A/N: This has not been edited infinite times yet. =w=

The sputter became a cough, and Maka smacked Naru's back and caused him to spill his tea on his side of the table. Stricken, I hastily took a paper towel by the silver kitchen counter and dabbed the wet table.

"That's enough."

I looked up at Naru. "But it's still wet—"

I realized he was talking to Maka then. Naru forgot himself and glared at Maka, and Maka, to my surprise, glared back at him.

"Umm..." I glanced at Kazuma, who didn't even seem to notice the electrifying exchange from "father" and "daughter." He was busy eating his cake and his rice to care.

"Naru?"

The narcissist turned to me, narrowed his eyes, and then sighed.

"When will you propose, Papa?" Maka asked once more. She'd stopped glaring, but she's pouting instead.

The room was getting colder, so before Naru could say a biting reply, I said, "Next year!"

All faces turned to me, and I didn't meet their eyes. My cheeks felt warm like I had put it in front of a furnace.

"O-our wedding will be next year..." I added softly. Despite feeling feverish, I smiled as though I had made the most brilliant statement.

But then I faltered as I absorbed what I'd said, and in the midst of Maka and Kazuma's ear-to-ear grins, I turned to Naru in horror.

Oh holy cow, what was I saying?!

But then, his tea forgotten, Naru's eyes lit with interest, and I felt some weird fluttery things in my stomach.

"Your wedding is on schedule then, Mama!" Kazuma remarked, and I just stood there, puzzling over the matchmaking children.

What could they be thinking?

"Mai," Naru called, and I blinked at him.

"Ye-yes?"

"Sit down and eat," he commanded, and I just nodded and shook my head dumbly.

Before I sat down though, I gave him a tissue.

"What's the news today about, Papa?" Maka asked. Her and Kazuma's eyes were focused on Naru with such accustomed sharpness.

As though Naru's blunder didn't occur.

Not wanting to hurt Naru's ego, I thought about current events that would be interesting to children. The last time I checked, six-year-olds did not bother with the news, and I had not mused over such an unanticipated question.

"Explosions occurred in a physics lab and Tsuruga's nuclear reactor," Naru answered while finally spooning a bit of his corn soup and fried rice. He was unfazed as usual. Indeed, he was acting like he sputtered and spilled his tea every day.

At Naru's reply, I saw Maka and Kazuma wince on their seats, and even saw their faces paling for a moment. But then they smiled, albeit rather nervously, at Naru and me.

"N-no one died, right?" Maka inquired, squirming on her seat.

Naru just bobbed his head as Kazuma muttered, "Physics lab..."

The little boy's eyes gleamed, and he turned briskly to Maka. It was as though a lot passed between the siblings in that second.

"What's wrong?" I frowned, but the kids just shook their heads and beamed at me.

"Nothing, Mama," Kazuma said, forking his cake. "Nothing."

XDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~

Apologizing for the lack of gifts, I took the scraps out of our plates and put the plates in the dishwasher myself. Kazuma and Maka, unlike children I babysat long ago, did not jump to watch their favorite anime. Instead they hung around to help me clean the table. Naru, on the other hand, vanished for a while, and when Kazuma and Maka hauled me upstairs to our room, Naru halted before me on the hallway and inclined his head.

"Do you want to take a bath first?" he asked.

I felt my blush. "I...Ma-maybe after you..."

"Papa! Are you going to take a bath? I'll join you!" Kazuma proposed, and Naru's frown was immediate.

Just the thought of a naked Naru—

"No," Naru said, his voice chopping the cheerful air.

Kazuma's mouth flatlined. "But—"

"No," Naru repeated.

"Hmph! Fine!" Kazuma shouted, his hands knobbed. "I'll take a bath with Mama then!"

"E-ehhhhh?!" I jumped back. I felt my cheeks burn, and Naru narrowed his eyes at the little boy.

Kazuma just went on, "I'll scrub Mama's back, and no one will scrub yours! Mama and I'll have fun in the bathroom! I'm good at scrubbing backs after all! And Mama's soft and fluffy and bouncy anyway, so we'll have a grand time!"

He smirked as Naru scowled.

