If Natsu and Lisanna talked more after Edolas, I would be a total NaLi shipper. But, they didn't :(. Luckily, in that arc, I became the hard-core NaWen shipper I am now :)!Captain! Natsu x Mermaid! Wendy. Hints of: GaLe, GruVia, and mentions of NaLi.
How it Works: In this world, mermaids are real and everyone knows it. Some Sailors try to hunt them, while others try to make friends with the mermaids
No One's POV~*
Wendy, a sixteen year old mermaid, awaited patiently for her seagull friend, Lucy. Her best friend, Carla, waited as well but only because she was worried Wendy would get caught.
"Child, I really don't think you should be doing this. Are you really so curious about these humans to risk your life?" She started her concerned speech, but Wendy only smiled warmly.
"Carla, I'm technically old enough to go to the surface. I'll be fine. Besides, Grandfather is ok with it. He was a royal advisor, after all."
"Exactly. Was. He's getting quite old and frankly, I think he's-" Carla was cut off by a loud bird call and hid behind Wendy in fear. Wendy shook her head at her friend and smiled at Lucy. Said bird landed on a rock that Wendy was by.
"Wendy, I hit the jackpot today. I got you the rarest item on land." Lucy started digging around in her bag as Wendy had reached the peak of her excitement and curiosity. Carla would have to admit that she was mildly interested in this item as well. Lucy pulled a pencil out of the satchel and placed it in front of Wendy.
"It's called a sploop. Very rare and expensive. Humans use it to curl their hair without heat. It's amazing!" Wendy practically had stars in her eyes while Carla looked unimpressed and skeptical.
"How much for it?" Wendy asked with excitement coursing through her veins. Carla almost couldn't believe Wendy would use shells (equivalent to money or jewels) on something like that!
"For you? It's on the house! Here, even take the balp." Lucy handed her the bag with a sploop and a few other things in it.
"Thank you so much, Lucy-san!" Wendy hugged the bird, getting her wet.
"No problem, kid." Lucy let go, shook the water off, and flew away.
"Wendy!" A new voice called and the bluenette recognized it as her sisters.
"Hey, Chelia. What's wrong?" She questioned once she saw the distress in Chelia's face. The pinkette panted after swimming for so long.
"It's Grandfather… he's ill.." Wendy's eyes widened and dived back into the water with Carla following close behind. Chelia eventually caught up and swam along with them. Wendy opened the door to her Grandfather's house in a hurry with tears welling up in her eyes.
"Am I too late?"
"No." The weak voice of Wendy's Grandfather sounded from his bed. "You're just in time." Wendy swam to his bedside, happy she could see him again.
"Listen, Wendy. You must go to the surface and wait by Magnolia Rock. I have sent a telegram (written on seaweed with octopus ink) fish to your bird friend. By now, I'm sure she sent the message to my dear friend, King Makarov. He will send his best ship to take you to Fiore. Once you are there, go to Fairy Tail where you shall find a magical rose. That is the only cure to my illness. Take this." He clipped a necklace around her neck. The necklace had a charm that looked just like a white dragon. The dragon had its body in a certain way that it looked like it was the left half of a heart.
"This necklace is very special to me and I would like you to have it, in case I do pass."
"Don't say things like that. I'll get that rose, don't worry. As soon as I do, you'll be cured." Wendy smiled warmly, swimming out the door after kissing her Grandfather's forehead. Chelia swam with Wendy to make sure she got on the ship safely.
After hours of waiting, a large ship came towards the two mermaids. Carla had left long before, giving her farewells to Wendy. Chelia and Wendy swam the rest of the way to the ship and Chelia waved.
Wendy could go on land as she was half mermaid, half dolphin (actual fact). Breathing oxygen was not a problem for her; the only catch was the only liquid Wendy could consume was water.
"Hello there!" Chelia had to shout over the waves and ship noise that it's crew members made. Luckily, a young man around their age noticed.
"Oi! We found the mermaid!" He called behind him and a new man with unusual hair came out from behind him. Wendy giggled, thinking that his pink hair was cute. A rope with a life ring tied at the end for Wendy to get in was thrown off the side of the boat. She slipped into it and it soon raised up. She mouthed a 'Bye' to her sister as Chelia waved at her. Wendy reached the deck and men stared at her in bewilderment.
"What?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow. "Have you never seen a mermaid before? I wouldn't be shocked considering there aren't as many of us as there used to be."
The man with pink hair cleared his throat. "The lady's right. Let's not stare. My name is Natsu Dragneel, and I'm the captain of this ship."
