Nalu Week 2020

Voice

Professor: Hi everyone! Happy Nalu Week! I have been so excited to take part in this again, this is my second year doing so. I decided to try something a little different this year. Instead of seven different one shots, I'm going to do a seven chapter story all inspired by the Nalu Week prompts. Hope you enjoy it!

I do not own Fairy Tail.

Heartfilia Industries, one of the largest companies world wide, had dipped their toe into every possible business it could. Everything from makeup and fashion to restaurants and hotels to booze and sports. And they were absolutely merciless in every aspect of their business, showing no mercy to their competitors. Literally. The Vicious Vulcans, a football team sponsored by Heartfilia Industries, could attest to that fact with their shining 8 wins, 0 losses record for the season, so far.

But what no one expected from the company was the CEO. Everyone always assumed that the leader of this world wide corporation was a tough man with a heart of stone. To an extent, they were right. That man was the last CEO. That man had been her father.

'Lucky' Lucy Heartfilia was as ruthless as they come. Nicknamed for the sheer success of her business ventures, which seemed to simply fall in her lap the moment she thought of them, Lucy was everything her father had ever trained her to be. With long blonde hair and warm chocolate eyes, Lucy had taken the world by storm, stealing the hearts of her customers and leaving her competitors in the dust, with them none the wiser about what she had just done.

She was, without a doubt, one of the most dangerous people anyone could hope to meet.

And today she was on a mission.

"Princess, you have three conferences today over Zoom. One with the mayor, one with your hotel manager in Miami and Crocus, and one with the owner of the car company you just bought in Italy." Virgo rattled off as she followed behind her mistress towards the office.

Lucy sighed, "He's the old owner now, what could he possibly want?"

"He believes there is a loophole in your sales contract that allows him control over his current and future employees." Virgo explained. The two of them entered the building's lobby, the large crowd parting like the Red Sea in front of them so they could reach the elevators. None of the employees dared to meet their gaze, but the reporters who always frequented the building snapped as many pictures as they could.

Lucy, immaculately dressed and styled by Cancer that morning, let them take their photos. Free publicity was good publicity.

"Send him to Legal. He'll have a hard time saying anything like that with Libra." Lucy said without a second thought, entering the elevator a minute later with Virgo close behind, "Aquarius can take the hotel managers. Whatever they need, I'm sure she can handle it. I'll meet with the mayor."

"Understood." Virgo made a note before continuing, "After that, there's a luncheon for the charity you started."

"The one for the kids?" Lucy asked, tilting her head and trying to remember.

Virgo nodded, "Yes Princess, to help orphaned and traumatized children throughout Fiore. We've raised enough money to build a therapy center to be added onto the orphanage and hospital you bought. The construction finished a month ago and they are holding a ceremony today."

"Can you even buy an orphanage and hospital?" Lucy found herself wondering out loud. The elevator finally stopped, opening up into Lucy's private office. It was very large, with one giant window stretching across the far wall, overlooking the city.

Lucy had left the office almost exactly the way her father had kept it. Comfortable, but very practical furniture. A massive desk, piled high with the day's work. On the wall closest to her was a massive fish tank filled with fish that Lucy could never remember the breeds of. They were exotic, that's all she knew.

But there were no pictures. Nothing personal. Jude had been very good at keeping things like that away from the company.

The only change that Lucy had made was painting the ceiling, having a mural of constellations designed and put there. Lucy had always loved the stars and having them here made her feel slightly better.

"Technically no, but you've given them so much money that you might as well own them."

"Fair enough, put me down to go then. I like showing support for charities." Lucy said, moving to take a seat at her desk. Virgo made another note, but then fell silent, watching as Lucy pulled up Zoom on her computer. Typing quickly, the blonde woman didn't have to wait long until her call was answered.

The mayor of Magnolia, a short man with a large nose and embroidered suit greeted her, smiling cheerfully, "Miss Heartfilia, how wonderful to see you again."

"You as well Mr. Mayor." Lucy said politely, "Are the wife and kids doing well?"

"Very much so. What can I help you with today?"

"I heard a rumor that the Magnolia Park is going to be torn down, some sort of business going up instead?" Lucy asked, cutting right to the point.

