Natsu releases another big sigh of the day, this mission is just TOO boring. No fighting, no enemy, just him and his guildmate sitting in front of the grand clock, staring at the kids inside the clock.

"So boring~~~"

"Then you shouldn't come with us, Salamander!" said Gajeel "Keep the whining to yourself."

"What did you say, Iron Head?"

With that, a fight between the two dragon slayers begins. The fight was worthed as they both too bored to even doing their mission properly, Gajeel fell asleep 3 times and Lily had to smack him on the head to wake him up. Happy tries to entertain himself by doing various things, talking about fishes, annoying Lily, drawing on Gajeel's sleeping face, scratching the wall of the room, etc. The blue energetic cat declares that he will ask Lucy to payback because she was the one who pushed them to join the mission, saying that 'It could be fun.'

Gray, on the other hand, doesn't care about his surrounding as he's captivated by the dancing of the bluenette outside the window. Holding her staff, Juvia twirls around, manipulating the water into various shapes and sprinkle it at the couple sit in the middle of the altar. According to her, the water in the altar is used to purify the couple from any sins that they have committed. It's also believed that the water is blessed by the Water God to protect the couple from any circumstances that stand in their way or prevent them from reaching the true happiness of their union.

"Is this the right time to tell her your true feelings?"

"Wah...Lily, you scare the heck out of me." Gray lets out a sigh while catching his heart "And come again?"

"You said on the train that it's not the right time to tell her, is NOW the right moment?"

"I don't know what you're talking about..."

Lily smirks to himself, telling him that Gajeel can sense his scent all over Juvia's body, especially the pin on her hair. Hearing this makes him blush, he has to be extra careful next time if he doesn't want any of the dragon slayer to stick their nose in his own business.

"You guys were out very late the night before and the guy was worried, afraid that YOU might do something bad to his so-called sister."

"Ah...I don't think that's possible."

"Whatever you say, Gray."

If he really did something bad to Juvia, not only Gajeel but probably the whole guild would kill him, not to mention her sister Meredy and his rival Lyon are Juvia's main supporters. The water mage might not know but her personality and affection charm a lot of people, pushing them to become her allies as they threaten to beat him up many, many times.

As he studies the scenery outside, he notices Juvia looks at him, waving and smiling, her blue locks flow in the cool breeze of the city. She seems to have a lot of fun, being a part of her mentor's blessing ceremony. Because he is too focus on the water mage, Gray hasn't realized Happy's action around the grand clock.

The blue cat is very curious, looking at the children inside the body of the clock and can't help but wonder how their magic works. As curiosity gets ahead of him, the exceed looks around before touching the lock of the clock and tries to find the way to open it.

"Happy, what the hell are you doing?" Gajeel roars, catching the culprit in action "Salamander, keep your cat away from the clock. NOW!"

As he pulls the cat away, his claw got stuck in the keyhole of the lock and they begin to panic, unsure how to get it out. The blue exceed whines out loud, apologizing, and promising to behave as everyone tries to get his claw out of the hole.

"Happy, you troublemaker!" Gray scolds "If these guys get out, then it's your fau-!"

He stops mid-sentence as a red furball jumps on Gajeel's shoulder and land on the ground. Oh shoot, the door is open...

With a blink of an eye and smoke comes out as they heard a small 'poof' sound, realizing that the iron dragon slayer has been touch by one of the children. Stood in front of them is a tall, broad man looking exactly like Gajeel with a more mature face.

"What the...?"

"Gajeel? Is that you?"

Gray slams the door shut before another one can jump out. Lucky for him, the other two are still sound asleep and they only have to deal with the red one. If only things are that easy...

Gajeel, the older version, grab the net and chase the little red kid around. His speed, however, can't match with Future as the kid easily dodge all of his attempt to catch him, running at full speed and jumping here and there to avoid being caught.

"Natsu, forget the cat. Come here and catch this guy."

"What???" Happy responds with a priceless expression.

"Ice-make: Floor!"

The floor turns into ice as Gray hopes to slip the kid and have him fall onto the ground but in vain. Future giggles and skates on the icy ground, something he has never experienced before.

"Ice-make: Prison!"

A cage made out of ice falls onto the kid and he still manages to escape. Future hops onto the crystal chandelier, swinging it around.

"Be careful, if that thing falls down and breaks the clock, we'll be in big trouble."

"Not a problem." Gray responds "Ice make: Shield!"

An ice shield protects the clock from any attacks outside, with this, even if the chandelier falls, Future is still far away from helping his friends to escape. The little kid snickers, hopping from one place to another, waiting for the right time to get out of the room. He's amused by how the three mages are struggling to catch a little kid, how the blue cat is crying for being lock inside the shield with his claw still stuck inside the keyhole, how the black cat is flying at full speed trying to get a hold of him. This is fun...but her still needs to find a way to get out and that's when Pluto and Saturn show up.

The green hair woman's eyes widen as a flash run across her face, she looks at the three mages before realizing what is going on. Future has escaped...

"Lady Pluto, how are we supposed to catch Future?" said Saturn as she helps to get Happy's claws out of the hole.

"We have the net, so it should be able to help us." the woman said, "Come on, we can't have that little demon running around the hall like that!"

Follow her are the three mages, complaining Happy for being a troublemaker and how old Gajeel looks. They, of course, asking Pluto about the iron dragon slayer's new appearance. According to her explanation, one of Future's power is to turn time forward for everything he touches, increasing the age of any object/human. The Gajeel they are seeing right now is his appearance in the future and if he got touch again by Future, he could see himself as an elderly man.

