Awwww Aki and Natsu and Zeref as wittle babies who are out to cause chaos
(⌐■_■) (⌐■_■) (⌐■_■)
—
"Natsu-nii-chan?"
"Aki-chan!" everyone in the hospital room shouted, crowding around the girl's bed.
"Z-Zeref-onii?" she whimpered, looking frantically around.
"They're okay, Aki-chan," Wendy said kindly, sitting beside her. "Gray and Erza also shrunk, but they're-"
"Dad? Mom?"
Wendy's eyes softened as she leaned forward, taking up one of the tiny hands.
Aki gasped, both her own hands spidering over Wendy's, startling her. "W-who are you?" she asked breathlessly.
Wendy's eyebrows creased in concern as Levy reminded her, "She probably doesn't remember us, Wendy."
Wendy glanced over her shoulder anxiously, then back at Aki. "My name's Wendy, Aki-chan," she said gently.
Aki didn't respond, still glancing around the room fearfully, eyes passing over Mira, Lucy, Cana, Gajeel, Juvia, and Levy.
Lucy stepped forward. "I'm Lucy," she said, waving and tilting her head, smiling in her usual greeting.
"Mira, Aki-chan," Mira followed.
"Lev-"
"Where are dad and mom and Nii-chan?" Aki interrupted.
"Natsu is okay, and Zeref, too," Mira soothed, moving over to the nearby beds, where the child versions of Natsu, Zeref, Erza, and Gray lay, still unconscious. "They're right-"
"Where are they?" Aki said again, starting to tremble, her voice wavering. "Where are- are-" She bit her lip, tearing up.
"Aki-chan?" Wendy asked anxiously, "What's wrong?"
Levy and Mira exchanged looks as Aki whimpered, struggling to turn over, hands scrabbling over the sheets desperately and so, so feebly.
"Aki-" Wendy started.
Aki's breathing hitched, her entire body quivering as she stopped struggling, eyes tight shut. Her breathing turned rasping, each sounding far shallower than it should.
"Aki-chan!" Wendy blurted, leaning forward and turning her again on her back, propping her up on the pillows. "What's wrong?!"
"N-Nii-chan, where are you?" she managed, hands flexing.
"They're right-" Wendy started, but-
"Nii-chan!" she whined, trembling as her fingers gripped the sheets weakly, all the force she could manage. "Nii-chan! Mom!"
Before they could do anything else, a pink blur leapt onto Wendy's lap and then to the bed, kneeling in front of his sister. "Natsu!"
"Aki-ki! I'm here!" he was saying urgently, grabbing her hands.
Aki shuddered, running her hands up his arms to his face, feeling it. "Natsu-nii-chan…" she whimpered, tears pouring down her cheeks.
Natsu, careful not to let go of her hand, plopped down childishly beside her on the bed, clumsily stroking her hair. "'s okay," he murmured, seemingly more to himself than to her, pulling her head to his own.
"Natsu?" Lucy asked, stepping forward, curled hand held up to her chest.
"Why didn't you put us together?" he snapped furiously, glaring at her.
They all blinked, bewildered, but a ton of bricks seemed to hit Lucy in the face. Thunder-struck, she whispered, "Aki-chan… she can't see or hear, can she?"
"Obviously!" Natsu snapped again, bristling. "Who are you guys, anyway?"
They were all to dumbfounded to speak, Gajeel eventually grunting, "This is messed up."
Natsu's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?" he asked again, more suspiciously.
Jerking out of her daze, Lucy said earnestly, "We're your friends. I'm Lucy."
"I don't know you!" Natsu retorted. "We're not friends!"
Lucy took a startled step back, but Levy stepped in, "We are! You don't remember us, but we are."
Natsu hmphed, staring away from them at a wall. "If you were friends you'd know that she couldn't see or hear right now."
"Right now?" Wendy echoed.
Natsu looked at her, apparently more relaxed around her for being the youngest in the room. "Yeah, right now."
"What- what do you mean?"
