BlackLynx17: I left on vacation for my birthday and just never came back to update. So sorry. I will try for regular updates again. May have a lot of mistakes in this.
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-Four
Happy Birthday Captain
Wendy sticks her head in the kitchen. There doesn't appear to be anyone inside of the room, which is a very good thing. She doesn't think she would have the courage to do this if her friends were around. She sneaks in and heads towards the storage room, hearing someone singing from behind the doors. Slowly Wendy raises her hand and knocks on the door before opening it up.
"Yes? Oh, hello Wendy. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Mirajane smiles kindly at her.
Wendy feels a warmth spread through her body as she smiles back, "hi Mira. I just had a personal question to ask if, if you have time."
"Well of course I do, shoot."
"Um, well... Mest's birthday is in a couple of days and I want to make it special. As special as it can be, although I highly doubt that I will be able to top what he did for my birthday. I can't ask him to marry me and hold a ceremony again."
"Well, technically, you could. There's nothing saying you can't renewal of vows and have another ceremony."
Wendy pouts softly, "but I feel like I'm stealing his idea. I wanted to make him a cake, from scratch, except... I don't know how. I was hoping, if you have the time of course, if you could help me? Or maybe give me a recipe? I promise I'll keep the kitchen spotless and restock everything I use next time we make port!"
"What a wonderful idea! I was already planning on making the captain a birthday cake, but I'm sure he would enjoy it from you way better."
Wendy blushes, "I don't know about that! You're a much better cook than me!"
"But Mest doesn't love me as much as he loves you and getting something from the one you love means so much more. Have the others told you about Mest's surprise party?"
"Not... really. I knew we were having a party, or at least hoping we were. I was going to ask Erza about it after talking with you."
"Well since we're still going to be at sea when it's Mest's birthday we were going to throw a huge party right here on the ship! And by that I mean have a grand feast, play loud music, and get completely drunk like we do everytime it is someone's birthday. It isn't really going to be a surprise since we do it for everyone, but I'm sure Mest is going to be shocked to see what you baked him."
Wendy grimaces a little, "let's hope it will be a good shock and not a bad I-can't-believe-how-ugly-and-nasty-this-birthday-cake-is shock.
Mirajane laughs out loudly and shakes her head, "aw Wendy, you truly underestimate just how much that man loves you. Don't worry love, we're going to make Mest the best birthday cake he's ever had."
"Thanks Mirajane."
"So Wendy, do you understand what you have to do?" Natsu asks her slowly.
"Yes, distract Mest and don't allow him on the deck until noon." Wendy nods her head.
"No matter what. We're going to be decorating and setting out the feast. You can't let him leave Wendy." Erza shakes her finger in front of her.
Wendy raises an eyebrow, "why are you all being so weird about this?"
"Because every year we fail to distract Mest long enough to set up his party and he ruins the surprise." Natsu answers.
"Like it's really a surprise in the first place, but still. It would be nice if he didn't ruin all our effort," Erza growls.
"Does it really matter? We end up getting drunk so much we can't see straight anyway." Gray shrugs.
"Okay, so distract Mest. I can do that. I can definitely do that! You guys will need to distract Mest though afterwards so I have enough time to make his cake."
"Only for an hour or so; it shouldn't take that long to make the cake." Mirajane inputs.
"That'll be easy; we'll start a drinking game or something," Gray chuckles.
Wendy nods her head and smiles. She opens her mouth to say something, but all of a sudden the door to the room opens. Everyone freezes as their captain walks though the door. His face scrunches together as he sees everyone staring at him with wide eyes.
"What's going on in here?" Mest asks.
Some of them are slick enough to play it cool. Mirajane smiles innocently at him while Natsu and Gray both slam their elbows on the table and proceed to arm wrestle. Wendy is the only guilty one who stares up at the ceiling and avoids looking at his gaze. Erza quickly stands up and nods to their captain.
"Nothing much, just having a meeting." She shrugs.
Mest's eyes narrow, "about what?"
"Navigating through charts," Mirajane, Natsu, and Gray say at the exact same time like its been rehearsed (which they have and is normally their go to excuse whenever they're in the chart room).
Mest's eyes scan over to his little wife who is still refusing to meet his eyes; she's the one that gives it away to him, although even if she wasn't there he still would have been suspicious with how quickly they all answered.
"Wendy."
Wendy takes a small breath before meeting his eyes and blinking, "yes Mest?"
"What were you all discussing before I came in through the door?"
All eyes moved towards Wendy; the gang couldn't remember if she was a good liar or not. They've never seen her lie, because she's never had to lie before. They highly doubted that she would be able to lie to the captain because it just wasn't in her nature. She was too sweet and innocent, a princess. Princesses couldn't lie.
Wendy bites her bottom lip and looks down at her toes, the exact image of being guilty. She drags the tip of her boot in small circles on the floor. Immediately the gang thought the worst and wondered how they were going to cover for her.
"Gray, Mirajane, and Erza were going over one of the treasure maps. Natsu was helping me look for Lucy and I... I... I spilled some juice on the map. They were covering for me because I didn't want you to get mad and think of me clumsy and ban me from entering the chart room again or force me to not walk around while eating or drinking because I can't walk in a straight line," she rushes out to say, small sniffles escaping out of her, "I'm sorry Mest! Please don't be mad at me! Please! I swear it was an accident and it won't happen again! Please don't ban me from reading charts and maps with Erza!"