The Mayor nodded enthusiastically, obviously excited about the project, "Yes, yes! We are putting in a new Town Hall, one with a large meeting room so we can finally have those council meetings with the townsfolk we've been trying to get. We are-"

"Tell me Mr. Mayor." Lucy said, cooly cutting him off, "Is there something wrong with the current Town Hall building? Weather damage or termites perhaps?"

"Oh, well, no there isn't." the mayor said, confused.

"Hmm, see I'm just wondering why you would want to waste taxpayers' jewels to put in a new building when the old one has nothing wrong with it." Lucy said thoughtfully, tapping her chin as she tried to work through his logic.

"The council meetings, s-so we can better serve the people-" his voice wavered uncertainly as he watched her eyes narrow.

"Ah yes, of course. I'm sure the people would love to meet in a new building to better explain their grievances to you, instead of say, a large church or perhaps a school's gymnasium. Those locations obviously don't have the space to accommodate a large number of people. You did check into those options I assume?"

"W-Well-"

"Of course you did, you're the mayor," Lucy said offhandedly, waving away his response, "Then again...your term is almost up. I would hate for you to end your time on such a bad note. But I hear that Jura is running against you. He could have a lot of support."

"Of course, the park was only an option!" the mayor said hurriedly, "There are plenty of other places for us to use!"

"How nice to hear," Lucy's voice returned to it's satisfied tone, "Thank you for your help Mr. Mayor."

"O-Of course Miss Heartfilia." he logged off quickly and Lucy leaned back in her chair, feeling satisfied at a job well done.

"Princess, was threatening his job truly necessary?" Virgo asked.

"He wouldn't have that job without my support." Lucy almost snapped, but was able to keep her voice nice and even, something she was proud of herself for, "My mother would take me to that park every week. I'm not going to let him tear it down just so he can have a bigger office."

"Are you sure you aren't overreacting because of the date today?" she asked gently.

Tears pricked at Lucy's eyes as her friend and assistant's words, but she tried desperately not to let them spill over, "My birthday had absolutely nothing to do with this Virgo."

"Of course Princess, my apologies. You may punish me."

"I don't want to punish you Vir-"

Lucy's words were cut off as her cell phone began ringing, an unknown number appearing on the screen. Lucy narrowed her eyes at it. She made sure to carefully guard her personal number. Only those very close to her had it, which meant only her immediate 12 senior staff.

Exchanging a hesitant look with Virgo, Lucy cautiously picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Yo, go for Natsu. Heard you wanted to talk to me?" the voice was loud, almost making her want to jump away from the device.

"Excuse me?" she asked, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"You. Wanted. To. Talk. To. Me." he said slowly, clearly enunciating each word.

"No, I did not."

"Yeah, ya did. You left a message at the front desk for me to call you."

"No, I didn't," she huffed, "You must be mistaken. I don't leave my phone number anywhere, and certainly not in a message for a stranger!"

"Psh, what kind of weirdo doesn't leave their number anywhere?"

"I'm not a weirdo!"

"Seems that way to me." he said bluntly, "Especially since you wanted me to call you."

"I did not!" she yelled at him, forgetting to keep her calm and polite manner. Then again, he didn't know who she was, so it's not like it would do any harm, "I've never been weird in my life!"

Virgo was looking at her with wide eyes, not having seen such emotion from her mistress in years. But Lucy didn't care, Virgo wouldn't judge her.

The man scoffed again and kept talking, his voice seeming to light a fire under her very skin against her wishes, "That sounds boring."

"What?!"

"Not doing anything weird. That sounds boring. Then again…" he said, pausing as if thinking it all over, "Not doing anything weird is pretty weird in general. So I guess either way, you're just a weirdo."

"You wanna know what's weird? Calling random girls and then insulting them!" she screeched.

"Woah, calm down! I don't need my eardrums bleeding ya weirdo!" the man yelled back at her, "And I was calling you back!"

"I never left you a message!"

"Yeah, you did! I got into work and the front desk gave me a message from you saying to call you back about your appointment tomorrow!"

"I don't have an appointment with you!"

He scoffed once more, "Yes, you do! I have it right here: 1:30pm, Yukino Agria."

