaching out almost lazily to wrap its clawed hand around a fleeing woman. Her sobs of terror provided a gruesome counterpoint to its mirth.
"Go," Erza told them, charging past in full armor with sword at the ready. "Unhand her this instant!"
Lucy had been in too many dangerous situations since joining Fairy Tail to spend more than a second or two panicking about what to do.
"Come on."
She started in the direction of the gate at a dead run, slowing briefly at a corner only to let Yukino—and, to her surprise, Z—catch up.
"What—?"
"In case you need help," he said, cutting her off. "Go."
.
Telepathy
Working together, Natsu and Erza distracted the dragon and pried the terrified woman from its claws. Her left arm hung at an unnatural angle and the tang of copper in the air warned Natsu that she had an open gash down the back of her right leg where a claw had ripped through fabric and flesh.
"She's hurt badly," he told Erza as they lowered the still sobbing woman to the ground.
"I know." Erza's mouth pressed into a thin, grim line. "I can see a group of guards coming this way. Can you take her to them? They can look after her."
The Dragon Slayer nodded.
"I'll be right back."
He hoisted the injured woman onto his back as Erza moved to block an energy attack, her enchanted armor shielding her from most—but not all—of the blast. She gritted her teeth and ignored the way the metal burned against her skin. All of her weapons and armor were going to need repairing after this, but she would worry about that when they were sure there would be an "after".
"Gray, go find Warren," she instructed. "Or Hibiki from Blue Pegasus. We need someone who can communicate telepathically with everyone in the city. Wake anyone who is still asleep. An evacuation must be organized as quickly as possible, and we need to put together teams to deal with each dragon. People need to know what's going on."
"Got it."
The Ice Wizard sprinted off and Erza launched herself forward once more, determined to keep the dragon's attention on herself until Natsu could get back to help her. And where was Jellal at a time like this anyway? He'd better be doing his part.
Natsu deposited the woman into the arms of the frightened and bewildered guards just as a voice he vaguely recognized echoed through all their minds.
"This is Hibiki speaking, a wizard from the guild Blue Pegasus. I am communicating with all of you using my Archive Magic to update you on the current situation and make sure that everyone can make it to safety. Also, if you have something you need to add or ask, just say my name and I will be able to hear you and pass on your words. All right, so please listen closely. First, the dragons you see are not illusions. I repeat, the dragons are real and very dangerous..."
Good, that meant he didn't have to waste time here trying to get the guards to understand a situation he didn't fully understand yet himself. Natsu was surprised by how calm he was as he ran back towards the fighting and another dragon, this one blazing as though made of flames, wheeled overhead. Perhaps it was because of the calm that he sensed from his partner, or maybe it was just because he'd been spoiling for a fight all afternoon and his dark mood had finally found an outlet. Then, of course, there was the corner of his mind that somehow knew something about the royal knight's plan had gone seriously and—Natsu would make sure—irrevocably wrong.
.
Stolen
They saw the figure standing by the gate long before they reached it. The doors stood open and the portal framed by the twin pillars blazed with light so bright that it was nearly impossible to look straight at it. As they drew closer, a scaly foreleg reached out of that light and sank long, dagger-like claws into the ground to pull the beast that owned them out into the cool night air. The dragon was so large that it had to squeeze through the gate with its wings flattened to its sides, and once it had struggled free, it took to the sky with a disgruntled snort.
Lucy shuddered at the sight, but her eyes turned from the dragon as though pulled by a magnet to focus instead on the ring of keys on the man's belt—keys that glittered gold in the light from the portal. She couldn't see them clearly from this angle, but she didn't need to in order to recognize the Gate Keys that had been stolen from her. She could feel them and the presence of the spirits they were connected to. She really should have noticed the fakes at her own belt before, but she'd been preoccupied with that strange letter and then the unsettling meeting. It wasn't who she had been expecting.
"If it isn't Lucy Heartfilia."
The statement sent a jolt through her and her hands clenched involuntarily, itching for keys she did not have. How did he know? She'd never met this person before, had she?
"Who are you?" she demanded.