Mest eyes immediately widen and he rushes over, placing his hands on her shoulders and rubbing them up and down soothingly, "ah- Wendy-calm down, I'm not mad. I'm not mad at all, it was an accident, right? You don't have to keep things like this from me. I know you aren't clumsy, I'm sure it was an accident. I'm not going to ban you or force you to stay still while eating or drinking."
Wendy looks up at him from under her eyelashes, "promise?"
His heart nearly breaks in half as he nods his head, "promise. Let's get you some more juice and I'll help you find Lucy. Erza? Is the map salvageable?"
"I'm working on it with Mira." Erza says tight faced.
"Don't worry about it if it isn't, there's nothing to worry about. Let's go," Mest says grabbing her hand.
Wendy makes sure Mest is looking forward before she looks behind her and shoots a thumbs-up at her pals. They all stare with wide eyes as the two of them leave and close the door behind them, amazed.
It seems their princess could lie.
Mest was snoring very loudly. It was kind of funny watching him do it; his mouth was wide open, deep snores escaping from his lips. Wendy giggles to herself lightly and looks up at the window; the faintest of light is shining inside of their room. She assumes it'll be another two, maybe three hours before it's noon. So far so good; maybe they'd get lucky and Mest will simply sleep till noon all by himself. Wendy knows that's too good to be true though because usually he's the one who wakes up before her (and sometimes surprises her with breakfast in bed).
Wendy had only one mission though and she wasn't going to blow it! Not one bit! She could do this! Distract him until the party, easy! She had it all planned out! First she would cuddle with him for an hour, and if he tried leaving, she would kiss him, and if he still wanted to leave, she would give him his birthday present early, and if he still tried to leave, she would cry and say she had a nightmare or remembered something bad about her past and needed someone to talk to. Mest would never abandon her if she was crying, so the plan was perfect.
She lays back on the pillow and watches her husband. Watching him sleep so peacefully makes her want to fall back asleep, but no! She has to stay awake! To make sure he doesn't wake up! It was so hard to wake up this early on her own and she's wasn't going to ruin all her hard work.
He looks so peaceful though snoozing.
She's fallen asleep to his snores so many times before.
Wendy blinks and the next time she reopens her eyes she's alone in bed. She immediately leans up and looks around her, wiping the drool she feels sticking to her cheeks.
"MEST?!" She calls out in the room.
She looks all around, but finds herself completely along.
"Oh no! What's wrong with me?!" She groans smacking her head.
One job! She had one job! He's probably out on the deck seeing everyone set up everything and she's ruined his surprise (not really) birthday! One job! Just one job! And she couldn't even do that! A princess who couldn't stay awake! A pirate who fell asleep in an instant!
"So stupid, stupid, stupid," Wendy groans smacking her head over and over again.
The handle shifts and the door opens, Mest walking back inside of their room and yawning out loudly. He blinks when he sees his wife smacking herself in the head and closes the door slowly behind him.
"Wendy?"
Wendy flinches and looks up, eyes widening, "Mest! Where did you go?! Why weren't you here?!"
"I went to use the refresher." He tells her, not understanding her reaction.
Her eyes widen before relief spreads through her body. Refresher, he went to the refresher, not on the deck. He wouldn't have came back if he went on the deck; he still didn't know what was going on.
"I wasn't going to get breakfast without you Wendy, if that's why you're freaking out. We can go whenever you-"
"No!" Wendy shouts raising her hands in the air.
Mest stares at her questionable.
"Uh... no, come here!" She quickly says opening her arms up wide for him.
He warily walks over to the bed and climbs back in it. Wendy wraps her arms around his neck and lays on top of him, tangling their legs together and keeping him locked in her embrace.
"I want to cuddle!" She demands out loud.
Mest blinks again before chuckling lightly to himself; Wendy can feel his chest rise up and down rapidly as his husky laughs exit his mouth.
"Okay love." He wraps his arms around her waist and hugs her close.
Wendy looks up from his chest and stares into his eyes, "happy birthday Mest."
"Thank you Wendy," Mest smiles gently at her.
It makes her heart race and her cheeks fluster to see such an innocent expression on his face.
"I'm the first one to wish you that today, right?"
"Yes love, you are the first one. No one ran into me for the five minutes that I left your side."
So he really didn't see anything, perfect. Wendy smiles and buries her face into his chest, nuzzling into it. Mest sighs out and runs his fingers through her hair, closing his eyes. She's able to distract him for a good thirty or so minutes before she feels him getting restless underneath her.
"Do you think we could put a pause on this cuddling until we get some food in our bellies?" Mest asks her.
"Ah- I'm not hungry."
"Well I am. Just something quick, I promise, and then we'll come back and I'll hold you all you want."
Wendy bites her bottom lip and leans over, pressing their lips together. Mest hums and kisses her back lazily before he pulls away.
"As nice as that was, I'm still hungry," he teases her.
"Er- not yet! You're turning 24 today, so I have to give you 24 kisses!"
Mest snorts and raises an eyebrow, "what?"
"Yeah, it's tradition in my kingdom between man and wife!"
"Tradition? Why didn't you tell me on your birthday? I would have given you 18 kisses if it meant that much to you."
"Why didn't I tell you? That's a good- because it's a tradition the wife does for the husband! And it's not really a big tradition, I never had a husband to kiss so this is my first time I've ever been able to do it. I messed up already, huh?"
