Wendy's POV

I leaned back in a kneeling position while sitting on my legs and sighed tiredly. The woman I had just been healing had had a terrible gash on her leg that had gotten infected. It had taken a lot of magical energy to cleanse the infection and nudge her body into healing faster than normal. Even though I trusted Gray-san and Laxus-san completely, I couldn't help but look towards the hole in the cave, which used to have a door blocking it, that Lucy said the leader of these ruffians had taken Phaedra-san through. Lucy-san had said that Phaedra-san was really hurt, so I wanted to make sure I saved some magic to help her as soon as I could.

Just when I was about to move on and help someone else, Gray-san burst through the hole in the cave carrying Phaedra-san, who was hanging limply in his arms. My breath caught in my throat as I remembered back to less than an hour ago when Phaedra-san had stopped me from helping her and ordered me to leave. I pushed that memory out of my mind for now though, as I picked myself up and ran as fast as my legs would carry me over to Gray-san.

"Gray-san! What's wrong with her?" I asked, my breath coming out in quick bursts as I ran up to them. Gray looked down at me and a look of regret and what looked a little bit like a numb shock were reflected in his eyes.

"She used a really powerful light spell and knocked herself out. The people who took her were stretching her body like crazy, but I'm not sure if she broke anything or not," Gray-san said.

I looked into Phaedra-san's unconscious face and reached out my hand, probing to see what could be the problem. Confusion and fear gripped me as I waved my sensory magic over her body, trying to detect her source of magic and any injuries she might have. From my quick scan of her body I could tell she had damaged one of her wrists, not broken but most likely fractured, and she had pulled muscles in both her shoulders which would be extremely painful when she woke up. She also had a large cut on her forehead that was still oozing blood slightly and I could feel that she had a spattering of burns and small cuts all along her arms and legs. But the more I searched for her magic source, the more I realized that I genuinely could not find any trace of it.

"Oh no," I whispered as my arms and hands began to tremble.

"What? What's wrong?" Gray-san asked, his voice sounding both terrified and angry.

"I... can't feel any magical power from her. I think she... somehow drained herself of it," I said in a terrified whisper.

"Can you fix her?" Gray-san asked, and I noticed that his grip tightened on Phaedra-san's seemingly lifeless body.

"I... I don't know. Porlyusica-san treated me for Magic Deficiency Syndrome before but I'm not sure how," I said as tears began to gather in the back of my eyes. What was I supposed to do? I wondered desperately. I'm supposed to have healing powers but how am I supposed to help Phaedra-san regain the ethernano she's lost before her body stops functioning?

"It may not be as bad as you think." My eyes dashed over to the hulking form of Laxus-san who was dragging two unconscious people behind him. He dropped their feet unceremoniously and walked over to us. I watched as he approached, but blinked in confusion when he reached for Phaedra-san's jacket zipper.

"Oy! Don't..." Before Gray-san could finish his protest Laxus carefully unzipped just the top section of Phaedra-san's jacket and pointed.

My stomach turned over when I saw something that was definitely not skin underneath the jacket. With trembling fingers, I reached out and opened her jacket just a little bit more to reveal a thin metal plate that looked like it had been burned onto her chest. The puckered and irritated skin around the metal looked raw and tender like the metal had cut into her as she'd been stretched, and before I could stop myself I turned and threw up onto the ground. Shararu, who had been hovering by my shoulder, rubbed my back with her small paw but I could feel that her paw was trembling as well. Once my nausea passed I turned back and determinedly looked at the metal that was slowly rising and lowering like a second skin as Phaedra-san breathed shallowly.

"Do you know what that is?" Laxus-san asked with a grim look making his normally intimidating face look slightly aged. I shook my head silently and Gray-san looked up at Laxus-san with a frown.

"You don't think..." he started, before glancing back down at the nearly black metal spread across Phaedra-san's chest.

"I think this is made out of a Magic Sealing Stone," Laxus declared with a heavy frown. I blinked in surprise and looked down at Phaedra-san.

"You mean... someone tried to make it so that Phaedra-san couldn't use magic by putting this on her?" I asked in confusion. Laxus-san shrugged and sighed.

"Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that from the first day I met her I could never feel more than a whisper of magic power coming from her, but we all know that she can use magic. I don't know what it means, but just because you can't feel her magic doesn't necessarily mean that it's completely gone. This is probably just blocking it from your senses," Laxus-san said while giving Phaedra-san a look that almost could be called concern.