"Why should I tell you?" he demanded aggressively.
"Because I – we – want to help," Wendy said, gesturing to herself and the rest.
He eyed them warily, examining each face in turn, pausing at the disgruntled expression on Gajeel's. Then he snorted, searching the room with his eyes. "Ask Zeref-nii," he said, pointing to where his brother lay. "I don't trust you."
"But, he's hurt, too, and we don't want to wake him up," Wendy said hesitantly.
Natsu bristled. "Well, I'm not telling you guys anything!" he said, sticking his tongue out.
"But-"
He ignored them, turning back to Aki attentively. He looked suddenly and inexplicably frightened. "Wake Zeref-nii up!" he shouted. "Or Mom or Dad! Now!"
"R-right!" Levy hurried over to the other boy's bed and started shaking him.
"Go away, Natsu…" Zeref mumbled, batting absently at her hands. "Have work to do…"
"Zeref-nii!" Natsu shouted urgently, and his voice seemed to be a stimulant as Zeref shot up, eyes darting around, widening as he met his brother's gaze.
Exchanging thoughts rather than cumbersome words, he slipped swiftly off his bed, practically leaping to the other in one go. "Is she-?"
"I don't know!" Natsu said frantically.
Aki was starting to pant again, each breath faint and tremulous; she looked terrified.
Zeref pressed an ear to her chest, listening carefully, before rolling her over clumsily. "Take her arms," he instructed, switching places with Natsu.
The rest watched in total bewilderment as the two picked Aki up and into a plank like position, Zeref lifting her head delicately, Natsu carrying most of her small weight.
Aki was gasping now, sucking at the air in desperate, strangled heaves.
"Can we help?" Wendy asked, alarmed, but Natsu snarled at her.
"You don't even know she can't see! Leave her alone!"
"I have healing magic, though!" Wendy pleaded, but they ignored her. Every breath Aki drew now was catching in her throat; she was choking.
Zeref closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them, directing Mira, "Come rub her back in circles."
Natsu's head shot up to him. "What are you doing?" he hissed, eyeing Mira warily.
Zeref shook his head, trading more silent words as Mira hurried to the bedside.
"Where should I-?" she started.
"Here," Natsu snapped as Zeref pointed at the small of Aki's back. "Not hard," he added.
Mira nodded, doing so. Slowly, agonizingly, Aki's rasps evened out into hard gasps.
"That's enough," Zeref instructed, not looking at Mira, who still knew well enough to step away. He and Natsu let Aki down slowly, tilting her onto her side, where she lay, trembling, panting.
Natsu glanced at Zeref, then, silently, sat down beside her on the bed. Aki, feeling his hands, gripped them tightly, hugging them to herself.
Zeref, meanwhile, hopped off the bed, glowering at them, hands on his hips. "Who are you?" he demanded, pointing an accusatory finger.
They all exchanged looks, and Lucy stepped forward. "You don't remember us, but we're friends. We work in the same guild."
Zeref raised a condescending eyebrow. "Since when do we work in a guild?"
"You – all three of you – were exposed to magic that reversed your age for too long, which affected your memories and age a couple days after," Levy explained. "You and Natsu were on a job, but Natsu had been exposed less, and shrank after getting you back to the guild."
Zeref scoffed, "I would never work at a guild. I'm going to the Academy."
Lucy chuckled, elaborating when he turned his indignant gaze to her, "Well, a lot happened. I don't think you could imagine all that happened between your age now and your age… yesterday…" she trailed off, baffled by her own sentence.
Zeref considered them, then said, "So, what year is it then?"
They all sweat dropped, Gajeel eventually answering, "X792."
Zeref blinked, then burst out laughing. "And how do you explain that?" he managed, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.
"That's a, uh, long, long story," Lucy said awkwardly. "Time travel, immortality…" She paused for a second, then amended, "Mostly time travel and immortality, actually."
No one mentioned the role life and death magic played, having decided beforehand that they would leave them to having their week of reliving childhood without that hanging over their heads.
