"I can't do this."
It was the thought that suffocated her, the thought that she never thought in a hundred years that she would think on this day. A thought that she never thought she'd think with him! A thought that she feared would come to her mind at the last stretch before their big day. A thought she had just said out loud for the world to hear, for her to hear, and now that she had said it out loud... she knew it was true.
"I can't do this." Wendy whispered again, her eyes widening as she realized that she really meant that.
"What was that Wendy?" Chelia asked, fixing her flower crown on her head to make it less crooked.
"I can't go through with this!" Wendy screamed, standing up from her chair.
Everyone in the room froze. Chelia's eyes widened as she stared at the bride-to-be in the mirror, Lucy ran the lipstick she was applying on her lips right across her cheek making a bright red line, Cana laughed as she pulled out her bottle of booze from under her dress and started drinking, and Erza froze right as she was adding the last flower to the flower bouquet.
Immediately all attention went on Wendy, who was hyperventilating as she clenched her hands against her wedding gown. She was shaking a bit, barely able to get oxygen in her lungs as she realized what she was about to do.
"I can't do this!" She screamed again.
"Yeah, yeah, we heard you the first time. Stop yelling," Cana hiccuped nursing her bottle.
"Code red girls, we have a code red, a very serious code red. What do you mean you can't go through with this?!" Lucy asked, running to herself.
"I'm saying I can't do it! I can't do it!" Wendy yelled.
"But we're all here! Everything is ready and set, all the guests are here, we're about to walk you down the aisle right now!" Lucy told her.
"That's not helping her Lucy! Wendy? Is everything alright?" Chelia asked walking over.
She wanted to touch her friend in some way to show her comfort, but she was scared she would ruin her look. She didn't want to get to close and accidentally step on her flowing wide wedding gown that shinned and shimmered, nor touch her arm and give her a hug afraid she might crush the flowers incorporated into her collar, and rubbing the top of her head was immediately out of the question with the amount of hours it took to braid and wrap her long, silky midnight hair just right into the perfect bun with small strands sticking out, beautiful strands sticking out just perfectly.
It was the perfect wedding dress for someone like Wendy. As white as snow, modestly showing the right amount of chest with fresh blue and white flowers wrapped around her collar and covered her hair like small sparkling snowflakes. There were lace and ribbons covering her waist and arms, small fluffy wings on the back of her dress truly making her look like an angel, no, a goddess. Whoever was marrying her was going to be the luckiest man on this planet.
"Haven't you been hearing what I've been saying? I can't do this! I can't get married today!" Wendy exclaimed.
"Is it just today? Or is it Mest that you can't get married too?"
She was trying really hard not to cry, afraid that it'll ruin her make-up if on the small chance she decided to get married today- no, she wasn't going to. She wasn't going to do this.
"I'm running away!" Wendy gasped, picking up her wedding dress and running towards the door.
"Wendy, calm down. Don't make me slap you in order for you to take a deep breath, because I will on your wedding day." Erza said blocking the door.
Wendy took a deep breath and tried to calm down, but her racing heart would not slow down no matter what.
"There you go, breathe in, breathe out. So now are you going to tell us all why you can't get married today? On the happiest day of your life?"
"Well, just think about it. I'm getting married, married!" She gasped.
All the girls nodded their heads, "and?"
"And once I get married I'll be married and always be married! I'll never be Wendy Marvell ever again! My Marvell name is going to die with me being the last Marvell!"
The four girls all looked at each other.
"And why would that be a bad thing?"
"It's not! But what if I want to carry on my Marvell name?!"
"I'm sure Mest wouldn't mind at all changing his last name to Marvell." Chelia said.
"But what if our marriage doesn't work out?! We've had so many complications before, he's lied to me, betrayed me, his magic is literally teleportation and memory erasing! What if he's cheating on me and I never find out because he keeps erasing my memories! What happens if we fight so badly I want a divorce and he erases that fight to make it never happen! What if he alters my memories and makes me think I'm something else! A slave! A housekeeper or sister so he can go out and sleep with all the women in Magnolia!"
"Okay Wendy, you're blowing this way out of portion; everything you listed right there are things that Mest would never do, especially like last one." Cana said.
"But how do you know that?! How do I know that?! Do I even know Mest?!" Wendy screamed out.
