BlackLynx17: Thanks for reading!
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-Eight
Starry Night
"Mest, I swear to God, unless you want her to end up bald stop breathing over my shoulder." Lucy growls out.
Mest take several large steps back away from her. Wendy brings her hand up to her mouth to hide her giggles. Lucy sighs and shakes her head. She combs through Wendy's hair again, for the third time, and holds the ends up. She lifts her scissors and begins snipping away. Wendy can see Mest flinch every time she snips and reaches her hand out towards him. Mest is by her side in an instant, squeezing her hand.
"Does it hurt?"
Wendy raises an eyebrow, "you've had haircuts before Mest, no it doesn't hurt. It's just a bit... weird. The only time I've ever had short hair was when I was a baby and I don't remember that at all. I'll have to get used to it I suppose."
Mest smiles at her warmly, "don't worry, we both will, together. I'm liking it a little right now."
Lucy ignores their chattering as she continues to snip and even out Wendy's hair. She had long strands here, medium ones there, and super short ones that she tried to cut all to the same length. She couldn't let Wendy go another day looking like this; it simply had to be fixed. Lucy hums as she finishes combing through her hair, checking the ends to make sure they all seemed in order.
"I think I'm done, tell her how it looks Mest," Lucy smiles moving away.
Mest looks up at Wendy with passion in his eyes, "beautiful."
Wendy blushes and looks away from his intense gaze, "thanks Lucy. I couldn't have cut my own hair without you."
"No problem Wendy and don't feel too bad. Your hair will grow back; it'll just take a little bit of time."
"Of course! Who knows though, I might get used to this short cut. It certainly makes my head feel lighter," Wendy giggles running her fingers through it.
Her new hairstyle stops just underneath her ears, curling in a little bit at the ends. It still feels as soft as she remembers; that didn't change. Only the length. She was sad to see it all go, but now she's over it. As long as she's alive, as long as Mest is happy, it doesn't mean anything to her anymore. The only reason why she kept it long in the first place is because royalty was expected to have long hair, especially the women. She was no longer royalty though, so it made sense now.
"I mean it, you look really cute Wendy. More mature. I can really get used to this," Mest flirts, giving her a small wink.
Wendy decides to tease him and winks back at him, even blowing a kiss his way. Mest snorts and covers his mouth, Wendy laughing out loudly when she sees his reaction.
"I think we're going to have fun with this haircut," Wendy laughs brushing her strands behind her ear.
Mest wants to kiss her at this moment, so he does. He pulls on her hand, drawing her closer, and presses their lips together for a sweet kiss.
"Hmm, I believe there is work to be done Mr. Gryder. There will be time for kisses later," Wendy tsks.
"Can't it wait?" He pouts back.
"Not unless you want to be stuck on this island."
Mest grimaces, all playfulness disappearing, "you're right, that would be terrible. I never had to fix anything since... ever actually, so let's see how this carpentering thing works out."
The Vermillion truly wasn't in that bad of shape according to Natsu. She just had too many holes in her now; if she went out to sea she would take on water and sink. All they had to do was patch up a few holes and they could leave asap, but their rooms would still need fixing. The only problem with the Vermillion was that she was a really old ship. One not worth fixing if it didn't have any sentimental value to it, but luckily for her it did. The Fairy Tail Pirates would sail Vermillion until the day she became nothing but dust. They would sail her to the ends of the Earth and back.
"How's it looking everybody?" Mest asks walking up to his crew.
"We should be able to sail by the end of the week according to Natsu. We aren't going to make it to the South Blue though, not in her shape. We'd have to stop by another island to make even more repairs. We could stay here for longer, everything we need is here on the island to fix her up. That crew... it seems they really did live and inhabit this island well. There isn't a single other person on here except for pirates, and it seems like it has been that way for years. It's whatever you call Captain." Erza says.
Mest hums as he nods his head, looking at Vermillion. She deserves more than to be force to set sail at half strength. To stay on an island full of murderers though, where more might come back at any time... it was a tough call.
"Do you think we're safe?"
"No one knows of this island; it isn't on any other map. Our only enemies would probably be more allies of the same crew. I don't think we need to worry though. You saw the size of the crew we fought; I doubt there are any more lurking around the seas rushing to get here."
"Let's play by ear then. Tell Natsu I want her up and running by the end of the week. If all is still peaceful maybe we'll stay a little longer. Has everyone else finished gathering everything up?"
"Yes Captain. You wouldn't believe the mountain of treasure they were sitting on. We're going to be living the high life once we enter the South Blue. Mirajane just finished gathering up everything eatable on the island as well; she said there were homes in the town that we could use to sleep in-"
"I rather not. Keep our crew to the beaches near the ship. I don't want us separating."
"Which is exactly why I told her the same thing. She understands, just wishes she had a functional oven. I was thinking, once we got to the South Blue, if we could use the majority of our riches to give the Vermillion some needed updates. She could use a few new things to spruce her up."
"You know, seeing her like this now, I was thinking the exact same thing," Mest tells her, "I forget how old of a ship she is. Four generations of faeries she's carried... she deserves the best."
"Good! I think that's about everything Captain. You going to grab a hammer and help? Or would you rather spend time playing around with your wife? I understand how completely useless you were last time she disappeared on you," Erza teases.
