BlackLynx17: Fun fact about me! I have a secret account on another fanfiction site where I post my TodoDeku fanfics that I had stopped... only to restart after reading the CUTEST story about them. Now I'm writing BNHA fanfictions again and it's like crazy how much I'm writing and I wish I could stop, but I'm probably not going to. I'll always love my Mendy though. Kind of sad that my NatsuxLucy drive faded away because they really were my favorite couple to write about when I first started... I don't know why Mest and Wendy survived the test of time.


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 Twenty-Three

New Members


"What do you mean we have a rodent problem?" Mest groans, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

Mirajane says nothing else as she holds up her sack of grains; it has clearly been gnawed at the bottom with grains falling out of it and onto the floor. Mest sighs out loudly as he rubs his face. He hates rats. Hates them with every fiber of his body and for those filthy creatures to be living on his ship?

"I couldn't tell what the droppings were at first, but now it makes sense." Mirajane mutters placing the bag back on the floor, "I'm going to have to scrub my kitchen clean now. It's going to take forever to wash everything."

"I'll make sure everyone pitches in to help; they're going to have to if they want to eat. Have you set out any traps?"

"Yes, but it doesn't seem to be doing any good. These rodents seem to be smart, or maybe too big for the small mouse traps I have out."

Mest flinches slightly; too big for the traps? How big are these creatures? Monstrous sizes? A shiver runs down his spine. He definitely doesn't want to see them at all.

"What do you suggest then?"

Mirajane hums, "let's head back to Gosa Village; I saw a pet shop while we were there. We can buy a couple of cats and let them roam free. I'm sure they'll catch all the rats and kill them. It'll solve our problem and then we can just get rid of them next time we land."

Mest nods his head, yes. Cats he can deal with. Rats, no, no, no, no, no.

"I'll tell Erza the change in plans then. Do we have someone who knows anything about animals so we won't be tricked and be sold domestic felines?"

"Take Elfman, he'll know what we're looking for. Our parents used to run a pet store when they were alive and he'd help out the most."

"Perfect, I'll do just that then. Excuse me Mira, I'll send someone to help you to clean and restock everything when we land again."

"Thanks Captain."

Mest walks out of the kitchen and shivers to himself. Ugh, he can't stand those type of creatures. What if one of them get into his room? What if he hears it scurrying around in the middle of the night? He'd grab his gun in an instant and start shooting everything that moves... Wendy wouldn't like being woken up like that.

"Ah- Erza! Change of plans, we need to head back into town. Turn this ship around." Mest calls out, seeing her pass by.

"Why Captain?" Erza asks looking back.

He didn't notice Wendy when she first passed, but now he does as she peeks behind her and smiles.

"Yeah, why Captain?" She mimics like a parrot.

"We have a... rat situation."

Erza's lips turn down, "rats?"

"Yes, they've gotten into our food supplies. Mira wants to get some cats to kill them all and saw a shop selling them at our previous stop. We're going to send Elfman down to get one."

"Ugh, I'll go tell Laxus right away; he's at the helm. The sooner we get rid of those things the better. Mice I can deal with, Bisca has the cutest pet, but rats? Ugh," Erza shivers walking away.

Wendy doesn't follow after and stares up at Mest, her eyes sparkling.

"Did you say... we're going to be getting some kitties?" She whispers.

Mest blinks, "...no Wendy."

"But Mest-"

"No. No pets on the sea, and no getting attached to them once we get them either. We only need them to handle our rodent problem. If we actually keep these cats it'll be a nightmare. They would only cause trouble and what if they fall overboard? They'll drown Wendy; they're not meant for a life at sea."

"And yet humans are?" Wendy asks raising an eyebrow.

Mest stays stern though, "my answer is no. I'm sorry love."

Wendy pouts and crosses her arms over her chest, "you're mean."

"I'm practical. Now, have you seen Elfman? I need to talk to him about the cats; Mira said he should be the one to get them."

