Wendy slowly made her way through the small Magnolia streets, her nerves causing her to stare at the floor. Her mind was working at a mile a minute - she couldn't believe it! Her, Wendy Marvel, being asked out on a date! And by Romeo Cobalt, of all people, who'd scarcely even spoken to her before! It was all so surreal! Still, despite her immediate surprise, she had readily accepted his offer - he was a handsome boy, after all. But now, she was overcome with uncertainty. What should she wear? How should she act? What would they talk about? She had no idea. However, she was making her way to the two people who she just knew would know. They were her only hope.
She raised her small fist and gently knocked on Lucy Heartfilia's door.
"Oh? Hello Wendy. This is a surprise..." the door swung open to reveal a beautiful red-haired mage, the one and only Erza Scarlet. Balancing her plate of strawberry cheese cake in one hand, she moved aside to let Wendy into the apartment of the Celestial Wizard. "You should know by now that you don't need to knock on Lucy's door; just come inside. That's what me, Natsu, Gray and Happy do, anyway, and since you're on our team now it would be advisable for you to follow suit."
As Wendy entered Lucy's apartment she let out an audible gasp; the place was in a state of pandemonium. Empty packets of food were left scattered everywhere, and clothes had been strung randomly all about the room. To put it simply, it looked as if it had been hit by a natural disaster - which, I suppose you could say, it had.
That is, if you class Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster as natural disasters.
"You can't just bust into a chick's house without permission, ya' pervy Popsicle!"
"Oh yeah? Then how come you do it all the time, ya' fire-breathing creep!"
"She's used to me doin' it. Besides, I'm not the one getting my-"
Erza then proceeded to slap her hands over Wendy's ears for a moment.
"-out in front of everybody!"
"Natsu!" Erza barked. "I will not tolerate that sort of language directed towards your nakama, especially in the presence of young Wendy here! We don't want to be setting a bad example to the next generation of Fairy Tail, do we Natsu, Gray?!"
"NO WE DO NOT MA'AM WE MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT!"
"Good. Now, I want the pair of you to apologize firstly to each other, for disrespecting a comrade, then to Lucy, for messing up her apartment, and then, finally, to me and Wendy for the utter filth that has been coming out of your mouths all night which we have been subjected to hearing!"
They turned to each other with fake smiles plastered onto their faces. "I'M SORRY, BUDDY! I'M SORRY LUCY! I'M SORRY WENDY AND ERZA!"
Erza smiled wryly. "Good. NOW GET OUT!"
And so, she kicked them out.
"W-Wendy...?" Came a small voice from the far corner of the room. "I-Is that... You?"
Wendy edged slightly closer to the source of the voice, until the figure shrouded in darkness was clearly visible. Lucy Heartfilia was crouched down, hugging her knees to chest and slowly rocking back and forth, whilst giving off a gloomy, purple aura.
"Um... Yes, it's me Lucy. I just knocked then."
"You... knocked? You actually knocked?"
"Y-Yes?"
"WENDY I LOVE YOU!"
Lucy launched herself at the blunette and squashed her into a suffocating hug, with huge, sloppy tears rushing down her face. "I love you, Wendy, I really do. It's just been so long since someone last knocked on my door *sniff* you have to idea how much this means to me! You're my favourite now Wendy, you're my favourite, I've decided, you're my favourite now... You're the only one who respects me... The others... *sniff* the others just barge in here, as if my house is nothing but a cheap hotel... They eat my food... Steal all my clothes... mess up my bathroom... And sometimes *sniff* sometimes they even sleep in my bed!"
The sobbing intensified.
Wendy desperately flashed a pleading glance at Erza whilst trying to mouth the words "HELP ME." as discreetly as possible. Erza, however, was no help in the slightest - she merely shrugged, and then immediately went back to eating her strawberry cake.
"So, what was it you wanted to talk to us about?" Lucy asked Wendy gently. It had taken a while for her to calm down, but as soon as Erza had made her a cup of steaming hot tea, she perked right up - it was almost as if she was British.
