This is just a one-shot I thought of, and it contains RoWen! My new cute couple!

I hope you R&R!

Thank you, and enjoy!

Two sides of Time

I stared out at the waters residing in Hargeon, feeling nostalgic…

It was as if I was still the smile-less little boy waiting for his friends to come home. Those days had been so empty. My usual days back then would consist of these things:

Doing a job with Alzack and Bisca

Staring out at the sea after the job

Learning about fire in Totomaru-sensei's class

Reading some random book to pass the time at the guild

Honestly, I wasn't even a book person years ago. I would read books not because Dad said it was good for my education, but I also did it to temporarily close myself away from the cold reality we were living in. It was a trait I got from Laki, I think. Everyone had some kind of way to ease the pain. Take Kinana for example-she would work at the bar, work in the garden, and pretty much everywhere else. She said that working keeps her mind and her body busy, to which I had agreed.

But that was many years ago.

Seven years after the Tenroujima disaster, Tenrou Team had returned. If you know me well, then you would know that I had welcomed back Natsu-nii first. Of course. He was the main reason for my sadness those long seven years.

Seeing everyone still exactly the same as before took some time to get used to, but daily life went back to normal in less than a day.

For the first time in so long…I heard laughter throughout our guild hall.

As time went by, the Grand Magic Games had gone by as well. Though nobody won due to a certain interruption, it was still fun to watch. Did I mention that I might be a candidate this year?

Anyway, more years fell on top of the seven dreadful ones, almost completely covering them. As if that gap in time had never happened.

But it did.

And I'll always remember.

It sounds silly, I know, but on rare occasions…I wake up from a nightmare. A nightmare about a black dragon, explosions, and eerily silent waters.

The nightmares kept creeping into my mind, and I refused to tell anyone because it was just plain stupid (I mean, really! I wasn't even on Tenroujima when it all happened!). Unfortunately, sooner or later the truth had to come out.

Wendy Marvel-a girl whom I wasn't close to at all-was the only one to notice my lack of sleep. It was only because of her concerned hazel eyes peering into my soul that I spilled the beans about my nightmares. I expected her to laugh at me, or to tell the others, but she didn't.

It turns out that she shared the same nightmares as well.

This had been the first step to our friendship.

The next step would be when I had asked her to join me on a mission. Just the two of us, since Charle was with Happy at the time. Once again, I expected her to laugh, or even to say that she was already going on missions with Natsu-nii. And once again, I was wrong.

Saving her from a giant something-like-a-zebra-crossed-with-a-rabbit was one thing, but when I saw her glowing smile as she thanked me later on, I knew this girl was who I wanted to be with. As cheesy as it sounded, it was true.

When I asked her on a date about two years later, I had absolutely no idea what to do. I had so many questions.

Where was I supposed to take her? What was I supposed to wear? Why didn't I think this stuff through before asking her?

After Mira had talked some sense into me, I decided to take her to the place I went to the most.

Yes, people, I took her to the Hargeon port of all places.

Talking seriously, she actually had a surprisingly good time with me, sitting down with me at the edge of the planks and staring at the nighttime sky. Not too bad for a first date, huh?

The years increased, and we got older and more mature.

By then, Natsu-nii and Lucy-nee were on their way to having their first child. It's amazing, how time can change something so much, and at the same time, not change anything at all.

Like Wendy and I. I changed a lot, and yet she didn't change at all.

Our relationship was something special, you might say. It's not every day you see people so strongly connected by time and destiny.

I stared out at the waters residing in Hargeon, feeling nostalgic…

Now, thirteen years after the Tenroujima disaster, my life has taken a turn for the better. Something inside tells me that those long seven years were meant to happen. If it wasn't for that gap, I would be a regular nineteen-year-old. But the worst part would be that, Wendy would be a twenty-six-year-old. She would've be out of my grasp.

"Romeo, are you here?"

She could've been with someone else.

"Oh! There you are!"

I could've been a whole different person.

Wendy strolled up beside me, "I knew I'd find you here."

I grinned, "You know me well."

"Are you remembering…that?" She asks me, referring to the disaster.

"Yeah," I replied, "And other stuff too."

"Will you be done soon? Everyone is waiting for us back at the Guild."

"They are? Then let's go!" I exclaimed. She nodded, and grabbed my hand.

As we ran towards Hargeon town, I looked back at the sea one last time.

She could've been different.

I could've been different.

But we're both here now.

Together.