Mest cuffs her cheek and turns her head back so she's staring at his smile, "nah, I don't think you messed up at all. I'm honored, and a bit relived to hear, that I'm your first experience with this. Does that mean when I turn 90 you'll be giving me 90 kisses in the morning?"
Wendy snorts and begins to laugh, "yes, of course. 90 sloppy kisses."
"It seems that I have something to look forward on my 90th birthday. Until then though, I'll take the rest of my 23 kisses."
Wendy nods her head and leans down to kiss him again. She only feels a little bit guilty for lying to him. Now every year she'll have to remember the stupid tradition she made up and give him kisses to match his age... which actually sounds pretty sweet. She wonders how she was able to come up with such a thing. Mest counted out loud with every kiss she gave him, saying the same number twice sometimes because he wanted to feel her lips more against his own. It made her giggle as she kissed all over his face. Of course though, even with recounting certain numbers, they eventually ended up at twenty-four and Mest wanted to leave again. How long was she able to distract him for? Another hour? It felt like an eternity with every time they kissed each other.
"Mest? Could I give you my present before we go? I want to be the first one who gives you something on your birthday."
Mest was starting to get a little hangry now, but he could never deny his wife anything. So he ignored his stomach eating itself and nodded his head, watching his little wife's eyes light up making it all worth it.
"I hope it's nothing big."
"I wish it was; you gave me the best birthday present ever. I don't think I'll ever be able to top that," Wendy says getting out of bed.
"We'll see what I come up next year."
She ducks down on all fours and looks underneath their bed, arm waving around as she tries to feel for the box she hid underneath there three weeks ago. Mest leans over the bed and raises an eyebrow at her. Finally her hand smacks against the present and she grabs it before climbing back on the bed, goofy smile in place as she presents it to him.
"Happy birthday again Mest. I thank god and the heavens above everyday for you being in my life. Thank you for being born."
Mest takes the small wooden box with a colorful green bow on it out of her hands. He looks up at her and smiles gently.
"Thank you Wendy. So, what did you get me? A pistol? A knife? Maybe a naughty picture of yourself? Then again I don't know who would have taken that for you and I'm afraid to ask who since I might have to kill someone depending on what name you say."
"MEST!" Wendy screams, face turning red.
He laughs as he pulls the ribbon off, "I'm teasing, I'm only teasing... unless it actually is a naughty picture-"
"IT'S NOT!"
"Good. Let's find out now."
He opens up the wooden box and spots a bracelet lying inside of it. He grabs it and holds it up in front of his eyes. It's a leather bracelet, a black leather that will most definitely match with the rest of his clothes. There's an symbol on it of their jolly roger, the fairy with a tail, and Mest runs his fingers across it before he places it on his wrist.
"I love it; thank you Wendy." He leans over and kisses her as thanks.
"You're welcome Mest. I figured since you already have our necklace, and my ring on your finger, a bracelet was the next best thing!"
"You could have given me a scrap of paper and I would have still loved it."
"Hehehehe, you're so silly Mest. You love me too much."
"I love you the perfect amount."
He climbs up out of bed and turns his back to her, staring at his wrist as he heads towards the door.
"I'll wait outside so you can get dressed. I can't wait to show this off to the others."
"Ah- wait! Mest!" Wendy calls out.
What was the next plan? What was next? Cuddle? Kiss? Present? Cry! Was it cry? Lie! It was lie! Lying about a nightmare! She has to looked scared and worried though- she has to make herself look like she was shaken up!
"I-uh, I- don't go yet Mest-"
"I'm not leaving Wendy, I'm just waiting outside. I promise."
"But I had a nightmare!"
"A nightmare? When? You looked peaceful when I was watching you sleep."
"I wasn't though! It was really bad and I'm scared."
"Wendy, what are you talking about? You don't look scared. Sure you've been acting a bit jumpy and funny since we first woke up, but not scared."
Wendy bites her bottom lips and she lowers her head down. She's failed, she doesn't know what else to do. The only thing she can do is take her sweet time getting dressed and hope that enough time has passed.
"I... I'll get dressed now."
"Okay, I'll be outside."
Wendy curses herself as he leaves the room. She grabs whatever is on top of her dressers and throws her clothes on with anger, glaring at the wall the entire time. She wastes a good ten minutes before she opens the door, Mest leaning against the other wall examining his bracelet. It makes her mood feel tons better knowing he likes it so much. He looks up at her and snorts once.
"What?" She pouts.
"Your hair, it's kind of crazy."
Wendy pouts and runs her hands through it, "it's not my fault, it's bed hair. I did just wake up after all..."
Her eyes widen all of a sudden with an idea.
"Do you think you can brush it for me real quick? I don't want the others laughing at me."
This is it, her ticket! Mest absolutely loves her hair! Touching it, playing with it, he's fascinated by it for some reason and he'll never give up a chance like this. His fingers twitch for a second, like he wants to, like he really wants to. She's got him now, but maybe she needs to spice up the deal.
"I'll even sing happy birthday to you as well," she sings softly.
That does it; Mest turns and walks back into the room.
"Real quick Wendy or else I'm going to pass out from hunger."
Yes. Success. Wendy has to try and hide her chesire grin. She's got him this time. She practically skips back to the bed and sits down, closing her eyes as she waits for him to do that first stroke.