The man started to turn his head towards them, and, for a moment, she could see his profile outlined sharply against the light of the gate. It did seem slightly familiar, but she couldn't place her finger on who he reminded her of. The gaze he fixed on her was full of a combination of malice and triumph that made her skin crawl, but the expression changed a second later as he leapt back, the shadows beneath him shifting and flaring upward as though to protect him. The golden lines of a magic circle glowed briefly upon the ground where he had been standing but moments before, and beside her, Lucy heard Z make a sound of frustration in his throat. She spared a glance in his direction and saw his hands raised in the process of weaving another spell.
"We need those keys to close the gate," he explained, not taking his eyes off the stranger.
Right, straight to the point. They could figure out why this person was doing all this later.
"I don't remember you," the stranger muttered half to himself, frowning at the dark-haired wizard.
Z didn't wait for him to work through his confusion. Another magic circle flared and the stranger cursed, forced to move again to avoid being snared. This time, however, he retaliated. The shadows all around them roiled, and tendrils of darkness lashed out—towards the two Celestial Wizards. This time, Z was the one who was forced to move.
Lucy didn't need his warning to "get back". She grabbed Yukino and pulled the both of them to the side even as Z threw up a shield. The shadows that touched it dissolved, but the others twisted and altered direction to avoid being canceled out by the translucent, golden barrier.
"This is bad," Lucy thought out loud, scrambling backwards as more shadows rose from between the cracks in the ground beneath them. "I don't suppose you have any strong spirits that aren't part of the Zodiac?"
"Sorry, none that I think would do us any good."
"Me neither," Lucy admitted. She'd never realized before how much she relied on them. Then again, that was sort of the whole point of Celestial Magic. That interdependence between wizard and spirits was both its strength and its weakness.
It was a good thing Z had thought to come along, although unfortunately, it seemed that she and Yukino were just going to make this fight more difficult for him. The opponent was anything but weak, and on top of that, he seemed hell bent on offing the two Celestial Wizards rather than focusing on Z himself. The Black Wizard glanced back at them, and Lucy could practically see him thinking. Then his expression grew determined, and something in the world around them shifted.
It lasted for only a split second. If Lucy hadn't been expecting something, she might have missed it—or simply chalked it up as one of those moments of chaos that occurred in all battles. For the space of one breath, the world grew darker and she felt as though there were—things—moving all around them in that darkness just beyond her ability to perceive them. The sounds of shouting and the roar of the dragons grew distant, and the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. It took all of her willpower to stop herself from looking away from the fight—from searching for the countless eyes that she would swear were fixed upon them.
Golden light flashed, the opponent dodged, the shadows and the shapes within the shadows moved—and then suddenly, the ring of keys was flying through the air. Z caught it and tossed it behind him to Lucy without turning.
"Close the gate," he told them, taking several steps away from them and towards the stranger. "I'll keep him occupied."
Lucy didn't waste time trying to figure out what had happened. She shoved Yukino's Gate Keys into her hand and pulled her after her towards the blazing white portal. Yet another dragon had just stuck its long snout out of the light, but Lucy would make sure that that was as far as it got.
"Come on! This is something only we can do."
.
Thought Speak
He's a Dragon Slayer.
Natsu heard his partner's thought over the sound of Hibiki's mind voice, which was still rattling off updates and instructions.
Really? Anyone we know?
There was a pause, then Z replied, I'm not sure. There is something familiar about him, but I was too busy keeping him away from the gate to get a good look at his face.
You okay?
Yes, but I was unable to trap him here. He left on a dragon.
On a dragon, huh?
Natsu intercepted a dragon reaching for a sobbing child who was cowering against a building. He knocked away the dragon's claws with a flaming fist and then placed himself between the beast and its potential snack.
"Get moving," he shouted back at the kid. "Just follow the map in your head. Hibiki's using his magic to give you that information, so it's legit. This is no time to freeze up. Go!"
He didn't wait to hear the kid's response if there was one, throwing a blast of fire calculated to force the dragon back a couple paces. Damn it all, where was the team that was supposed to be helping the civilians? He had an enemy Dragon Slayer to track down.
Any idea which dragon he's on? He asked Z.
A darker colored one. Sorry I can't be more specific, you won't miss it. Be careful.
I will. You joining the fight?
There was a slight hesitation in Z's mental voice, and then he said, No, I think I've done my fighting for now. I have something else I want to do that can't wait.
You sure?
Yes.
Do you need any help?
