Imagination
"Abi, Azan?" Lily called out as he went around the house looking for the children. He stuck his head under the couch and then peaked in the closet in the hall. "Where are you sprouts?" Lily crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes in thought. The rain cutting into his thoughts as it pinged against the roof.
"Lilee," Azan called out.
Lily's ears twitched towards the Gazille and Levi's bedroom, and he soon followed. Lily peeked his head into his friend's room. "Abi, Azan what on earthland are you kids' doing?" sprawled across the floor were papers and light pens. Lily had to give a chuckle at the mess.
"For Lilee." Azan said as he picked up father's favorite white fedora, now covered in red squiggly stripes.
"For me now is it?" Lily said as he took it carefully. "It looks very nice." Lily added.
"On!" Abi and Azan said as Azan picked up a few pieces of paper and some tape. Though far more than he needed for such small pieces of paper.
"Alright." Lily put the hat on and then drew his attention to Azan's papers and tape. He had one on the front of his shirt and taping one to his sister's shirt front also. "What are those?" he asked pointing to the papers stuck to the kids' red t-shirts.
"One!" Abi said excitedly pointing at her t-shirt.
"Two." Azan stated pointing at his own. And sure enough in a very rough scribble of a one and two were on the papers taped to their shirts.
"Alright." Lily said quirking his eyebrow at them. "What's the reason for all of this then?"
Abi picked up a blue book from the floor. A cascade of papers falling from the top of it. She held it up for Lily to see.
"Cat in hat." Azan said pointing to the book his sister held.
"Ah." Lily said, looking up at the hat on his head. "So I guess this means I'm to be the cat… in the hat."
"Yeah!" Abi cheered and giggled.
"And you two are thing one and thing two." Lily said with a smile for he knew the book well. It was the children's' favorite and they enjoyed having help reading it every night. "So then what are we cosplaying for? A special reading today?"
"Go to guild." Azan said with a nod and headed back towards the living room. Abi followed behind taking Lily's paw.
"Oh Kay." Lily said with a quirked brow but still he followed his young charges. In the living room Azan picked up a large box nearly twice as big as he was and carried it with him with some help from his sister who still clutched their book. Just before they got to the door, Lily grabbed an umbrella to keep them dry on the walk to the guild.
Just outside the guild doors Abi handed Lily the book. Azan pointed to a page in the book for Lily. "Lilee say this page to guild." He pointed to page 33.
"Then open box!" Abi said with a giggle as she and Azan climbed underneath the large box they had toted. Just their feet could be seen sticking out the bottom. On the front of the box was drawn a little hook.
Lily laughed at his niece and nephews attention to detail at their young age. Though he knew them well along with the story, they were members of fairy tail after all, so things would defiantly be a bit rowdy. Lily looked forward to that mischief.
"Alright then in we go." Lily said as he held open the guild doors to let the kids waddle through in their box. He took up the rear.
"Hello Lily, what's this all about?" Mira Jane asked smiling at him and Abi and Azan's strange choice of cover. Mira was at jet and Droy's table serving them lunch. Several guild members had turned in their chairs at the door opening to the site of the kids a bit confused also about what was to happen.
"My name is not Lily; it's the cat in the hat." Lily said with a bow and a wink. Once up he put a finger to his lips and pointed at the box. He knew Mira and a few others would get the hint and play along hopefully the others would fall in.
"Oh well it's nice to meet you Mr. Cat in the hat." Lisanna said from her seat at a table with Cana. What have you got there? If you don't mind me asking."
"Well, I have some things to show you." Lily said as he held up the kids' book to read allowed his parts. "I will pick up this hook." He pointed to the drawing on the front of the box the kids' hid in. "you will see something new. Two things, and I call them thing one and thing two. These things will not bite you they want to have fun." And then Lily lifted the box off Abi and Azan.
They ran forward to the center of the guild and bowed. "How do you do?" they said in unison. "Would you like to shake hands?"
"With thing one." Said Azan
"And thing two." Said Abi.
They both held out their little hands to be shaken. Several members picked up on the game and came a shook their hands. Lucky and Naz stepped forward first followed by Makrov and Romeo.
"Jet we need a fish." Lily whispered as he carried the book to 'fishtail.'
"What?" jet said with a confused look?
"Read the fishes lines." Mira said pointing to the page. "The kids need more characters played for their cosplay show."
"Oh ok, no! No! Those things should not be in this house! Make them go! They should not be here when your mother is not! Put them out! Put them out!" jet read allowed. Then he gave another confused look to Lily, "but it's there mom that's out."
"They are cosplaying jet. It has nothing to do with what's actually going on." Then Droy thought for a minute and added. "But it is raining outside right now too just like the book."
The kids ran back up to Lily and stood before him twiddling their thumbs, trying their best to look angelic. Several of the female members, Mira included or mostly, got starry eyed and cooed at their cuteness.
Lily took the book back and read his next lines. "Have no fear, little fish. These things are good things." Lily patted and smoothed the kids' hair just like in the book. "They are tame. Oh so tame. They have come here to play. They will give you some fun on this wet, wet, wet, day." It seemed magnolia's weather decided to join in the reading, as the patter on the roof grew louder along with the lightning.
"Time out!" Azan shouted loudly. He and Abi rushed quickly to Rufus needing a favor.
"Unki roofus. Can we have two kites peas?" Abi asked nicely pouting up at him with her mama's big brown eyes, hands clasped in front of her.
Rufus just nodded with his hand to the back of his head. He drew two kites on his chest and used his magic to bring them to life. He gave a string to each child as the smiled and thanked him.
