Chapter Text
It was very amusing to see all the kids covered in mud, paint, food, and what was probably blood, all lined up and completely unrepentant as Master walked up and down the line yelling at them individually and collectively for their parts in the disaster. Gildarts was having a blast watching this whole train wreck from start to finish- and this part was no exception.
"-what in the name of all that is holy possessed you to do that in public Gray Fullbuster? I would expect this from Natsu- "
Wow, Master was really letting them have it this time. Well, to be fair those kids had caused a lot of property damage in the span of ten minutes, and Erza had nearly run that poor fool through (though how she had managed that was a mystery- those were pool noodles!)- actually maybe they were getting off lightly.
"-setting the wig on fire- don't you dare try to pretend it wasn't on purpose- "
Heh. That part had been particularly hilarious, especially when the chainsaw had-
"DON'T YOU DARE MAKE EXCUSES LISANNA STRAUS! EVEN IF HE INSULTED HAPPY- "
The blue cat in question was currently hiding his face into Natsu's neck. That Lisanna had gotten involved wasn't the weird part- Mirajane frequently dragged her siblings into whatever fight was going down- but Lisanna had been the one to start this whole fiasco…
"And Elfman- what possessed you to steal the cake?! It was for that woman's ninetieth birthday!"
The white-haired boy shrank back from the guildmaster's ire- frosting smeared all over his mouth. He seemed to be the only one showing remorse out of the lot of them. Dang, Gildarts wished he had some popcorn to go with this show, oh well it was almost over anyway, the only one left to yell at was-
"And out of all of you brats, you are the one I expect better from, Cana Alberona- "
The strongest mage in Fiore was suddenly choking on his own spit. 'Alberona'… that… that brought back memories of the most incredible woman he had ever known- huh now that he thought about it Cana even looked like her. He'd never heard the girl's last name before, wonder if she and Conny were related? It couldn't be that common of a surname.
Cornelia… God he missed her. He missed her laugh and how it had always reminded him of bubbles, how she always smelled like cinnamon for no particular reason, the glint in her eyes whenever she was angry. She had been angry a lot towards the end. Maybe… maybe it was time to stop being such a god damned coward and go after her, even if she wanted nothing to do with him, at least he would be able to see her again.
oOOOOo
This wasn't real. This- this couldn't be real. Conny couldn't be gone! This had to be someone with the same name- it had to be! She couldn't be gone!
But the gravestone was real, that was her name, and that was the day she was born.
…This wasn't the way he had expected this to end. He had expected to be slapped, had tentatively hoped for a hug, and had fantasized about a kiss. He had thought that maybe she would have moved on, maybe she would have a dog, or that she might have finally gotten that horse she always wanted. What he found was something out of his worst nightmare.
Later on, he found himself at the local bar just wanting to make the whole world disappear for a few hours. He could pick up the pieces of his life in the morning, but right now the most magnificent person he had ever known, his wife, was dead and had been gone for a while now.
The bartender was a good man, had taken one look at him and had left the bottle of whiskey beside him. Later when Gildarts finally broke down towards the end of the night he had sat and listened, what Gildarts hadn't been expecting was the information he had received.
It seemed like his Conny had been well known and loved throughout this little town- though that altogether hadn't been much of a surprise. Cornelia had been the kind of person who would give you the shirt off her back and then give you a home cooked meal just because. Your cat died? She was there with a shoulder to cry on and a basket of kittens. A storm blew a branch through your roof? She was there bright and early with some wood, tools, and a bucket of nails.
Apparently, time and a breakup hadn't changed that. The bartender remembered one day, a few months after she had moved to the area, someone had vandalized a local monument- she had showed up with soap, water, and a rag; she had spent the entire day cleaning it up.
"-really surprised about it too. I mean she was looking like that baby was gonna come out any second- "
"Baby?" Gildarts said dumbly- had he heard that right? The other man looked up at the distraction.
"Huh? Oh yeah, she was like eight or nine months pregnant at the time. Really stunned everyone that she was willing to do that. 'Course little Cana turned out great- always with her Mama helping out no matter what was going on."
What-baby-Cana-what?! Did he actually say what he thought he'd just said?
"Poor thing though, after her Mama died little thing was all alone- had some crazy magic though, wound up joining Fairy Tail, can you believe that- said she was going to make everybody proud. She still comes by every couple months to visit her Mama's grave and check in with everybody."
Cana was Conny's- Cana was his-
Oh, dear God. The crash mage couldn't say what happened after that, how he had gotten back to Conny's grave- just that when he finally came to the sun was rising.
Conny was dead. Conny had been dead for five years now. Conny had had a baby eleven years ago. A baby named Cana. That baby had later gone on to join Fairy Tail. He knew a Cana in the guild who was eleven years old. Conny had left him twelve years ago- he could do the math. He had a daughter. Cana was his daughter.
He had to get back to Fairy Tail- this changed everything. He had missed so damn much being the workaholic that he was- he be damned if he would miss anything else.
oOOOOo
Five days, it had taken five days for him to make it back to Magnolia. Five day of him trying to figure out what he was going to say. He had accidentally destroyed a forest while trying to come to terms with everything.
He barely knew anything about Cana.
He assumed that she lived in the girls dorm- but he didn't know for sure. He knew that she was shy and never instigated trouble (where had she gotten that from- that certainly hadn't come from either him or Conny!). She practiced card magic- but did she use anything else? What was her favorite color? When was her birthday? Did she even want a dad?
No, don't even go there. First things first, he needed to tell her the truth and hope she didn't hate him for not going after her mom.