No.
Well, okay then. I might need to borrow some of your magic though, if you don't need it.
It's all yours.
Awesome. Thanks. See you in a bit, and you be careful too. There are Magic Council people here.
I will. Oh, and Natsu... if you can, it might be advisable to make sure the gate cannot be used again.
Yeah, I was thinking something like that. But you said it's hard to destroy, right?
I did, but then you do tend to be quite good at destroying things. I'm sure you can find a way.
.
Strange
Yukino leaned against the cool stone wall of what seemed to be an old storehouse near the castle and then slid down to sit upon the ground, her entire body trembling with fatigue. They should probably join the evacuation, but she just didn't have the energy. Anyway, from their current position, the fighting sounded so far away. It could draw closer at any moment, but she still took comfort from the fact that right at this second, exhausted though they were, they were probably safe.
It helped that they had an S-class wizard from Fairy Tail with them, although... he was a little strange. Z stood a little ways apart from them now and appeared to be deeply distracted. Hell, there had been moments during the battle that he had seemed distracted too, yet he never failed to counter what the enemy threw at him.
"What's he doing?" Yukino asked, watching.
Lucy sighed and sank down beside her, cradling her Gate Keys in her lap. "Probably talking to Natsu."
"He's a telepath?"
"Um, no, not really. He only talks to Natsu."
"Oh, I see."
She didn't really, but she decided that it wasn't that important. A lot of people had their little quirks, and talented wizards were often somewhat... odd.
Besides, it felt impolite to pry, especially when the boy had just been protecting them moments before.
Looking sidelong at her fellow Celestial Wizard, Lucy could guess at the questions on her mind. It was hard to associate with Z for an extended period of time and not wonder at least a little bit about his background. Most powerful guild wizards were rather famous, and in contrast, it was peculiar how little people knew about him, how few rumors there were and how few stories.
Abruptly, Z turned to look at the Celestial Wizards and said, "You two should wait here. Considering how much magic you have expended, it will be safer than trying to cross the city right now."
"I don't think I'd get very far anyway," Lucy agreed with a sigh. "What about you?"
"I have some things I have to do."
"Now?"
"Now is the best chance I'll have."
It was a vague reply and Lucy wanted to ask more questions, but she stopped herself. Z wasn't the kind of person it was easy to get answers out of, and to be perfectly honest, she thought he was behaving a little strangely too, even for him.
She and Yukino watched him leave in silence. Lucy couldn't decide if it was reassuring or disturbing how calm he was, like being in a city under attack by dragons was something that happened every day. Then again, this was the kind of world that Zeref had grown up in, wasn't it? In some ways, it explained a lot about how the Black Wizard had turned out. His childhood had been spent in a world much crueler than the one they lived in now.
"Will he be all right by himself?" Yukino asked finally when he had disappeared from their view. Unspoken was the question, should we have let him go?
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Lucy shut her eyes for a moment then opened them again and looked down at her Gate Keys, tracing their intricate designs with one careful finger. "We've done what we can."
They could leave the rest to their fellow guild wizards.
.
Unfinished Business
An explosion from outside rocked the castle's foundations and flames briefly lit up the night sky. Z glanced out the nearest window, worrying at his lower lip. Should he be out there fighting too? No. With the chaos of hastily formed alliances, the risks were too great. He could accidentally end up killing more people than the dragons.
Besides, he had something he needed to do, and it would be easiest to do right now while everyone else was occupied with the battle and the castle was relatively deserted. Getting past the castle guards had been easy. He hadn't even had to sneak since most of them were helping to evacuate the civilians. The servants had all gone, and as long as he walked like he knew where he was going, nobody tried to stop him or ask him his business.
Z breathed in deeply and then let the breath out in a long, slow exhale. At the same time, he reached out with his senses, letting his awareness spread outward throughout the castle grounds. He could feel the gate not that far away, ablaze with magical energy very similar to if not quite the same as his own. To his wizard's senses, the artifact was so glaringly bright that he had to take a moment to block it out so that it didn't eclipse the more subtle presence he was looking for.