"Know him? You two have been dating for ten years now! Known each other for fifteen! How could you not know him?!"
"I don't know what shoe he puts on first! I don't know how many breathes he takes per minute! I have no idea how long it takes him to brush his teeth!"
"Why on Earth would you need to know these things Wendy?!" Chelia was giggling now because she couldn't believe what was coming out of her best friend's mouth.
"Why wouldn't I need to know? These things are important."
"How is knowing what shoe he puts on first important?" Erza asked, really wanting to know the answer to that question.
"I don't know, but it is. Watch, that might decide the fate of our whole marriage and will you just move Erza so I can make my escape!" Wendy screamed trying to walk past her.
"Wendy, dear, darling, please calm down. You're just getting a little jumpy, I was the same way when I married Natsu. I went through with it though and I'm the happiest I've been in years. You're just nervous because there's so many people out there and all their eyes are going to be on you, but you shouldn't be because we are all your friends." Lucy told her softly.
"You guys... I'm freaking out right now." Wendy whispered.
"Duh, we can tell that Wendy. All of us can tell that," Chelia said, "but there's no reason to. You're about to marry the love of your life, the man you've been dreaming about since you first met and the man you've been trying to get since you were like... young! You finally have him Wendy, you're finally about to marry him. Take a deep breath and let's get out there so we can all see your happy ending." Chelia told her.
Wendy took a deep breath and sighed out, "alright, I'm feeling better... but also a little bit hungry. Can I have a snack?" Wendy asked Erza.
"Of course, you're just hungry. I get crazy when I'm hungry too, I'll be right back. Lucy, fix her gown a little bit." Erza said before leaving the room.
"That's right, you're just hungry and a little tired since we've been up all morning trying to get you to look perfect." Lucy said fixing her dress, puffing it out at some parts while at others she patted it down.
"Oh, I forgot to ask Erza for some drink. Do you think you can get my some Lucy? All that screaming and yelling has made my voice parch, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to say I do if I don't quench it." Wendy pouted.
"Of course Wendy, stay right here and I'll be right back." Lucy nodded heading out the door.
Wendy pouted and walked over into the mirror, looking at herself in the reflection. She truly was beautiful today, so mature, her dark brown eyes shining in the reflection, her blue hair and flowers standing right out. Her heels made her taller than she seemed, which she loved, and her dress complimented her body so well it did wonders.
"Chelia?"
"Yes Wendy?"
"I"m sorry, but could you get Carla for me? She's over helping the guys and probably giving Mest a lecture to never hurt me. I really need her to talk some sense into me, so please can you get her?" Wendy asked.
"Of course, having Charlie here might actually talk some sense into you. I'll be right back." Chelia nodded heading for the door.
As soon as it closed Cana gave out a small burp and scratched her cheek, "you're running away right now, aren't you?"
"Of course. Tell everybody I'm sorry," Wendy said walking to the door.
"Go through the window, you won't get spotted as easily that way."
Wendy froze and nodded her head, "thanks for that."
She headed towards the window and opened it right up, sticking on foot out onto the roof before the other. Right when she was about to stick her head out, Cana whistled out to her.
"So you're really going to do this?"
Wendy looked up and stared at her.
"Once you leave that's probably it for him. You're never going to be able to get Mest back after doing this to him. Then again if you don't want to marry him you probably never wanted him to begin with."
Wendy frowned to herself and finally left, jumping right off the roof and letting the wind help her land. She picked up her dress and started taking off, running as fast as her legs could carry her. There wasn't a lot of people out in the streets, all of them inside of the church awaiting to see her wedding. It made it easier to escape. Where to though? There's no where she could hide in Magnolia that he wouldn't find her. So the next town? Maybe in the forest at Porlyusica's home?
Where ever her feet could take her she would continue on running until her last breath. This was what she wanted... right? This is what she desired? She couldn't marry him, especially now that she's ran away. And exactly what was so wrong with Mest again? What had changed? She remembered their first meeting, how kind he was to her, remembered their first mission, how much he protected her. She remembered their first dates, their first kiss, all the small moments they had together, all the big moments they had together, she remembered to loved him...
Where was she running right now?