I must have been red from head to toe then. Flu-fluffy and bouncy? "Ka-Kazuma-kun, wha-what are you—?"

"Very well. Follow me," Naru said in a cool tone to Kazuma, and I gaped at the latter as he thumbs-upped at me and hopped cheerfully to Naru's side.

XDXDXDXDXD~nya~

Still quite dumbstruck, I entered Naru's room, took my newly laundered pajamas and underwear, and arranged them on the bed. To my further bemusement, Maka did not have clothes with her besides a pack of underwear, so I looked for one of my tight-fitting shirts for her to wear after the bath.

While waiting, I sat on Naru's bed with Maka as she fiddled with her necklace and wrote something on a black notebook, which somehow resembled the ones Naru used. The necklace cord was made of gold chains, but the golf-ball-sized pendant was silver. Sitting near her, I found that the pendant was a miniature Earth, with small clocks all around where the equator should be.

"That pendant looks nice," I commented. Then, I saw what she was writing. "What do these numbers mean? Is it a math assignment?"

There were long lines of numbers with a different letter at the end. If it were advanced math problem of any kind, it looked tedious to look at.

Maka shook her head. "They're codes for the worlds we time-traveled to."

"Oh?" I nictated.

They seem to like imagining a parallel world where they are...superheroes, Naru had said earlier. Somehow it seemed intimidating. Maka and Kazuma spoke with such confidence, wit and good diction unlike others with their age. If I remembered correctly, I did not even know what time travel was when I was six years old.

Too intelligent children claiming I was their mother...

Smiling, I said, "Is this the only world you traveled to?"

Maka blinked, but when she beheld my jovial, just-joking smile, sadness passed through her face before it was replaced with a hesitant grin.

It was an odd reaction.

"No," she replied. "We traveled a lot before we came here."

"Eh?" Recalling all those time travel shows I'd seen, I prodded more cheerfully, "Are you older than me then? In mind? That must be amazing!"

Her smile made her face glow. "It is. We get to see you and Papa many times."

I blinked. Somehow, I didn't know what to say. The topic just seemed so sad no matter what.

I cleared my throat and looked away. How could I cheer her up?

"Do you still not believe us?" she asked, puzzling me.

"Eh?" I replied. "About what?"

"About being your children."

Not wanting to hurt her, I said, "I...I don 't know."

"Why not?"

"I...I..."

Her eyes twinkled with so much hope, but I didn't want to lie.

I sighed. "It 's just... I don't think Naru will marry someone like me...O-or want to have children with me..."

Gah, this was embarrassing.

Maka tilted her head. "Someone like you? Like what?"

Lifting my chin, I gestured to myself. "An idiot."

Maka jutted out her lower lip. "Mama's not an idiot!"

I laughed. "But Na—Your fa-father says so, and I know I could be very slow oftentimes."

She pumped her fists. "Papa is a jerk! He needs to be kicked!"

My eyes fluttered, and I chuckled. "You two, really! Come here."

I opened my arms, and Maka appeared on the brink of tears. She embraced me with a small sob that broke my heart.

What was it? This sadness in them? Did their parents force maturity on them? That's why they sought for other people...like me and Naru?

Burying her face on my chest, the little girl in my arms uttered, "Papa really loves you Mama!"

It sounded so ridiculous, but it wasn't the time to laugh or be embarrassed. Children would always be children—defending what they thought was important.

"Why do you think he'll love an idiot like me?" My lips tipped at the corners while I caressed her soft black hair.

Maka lifted her face and gazed at me. "Because! Because he confessed and asked you to marry him 87, 203 times!"

XDXDXDXDXD~nya~

87, 203 times?!

In an ideal world that might be true, but reality was so disappointing. Still, I pretended that what Maka said were not absurd. She was still a child; I didn't want to discourage her in whatever she thought was real or fake. Children like her had very creative imaginations after all. Just thinking of time travel at such a young age...

Well, wouldn't that just be like Naru if he were still a child?

Speechless, I just ruffled Maka's hair and tickled her. Then we started pillow fighting, and it was a while before the door to the room swung inward, and Naru got a frontal attack of—now that I remembered—his pillow.