Damn, he actually remembered meeting her for the first time. She had been so adorable! Such a little bitty thing! With huge eyes and such an incredible smile! Huh, wonder what happened to the puppy she'd had with her?
Didn't matter, he just needed to see her and hold her and tell her that he wasn't going to leave her again. For better or worse she was stuck with him now.
Okay, time to take a deep breath, he had made it. He needed to calm down or he would wind up destroying the entire guildhall. Speaking of- in the whole crowd of guild members drinking, cheering, and having a nice time, he couldn't see the little brunette.
"Gildarts- this is a surprise, its only been what, a month this time?" Makarov asked raising an eyebrow at the Ace- he usually was gone for three months minimum.
"Yeah, its… it's," the crash mage frustratedly ran his hands through his hair, "Master- do you know where Cana is?"
"Cana?" Makarov asked, genuinely surprised," Why? What's wrong?"
"I-I found out something about her mom- she- I just need to see her Master."
Makarov looked the crash mage up and down, taking in just how troubled he seemed, whatever the other man had found out it was big," She's on a job, but she should be back by this afternoon."
The redhead let out an exhale- so he had a couple hours before the big conversation. Alright, at least he had a bit longer to figure out what he was going to say.
"GILDARTS- FIGHT ME!"
A quick backhand had Natsu flying into the wall, he loved the kid, he really did, but right now he was so not in the mood.
He got odd looks from everyone else the rest of the day as he waited anxiously for Cana to get back. He was dearly wishing for a drink- but the idea of being drunk during a conversation as important as this made him feel nauseous. He wanted Cana to let him be part of her life, maybe even to call him 'dad' if she felt comfortable enough with it (it hurt a little that he was never hear her call him 'daddy', but that would probably be asking too much).
Then the girl of the hour finally appeared a little after two in the afternoon. He had never really looked at her before, had never felt the need to as ashamed as he was of that. She was so beautiful. Cana was definitely her mother's daughter.
Gildarts stood and walked over to where Cana was giving Master a rundown on how the job had gone. Both turned when they heard him approach, Cana staring up at him in surprise and a little bit of awe.
"Hey, do you think we could talk for a minute Cana- its… its important."
The little girl blinked, looked between Makarov and Gildarts, before pointing to herself to confirm that it was her the crash mage was referring to. As adorable as it was, it made him feel even worse.
"Yeah Cana you," he teased lightly, trying to diffuse the tension.
"Why don't you two go up to the second floor," the minuscule guild master offered, surprising both of them, he was usually pretty strict about the second floor, the girl looked alarmed- if he was offering it then something had to be up.
"Is everything okay?" She asked cautiously, and suddenly Gildarts saw a miniature Cornelia standing right in front of him.
"I-I-let's just talk," he said lamely, gesturing to the stairs as the two headed up. The rest of the guild stared in open curiosity; this wasn't the kind of conversation he wanted an audience for, but at least no one was trying to eavesdrop (as far as he could tell). He moved the two of them into a position where no one downstairs could see easily.
"What's going on Gildarts?" The violet eyed brunette asked directly.
Suddenly his tongue was made out of lead, he had no idea how to do this. He must have had a deer in the headlights look as Cana awkwardly asked," Um, do you want to do this later?"
"No!" He blurted out, if he waited then he would probably never do it, "I'm your father."
Cana just stopped and stared at him for a moment as he quickly tried to get the story out before he lost his nerve," You see Conny- your mom- and I used to be married, but, well, things fell apart. I swear I never knew about you. I-I just found out that she's gone, and I found out about you and- well you needed to know! I-I'm not exactly 'dad' material-but, I want to try. "
The Ace couldn't breathe, it was out in the open now, all he could do was wait for her reaction.
She started crying.
Gildarts had never been good with crying women, never, and now when it was his own daughter's tears he floundered instantly.
"H-hey p-please stop crying! I know that this has got to be really confusing for you-"he was cut off by ninety pounds of preteen slamming into him wrapping her small arms around him, hugging him as tightly as she could, burying her face into his chest. Gildarts started for a second, before quickly wrapping his own arms around her for the first time.
This… this was nice.
Gildarts had no idea how long they stayed like that, but Cana mumbled something into his chest.
"What was that- I didn't hear," he had almost called her 'sweetheart', for all he knew that could be a deal breaker.
She said a bit louder," I already knew."
Wait, what?
Gildarts carefully pushed her back, getting down on his knees so he could look her in the eyes," What do you mean Cana?" If she meant what he thought she meant-
"I already knew you were my dad… Mama told me about you before she died and where to find you… that's why I joined Fairy Tail." The teared brunette admitted.
"Why- why didn't you say anything?" He asked incredulously- things could have been so different!
"I tried," she said quietly," But every time something happened, and I just couldn't get the words out."
Suddenly he remembered it all to clearly, the little darling trying to tell him something, but constantly getting interrupted. He pulled Cana back to him, trying to convey every emotion he was feeling into the hug. She must have been so lonely.
"Its okay now, I'm right here and I'm never going to leave you again Cana. I'm never going to let you feel sad again."
"Can- can I call you 'dad'," she asked shyly, not sure how he would take it.
Gildarts almost started crying," Of course you can- you can come live with me if you want. We can be a family."
Cana started crying again, then he started crying, and then they were both blubbering like fools.
There was going to be some adjustment because he didn't know how to be a dad and they were virtually strangers to each other, but they would figure all that out later. Right now they were just going to enjoy the moment.