Zeref eyes narrowed calculatedly. "Ok, then what was the time spell called?" he quizzed.
"It wasn't a spell," Lucy said, flabbergasted. "I thought it was just the Eclipse Gate."
"Uh-huh," Zeref said skeptically, almost triumphantly.
"Oh, wait, no," Lucy corrected, remembering what the two had said during the Gate Incident. "You called it Gate of Time originally."
Zeref blinked. "Oh, you actually do know," he remarked interestedly, and Lucy sighed in exasperation that he had accepted the idea of immortality and time travel so matter-of-factly, like, 'yeah, I knew I was gonna do that.' "But I don't believe you, anyways. Where are Mom and Dad?"
The others looked at each other anxiously.
"Where are they?" Zeref repeated, a note of anxiety well-hidden in his voice.
"They-" Levy started with difficulty. "They're-"
Zeref stared round at them, and, slowly, realized something horrific. His eyes widened, mouth opening slightly, a tiny noise escaping him. He blinked rapidly, shook his head, and said to Natsu, "I'll be right back."
Natsu pouted. "Fiiiiiiine."
Zeref walked out of the room, and, the others nodding at her, Lucy followed.
As the door swung shut behind her, Zeref asked bluntly, "They're not here, are they?"
Lucy swallowed, hating the answer she had to give. "No… they- you told us they died."
Zeref's bottom lip trembled, tears starting in his eyes.
"You should remember in about a week," Lucy tried. "Should remember… everything."
Zeref wiped roughly at his eyes. "What kind of magic was-was it?" he hiccoughed.
"What do you mean?"
Despite his grief, he managed to roll his eyes at her. "The spell that sent us back, duh."
Lucy ignored the stitch of annoyance. "I don't know. I'm sure Levy does," she added, seeing his ridiculing glare. "I'll get her-"
"Don't let Natsu know," Zeref said, grabbing the bottom of her shirt before she had touched the doorhandle.
She looked down at him, heart wrenching, and nodded.
She came back out almost immediately.
"Lu-chan said I could help?" Levy said, closing the door gently. Zeref repeated his question, eliciting a sigh. "It's a really rare, old spell. It's lucky I knew it, even."
"Okay, so what was it?" Zeref repeated impatiently, tapping his feet.
Levy blinked, staring down at the nine-year-old, before saying, "たいかのほう." [Law of Retrogression]
Zeref cursed, turning to the side and putting a thumb to his lower lip. "That's a spell that is supposed to be really dangerous to be under for too long…" he muttered, more to himself than to them. "It isn't a spell that can be used by humans, though," he added, looking at them inquisitively.
"It was a demon," Lucy supplied.
His eyes widened. "Are there still dragons around, out of interest?"
"Not really. There's only one – that I know of, anyway."
He swore again.
"Hey!" Lucy rebuked. "Language!"
He waved a dismissive hand at her. "Aki-ki was right."
"What?"
He looked back up at her again. "Oh, Aki-ki and I had contradictory hypotheses about the state of the future, and she's right on the dragons." He plopped to the floor. "That doesn't matter, though. I need to- do you have a library?" he interrupted himself, looking up at them.
Levy grinned. "You bet we do."
"Well, that was in both our hypotheses, so it's not a surprise. Oh, there being a library at a guild means that libraries have become very common," he explained, seeing their questioning expressions. Anyways-" He hopped to his feet, brushing himself off, then paused, looking down at his pants. "What is this made of?" he asked wonderingly, running his fingers along the waistline.
"Uhm-" Lucy started, but-
"What about lacrima communication devices?" Zeref blurted, childish excitement taking over as he hopped side to side, eyes glittering. The action was so familiar to Lucy that she giggled, grinning broadly at him despite his interruption; he didn't seem to notice, listing off ideas at the speed of light. "And lacrima image trackers, and Idea charged carriages, and I bet the Lori-Loxley has been long solved, and the fifth exception to the laws of elemental configuration, and Ploxtine batteries, and temperature lacrimas, the air pen, intercontinental teleportation, and- and- and this is gonna be awesome!" he whooped, pumping his fist in the air, jumping in a circle. "So many new things to read about- and we must have made most of our ideas, by now!"
