BlackLynx17: I have been MIA. I got a new job, training was eight hours a day, and I hardly had the will to wake up and live. Sorry. Thanks for sticking with me though. Enjoy.
Title: Love At First Sight
Secret Title: Pirate Love
Summary: Wendy is a princess forced to be married at the age of 18. It wouldn't be a problem for her if she had fallen in love with her fiance, but alas fate is not too kind. Determined to runaway to chose her own love, she runs into a nice man who rescues her from her guards. Thinking this man is her one true love, she decides to escape with him. She had no idea that her true love was a no good pirate.
Chapter Seven
Home
She feels like crying, so she does. It isn't a heavy cry though, Wendy only feels a few tears sliding down her cheeks. They're immediately wiped away and something damp is placed on her forehead. She peeks her eyes open and squeezes them tightly shut right after. Her vision is shot, the candlelight around the room burning her eyes. She tries again after a few seconds, powering through the pain and letting her eyes adjust.
The burning sensation fades away and she finds herself in an unfamiliar room. Wendy blinks and turns her head to the side, trying to figure out where she might be. There is a constant throbbing sensation coming from her head and the damp cloth falls off of her forehead as she turns to the side. She spies Mest there, leaning against the headboard beside her silently. Without a word he picks up the damp cloth and places it back on her forehead. Wendy's hands twitch as she tries to lift them up, but she can't seem to find the strength to move.
"Me-" she tries to speak, but her throat is so dry. Her mouth feels like it's filled with cotton.
"Shh, just rest. If you need to throw up again go ahead, I've got a bucket ready. I'm sure you're in pain right now, so just go back to sleep Wendy and you'll feel better when you wake up."
His voice sounds so drained and wounded tears fall down her cheeks again. He doesn't look alarmed as he grabs a cloth and wipes them all away. She remembers. She was angry at him. She was crushed when she saw him betraying her. She wanted to forget. God she wanted to forget, so she drank. He tried to stop her, to save her, but she didn't want that. She wanted to hurt him like he hurt her... she almost did something so stupid and regrettable. She was never going to go through with it, but to think that if she did...
"Mest," she croaks out.
"Wendy, listen-"
"I want to go home Mest." She cries.
Mest freezes. Home... home... no, she can't. He can't take her back there. He's only had her for a little while and all they've done is fight. He remembers the crying and arguing more than he remembers the happy times. He hasn't shown her what it means to be free, what it means to be a pirate. He hasn't fallen in love with her yet... she hasn't fallen in love with him yet. He doesn't want her to leave... but he can't stand to make her unhappy. He couldn't even keep her for a week... he knew she would realize that he wasn't the one, but still... he didn't even last a week.
"Rest up and I'll take you home as soon as you're better." Mest says brushing her tears away.
"No, I want to go back home to the ship now. I don't like this room or this bed. I want to go back and curl in our bed."
Mest flinches and pulls away, looking at Wendy's tear stained face. He clears his throat and asks as softly as he can.
"You want to go back home?"
Wendy sniffs as she nods her head.
"And where is that? Wendy?"
"Stop being mean to me. I already told you, back to the ship. Back to Vermillion."
She thinks that his ship is home. She thinks that the Vermillion is her home. She doesn't want to return back to Fiore, she wants to return back home. His home, their home. Relief spreads throughout his entire body, relief and happiness.
"Please Wendy, go back to sleep. As soon as you wake up I promise you'll be back home. The town's asleep now though and so should you be."
"No," she whines, shaking her head.
Mest sighs and looks around the room. What more can he do? He gets up out of bed and gathers their things, wrapping her around tightly in a blanket as he picks her up. Wendy closes her eyes shut and leans against his chest as he carries her. The town is dead and the moonlight is his only friend as he makes the long trip back to their home. He hopes she realizes how much he does for her. He hopes she realizes how much she means to him. He hopes he realizes that he can never stand it when she's sad and begging for something within his reach.