Wendy hopes she wasted enough time for the gang. Mest walks by her side holding her hand, his stomach growling out loudly. There is a smile on his face though since he was able to play with her hair until his heart's content. They walk pass the stairs to the deck and Mest pauses for a second, his nose twitching. Wendy grins and tries miserably to hide it.
"Something smells really good; why isn't it coming from the kitchen though?"
Wendy giggles making Mest look down at her.
"Do you know something?"
"Hehehe, maybe!" She sings before running up on the deck.
She spots her crew standing on top, shooting her smiles and thumbs-up at a job well done. The ship looks nice, paper decorations tied around the railings, a small birthday banner hanging up, and tons of food spread out all over the ship. She joins Natsu and Erza by their sides and gets a pat on the head and back.
"Nice work Wendy," Erza praises.
"Knew you could do it; we even had extra times to set up a prank too," Natsu winks at her.
Mest walks up the stairs and onto the deck, freezing when he reaches the top. Everyone yells out at the top of their lungs happy birthday and Natsu pulls a rope beside him. A bucket of sea water comes flying down from above and completely soaks Mest from head to toe as it drops on him, bucket landing on top of his head. All of a sudden the celebration is turns into laughter as everyone breaks out laughing. It wasn't funny, but Wendy couldn't stop her own giggles from coming out. Mest pulls the bucket over his head and glares at his crew.
"YOU GUYS!" He yells out before chasing after some of them.
Wendy giggles and turns her head, eyes scanning for Mirajane. She meets her gaze and nods her head to the side, motioning for her to leave to get started on the cake. It doesn't seem like her husband would notice with how he's chasing after everyone right now, so she easily sneaks out and heads down to the kitchen to make his second present.
"It looks funny."
"No it doesn't; it's just a little lop sided is all. With enough frosting he won't be able to notice one bit."
"Do you think this will be enough for everyone? I probably should have made it bigger."
"Ah- you're making this for Mest for HIS birthday, don't worry about the rest of the crew. If they really complain hard enough I'll whip something up real quick, but you're doing this for your husband. They don't deserve to have a slice of your love cake, and I'm sure Mest won't be giving anyone a piece," Mirajane whispers the last part to herself.
Wendy swallows down all her doubt as she reaches for her bowl of frosting. One hour and twenty minutes later she had two medium square shaped lopsided cakes in front of her. She plans on stacking them on top of each other before decorating it with frosting... hopefully it looking better than it is now. This is not how she imagined Mest's birthday cake being. She thought of something fancy and elegant like the cakes she's seen in shops... not this pathetic excuse of a birthday cake.
"Now Wendy, don't give up now. You've worked so hard, you can't lose faith. Keep going until the very end."
"Okay Mira, time to frost this cake!"
The frosting did help; it hid the sloppiness and bumps on the side, but it still looked a bit uneven in the end. Far from perfect, but better than before. Mirajane continued to smile and offer advice from a distance, instructing her as she wrote the happy birthday in frosting and adding candles to it. The end result...
"I think I should throw this away," Wendy moans.
She picks it up, planning on just throwing it away in the trash and saving herself the embarrassment of presenting this to Mest. Mirajane is quicker and takes it from her hands, holding it above her head.
"Why on Earth would you do that after slaving yourself away making this?"
"Because it's bad Mira!"
"Bad? We must not be looking at the same thing then because what I see is a delicious looking cake filled with love for someone very special." Mirajane says lowering it back onto the table.
Wendy frowns and looks down at it, "I just... I want him to love it."
"And how will you know if he won't if you don't go and give it to him?"
She won't. She'll have to take a chance. Wendy reaches out and picks up the cake again, smiling up at Mirajane.
"Thanks for all your help Mira. You're right, I won't know until I do it. I can't be scared anymore like I used to be when I was a princess."
"That a girl, be courageous like a pirate! Now lets go before you doubt yourself again."
Wendy giggles and follows after Mirajane, thanking her whenever she holds the doors open. Everything will be alright. It may not look the best, but Wendy knows for sure it's going to taste delicious because it was Mirajane's recipe. She can make anything taste good. All that matters is that she gets to see Mest's smiling face when he has his first bite. That will be enough for her.
Wendy can hear the music from all the way down the halls. The party must have been going on now, which means the drinking as well. She'll have to be careful not to accidentally drink any booze because then she'll end up with that terrible hangover and that's the last thing she wants.
"Be careful up the steps Wendy." Mirajane calls behind her as she climbs.
"I will!"
When they make it on the deck everyone in their crew seems to be on top of it, dancing and singing, playing card games and drinking. Mirajane shakes her head when she notices most of the food already gone. Why oh why did her crew have to have such bottomless pits, huh? Huh? She feels like the most overworked pirate ever! If it wasn't for her love for cooking (and the fact that she doesn't want anyone ruining her kitchen) she would be forcing these pirates to fend for themselves.
"Do you see Mest?" Wendy asks taking a step forward.
"I'm sure he's around here somewhere unless the guys played a prank and threw him overboard," Mirajane answers looking around.
Wendy takes small steps and kicks a glass cup with her feet. She gasps as she almost falls over, but catches herself in time. Phew, that would have been terrible. One trip and this cake would have been gone.
"Ah! He's over there! Captain! I found him Wendy-" Mirajane's voice gets caught up in her throat.