As they split out to search for the little devil, Gray runs into Juvia and her two mentors who just finished the blessing ceremony and are on their way back to the fortress. Juvia is very happy to see him, thinking that her darling has pushed away his duty to come and pick her up. Gray only sighs at her imagination and tells everyone about the situation, which Uranus begins to ramble about how he can let this happen in the first place.

"Juvia thinks that instead of blaming everything on Gray-sama, we should go and look for Future. He may be hiding somewhere inside the fortress."

"But my dear..."

"Uranus, that's enough." Neptune silents him "Juvia is right, we need to find Future as soon as possible before things get out of control."

With that, the two women run inside the building, helping others find the troublemaker. Gray is about to follow Juvia when a hand stops him, cyan blue eyes meet midnight blue orbs. For some reason, Uranus seems to be putting up a very serious face and Gray has to shake him off, challenging his serious composure with a cold glare. What is he planning to do?

"Gray..."

"What do you want?" he snaps back, unable to maintain his calm expression.

"I have one more mission for you."

"And why should I listen to you?"

"Because this is something related to Juvia."

Something that has to do with his lovely water mage?

Uranus walks towards him, whisper something in his ears before runs back to the building. Gray can feel chills run down his body, he's an ice mage, there's no way he can feel the coldness yet what the blonde said to him was...

"Never let Future touch Juvia."

What does that even mean? And why Uranus said it like the quest is specifically for him? Why not saying anything a few days ago, when they were giving information about their job?

******************************************************************************

"Gray-sama!"

"Juvia..."

"Have you seen Future yet?"

"No, Natsu and Gajeel are trying to find him through his scent."

"Juvia hopes they find him soon..."

As she prays for the best, Juvia notices Gray's eyes are on her, full of concern. She touches his face, feels the coolness of his skin on her palm as she stares right back, ocean blue eyes searching for answers. What is it that made her beloved so worried?

"Juvia, are you hiding something from me?"

"Juvia would never dare..." she replies, hand stroking his cheek "Is something wrong, Gray-sama?"

"No, it's nothing..." holding her hand, he shakes his head while doubting her answer "Tell me, Juvia, that you will always be here for me..."

She pauses a little bit before smiles at him, giving him promises after promises that she is here and will always be by his side. Her hesitation didn't go unnoticed as Gray once again asking himself questions about what Uranus had said to him, what is it that blondie knows that he doesn't? Juvia probably knows the answer but asking her directly is not going to work, she will lie. Whatever secret that she's hiding, he needs to know.

"Gray!"

"Natsu? Did you find the brat?"

"No, not ye-?!" a familiar scent hit Natsu's nose "Wait...He's here somewhere..."

"Then go find him, Flamebrain."

They run after Natsu, hoping to find the troublemaker with the dragon slayer's enhanced sense of smell. When they reach the big door, Gajeel is there already, investigating the door as others join him. Open the door, Pluto looks inside and smiles as she sees Future standing in the middle of the room, eyes staring at the ceiling with awes.

The ceiling is painted with a beautiful blue color, replicating the clear sky with fluffy clouds and a chandelier at the top. It's the first time Future sees this and he is very excited to see what other pictures they have in the rest of the rooms. Natsu immediately closes the door as he is the last one to walk in, trapping Future inside the room with no escape.

"You little...Turn me back to normal now!"

"Gajeel-kun?" the bluenette look at her friend, who is probably 10 years older than her by now "Oh wow...You look like a real adult, Gajeel-kun!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, woman?"

Pluto brings out another net, running towards Future to catch the red furball. He jumps and lands on Natsu, which turns the fire dragon slayer into his older self.

"Natsu!"

"Gyahh!! That's it, I'm all fire up! Fire Dragon's Claw!"

A powerful firey kick that almost got him, Future stay still on the wall, observing the situation before making his next move. Why do people want to catch him? It's not like he's doing anything bad...If they want to return back to their normal age that desperately, they just need to ask. He's not a bad guy, he just wants to have some fun, it's been a while since he last stepped out of the clock yet these people just want to lock him back inside the grand clock. It's not fair...

Eyeing on his next target, the little boy smiles and throw himself at Gray, causing the ice mage to scream as he's turning older. Juvia covers her mouth, eyes shine with admiration, and looking at the older version of her beloved. Jet black hair with slicked back on both sides, leaving his bang to hang almost lower than his droopy eyes, a more mature facial feature, and is that earing she just saw on his right ear?

Oh dear...He's so handsome, so mature, so sexy...

The older Gray runs a hand through his hair, casting an irritating look at the culprit. That little brat is going to pay for this, thinking he's so smart by turning people older? Asking Juvia to perform a Unison Raid, Gray is surprised when received a silent treatment. The bluenette is still mesmerized by the 'adult Gray-sama', completely forget about Future and his troublesome power.

"Juvia, this is not the time. Snap out of it already!"

"Huh...Oh...G-Gray-sama..." she startles "Juvia is sorry..."

"Come now, a Unison Raid. That little brat is going to be sorry for what he did."

She nods her head, too excited to even realize that SHE is the next target. Future giggles, putting up a smug face and throw himself at the water mage. An abrupt scream from her mentors, a gasp from Juvia, a shocking expression from her guildmates as Future hit her with full force, knocking the girl and caused her to fall on her back.

Future laughs a little, happy with the result, and expecting the girl to admire the older self but nothing happens. No screaming, no shouting, no loud noises. Future looks at the girl lying on the floor, wondering what's wrong before notices the painful expression on Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto, it can't be...

"Juvia!"