Mest opens his eyes and jerks up. He didn't mean to fall asleep; he was supposed to stay up and watch her just in case anything happened. He checks the bed and doesn't find her there. Mest jumps out of bed and looks around, his heart stopping when he sees her lying face first down on the floor. He reaches out and rolls her around, placing his hand over her forehead. She doesn't feel like she has a fever or anything of the sort. Wendy moans as she flutters open her eyes.
"Water," her voice cracks.
Mest nods his head and picks her up, lying her on their bed. Because he fell asleep she rolled right off and slept on the floor, once again. Stupid. He walks over to the table and grabs the pitcher he set up when they returned last night to the Vermillion. He pours her a glass and walks back to her side, pressing it against her lips and holding her head up as she sips. Wendy swallows down the glass and sighs out, feeling her voice come back to her. She clears her throat and looks back up at Mest, a frown on her lips.
"I'm sorry," she tells him.
Mest chuckles and shakes his head, "it doesn't matter Wendy, as long as you feel better."
"No, it does. I don't care if you broke your promise, I don't care how much you hurt me, I shouldn't have tried to get back at you. I shouldn't have gotten drunk and tried to forget about you. I should have spoken with you and been honest."
His eyebrows narrow, "broke a promise? Hurt you? Wendy, what are you talking about?"
"I was hurt. I only planned on ignoring you after those women threw themselves towards you, but then I saw you disappear upstairs with one of them and-" a sob catches in her throat as tears threatens to fall.
Mest's face tightens as he tries to recall what she's talking about. Their day was going perfect, the two of them having fun until a few women of his past had to go and ruin it all. He was clear that he had no interest in them; he expressed just that and stayed by Wendy's side. She was pouting though and went to their friends as soon as entered the meet up spot. He went to get a drink and then his hat got stolen and he-
His eyes widen and he shakes his head sharply, "no Wendy, never would I break a promise with you! Never would I make you cry on purpose! Pirates still have some amount of honor, what I swore to you I'd never break!"
"I don't care Mest, I don't want to talk about it. I just want to stay with you-"
"Wendy, I didn't sleep with her. That woman you saw with me stole my hat. That's all. Yes I knew her, yes I clearly told her I wasn't interested, but she took it and I chased her upstairs to get it back. As soon as I did I got more drinks and then returned back down to see you dancing and acting crazy. Nothing happened at all. I don't bare any love marks, you can check yourself."
Wendy slowly blinks the tears from her eyes, "I feel even more horrible now because I didn't trust you. I tried to hurt you and you didn't deserve it one bit. You don't deserve to be stuck with someone as wicked as me. I hurt you so badly and you still cared for me-" she's sobbing so hard she can't make any complete sentences.
Mest sighs and pulls her into his arms, stroking her hair as he comforts her.
"No Wendy, it's my fault. Of course you would think that after seeing what happened before, about knowing how... dishonorable I was before. It was only natural."
"Stop being so nice to me! Be mean, it isn't helping me at all!"
He chuckles and holds her tighter, letting her cry and hopefully tire herself out again. Wendy just cries until she's hungry though and ends up sniffling.
"I don't like me," she whispers.
"Well that's a shame because I like you a lot." Mest whispers back.
She thinks she feels something close to love for him at this moment. She's a terrible woman, a terrible princess. She overreacts, she gets jealous for no reason, she wants to take advantage of his kindness, of his heart. She wants it for her own. She wants to stay with him despite all the pain she caused.
"Please say something mean to me," she mutters into his shoulder.
Mest groans, "I can't believe you let yourself get drunk and dance on top of a table. I'm very disappointed in you Wendy."
She flinches.
"No, I mean, I didn't mean it- you wanted-"
"No Mest, it's okay. Keep going, I want to hear more."
He bites his lip, "and to let men stare at what doesn't belong to them, what will never belong to them. To let your hair down and allow them see your beautiful self. I almost killed people last night over you. Do you know that?"
Wendy snuggles into the crook of his neck and sighs out peacefully. Goosebumps appear all over Mest's body and he stills.
"And um... and uh... you did quite a bit of damage with your kicking. Nearly got me in the face when I tried to save you and ah... you threw up all over my boots and those were my favorite pair."
