Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, Disney or any of its affiliated properties. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this now would I?
"The connection of our hearts…" : Speech (Bold for yelling ,Bijuu, or massive creatures)
'The connection of our hearts…' : Thought
Bloomsbury, England, Darlings' Nursery Room…
Naruto never really got around to saying it, but he truly appreciated just how skewed the time flow between worlds could be. When he and the girls entered Wendy's dreams, it was in the dead of the night, when they were sure that neither Wendy's brothers nor her parents could interfere with the sensitive collective illusion they were all in. During their journey to Wonderland, Naruto had reunited with his previous companions and introduced the new members of the group to their seniors. After regaining their bearings, Ella mentioned that they needed to leave this world immediately, as there were matters they needed to attend to. And so, after a quick trip through a portal and a simultaneous genjutsu dissolution, the quiet nursery room soon found itself filled with people (it was no joke – there were ten people in the room now!).
Thankfully, the room was quite spacious and therefore the new arrivals didn't rouse the sleeping occupants of the Darling house.
"Oh? England doesn't seem to have changed much in the forty years we've left it behind – hey Audrey, doesn't this mean that we lived in a very boring place? I mean really – the houses all look the same too!" Alice said as she took a look outside the window, catching her first glimpse of her home dimension after decades of governing over a wacky dominion. Ever a thrillseeker at heart, the gray and flat setting that England now presented cemented her conviction that meeting and falling for Naruto was the best thing that ever happened to her (she could have been an ordinary lady, living a boring humdrum life…ugh…just the thought of that was enough to give her nightmares…).
"Come now Alice, England was our home for so many years. It's not its fault that it lacks magic of any sort…although I will admit that looking at it now, the setting we find ourselves in is relatively stagnant and uninspired…" Audrey said, putting a finger to her lips as she bit her bottom lip pensively (inwardly smirking at Naruto's glances at her seemingly innocuous but no less seductive gesture).
Quickly realizing that the sisters would soon start bantering amongst each other as usual, Grimhilde moved forward, cutting their conversation short before they got side tracked.
"While I am sure a debate on the finer points of prudence and whimsy with regards to the world we find ourselves in would be riveting (the sarcasm was extremely palpable if her rolling eyes weren't hints enough), we have to make haste and abscond from this plane of reality before the monstrous overlords from before notice our presence." She said, nervously crossing her arms as she looked over the group.
It was true – mundane England had no magic at all so Grimhilde (a carrier and wielder of respectable black and demonic magic), Ella (a veritable white mage) and Naruto (nothing needs to be said about this guy beyond his seemingly inexhaustible pool of power) stuck out like sore thumbs and it was only a matter of time before they attracted some of the bigger fish of the multiverse to this place.
"Grimhilde's got a point. Ella – start the preparations for our next trip. I know you've just recently regained this power after the battle forty years ago so take your time – I know you can do it!" Naruto said, placing his hand gently on Ella's shoulders before giving her a kiss on her cheek (Snow squealed silently at Ella's rosy blush because while Ella was a nice woman, she was surprisingly timid about public displays of affection – even if her ardent passion behind closed doors was something to behold).
Pleasantly surprised and more than a little motivated, Ella turned to a blank wall of the nursery room before waving her wand, arcane runes appearing on the plaster in a circle as they began to glow white, slowly collecting power to generate a portal.
As this was happening, Naruto was sitting with the ladies, watching Ella work while he talked with Snow and Grimhilde.
"So Naruto, your chakra feels different – is your fairy form really that much of a change?" Grimhilde asked as Snow looked at Naruto curiously.
"Well yeah – I basically have my chakra converted to pixie dust in that form. I still don't know how the dust works though…" Naruto said as he briefly turned into a fairy to Tink's great approval as she flew over to him and gave him a warm hug.
Of course, Snow couldn't resist plucking the two out of the air before gently holding them close to her bosom with a happy blush.
"Aw~ You two look adorable! You simply must show this form regularly my dear – you look so cute like this!" Snow said as Naruto grumbled a little (he wasn't cute and hadn't been cute since he was sixteen – he was a man now ya know?!) before acquiescing to Snow's pleas (she was well meaning and her earnest compliments were hard to get mad at anyway).
Tinker Bell was having another problem entirely. Anyone other than her beloved Naruto would have had their noses pinched by now but the surprising amount of maternal warmth and general innocence coming from Snow had her on the back foot. That, combined with the fact that Naruto was reaaally close to her tight, nubile body was doing interesting things to her. As such, she just humphed and buried her face in Naruto's neck with a luminescent blush – a fact that wasn't missed by Tiger and Madonna, who merely smirked at the flustered fairy (they had a lot in common actually – one of the things being that they enjoyed watching the shenanigans of their more spirited companions).
While all this was going on though, the group missed Wendy quickly going through her belongings, taking what she needed and putting them in a small satchel that she then hid in her skirts (she changed into her normal day clothes as soon as they left her dream).
'I have to hurry – I can't let Naruto leave me behind! I know he might think I am still too young to know what I want but if Alice could do it, then so can I!' Wendy mused as she finished packing up for her journey.
And just in time too – the portal that Ella prepared collected enough magic and with a quiet howl, a massive vortex opened up in the nursery room as everyone got to their feet and got closer to the portal. The ladies quickly made their way into the portal, with Grimhilde and Ella leading the charge. Chuckling at Grimhilde's cautionary approach to escaping detection by supernatural beings, Naruto let the girls head in first, giving Tiger and Tink reassuring looks as they looked at the portal doubtfully before they too, disappeared into its inky blackness.
