Size doesn't matter
Chapter 1: There are some complications that needs to be negotiated.
Blurb: Romeo, also known as the Natsu Fanatic by Wendy, sets off to try and help the Sky Dragonslayer build up some confidence, but only for his own gains. Wendy's just happy that she can befriend him. Getting to know her, Romeo begins to think that she's not that bad- but he would NEVER fall in love with her… right?
"Shouldn't 7 years make her a bit taller?" He frowned to himself as she walked over shyly. "You know I can hear you Romeo." He blushed red and huffed indignantly. "Well no one asked you!" Wendy measured herself against him. Even if I haven't grown, I'm still taller than you. WendyXRomeo.
Romeo eyes landed on the Natsu team's official table for the third time that morning. He watched his idol laughing and spattering flames over the blonde haired girl next to him. She gave a shrill scream, and swatted her burning hair in a panicked frenzy, again the table was filled with merry laughter. If only he was in her place, he would've loved getting burned by Natsu-nii. The young mage began playing with his scarf around his neck. Even Natsu-nii had returned, he had made the decision to continue with his dress up.
The guild was as noisy as ever and brimming with more life with the rest of Fairy Tail back. As well as the natsu team, there was the Raijinshū sitting up in the corner, Mirajane working at the bar, Master talking with Gajeel who was presently sitting with PantherLily and Levy talking with Bisca and Alzack about their family life. Romeo couldn't feel happier, but even so, he had wanted to spend more time with his Idol more than anyone else.
He huffed annoyed, eyes lingering at the table a minute longer, before planting his face on the table he was sitting on. He was particularly aggravated at the fact, that apart from the Natsu team sitting at the table, there was one girl who decided to sit by them, as if she were part of their team. He watched her face light up and playing with the hem of her floral dress which reached up to her knees. There was also that strange blue haired water mage staring from behind a pillar, only half a meter away- but she didn't bother him, seeing as her sights were set solely on Gray.
His father watched him, his bearded cheek rested on his palm.
"Why don't you just go and sit with them."
Romeo gave his father a deadpanned glare. "I don't want to."
"Are you feeling shy?" Macao smirked slyly, switching subtle glances between the Sky Dragonslayer and Romeo. Romeo was not amused.
If he recalled before her name was Wendy, Mirajane and Lisanna had thoroughly embarrassed him with the prospects of both of them dating. He rolled his eyes at the thought; the idea was brought up only because of their age similarities. Currently, he couldn't disagree more- that Natsu-nii hogger. Normally this wouldn't bother him, but in three consecutive days, she had chosen to sit with them. And not only that, Natsu-nii had been treating her kinder than he would most people.
Naturally, he wouldn't join them, partially because it was slightly awkward assimilating himself to fit in with them, and because SHE was always at that table. He was the one who hadn't seen Nastu-nii for seven years, not her.
He played with his own hair frustrated, and then loosened the knot of his scarf, ignoring his father's incessant teasing. Lisanna and Mirajane's seemingly innocent words drifted into his head once again.
Him and her date?
The idea seemed completely preposterous.
Wendy could feel the dagger like stares he was directing her. The only other person, who was the same age as her in the guild, Romeo Conbolt, which she secretly referred to him as the Natsu Fanatic. Just look at what he was wearing- the long, dark, sleeveless open jacket with lighter-coloured edges, held closed around his waist by a light sash, tied by a knot on his left hip and his loose, light-coloured pants reaching down below his knees, paired with low, dark laced boots, made him resemble Natsu so much. To top it all off ever since they've returned from Tenrou Island, he had been following Natsu like a love sick puppy. She looked up thoughtfully. Well until three days ago that is, for some odd reason he had stopped after she decided to sit on the table. It wasn't weird, she had been joining them every so often before going to Tenrou island anyways.
She could still feel his sharp glares stabbing into her back. She shrunk into her seat warily, debating whether or not she could get away unscathed with a quick glance. Unfortunately her more curious side won the argument and she shifted her eyes, attempting to see whether she could glance at him from the corners of her eyes. Unfortunately he caught her in the act, and narrowed his eyes into tiny slits.
