We are nearing two hundred my friends. However I now have a very good idea for what to have besides an extra long chapter... ;)

Enjoy!

Eight years after the Kronos incident

Elise walked through the streets of the city, humming a small tune to herself. She waved to the people who did so to her, but really didn't pay it much mind, she was just being nice.

It had been a full year or so since the incident, as she referred to it. Since Keita had forced her to go home and take a break from hunting Kronos, again. But this time, she didn't argue with him. After she'd lost it and...done those things to his underlings, she realized that the pent up rage and anger from the incident was making her incredibly volatile and angry. And in that moment, after realizing they didn't have him again...It unleashed itself.

But she didn't like to think about that. Or the whole ordeal at all, really. Since it had happened, Elise had tried to be as positive as possible. She smiled, she laughed, and it was mostly genuine. She couldn't recall a time she'd acted a way to please someone in the past year. It had certainly improved her mood.

But that wasn't important. At least not at the moment. Because she had an extremely bad feeling swirling around in her stomach.

She wasn't in Magnolia, after all.

She was in the city where Sabertooth resided.

It wasn't that in itself that worried her, it was why she was there in the first place. She'd seen Keita a lot over the past year, but he'd called her to the city because he had something important to tell her. And the last time he had something important to tell her she ended up murdering Kronos' underlings in a blind rage. She just hoped it wasn't something to do with that man. She couldn't handle that shit right now.

As she reached the guild hall and looked up at it, she took a deep breath.

"Calm down, Elise." She murmured to herself. "He knows it would be a bad idea to go after Kronos so soon anyway...It'll be fine." Taking a deep breath, Elise walked inside and surveyed the hall and it's members, looking for the Shadow Dragon. She couldn't see him anywhere, so she just stood and watched.

"Elise?" Elise turned around and saw Rina and Kyoko standing there, smiling at her. "What are you doing here?" Rina asked with a big smile on her face.

"Keita wanted me to come and talk to him." She answered, smiling for them. "Have you seen him?" Rina and Kyoko exchanged glances, and they both snickered.

"Nope." Kyoko answered. "Haven't seen him since last night." Rina giggled.

"Me either." She said, refusing to look Elise in the eye. "Don't have a clue." Elise made a face as the girls laughed quietly.

"What's so funny?" She asked curiously, which only made the girls laugh even harder.

"N-Nothing, honey. Nothing." Kyoko replied. "Y-Your best bet would be to find Michael. I bet he'd know."

"D-Definitely." Rina agreed. "Just look for Michael and he'll be able to answer you..."

"...Okay..." Elise answered as the girls walked into the hall, whispering to each other and giggling still. She had no idea what the hell the two found so funny, but she really didn't care either. Shrugging, she walked inside the guild hall and looked around for Michael, but couldn't find him anywhere.

So Elise looked for the next best person. And she soon found her.

"Ally!" Elise called, causing the white haired teenager to look up. In the eight years that had passed since the incident, Ally had certainly grown up a lot. Even though she was only fourteen, the girl resembled her brother and mother a great deal. The girl smiled as Elise approached her.

"Hi Elise!" She said, smiling. "Why are you here? Can I help you?" Elise crossed her arms.

"You could say that." She agreed. "I'm looking for your brother. You seen him?" Ally raised a hand to her chin and gave it some thought.

"I saw him this morning, but..." She trailed off and shrugged. "I don't know. I could direct you to his place though. You could probably sniff him out from there."

"That'd be great, thanks." The girl got up from her seat and Elise followed her out of the guild hall into the city, walking through the streets towards her brothers house. As they walked, it gave Elise more time to think about what Keita wanted from her this time. As much as she loved his company, she hoped it had nothing to do with the promise they'd made seven years ago.

"Elise?" Elise jumped and looked ahead to find Ally staring at her. "Did you hear me?"

"No, sorry." Elise replied. "Did you ask me something?"

"I wanted to know why you're looking for my brother." Elise nodded. A reasonable request.

"I need him to help me find Keita." She said. "Rina and Kyoko said he'd be my best bet." A grin grew on Ally's face and she turned back around.

"Oh. That's why you're here."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Not my place to say anything." Elise raised an eyebrow at the girl, but didn't press the issue. What the hell did everyone find so funny, anyway? Regardless, the two arrived at Michael's house, and Ally turned to her. "Here we are." She said. "Got anything?" Elise paused and took a big inhale, searching for a reliable track on the White Dragon. Finally she got it, and she turned to her left and walked in that direction, leaving Ally at his house. She followed the scent through the streets of the city, looking for the man in question. As she tracked him and the scent got stronger, she got another scent headed the same direction.

Keita's.

They were together from what she could tell. As the smell got stronger and stronger, Elise was reaching what appeared to be a coffee shop. And sitting at one of the seats at the coffee shop, was Michael and Keita. Elise sighed, then took a deep breath, ready to approach the two of them. As she got closer, she noted Keita had his head in his hands, and Michael was watching him pitifully.