Wendy smiled at him. "I'm Wendy. Wendy Marvell. It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise, Miss Marvell. Um, may I ask why you haven't transformed yet? In the letter I got, it says mermaids like yourself have magic..?" Natsu said in a questioning tone. But, could you blame him? He would have to be at least a little curious about the woman that would be boarding his ship for a whole week!
"I'm a strange mermaid. I wasn't born with powers like everyone else." Wendy looked down, remembering the times she got picked on because of her flaws. It became awkwardly silentl after that until Natsu's first mate, Romeo, spoke up.
"I know! We can get you a wheelchair. That way you can go around the ship no problem." He left for a second and Wendy was obviously confused.
'What's a wheelchair?'
Romeo soon came back with a wheelchair and Wendy rose her eyebrow. A few of the crew members helped her into the chair and because of her relatively small length, she fit perfectly. Natsu slipped a shirt on her and covered her tail with a blanket. Wendy wasn't sure what was happening, but thought of their actions as kind.
"Thank you. I've never met so many nice humans before. Why do you have one of these anyways?" Wendy asked and Natsu scratched the back of his neck nervously.
"One of the crew members' ankles were twisted. Both of his ankles were twisted somehow."
"What happened to him?"
"He kind of, uh, fell overboard.." Natsu trailed off and Wendy gasped, deciding she would figure out how to move in the contraption they placed her in.
Wendy tried using the wheelchair and once she got the hang of it, she was wheeling from one side of the deck to the other happily.
"This is so much fun!" She would squeal in excitement making the members of the ship laugh.
"Alright, miss." Natsu's voice made Wendy stop moving and pay attention to him. "The king wants you to send him a written message and tell him about your Grandpa."
Wendy's mood saddened a little at the mention of her Grandfather, but she nodded anyways. She followed Natsu towards his room (Captain's Quarters) and watched as he grabbed a strange looking flat white thing (paper). Her eyes widened when he pulled a sploop out of this thingy that contained other human stuff. Thinking she was able to write, Natsu handed Wendy the paper and pencil.
Wendy threw the paper somewhere and started curling her hair with the sploop, humming a tone as she did so. "I didn't know you guys had a sploop here! Is this the only one?"
Natsu raised an eyebrow at Wendy and her actions. 'A sploop? Does she mean a pencil?'
He gently grabbed the pencil out of her hand and grabbed the piece of paper. "Wendy, this is called a pencil. You write on paper with it. You do know how to write, correct?"
Wendy shook her head no. "Only royalty and the royal advisors were allowed to write."
'Were?' Natsu had so many questions, but decided not to pester Wendy with his curiosity. Forgetting the king's orders, he spent the rest of the day with Wendy. He showed her around the ship and taught her some of the basics of human life. Dinner quickly approached and everyone was at the deck. By then, Wendy had put her blanket away, not wanting to hide her tail much longer.
MiraJane, the cook, came out with plates that were covered by silver covers. "For dinner tonight we have-" Mira paused and uncovered Wendy's plate. "Lobster with rice and vegetables!"
Everyone cheered except for Wendy who gasped. She took the lobster and threw it overboard. "Be free!" She called after the cooked lobster sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
"Wendy, the lobster i-" Natsu covered Romeo's mouth with his hands and Wendy tilted her head in confusion.
"-Is going to live a happy life now that you've saves it. You're a hero, Wendy!" Nats gave a look to the crew members that said, 'Pretend to be excited or else.' Everyone gulped, but soon cheered for Wendy. Mira raised an eyebrow at the mermaid, but brushed it off. She went into the kitchen and came back out with Wendy's dessert: icecream. The bluenette devoured the sweet treat, saying she had never tasted something like it in the ocean.
Nightfall approached and Wendy searched for Natsu. Sure, she was sleepy but she wanted to tell him goodnight, a thing Chelia and herself would do every night. She found him at the deck, looking over the gunwale(the part of a boat that keeps people on the deck) and at the sea.
"Don't humans need sleep?" Wendy asked, sneaking up behind him. He turned around abruptly and let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was just Wendy. Natsu looked back at the sea and Wendy rolled herself beside him.
"Of course we do. I just don't get too much of it." Natsu replied and Wendy looked at the sea just as he was. There was a long silence between the two that they both enjoyed, but also wanted to break.
"Can I ask something?" Natsu broke the silence and Wendy was happy he did.
"Sure."
"What's up with you mermaids? Before you said royal advisors were allowed to write. And you've also said there weren't as many mermaids as they were before." Natsu turned and found Wendy looking at him. " What do you mean?"
Wendy looked at the ocean before looking back at Natsu with a sad smile. "When I was around thirteen, the kingdom was thriving, but back then we tried keeping mermaid existence a secret. Queen Juvia fell in love with a Captain, like yourself. She disguised herself as a human for three hours a day to talk to him. She only told the royal advisors and my Grandfather was one, so he told my sister and I about it. The Captain soon found out about the Queen's true identity."