Wendy let out a surprised squeak and then attempted to hide behind Erza.
"What's wrong Wendy?" Asked Natsu, after taking a generous sip of his drink.
She blushed and smiled reassuringly at her fellow dragon-slayer. "It's nothing, Natsu."
He stared at her for a while, before returning a grin. Wendy could feel the cold stare, sending chills down her spine. The Sky dragon slayer swallowed loudly.
Happy flew down onto the table after blatantly pointing out how Lucy had two sets of eye lashes, and snatched a piece of grape from the fruit bowl. Lucy cried out loud and brought out her mirror to see that her fake eyelashes were falling out of place. Natsu chortled loudly at her and she brought a foot down on his own to silence him.
"Hey Wendy, where's Charle today?" The blue exceed asked, mouth full of grapes.
Wendy's eyes were suddenly down casted, and she shifted a bit on her seat. "Charle's sick at our room in Fairy Hills."
Happy slammed his tiny paws onto the wooden table, eyes blazing.
"What are we doing here? We should be visiting her!" He said eyes filled with hearts.
"N-no! You'll catch her illness!" The sky dragon slayer squeaked, barely above a whisper. "It's alright, because there's a doctor there looking after her."
Erza leaned forward and reached for a grape. "That's strange, aren't you always with Charle, Wendy?"
Wendy sighed slightly. "Well… we had a bit of a disagreement today."
Gray raised an eyebrow, swirling his iced water around. "That's rare."
"It's because she said I couldn't do any missions without her!" She cried indignantly. "Our rent's coming up, and without doing missions, we can't pay it off!"
Lucy stood up, the wooden bench clutter, as soon as the words rent came out of Wendy's mouth.
"R-r-rent?"
"Lucy?" Natsu looked up curious at the blonde, as she began convulsing.
"NOOOOO! MY RENT PAYMENT'S ALSO DUE THIS WEEK!" The blonde grabbed the arm of the fire dragonslayer next to her, and the tail of the blue cat reaching for another fruit. With impressive speeds unknown to man she raced towards the bulletin board, grabbed a poster and after it had been approved by Mirajane, she bolted out of the guild. Natsu and Happy flying out with her.
"WAIT, WHAT ABOUT CHARLE!" The blue exceed screamed as he was dragged away.
"WHAT ABOUT CHARLE?" Lucy's shriek could be heard receding into the distance.
"Neee, Lucy I want to eat something~!"
"I'll reward you after we get my rent money!"
Erza smiled thoughtfully, and her eyes wondered to the clock on the wall. "Oh, well it looks like it's time for me to do my mission too."
"Ehh! B-b-but, p-p-please you two, can't you help me with a mission!"
Erza gave Wendy an apologetic glance. "Sorry Wendy, Master assigned me and Gray a mission for today."
Gray stood up and gave Wendy a soft pat on her head. "Maybe next time, alright."
Both he and Erza left promptly after, leaving Wendy alone on the table. She rested her cheeks on the wooden table top and stared at the nothingness in front of her and sighed gloomily.
Juvia had emerged from the pillar she was peering out from, her eyes filled with unshed tears.
"W-what's wrong Juvia?"
"J-ju-" She sniffed. "JUVIA DIDN'T KNOW GRAY WAS A LOLICON!"
The blue haired water mage bolted away, wailing and ended up next to Gajeel. The Iron Dragon Slayer sighed grumpily and then stood up with Panther Lily, walking off. Wendy smiled a bit, and then made up her mind to join their group for a mission. She was fairly comfortable with Gajeel, and she felt that she could get along with Juvia even though she never really had any interaction with the water mage to begin with.
Her eyes turned, crestfallen as she watched Gajeel walk back to the wailing Juvia presented her with the mission poster, and the three sauntered out of the guild. Wendy slumped back onto the table, depressed and cursing her shy nature. She should've acted without hesitation.
Maybe getting a mission wasn't such a great idea after all. She should ask Ezra if she could extend the date for the payment.
She could feel tears wield up and she held back cough. And she thought she could prove Charlie wrong- that she could do a mission without her, that she grew as a person.
