I can see something like this happening. Can't you? Hope ya like it! :D


Romeo walked through the streets of Magnolia, a small green bag slung over one shoulder and sporting a dozen various wounds despite the smile on his face. The people in the street paid no attention to the fact he limped badly in his left leg or that one of his eyes was swollen shut. They just smiled and waved hello, welcome back, to the sixteen-year-old as he hobbled down the street and to the path that led up to the guild.

He was excited, despite the aches he felt with every movement he made. He'd been gone for almost a month on this last mission he'd taken, one that had proven way more difficult than the flyer had said it would be. He should've been gone only a week or two. And he knew that the guild would be a frantic mess waiting for his return. He was excited for that reason, coming back to put their minds at ease, maybe brag a bit about how he had successfully saved the little village from the creatures plaguing it, and hopefully, if she was there, see his girlfriend, Wendy Marvell.

He had missed her a lot on this mission. With every blow he had taken, he had imagined her there chastising him for letting himself get so injured, frantically buzzing about with her healing magic flowing around him. He'd never admit it (he'd want to look strong for Natsu-nii and the others) but she was mostly he reason he'd been able to win this battle. He knew he'd have her to come home to.

Finally he limped up to the guild's main doors. Smiling still, he pushed the doors open and shouted, "I'm home!"

There was instant chaos as the guild members leaped up around him, crashing into him and asking where the heck he'd been this month. His dad was there, fussing over him nearly as much as Mira and Cana. Natsu was yelling somewhere in the crowd, demanding that he be let through so he could see his little brother…

But, to Romeo's disappointment, he couldn't hear or see Wendy anywhere.

Mirajane was dragging him over to the bar, commanding him to sit on one of the stools so she could bandage him up. He obeyed, feeling immense relief as the medicine she gave him took the edge off the pain he'd felt for a couple days now. Still, he thought a little glumly, I'd feel better if Wendy were healing me.

So Romeo opened his mouth and asked, "Where's Wendy?"

Lucy glared at him and said, "You've worried her sick, Romeo! She's been staying in her apartment since Tuesday panicking that you're out there dying somewhere! She's supposedly going to start searching for you tomorrow if you didn't turn up."

Romeo frowned. He started to get up, but Mirajane held him back with a grip that sent chills down his spine. "Romeo, you better stay still," she warned. "I'm not done. You can go see Wendy when you've stopped bleeding all over the place."

"But…!"

"Do you wanna die?" hissed Natsu in his ear. "Shut up and do what she says!"

Romeo wanted to roll his eyes but was afraid Mira would think it was aimed at her. So he reluctantly stayed still and let Mira dab at his wounds with a rag, fretting over the fact he'd worried Wendy so badly. He hadn't meant to. He would've sent word over that it would take longer than he'd thought, but there wasn't much time when a monster was trying to eat your face off when the notion crossed your mind . . . .

"So what happened, son?" Macao asked suddenly, and then the fire mage found himself bombarded with questions again, unable to regret worrying the Dragon Slayer any longer as he struggled to answer all the guild members' questions. He'd go to Wendy later…


Wendy wiped at her eyes for the millionth time that month, sniffling as she held the little round lacrima in her hand. The flickering image inside was of a dark-haired boy coming up behind her and lifting her off her feet bridal-style while she squeaked, surprised, and demanded he put her down, but he only laughed at her. Her Romeo.

He'd been gone for a little over a month now on a request that should've taken a few days. He was so reckless on missions, always picking something that Natsu would pick despite her urging him to pick something his own style, something that wouldn't keep him away for days at a time. It wasn't much of a surprise to her he'd finally snatched up something that was way too much for him to handle. She'd always suspected that might be the end of him one day. But now she didn't even know if he was dead or alive, sick or well. And she couldn't do anything.

It was killing her.

The image stopped rolling, so Wendy shook the lacrima a bit and watched the scene play again. She wiped at her eyes another time and, when the scene stopped again, she finally set the lacrima down and got to her feet. She went to her bed and crouched down beside it, pulling a large beige satchel from underneath, the one that she took with her on her missions. She set it on top of the bed, undid the latch, and began piling medicine, bandages, and clothes into it.

She was not going to sit around anymore while her boyfriend could be in a potential life-or-death situation.

Wendy was going to go find him.

Suddenly there was a loud knock from the front door, startling her, but she didn't turn around. Instead she shouted over her shoulder, "Lucy-san, I know you don't think it's safe for me to go out there, but I'm not leaving him out there any—"

"Wendy! I'm home!"

In an instant Wendy had dropped the bag and flown to the door, yanking at the lock and pulling the door wide open. Tears welled in her eyes.

There he was, battered and bruised, favoring his left leg and still managing to flash her that smile that made her go weak in the knees. But, more important, he was alive.

"Hey, Wen!" he said cheerfully. "Lucy-nee told me you were at your apartment, and I just got back, so I stopped by to say hi—"

"Romeo!" She flung her arms around his neck, making him stumble into the wall behind him. She buried her face in his shoulders, tears streaming down her cheeks, gasping out, "You…You idiot! I-I was s-so scared y-you were d-d-dead!"

His arms wrapped around her shoulders in a comforting way. Romeo murmured, "Aw, c'mon…it takes more than a couple creepy-crawlies to knock me down."

"I-I was scared! I w-was scared!" she just kept uttering into his shoulder.

Romeo went quiet for a moment, listening to her hiccups and mutterings. Finally he whispered, "I'm so sorry I scared you." His voice held genuine regret and concern, snapping her out of her meltdown.

Wendy quickly backed away from him, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "S-Sorry…did I hurt you?"

"Nah," Romeo said, shrugging and then wincing at the movement, and Wendy knew she most definitely had. But he just kept smiling at her. She loved that smile.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" she said fiercely, poking his chest gently with her forefinger.

Romeo smiled again and held out his hand, pinky finger extended towards her. "I promise."

Wendy smiled back for the first time that month as she wound her pinky around his. He was right.

It would take more than that to knock them down.