She stopped for a second to catch her breath before continuing, "At the time, Captain Gray didn't understand his feelings for the Queen and he sold out the mermaids secrets. Fisherman boats captured us mermaids and eventually there were only few of us. Only the royal advisors and their families made it out alive. But, the Queen still loves the Captain and forgave him for his wrong doings. He then understood his feelings for her, but, sadly, Juvia was murdered by a ruthless fisherman. I think the fisherman's name was Gajeel or something. Gray somehow encased himself and Juvia in what humans call ice, I think." Wendy started giggling making Natsu look at her confusingly.
"Why are you laughing? That's a pretty sad story, Wendy." Natsu started becoming concerned and Wendy waved her right hand in dismay.
"No, it's not like that. I'm laughing because the fisherman, Gajeel, got married recently to a close friend of mine, Levy. She's also a mermaid and was a royal advisor." Natsu chuckled lightly.
"How ironic." They both started laughing with each other before Wendy looked up at the night sky.
"Wow. The sky is really pretty." Wendy sighed as she placed her chin in her hands and rested her elbows on the gunwale.
'Right. Wendy lives under the sea. She's never seen the sky before.' Natsu thought and smiled at Wendy.
"What if I started teaching you how to write?" Natsu asked out of the blue and Wendy's eyes widened with excitement and happiness.
"Really? You'd do that?"
"Of course. You're gonna be with us for two weeks in total, might as well learn something."
"Thank you, Natsu-san!" Wendy leaped out of her wheelchair and tackled Natsu in a hug, before getting embarrassed and letting go of him. "Sorry, I must be heavy huh?"
Natsu started laughing at Wendy's embarrassment. "It's fine and you're not heavy at all, Wendy."
"Seriously? I have all this extra weight on me and I'm not heavy at all?" Wendy asked in a skeptical tone.
"Nope. Light as a feather." Natsu stood up and to prove his point, picked Wendy up bridal style then spun around with her in his arms. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. He stopped and they stared staring into each other's eyes. Hazel ones meeting dark onyx eyes and it seemed like everything suddenly became perfect in the world. Natsu suddenly looked away from Wendy, disappointing her just a bit.
'It was almost like he was going to...'
Natsu placed Wendy back in her wheelchair and stared off at the sea.
"You should be heading to bed now. It's getting late."
"You should too. You said that humans need sleep."
"I don't, Wendy. I'm the Captain of a ship. I don't get sleep." Natsu gave Wendy a look that asked her to just let him be. Getting the message, she went off into her guest room and, with help from Mirajane who surprisingly was still up, slept in her bed soundly.
Natsu looked at the ocean before running a hand through his hair. "Damn. I'm falling for another one again."
For the rest of the week, Natsu avoided Wendy until they made it to Fiore. Wendy was confused as to why he would avoid her, but used the time to think about her own problems.
"You all can take a little break for the next few hours and I'll escort Wendy to Fairy Tail. Watch out for anyone apart of the Iron Dragon ship. I just got notice that they're on the hunt for royal ships like ourselves." Everyone nodded at Natsu's orders while Wendy looked away from him. She rolled herself past him and looked for Fairy Tail with Natsu following closely behind. None of them knew off a man with piercings watching them from afar.
"What is Fairy Tail anyways?" Wendy asked out of nowhere. Natsu was a bit taken aback by the sudden question but nonetheless answered.
"Fairy Tail was an old bar that everyone was welcome in. Mermaids, Pirates, Royalty, you name it! Anyone could be themselves without worrying about getting judged. Mira was a bartender at Fairy Tail, one of the best ones too. One day, the owner shut it down and everyone was sad. There's nothing left except an old garden the founder planted. It's all just shriveled up herbs and shrubs now." Wendy started questioning why her Grandfather would direct her to such a place, but decided to have faith in him. He surely knew what he was talking about, right?
Sooner than they both realized, they reached what was left of Fairy Tail. Natsu was right. There were only dead plants scattered around in what was a beautiful garden. Far off in the distance, a single, glorious red rose in a dead rose bush beamed magnificently. Wendy rolled herself to the rose and Natsu was right behind her the entire time.
Natsu started hearing whimpers coming from Wendy and almost took a step back when he realized she was crying.
"Why are you crying, Wendy?"
"We found the rose. My Grandfather is going to be ok." Wendy smiled at him and Natsu did the same to her. They smiled at each other with happiness in their eyes and face.
"I'm in love with you, Natsu-san." Wendy suddenly spoke and covered her mouth when she realized what she had just said. Natsu chuckled and looked Wendy in the eye.