Just before Naruto entered the portal though, he turned to Wendy and gave her a wave.
"Goodbye Wendy – my thanks for your help and I hope you have a great life!" He said as Wendy walked up to him slowly before she suddenly broke into a dead sprint as soon as Naruto turned his back to her.
"Sorry Naruto – you are a nice guy, but you have underestimated just how much I want to keep experiencing new things with you!" She said as she leaped onto his back, Naruto squawking in surprise as the portal closed behind them, leaving the nursery deserted, except for Michael, who woke up when they heard a loud squawk.
"Ughh…Wendy? Keep it down – we're trying to sleep here…" Michael said as he put on his glasses, only to see that his sister was gone, with only a simple note on her bed.
"Hey John, wake up! Wendy is gone!" Michael said as John woke up, slowly rubbing his eyes as he rose from his bed, where he was snuggling into the warm fur of Nana (who was in a deep sleep, recuperating from a night in the freezing snow).
"Hmm…what? Where would she even go at this time of night?" John asked as Michael shrugged.
"I don't know but she did leave a note for us…" He said as the two of them took a look at said missive.
It was hastily written and basically told Michael and John that Wendy left to follow after Naruto, who she claimed would be her future husband, even if she had to wait until she was old enough to wed him (it was only six years after all…).
"M-michael?"
"Yes John?"
"How are we going to explain this Mother and Father?"
"I don't know John. I don't know…"
The two brothers then looked up to the sky, where the full moon shone down on them, illuminating their pale faces, already anticipating the meltdown from their parents.
'DAMN IT WENDY!' They thought simultaneously.
Meanwhile, with Naruto and company…
"Wendy?! Why did you do that? You know that we probably can't ever come back to Bloomsbury right?" Naruto said as he and the ladies looked at Wendy, who looked a little sheepish before adopting a determined expression.
"I-I know, but I couldn't let you leave me so soon after you opened my eyes to the majesty of the unknown! I always wanted to go on an adventure and while my trip to Neverland was great, I want to keep doing this for the rest of my life – with you and your group by my side, I will surely never regret this decision! Better than being some housewife in the future too!" Wendy said, looking away with a mild blush at the last part, with the ladies in the group deadpanning a little at the obvious tells the girl was giving. The poor girl liked their sexy beau and couldn't bear to leave him (Tink and Tiger could understand this , Alice was intimately familiar with this as well…).
"Alright…I hope you don't regret this later. Anyway, welcome to the group – it looks like we're almost done with the trip so brace yourself!" Naruto said as the group saw another portal open before them, taking them to a world the original trio visited.
"Snow, Grimhilde…is this…our world?" Naruto asked as the group found themselves on a massive cliff overlooking a bustling kingdom. It was a beautiful realm, with a huge castle in the center of the settlement, a pearly star in the midst of a surprisingly well designed town. Nature was also quite prevalent, with a thick forest surrounding said settlement.
"I-I think so! Oh, how wondrous! How long do you think it's been since we left?" Snow said, putting a hand to her breast as she could feel her heart swell with happiness and purification magic (she was the Fairest One in this world after all).
Grimhilde, Ella and Madonna were simply rendered speechless, unable to believe their luck. They were equal parts happy and sad to be here. Happy because they were home after a long time away and sad because they knew the only reason they were here was due to some impending disaster or contrived situation orchestrated by the Grimm Lords to sustain themselves and their rule.
"This is your home world? It looks amazing!" Tinker Bell said as Tiger nodded, looking over to the surrounding greenery with an appreciative look.
"Yes – I can see how you would gain an affinity to nature and magic in such lush forests. It seems you were destined to be reborn as a fairy if this is where you spent your childhood in." Tiger said as Naruto activated his blue pixie dust, watching the dust float in the air before being pulled to the kingdom with a sudden breeze.
"That is true. Speaking of fairies, I think I should introduce all of you to my adoptive mothers. They should be the only true immortals in this place anyway…" Naruto said as he knew his dust would seek out Merryweather, Flora and Fauna.
"If you want to find other fairies, then we should follow your dust – it is attracted to fairies with whom you've built a strong affinity with." Grimhilde said as Tink sat on Naruto's shoulder, nuzzling into his cheek affectionately as some of his dust settled in her wings, giving her a warm fuzzy feeling.
"We're visiting the castle?!" Wendy said, running up to Naruto and holding his hands in excitement, hopping in place – so overwhelming her joy (hey, she was a classic girl and she did like princesses, princes and all that stuff).
"Hahaha! Yes we are. Calm down there Wendy." Naruto said as Audrey nudged Alice knowingly (her little sister was the same when she was younger after all) and the group started descending the cliff to enter the kingdom they saw.
But little did they know, the actions of their past had implications they had yet to see and depending on whom you asked, could be good or bad. What remained was to see them…
And that was chapter 37! A little short but it is the setup to the start of the Sleeping Beauty arc (the history of this world will change slightly since Snow White isn't the ancestor of the royalty here anymore but that's for a future chapter).
If you'd like to support me you can find me on Patreon on the 'search for creators' bar under DudeWithaMac (I only get free time on Sundays since money's extremely tight-details on Panacea chapter 14). Alternatively, you guys can follow this link:p#at#re#on.#com/DudeWithaMac (remove the hash tags). Reviews and comments are always welcome!