Wendy giggles, "I'm sorry Mest. I'll make it all up to you and then some. Please forgive me."
"Well... hmm... I don't know if I should... but I guess, alright. You twisted my arm about it."
"I wonder if we're ever going to get this right," she hums.
"What right?"
"Us."
…
…
"Oh," Mest says.
…
…
"As long as we both don't give up, I think we will."
Wendy smiles and pulls away from him. She yawns softly and rests her head down against the pillows. Mest gets up and pulls the blankets over her, stroking her hair away from her face before he does the very brave thing of kissing her forehead softly.
"Go back to sleep."
"But I'm hungry."
"Then sleep while I go get you something to eat."
She yawns and closes her eyes, shaking her head.
"You don't fight fair."
"Never said I did kid, never said I did."
He can taste blood in his mouth. Yup, right there, blood. People are yelling, he's just lying there on the floor trying to ignore the pain, there are feet gathering around him, arms helping him up. Mest looks over at Natsu with a glare, one of his own meeting back at him as blood (his blood) drips from his fist.
"I can't believe you would do that to Wens! I thought she was your wife! How could you hurt her like that?!" Natsu accuses him.
So maybe Wendy didn't come up with that conclusion by herself. It makes sense to Mest that Natsu would help her get there. He's proud though, just a little bit. Natsu clearly cares about Wendy and is willing to kick his ass when he hurts her. Good, he needs a good ass kicking when he does, but not when he's done nothing wrong... and maybe it isn't good that Natsu cares about his Wendy so much.
"I didn't hurt her; nothing happened. I already explained it to Wendy and she's forgiven me. You all didn't understand what you saw."
"You- you- you!... Huh?" Natsu asks, stopping his struggling and standing there with a blank expression on his face, "you didn't cheat on our Wendy?"
"No."
"And you're not a no good scoundrel?"
"Last time I checked, not really."
"Oh," Natsu ponders rubbing the back of his head, "well then I guess I owe you an apology Captain."
"Nope. Don't think I've forgotten how you let Wendy get drunk last night and caused this problem," Mest murmurs darkly.
Natsu's eyes go wide and he starts pointing fingers, "Gajeel! Levy! Lucy! And Juvia were all there with me! We were all buying her drinks!"
"NATSU!"
"Then the five of you can enjoy scrubbing the decks for the rest of the day. Don't let it happen again."
"GOD DAMMIT NATSU! YOU SNITCH!"
Mest walks away from his crew and towards Mirajane behind the counter. She's leaning against her hand, a small smile on her face as she watched everything unfold.
"Can I get some food please?" Mest asks, tapping his busted lip and seeing blood on his fingertips.
"Quite a wild night, huh?" Mirajane quirks an eyebrow.
"One I would like to forget."
"She's only been here for two days and look at all the trouble that's brewed."
"Don't remind me, food? Please?"
Mirajane sighs and disappears to prepare the food. She comes back out a minute later with breakfast for two and slides him over the tray.
"You really didn't cheat on your wife, did you?"
"Of course not."
"Just checking. Erza said we made a big score from what we sold. We'll be set for a while so we should go on another treasure hunt after we restock."
"Maybe, we'll see."
"Elfman picked up everything you asked for; it should have been hanging on your door-"
"I got the bags, tell him thank you."
Mirajane giggles and stares into Mest's eyes, "pretty impatient to get back, huh?"
He doesn't deem that necessary to answer and heads back to his quarters. It's a challenge opening up the door with his hands full, a challenge he passes as he slips in and closes the door behind him with his foot.
"Wendy?" He calls out.
"Hmm?" Wendy hums, but doesn't change her position.
"Breakfast."
Her stomach growls making him chuckle as he walks over to her bedside and sits down at the corner, holding out a tray of what seems to be her favorite meal. Mirajane's special porridge.
"Ah- this might actually be too heavy for you. If you feel like throwing up please tell me; I rather you do it in a bucket and not on my bed." Mest grimaces.
"I'll eat slow," Wendy mumbles sitting up.