"Oops," Maka and I murmured.

The narcissist glowered at me, and I gave a shaky laugh, and said, "Uhh...How was the bathroom?"

At that, I'd stretched an awkward silence, and I somehow wished to hide under the bed if only I were not frozen in humiliation.

Kazuma broke the quiet however.

"It was immense..." he said.

My lashes batting, I regarded the little boy, who stood dazed. "Immense as in spacious?"

"Why are you looking so disappointed?" Maka, hugging a pillow she was about to throw, asked her brother.

"Still so immense..." Kazuma shook his head.

I whipped my head to the narcissist. "What's wrong with him, Naru?"

He just freaking shrugged.

"Ah..." Maka patted her brother's shoulder as though in consolation. "Don't worry too much. Remember what uncle Bou-san says?"

" 'With time, with time...,' " they echoed.

"Worry? About what?" I queried, rather late.

"It's nothing, Mama!" Kazuma lifted a corner of his mouth. "It's just that within 87, 203 worlds, compared to mine, Papa's mushroom is still taller!"

XDXDXDXDXD~nya~

I saw Naru's face pale and darken, and afraid that he might use his PK, even subconsciously, I got a pillow and threw it at Kazuma's reverent face and then at Naru. Then I feigned a laugh at the boys' glares.

"Hahaha! I beat you two!" I declared, rather lamely. "D-don't you know I have the tallest mushroom?"

At their muteness, I continued to laugh insincerely. Inwardly, I was screaming—abashed. Hopefully, my scalding cheeks were not so evident.

"Um...Mama, that is impossible," Maka said. "Only boys have—"

"Nuh-uh-uh!" I waggled a finger. "I'm your mother, and mothers know best, Maka! Now, are you all just going to stand there and let me beat you?"

To emphasize my determination, I threw the fallen pillows to Naru, Maka, and Kazuma. Quite stunned, Maka and Kazuma bent to grab the pillows that hit their faces.

"Mai..." I heard Naru growl, and before he could glare me down, I pointed at him.

"My children," I said with a commanding tone I scarcely used, "tackle your father!"

Maka and Kazuma blinked, and then curved their lips. Mischief danced in their eyes. And before Naru could scoot away, Maka hopped towards him, and Kazuma climbed his back. Soon, both of them tickled Naru and stretched and squeezed his face into comical angles.

Forgetting myself and my imminent retribution for my foolishness, I laughed and laughed. I'd heard Naru grunt and groan, but he did not get angry. Instead, he retaliated Kazuma and Maka's advances with tickles and pinches of his own. At first, he had stood stock-still. When he started his offense, he moved hesitantly—treating Maka and Kazuma gently. But the kids were persistent, nefarious imps, and soon Naru brandished and sparred using his pillow without qualms.

He didn't have to smile. His face was clearly illuminated with happiness as he bested the children and me during the pillow fight using his PK. I should have been worried for his health, but I was too immersed in our game.

"Cheater!" Maka, Kazuma, and me hollered at him and readied our own pillows for sweet revenge.

Rather exasperating, Naru just raised a brow at us, but his hair was in disarray. His pajama top, a blue-gray-ish jacket, had three buttons that slipped out of their holes above. His pajama trousers were creased, and he seemed less condescending than he usually was. But Naru didn't care to inspect if he looked shaggy. He was busy shielding himself from our pillow weapons and throwing them back with a determination of a sore loser—without cheating this time.

And seeing Naru have fun like he'd never had before somehow made me happier.

XDXDXDXD~nya~

When Naru finally entered Lin's room, he had an inelegant urge to jump on the bed and sleep face-down. Still, a self-conscious part of him abhorred the lowering show of defeat, so instead, he walked to the bed and slumped down on the edge of it. He sat with his elbows on his lap, and he bowed his head while running his fingers through his hair.

He had never felt more tired in his life. The children...His children were so energetic. Even Mai...

It was great that he had escaped his bedroom while the silly trio were wrapped in his ebony blankets, which he'd maneuvered with a little more of his PK.

Tallest mushroom...How could she say such inane things?