Before Lucy or Levy could react, he darted past them into the infirmary.
"Natsu!"
"What?"
"There's a library!"
"I know there's a library, we go there every-"
"It's here!"
"What do you-"
"Come on! Bring a few pillows!"
"What're you two-"
A second later, Zeref dashed back out, Aki riding piggyback and a ball of linens with legs tailing, the little group barreling down the hall.
"Hey, wait-!" Lucy called after them, but they had already disappeared. Groaning in exasperation, she started after them.
None of them knew how they had managed to find it, but they were found in the library beneath the guild hall. Aki was leaning against a bookshelf, stroking a book fondly, if blindly, Natsu sitting next to her, so close as to be touching.
Zeref was dashing from shelf to shelf ecstatically. "There're so many!" he crowed, beside himself, looking wildly around as though unsure where to start. "Daaaahhhh-fu-gaaaa-haaaaa-fwuaaaa-HA," he exploded, grabbing a book.
Lucy and Levy descended the stairs. They had passed Jellal—who had looked panicked—in the halls. With him undoubtedly joining Mira and Cana to watch over Erza, Juvia wanting to stay with Gray, and Gajeel having gruffly said that he couldn't handle kids, only they two were left to babysit.
Zeref ignored them, grabbing book after book and piling them next to where Aki half lay, half sat. As they approached, he plopped down, cross legged. Opening a book exultantly, he sucked in a breath, finger running down a page. With delicate, shaky hands, he flipped the page, not seeming to notice or care as Lucy and Levy sat at a table beside them.
Natsu noticed, though, and glowered daringly at them; Lucy could only guess that he had yet to forgive them for not knowing that Aki was blind and deaf sometimes.
Sometimes?
"Hey, Natsu," Lucy started, brushing off the death glare cast her way, "we, uh, we want to help, so can you tell us about what's wrong with Aki-chan?"
Natsu scowled, making a disbelieving grunting sound. After Lucy didn't run from the room to never be seen by his big, childish eyes again, he poked Zeref. "Zeref-nii-"
"It's okay Natsu, everything's fine, let me reaaaad," Zeref whined, not looking up from his book. "I only have a week here!"
Natsu looked affronted, turning haughtily away. "Just 'cause books are here he goes like this…"
"Do you like books?" Lucy tried amiably.
Natsu scoffed, though the effect was somewhat lost on the pink haired, five-year-old child. "I like playing!" He crossed his arms, staring belligerently up at them. When neither spoke, he added aggressively, "What, aren't you going to say I should read more?"
"Nah, I think it suits you," said Lucy.
"It makes sense that you wouldn't like reading," agreed Levy.
Natsu blinked, then grinned slightly. "Well," he said superiorly, "Finally someone else understands. I'm gonna be like Dad," he declared, puffing out his chest as he punched the air in front of him with awful form. "I'm gonna beat up all the other guys, and win, and fight, and win, and win!"
Lucy burst out laughing, ignoring Natsu's indignant squawks. "You sound just the same as before!" she snorted, wiping at the tears in her eyes. "It's like you hadn't matured at all from when you were a kid!"
Natsu frowned at her quizzically, but just then the door to the library burst open. Happy, Makarov, and Porlyusica flew – quite literally, in Happy's case – down the stairs.
"How's Aki?" Porlyusica asked urgently, hurrying over to where the three kids sat.
When she made to reach out, though, Natsu stood up, hands outstretched in front of her protectively. "Who're you?"
Porlyusica paused, slowing and sitting down near him. "I'm a doctor, and I can help Aki breathe better. I may be able to restore her sight and hearing, sooner, too."
Nearly everyone in the room did a double take, only Makarov and Zeref abstaining from the rehearsal on how to react to hearing that you were, in fact, a dog.