"What animal would do this to her?" Gray-san growled under his breath and I noticed that his grip once again tightened on her body.

"Gray? Laxus? Did you find.... Oh!" I turned to see Lucy-san running towards us, but when she saw Phaedra-san her hands immediately flew to her mouth in horror.

"We can discuss this later," Laxus-san said suddenly, ignoring Lucy-san for now and turning to look at me. "Whether she's burned through her magic or not, she's hurt. Can you help her?" he asked.

"I..." I started to say, looking at my unconscious friend and losing my ability to speak briefly.

"I'll take them back to the guild so she can work on her in peace." I turned around in surprise and gratitude to see Mest-san walking through several women who were all looking around them as if waiting for someone else to come put them in shackles again.

"That's a good idea. We'll wrap up everything here and get the women somewhere safe," Laxus-san said, nodding at Mest-san. Gray-san glanced down at Phaedra-san for a long moment before walking over to Mest-san and gently transferring her to his waiting arms.

"We'll be there as soon as we can," Gray-san said firmly to Mest-san before he turned to give me an encouraging smile. "Help her as much as you can, kay?"

I nodded my head firmly before reaching out and gently placing my hand on Mest-san's arm. Shararu flew over and grabbed onto my shoulder and then a slight tugging sensation bloomed around me. The next second, I found myself in the silent Sabertooth guildhall. It took us a little while to find the infirmary, but as soon as I found it I directed Mest-san to lay Phaedra-san down on an empty bed.

He gently set her down and I heard him heave a loud sigh before plopping down in a chair. I felt terrible that he had had to expend so much magic energy today, but I turned back to the supply closet I had found and began filling my arms. I knew I was running too low on magic to completely heal Phaedra-san's wounds, so I loaded my arms with bandages, several splints, a potion of disinfectant, and anything else I could think of. Without speaking, I swiftly moved over to Phaedra-san's side and deposited my armload.

"How can I help?" Mest-san's tired voice asked. I looked over at him and then down at Phaedra-san's still form.

"I, uh... I need to see her wounds. Could you help me take off her jacket?" I asked, trying hard to remain calm and poised like Porlyusica always was when she was healing someone. Mest-san nodded silently. I took a quick breath, preparing myself to see the metal slab on Phaedra-san's chest but as I unzipped her jacket there was nothing that could have prepared me for what I saw.

A loud gasp burst from my mouth. Shararu and I both clapped our hands to our mouths at the same time as Phaedra-san's ripped shirt and jacket fell open to expose the multitude of scars across every inch of her torso. Suddenly, Mest-san's solid body stepped in front of me and I felt his strong arms wrap around my shoulders and head, pushing me against his stomach as tears that I could not stop poured from my eyes.

I desperately tried to regain my composure as Mest-san's comforting presence wrapped around me like a protective blanket. He didn't say anything as my tears and sobs caused my chest and shoulders to jerk painfully and I clenched my hands into fists.

"I... I need to... heal her..." I choked out even as my tears continued to cascade down my cheeks. How could there be someone so monstrous in this world that would do something so terrible to Phaedra-san?

I wanted to scream, but right now Phaedra-san needed me. Forcing my mouth to close, I breathed in and out deeply through my nose and slowly my sobbing began to ebb. Mest-san's arm around my shoulders slowly moved away and he patted my back gently.

"It's okay, Wendy. It's okay to be upset," Mest-san said in a whisper. I swallowed past a lump in my throat, and even though I didn't want to leave the safety of his arms that seemed to be sheltering me from the awful, cruel truth that awaited me just a step away, I shook my head.

"I need to be strong. Phaedra-san needs me," I said as firmly as I could.

Mest-san patted me gently on the head and then slowly moved away, stepping to the side. My eyes slid back to the Phaedra-san's unmoving body and saw that Shararu had fallen to her knees next to her stomach and was desperately trying to cover the scars on her stomach with her little arms.

Shaking my head I moved towards Phaedra-san's head and gently lifted her up. Without me asking Mest swiftly and gently removed her jacket and tattered shirt to expose the many bruises, cuts, burns, and haphazard line of scars all along her arms. Shaking my head swiftly I got to work.

