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They don’t know how it happened, Phineas and Ferb had just been doing homework in their room when suddenly…they appeared. They looked like them but…older.
The older pair looked very confused, just looking around the bedroom before their eyes landed on the younger two. They just stared at each other for a few seconds before anyone says anything, too shocked to move.
The younger pair just stare in shock at the older, they look…so much older. A million questions racing through their heads about this situation.
Older Phineas is the first to break the silence, “Wow, um, you look young. How old are you two?”
“15,” responds Phineas, “How old are you guys?”
Older Phineas and Ferb just stare at them with their jaw dropped. “12 years,” mutters Phineas. “We are 27…12 years in the future. We were working on…well I guess I can’t really say. Spoilers and all, can’t tell you the future. Anyway, we were working on something and I guess we accidentally made ourselves travel back in time. God, we are going to have to fix this quick, and who knows how long we’ll be gone for? We can’t leave Mels alone for too long. We really need to get back.” He rubs his face and hears both of the younger gasp. “What?”
“You…” Phineas trails off, looking shocked. “Is that a wedding ring?”
“Phineas,” says the older Phineas sternly, “You know we can’t tell you the future. I…I want to tell you all about the future but unfortunately we have no idea what that could change,” he sighs. “Trust me, you don’t want to change the future…It is good, so good. We are so happy, we’ve been through a lot but, it’s good.” Older Ferb sets his hand on his shoulder and squeezes, older Phineas smiles slightly and pats his hand. “We need to get started on building something to get us back now. Are mom and dad home?”
“No, mom is grocery shopping and dad is at the antique store,” younger Phineas responds. “What can we do to help?”
The older pair give them a list of things they’ll need because they can’t exactly be seen wandering the streets. They ended up only needing to get a few things since they had most of it already, so they are able to get started building pretty quickly. The challenge here is making sure that nobody else shows up and sees them, being seen would only complicate things.
Luckily it is a school day so most everyone else is at home doing homework, so it isn’t likely they’ll be interrupted.
They work mostly in silence, which is uncharacteristic for Phineas, he’s almost always talking about something. Right now, he doesn’t want to accidentally alter the future, so he’s doing his best not to say anything that will cause them to talk about the future. He already has so many questions racing through his mind, and he is ignoring every impulse to think about them.
“Alright, I think that should just about do it,” says older Ferb and younger Phineas has to take a deep breath at that. It’s the first time he’s heard him talk and his voice is so much deeper and the accent, oh my god. “Ready?”
Older Phineas hesitates before answering but nods his head. Ferb flicks the switch and…
Suddenly they are staring at themselves, but older. Again.
This oldest pair looks a lot older, but in a good way. The first thing the younger pair notices is that Phineas has a different ring on and Ferb isn’t wearing one…
The machine starts sparking and then shuts down, black smoke coming from it.
The oldest pair sigh when they take in their surroundings, “Alright, what happened?” Asks Phineas.
“We were trying to get ourselves home, we accidentally made ourselves travel back in time while working on a project. We must have miscalculated and brought you guys here to us. And now the machine is broken. How old are you?” Older Phineas asks.
“39. How old are you four?”
“We are 27 and they are 15. 12 years in between all of us…I’m glad to see we’re still looking good,” older Phineas winks at oldest Ferb.
Oldest Ferb snorts at that, “Keep it in your pants, Phin.”
“We need to get back, Mels is waiting. But if we can’t get the time machine working properly…” Older Phineas trails off.
It’s like a lightbulb goes off over his head and all 3 Phineas say in unison, “The museum!”
They quickly clean up and get the older Phineas and Ferb’s hoodies and sunglasses, so they hopefully won’t be recognized. They get to the museum pretty quickly; it isn’t too far from their house.
The youngest pair is sad to see them go so soon, they have so many questions about their future and while they know they can’t actually ask, they still enjoy seeing themselves so happy.
“Alright, hopefully this is still working,” older Phineas says. “You guys can go first,” he says to the oldest.
The oldest pair quickly says their goodbyes but hesitate before leaving.
“I can tell you want to ask something so go ahead,” says oldest Phineas.
“I noticed when you guys appeared,” starts older Phineas, “that you are wearing a different ring and Ferb isn’t wearing one at all…I was just wondering what changed in 12 years.”
“Nothing has changed that I can tell you, but don’t worry. Nothing bad happened.” Oldest Phineas says, smiling.
With that, they pull the lever and travel back to their own time.
When the machine is sent back to them, the older Phineas and Ferb get ready to leave.
“Wait, before we go,” says older Phineas, “One question, ask us anything within reason that we can answer.”
“Wait, Phin, are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t want the future to change.” Ferb asks, worried. He enjoys the future.
“Of course, they wouldn’t ask anything we couldn’t answer. And we don’t have to answer if it’s something we can’t.”
“…Alright, if you say so,” Ferb sighs.
Younger Phineas and Ferb share a look and immediately know what they want to ask.
“In the future,” Ferb begins, “Are we…still together?”
Both older share a look thinking, ‘Wow, were we really this oblivious when we were younger?’ They had been expecting something completely different. About careers or college, something along those lines. Not…questioning their relationship. They thought it was fairly obvious that the fact that they wore matching wedding rings that they were together, even if they couldn’t say it out loud before.
Instead of answering verbally, older Phineas smiles softly and grabs older Ferb’s face and pulls him into a kiss. As soon as they part, older Phineas pulls the lever to activate the machine, leaving two shocked and blushing kids behind.
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That evening as the boys were getting ready for bed, both of them were still in shock over what had happened. They wanted to believe they were still together but until that kiss, they had no solid proof.
They have both been blushing messes all evening, in the future not only are they together still, but they’re married! They’ll be together for at least 13 more years, and hopefully for the rest of their lives. It’s such a great feeling to know that.
“Hey, Phineas? I love you,” says Ferb. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to do everything with you, I want to settle down and marry you. We could live anywhere in the world and I would be happy as long as I was with you.”
By the end of it, Phineas is crying. “Oh my god, Ferbs, I love you too. So so much! I can’t wait for the future, but I’m so happy right here too.”
They spend the night whispering and talking about the future, knowing that no matter what happens they will always have each other.