"You knew about Aki-chan?!"
"You know about Aki-ki?!"
Natsu, Levy, and Lucy blurted.
"Natsu-nii-chan?"
Everyone looked down at Aki, who was groping at thin air. Natsu immediately grabbed her hands, sitting back down beside her. "Sorry!" he said, hugging her.
Aki smiled weakly, hugging him back, taking deep, calming breaths of his scent.
"I'm going to see her, boy," Porlyusica reiterated, moving slowly closer. When Natsu only grunted, she came to their side, opening her bag and bringing out a stethoscope. "Can you hold this to her heart?"
He seemed to recognize the item she was offering him, grabbing it in his child's fist with surprising dexterity and pressing it over the right side of Aki's chest. Aki seemed to be accustomed to this, too, as she began to breathe very deliberately, deep and slow, if occasionally hitched.
Porlyusica nodded. "Good, can she sit up right now?"
Natsu didn't answer, instead leaning Aki forward and pressing the stethoscope to her back.
Porlyusica chuckled. "Other one," she said after a minute.
Natsu periodically moved the stethoscope around her back, Porlyusica listening carefully for a few seconds each time.
"Alright," Porlyusica said, putting the stethoscope back in her bag and pulling out a small, pen-shaped object. "I need to look at her eyes."
Zeref's head snapped up, eyes narrowing. "Let me see it." Porlyusica handed it to him, scowling, and he flicked it on, pointing it in his own eyes. Apparently satisfied, he handed it back, though he didn't go back to his book, closely observing.
Natsu ran his hands up Aki's arms, ending on her face, where he lightly touched her eyelids. Aki's eyes opened, and what they had mistaken, when Aki had first woken up, for a dazed gaze was revealed to have been a blind one, eyes dully reflective as those of people who can't see tend to be.
Porlyusica, awkwardly for the fact that she had to lean across Natsu, who doggedly refused to move, pointed the pen towards Aki's eyes. The end lit up bright red, and she moved it carefully, side to side, up and down, flicking it on and off.
"Boy," she said as she put the pen away, addressing Zeref, "come look at this so I can see her ears." She pulled out a tool Lucy recognized from check-ups she had had when she had lived at the Heartfilia Estate.
Zeref took it, examining it before saying, "How does this work?"
Porlyusica tch'ed. "I point it in her ear," she said curtly, taking it back. She made a shooing gesture at Natsu, who, glancing at Zeref, climbed over Aki to her other side, following the same routine with Aki's ear as he had for her eyes.
After Porlyusica was done with her ears, she grinned faintly. "I can work with this," she muttered, standing with her bag and sitting at a table. She set up the contents of said bag around her, then started taking a little of this, a pinch of that, and checking books.
Thirty minutes later, during which Zeref read and Natsu glowered at the newcomers, she was done. Standing over them, face overshadowed and eyes glowing, she growled, "You two brats will let me give her this medicine."
"What did you put in it?" Zeref retorted, he and Natsu glaring right back.
Porlyusica walked to the table, picked up a piece of paper, then came back, slapping said paper onto Zeref's head. "There, now let me treat her. Let. Me. Treat. Her," she repeated menacingly, seeing their mutinous expressions.
Zeref scowled, turning to the paper, eyes skimming left and right as Porlyusica sat beside Aki and the pink haired boy who, if he were a dog, would have had all his hackles raised; in fact, his pink hair seemed to be standing up even more unkemptly than usual. "Wait," Zeref exclaimed, "You've got to add-"
"I know to add sugar, for goodness sake, child!" Porlyusica barked at him.
He pouted, crossing his arms petulantly.
He didn't stay that way, though, when Porlyusica made to give Aki the medicine. Before Porlyusica had done more than reach out, he had hurried to Aki's other side. Porlyusica looked up at him murderously, but he simply said, "Let me and Natsu lean her up."
She glared, then nodded.
Natsu again did his routine, this time with her mouth. Aki trembled, but complied.
"Is she okay?" Lucy asked concernedly.