A mission poster was shoved in her face and she looked up and blinked surprised.
"Here, do this with me."
Wendy's eyes travelled up and then widened. It was the Natsu Fanatic.
"Ehh?"
"Look you were just looking pathetic over here."
Wendy couldn't comprehend the situation at hand. With all those glares he was giving her earlier, she could've sworn he hated her.
She gave him a shy smile and reached for the mission poster. He swatted her hand away, and held up a finger. "I'll do this mission with you- on one condition."
Wendy looked up astonished. "W-what is it?"
"Stay away from Natsu-nii!" He glowered.
"EHHH?"
Wendy should've expected as much, coming from the Natsu Fanatic, and his number one fan. She crossed her arms and gave him her best frown. But she wasn't going to stay away from him just because he told her too.
And that raised some serious questions, but she asked only one. "Why?"
He glared at her. After observing her a bit, he had deduced that she was pathetically shy, but he knew he was the pathetic shy one. He didn't expect her to ask, just… do.
Romeo sighed and handed her the mission poster, although he hadn't put in any effort to hide his bitterness.
"Here, just take it." He'd rather exploded into a million pieces before he told her he was jealous of how close she was to Natsu-nii. If only she wasn't so shy around people she wasn't so close too. He turned to walk away gloomily, but a tug on his shirt stopped him.
"Wha-" He turned back around to see the Sky Dragonslayer holding onto his shirt.
"What do you want now?" He asked, still sulking. Whether she knew it or not, he had clearly lost the will to deal with her.
"Conbalt-kun, please do this mission with me!"
"Why would I?" Psh, Kun? I'm older than you, you know.His eyebrows creased in thought. Well, technically she would be older than him, but physically he was older.
"B-b-because, I can't do this mission alone!" She stuttered, eyes squeezed shut.
Romeo looked down at the mission poster, scrunched up in her hand. Well, 70 000 jewels was a rather hefty reward, so it would be a hard mission to complete by yourself.
"Go and ask someone else" He mumbled. If only she wasn't so shy she could go and ask someone else- and then the issue of always hanging around Natsu-nii would be resolved.
…If only she wasn't so shy.
Romeo's eyes lit up with an idea and slammed his palms on the table triumphantly. Wendy jumped surprised at his sudden enthusiasm.
"I'll do this mission with you!" He smiled widely.
"O-ok." A bashful grin stretched across her face. "T-Thank you Conbolt-kun."
"Yeah, now go and get the mission registered for us with Mirajane!"
Wendy nodded happily and bounded away to the white haired bartender.
Romeo rubbed his hands together and grinned. "Now my real mission- to make her a confident person, so she doesn't have to hang around Natsu-nii so much."
Mirajane began writing in the registry book and glanced unsure at the small mage in front of her.
"Wendy-chan, are you sure you want to do this mission?"
Wendy looked up with questioning eyes.
"Well… it may be a bit difficult for you two."
The sky dragonslayer hesitated a bit, and bit her lips. She had skimmed the mission briefly and was brimming with confidence that since she had Romeo, they would be able to complete the mission. Her confidence began to drop.
So even Mirajane thought it would be too hard for us.
Mirajane gave her a kind smile. "How about we get you something easier."
She glided towards the mission bulletin, gently pushing the Sky dragonslayer along with her. Wendy felt herself being swept away, unable to refuse the bartender. Wendy looked up hesitantly, trying to put her hesitation into words. Oh, no Mirajane's going to pick us out another mission, and if she registers that we're doing it, then we'll have no choice but to complete it.
"Hey, what is taking you so long!"
Both Mirajane and Wendy turned around at the sound of Romeo's voice.
"Oh, Conbolt-kun!"
"Hurry up and register the mission!"
"O-oh w-well.."
Mirajane waltzed up to Romeo, smile wide.
"I was just suggesting to Wendy, that she should do an easier mission, it's much too dangerous for you two to do it alone."
Romeo crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Are you saying we aren't capable of doing it?"
"Well- no Its just-"
"Well no nothing, just register the mission, Mirajane" He suddenly grinned widely. "We aren't mages of Fairy Tail for no reason!"