Lucy facepalmed, "My name is Lucy. You have the wrong number, you idiot."

"...This isn't 555-2091?"

"0291." she corrected bluntly.

There was a pause. Then, "Whoops. Sorry."

Lucy groaned, "It's fine."

"I'll just...let you go now."

"Yep." Lucy said and then hung up without another thought. Turning, she saw Virgo's shocked expression, "What?"

"Um...nothing Princess." Virgo said quickly, rearranging her features back into their normal mask, "Would you like to punish me?"

"No Virgo," Lucy sighed at the repetition. She swore they had this conversation dozens of times a day. "But I do need help getting ready for this luncheon."

"Of course Princess."

Natsu groaned, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt and slipping his scarf back on. Mira had insisted he look as professional as possible for the newspaper pictures, but now that they were over, he was free. He had also not worn a tie, he hated the damn things, but since it was only a luncheon, that part didn't matter as much.

"Was that so hard?" Mira asked him pointedly. By the way she raised her eyebrows, he knew she just wanted him to agree with her.

Which meant that he, of course, ignored her question, "Why did I have to be here again?"

"You're our lead physical therapist, you had to make an appearance." she explained, straightening his jacket lapels so they met her standards, "Since your department transferred over to the new building, it's important that you're here for the opening and to meet all the people who donated and made it possible."

Natsu groaned again. He thought that 'luncheon' meant 'lunch', but apparently it was just rich people slang for 'meet-and-greet-to-suck-up-to-people-with-money'.

"Be polite." Mira warned him, "We need to make a good impression."

At her stern glare Natsu gulped, nodding his agreement. The white-haired woman in front of him had a terrifying side that most people didn't realize.

"Good," she said, apparently satisfied. Grabbing his arm, she proceeded to drag Natsu straight into the large group of people in front of them.

What happened next was probably the slowest and most mind numbing hour of Natsu's life. Mira, to no one's surprise, seemed to know absolutely everyone, making polite conversations with everyone she ran into and answering all their questions. Natsu wasn't nearly as helpful, complaining about when they would actually get any food and how boring it all was. On the rare occasion he got asked about his work, Mira tended to jump in for him, which he was honestly ok with. The people they were talking to were way too stuffy anyway.

He sighed as Mira greeted somebody else, a blonde girl with some pink haired maid following close behind. Natsu raised an eyebrow at that. Who made their maid wear an actual maid outfit in public?

"Miss Heartfilia, it's nice to meet you." Mira said, shaking the woman's hand firmly.

"You as well. I've heard good things about how you run the hospital Miss Strauss."

Natsu's brow furrowed, there was something familiar about her voice.

"I do my best, thank you. I owe all of our success to the amazing workers in the hospital." Mira's smile was genuine, always proud of the hospital staff she worked with.

"I'm sure." the woman, Heartfilia, said, "Rumor has it that Dr. Porlyusica works for you as well?"

Seriously, Natsu could've sworn he had heard her voice recently. But where?

Mira nodded, "Our best doctor and surgeon."

"That's wonderful. I'm glad to-"

"You're the Weirdo!" Natsu burst out proudly as it finally clicked.

"Excuse me?!" the woman said in shock while Mira glared at him, "Natsu!"

"We talked earlier!" Natsu smiled cheekily, ignoring the warning look he got from his friend, "Wrong number and all that. What are the chances?! Lucy, right?"

Lucy's face grew very red and she began glaring at him as well, "You're the idiot who called me and then insulted me?!"

"Yep!" Natsu said, puffing out his chest in pride. Mira and the maid gaped at him, but he didn't care, "What are you doing here though? Are you stalking me out of revenge or something? Do you know Juvia?"

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. The last thing he needed was a clone of Gray's girlfriend.

"You think I'm stalking you?!" she burst out, "You called me and then showed up at a function that my charity is throwing! If anything, you're stalking me!"

"Psh, yeah right," he shrugged off her words, "Who'd want to stalk a weirdo?"

"I'm not weird!" she hissed, keeping her voice low and glancing around. Was she afraid to be seen talking to him? Man, she really was weird.

"Really think you are."

"Oh what do you know, you're a stalker!"