"She doesn't like taking medicine," Natsu said, his glare less ferocious towards Lucy now. "She choked on it one time."
Lucy gasped, but Porlyusica had already tipped the paste onto Aki's tongue.
Lucy had expected Aki to panic, or else, maybe, to choke again, but Aki did neither. Instead, she closed her mouth, swallowing then gasping, swallowing then gasping, several times.
"Did she swallow all of it?" Porlyusica asked suspiciously.
Natsu bristled as Zeref snapped, "Of course she did!"
"She was just worried-" Lucy started indignantly, but Natsu interrupted her.
"You thought she didn't like it so she wouldn't do it!" he shouted furiously. "She's way stronger than that!"
Lucy took a step back. "That's not what-"
"She's way strong!"
Lucy stared at Natsu, who was quivering slightly, fists balled, in front of Aki, and relented. "We would have asked it for anyone," she said, trying to sound friendly.
Natsu scowled, turning back around, but not before Lucy noticed how shiny his eyes were.
"My eyes are tingly," Aki said suddenly, pulling everyone's attention.
"That's good," Porlyusica said, getting up and starting to pack up her supplies. "It means it's working. Don't let her rub at it," she added, glancing at Zeref and Natsu.
"What?" Aki asked, stopping the two boys short of retaliating. "What did you say? I- I kind of, I thought I heard…"
"Aki-ki!" her two brothers shouted, leaning forward eagerly.
Aki grinned a little. "You said my name," she said hesitantly.
"You can hear us!" Natsu whooped, hopping up and down, his little fists punching the air. "Wait!" he added, blocking Porlyusica's path up the stairs. She scowled, but he said earnestly, "Thank you, old lady!"
"Thank you!" Zeref echoed, not leaving Aki's side, but he yelped in surprise as Porlyusica whacked Natsu over the head with a broom, which she seemed to have pulled from nowhere.
Grumbling, Porlyusica, followed by Makarov, started up the stairs to check on Erza and Gray, leaving with twice the headache as when she had arrived.
"Why'd she do that?" Natsu asked bemusedly, picking himself up off the ground. "I said thanks…"
"Natsu," Zeref said, shaking his head, "don't try to understand girls."
"You called her old, that's why!" Lucy said indignantly.
"Aki-ki's a girl, and she makes sense!" Natsu argued, ignoring Lucy as he returned to his siblings' sides.
"Aki-ki's different," Zeref said, shrugging. "She's not ridiculous like other girls."
Lucy felt her titch of annoyance grow as Natsu glanced to her, nodding as though starting to understand a complicated math problem. Before she could say anything, though, Aki giggled, grinning widely, and the two spun back to her. She preemptively answered, "I heard you even though you weren't yelling. And it's not as black as before."
"Aki-ki!" they erupted jubilantly.
"You really can hear us!" Natsu said, kneeling next to her and Zeref, taking one of her hands – Lucy thought, bemusedly, that it looked almost like a knight and princess story.
Aki giggled. "Who was that?" she asked, grinning widely as her eyes flew around, no doubt impatient to see again.
"Porlyusica," Lucy answered, joining them on the floor. "Oh, calm down already," she added impatiently, returning Natsu's scowl; he looked highly affronted. "She's the guild's doctor."
Aki beamed, staring at the space between her brothers. "I can hear it! Nii-chan! I really can!" She laughed as Natsu glomped her, Zeref hugging them both; Lucy thought her heart was going to melt.
"How long does it usually take?" Levy asked interestedly.
Zeref glanced at her. "It varies," he said after a minute, crawling over Aki's legs to the book he'd been reading. "Sometimes she can't see, sometimes she can't see or hear."
"What's it called?"
Natsu and Zeref stiffened, but Aki said timorously, looking slightly to the left of Lucy and addressing Levy, "No one knows what it is… it just happens…" She gave a weak smile, though Lucy couldn't imagine why, and wrapped her arms around Natsu, who had settled himself on her other side as Zeref returned to his book.