Wendy shrugs and Mest pats the top of her head before leaving. She pouts and stares off into the ocean. Cats. She wants a pet cat. She had a few living back in the castle, but they were never really hers. She could never play with them, or feed them, or chase after them. They were more like decorations like everything else in the castle. She longed to have a pet of her very own... so she just needed to convince Mest to let her keep the cute little kittens that they will get. Once they do a good enough job, surely he'll see their value and let her keep them. Or maybe Wendy just needs to make sure that there are plenty of rats so they can stay forever... that idea doesn't seem very good, she should go with the other one. Mest did mention Elfman getting the cute little creatures. Maybe she should head into town with him to help pick them out.

A smile appears on her face and she giggles into her hand.


"Has anyone seen Wendy?" Mest asks.

He hasn't seen her once since they've docked back on the island. Half the crew went out to buy more supplies, the other half staying on board to help Mirajane with her cleaning. Elfman left half an hour ago and should be coming back soon. He hasn't seen his Wendy since the conversation they had earlier this morning.

"Didn't she go on land with the others?" Bisca asks him.

"Did she? I don't remember seeing her wander off," Mest frowns.

She knows she's supposed to tell him whenever she's leaving without him. If not for her safety, then for his peace of mind.

"Actually I see her coming right now with it looks like... Elfman." Bisca says, narrowing her eyes.

Mest turns around and glares, in fact seeing his wife heading towards the ship hugging a cage close to her chest along with Elfman. That sneaky little wife of his. He waits until they come aboard, ready to lecture her... but pauses for a moment seeing the bright smile on her face. Elfman walks in after her, carrying a cage of his own in his hands as he heads towards him.

"Hey Mest, got just what we needed." Elfman smiles placing the cage down gently on the floor.

"How many?" Mest asks eyeing the two cages.

Elfman snorts, "get this, the merchant tried to push a litter of six onto us; six cats. It doesn't take six cats to handle a couple of rats, especially for a ship this size. One could easily do it."

Mest keeps his eyes on the cages, "and yet I see you brought back two cages."

Elfman blushes and scratches the back of his head, staring down at his wife. Of course, Mest rolls his eyes. Wendy places her cage gently down next to the other before she looks up at Mest with a pout on her lips.

"We had to get two! If we only got one then Happy would have gotten lonely! Plus he would have been doing all the work on his own! Now with Charlie they'll have a little break and can catch the rats twice as fast!" Wendy cheers.

Mest only blinks at her, "Happy and Charlie?"

Wendy takes a step back and stares down at her boots, "yeah... I named them."

"And why on Earth would you do that when you know very well Wendy that we aren't keeping them once our problem is gone?"

She doesn't say anything, just looks away and pouts to herself. Mest sighs and rubs his eyes, hating to be the bad guy in this situation. They can't have two cats running around his ship though messing things up, no matter how cute and cuddly they are.

"Are they at least trained to capture rats?" Mest asks.

"Doesn't take much training. We just don't feed them; they'll find the creatures on their own due to hunger and eat them up. Depending on how big our infestation is it should only take about a week or so."

Mest nods his head, "good. Thanks Elfman. Warn the others to keep the chart rooms closed at all times. We don't want them getting in and scratching up our maps, as well as anything else they'd like to keep in good condition. Wendy-"

He begins to lecture her, but sees the sad expression on her face... as long as she understands that they can't stay... he supposes he can let her enjoy them while they stay here temporarily.

"Would you like to introduce me to Charlie and Happy?"

Wendy's face brightens up and Elfman chuckles under his breath as he walks away. She runs back over to the cages and opens one of them up, pulling out a soft blue cat. It's a really weird color; Mest eyebrows furrow as he stares.

"His name is Happy! Look how cute he is!" Wendy cheers.

Happy meows in her arms and turns his head around to look at his new surroundings. Mest stares and blinks.

"Cute." He says plainly.

Wendy looks at him and frowns, "you don't have to be so mean."

"I'm not being mean, I said he was cute, didn't I?"

"Whoa! Nice cat! Look at those off colors, is he a new addition to the crew?!" Natsu calls out, coming from what Mest likes to think out of nowhere.

Wendy looks over at him and nods her head enthusiastically, "yes! Isn't he the cutest?!"