"Get it together." The White Dragon Slayer said. "You look pathetic."

"I am." Keita answered weakly. "How am I supposed to tell her?"

Elise froze. Michael snorted.

"You come out with it, you moron." He answered. "Ain't no easy way to cut it. You just tell her."

What were they talking about?

"I can't..." Keita said. "I'm...I..." The mans head hit the table, and Michael took a sip of his drink before regarding Keita again.

"Look man, we've all been behind you since we found out." He said. "I know this is hard but you won't know until you say shit, you know?"

"Yeah..."

"And I mean realistically, what are the odds she says no?"

No?

Keita laughed into his arms.

"I don't know man. I'm shy, you know that..."

"God do I ever. Six fucking years you've been this way. I know it's hard for you to express your feelings but for fucks sake man this is insane. Why do you think we forced this on you today?"

"Which I hate you for, thank you."

Forced what on him?

"You'll thank me later. Now, you need to go find her and say something. This is huge man, and you've kept it to yourself for too long."

"I can't!"

"Keita!" Michael shouted. "You can! You have to say something! Anything! What do you want?!"

"..." Keita mumbled something incoherent, and Michael nodded.

"Damn right you do! And how do you suppose you'll get that if you sit around moping for another eight years?! You're both twenty-five! Get with the program man, you're acting like a child!"

"Big talk coming from you!" Keita retorted, getting to his feet and slamming a hand down on the table. "You've always been good at this kind of crap! I'm not!"

"There's no way to be good at it, Keita!" Michael retaliated, standing up as well. "You learn from experience, which you have none of! Why haven't you said anything to her yet?"

"Because it'd be inappropriate!" Keita growled. "We've been hunting the man responsible for her friends disappearance man, not having tea parties! How the hell am I supposed to bring up the fact that I fell in love with her?!"

...

...What?

"You just need to come the fuck out with it!" Michael shouted. "If you love her, then...!" Michael's gaze drifted.

And it had landed on Elise. He froze. Keita looked confused.

"Michael?" He asked, Michael's eyes frozen on Elise. "You good man?" Keita followed Michael's gaze.

Elise met his eyes. He paled.

"Elise..." He whispered in surprise. "I didn't...How long were you...?"

"..." Elise's mouth moved to form words, but her voice failed her. Michael coughed.

"Well it's a good thing you're here Elise." He said, trying to break out of the awkward tone they had created. "Keita has something to tell you." Michael elbowed Keita, who looked ready to murder him. The two locked eyes again, and Keita looked terrified.

"Well, uh..." He said weakly. "I...I uh..."

"...Love?" Elise asked weakly, Keita looking damn near ready to faint. "You...Love me?"

"Elise, I..." Keita's words refused to work. Michael wasn't even looking anymore. "This wasn't how I intended to tell you, but..."

Elise didn't understand.

Love?

Keita loved her?

...Why?

Her stomach was turning like an ocean in a hurricane, and her mind was running at a mile a minute. She felt dizzy.

And finally, she came to her conclusion.

She turned and sprinted away.

"Elise!"

She heard Keita call out to her, but she didn't listen to him She just ran. She pushed people out of her way and kept her head down the whole way.

However, she only had one sentence plastered in her mind.

Why am I running?

Roughly eleven years before the Kronos incident

Nashi wished her words were not failing her, but as she stared at her younger self, she had nothing to say. Ultear was not present to warn her, so she'd let her actions trip her up.

"Uh..." She managed weakly. "I, uh..." Her younger self looked so stunned and at a loss for words as well, and obviously they both seemed a bit too stunned for words. Nashi just looked back at her mother for help, and the woman nodded.

"Nashi honey," She said, standing up at putting herself in between the two. "You're not supposed to be here."

"But..."

"No buts, young lady. This is dangerous, okay? You need to go somewhere away from here." The younger version of Nashi seemed confused, but seemed to understand she was causing trouble. Their guided her away, before returning to Nashi. "That was close."

"Sure..." Nashi agreed. "Unless something did happen." The two of them looked around closely, but again nothing happened. Her mother sat down again and sighed.

"This is so weird." She said. "I just don't understand..."

"I know." Nashi answered. "But I've seen some weird shit."

"Yeah?" Nashi nodded, and the two smiled at each other.

"Okay, look..." Nashi raised an eyebrow as her mother looked down. "I know we're risking a lot here, but I have to know...Blink twice of your fathers back." Nashi just stared at her mother, not risking to blink in case she decided not to answer her. She took a careful look around the guild, but no one noticed them talking. She looked back at her mother.

And blinked twice.

Her mother sighed and leaned back in her seat.

"I figured." She said. "There's no other way you'd have learned magic."

"I know, trust me." She said. Her mother looked up at her.

"How long as he been back? For you, anyway?" Nashi shrugged.

"A year, I think." she replied. "Maybe not yet." Thinking about it in that sense, Nashi realized how much had happened to her in such a short span on time. She'd gone sixteen years of her life without having much trouble in a certain sense, but the last one she'd nearly died half a dozen times.