"Maybe I can help…?" Levy tried hesitantly. Zeref didn't look up, her words earning only a pugnacious look from Natsu. "There have been a lot of advancements between when you guys lived and now; it might have been studied since-"
"Between when we lived and now?" Aki asked attentively, now staring at Levy's neck. "What do you mean?"
"We're in the future," Zeref said bluntly, and Lucy and Levy gawked at him. Aki's breath hitched, and both boys' head spun to her.
"'m fine!" she said hurriedly, eyes sparkling. "But, Zeref-oni, really?"
He grinned. "Yeah."
She, Lucy wasn't sure she could keep up, scowled, folding her arms. "Are you sure, Zeref-oni? Natsu-nii-chan, is he playing a joke?"
"Hey!" Zeref squawked indignantly, but Aki snickered.
"Natsu-nii-chan won't trick me."
"I wouldn't trick you, either!"
She raised her eyebrows, though, by now, her façade had fallen apart entirely; she grinned broadly as she teased her brother.
"I don't know if it's true," Natsu said easily, not noticing Zeref's glare. "But if Zeref-nii says it- wait…" He blinked, then stared at Zeref. "What?"
Zeref grinned sneakily at him, hiding his nose in a book. Natsu's eyes flashed and he lunged across Aki to tackle his brother, who yelped, holding the book as high as he could as his head connected with the floor with a loud clunk. "Natsu! I could have dropped the-" He broke off, laughing; Aki had found his foot and was tickling it. "Tha-that's not f-fair!" he wheezed, struggling against Natsu, apparently refusing to let the book fall.
"No way! You made a joke!" Natsu crowed.
"Punishment!" Aki cackled. She stopped abruptly, leaning back and taking long breaths. Zeref and Natsu didn't seem to notice, rolling around on the ground as they tussled.
"Are you-"
Aki leant forward again, eyes gleaming, and gasped. "I CAN SEE!" Natsu cheered, Zeref whooping as he shoved his brother off him. Aki looked around in awe, staring at the rows upon rows of books. "Woah… this isn't the Academy library, though?" She looked curiously up at Lucy.
"Nope," Lucy said, "this is a guild-"
"HA!" she cheered, pushing herself to her feet. "Zeref-oni! This is the future!"
"Really?!" Natsu shouted, gaping at her.
Zeref whacked him over the head, scowling. "You really didn't believe me?"
"So many books! And so many- many- Dragons!" Aki squealed, running up to Lucy and grabbing her hands. "Are there dragons still, or did they go away?"
Lucy grinned at her, winking. "You win that one, they're gone, all but one."
"Hah!" Aki cackled again, pointing triumphantly at Zeref. "I was right! I was right, Zeref-oni!"
He pouted, but his grin was visible as hers.
"Oni?" Levy asked, tilting her head. Aki looked at her, and she said, "Don't you mean Onii?"
"Nope!" she dismissed. "I mean oni! 'Cause he's a jerk!" [oni means demon in Japanese]
"Aki-ki!" Zeref whined. "Stop-" He froze as she looked at him, and neither Lucy nor Levy needed telling why. In fact, her technique was so perfect, so strong, that they felt they were required to give her all the puppies in the world and a chocolate cake bigger than Domus Flau.
Aki snickered, and it broke. "You can't beat me, Zeref-o-n-i!"
Zeref, having taken the full blast of the Puppy-Dog Eyes TechniqueÔ, just blinked dazedly; Aki high-fived Natsu.
"I want to explore, then!" she announced, and Zeref snapped out of it.
"But-"
"Me too!" Natsu said eagerly. "If it's the future, I wanna play!"
"If it's the past you wanna play, this is the only chance I have to see books never before seen!" Zeref complained, aghast. "I- No! Okay! Okay!" he yelped, covering his face with both hands.
Lucy and Levy, poor things, had no such protection, and were hit directly with Ultimate Twin-Team Puppy-Dog Eyes TechniqueÔ. By the time they shook themselves out of it, all three kids were gone.