Zorn had received rewards for two jobs: his last mission and the S-Class mission to subjugate the dark guild that had come with it. Although he had spent some of the money on gifts for his guildmates, the rest had let him stay at the guild for three whole months.
Happy had grown up healthy during that time and could already fly for short periods alongside Natsu and the others while they trained. Most of the time, though, he still lay on Natsu's head.
One morning, after Natsu and Gray had spent so long begging him that he could no longer refuse, Zorn agreed to take them along on a mission. They had always done small jobs in town, and at most had driven mountain animals away from nearby villages. This time, Cana and Zorn were going on a difficult mission, and the two of them were itching to go. While Zorn had been at the guild for those three months, they had stopped by three times a day, right on schedule.
Zorn had agreed because the two had trained desperately over those three months and grown much stronger. They could even coat their fists and feet in Armament Haki. It would be a good chance for them to put their training into practice.
"Grandpa Master, Cana and I want to take Natsu and Gray along on this mission." Zorn handed the mission request to the master, who sat at the bar, still drinking.
"Hehe, that's right, Gramps."
"Me too, old man."
"Aye~"
Beside Zorn, Natsu and Gray chimed in like model students, both flashing toothy grins. Even Happy, sitting on Natsu's head, raised a hand and called out in agreement.
"This mission is... a B-Class mission. Wouldn't it be very easy for you, Zorn?" The master looked at the request in confusion. Given Zorn's current strength, even A-Class missions were a breeze for him.
"Not at all, Grandpa Master. You're exaggerating. I still have a long way to go." Zorn scratched his head sheepishly, then changed the subject and emphasized, "Cana will take the lead this time, with Natsu and Gray supporting her. I won't interfere."
"Oh, in your eyes, Cana is already strong enough for B-Class missions? Good, good! Hahaha!" The master laughed heartily at the news. No parent could hear that their child was doing well and not feel happy.
"And you'll be there to look after them? All right." The master happily agreed, registered the mission, and handed the request back to Zorn.
"Oh, Cana can already handle B-Class missions? She's only trained with you for nearly a year. I don't quite believe it, Zorn. How about I test her level?" Suddenly, a doubtful and somewhat provocative voice reached them from behind.
"Laxus, you—"
"What, old man? You can only know how strong someone is after testing them." Laxus retorted bluntly, then turned a disdainful look on Cana and the others.
The other guild members, along with Mirajane and Erza, frowned and looked worriedly at Laxus when they heard him.
"I agree. Since Laxus isn't reassured and is worried about Cana and the others, we can have Cana and Laxus face each other using Physical Arts. That way, Laxus can feel a little more at ease, right, Laxus?" Zorn was the first to raise his hand in agreement, and with a mischievous grin, he pointed out Laxus's real intention.
"Who—who said that? I'm just annoyed that you're being so careless." When Zorn suddenly exposed the feelings he himself hadn't even realized he had, Laxus jumped and stammered out a defense.
"Hahaha, is that so? All right, then let's go to the East Forest, east of the guild." This was the first time the master had seen this side of Laxus since he had grown up. After all, ever since the master had expelled his son from the guild, Laxus had grown more and more distant from him.
"Urusai. Think whatever you want. See you in the East Forest in a day." Seeing the old man laughing so happily made Laxus even more uncomfortable, and he turned and left.
"Pfft~ Haha!" Laxus's whole series of disgruntled reactions made everyone burst out laughing, and they realized that deep down, he really did care about the guild members.
This was also the result Zorn wanted to see. Ever since his grandfather had expelled his father from the guild, Laxus had wanted to make the guild strong and had constantly pushed himself to grow stronger. Gradually, he had closed off his true feelings, refusing to open his heart to everyone or share his thoughts with his grandfather. As a result, his personality had grown increasingly obsessive, ultimately leading to a civil war within the guild. Zorn wanted to change all of that, and taking this opportunity to expose Laxus's feelings was his first step.
That night, after finishing their training, on the way back to the dorms...
"Zorn, I..." Cana wanted to tell Zorn that she was worried about tomorrow's match, but she didn't know how to begin.
Zorn looked at Cana beside him, her hands clasped helplessly together, and knew what she was worried about. She had been a little distracted all afternoon, so he asked her, "Cana, have you slacked off at all in your training so far? Have you trained until you collapsed from exhaustion? Are you determined to give everything to become stronger? Is there someone you want to prove yourself to, someone you want to show how good you are?" Zorn fired the questions at Cana one after another without pausing.
"No. I've always wanted to get stronger. I've kept going and kept going, and I've never given up. Of course I am. There is." Cana answered each of Zorn's questions in turn, her voice growing firmer. Her gaze went from confused to clear, then resolute, and finally she shouted her answers aloud.
"Good. Then when you take that final step with conviction, all your previous effort and sweat won't let you down. They're the foundation of your success, understand? Tomorrow, show them that Cana is strong too."
Looking at Cana's resolute eyes, Zorn knew there would be no problem with tomorrow's match. He knew her true level: in terms of Physical Arts alone, she was already quite strong. What she lacked was firm conviction. He also looked forward to seeing everyone's expressions tomorrow.
"All right, I believe you can do it. Get some rest. See you tomorrow, Cana." Zorn covered his mouth with his hand as he yawned, then waved goodbye to her.
Watching Zorn walk away, Cana suddenly wanted to tell him about Gildarts, but she didn't know where to start. He was also the first person she had wanted to open her heart to, and there would be plenty of opportunities later.
"Well~ I'll tell him later," Cana said softly to herself, having made up her mind.
Were you wondering why Natsu and Gray weren't there making trouble? When training had ended that afternoon, Erza had dragged them away, one in each hand, using the excuse that she needed help with something. She had seen how Cana kept looking as though she wanted to say something but couldn't, and how distracted she was. Erza immediately got the wrong idea and hurriedly dragged Natsu and Gray away, wanting to leave Zorn and Cana some time alone together.
To be continued~