"So… Where should we start looking, Luce?" Natsu questioned, his gaze flicking around the large library. Lucy felt her heart skip at the daunting task before them.

"Anywhere, honestly. The book could be anywhere in here." Lucy sighed and made her way to the first shelf she saw. "I don't even know how we're going to find it." Lucy said, mostly to herself, but Natsu's brow creased at her words.

"You're worried."

"Yes, I'm worried about Levy." Lucy admitted as she sifted through book spines. She lowered her voice and continued. "I don't know what's going to happen to Shutora and Yaje if they're born in this time period while they're still here." Natsu was quiet, his brow still creased. Lucy knew he was worried too, the time crunch was really on them and Lucy had no idea how they were going to pull this off. Even if they found the book, they'd still need to find a way to get the kids back to their own time, and Lucy was still trying to figure that bit out.

"C'mon guys, let's look for a red book!" Natsu cheered and led Ryuu and Stella to a book case. Lucy's heart warmed at how easily Natsu fell into a fatherly role. She had seen it before in instances like babysitting Asuka, but it never ceased to amaze her how truly caring he was with children. Of course, she wasn't surprised he was so good with them, he practically had a heart of gold; it just amazed her how easily he adapted in this situation. Lucy felt guilty that she was in shock for most of the time up in the guild hall; she made Ryuu feel like she had been disappointed by them. That being said, this was a shock of a life time and Lucy was still reeling from it. Her nerves were buzzing and her hands shook as she passed them over spine after spine.

"Any luck up there, Happy?" Lucy called where Happy floated near the higher up book shelves.

"Well… There are a lot of red books, but I haven't found anything with gold writing…" He replied glumly and Lucy sighed.

"That's okay, let's continue looking! We'll find it, everyone." Lucy tried to sound positive, but her heart was hammering in her chest. She could practically hear time ticking on, a countdown in her head to Levy going into labor.

"Stella, stay close to me, this library is big." Natsu advised and Stella scampered over closer to him, grasping the fabric of his pants as he scanned through books. Lucy was torn from wanting to soak up every second of Natsu being a dad and the need to find the enchanted book.

"Mo- I mean, Lucy?" Ryuu suddenly appeared next to Lucy, his eyes shining with worry.

"You can call me whatever makes you most comfortable, Ryuu." Lucy smiled down at him and he seemed to relax a bit, but his brow was still creased in concern.

"Okay… Mom." He grinned a bit and continued. "W-what happens if we can't get back to the future before Levy has her babies? What happens to us?" He whispered, his eyes shining and on the brink of tears. "Are we going to disappear?"

Lucy's heart clenched as she crouched down to be eye level with Ryuu. She brushed his hair out of his eyes and stroked the side of his face comfortingly. He sighed and nuzzled into her hand a bit and Lucy smiled at him again, hoping to relax him.

"No, you're not going to disappear. None of you are. You're all going to get back safely to us in the future." Lucy promised and Ryuu nodded and tried to discretely wipe his eyes with the back of his hand. "Why don't you help me look for the book. Do you remember anything about it? Did you see it at all?"

"Um, I remember the red and the gold writing…" He paused in thought and Lucy felt a jolt go through her as she looked at him. Sure, he practically looked like a mini Natsu with blonde hair, but his thinking face looked so much like her own expressions, she nearly broke out into a huge grin. His face suddenly lit up as he replied, a small smile on his lips. "I think… I think it may have been titled something like Enchanted Scripts or Enchantments for Script Mages. I'm not one hundred percent sure since I only saw it for a second before Shutora tried the spell, but if I think hard, I think it said something like that."

"That's great, Ryuu, thank you!" Lucy beamed and Ryuu's eyes lit up in delight. "Did you get that, Natsu? Let's try looking for a book like that."

"You got it!" Natsu grinned over his shoulder and continued scanning through the books. Even with the information they had, it felt like ages had passed and they were still no closer to finding the book. Lucy resisted the urge to let out a frustrated groan when she was startled by the door to the library being opened.

"Any luck?" Gray's voice called from above and Lucy shook her head before answering.

"Not yet, we're still searching!"

"Damn…" Gray cursed, and Natsu's head swung to face the door.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked carefully, holding onto Stella's hand tightly. There was a pause before Gray answered and it chilled Lucy.

"Porlyusica… She says that this stress may cause Levy to go into early labor." He answered quietly and Natsu's face scrunched in worry. Ryuu looked as terrified as Lucy felt and she didn't feel like spending any more time on the conversation, they needed to find the book fast.

"Then we'll look harder." Lucy stated firmly and Natsu nodded.

"We'll come down and help. Freed and Levy are still working with Shutora and Yaje on the spell… Though Porlyusica is on the verge of forcing her into the infirmary." Gray informed them as he clomped down the steps with Juvia and Briny in tow. Lucy mentally kicked herself for not having her Wind Reader glasses; she couldn't help but wonder if they would help her read the book spines faster.

"Hey, Natsu! Think you could smell enchanted paper if you tried?" Happy suddenly called and Lucy's interest pricked.

"That's a good idea, Happy!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly.

"I can try!"

"I'll help Daddy too!" Stella declared and started loudly sniffing books causing a chuckle to reverberate around the library. The comic relief was appreciated.