"Ok go now." Azan said smiling to Lily. He held tight to his string and set out his and Abi's new kites.
Lily picked up his lines on page 38. "Now, here is a game that they like. They like to fly kites." He passed the book to jet again.
Jet picked up as the kids began running about. "No! Not in the house! They should not fly kites in a house! They should not! Oh the things they will bump! Oh the things they will hit! Oh I do not like it! Not one little bit!"
And did the kids take the pages to heart. Bumping fried's books to the floor. Hooking Luxus's head phones and bumping over chairs.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Warren said as Azan's kite just missed his head.
"Pft, its fine what's the worse they could do?" Cana said from her seat. She went to take a swig of her drink, but Abi's kite wrapped around it and pulled it to the floor. Cana sat there blinking for a bit before she shouted out. "Ok no more of that!"
But they were not done. They ran around Mira sending her spinning, her arms full of trays. And catching the master's hat with their strings, though he just laughed and continued to watch with a smile.
"Droy why don't you read the next lines before things get bad." master Makrov said watching his littlest guild member's cause such a ruckus and a mess.
Droy took the book and began to read the next lines on page 45. "I do not like the way that these things play! If mother could see this oh what would she say?"
"I think Levi would be excited that her kids know this book so well." Jet said cheerily to Droy.
Lily laughed and nodded at that. Jet then took the book for his next part. "Look! Look! Your mother is on her way home! Do you hear? Oh, what will she do to us? What will she say? Oh she will not like it to find us this way!" jet then turned to Lily. "Gazille and Levi are on their way back already?"
"No! It's just a book jet. Now read the next lines." Droy said agitated.
"So do something! Fast! Do you hear? I saw her, your mother! Your mother is near! So as fast as you can, think of something to do! You will have to get rid of thing one and thing two!" jet read.
And during their reading Abi and Azan had not stopped. They had managed to rough up almost every member in the guild that day at least once.
"Does that mean we can catch them now and make them stop?" Luxus and fried asked, both very annoyed. They had the most bumps and falls and messed up stuff. Each had a little vein throbbing on their head.
Droy took their book and gave the next page a look. "Um looks like yes, but you must use a net. Man now I'm rhyming a bit."
"Bixalow laughed. "I got this. My dolls have nets."
"With my net I can get them I bet. I bet, with my net, I can get those things yet!" Droy read.
Bixalow quickly followed the lines and sent his dolls chasing the kids. A net stretched between two dolls, a net for each kid. It took a few ducks and dives but Bixalow did eventually catch the two of them. His dolls floated over to Lily.
Droy then began to read his next lines. "Now you do as I say. You pack up those things and you take them away!"
Lily flipped over the box so the open side was up then took the book from Droy for his next part. "Oh dear! You did not like our game… oh dear. What a shame! What a shame! What a shame!" Bixalow then had his babies place the kids in the now up turned box. Abi and Azan sat with sad little faces peeking over the top of the box. Once again Lily passed the book to jet.
"That is good. He has gone away. Yes. But your mother will come. She will find this big mess! And this mess is so big and so deep and so tall, we can not pick it up. There's I no way at all!" jet continued as everyone looked around the guild. For there was a big mess about. Almost as much as a normal fairy tail party, just with out the pile of bodies.
The book was then passed to Lily. "Have no fear of this mess. I always pick up all of my play things, and so I will show you another good trick that I know." Lily quirked his brow at the kids while Bisca and Mika pulled them out of the box. "You don't expect me to clean all of this up do you?"
"How about we all help pick up the mess." Lisanna said as she picked up the kids' kites and put them in their box.
"Why do we have to pick up after those little monsters?" Luxus growled out examining his mangled head phones.
"Because that what family does." Macau said as he got up and helped Cana clean up her spilled booze.
"And a real man doesn't complain about cleaning!" Elfman boomed for all to hear. He also picked evergreen's glasses up off the floor and handed them to her.
This brought giggles and laughs from almost everyone. Fried was still in such a state from having his research dumped to the floor. His face did soften though when Abi and Azan started to help pick up his books. "Here unki fries." Abi said holding a big book out to him.
When they were all done the guild was once again clean. Or at least clean by fairy tail standards. Lily read out his last lines. "That's that." And it was. Abi and Azan were asleep, curled on the counter and tucked around master Makrov, who had an arm around each.
The rain had stopped and Lily was glad as he grew to his true size and scooped them both up, and head back home to put them to bed.
The next day, Gazille and Levi returned home from a job, to find their children on the couch with papers and doodles and dr. sues books. Lily was in his chair with a beer sitting quietly watching them play.
Gazille wasted no time plopping down between his children and scooping them into his lap. He greeted them with a roar and raspberries, they answered with giggles.
Levi smiled and took a seat on the coffee table in front of her rowdy man and their small children. "So what did you guys do with Uncle Lily while we were gone?"
The kids looked to Lily with beaming smiles before turning back to their parents. "We read cat in hat at guild."
"Did you now?" Levi said grinning as she picked up her son, and placed him in her lap. "That's your favorite book isn't it?" Azan nodded proudly and Abi giggled and squirmed.
Lily chuckled loudly. "You don't even know how much. But I think the guild did enjoy their renditions of thing one and thing two." He took a sip of his drink as the kids beamed and showed their parents the things they had made while they were gone. "By the way Gazille, I believe I may owe you a new hat." He took another sip.
Gazille glared over at Lily. "What did you do to my hat cat?"