Her life had certainly taken a turn.

"Anyway, not like we risked much by me telling you that." Nashi said. "You must've known he'd be back eventually."

"I mean, I kind of figured." She answered. "But to know he does...It's a weight off of me shoulders."

"I bet." Nashi said. Her mothers gaze suddenly grew serious.

"Has anything...weird happened to you?" Nashi made a face.

"You really have to be more specific there." She said. Her mother looked down.

"I don't know how to ask." She said, tone very serious. "But...Well, you're Dad, um..."

"Guys!" Nashi's mother was cut off by Ultear yelling. She turned to find Ultear gesturing for them to come talk to her. Excusing herself, Nashi stood and walked towards the girl with the others, wondering what she had discovered.

"What's up, Ul?" Damien asked as they all reached the girl. She sighed.

"I did a little digging." She said. "Although there wasn't much in the library, I did find this." She pulled out a huge book, and started to read from one of the pages. "As I'm sure I already said, Kronos' spell malfunctioned. It didn't do what he wanted it to."

"Right." Simon said, nodding. "What of it?"

"Well as far as I can tell, Arc of Time doing this can be...very bad." She flipped a page in the gigantic book. "The effects can range from small too...well, this, obviously."

"So what do we do?" Drake asked. "We need to get the hell out of this time period or we're gonna do something huge my accident."

"I know that." Ultear replied. "I think our best bet would be to recreate the scenario in which we were sent back in the first place."

"How do we do that?" Nashi asked. Ultear closed the book.

"We need to go back to the Domus Flau and use the very same spell in the same sense." She answered. "Only problem being is that I have no clue what spell he used and what he was trying to do when he targeted you, Nashi. It could take me months to figure that out." The group grew silent at this.

"So..." Damien raised his arms in a questioning manner. "You gonna get on that or what?" Ultear shot him a look.

"How do you propose I do that?" She asked. "The only reason I know Arc of Time would be compromised if I went to retrieve it. I am willing to bet I'd find the spell, but it's way to risky."

"How did you learn it anyway?" Drake asked, Nashi nodding. She didn't know. Ultear sighed.

"I got it from...Well, my namesake." She said, making everyone raise an eyebrow collectively. "It's hard to explain but I'm not crazy. She wrote a book with all her Arc of Time spells in it, and I have it...Well had it, it's in our hotel eleven years in the future."

"So your namesake still has it here." Nashi finished, Ultear nodding. "Great."

"Exactly." Ultear said. "And I don't know the spell he used." The group grew silent at this, no one coming up with any ideas.

"I got it." Drake said. "Just go get the book." Everyone stared at him like he was insane.

"Drake, were you not listening to a word I just said?" Ultear asked. "We can't do that!"

"And why not?" Drake asked. "Break into the house when she ain't there, read the book, find the spell, put it back. Simple." Everyone stared at Drake in surprise.

"He's got a good point." Simon said finally. "If we don't actually take the book away..."

"We aren't doing anything bad." Ultear said. "And we can get the hell out of here."

"Guess we have a plan of attack, then?" Damien asked, everyone nodding in agreement. "One thing though." Everyone looked at him. "We need to act quickly. Otherwise we might do something."

"True." Nashi said. "We'll go tomorrow, if we can."

"Sounds like a plan, then." Drake said. "You're welcome." Everyone rolled their eyes, but no one said anything. As Nashi walked away, happy they'd quickly come up with a plan, she paused.

"Guys?" She said, getting their attention again. "I just thought of something."

"What is it?" Ultear asked.

"What if..." Nashi gulped. "What if recreating the scenario doesn't send us back to our own time? What if it sends us back again? or too far forward?" Everyone stared at her, and Ultear nodded.

"A risk we need to take." She said. "We have no other way of getting home." Nashi knew she was right, but now she had an extremely bad feeling about this.

Then again they were risking a lot. Not like that was new though.

"Today sure was weird, huh?" Simon asked as the group of children sat near the edge of the building, away from their older selves.

"Sure was." Drake agreed. "That dude that looks like me is creeping me out." Nashi nodded, but she couldn't shake the memory of watching her older self form a fireball with no difficulty.

"I think older Onii-chan is cooler than you, Onii-chan!" Steph stated. Damien looked stunned.

"Eh?!" Steph grinned.

"You heard me! He's so much cooler and more handsome than you are!"

"We're the same person!"

"And?" The children laughed as Damien fumed at his younger sister.

"You want to see cool?!" Damien asked. "I'll show you cool!"

"How will you do that, hot stuff?" Elise asked with a grin. Damien crossed his arms.

"I've been working on an awesome new takeover I got!" he said proudly. "He's super powerful! I'll show you guys tomorrow!"

"Bet you won't be as cool as older you, Onii-chan."

"Shut up, Steph! I'll show you! I'm just as cool as him." Nashi smiled to herself as the siblings argued.

She had no doubt in her mind Damien's new takeover was going to be awesome.

Yeah, I bet it will be Nashi. I bet it will...I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!