I used my magic to heal the worst of her wounds, most of which were her shoulders, wrists, and ankles. I nearly lost it again when I had cut away the bottoms of her leather pants to find that not even her legs had been spared. H's of every shape and size wound themselves around her legs and when I took her socks off there were even an H's on the tops of her feet and circling her ankles like bracelets.

Fighting back my nausea I worked quickly and methodically, following all of the steps to clean, disinfect, and bandage the more minor wounds that she had sustained. I used my healing magic to close up the gash on her head before I bandaged it to let it finish healing naturally. When I had finally finished everything that I could do, I was exhausted and trembling and it was all I could do to cover her body with a blanket to hide away her terrible scars.

"You did good, Wendy," Mest-san said as he pulled up a chair for me to sit in. I shakily sat in it and looked at Phaedra-san's unmoving face.

"What if she doesn't wake up, Mest-san?" I asked sadly. "What if she really does have Magic Deficiency Syndrome and I lose her?"

"You've done everything you can do, Wendy. Have faith," Mest-san said gently as he rested a hand on my shoulder.

"Lucy reads lots of books, maybe when she gets here she will know what to do about Magic Deficiency Syndrome," Shararu said with a frown. She had sat down next to Phaedra-san's unconscious form and was gently rubbing her arm hidden underneath the blanket.

I nodded sadly, wishing that I had asked Porlyusica more questions about how she had treated me when I had been sick during the Magic Games. Mest-san patted my shoulder one more time and then slowly retracted his hand. A sudden coldness gripped my shoulder and I turned, feeling a spurt of panic shoot through me.

"I'm just going to try and find Phaedra some new clothes," Mest-san said in a soothing voice. I slumped back in my chair and nodded tiredly.

"Thank you for all your help, Mest-san," I said, trying to express how truly grateful I was to him. Mest-san gave me a large smile and threw me a thumb's up.

"What are big brothers for?" he asked with his wide grin. My heart clenched at the casual remark and a strange frustration rose up in me. As Mest-san turned away to leave the infirmary I found myself standing up.

"Wendy?" Shararu asked with a confused voice. I ignored her though and swiftly ran over to Mest-san, catching one of his large hands in both of mine before he could leave the room. He turned around to look at me over his shoulder with a concerned look.

"What's up, Wendy?" he asked, turning around to face me. I gripped his hand tightly, feeling so many emotions that I didn't even know what to do with them. But as I thought of Phaedra-san laying in the bed, possibly dying, and to think that I hadn't been brave enough to tell her everything I had wanted to made me open my mouth.

"You go on lots of missions without me," I said, looking up into Mest-san's amazingly green eyes. He blinked several times and then quirked one of his eyebrows at me in a look of amused confusion.

"That right," he agreed, somewhat cautiously.

"And you sometimes get hurt on your jobs," I continued, not looking away from his eyes. The amusement that had been in his expression slowly disappeared and his brow furrowed slightly in a look of concern.

"Sometimes..." he said slowly. I swallowed with difficulty but forced myself to continue.

"And when you get hurt I won't be there to help fix you. So one day.... One day you might not come back to Fairy Tail..." I said. Tears began to prickle the back of my eyes and I squeezed Mest-san's hand tighter, trying to will them to not fall. Mest-san's eyes widened in obvious shock and he took a step closer to me with a frown.

"Wendy, just because Phaedra got hurt..."

"It could happen, though!" I interrupted him, feeling extremely guilty, but I was afraid that if I let him speak I would lose what little courage I had mustered. Mest-san sighed deeply and I was surprised when he squeezed my hand briefly.

"That's always a danger when you are a mage," he agreed softly. Tears began to pool and cloud my vision. I closed my eyes, sniffling and trying to keep them from falling before I had said what I wanted to say.

"I wanted to ask Phaedra-san to stay," I choked out as emotion made my voice shake. I bent my head and a tear slipped from my eye and fell to the ground. "I thought she would be upset with me if I told her I wanted her to stay with me and become a member of Fairy Tail... a member of our family."

I heard a small sniffle from behind me and realized that Shararu must be battling tears like I was. Taking a deep breath, I held fast onto Mest-san's hand and brought my head back up, looking him in the eye through my swimming vision.

"I don't want you to be my big brother." The confession ripped from my throat without delicacy and without abandon and I saw Mest-san's eyes slowly widen farther and farther until his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. I licked my lips nervously but decided I had already taken the plunge so I might as well go all in.