She gasps and takes a good look at his face, her hands automatically reaching out to touch his lips.
"What happened?"
"Don't worry about it, just a small scuffle with Natsu. Eat." Mest orders, leaving no room to argue.
She wears a frown, but accepts the bowl he offers. He watches her take a bite before taking one of his own, planning on eating slowly just in case she ends up wanting seconds.
"Eflman picked up your clothes; the bags are in the corner over there... um, you can leave them here if you like, or put them away in the girl's room. Wherever you feel more comfortable with."
"You bought me a lot, I think I can do both." She smiles warmly at him.
Mest shoves the spoon in his mouth and pretends to enjoy it.
"Promise me you'll stop me if I ever try to drink again; I don't believe I can handle this throbbing pain in my head."
"That's already a given. I'm never going to let you have another drink again, although the more you drink the more you get used to the hangovers. You just have to pace yourself correctly."
Wendy licks her lips and stares over at Mest, "what's your favorite meal?"
"Mirajane makes these mean jerky biscuits; I swear I could inhale dozens and still want more. You?"
"It was this weird salad dish the chefs at the castle could only make when certain flowers were in bloom. There would be actually flowers inside of the salad, which is weird, but it looked so beautiful and tasted so delicious. Hehehe, I remember eating the flowers in the garden thinking they would taste the same when I was younger."
Mest chuckles under his breath, "I can see you doing that. Favorite... hmm..."
"Color? That's important. I really like the color white; it makes all other colors brighter."
"I have to say I'm really loving blue again. Black was everything to me, but now..." Mest lets the sentence die as he reaches out and brushes his fingers through her hair.
Wendy swallows her meal and blushes a bit, licking her lips again before speaking, "do you think you could brush my hair?"
Mest coughs, "what?"
"Brush it? I mean, you don't have to. It's just really long and back at the castle I would have servants do it. I never really knew how tough of a job it was until I had to do it myself. My hair is a lot longer than I thought it was. Maybe I should let Erza cut it." Wendy mumbles playing with the ends.
"No! Don't! Just wait there," Mest exclaims getting up.
He places his bowl of porridge down and goes looking through his drawers. He knows he has a brush here somewhere; he uses it to brush down his hair down whenever his fingers can't do the trick. He cheers when he finds it and walks back to the bed, shaking it in his hand at Wendy. She smiles gently and fixes her position, turning around and sitting with her legs to the side.
Mest reaches out for her hair and touches it, feels its softness, lets the strands curl against his fingers as he gathers it all up, and pulls it towards him as he starts at the top and brushes down. A shiver runs down her spine and Wendy sighs out lightly as she relaxes.
"Are we going to be leaving Dawn Island soon?"
"We've already left it."
"Oh... so where are we heading now?"
"Well we made a good profit from what we sold, so usually we'll stock up on supplies and go chasing after treasure."
Wendy gasps and turns around to face him, "treasure? Really?"
"Look ahead unless you want me to stop. Yes, real treasure. We have a couple of treasure maps that we haven't used yet. It takes a long time treasure hunting, so we usually only go when we've made a big score in stealing things from places. I suppose I'll talk it over with the crew, and if everyone is on board, we will begin our journey."
"Wow. I hope we find something amazing. What's the best treasure you've ever found?"
Mest hands stop moving from shock. As soon as the words left her mouth the answer immediately came to mind. He was staring at it right now. It came so instantly... he didn't have time to doubt. He won't say it out loud, no, no he won't. Mest goes back to brushing her hair.
"I don't know, but I remember this one time we had to dig like... twelve feet underground. It felt like forever and I had almost given up, but finally I hit something solid and the rewards was plenty. That helped furnish the comfortable room you sleep in today. Don't really have a fancy for sparkling jewels, although rings I do enjoy."
"Rings are okay I guess, I like necklaces better."
Mest snorts, "for a second I thought you were going to say tiaras princess."
Wendy giggles, "no! Wearing a tiara was so painful, it would always get tangled in my hair. I prefer pirate hats."
"I've taught you well then."
Wendy smiles and Mest laughs, the two of them locked in their own little world.
