READ THIS BEFORE PROCEEDING: After being incapable of constructing a world with its own culture and language, I have decided to make use of what I have for this story. THOUGH NOT EXPLICITLY, the culture and language of the Philippines will appear in this story time and again. If you have any comments, suggestions, violent reactions, volcanic eruptions about it, please PM me. NO BASHING. I am but a weird wannabe-writer.
Disclaimer: We do not own Fairy Tail. We are sorry. We will eat now.
Chapter Two:
The climate in the tropics was well above a foreigner's comfort level. One hour after stepping off their private jet and Lucy's peach sleeveless top was already starting to stick to her back, drenched in sweat. It took about ten minutes riding in the air-conditioned taxi for her to feel comfortable again.
Getting a taxi was rather difficult, though. Lucy wasn't expecting the extreme language barrier, as most of the chauffeurs seemed to speak little to no English, and she did not speak the vernacular either. No amount of hand gestures and emphasis on the syllables got through to the first three she encountered; thankfully, the fourth one understood her fast slang and he stuffed her suitcases in the trunk of the car and Lucy got on, relieved to finally feel the cool gust coming from the airconditioner.
"Do you know the way to Hacienda Lucky?" she remembered saying. Maybe it was her accent and her blonde hair that scared them off, and not necessarily the language barrier. Often, people would tell her that she was scary and bitchy upon first glance.
"Uhm... Miss, what brings you to our country?" asked the chauffer, hair thinning and several silver strands peeking through lush black ones. It had already been thirty minutes into the ride; the city looked far now and the trees were starting to dominate the landscape, the sky painted with blotches of pink, purple and orange in the setting sun.
"Vacation," she lied.
The man was surprisingly interested and continued, "Well, you are in the right place." His accent was horrible but Lucy didn't mind. She was already feeling comfortable around him. "Is this your first time? Here?"
"No... I used to come here at least twice a year when I was young."
"Oh," was the only reply she got.
"My mother used to always take me... But she's gone now."
Another 'oh'.
They were silent after that, and the chauffer steered the vehicle to the right to an uphill path. At this point, Lucy started to reminisce.
After all, the scenery was painfully familiar: the gravely path, the shrub-lined road, tall trees of various kinds on both sides thinning as the residential homes started to pop one after another. And of course, how could Lucy forget the ancient cemetery on the right side of the road? She smiled bitter-sweetly as they passed it by.
It only meant one thing...
Lucy looked ahead and, as she remembered it, a huge, old sign above them said 'Hacienda Lucy'. Well, it would have said 'Lucky' but it was a letter off because of age and deterioration.
The car followed the path to a clearer area of land enclosed in an endless array of peeling yellow walls. The sky was starting to completely color itself a pale hue of blue now and house after house, the lights were turning on. As they were let in through the gates, Lucy could register the sound of crickets in her ears and the distant singing of men not sober. The sweet smell of freshly-picked fruit could be picked apart from the distinct smell of country air.
The blonde smiled, content. Peace and quiet in solitude was indeed something she needed more than anything.
"Ah, please stop here," she said to the chauffer when he stopped in front of the villa. The man obeyed and parked parallel to the front steps. After dropping off her things, Lucy gave him the fee for his services and he bid her goodbye after offering her his contact information should she need transportation in the duration of her stay.
Lucy had a huge smile plastered on her face as she stepped off the vehicle. The villa, though time had taken its toll on the white walls and the red tiled roof, the flower shrubs that lined the front of the home, and the open wooden windows, it was still as homey as Lucy had remembered it from several years back.
Unknowingly, she had been staring for far too long.
Some excited chattering in vernacular caused Lucy to snap out of her admiration; she heard her name in a hard, nasal accent.
"Miss Lucy?!" called one middle-aged lady in a loose t-shirt and maroon skirt. She was running toward the blonde in an excited manner, her hair falling off the bun on her head. "It really is you, my goodness!"
The blonde didn't know what to do when the lady pulled her into a hug; Lucy had to bend lower to the woman's height for it.
The woman yelled something in vernacular, and waved her hands as if calling someone. Sure enough, a few young ladies came and greeted Lucy as well, all excited upon by her presence.