"Hey, I am not!" he protested. He was about to say more when her previous words came back to him, "Wait, 'your charity'? Who are you?"

Mira stepped in, "Natsu, this is Lucy Heartfilia, owner and CEO of Heartfilia Industries. Miss Heartfilia, this is Natsu Dragneel, our head physical therapist."

"Heartfilia Industries?!"

"He's a therapist?!"

They yelled at the same time, mirrored looks of disbelief on their faces.

Mira and the maid nodded, watching them carefully.

Lucy sighed, composing her face back into it's perfect calm expression, "I'm surprised that you would let someone so...unprofessional in your hospital Miss Strauss."

"I can guarantee, his work makes up for his demeanor." Mira said quickly, stepping on Natsu's foot to stop his protests, "Natsu specializes with patients who have been through incredibly traumatic accidents, especially with children. There's no one better."

Lucy looked him up and down, taking in the pained grimace as Mira increased the pressure on his foot, "I'll take your word for it."

"Hey, I'm great at my job!" Natsu yelled out, Mira-induced punishment be damned.

"You have no tact, respect, or consideration for others," Lucy said bluntly, staring him down, "I find it hard to believe that you are capable of any job that doesn't involve yelling and violence, let alone a position where you are required to help people."

"Hey, I help kids work through their violent pasts, not cause more." Natsu told her, glaring. Lucy's eyebrows raised in shock. This was the first time he had actually looked...angry.

"I'm not going to let you stand there and insult me when you have no clue what's going on." Natsu continued, never tearing his eyes away from heres, "That's the problem with all you rich folk. You'll spend money and put it towards programs to look and feel good about yourselves, but that's it! You don't actually care about any of the programs that you 'support'!"

"How dare you?!" Lucy yelled at him, "You don't get to stand there and judge me when you have no clue what I've been through!"

"But am I wrong?!" he countered, leaning in so close the two were practically touching, "Do you care?!"

"Of course I do!"

"Then prove it!"

Lucy blinked, surprised, "Excuse me?"

Natsu gulped, a little unsure of what he had just done. Oh well, the words were out there now, right?

"Prove it," he said, much quieter and calmer than before, "Come to the therapy center tomorrow. Meet the patients, the kids. Get involved."

The two stared intently at each other for a moment as if trying to read the other in just a few seconds, before Lucy cleared her throat and stepped back, instantly bringing them back to the real world. Somehow, they had forgotten that they were at an official event.

They had drawn quite a crowd, most of them staring at the pair in quiet disbelief, Mira among them. Vaguely, Natsu registered the cameras flashing like crazy over Lucy's shoulder.

"It appears we do have an appointment after all Mr. Dragneel. I'll see you tomorrow, 3:30 pm." With that, the busty blonde straightened her shoulders and walked away, head held high. Her pink haired maid followed dutifully behind, the two whispering to themselves. The crowd seemed to take that as an indication to return to their own conversations.

"Natsu," Mira reprimanded quietly as she could, pulling him aside, "Just what were you thinking?! Angering our best supporter is not good!"

"Her eyes." he whispered just as closely, "Did you see her eyes?"

Mira stood there, dumbfounded, "Of all the times you could have chosen to finally notice a female, you choose now?! Natsu!"

"What?!" he hissed as loudly as he dared. A few reporters were still watching them suspiciously.

Mira groaned, laying a hand on his shoulder gently, "Look, I'm all in for helping you finally learn how to date, but this isn't how, and this certainly isn't the girl to try it with. She's a Heartfilia!"

"What? No, that's not what I meant!" he shook his head quickly, "Mira, she had our eyes!"

"W-What?"

"I'm sure of it." Natsu insisted, "She had our eyes. And Gray's. And Erza's. And Wendy's. And Levy's. And every other person in our center. She had our eyes."

Mira took a deep breath.

"Well, who would've thought?"

Professor: There we go, 'Voice' is done. You'll have to find out what happens in the next chapter. I can't promise that I will be able to update every day this week, but I am certainly going to try. Work is crazy busy right now and tends to get in the way of a lot of writing time.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and please remember to check out ShanaHollows and MorriganFae as they have amazing Nalu stories posted for Nalu Week!