"I know I'm only fifteen and you just see me as a little sister... but someday... I would like you to see me as a woman... because I really... really like you." And that was my limit. My strength faded away and I let go of Mest-san's hand to let my arms drop back to my sides. Exhausted physically, magically, and emotionally, I bowed my head and waited for Mest-san to tell me that he didn't think of me in that way.

Silence stretched out between us for what felt like an eternity and I was just about to turn around and accept his silence as a rejection when something completely unexpected happened. Mest-san's gentle fingers wrapped around one of my hands and his large thumb brushed against the back of my wrist. I blinked my eyes open and watched as Mest-san slowly kneeled down so that we were at about the same height. He stared directly into my eyes and I felt my cheeks begin to heat up in shock and confusion.

"I didn't know you felt that way, Wendy. I'm sorry if I made you sad," Mest-san said quietly, his voice gentle and filled with the kindness that had been the reason I had started to admire him in the first place.

"You are a very special girl, Wendy. I have been watching over you ever since Tenrou Island and a big part of why I decided to leave behind my identity as Doranbalt with the Rune Knights was because I felt like I owed you for putting you in that dangerous situation." Mest-san pulled my hand towards him so he could rest his wrist against his bent knee and he held my hand a little tighter.

"You are young though, and I don't think it would be right for me to respond to your feelings right now when you are so worried about Phaedra," Mest-san said gently. I glanced back at Phaedra and Shararu to see that Shararu's eyes were wide and she was staring over at us intently, her ears pricked up to show she was listening to every word. Feelings of doubt and uncertainty crept into me as I wondered if I had let my emotions run a little wild. I turned back to Mest-san and was surprised to find him smiling kindly at me.

"So, how about we wait for a little while before we talk about this. Once Phaedra-san is recovered, if you still have these same feelings for me then I promise to listen to you and see you as the woman you are and not the little girl you think you are." I blinked in shock at Mest-san's words and a peaceful happiness descended over me. A few stray tears slipped from my eyes and to my surprise, Mest-san reach out and brushed them away before giving me a crooked smile.

"Okay," I said breathlessly, nodding my agreement. Mest-san nodded once and then straightened, letting go of my hand and then gently patted my head.

"I'll go look for those clothes, okay?" Mest-san said, giving me a look as if asking if I would be okay. I nodded my acceptance, feeling a blush heat up my cheeks. He smiled quietly at me and then turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Not convinced that that had actually happened, I slowly stumbled back to the chair next to Phaedra-san's bed and looked over at Shararu. Her eyes were narrowed as she looked at the closed door and her one paw had never left Phaedra-san's arm.

"Did... I just do that?" I asked Shararu quietly. She looked over at me and hmphed loudly, crossing her arms in front of her chest with a perturbed expression.

"Since when do you give emotional confessions in front of a sick person like that?" Shararu snapped. I flinched at her words, but I could hear in her tone that she was as shocked as me about what had just happened.

"What should I do?" I asked quietly, glancing at Phaedra-san's closed eyes and wishing desperately that she would wake up so I could ask for her advice.

"It's up to you," Shararu said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "From what he said it sounds like he may be more of a pedophile than I had given him credit for," she sniffed.

"Shararu!" I gasped in shock. Shararu turned angry eyes on me but then her shoulders sagged and she sighed.

"Sorry. I meant that... it sounds like you are important to him too, but he doesn't want to take advantage of your highly emotional state," she said with a small hmph before continuing. "Which means I think he was trying to tell you that he will wait until you are ready to tell him when you are not an emotional wreck that you want to be with him."

I stared at Shararu in silence as what she and Mest-san had said slowly sank in. Exhaustion, like I had never felt before, gripped me and I let out a long sigh. Slowly I leaned forward, curling up next to Phaedra-san's motionless body and lay my hand on top of hers that was hiding underneath the covers.

"Well, whatever happens, I'll worry about it after Phaedra-san wakes up," I said sleepily. As I leaned my head against her arm and held her covered hand my eyes slowly shut and I felt myself drift off to sleep.

A/N XD XD XD XD Okay, so Phaedra being unconscious and super hurt is not good, but I really hope you enjoyed that little Mendy/WeSt moment XD XD XD Because I sure enjoyed writing it :P