A/N- This is my shortest piece yet, but I still really like it. It's cute. XD

Disclaimer- If I owned Fairy Tail, Laxana would be canon. So it is safe to assume that I don't own it.

With shaking hands, Cana slowly zipped up Makarov's jacket, looking at him with a forced smile on her still young face, "Just be careful, okay, Macky? Conny, Cicily, look after him today, and make sure nobody picks on him, and that he eats his lunch, and that-"

"Mom, calm down," Cornelia said, rolling her eyes. The eight year old shifted before grabbing her mother's hand, continuing on in her loud, yet adorable voice, "He'll be fine. He's a Dreyar, right? And if there is one thing you always say, it's that we Dreyar have no idea when to quit. Macky can take care of himself."

"It's true, you know," Cicily's quiet murmur came from behind her. She turned to see the young girl looking up at her through her eyelashes, a tiny smile gracing her lips, "Makarov will do great today. Look, he's not even nervous."

Cana turned to look at her youngest child and only son, who was looking up at her with eyes exactly like his father's. "It's true, Mom," he said, twiddling with the edge of the shirt he was wearing, "You're the only one who's scared about today. Why are you scared about today, Mom?"

Cana sighed, "I'm not scared. I just..."

"Your mom," the sleepy voice of her husband echoed out behind her, "is going to miss you terribly."

Before she even had a chance to turn and glare at her husband, the five year old boy before her engulfed her in his skinny arms, whispering, "I'll miss you, too, Mommy, but I'll be back before you know it."

Cana smiled, feeling a couple tears prickle in her eyes. Makarov had just whispered to her what she had always said to him before she went on a job. He would cry, and whine, and eventually just say, "But, Mommy, I'll miss you while you're gone." And she would always reply, "I'll miss you, too, Macky, but I'll be back before you know it." To hear her son say it was something she had never expected, and yet felt blessed to receive.

And so, she asked the question he always asked her, "Will you bring me back any good stories?"

Makarov smiled, his biggest, most charming grin and said, "Only if you promise to be waiting with cookies," just like she always said to him.

Finally, Cana unwrapped herself from her son's form, and lightly tapped him on the nose. "You bet your little butt I'll be waiting with cookies," she said firmly, but a smile on her lips.

"Hey, Mom," Conny interrupted, "Can Cicily and I have cookies, too?"

Cana stood with a smile, picking up Makarov's backpack and settling it on his shoulders, asking quietly, "Will you have good stories to tell me?"

The twins both nodded, Cornelia enthusiastically, hair flopping around wildly, and Cicily slowly, as if truly considering the question before responding.

"Then there will be cookies waiting for the both of you as well," Cana promised.

"Come on, you guys, were going to be late!" Laxus said loudly, not quite a shout, and the three children scrambled to finish getting ready before they actually were late for the first day of school.

Laxus and Cana walked their children all the way to their school – it wasn't weird, like Cornelia insisted, since they were both heading for the guild, and it was only slightly out of their way to stop by the school with their children – but were dropped like hot potatoes at the front of the school as Cornelia dashed off to see the friends she had only seen occasionally over the summer, Cicily glided towards the library, where she was supposed to meet Cyril, and Makarov walked over to a group of boys and girls his age with his most confident smile on his face.

Just as she was about to say to Laxus that maybe they should start heading for the guild, she noticed Lisanna standing about ten feet away, a smile on her face as she watched her son run over to Makarov and the friends he had already made.

With a simple touch to Laxus' shoulder and a glance towards Lisanna, Cana told Laxus that he should start heading to the guild without her because she was going to go talk to Lisanna. Laxus nodded and started heading off after giving her a tiny peck to the cheek, and she walked slowly to her friend, carefully dodging the darting children that were everywhere.

"Hey, Lisanna," Cana said as she finally reached her.

Lisanna looked up with surprise on her face, "Oh, hey, Cana! Didn't expect to see you until later at the guild."

"Laxus and I walked the kids to school today. He's already on his way over, but I saw you standing over here by yourself. You looked kind of sad, so I came to see if everything was okay," Cana said, looking over at her son before turning back to Lisanna, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Lisanna smiled, before her expression turned back to the brooding look of earlier, "It's just..."

"That seeing your son go to his first day of school is the first sign and reminder that he's growing up and that he'll one day leave you?" Cana finished for her, a bittersweet smile playing with her lips.

Lisanna turned shocked eyes to her, "Yeah, but how did you... Oh. Duh."

Cana smiled, taking her friend's hand, "I would say that it's not as hard the second time, but it's a lie. Instead, I think about all the friends he's going to make today, and the fact that he promised to tell me stories when he gets home from school today."

Lisanna's expression softened, and her smile lost it's forced edge, "Yeah... you're right."

"Of course I am," Cana said, pretend arrogance all over her face and in her voice, "I've done this before, haven't I?"

Both mothers laughed and started walking towards the guild in unspoken agreement. They both knew that, sure, their children wouldn't be kids forever, but they would always be their children.