"Yo ho! Yo ho a pirate's life for me!" Bickslow sings staggering at his feet.
He doesn't notice poor little Wendy in his way, nor does Wendy notice him because she's staring in the direction Mirajane called her. It only takes one bump and she's falling. Bickslow is able to recover and grab her arms, catching her before she falls with an apology on his lips. Wendy isn't so lucky though as her hard work splatters all over the floor.
"Ah, sorry Wendy! Didn't see you short-stuff," Bickslow laughs ruffling up her hair, completely oblivious to what he just did.
"Bickslow you idiot!" Mirajane growls out reaching for his collar.
"Don't... it's alright Mirajane. I wanted to throw it away anyway, it wasn't good enough for Mest. This is what I wanted all along, Bickslow actually did me a favor really." Wendy confesses.
Her voice breaks through and she feels her throat tighten and tears prick her eyes. She looks over at Mirajane and smiles, shaking her head at her, before running back downstairs.
"Wendy no! Dammit Bickslow! Damn you to hell! I could just kill you right now!" Mirajane screams at him.
"Ah! What the hell?! What did I do!? What did I do?!" Bickslow cries out.
The music comes to an erupt stop as everyone flinches away from demon Mirajane appearing. They hear her growling voice and Bickslow yelling out his pleas and turn their heads towards the scene. Mest gets up from his card game and stomps over to stop this fight.
"Hey! Hey! No fighting on my birthday! I don't want to be getting any black eyes or anything like that!" He yells.
"You'll want to kill him too once you know what he did to Wendy!"
Mest blinks and looks down at Bickslow, cocking his head to the side, "excuse me?"
"I didn't do anything! All I did was bump into her!"
"You knocked over the birthday cake she made for Mest! The cake she spent the last week practicing to make it perfect! The cake that she finally had enough courage to give him despite wanting to throw it away because she didn't believe it was good enough! The cake that is now on the ground right now!" Mirajane screams shaking him back and forth.
"What?" Mest asks turning his head.
True to her words, he sees a splattered cake on the floor, candles askew, frosting spread out everywhere. Is that where his little wife was? Making him a birthday cake? A small smile appears on his face at the thought of his wife making him a cake and he looks around for her, but can't spot her.
"Where's Wendy?"
"I don't know, she ran off right after it happened. I swear to God Bickslow you're going to lick off every piece of that cake off the ship until it's spotless!"
"What do you mean she ran off? Where?"
"Downstairs, I don't know! Look Mest I can only focus on one thing right now and that's pumbling Bickslow's face black and blue!"
"Laxus! Freed! Someone! Anyone! Save me!"
Wendy sniffs away the last bit of her tears. Carla purrs against her chest while Happy nips around her feet. She rubs her eyes one final time and stares Carla in the face.
"It's okay. It's totally okay. I'm just being silly. I should have been more careful, Bickslow didn't see me. It's not anyone's fault," she tells her.
Carla meows loudly.
"I never wanted to give it to him anyway. It wasn't nice enough; it wasn't perfect. I'm just being a big baby right now. I should go back and enjoy the party with Mest; he's probably wondering why he hasn't seen me all morning. If I'm lucky no one noticed my cake on the ground and he'll never know that I tried."
Carla meows again and tilts her head.
"I really tried so hard to make it though. I really tried my best. I've never baked anything in my entire life and I wanted to bake something special for him. He made my birthday so special, how come only I mess up?"
Wendy thinks Carla gets tired of her whining because she jumps off of her chest and begins to wander around the storage room. She needs to get a hold of herself and go back out there. Happy brushes against her legs, tail flicking back at forth. Wendy pulls her legs higher and hugs them to her chest. Her heart skips a beat when she hears footsteps in the other room. She holds her breath, hoping they'll disappear because she's not ready to face anyone right now, but is sadly mistaken when the door handle jiggles.
"Wendy?! Wendy are you in there?!" Mest's voice calls out from the other side.
Her eyes widen and her heart completely stops beating. No, this can't be. He can't find her in here with this sad look on her face; she refuses to ruin his birthday. Send him away with a smile, no, just make him not feel worried about her anymore. Her face can't recover yet, but she can fool him with her voice. Wendy clears her voice before answering back as cheerfully as possible.
"Yes Mest! I'm in here!"
The door handle rattles again.
"Open up! Let me inside!"
"Er- for reasons I can't explain I'm not able to do that right now. Just go back out and enjoy your birthday; I'll be out in a minute! I just need to-... need to-"
Happy meows loudly as he scratches at one of the sacks on the floor.
"Help Happy get unstuck." She lies.
"Wendy I'm not leaving you inside there. Open the door please, please? I want to see you. It's my birthday so you have to let me see you."
Wendy's breath hitches and she squeezes her legs tighter. She's ruining his birthday right now with her pouting. He should be out having fun, getting drunk, and playing card games, yet here he is trying to comfort her over a stupid birthday cake. What is wrong with her? Why can't she be a good wife? Why couldn't she do one simple task?
"I'm sorry Mest, I promise I'll come out in a minute. Just go on without me."
The door handle stops jiggling and for a second she honestly believes he's left her alone. There is a sudden thump sound outside of the door though and she hears him sigh out loudly. Wendy can see a shadow from underneath the door. He's sitting down against the door and she knows he's going to stay there until she opens it. She gulps down whatever sadness she's feeling and gets ready to smile as she unlocks the door. Slowly it creaks open and Mest walks in, seeing his poor sad wife huddled up in the corner between the sacks of flour. He sighs out to himself again as he closes the door behind him and locks it back up, sitting down against the wall across from her.
