Final chapter, peoples! It's been fun, right? I think so, at least. And sorry for the little warning…I just don't think I could drag the story on much longer. It's kind of run its course, don't you think? Anyway, I hope you like this last little bit.


"They grew up on us, huh?"

Romeo turned at the voice and found his wife standing in the doorway, smiling in her knowing way. Romeo offered up a smile, too, an invitation to sit with him, and she accepted. Their bed dipped under her weight, and she slipped an arm around his waist so she could hold him and the edge of the twins' photo album at the same time. They were still in their wedding clothes, Romeo looking plenty uncomfortable in his suit now as he had on his own wedding day, Wendy still dazzling him in her own green dress, straying from her usual blue.

"They did," Romeo said after a moment. "Grew up, I mean. Is it strange I never saw it coming?"

"No," Wendy said. "Can't say I did, either. Not really." She was gazing at the baby photos, ones that Romeo had taken as she'd come in that first day with a baby in the crook of each arm. They were sleepy-eyed, not at all aware of where they where or who they would be yet. All they wanted was something to eat and another nap. "That was before they got complicated," Wendy remarked, and Romeo snorted.

"They were plenty complicated as babies," he objected. "All that swaddling crap…"

"I showed you how to do it fifty times."

"I still don't get it." He turned the page, and they had aged a year, still as unaware as before but happily staining their chubby cheeks with birthday cake as the guild cheered all around them. Wendy remembered that day perfectly—Gajeel and Natsu fighting in the back, Gray only joining in after he'd safely deposited his own child to his water-mage wife, Mirajane finally lifting her voice in a birthday song and making everyone go quiet before they all loudly joined in. Wendy had laughed until she'd cried that day, and twins had dug their little fists into the icing by the time she'd wiped the tears from her eyes. And then everyone was laughing, even the twins, though they didn't seem to really know why.

Romeo laughed a little. "Look at Haru's face. It's like he's wearing a mask or something."

Wendy smiled fondly at the memory, and then she flipped the page. Now they were six, running along behind the guild's kids—Masaru Fullbuster, Lynn Redfox, Ella Dragneel. Even Erza's boy, Simon, two years older than nine-year-old Masaru, led the little group into whatever chaos they had planned, which had all probably been orchestrated by Mai, Lynn, and Ella. They were all grinning except Haru, who looked like he was trying to talk them out of whatever they were doing.

"They were just as chaotic as Team Natsu," smiled Wendy. "Remember that one mission?"

"Which one?" Romeo said dryly. "Between Mai's fire, Ella's keys, and Simon's swords, they were bound to wreck everything they touched."

"Seriously, what was Lucy thinking, handing down Aquarius like that?" Wendy shook her head. Romeo laughed again and turned to the next page. There were two separate pictures now, the twins around twelve. Mai was in the left one, holding a flame in her open palm and beaming at the fact she'd accomplished it. Haru was in the right, sitting cross-legged in the backyard with his hand out over a large rock he had yet to realize he'd raised since his eyes were shut in concentration. When they first started to master their magic, Romeo recalled, and grinned. He was so proud of his little mages.

They kept flipping pages then, going through the years—dances, dates, graduations, and epic fails they just happened to have been lucky enough to capture. Finally they hit a blank page, just near the end, and they paused.

"It all happened so fast," Romeo said softly. "I don't think I'm ready to let go."

Wendy rested her head on Romeo's shoulder. "Well, you already gave her away," she told him. "I don't think there's any turning back." As she spoke, she slipped a final photo from her dress and slid it between the plastic cover and the page. Mai, dressed in her mother's wedding dress, beaming up at her groom, and Haru in a suit beside them, flashing them a peace sign as he draped his arm over his twin's shoulders. They knew that, in the background somewhere, Ella was trying not to cry at the beautiful ceremony, still in her maid-of-honor dress, and Masaru was shedding his stuffy tux jacket just like his father (some habits die hard), Simon probably telling him to cut it out, this is a church, and doesn't he have any manners?

"If it helps any," Wendy said after a moment, "I'm not sure I was ready, either."

"Is this how the guild felt?" Romeo smiled a little. "Or my dad?"

"About us?" Wendy shrugged. "I guess. I mean, Natsu cried like a baby when we got married." She grinned at him, showing her elongated canines. "At least you didn't sniffle over your slice of cake at the reception."

Romeo laughed, thinking, Of course not. But of course he had, and Wendy knew it, too. Still, they just looked back at the pictures, wondering where the time had gone.

I think we did good, though, Wendy thought. As good as a fire mage and a Dragon Slayer can raise kids, anyway.

And they shut the book.

"We'll need a new one for grandkids," Wendy said after Romeo had put the book back in the closet, and he shivered.

"Oh, Mavis. Not another generation…"