Father and Daughter Reunited

The night breeze rustled between the two.

Jiang Bai showed no surprise, simply looking calmly at Cana.

"Since you're father and daughter, and since you're so eager to acknowledge him, why don't you just go up to him and explain things clearly in front of him?"

Jiang Bai frowned, a hint of confusion in his voice, "You've been hiding in a corner secretly watching, how could you possibly see a flower? Or is it just because of that ridiculous reason you just gave that you think you're too weak?"

"What else!"

Cana suddenly raised her head, her eyes completely red, with suppressed tears welling up in them.

"He's so powerful! He's Fairy Tail's proudest asset! Even the king would show him deference just by mentioning Gildarts's name! And me?"

Cana gave a self-deprecating twitch, pounding her chest violently, completely losing control of her emotions.

"I've practiced Time Magic, and I haven't even made a decent name for myself! If he knew I had such a weak daughter who only knows how to drink and is utterly useless, what would he think? What would others think of him? I would become a stain on his perfect life, I would embarrass him!"

As Cana finished speaking, her voice became almost inaudible, her head buried deep between her knees, and her shoulders heaving.

Jiang Bai looked at his usually unrestrained and bold older sister, now crying her eyes out, and helplessly scratched his head.

"Women are such troublesome creatures."

Jiang Bai muttered something, then stood up and walked to stand in front of Cana.

"Listen, Cana."

Jiang Bai looked down at the top of Cana's head, his tone becoming more serious than ever before.

"I know there might be some really bad fathers in this world, only caring about their own pleasure and not about their children's lives. But that old Gildarts is definitely different."

"Although he usually seems unreliable and always manages to stir up a bunch of romantic entanglements wherever he goes, he's a hopeless lecherous old man through and through."

Upon hearing this assessment, Cana abruptly raised her tear-streaked face, her lips twitching violently.

"Hey! Are you trying to comfort me or scold him? What kind of ridiculous 'advantage' is this?!"

Jiang Bai shrugged, ignoring Cana's complaints, and continued speaking.

No matter how lecherous or unreliable he is.

"But if he knew that he actually had a biological daughter in this world, and that this daughter had been quietly by his side all along, hoping wholeheartedly to call him 'Father'."

"I guarantee that that emotional, tearful idiot uncle will be overjoyed and shouting all over the street. He'd rather risk his life than abandon his daughter, and he certainly wouldn't think you're embarrassing him."

Jiang Bai's words were like a warm current, precisely striking the most vulnerable and longed-for corner of Cana's heart.

Cana's tears flowed again.

The high wall of "inferiority complex" that stood between father and daughter began to crack slightly under Jiang Bai's blunt yet unwavering words.

But her long-standing habits still made her hesitant, unsure how to take that final step.

Seeing Cana's hesitant expression, Jiang Bai simply waved his hand and made the decision for her.

"Alright, stop worrying about it. I'll go all the way and help you with the last step."

Jiang Bai turned around, waved to Cana with his back to her, and walked towards the other end of the street.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll find a way to get that old Gildarts to the open space by the river south of town. Prepare yourself and be there to see him on time."

"I've given you this opportunity. If you cower like a coward again tomorrow, I really won't care about you anymore."

Cana watched Jiang Bai's languid figure gradually disappear into the distance.

He wiped away his tears, stood up abruptly, and slammed the huge wooden wine glass in his hand onto the stone floor.

"Good!"

With all her might, Cana shouted at Jiang Bai's retreating figure, her eyes finally igniting with an unprecedented determination.

The next morning.

The sunlight had just begun to bathe the streets of Magnolia.

Jiang Bai, sporting prominent dark circles under his eyes, kicked open the door to the hotel room that Gildarts was renting.

The room was a mess, with empty bottles scattered all over the floor. Gildarts lay sprawled on the wooden bed, snoring loudly.

Jiang Bai walked over without any politeness, grabbed Gildarts's last piece of good cloth, and forcibly dragged the heavily injured patient, whose body was wrapped in bandages, off the bed.

"Hey! Uncle! Wake up!"

Jiang Bai yelled into Gildarts' ear.

Gildarts groggily opened his eyes, saw Jiang Bai, and muttered in dissatisfaction.

"What are you doing, you brat! I'm seriously injured! The assessment is over! You won't even let me get a good night's sleep!"

Jiang Bai leaned close to Gildarts's ear, lowered his voice, and spoke in a mysterious and seductive tone.

"Uncle, wake up! They say a super young, hot female mage came to the river south of town today and is swimming there. If you're late, you won't see anything."

Gildarts' previously listless eyes widened instantly.

His injuries seemed to heal instantly, and he scrambled to his feet, grabbing a tattered cloak and draping it over himself. He moved with even greater agility than before he was injured.

"A young and hot female mage? Or perhaps a morning swim?"

Gildarts wiped away non-existent drool from the corner of his mouth and slapped Jiang Bai on the shoulder.

"Good lad! I knew I wasn't wrong about you! You even think of your senior when there's such a good thing! Come on! Lead the way!"

Half an hour later.

An open space by the river on the south side of the town.

The morning mist had not completely dissipated, and the river flowed with a gurgling sound.

Gildarts stared intently across the riverbank three times, but apart from a few wild ducks drinking water, he didn't see a single person.

"You brat! You dare lie to me! There's no such thing as a female mage!"

Gildarts turned around angrily, ready to settle the score with Jiang Bai.

But he discovered that Jiang Bai, who had been following behind him, had vanished without a trace.

Just as Gildarts was completely bewildered...

From the edge of the woods not far away, came a faint sound of a branch snapping.

Gildarts turned his head to look.

Cana gripped the hem of her clothes tightly with both hands, her face pale but trying to remain calm. Step by step, she stepped out of the shadows of the woods, her feet crunching on the dewy grass.

Gildarts paused for a moment.

"Cana? What are you doing here? You're here too...?"

Gildarts scratched the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed, and tried to come up with an excuse to brush it off.

However, Cana suddenly stopped in her tracks.

He raised his head, and his eyes, which were exactly like Gildarts', were now brimming with tears.

Taking a deep breath, I mustered all the courage I had in my life and called out the name I had rehearsed countless times in my dreams to that tall figure.

"Father!"

That shout was like a bomb dropped on the river.

Gildarts froze completely in place.

My brain felt as if it had been subjected to the most powerful level of Crush Magic, instantly turning into a mess.

His eyes were so wide they almost popped out of their sockets, and his mouth was agape enough to fit a fist. The aura of a powerful figure who could remain calm even in the face of a collapsing mountain shattered into dust at that moment.

On the tree trunk in the distance.

Jiang Bai rested his hands behind his head, comfortably leaning against the dense canopy of trees.

Looking at the little girl crying her eyes out by the river, and Gildarts, who was at a loss, too excited to speak properly, and finally hugged Cana tightly in his arms like a fool.

Jiang Bai let out a long, lazy yawn.

Slowly close your eyes.

[Damn, I feel like I'm being so long-winded. I need to speed things up a bit.]