Wendy stopped and took a deep breath, looking to see how far she had gotten. She spotted the park around her, a few kids running around and playing on the slides and swings. Her heart stopped beating and her entire being froze as she saw a man sitting down on the park bench, leaning against his hand, his black hair spiking up everywhere despite how much he tried to tame it for their special day. Wendy slowly walked over to the person wearing the white suit, his tie on straight, not a wrinkle or spot of dirt on it. He turned suddenly hearing high heels so close to him and widened his eyes at the sight.
"How did you know?" The two of them asked at the same exact time.
The two narrowed their eyes at the question, "know what?"
They repeated the same words again at the same time, answering each others questions, "know that I ran?"
"YOU RAN?!"
The two of them got very quiet and Mest scooted over, making room for Wendy to sit down at next to him. He took a deep breath and covered his face with his hands, running them down his face.
"I wasn't going to leave you at the alter, I want to marry you Wendy. You're the love of my life, you're all I've ever wanted. When everyone was surrounding me and talking to me and telling me all about us... I just needed some fresh air so I did a quick teleport here to get some."
"Lucky, I had to climb out of a window and run all the way here," Wendy pouted.
Mest looked over at her, "you were going to leave me?"
"Yes. No, I don't know Mest. I'm just... I'm feeling all nervous inside and scared, I don't know if this is what I want anymore." She said, her voice cracking, but she still refused for tears to fall out.
"You look beautiful you know; I would have passed out seeing you walk down the aisle." Mest said, smiling gently at her.
Wendy giggled a little and rubbed underneath her eyes gently, "the girls have been working on me since early this morning."
"I'm in love with the result."
Wendy stared down at her hands and brought them together, playing with her fingers, "what if I'm not good? At being a wife. What if I'm not any good at it? What if I'm a failure and you end up hating me? Resenting me for it and wake up realizing I'm not what you hoped and dreamed I would be. Our life is so perfect right now Mest, everything is going so well and I'm afraid that something bad will happen if we change that and I don't want to lose you! I don't! Because I love you Mest. I love you so much, so very much I don't want to risk anything happening to us."
"Wendy... what's going to change? We're still going to be with each other, love each other. We're still going to be living together, still go on missions, you're still going to be cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner while I take secret lessons to try and not kill us with my own cooking. Nothing is really going to change, except I'll be able to introduce you as my wife instead of my girlfriend and call you Mrs. Gryder."
Wendy blinked gently, "oh... that doesn't really sound too bad... you promise nothing will change between us Mest?"
"Of course things are going to change, nothing stays the same forever, but between us things are only going to change for the better. I'm not going to suddenly wake up Wendy and not want you, I'm not going to think I'm chained down by you for life. For the good times and the bad times I'm vowing to stay with you between both."
Wendy finally let those tears run down her cheeks as she reached out and hugged her soon-to-be husband.
"I'm ready to marry you Mest," she whispered in his ear.
Mest chuckled a little, "I'm ready to marry you too Wendy, since the first day I've seen you."
The next second the two of them were standing down the aisle together in each others arms as everyone started freaking out as the bride and groom suddenly appearing in the church.
"Oops, I'm supposed to be the only one here." Mest chuckled teleporting Wendy to her dressing room where five angry girls were ready to kill her for leaving so suddenly.
"See you down the aisle Wendy," Mest smiled kissing her cheek softly before teleporting back into the church.
"WHERE DID YOU GO?!" They screamed at her, but before she could even answer the five of them were pushing her around and fixing her up again, shoving her down the hallway towards the aisle. One by one they started walking down with the groomsmen, each of them glaring at her silently saying 'if you run we'll catch you'. Wendy didn't feel like running anymore though, she was actually really happy right now and couldn't wait to get down that aisle.
"You ready, dear?" Porlyusica asked holding out her arm.
"Yup!" She nodded with a smile.
"Can you explain why the others were acting crazy earlier?"
"It doesn't really matter anymore, I know what I want and it's definitely him in my life. I'm ready for this next step in our lives, I'm ready to give myself to him."
Porlyusica smiled lightly and pulled the veil over her face, "then let's not keep them waiting."
The music started playing and the two of them started walking down the aisle. Wendy looked at the end and saw Mest there, her future, smiling and grinning brightly as his eyes were drawn to her and only her. Wendy smiled widely back, her heart about to beat out of her chest.
Mrs. Mest Gryder... it really did have a nice ring to it.
THE END