The thick carpet that covered the floors in this area of the castle muted his footfalls. Combined with the muffled quality of the sounds of battle coming from the other side of the thick stone walls, it made him feel almost as though he were walking through another world. He seemed to have found the royal library, but the object of his search wasn't on the shelves. Instead, he followed the faint but unmistakable presence to a desk tucked away in a corner of the archives. Actually, he was surprised that it wasn't locked up in a vault somewhere, but then nothing like a heavily fortified vault to draw unwanted attention.
A presence. That was really the only good word for it. All of his books tended to develop a sort of presence, something that set them apart from ordinary books or even other magical texts. Some of them could even be considered alive, although very few people knew or realized this.
Z hadn't seen this particular book in centuries. He didn't even remember writing it to be honest and it wasn't a particularly special volume, but he knew that it was his work the moment his fingertips touch the worn, leather binding. He lifted the slim tone out of the drawer in which it had been stowed beneath a scattering of unimportant documents and hesitated, the beginnings of a fire spell mere moments from his hand. He could burn this book right here and no one would ever know about the creation and use of the Eclipse Gate again. But... was that the right thing to do? Z hesitated then let the fire spell fade before picking up the book once more. He opened it and flipped through its pages, tinted yellow with age but otherwise in pristine condition. These pages were filled with his own handwriting, diagrams and sketches that he remembered drawing in what felt like another lifetime. They represented a great deal of careful, hard work and critical analysis. Was there anything within these pages that could prove valuable in a positive way to people in the future?
He was tempted to just say "no" and torch the thing so he could stop thinking about it, but now that he had started thinking about it, he found himself unable to be that hasty.
Z sighed, weighing the book in his hands.
Lucy had said earlier at the inn that it wasn't his fault people did terrible things with the research he had done and the things that he had created, but maybe it was his fault. He wasn't responsible for what other people did, but he was responsible for not taking steps to at least try and prevent them from getting their hands on his work. Then there were his living creations, beings that could think for themselves and act on their own. How much responsibility did he hold for those? What was reasonable or unreasonable to expect of himself? For that matter, what had they even been up to in the last couple decades? Was it his responsibility to know?
He had kept tabs on some of them for awhile, but it hadn't exactly been a priority and the world was a big place.
Another deafening explosion shook the earth, and Z put a hand on the desk to brace himself against the ensuing wave of power. The drawers rattled and, a few bookcases away, something fell off its shelf and hit the floor with a quiet thud.
It seemed that the battle was ending. He was running out of time.
With this in mind, Z stowed the book on his person, replaced everything else in the desk exactly as he had found them, and made his way back through the castle. No doubt someone would notice the book had gone missing, but that couldn't be helped. As long as no one knew Z was the one who had taken it, there was nothing they could do.
.
Unpredictable
When dawn began to chase away the darkness and blot out the feeble glitter of the stars, the light revealed a city nearly untouched. Whereas the night before, most of the settlement had been reduced to rubble, the new day found only a handful of broken buildings and hardly any damage to the streets.
The dragons were gone, leaving little evidence that they had ever been beyond a night full of nightmarish memories.
Both residents and visitors, defenders and escapees, felt as though they had woken from a bad dream. They might have thought the whole event one mass hallucination if it weren't for the few destroyed houses and the casualties. Unlike the buildings, all of the injuries people had sustained remained, and more than a few wizards and civilians would bear scars to remind them for the rest of their lives of their near escape from death. Indeed, it was nothing short of a miracle that no one had actually been killed.
Like Z had said, when a person meddled with time, the results were unpredictable.
As a consequence, the entire city had a very quiet morning surrounded by an atmosphere of exhaustion, confusion, relief, and shock. It wasn't until almost noon that people began to recollect themselves, driven mostly by hunger and a desire for something normal and routine like eating a simple meal.
A number of diners, cafes, and bakeries opened their doors and set out tables where people could grab a free bite. Those who could help with the food preparations did so, and by the time the usual lunch hour was over, everyone felt mostly normal again. Still exhausted, confused, and shocked, but normal. You couldn't survive in a kingdom so full of magic without acquiring some resilience in the face of the uncanny and bizarre. Sometimes, that meant adapting to new circumstances, and sometimes it meant forgetting and simply letting nightmares be nightmares.
.
Outsider
Warm, yellow light spilled from the castle's great hall through an open set of double doors and out onto the spacious veranda that faced the gardens. The smell of food and the sound of chatter drifted out along with the light, touching the tranquil quiet of the gardens yet somehow managing to complement rather than disturb it. The court was going all out on this thank-you feast for the wizards who had fought to protect the city.