"Well..." Wendy mumbled timidly to the two older wizards, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. She could feel her face growing hotter and hotter by the second. "Romeo... Asked me out on a date..."
"ROMEO ASKED YOU OUT ON A DATE?!"
"Y-Yes! And I was hoping the two of you could give me some advice?"
The pair looked at each other in desperation.
"It's just..." Wendy continued. "The both of you are so pretty and cool, you guys must've been on hundreds of dates before, right?"
They simply stared,dumbstruck.
"I just remembered!" Erza barked quickly. "Me and Lucy have something really important to do! We'll be with you in a minute!"
She shot up out of her seat and dashed off into the nearest room Lucy in tow - which just so happened to be the bathroom. Erza shut the door tightly behind her her and Lucy plonked herself down on the toilet despairingly, before putting her head into her hands.
"I can't believe it! Romeo and Wendy...! It's as if the world's gone crazy!"
"Me neither," Erza commented, breathless. "I have to admit, I am somewhat concerned... Isn't Romeo a little old for Wendy?"
"Well..." Lucy began in her best I-am-thinking voice "Romeo's 13, right? And Wendy is 12? So I guess it's not that bad, really..."
Erza nodded. "I suppose you're right. It's just... A part of me feels uncomfortable about letting her do this, and I have no idea why. I'm scared of her getting hurt, I have to admit."
"Y'know, I feel exactly the same way." Lucy agreed. "But I think... Maybe we're just being overprotective of her because she's the youngest of our nakama. I mean, Wendy is so strong and confident for age, especially considering all the crazy and horrible things she's been through... Sometimes we forget just how much she's grown."
"I guess so. I still occasionally think of her as that shy little child from Cait Shelter who claimed that she couldn't fight. Times certainly change, don't they?"
"Oh yeah, they certainly do!" Lucy did her signature cheesy grin. "But she's like a completely different girl now. I think it's time for us to let go and stop sheltering her.
"That's true!" Erza laughed gently, before her eyes suddenly widened in alarm. "But we have a more serious problem and hand right now!"
"Uh... We do?"
"Yes, we do." Erza said, and then began pacing furiously back and forth. "Yes, well... Wendy asked for dating advice, didn't she? And... You see... May I confess something to you?"
"Erza, of course you can." Lucy answered, her voice deadly serious - for some reason, she was expecting the worst. "We're nakama, after all. You can tell me anything."
"Promise not to tell anyone? Swear it on your honour?" Erza's face had now flushed bright red as her eyes drifted towards the tiled floor.
"I promise."
She sighed. "You're going to have to handle this one because... I've never been on a date before."
"YOU TOO?!"
"Wh-What?"
Lucy shot up off the toilet seat and grabbed Erza by the shoulders - one of those little gestures of friendship which only Lucy was allowed to do. If anyone else had tried that so suddenly without warning, they would be six feet under by now. But not Lucy.
"Erza, I've never been on a date either! This is great! ...Well, it's actually not great, it's actually kinda sucky, but hey! At least we're not alone in our loneliness, right?"
"This is a relief," Erza sighed "But what on earth are we going to tell Wendy? Our reputations will be left in tatters!"
"Crap! You're right! I'M 17 YEARS OLD AND A 12 YEAR OLD HAS A BETTER LOVE LIFE THAN ME!"
"YOU THINK THAT'S BAD?! I'M 19 YEARS OLD AND A TWELVE YEAR OLD HAS A BETTER LOVE LIFE THAN ME!"
"WAIT! TECHNICALLY I'M 24 YEARS OLD AND A 12 YEAR OLD HAS A BETTER LOVE LIFE THAN ME!"
"BUT THAT MEANS... I'M 26 YEARS OLD AND A 12 YEAR OLD HAS A BETTER LOVE LIFE THAN ME!"
The pair slid to the floor in despair as they screamed:
"WHAT DO WE DO?!"