"I'm fine. I promise. Sorry for ruining your birthday," Wendy mumbles doing a terrible job of smiling.
"It's not ruined. It's just missing you." Mest tells her honestly.
Wendy looks away from his eyes and stares at Happy playing around with a potato. Seems he was able to scratch a hole big enough in the sack for one of them to fall out. Mirajane was not going to be happy about that when she finds out.
"Mira told me you made me a cake. It looked really good... decorating the floor." Mest tries at a poor attempt for a joke.
"It was for the best. I don't think it was going to be any good."
"Don't say that, I'm sure it was amazing. Everything you do for me is amazing. I'm just honored that you even made me a cake at all for my birthday that you wanted me to actually eat. Usually the guys make one and try to shove it in my face."
Wendy looks over at Mest and smiles at him, this time doing a lot better of making it look believable, "thanks Mest. I'm okay now, I promise. Let's go and enjoy your birthday bash."
Mest doesn't buy it for a second and frowns at her, "Wendy-"
"I promise-"
"Stop promising me things! You are not okay! You are not fine! Stop trying to make me believe so! Stop lying to me!"
"I am though! Really! I just want to be alone and pout and be a brat! I shouldn't be, not today, but I can't help it and I'm really hating myself for it! I'm ruining your birthday! After you gave me the best birthday I've ever had in my eighteen years of life I'm returning the favor by ruining yours! You gave me so much happiness and I couldn't even make you a single cake?! What is wrong with me?! I'm just the stupid princess who can't do anything all over again!"
The tears are threatening to fall out and she bites down on her bottom lip hard, trying to force them back inside. Mest runs his hands through his hair as he sighs out loudly.
"You aren't ruining it... you know... on your birthday, I was really scared that you wouldn't like what I did. I was afraid I was going to ruin it as well."
Wendy snorts a little.
"It's true. I kept asking everyone for advice, begged Mira to cook the food after burning everything I touched when I tried cooking our lunches myself, felt so nervous I couldn't stop my hands from sweating, so scared that you wouldn't want to marry me, that you wouldn't like your birthday, that it wouldn't compare to all the ones you've had in the past in your giant ivory tower... you did though. It was such a relief that you did I finally relaxed once the night was over."
Wendy looks down at her toes, "I'm sorry I'm being a brat."
"You're allowed to be a brat sometimes Wendy, you are only 18. You're still a child at heart you know."
"I wish I could have been one after your birthday."
"You're hurt. Bickslow knocked over something you worked so hard to make for me and ruined it all. Mirajane mentioned how you've been practicing for a week to make it right. I was wondering where you would run off to sometimes; you had me completely fooled."
Her cheeks begin to fluster, "I've never made a cake before. My first try it ended up coming out like soup, and another time I burnt it... it took a while to get it right."
"You know... my Mom used to make me a birthday cake. Every year on my birthday, she'd surprise me every morning with it. Homemade, different flavors every year... she would pretend she forgot to make it and then pull it out of nowhere... I forgot she used to do that. I forgot until I saw the cake you made me. It looked exactly like hers. I figured I was going to get a cake in my face again, but you made me one... just for me."
Wendy looks back over at Mest and feels the urge to reach out and touch him. He doesn't look sad or yearning for thinking back about his parent, no, he's smiling to himself at the precious memory. She leans up from her small corner and crawls over to him. Mest instantly opens his arms and wraps them around her, tucking her in the crook of his neck.
"I'm sorry about what happened to the cake."
"I'm sorry I'm acting like this. Ruin-" she pauses, "making you come and comfort me because I got upset over something I told myself I wasn't upset about. I guess I really did... want you to try my cake, even if it wasn't perfect, and see you like it and smile." She confesses, hiding her face in his chest, "I'm ready to go back out now, really this time. Let's go back and join everyone again for the party."
Mest looks at her and shakes his head, "no. I don't want to do that. It's my birthday and I should be allowed to do whatever I want."
"Then what do you want?"
"A cake."
Wendy's face tightens a bit, "Mest-"
"Made by me and you. Together. That's what I want to do on my birthday. Screw everyone else, I have everyone I need right now. You, me, Happy, and Carla. We can all do it. I believe in us... although I've never made a cake before in my life, but I'm sure I'll figure it out."
"Mest, you don't have to. It's okay, let's just-"
"Are you denying me what I want to do on my birthday?"
Wendy stares into his eyes and shakes her head.
"Then will you help me make another cake love?"
Slowly she nods and allows him to help her up to her feet.
"It's a good thing we're hiding in the storage closet. What ingredients do we need to make a cake? Flour? Sugar?"
"Mirajane's recipe is on the counter. Let me go get it real quick."
"Good. I'll do all the heavy lifting, you just tell me what to do."
Wendy unlocks the door and walks out, wandering around until she finds Mirajane's recipe book. She flips through it until she finds the cake recipe and walks back to Mest, finding him lifting up a bag of flour. She begins to name all the ingredients one by one and he carries them out of the room towards the kitchen table.
"Okay, looks like this is everything. What's next?"
"Um, we get a bowl and start measuring the ingredients."
"Yes, Captain, hahaha!" Mest laughs.
