Six Years Later . . .

"Mom, we're back!" Riko shouted as she and Takeshi strolled into the guild. Riko was now sixteen years old and Takeshi was fourteen years old. The two siblings had just gotten back from a job request. "Welcome back, Riko!" Yumi giggled. She and Simon were now six years old and stayed at the guild even though they wanted to be out with their older siblings.

"Welcome back. How was the job?" Erza asked to the two mages.

"It was easy." Takeshi mumbled as he quickly walked past his sister and mother. Takeshi still had a difficult time with Tarou's disappearance. It's been six years now since the two boys were together and there was still no sign of Tarou, who would have been thirteen. Takeshi doesn't want to accept the fact that Tarou might be dead, but he doesn't know what else to do. The Magic Council has no leads and neither does Erza. What Takeshi wants to do is search for Tarou by himself. However, Erza and Jellal have frowned against that idea because Takeshi is too young.

"Don't worry about him." Erza spoke softly to Riko who was staring at her brother with concern in her eyes. "He just needs time."

"It's been six years." Riko commented.

"No one ever said the process was quick and easy." Erza replied before turning to go back to the bar where her husband was. Deep down inside, Erza felt immensely guilty. She could do nothing for her son, Evergreen, Elfman. And she didn't understand the disappearance one bit. About two months after Tarou's disappearance, Erza brought Natsu to the spot where Tarou's shirt was found. Natsu had sniffed the area and told Erza that Tarou's smell was indeed there, but Tarou himself wasn't there. This bothered Erza every single day. Never in Erza's life had she felt so defeated.

"Can we play outside now?" Yumi piped up, running to her parents.

"Not right now, Yumi." Erza called over her shoulder. Yumi pouted and Jellal happened to notice when his wife did not.

"We'll go outside in an hour, okay?" He smiled and Yumi nodded.

The small six year old girl walked back to her twin brother with a pout on her face. She wanted to play outside for a little while and she wanted to play now. "Mommy and Daddy said we can't go play." She grumbled.

"Why?" Simon asked, staring at his sister.

"I don't know," Yumi shrugged. "but I want to play now!"

Simon stared at his sister for a moment, thinking. "Then let's go play." He said as if it was the most obvious thing to do right now.

Yumi's eyes sparkled and a huge smile appeared on her face. "Okay!"

Yumi and Simon snuck out of the guild unnoticed, their small sizes having an advantage. Yumi dragged Simon to the backyard of the guild and into the forest. "We should play tag!" She exclaimed.

"I'll be it." Simon offered. Yumi nodded and started running away from him. Simon waited about a minute before chasing after her.

Simon ran in the direction that Yumi had run off in. They both dodged tree branches and bushes while running through the forest. Yumi was giggling while running, happy that she finally got to play outside. "Tag! You're it!" Simon shouted behind her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she whipped her head around.

"You cheated!" She shrieked.

"I didn't cheat!" Simon defended himself.

"Yes, you did!"

"How?"

"You ran too fast!"

"So?"

"So, you cheated!"

"I did no-" Simon stopped talking when something caught his eye. "What's wrong, Simon?" Yumi asked. Simon ignored her and moved pass her. He walked up to an old tree that had a mosquito on the branch. Simon eyed the insect closely. The mosquito sat there very still, not moving a muscle. It stared back at Simon. "What are you doing?" Yumi asked from behind her brother.

"The mosquito." Simon mumbled.

Yumi blinked and cocked her head in confusion. "What about it?"

Simon ignored her again and kept staring at the insect. "Are you angry?" He asked quietly. The mosquito's leg twitched as if it was an answer to the boy's question. "Did we make you angry?" In response, the mosquito flew and landed on Simon's bare neck. Simon jumped, startled by the sudden action. He smacked his neck where the mosquito was and killed the insect. It lay flat and squished against his neck.

"Eww." Yumi commented, eyeing her brother's neck.

Simon wiped his neck with his hands to get the insect residue off. "Simon! Yumi!" A voice called. The two kids recognized that voice to be their father's. Yumi ran towards the voice with Simon following behind.

Jellal stood in the backyard of the guild, calling for his six year olds. He heard the rustling of leaves and saw Yumi and Simon coming out of the forest. "There you are." Jellal sighed. I'm getting too old for this. "You're mom and I were worried about you two. Don't run off on your own again." Jellal scolded.

"Yes sir." They answered in unison and followed their dad back into the guild.

As the events of the day continued to play out, the forming bump on Simon's neck went unnoticed.