"She looks like Miss Layla," said one in the dialect. Lucy couldn't understand but she smiled anyway when they mentioned her late mother.
It was a brief moment of chaos, excited chattering in a foreign language ringing in Lucy's ears. She could distinctly hear her and her mother's name in between the strings of the words she didn't understand. It took a while for them to calm down, although it happened in quite a hushed and nervous manner, as if they were forced to be silenced. Each was nudging an elbow to silence the other. Everyone fell quiet.
All eyes, including Lucy's, were fixed on the front door where a man stood somewhat stoically; and Lucy found it sexy, the way he looked straight at her with droopy eyes.
"Aling* Rosa," he said, apparently that was the middle-aged woman's name and she stiffened upon hearing it, "Please take her things up Miss Layla's room." He was speaking in pure English, probably to be polite to Lucy, and she felt relieved to know at least one person who can converse with her normally.
"Ah, sir? Yes, sir!"
Aling Rosa and all the others immediately grabbed Lucy's luggage and made their way inside the villa. Meanwhile, Lucy and the stranger with the droopy eyes were still staring at each other.
The blonde felt a little self-conscious under his stare. "Y-You speak fluent English, right?"
"Yes," he replied.
"Great," she muttered under her breath. "Uhm, I'm sorry but who are you?"
The young man started to tread down the stairs, stopping in front of Lucy. Two ebony eyes beneath glasses gave Lucy chills as they bore holes on her face.
"Gray Fullbuster... I'm the current caretaker of the villa and the farm..."
Current? "What happened to the previous caretaker?"
"Retired," he said and heaved a sigh, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Well, welcome back to Hacienda Lucky." Somehow, he did not sound very welcoming.
"Thanks, I guess...? Sorry if I came here without prior notice, I—"
"No worries," Gray assured. However, Lucy was not pleased with the way he cut her off. "Your father called last night and said you would be arriving today so we had time to prepare. Though not that much."
"He called?" she asked him, "He knows I'm here?"
"Apparently so," Gray said. "Well, Miss Heartfilia, if you don't want to stay there all night, I suggest you come with me. Dinner is waiting."
He turned his back in a graceful (and 'sexy' was once again a word that crossed the blonde's mind as she watched) manner. Lucy followed inside after him.
Lucy had made quite a few observations over dinner, as there was nothing to do when you're eating together with a stranger in a small round table filled and constantly re-filled with sumptuous dishes.
One, Gray Fullbuster was not a native. This, Lucy concluded after seeing him up close and staring at his handsome features for quite some time. Though black hair and eyes were the norm at the place, his eyes were far too deep and his nose too well-shaped to be there. His skin, too, though tanned, surely wasn't of the norm, which was a beautiful hue of brown.
Two, he was a very suspicious character. He himself said he knew her father; that meant he was planning something. And the way he would glance up at Lucy every now and then was just proof that he was up to no good. The blonde made it a point to make sure she asks him about that later.
Three, damn, he was good-looking.
Four, damn, all her observations were about the mysterious man. She immediately scolded herself in her mind, how easily she gets attracted by people who are of above-average beauty.
She stole a glance at him again and saw that he had finished his meal... and was now looking at her nonchalantly. She jerked in surprise and swallowed without chewing.
"I-Is something wrong?" she asked and pushed her plate away, her appetite gone.
"I was just thinking how long you'll survive here," he commented with a smug smile. "You look like someone who can't handle the simple life even if you wanted."
Okay, that was extremely rude—and straightforward!
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'm actually good with things like these," she scoffed.
"You have a bitchy voice, anyone tell you that?"
"Oh, who asked you?" She paused and listened to her own voice; unfortunately, Gray was right and she swallowed.
So those three taxi drivers were scared.
The other smirked, content. Lucy was starting to think that he's probably a sadist and the thought was not reassuring.
"Well, if you're done eating we can go up to your bedroom so you can rest."
Seeing as there was no point in trying to argue, Lucy stood up and followed after Gray's lead. They left the kitchen and returned to the open space by the front door.
