Chapter One:

Lucy Heartfilia stomped furiously. A string of unintelligible complaints tumbled out from her mouth, her clenched jaw gritting pearly white teeth, and her blonde hair gracefully falling behind her footfalls. It was rare for her to be angry—she was, in fact, very polite, kind, and cheerful—but an arranged marriage was not something she could easily forgive… especially when she had no clue about who the person is.

The girl's feet were carrying her around a maze of cream-colored halls, the carpeted floor muting her heavy steps. She passed by a few household staff who bowed and greeted her as was the custom but she paid them no heed. She continued to trudge down a familiar route she was sure would lead to her father's study. She stopped, breathed in deeply, straightened her back and opened the door in a tougher manner than she had initially planned.

As was expected, Jude Heartfilia stared at her, his eyebrows shooting up upon the surprise visit of his only child. He looked at her with a bemused look, stopping the scribbling he was doing on a piece of paper. He pushed the documents away and pursed his lips when Lucy held up a simple bouquet.

"I don't know what you expect to hear when what you're doing makes the slightest bit of sense," Jude said firmly. There was a hint of affection in his voice but Lucy shook it off. She was angry and she needed that anger to get her point across.

"A bouquet from the Davis Corporation. It had a card attached to it saying, 'To our future daughter-in-law'." She put her extended hand down and pinched her eyebrows closer. "Is there something you're not telling me, father?"

"The Davis Corporation has been our long-time family friend and business partners. I don't see the reason why you're so against the thought of marrying into their family." Jude laced his fingers together and retaliated to Lucy's pinched eyebrows by pinching his own. He leaned in closer to her and added, "You haven't even met their heir and yet you're already being so difficult about all this."

"But that's exactly why I'm being so difficult about things," she said. "Father, I am a twenty-three-year-old lady living in the twenty-first century. I don't see why you need to subject me into something as one-sided as an arranged marriage!"

"What would you rather have me do?" he asked, "Wait for you to be active in the company matters and prepare to inherit it from me? Because I don't see that happening any time soon…"

Jude's words made Lucy bite her lower lip. She did want to inherit the company her parents worked so hard to build; just not now… not this way. She wanted to explore her youth; go on adventures; fall in love at her own pace. She had so many things to do that surpassed taking over the family business in terms of gravity.

"The wedding's already decided. You can't turn back now—"

"No! You can't make me do this!"

"But I can," he said, "You don't really think I'm choosing someone to marry you without considering your tastes, do you? Here's a photo—"

"I don't need it!" she bellowed, the first time she has ever done to her father. Both were shocked. Lucy gasped, guilt starting to surface on her face; Jude was taken aback, obviously not expecting the sudden outburst. Lucy's lips pursed into a straight line and she took a step back. "I—I'm sorry, father… I… I need to be alone…"

She turned her back and ran out of the room.

It took a surprisingly small time for her to run up to the second floor and lock herself in her room. Information overload and guilt were giving her a migraine. She sat at the foot of her queen-sized bed with a blank look on her face. Her father is a gentle creature; so why was he doing something as ridiculous as getting Lucy wed? She couldn't make sense of things.

She hasn't been able to ever since her mother died. Layla had always been the one to explain everything to her and now that she's gone, her relationship with her father has been undergoing some straining circumstances.

Oh, mum… Please tell me what to do…

Lucy turned to her bedside table and reached for a framed photo of her family. She looked at it with longing, her hands brushing softly against the clear glass: Layla and Jude were beaming at her; a smaller, younger version of herself holding up two huge mangoes that they had gotten one harvest time.

The Heartfilia family had a lot of overseas properties, but they had one villa in another country which Layla had always been fond of: acres and acres of land that were covered with mango trees from end to end. It was a place near the outskirts of a huge city, in between mountain ranges and a sea. Peace and quiet would be an assurance and so Layla would always take Lucy there when she wanted to think—contemplate.

Something Lucy herself needed now.

An idea like a light bulb lit up in Lucy's brain. If she couldn't stop the wedding by being difficult… she could disappear, right? It wasn't the best plan, but it was her only plan now.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Come in."

"Mister Heartfilia, it seems the young lady has left on the jet earlier this evening. We have yet to confirm her exact destination but it doesn't look like anywhere close to home."

"I know where she's going…" Jude sighed at his daughter's stubbornness. It was scary how he'd predicted Lucy's actions, though he secretly hoped she wouldn't be so easy to read. "She's going to the mango farm."

The butler sighed, himself. "Shall we go and make preparations to take her back?"

"No…" Jude said, "Just get me Gray Fullbuster on the phone. I'll handle the rest…"

No more questions were asked as the servant left his master's study, only to return moments later with a phone in hand. Jude took the phone and immediately smiled when he heard the voice of the speaker at the other end of the line.

"Mister Heartfilia, it has been a while, hasn't it?" said the voice, manly and rough.

"Hello, Gray. It has," he said. "How is the farm doing?"

"Mangoes are in season and we're getting a pretty fine harvest," Gray said, "But I'm sure you're not calling because of the mangoes, are you?"

"As perceptive as always… Actually, Gray, my Lucy is coming over there and I don't really know for how long."

A small silence was heard, and then Gray spoke, "Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing… Things are fine. But I'm asking you to please take care of my daughter."

Jude thought he could hear Gray smirk. "You can count on it, Mister Heartfilia."

WEIRDO BLABBS: New concept that's been bugging me ever since summer. I haven't put it into words because, well, I wanted to finish 'Going, Going, Gone' before I actually started a new one. Of course I'm still going to continue writing GGG but because of lack of reader interest and feedback, I will be putting it on hold.

Anyway, I hope you all like this story, Wrote it on a whim because of boredom. I dunno if I will be continuing this, it all depends on the reader feedback I get. Hahaha! Anyway, hope you like it!

R & R!

Please support my collab fanfiction with WolfieAnne, The Last Celestial Mage, and maybe my other FT fanfictions: Going, Going, Gone; Another Shot at Love, Good Taste, Massage?, Girls and Shopping and Starstruck!.

If you are interested in my other works not stated above, please go to my FanFiction profile: /~weirdoblabber