Wendy finally cracks a smile and pulls up two chairs while her husband picks up a bunch of bowls and cups. They sit next to each other as they measure out the sugar and flour, Mest looking serious as he tries to get the exact amount.
"It doesn't have to be exact," she tells them.
"Ah- ah- ah- I want this to come out just as perfectly as your last one did," he winks at her.
Wendy giggles at him and shakes her head. Mest grins and grabs a pitch of flour, tossing it in her direction.
"Mest!" She gasps and grabs a handful, tossing it all over him.
White flour covers his face and Mest looks shocked, "I only threw a little bit at you!"
Laughter fills the kitchen as Wendy pours the flour into the bowl, snickering to herself. Mest pretends to pout, but grins on the inside seeing that she's finally laughing. He measures out the next ingredients just as carefully, tossing a bit of sugar her way next saying it was because she needed to be a little sweeter. Once all the ingredients are in the bowl Wendy holds out a spoon for him to grab.
"Okay, we're supposed to stir it until it's completely mixed together."
"Roger that!" Mest cheers and begins spinning as fast as he can.
Wendy screams as batter flies everywhere and Mest stops immediately; he looks up guilty at her with wide eyes, batter covering part of his cheek.
"I was not expecting that to happen."
She stares back at him and lifts up her finger, wiping the batter off of his cheek. She brings it to her lips and takes a small lick.
"At least it tastes good. Slow and steady wins the race, okay?"
He grins at her as he stirs slowly, mixing the ingredients all together. She brings out the cake pans she used last time to make his cake and holds them in front of him.
"Don't pour too much, okay? Last time I did that the cake overflowed and Mirajane had to scrub her oven clean. It smelt like burnt cake in here for days."
"Hahahaha! I bet she wasn't too happy with that."
That feeling is gone inside of her chest. That pain. That hurt. That heartache. He makes her feel better, he always makes her feel better. Wendy smiles to herself and fiddles around with the ring on her finger. She's so lucky to have him in her life. So very lucky. He loves her no matter what, even if she can't make a cake. She always knew that, but it appears she needs reminders every now and then.
"Okay, cake is accomplished. What do we do now that we're waiting for it to bake?"
"Frosting. I think we're out of chocolate though, so it's going to have to be plain."
"Sounds delicious, I don't like chocolate that much anyway."
"We just need powdered sugar and butter for the frosting. I knew where Mira puts the butter; can you find the powdered sugar in the storage? It's white and looks like snow."
"White and snowy, got it."
Wendy grabs the butter, a whisk, and another bowl. Mest returns to the table with a small bag of powdered sugar. He turns it upside down and dumps it all into the bowl, a cloud of white dust flying into the air. Then two of them start coughing and stare at each other; their faces are completely white and they explode loudly in a fit of laughter.
"Mira is going to kill us for making this mess," Wendy giggles.
"Nah, it's my birthday. I think she'll be okay with it." Mest chuckles.
She throws the butter in the bowl, making another cloud of sugar, and they take turns whisking it together into frosting. Mest watches in amazement as the sugar and butter thicken up together and turn into the frosting he recognizes.
"I never realized how much my mother did every year to make me my cake. This really is a lot of work." He exclaims.
"Kind of, but this time went by really quickly. This morning it took an hour for me and Mira to make your cake. It's worth it though making it special."
"I'll never take cakes for granted again... hey, Wendy? I promise I won't get mad, but... were you trying to keep me locked in the room this morning so I wouldn't go into the kitchen and see Mira setting up the things for my cake?"
Wendy snorts out and shakes her head, "ah- you noticed that?"
"Kind of. You never really want to cuddle in the mornings. What gave it away was the fact that you didn't want to eat first thing in the morning."
She hangs her head in guilt, "actually Erza and Natsu asked me if I could keep you distracted so they could decorate the ship. Apparently you always like to appear before they're finished and ruin their not so surprise surprise."
Mest looks up and blinks at her, "seriously? It's my birthday and we're at sea. Of course I know they're throwing me a party."
"I think they just wanted to finish setting up before you pretend to act surprise."
"If they really wanted to surprise me they should have acted like they didn't remember my birthday. I would have been surprised at that."
"I'll be sure to mention that to them. That might be a good idea for next year," she grins.
Mest stares at her again for a minute before asking, "so if you were trying to keep me in the room... was that kiss thing fake?"
Wendy eeps, her entire face turning red. She stares at anything but him as she tries to think up of a good response... which is nothing.
"We can begin to make it a real tradition," she decides to say.
Mest laughs out loudly, so much he nearly falls over in his chair and leans against the table, banging his hand on it. Wendy pouts at him and digs her hand into the frosting, smothering it all over his face to make him stop.
"It's not that funny!"
"I think it's hilarious in fact."
When she tries to smear more frosting over his face he grabs her hands and leans over, rubbing his frosted cheek against her powdered sugar one. Wendy squeals as frosting covers her cheek and she rubs more off on him. Mest laughs louder and kisses her right then and there, frosting covering both of their lips. He pulls away and leans his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes with such amusement. Wendy smiles brightly as she stares right back. The smell of something delicious fills the kitchen and both their noises begin to twitch.
"The cake smells like it may be done."
"Good. How about you check it while I get some towels to clean ourselves up?"
"Sounds like a plan."