Yukino wished she hadn't come. She'd been invited, but she felt like an outsider.
She lingered on the edge of the veranda, teetering between simply leaving and seeking out her former guild members like they had asked her to.
"Have you spoken to them yet?"
She jumped and spun towards the voice. Z was sitting alone at one of the veranda tables not that far from her. His dark hair and clothes made him blend in with the shadows, and perhaps that was why she hadn't noticed him before. Still, it was startling to realize that someone had been watching her without her notice.
"What do you mean?"
"The other wizards from your guild," he elaborated. "They were looking for you, were they not?"
The Celestial Wizard opened her mouth then shut it again, confused. Sure, he'd helped her out earlier, but that didn't mean she knew this person. So then, how did he know her?
"They are, but how did you know?"
"Natsu and I met them on the road awhile ago. They told us what had happened to you."
The Fire Dragon Slayer? Oh, so that was why. Natsu had mentioned something along those lines before.
"You're Z, right? I never did get a formal introduction."
The boy tilted his head slightly to one side then nodded.
"No, I haven't spoken to them yet," Yukino admitted, finally answering his initial question. "I'm... not sure I want to."
Z considered her for a moment then asked, "You don't want to rejoin them?"
"I..." Yukino hesitated, wondering why she was talking to him at all. Then again, he sounded honestly curious, and he wasn't judging her. It was actually kind of helpful that he was a stranger. "I'm not sure if it's really all right for me to go back."
"They want you to return and you wish to do so. Is that not enough?"
"I suppose I'm scared. I disappointed them. What if it still doesn't work out?"
"That is always a possibility."
It was exactly what she had been thinking, but it startled her to hear this stranger say it anyway. He was so blunt and matter-of-fact about it.
"Can I ask you why you're out here by yourself?" she asked after a moment's thought.
"I don't do well in crowds," he said. "Natsu went to get us more food. I expect some of the others will join us when they tire of dancing."
"Oh."
They lapsed into silence.
Z took a sip from the mug in his hands then asked, "Would it be worth it?"
"Worth it?"
"No matter what we do, there is always the chance of failure. If you return to them and things go well, would it be worth the trouble?"
"I suppose it would be."
Mind made up, Yukino squared her shoulders and walked past the tables scattered on the veranda through the open doors to search for her fellow guild wizards.
Z watched her go and settled back in his chair. He could sort of understand her hesitation, but really, her former companions wanted her back and she wanted to go back, and he felt that that ought to be the end of the matter. When people you valued wanted to include you... well, such an opportunity shouldn't be passed up without a good reason, and fear was seldom a good reason. Zeref himself had plenty of people who would fight over him, but only a handful who would fight for and with him in the way friends ought to. He had learned to value that very much indeed.
"May I join you?"
Jellal set down his plate and pulled out a chair without waiting for a reply.
Through the veranda doors, Z saw Erza start towards them, pause and double back to examine several platters of fresh fruit.
"The two of you have tired of dancing?" Z asked.
Through the veranda doors, he could still see other wizards he knew on the dance floor, and it seemed Gray had just asked Wendy to be his partner for the next song.
"There's that," Jellal agreed, "and I'm getting tired of being besieged for information since no one has seen me before. For all intents and purposes, I am a new Fairy Tail wizard that no one has ever heard of. I suppose it's unsurprising that people are curious. I'm surprised that they're leaving you alone."
"I don't think they wanted to, but Natsu scared them off."
"Grateful?"
"Yes."
The taller wizard laughed, although he sounded drained. His illusionary disguise hid any physical signs of weariness, however, and Z wondered if the man should consider tweaking the spell so that it would be more realistic. It was more than peculiar to spend all day attending an event like the competitions and all night fighting dragons, but still end those twenty-four hours looking fresh as a daisy. Then again, the point wasn't to wear the disguise twenty-four seven.
"Do you find the disguises more helpful than pretending to be Mystogan?"
Jellal took his time before answering, taking a sip of his wine then examining his hands, currently a shade darker than his own real hands. They didn't look quite as much like someone else's hands as he might have expected though, not like the first time he had put on one of these hats and faced a mirror. He chalked that up to how accustomed he had grown to wearing disguises.