Wendy watched admiringly at Romeo with large eyes. Convinced, Mirajane glided back over to the bar bench, and wrote down the details of their mission in her book. She handed them back the poster and wished them good luck as they existed the guild.
The two pre-teens walked along Magnolia's quiet cobblestone roads. Romeo with large confident strides, and Wendy head slightly downwards and small fumbling steps. Romeo stopped at a street and then turned to face her. Wendy's head snapped up immediately and gave him a nervous smile.
"Well let's drop by our places and grab our things, we'll meet at this street okay."
"Oh yeah..." She trailed off, eyes staring with contemplation into the distance.
"Err- Whats the matter?"
"Oh, um i-nothing much."
Romeo buried his hands in his pockets, something was clearly bothering her. "You know what. You're too shy, it's really annoying."
Wendy shrunk back at being told her weakness so abruptly. She looked down at the foot path and began scraping a particular spot with the sole of her sandals.
"I-I know…" She watched her feet sadly.
"Well that's good then."
Wendy immediately looked up at him with wonder dancing in her eyes.
"If you already know your weakness and acknowledge it, then try and work towards fixing it." He gave her a large boyish grin. It really reminded her of Natsu's friendly grin, but still had his own qualities in it.
Wendy stared at him, his words resounding through her mind. She began to tear up, and Romeo' eyes widened in shock. He stammered and flailed his arms around unsure of how to console her.
"Uh, look I'm sorry that I said some harsh things!"
Wendy set her lips in a straight line and shook her head.
"No?"
She took a deep breath in."T-thank you for your kind words!"
Romeo sighed relieved. GAH- did he just sigh? AND WITH RELIEF!
A scowl was set on his face which Wendy took notice off. She was sure he thought that his harsh words earlier had made her tear up.
"O-oh, no-it's just that your words were wonderful to hear."
"Uh- well thanks then, I guess" He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "I'm just going to pack my things then."
Wendy watched him walk away, an awkward silence hang in the air during his departure. Wendy bunched up her hands and with a spark of confidence that swelled within her she yelled after him in her loudest voice.
"ANNO- ROMEO-KUN, EARLIER I WAS UPSET B-B-BECAUSE I COULDN'T REFUSE MIRAJANE EALIER!"
Romeo stopped in his tracks.
"A-and if you wouldn't mind can you come with me to my dorm in Fairy Hills!" She shut her eyes, face flushed. "I-I don't want to face Charle by myself!"
Romeo turned around, a large smile set on his face, and Wendy flushed even more. He looked...
…Really handsome in the sunlight behind him.
"There you go, you can do it!"
"E-EH?"
"Just tell people what you feel once in a while, it won't hurt."
Wendy, still red face nodded briefly.
"Alright, I'll meet you at Fairy Hills when I'm done."
Wendy allowed a large smile of her own to grace her features, and skipped merrily towards her dorm. Romeo grinned all the way home, thinking of how his mission with her had progressed so far in only a few hours. He gave his arms a good stretch.
If only he knew what had await him at Fairy Hills and what future has planned for him.
Ahiyoooo readers! Those who have read the manga and know of the time skip has to agree that Wendy and Romeo would make the most darling couple! They're the same age! PERFECT, now Mashima-sensei give us some Romendy love! xD
Well whatever, they look cute to me, just my own senerio of how things would go on between them- and I mean Wendy does have a really shy personality- so if you guys don't agree, or tell me if I'm going overboard and making her too OOC, then please tell me. And with Romeo, I've molded his personality like his kiddish version AND YES I MADE HIM A NATSU FANATIC! xD Hahahha. Don't judge me for it :P ANNNNDDDDDDDDDDDDDD ANOTHER THING! The names really got me confused, like seriously! What is Romeo's last name! Before it was Cobolt, and now on WikiFairy tail its Conbolt =.= AND IS IT CHARLIE, OR CHARLE OR IS IT CARLE? YE GODS, I'm confused, so I just went with fanfiction's way of spelling it- which was Charle. GRRRR!
*End of rant*
Please look forward to the next chapter, and tell me what you think :)
JA NE,
Marina.