Reunited

The image of a little brown-haired girl holding fortune-telling cards and always sitting quietly in a corner.

She watched him with a timid yet longing gaze. Her image struck like lightning, cleaving through Gildarts's jumbled thoughts.

"Could... could it be...?"

Gildarts's voice was as dry as if he had gone thirsty in the desert for three days and nights. His pupils contracted sharply, and his breathing grew ragged, as though every breath took all the strength he had.

As always, the guild hall was filled with the smell of cheap ale and greasy roast meat, along with a deafening din.

The young mages were brawling over some pointless boast. Tables and chairs flew through the air, and wooden mugs struck the walls with dull thuds.

Master Makarov sat on the bar with an enormous mug of beer in his hand, smiling as he watched the energetic youngsters. Every so often, he took a long gulp and sighed in satisfaction.

Amid this chaotic yet heartwarming scene of everyday life, the heavy wooden door to the guild's backyard slowly swung open.

With a grating creak, a tall but utterly rigid figure appeared in the doorway.

It was Gildarts, who had just been utterly shattered by Riyao's words, then rebuilt a fortress called "fatherly love" amid the ruins.

The easygoing, uninhibited air of a powerhouse whose very name struck fear into his enemies was completely gone.

His distinctive orange hair was a mess, as though he had been struck by lightning.

His battered cloak hung limply behind him, as if it had lost all its magic.

Most alarming of all was the way he walked—moving his arm and leg on the same side together. His body swayed violently with every step, like rusty gears struggling to mesh.

His facial muscles twitched from sheer tension, and he forced his mouth into what he thought was a gentle smile, but which was actually more frightening than an abyssal demon.

A little brown-haired girl sat there. She wore a somewhat faded dress and clutched several magic fortune-telling cards tightly in her hand.

Her eyes were always timid, with a melancholy and wariness beyond her years.

Her head was lowered as she sipped the juice in her cup, as though the noise around her had nothing to do with her.

That was Cana, Cana Alberona, his own daughter.

"Thud—"

Gildarts took a heavy step, and in his agitation, a trace of Crush Magic involuntarily leaked from his body.

With a muffled thump, the hard bluestone floor beneath his foot instantly crumbled to dust, leaving a deep footprint.

"Thud—thud—thud—"

As Gildarts drew closer, the floor beneath him gave a mournful groan and crumbled to powder with every step he took.

The strange commotion finally caught the attention of the entire guild.

Everyone who had been fighting stopped what they were doing and stared, dumbfounded, as the guild's strongest mage walked straight toward the little girl in the corner of the bar like a runaway steamroller, destroying the floor all the way.

"Gildarts! What the hell are you doing?! Guild repairs are expensive!"

Master Makarov could finally stand it no longer. He jumped down from the bar, waving his little fists as he roared.

A huge shadow fell over Cana's small figure. Sensing the vast, chaotic aura of magic behind her, Cana shrank back a little in fear and slowly turned around.

When she saw the familiar, stubbled face, her large amber eyes went round, and the fortune-telling cards fell from her hand onto the bar with a clatter.

"G-Gildarts... Uncle..."

Cana's voice was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz, trembling despite herself.

She didn't know why this important man, usually so far above her, was looking at her with such a frightening expression. Had she done something wrong?

"C-Cana..."

Gildarts finally forced out her name, his voice terribly hoarse and thick with a nasal sound.

His knees suddenly buckled, and he fell with a thump.

The man who had never feared even a dragon dropped straight to his knees before the little girl, while the entire guild stared at him as if they had seen a ghost.

The tremendous impact instantly reduced several nearby stools to powder, sending wood splinters flying through the air.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Gildarts reached out with his large, callused, scarred hands, trembling as he tried to touch Cana's cheek. But afraid his rough fingers would hurt her, he could only hold them suspended in midair.

"I... I'm a bastard... a complete and utter idiot..."

Cana was completely stunned, her mind blank. She didn't understand why Gildarts had suddenly knelt before her, crying and apologizing.

"Cornelia... your mother was Cornelia, wasn't she...?"

Gildarts could no longer control his emotions. Tears poured down like a flood breaking through a dam, streaming down his rugged cheeks and dripping onto the hem of Cana's dress.

"Why... why didn't you tell me sooner...? Why did you have to bear so much all alone...?"

At the name "Cornelia," Cana's body jolted.

She stared in disbelief at the man before her, who was crying like a child, her lips trembling violently.

The scene she had rehearsed countless times in her dreams, the word she had wanted to call him countless times but had always swallowed back, seemed to come alive at that moment, pounding wildly inside her chest.

"You... you know everything?"

Cana's eyes instantly filled with tears, and great drops pattered down.

"I know... I know everything..."

Gildarts flung his arms open and pulled Cana tightly against his broad chest.

He held her so tightly, as though afraid that if he let go, the treasure in his arms would vanish.

He buried his face in Cana's little shoulder and began to wail without any regard for appearances.

"I'm sorry, Cana... Daddy came too late... Daddy will never leave you again..."

"Daddy..." Held in that warm, broad embrace and breathing in the familiar scent of sweat and earth, Cana felt all the hurt, loneliness, fear, and longing of the past years burst out at once.

She wrapped her slender arms tightly around Gildarts's neck, buried her face in his chest, and cried at the top of her lungs, "Daddy! Daddy! Waaaah..."

The two of them, one large and one small, held each other tightly in the middle of the Fairy Tail guild hall, weeping their hearts out.

"Pfft—!"

A loud spitting noise shattered the eerie silence. Master Makarov sprayed every last drop of beer from his mouth into Macao's face across from him.

His already large eyes widened until they nearly popped out of his head. He pointed at Gildarts and Cana, who were holding each other and crying, his finger trembling violently.

"Click~"

Riyao put away his camera with satisfaction. Embarrassing history +1.

"G-Gildarts... h-has a daughter?!"

Makarov's voice cracked with shock and echoed through the open hall.

The next second, the entire Fairy Tail guild erupted as though a magic bomb with a hundred-kiloton yield had gone off.

"Nani?!!!"

The deafening cries of astonishment nearly blew the roof off the guild.

Everyone was frantically pulling at their hair, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Gildarts, the strongest mage, who spent all his time destroying things, fighting, drinking, and wandering around, actually had a daughter this old?! And that daughter had been in their guild all along?!

This was unquestionably the most explosive, worldview-shattering piece of gossip since Fairy Tail's founding! And on this chaotic night, a father and daughter finally crossed the barrier of time and held each other close.