"I don't know. Perhaps at least a little since it comes with fewer expectations. But even though I'm getting used to it, it's tiring to try and be someone I'm not." He sighed. "I suppose I'm trying to do something not unlike what you are trying to do, making amends for past mistakes and helping people because I have hurt so many others over the course of my life. But at least you can hide in plain sight. My crimes have been a lot more recent, and sometimes, I wish I could just go to prison and do the time I'm owed. Problem is, I suppose, that the Council is unlikely to ever let me go once they've got me. Fear is a powerful motivator, and it can blind people and make them mistrustful. Perhaps I hope that if I do enough good, I'll eventually be able to show them that I've changed and that I don't intend to ever turn back to the dark. Maybe then I'll be able to stop hiding my face."
Z nodded.
"Fear can push people to do terrible things."
"Hey, this is supposed to be a celebratory banquet," Natsu said, interrupting them as he returned to the table and set down two heaping plates of what looked like everything on the banquet tables inside. "I don't want to hear a lot of talk about terrible things."
"It's nothing like that," his partner assured him, reaching for a fork from the utensils he'd brought. "We were simply discussing our... unique circumstances. What is this?"
"I think that's supposed to be dessert. Some kind of fried cream." Natsu pushed the other plate towards him. "We should start with this one. Everyone says the stuffed turkey is the head chef's specialty, and the servers only just brought it out. The lettuce wraps smell really good too."
"They do," Z agreed, carefully picking up one of these with his free hand. "Any idea what's inside?"
"Shrimp plus a few other things. That's what it smells like anyway."
Jellal excused himself to get something to drink and check on his own significant other, and the two remaining wizards busied themselves with the food. A royal banquet was really something else; every dish proved to be spectacular.
Or they could have just been really, really hungry. It had been a long and confusing two days.
"The guy who was trying to bring back the army of dragons," Natsu said suddenly, catching his partner's gaze over the food. "He thought he could use them to help him defeat the Black Dragon and become some kind of dragon king. He said that in his time, almost everyone had been killed by Acnologia. Do you think that's likely to happen?"
Zeref took a moment to consider the question before answering. "I don't know. I suppose it's not impossible."
Natsu frowned and gestured at the doors into the great hall.
"He said he was Rogue's future self. Crazy, huh? Hard to believe since they seem so different."
"People can change."
"Yeah, I know. Doesn't make it make any more sense though. Hopefully, in our timeline, he won't go jumping off the deep end."
Z hesitated then asked, "Did he mention me?"
"No, I'm sure I'd remember."
"Then I'd say the chances of our future being similar to his are slim. I can't imagine I would have done nothing."
"Huh, I hadn't thought of that." Although now that Z had mentioned it, it brought up a whole host of other questions. Not, he supposed, that any of them really mattered at this point. Unlike the Black Wizard, Natsu had never been one to spend too much time pondering how things could have been different. Right here and right now were good enough.
"At least we don't have to worry about anyone using that stupid gate anymore," he added with great satisfaction, due in no small part to the fact that he had been largely responsible for its destruction.
Z murmured his agreement, although his thoughts immediately went to the book he had left in their room. He considered telling Natsu about it, but he wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to say or how to articulate the emotions that issues surrounding it stirred up. Maybe that was all just an excuse because he was happy and didn't want to disrupt the routines of a life he had come to cherish, but whatever the case, he was content for now to keep on looking forward and not look back.
TBC...
AN: Yeah, I agree that Dragon Ball Z handled the time travel thing really well. There was also a fairly complete description of time paradoxes in Orange, but that's a completely different genre. I think I've only seen one story that did not use parallel universes that made time travel sensible, and that was in a book; it worked because the author took into account that anything that happened in the past must have already happened, so the story made time travel an unconscious genetic condition, something that just happened involuntarily (a different way of living your life in the time stream, I guess). I didn't like the book, but I remember thinking that they managed the time element in a surprisingly logical way.
I fiddled with the thought of leaving the city in ruins after the attack (instead of fixing everything "like magic"). But I ended up going with an irregular combination-with damage and casualties that didn't disappear as well as ones that did-to stick with the idea that messing with time can have unpredictable consequences.
.