Ages passed and Lucy felt like all of the books were starting to blur together. She could feel her nerves bundle even tighter together, and her heart was pounding in her throat. Her only solace was stealing glances at "Dad Natsu" in his element and seeing how cute Gray and Juvia were as parents. She couldn't help but idly think about where she was a good mom. It seemed like everyone else had fallen into the parenting role so easily, why had she had such a heart time? She was clearly stressed because her mind was racing and now Lucy was fearing that she wasn't a good mom when she wasn't even a mom yet. Lucy sighed and shook her head; she hoped that they'd find the book soon or her head was going to burst.

"Hey… Ryuu?" Lucy glanced down at him; seeing his unruly blonde hair made her smile at least. He looked up to meet her gaze and it was then that Lucy was struck with heart wrenching emotions. If only Layla could see her grandchildren. If only Igneel could. Would her mother think she's a good mom? Was she as good of a mom as Layla was? The thoughts brought tears to her eyes and Ryuu's brow creased in concern.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his hand half extended to comfort her, but he pulled it back hesitantly.

"I wanted to ask… Am I a good mom?" Lucy whispered feeling childish. Ryuu looked bewildered at her question, but sighed and relaxed his shoulders. A few moments of silence passed and it felt like pure torture to Lucy, but he broke the stretch and grinned up at her warmly.

"You're the best mom." Ryuu assured her. "You're cool." Lucy let out a relieved half giggle, half strangled sob, and smiled broadly at her son.

"That's so great to hear," Lucy laughed, wiping her eyes. "Natsu, I'm a cool mom." She smirked at him and he looked momentarily bewildered.

"Yeah, and Dad's a huge dork." Ryuu snickered causing Natsu to frown and Lucy to burst into a fit of giggles.

"Wha-? What do you mean I'm a dork?" Natsu protested, looking wounded, and causing Ryuu and Lucy to laugh harder.

"He's got you spot on," Gray snickered and Natsu scowled in his direction. "But I would have chosen a different word."

"What would you call him, Daddy?" Briny's soft voice asked and Gray's grin dropped quickly, Juvia sending him a grimace.

"Er, I would call him silly."

"That's not what you usually call him. You usually call him a flaming-bad word I'm not allowed to say." Briny responded with a shrug.

"What on Earthland are you teaching our daughter?" Juvia exclaimed, drawing Briny closer to her.

"B-but I'm not even a dad yet! That wasn't me, that was a different me!" Gray protested, but Juvia tisked and Natsu snickered. He then turned his attention to Stella who was a bit further down the bookshelf from him. She had been quiet for a while and seemed to be really focused on the task at hand.

"Stella, you don't think I'm a dork, do you?" Stella giggled and looked over her shoulder at Natsu causing him to gasp. "It's ridiculous how much she looks like you, Luce!" Lucy grinned warmly; she almost wished part of her future hadn't been spoiled, but she was enjoying every second of being a parent with Natsu.

"No, Daddy, you're not a dork. But I think Gray is." She giggled again and Natsu guffawed.

"There is no way you didn't teach her that, you flaming-ass-"

"Gray!" Juvia scolded and Gray clamped his mouth shut, glaring at Natsu.

"But Daddy, look at this!" Stella suddenly yanked a book from its space on the shelf, holding it proudly over her head. "I sniffed it out!"

"You did not, Stella! You're not a dragon slayer." Ryuu pouted and Lucy drew him into a side hug. Stella held a red book with gold lettering out before her for Natsu to take.

"It says, Enchantments for the Solid Script Mage. Smells like magic too." Natsu smiled proudly down at Stella. "Thanks, Stel!" Lucy's heart jolted with excitement, they had finally found the book! Ryuu still looked put off that he hadn't been the one to find it so, Lucy squeezed him a bit tighter and smiled at him.

"And we couldn't have done it without Ryuu remembering that title! You both were a great help!" He smiled up at Lucy once more and relaxed.

"Thanks, Stel, you've helped us get home."

The group rushed back up to the guild hall, book proudly displayed for Levy and the others. Shutora practically lit up when she saw the book and raced towards them.

"That's it! That's the book!" She cried, relief etched on her face.

"That's great!" Levy exclaimed, her hands resting on her belly. Natsu handed over the book and Freed examined it, his brow creased in concentration.

"This is a great start, but we're going to need to figure out a way to transport you kids back to the future." He paused, looking up. "That's the tricky part. You were looking at an album, so there was visual representation of where the spell took you. In this instance, we don't know if that will work, and we don't have any pictures of the future, obviously, to test." Freed sighed, looking frustrated.

"B-but… If we don't have a picture with us of our time, how are we going to get back?" Shutora exclaimed, her eyes filling with tears. Levy pulled her in for a hug, stroking her back.

"We will find a way, Shutora. Don't worry." Levy soothed, though she looked worried herself. Lucy's mind raced once more; how were they to send the children off if they had nothing to represent the future? The only other form of time travel she knew of was the Eclipse Gate, and that was obviously not an option.

"I suppose we could try it with mental visualization? Perhaps, Shutora, when you cast the spell, you can envision your time's guild hall-" Freed was cut off by Kei suddenly yelling out.

"Wait! Wait, I have this!" Kei ran to them grasping a tattered looking piece of paper. It looked like it had been folded and opened many times. As he opened it, Lucy realized it was a picture of Jellal and Erza. They looked a bit older than they are now and they were smiling brightly. A younger Kei was squished between them, happily giggling up at the photographic lacrima. Lucy couldn't help but notice that photograph Kei's eyes shone brightly, full of life. The Kei in front of her looked dull and almost colorless as if his life had been drained from him long ago.