Mest frowns at her, "too soon Erza."
"Really? I still think it's funny."
He rolls his eyes, "no, I'm not going to follow Wendy around like a puppy again. I don't need to this time... I feel better this time around. I don't know why. We talked though and I just... we're good. We have a plan and we're all set."
"Whatever you say Mest. Let's get to work, shall we?"
She didn't expect it to be this freezing outside. They're on a tropical island (maybe?) so shouldn't it be warm? Wendy scoots closer to Mest, wrapping her arms around him tighter. She tries to absorb the heat radiating off of him.
"You doing alright there princess?" Mest asks, watching her squirm all over him.
"J-j-just-t-t f-fin-nn-e." Wendy's teeth chatters.
Mest chuckles and wraps her around in more blankets, "sure you are. How about we head back on the ship and sleep in our warm bed?"
"B-but- but- everyone else is sleeping outside under the stars; I want to do it too." Wendy pouts.
"I don't want you catching pneumonia and dying though wife."
"That's easy, just keep me warm and I'll be fine."
Mest chuckles and kisses her temple, "if you think it's worth it."
The stars are shining so brightly tonight. The rest of their friends are scattered around the beach, fires lit to keep warm, some still up drinking and laughing, others completely passed out from a hard day of work. Wendy felt exhausted herself. She's been running all around, from the ship back to the beach, getting supplies to help patch up and heal her friends. Changing bandages, gathering clean water, collecting her plants and settling them out on land. Mest has worked muscles he hasn't in years, carrying supplies to the Vermillion, following orders from Natsu of all people as they worked on her. It was nice for everyone to finally have a break and just relax... until tomorrow comes and they have to do it all over again.
"You know, if this island wasn't run by the worse type of pirates, it would actually be a nice place to vacation at." Wendy says.
"I don't know about that. It's still in the middle of nowhere with nothing to offer to visitors," Mest mumbles.
"What do you mean? Look at the stars, perfect for stargazing. And the forest, it's so vast and colorful, you're just not looking hard enough Mest."
"I'll give it a good long hard look when we sail away from it."
Wendy giggles, "how much longer do you think it'll be?"
"Still looking at a week, maybe longer if we decide to stay and completely fix her up here. I'm itching to get out of these waters, but I wouldn't want for you to be stuck in the ship again for weeks if we do just sail off onto the next island. I'm hoping to relax and stop pirating for a while once we hit the South Blue."
Wendy hums, "what is South Blue like?"
"Cold. Even colder than tonight. It's winter season over there, so it may be snowing when we arrive. I've never eaten anything better than the meals cooked in the South Blue though; they have these exotic and rare type of animals that can only survive in that part of the world, so we eat like kings whenever we visit. The last time we went it was... hmm... four, maybe five years ago? We try to stay in the Eastern seas, because everyone still has family out here they like to visit. Whenever our trail is too hot though, or whenever we're attracting way too much trouble and attention, we escape there and wait until everything cools down. I think you'll like it Wendy, I'm sure they'll be lots of things that will catch your eye."
"It sounds amazing. I would love to play in the snow! Whenever it snowed in Fiore I would have to sneak out to play in it. I wasn't allowed to go have fun whenever I wanted. Do you think we could build a snowman? Or make snow angels? And have a snowball fight! I had to play that all by myself... it wasn't as fun as it sounded. I always hoped..." Wendy shuts her mouth, the joy leaving from her voice.
"Hoped for what?" Mest asks.
She shakes her head, "it's nothing."
"No, please tell me Wendy."
Wendy takes a small breath and sighs out, "well, it's just... I always hoped that when I got married my husband would be my best friend and play with me. It's really silly, growing up everything was so strict and I kept thinking once I got married everything would get better. I wouldn't be forced to do anything anymore, I would be able to make my own rules and my husband would be just like me and want to play around and go on walks and see the world and be on my side, not anyone else's, and... it was childish to think, really. Like getting married really would have solved all my problems."
Mest raises his hand up and strokes her hair away from her face, staring down at her with his glowing green eyes, "I don't think that's silly at all Wendy. Isn't that what happened? We're best friends, aren't we?"
Wendy's eyes widen and a smile breaks across her face.
"If you wanted to play more you could have just ask. I would love to have a snow ball fight with you as soon as we land in the South Blue, and make snow angels, and build snowmen. Tomorrow we can go for a walk, just the two of us, across the beach. We can see the world, I like to think we're already doing that, and you know I'm always on your side Wendy. It isn't childish, that's what you hoped for in your husband. I just hope that I can live up to that."
"Oh Mest! You do! You really do!" Wendy exclaims, wrapping her arms around his neck.
She jumps on top of him and lays there, squeezing onto him tightly, enjoying how good it feels to be with him. Mest smiles and pats the top of her head.
"I'm glad Wendy. You're my best friend too you know. My lovely wife, the only woman I've ever loved... I want to give you the world."
"I just want you though," she mumbles against his neck.
"Then the world can be a side gift."
Wendy giggles and closes her eyes, relaxing on top of him. "You're so silly Mest."
Mest hums as he strokes her head, over and over, until he hears her soft snores. He sighs out and stares up at the sky, watching the stars dance above them.
"Good night my little princess."