"As you can see, the first floor of this home holds the kitchen, the dining area, the living room, and the household help's quarters," Gray's hand gestures were sloppy and lazy as he pointed here and there in all directions.
The two came upon and started to go up the staircase, portraits of members of the Heartfilia family lined up on the walls. Layla was in each and every one of them.
"Your room for the whole duration of your stay is the master's bedroom. We haven't touched anything except when cleaning it so I hope it suits your tastes.
"The only occupied rooms on the second floor are mine and yours so if you need anything, I'm the first person you can see. There's only one bathroom up here so you'll have to get used to sharing with me."
"What?" came her protest. "But I'm a lady!"
"Welcome to the simple life..." he said sarcastically, "You know what? I changed my mind… I think you won't last even two weeks here."
"Hey, watch the sharp tongue, buddy," she warned. "And for your information, I can last longer than that here—much longer!"
"We'll see..." he said.
"Hey, I can see you're not from around here, either," she suddenly said out of curiosity, "What brought you here?"
He sighed. "I came here four years ago for some time alone. When your father found out, he contacted me and asked me to manage the farm since the previous caretaker was about to retire and all..."
"Why you? Do you have a diploma in Business Management?" she asked, her voice high pitched and her statement disrespectful.
"I have a master's degree in business management."
"How old are you?!"
"Twenty-eight..." Stunned, Lucy became quiet. "And I should probably tell you now, I don't appreciate answering personal questions. Since you're new here, I'd forgive it for now but tomorrow, know better."
Gray and Lucy stopped in front of a brown door and the raven-haired man turned the knob to let Lucy in.
It was a huge but simple room. A four-poster bed was at the center, white sheets covered the mattress and white curtains hanging on the posts. There was a closet to its immediate left and further off was a huge white dresser; Lucy could clearly remember it was where her mother would brush her hair at night before going to sleep. The windows were opened across the door, red curtains on the poles. The wall next to that was blank except for the few hooks where she could hang some things. A huge bookshelf filled with an enormous collection of books was pinned on the wall next to the door, making the room smell of old paper and glue.
But there was one thing Lucy looked for but couldn't find.
"Where's the airconditioner?" she asked, seeing an electric fan beside her bed.
Gray didn't even bother to hide the rude snicker. "Again, welcome to the simple life. We don't have those around here."
"This is a joke, right? I mean, we're in a tropical country with temperatures reaching some ninety degrees!"
"This is a mountainside. The fresh wind suffices," he said, and then he looked at her with eyes that challenged, "So… willing to affirm two weeks?"
"You wish!" she said.
As childish as it may seem, Lucy stuck her tongue at Gray and slammed the door shut in front of his face. Then, without even changing to her pajamas, the blonde collapsed on the soft bed. Now that she was in a mattress, her eyes were starting to get heavier and heavier.
Ah, she should have known 12 hours of travel would do that to anyone.
She took out her phone from her pocket and swiped to unlock it. She smiled when she saw several messages from her close friends:
Natsu Dragneel
12:26 PM
Ei, u coming later to Gajeel's?
Natsu Dragneel
01:35 PM
Luce, we're all here. U coming?
Natsu Dragneel
01:49 PM
Lucy? U there?
Natsu Dragneel
01:55PM
Luce?
Levy McGarden
01:57PM
Lucy I called your house and they told me you went away! How mean of you not to tell me… I wish you would have told me sooner… That's not fair at all...! Anyway, we're at Gajeel's… Wish you were here. Natsu is being all emotional… he's being a nuisance, really. Please at least tell him to chill... Call me once you're settled in, wherever you are... You can at least Skype, right?
Natsu Dragneel
01:58PM
You're out of the country? Where are you? What's going on?
Natsu Dragneel
03:02PM
U should at least call, u know?
Lucy smiled.
But before she could reply to any, she already dozed off.
GRALU WEEK RUNS FROM SEPTEMBER 1st TO SEPTEMBER 7th! For more info, please visit the tumblr blog
Fyeahgraluweek
GRALU FAMILY, UNITE~!
*Aling (ah-ling) – an honorific. I guess you could say it equates to madame or aunty.
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