"Super cute and cool looking. Welcome to the crew little buddy." Natsu grins shaking one of Happy's paws.

Happy meows and moves around in Wendy's arms, jumping into Natsu's. He starts purring as he brushes up against Natsu's chest, making the man laugh.

"Oh yeah, the cutest. Good picking Wendy, I love having more off colors on our crew. He'll fit right in."

"I like to think so too." Wendy nods her head.

Even after so many months Mest still doesn't understand how close Wendy is with Natsu and how fast they seemed to get this close. Even though he is married to her... he still feels threatened by the man.

"Me and Happy are going to go chill, I got to show him off to the others." Natsu laughs before heading down to the bottom deck.

"See, Natsu likes Happy." Wendy grins back at him.

"Wendy, I never said I didn't like Happy."

"But you don't want to keep him."

Mest groans and covers his face, "Wendy, we've talked about this."

"And I think the point you make is stupid, but you might change your mind after seeing Charlie. Look how beautiful she is." Wendy cheers pulling out the next cat.

Charlie does look beautiful. She's a pure white cat, not a single blemish on her coat, and she stares over at Mest as Wendy holds her. The minute the cat's eyes meet his she begins to hiss very loudly.

"Ah- Charlie, no, bad kitty. We like Mest, he's our friend." Wendy lectures the cat.

Who can't understand her one bit. Charlie just continues to glare as she rubs herself against Wendy's chest. Mest can already tell he's going to hate this cat. He glares back down at it.

"Charlie and Happy are only staying until they fix our little problem," he tells her promptly, "remember that well Wendy. And they won't be sleeping with us in our room either."

Wendy nods her head, waiting for Mest to turn away before she sticks her tongue out at him. That's only what he thinks is going to happen. Wendy has other plans though, good plans. She smiles to herself as she places Charlie down on the floor, watching her stretch and walk around a bit.

"Don't worry Charlie, you're going to like it here on the Vermillion. So much you'll never want to leave."


"Wendy no."

"Wendy yes."

"I already told you, no cats in our room."

"But it's their first night! What if they get scared?"

"I'm not arguing with you about this."

"It's not arguing, more like demanding since you won't even hear my side. My first night here you stayed with me."

"You're not a cat Wendy."

"Meow."

Mest's eyebrow twitches, "you got two cats when we were only supposed to get one, you named both of them and got attached when I told you they weren't permanent, you've won a lot of battles already Wendy. I'm putting my foot down on this one though."

Wendy huffs and turns around, Happy and Charlie meowing in her arms. Fine. If that's the way Mest wants to do it, then fine. Mirajane and Elfman had placed a small bed for Happy and Charlie in the kitchen, but that place was so quiet and cold and just... no place for anyone to live in. They needed warmth and happiness, but Mest was too stubborn to give in. So she'll just have to provide a home for them.

"Wendy, where are you going?" Mest calls out when he sees her turn to leave.

"To the infirmary. I'll be sleeping there tonight with Happy and Charlie since you've kicked us out of our room."

"Wendy, I didn't kick anyone out. They're cats-"

"They're family-"

"You've only known them for a couple of hours!"

Wendy stares directly into his eyes, "and yet I love them. I only knew you for one second before doing the same."

Mest jaw drops and Wendy looks triumph, walking away with her head held high. She heads over towards the infirmary and places the cats down on the floor once she arrives. She closes the door behind her and begins to make two small beds made out of bandages and blankets. She places stray pieces of papers in a pile for them to hopefully do their business on, before lying down on the bed. Happy meows as he explores the room, sitting next to her plotted plants and sniffing at them. Charlie is different and jumps onto bed along with Wendy, purring against her cheek before she gets comfortable beside her head. Wendy squeals and reaches out to pet her.

"How could anyone not want to sleep with you? You're so precious, yes you are," Wendy coos petting her.

She falls asleep just like that, Charlie curled up by her head, Happy by her toes. Mest walks into the room the next morning to check on her. He sees her fast asleep with the two pets and smiles gently, never seeing such a cute view before. He catches himself quickly afterwards and sighs, shaking his head.

He's really going to have to let her keep the damn things, isn't he?