Wendy giggles when she spots little paw prints of flour and sugar all over the floor. Seems like they spilled more than they thought they did and Happy and Carla had a lot of fun running around. Mirajane was most definitely going to kill them later... but as for right now, Wendy didn't seem to mind one bit. The cakes cooled on the counter while Wendy and Mest cleaned their faces off.
"Wow... mine didn't come out as lumpy as these this morning."
"They're not lumpy, more like... creative. Yeah, they have their own personalities to them. So much they can't be contained and they're trying to jump out of the cake."
"Mest, I really love you right now."
Mest turns back and smiles at her, "good, because I always really love you. Now let's dig into these bad boys!"
"Wait! We have to let it cool so we can frost it first!"
"Nope, my birthday and I want them now. Just dump the frosting all over it."
"It's going to look messy and melt!"
"It's going to look perfect and taste delicious."
Mest ignores her cries and pours the bowl of frosting all over the cake. True to her words, the frosting does begin to melt on top, but he hardly cares as he smoothes it around with a knife.
"At least let me put your candles on it!"
"Alright Wendy, but hurry up! I've been waiting all day on this!"
"No you haven't."
"You don't know that."
Wendy giggles and rolls her eyes as she comes back from the storage room with candles. She places a few on the cake and Mest pulls out a lighter from his pocket, lighting them on fire. He stares down at his beautiful creation of lumpy cake and melting to the table frosting he made with his wife and admires it.
"Happy birthday Mest, make a wish." Wendy grins at him.
"Thanks Wendy."
He closes his eyes and wishes that this cake doesn't make either of them sick before blowing out the candles. The minute he opens his eyes back up he digs his hand into the cake and pulls out a chunk. Wendy watches with wide eyes as he does it, Mest blowing at his hand from the cake being too hot before shoving it in his face.
"Oh God- hot hot hot- it's so good! I actually made a cake. I really did it! Try some Wendy."
Wendy blinks slowly and shakes her head, "ah... I'm actually good right now."
Mest gives her a sly look and grabs more cake, his hand shooting out like a bullet. She screams as he rubs cake all over her face, purposely missing her mouth just to mess her. It's warm against her face, but not burning. Wendy grabs a handful and shoves it right back against his face.
"Mest! I can't believe you!"
"I've never had birthday cake this way before, ahahahaha!"
Wendy grins and shoves more in his mouth, laughing as he does the same. She licks her lips, tasting the cake crumbs and frosting, and hums lightly to herself.
"You're right, this is good," she says licking her fingers.
"Of course. It was made with love by both of us."
Wendy stares at her husband and sighs out lightly, "thanks Mest."
"Nope, thank you Wendy for helping me make such a delicious birthday cake and giving me a birthday I'll never forget. I don't think I've had this much fun before. I will always remember this as the day I made my first cake and it actually came out amazing with my amazing little wife."
She looks at him and leans in; Mest expects she wants a kiss and closes his eyes as he leans forward. He's sadly mistaken as Wendy shoves more cake into his face before running off, screaming and laughing out loudly. Mest grins as he picks up the cake and chases after her in the kitchen. Neither of them notice Happy and Carla happily licking up all the crumbs on the floor.
"Wendy?"
"Hmm?"
Mest places his index finger on her forehead and slowly traces it down to her nose, tapping at it until she opens her rich chocolate brown eyes at him. He smiles lightly as he flicks her nose once.
"I had a fun birthday today, just in case you were wondering."
"I wasn't, but thanks for telling me. Happy birthday Mest," she mumbles.
Mest chuckles to himself and flicks her nose again, "alright, I'll let you get back to sleep again."
"Hmm, hold on. I have one more present for you. I," she yawns out loudly, "forget about it though. Can you go get it? I hid it... behind the dresser I think."
He groans as he rolls around in bed, "do I have to?"
"Nope. It's still your birthday, it can wait until tomorrow."
"Nah, I'm too curious. I'm getting up."
Wendy opens her eyes and rolls around in bed, her eyes watching him head to her dresser. He moves it a bit and sticks his hand behind it, feeling around until he grabs something solid. He pulls out whatever she hid and stares down at it in his hand, turning it back and forth.
"A journal?"
"Yup, so you can write your notes down. I noticed the one you have now is getting pretty full."
Mest blinks as he runs his hands down the black leather cover, their jolly roger engraved in the middle, "it looks nice."
"Thanks, Gajeel helped me make it."
"Make it? You made this?"
"Yup, like the bracelet. It wasn't hard. He helped me make an iron that looked like the fairy on our flag. We pressed it hard against the leather; he helped make the buckles for the bracelet and Levy taught me how to bind the paper together to make the journal."
"I thought you bought these things," Mest mumbles.
"What? No, I wouldn't buy you something. I wanted it to be special so I handmade it. Of course right after I thought about buying you something instead, but Gajeel and Levy assured me you would like it."
Mest flips open the notebook and turns through the pages; it was perfection. A warm feeling bubbled up inside of his chest and he joined his wife back in bed, wrapping his arms around her and smothering her face in kisses.
"I love you so much."
Wendy giggles, "I'm glad."
"Now it seems like we have two traditions every year for my birthday."
Her eyebrows furrow together, "if kissing is the first what is the second?"
He grins at her brightly, "baking my birthday cake and making a complete mess."
Wendy laughs herself awake and shakes her head, kissing her silly husband one last time on his birthday.