He had to admit, though, that he somehow...felt more awake after the idiotic pillow battle. Yet he was still jaded. Maka and Kazuma...were so...childish yet so inquisitive. His mind was becoming convoluted with how to deal with the reality he was thrust with in one day.

Looking up at Lin's desktop, he stood and turned the diviner's PC on. There were no currently interesting cases, and there were no new issues for the journal and magazines he'd subscribed; he had nothing to occupy himself, distract himself at the moment, and lull himself to a much-needed sleep.

While waiting for the computer to turn on, he turned with Lin's swiveling chair. Somehow, Lin's room was relaxing; though there was the presence of the diviner's shikis hovering near the ceiling, Naru was not afraid. The Chinese man's room was not so different from his; it was as simply equipped as his—if not for Lin's little mystic decorations here and there. Beside the bed, there was a small wooden Joss house with a statue of a Bodhisattva. Figurines of all animals in the zodiac sat on top of a four-drawer chest near the window. On the door, a Han calendar hung; the Chinese characters were printed in red.

Lin's bed was similar to Naru's—a king-sized bed. The diviner didn't need so much room just like Naru did though; usually Naru slept with books beside him on his own wide bed. Unless Lin slept with his shikis...An intriguing thought.

On the other hand, while Naru's bed was draped in black, Lin's bed sheets were white. Too white for Naru's tastes.

Shaking his head, he breathed out. He wasn't supposed to sleep in the diviner's room, but sleeping near the new cameras when his mind was out of sorts might shatter them. Besides it was fascinating to shake up Lin when he realized Naru had decoded his computer password.

Again.

Having broken through Lin's computer's defenses, he started searching about time travel. He was very knowledgeable about the theories surrounding the phenomenon, but new thoughts always arose. Many new experiments were made every day by CERN or other laboratories around the world. None of course were successful.

Except his children's.

Still, despite clicking all the links that popped out in his searches, there were no satisfactory answers to be found.

Of course...He was still in the 'past' after all.

Sighing, he stood and peeled the bed sheets back to tuck himself in, but then a knock—or rather, a couple of knocks, as though four hands were doing it—stopped him.

"Papa?" Maka's voice intruded the room.

And he almost groaned.

Clearing his throat, he replied, "What is it?"

Before he could even unlock his door, he heard a click, and the children streamed inside the room in a flurry.

Frowning at the little invaders and pick-lockers, he admonished, "You should be sleeping. It's late."

Kazuma shook his head. "We need to have a talk, Papa."

Naru raised his eyebrow. The little boy sounded like an adult with an overbearing tone.

"What kind of talk?"

"We told you we came from the future, right? That we came to save you and Mama?" Maka started. "Actually...it's only half-true."

His frown deepened. "Tell me the entire truth then."

Maka looked at Kazuma, and the two of them slipped out their necklaces from inside their clothes; Maka's necklace, he found, was identical to Kazuma's.

"During our travels, we realized that each world we went to is like a calibration on a clock," Kazuma said, "and all the worlds we'd been to were eleven or twelve o'clock worlds."

"When we said we came from the future, we meant a twelve o'clock world," Maka continued. "Twelve o'clock worlds are ahead in time as opposed to this world, which is a two o'clock one."

"Meaning, if the year is 2008 in this two o'clock world, at this moment in a twelve o'clock world, it is already 2013 or later," Kazuma expounded.

"Hence, for both of you, 'future' would mean a world where time is advanced, as opposed to other worlds," Naru concluded. Then, inferring beyond, he added, "The 'future' is not the future of this world, for it has not happened yet?"

Maka and Kazuma nodded.

"Time only goes one way. We cannot go back to the past of the world we came from," Kazuma said.

"So you travel to a world that is not ahead in time yet?" Naru squinted his eyes. "You can only change what happens in a parallel world?"

"Yes," Maka said with downcast eyes. "And we tried many times."

So many times, by the sound of it.

87, 203...

Clearing his rather uncharacteristically lumpy throat, Naru asked, "And what is the purpose for your necklaces?"

Kazuma and Maka showed grim faces.