"I'm in love with you too, Wendy."
"Y-You are?"
"Yeah. Why do you think I've been avoiding you? I needed some time to think about it. I fell in love with a mermaid before and the outcome wasn't pretty." Wendy became curious and her face clearly showed it, but Natsu ignored it.
"Isn't this when humans kiss each other?" Wendy asked, remembering something Mira said.
Natsu chuckled. "Sure." They leaned into each other before Natsu fell on his back. Blood gushed out his stomach and Wendy realized that he had been stabbed by someone. She got out of her chair and was by Natsu in seconds.
"Natsu-san.. shh. It's going to be ok. I'll get help." Wendy started whispering to him soothing words, tears of sadness welling up in her eyes.
"I won't make it to a hospital. Wendy, I love you. Please remember that." Natsu whispered back with a smile before his eyes closed and his breathing stopped. Wendy's tears started streaming down her face and onto the ground without her even realizing. Once she knew that she was crying, she laid her head on Natsu's chest, missing his heartbeat. Her tears fell on his shirt, soaking it until a few dripped onto the wound. She continued to cry for Natsu and didn't care about who saw her tail.
A thumb suddenly rubbed Wendy's cheek, crushing and smearing the small pearls of water. Wendy froze before placing her own hand on top of the one caressing her cheek. She lifted her head and turned towards a breathing, smiling Natsu still laying down.
"Natsu-san! You're alive!" Wendy hugged his neck and Natsu laughed.
"Yeah, I am. How did you do that? I thought you didn't have magic." Natsu hugged her back, briefly wondering where the knife in his back went. Wendy smiled, still crying in amazement that Natsu was alive.
"Yeah.. I thought I didn't either.." Wendy replied and Natsu took this chance to kiss her. She was shocked at first, but kissed him back, happy to have him with her. They stayed like that for a long time, so long that everyone on the ship had gathered around the two. They didn't realize this, as they had their eyes closed, when they pulled away everyone from the ship started cheering. Wendy blushed in embarrassment and Natsu told them to get back to the ship. After picking the rose carefully, Wendy wheeled herself to the ship and covered her tail with the blanket. What neither of them noticed were the flowers that grew from where Wendy's tears fell.
The week long trip back was exciting and memorable for the new couple. They made a plan on how to meet once a week. Wendy would swim to the shore and Natsu would be waiting for her with her wheelchair. They'd spend the day doing whatever activity Natsu had chosen for them together. It was a simple plan that they both agreed to.
"Goodbye everyone! I'll miss you guys! I'll miss everyone! You all are the nicest humans I've ever met!" Wendy made her voice louder so everyone could hear. Some were even tearing up at her small speech.
"We're gonna miss ya Wendy." Romeo smiled at her which she returned. Natsu walked up and placed the rose in her hair, which was still blooming. He kissed her cheek and picked her up bridal style.
"Throw me in, Natsu-san!" Wendy exclaimed.
"Wendy, are you crazy? That's a really high dro-" Natsu didn't finish as Wendy wiggled out of his hold and fell into the ocean. She popped her back up and waved at the crew.
"I love you Wendy!" Natsu called out so she could hear.
"I love you too, Natsu-san!" Wendy dived back under the sea with a heavy blush and swam to her Grandfather's home.
"Hurry, Wendy! Get two leaves of the rose before it's too late!" Chelia said immediately as Wendy came inside the house. Wendy plucked two leaves off the rose and her Grandfather ate them, which surprised both of them. They thought they needed to make a tea or something with the leaves. The two sisters looked at each other and shrugged.
Their Grandfather almost immediately looked healthier. His skin becoming back to its normal color and his eyes turning from blood-shot red to a normal white. Wendy smiled and swam back up to the surface, just to take glimpse at the ship where she found love.
The royal ship had already made its course back to land with Natsu giving orders. He couldn't help but take a glance at the sea and smile when he saw familiar dark blue hair...
(I'm a troll for this next line..)
Wendy awoke with a jump and gasped for air. Wendy lifted the covers and she had never been so happy that she still had legs. She looked to her left and sighed when she saw that Natsu was still fast asleep in bed. She kissed his forehead before laying back down, her back facing Natsu.
"Goodnight Natsu-san. I'm glad to know that even if I was a mermaid, you'd still love me." Tanned, strong arms wrapped themselves around Wendy's waist.
"Of course. I'll love you no matter what or who you are." Still tired, Natsu missed her cheek (completely) and kissed her shoulder. "Go to sleep, Wendy. It's too early fo-" Natsu stopped himself after hearing Wendy's soft snores. He chuckled before putting a hand on his red dragon necklace. It's shape was made so it looked like the right half of a heart.