"The world we came from...everyone became obsessed with time," Kazuma said, a note of anger in his tone. "Many people used time travel to better their lives."

"There are three requirements for a very successful time travel," Maka informed. "The first is nuclear power."

Naru blinked. "You two were responsible for the Tsuruga nuclear reactor."

They nodded guiltily. "Yes."

"What is the second requirement?"

"Qigong."

"And the third involves this." Maka held up her necklace. "This...is made of psychics' powers."

"Specifically," Kazuma carried on, with a resentful voice, "it is made by liquefying psychics like us, Papa."

XDXDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~

A little movement on my bed woke me, so I lifted my eyelids and blinked at Naru, who was cradling Kazuma and Maka on each of his arms. Realizing where I was, I jolted upright. "Naru—!"

He silenced me with furrowed brows, and I realized, as he deposited Kazuma and Maka gently beside me on the bed, that the children were sleeping. Naru sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, staring at the children with...with some kind of protectiveness; he resembled an enormous tiger covering his cubs at a zoo I'd visited.

"Naru...?" I whispered, and he gazed at me without a word.

And I was lost.

His eyes were narrowed, but they were soft and warm. It could have been just the lights, but for a moment, they seemed to glisten.

What was it...? What was this sadness I could feel? It seemed to still every breath taken in the room. Restricting. Heavy. It was the same as with Maka earlier, and somehow, like with Maka, I wanted to open my arms and hug Naru.

What's hurting you? I wanted to ask, but I couldn't. Somehow, I was afraid to know.

Biting my lip, I said, "Sorry...for falling asleep. Somehow, the battle made me sleepy. I was sure Kazuma and Maka were sleeping already when I got out of your blankets. Still black, they are, huh. Anyway, I didn't notice them go out of the room. Did they bother you? Threw pillows at you again? Hopefully not, right?"

I was babbling, but I couldn't help it.

Naru shrugged and stood. Still looking at me, he said, "I'll think about it, Mai."

I fluttered my lashes. "Eh? Think about what?"

Stay, I wanted to tell him, but that was too forward...

Naru's face went from troubled to amused in a heartbeat. "Your proposal."

Still lost, I gaped at him.

And then he curved his lips. For the first time, his white teeth showed, and his eyes' corners crinkled. His smile, for the second time now, finally reached his eyes, and my heart was arrow-ed down in an instant.

Not just once. Not just twice.

Even when he turned and walked out of the room, my heart was still staggering from the blow, conquered, defeated...

Wait.

What...? Proposal...?

I blinked many times at nothing, and when it finally sank in, I squeaked. My cheeks ignited.

XDXDXDXD~nya

A/N: I dedicate this chapter to those we lost from the MH370 and MH17 incidents. One of those people could have been one of my readers, current or prospective. They could have been a lover of Ghost Hunt, even a fanfic writer like me. They could have been anyone and everyone who has a brilliant future ahead of them supposedly.

This might seem like an excuse, but revising this chapter and Reminiscence 5 towards the end of the just-ended week was hard. I had, through browsing the net last Wednesday, found very graphic and devastating pictures from the MH17 incident while I was trying to confirm if what happened was true. It deliberately took me off course and made my heart heavier.

I feel the need to get this heaviness expressed somehow because, really, it was so sad. I do not want to deny it ever happened, and even if it's such a sad reality, I want to confront it. Sometimes writing is really hard when we get reminded of reality, but it is essential too to not ignore reality. This occurrence was one of a gazillion ways to painfully die—en masse too—and I just hope that if there ever is a real afterlife, the people we lost will be in the greatest of comforts. I will not limit this wish/hope to people who died in the MH17 incident however. My wish extends to everyone who died, deserving or not, every day.

Thank you for reading this story, and I'm sorry for writing such a forlorn note. T_T I do not wish to sadden you all with reality, but I guess I just really needed to share my thoughts here and in other places. Perhaps it's just I feel a great sense of regret—regret that I'm still living comfortably while others are not. I do not know of any other way to ease it but to write or say it.

Again, sorry, and I hope, that even with such a sad note as this, I was able to make you all, my readers and reviewers, smile with this chapter!

Thank you so much for reading!