Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, and/or favorited this story. I am finally starting on chapter six since chapter four took some major rewriting and it took me a while to write and then rewrite chapter five. However because chapter three was going to be very long, I am breaking it up into two parts. This next chapter delves a little more into different views, I focus mainly on Levy at the beginning and then I switch to Cana. I'm trying to run multiple personal issues at once and I have never done so on the level I'm attempting, so if it feels slow or confusing, please bear with me. If need be, please PM me and I will try and edit the chapter once more so that it flows better.
As a reminder, this story has multiple pairings, it is an AU, and despite the AU I am trying to keep the characters as close to themselves as possible. If you have any suggestions as to how I can make that happen, feel free to let me know.
Once again the pairings are as follows: Laxana, Nalu, Gale, Jerza, WendyxRomeo, ElfGreen, MiraxFreed, Gruvia, BiscaxAlzack (they will be making an appearance and so will their little girl.)and I am considering BixslowxLisanna. (I'm not sure if I forgot anyone, but they'll be added later.)
I do not own Fairy Tail!
Levy was breathing heavily, her heart beating away in her chest and she was covered in sweat, but that didn't stop the grin on her face. Cana was finally giving her a chance! She was finally going to be on stage with her surrogate sisters!
"Hey Levy." The petite woman looked up at her leader and the brunette smiled, "You did good." Levy beamed brightly at her friend, "Thanks." Levy watched Cana turn to Evergreen who was just as out of breath as Levy. "You're good too. I'm glad we snatched you up." The new addition smiled, "Thanks."
"Do you think Ever could perform with us tonight?" Juvia asked, her eyes hopeful for her new friend.
Levy smiled at that. Juvia had been the main dancer at Phantom, but they took her for granted. When Phantom closed, Cana had gone in search of the blue haired dancer to offer her a place in Fairy Tail. Levy and Lucy had tagged along with their friend and watched the entire scene. Juvia was a sweetheart who had lived a lonely life, and she was welcomed with open arms to Fairy Tail, mainly as a friend, and then as a co-worker. (I do plan on going more in depth with this in another chapter that will be from Juvia's POV.)
Cana glanced back at Evergreen who was trying to remain impassive, but they could all see the hopeful look in her eyes. "What do you think Levy? You and Lucy were supposed to be the only new faces on stage tonight. Do you feel like sharing the spotlight with Evergreen?" Cana asked.
Levy didn't even have to think of her answer, "Of course! She's one of us isn't she? There's always room for another fairy." "Well Evergreen it's your call now. Do you think you can go out there tonight with only one rehearsal?" The dark haired dancer asked.
"It would be stupid of me to assume I can do it, but I want to. Is it alright if we run through the dance one more time though? I want to make sure I have it right." Evergreen replied.
"I don't care how tired I am, I'll go another round." Levy replied giving their newest friend a supportive smile. "I'm in as well. One more time wouldn't hurt." Erza replied.
"Me too." "Count me in."
"Juvia will go again as well."
Cana grinned, "Alright ladies. One more run through for Evergreen and then we're off to clean up and complete our other work. Got it?" The women nodded and Cana turned back to Elfman, "Play the song one more time!" Elfman gave her a thumbs up and pressed play. Levy lost herself in the music.
"Alright. That's it. Good practice girls." Cana replied with a tired smile. "How did we look little brother?" Mirajane asked. "You girls were amazing!" Lisanna yelled back with a smile before Elfman could even answer. "You're going to blow them away tonight." Gray smirked. "Good. You girls are going to be awesome!" Cana grinned.
Levy was surprised by that. "You aren't going to dance with us?" "Yeah you always lead." Lucy replied. "Well, I do, but I heard there's a good chance that jackass is going to show up tonight. I figured it would be fun to show him what he doesn't have anymore." Cana replied with an evil smirk.
"He's coming here? Why?" Levy asked. Cana shrugged, "I don't know. I figured I could be a bitch about it. You know what, forget it. I'll do my personal dance before this dance. I can't let you guys finally have your stage time and not be your trusty leader, now can I?" Cana asked with a smile.
"So this is your first time dancing?" Evergreen asked.
Levy smiled shyly, "Yes and no. Lucy and I are usually serving drinks, but we would watch rehearsals and participate every once in a while. We just never got to perform on stage."
"Levy's a singer too. She's got a fantastic set of pipes." Gray replied with a smile from his seat at the bar.
She blushed, "I'm alright." "She's good." Lucy replied giving her best friend a supportive smile that Levy appreciated.
"You can sing?" The brunette asked, intrigued by the young woman.
Levy nodded excitedly, her sky kissed locks bouncing as she did. "I'd love to hear a song." "Maybe." Levy replied shyly.
"I've been trying to get her on stage forever, but she won't do it." Mirajane replied with a smile.
"Well it doesn't help that those brats are always picking on her." Lucy snapped, her normally kind brown eyes were dark with anger. Levy shook her head, "Don't worry too much about it Lucy. They don't matter."
"I'm glad you feel that way, Levy. You're going to sing tonight." Erza replied.
"No not tonight! Tonight is my first dance! I can't focus on the song when I have the dance. Oh please let me do it another night. Please!" She begged, trying hard to hide her panic. Erza frowned but nodded, "Alright. Just promise us that you'll do it soon?"Levy nodded and her friends smiled.
"Good, no more sad Levy. Alright guys, show Ever to the showers and clean up. Then get the rest of your work done. Gray stop sitting on your ass. Go wipe down the stage and organize backstage. I need that stuff clean. Elfman make sure that the locks on all the doors are fixed and then I want you to go check the security room. Droy should be showing up anytime now, and Jet shouldn't be far behind. Hey Lisanna have you heard from Kinana and Wendy?" Cana asked, going into boss mode.
"Not yet. Wendy had a test to study for I think." Lisanna replied.
"Right. Well text her for me. I'm going to the office to check the bills and then I'm jumping in the shower." "No problem Cana." The brunette smiled at her friend and headed for the office.
Levy watched her go before leaning against the bar. Erza had already gone to the showers taking Evergreen with her, that left Mirajane, Juvia, and Lucy with Levy and Lisanna.
"Do you want to talk about it Levy?" Mirajane asked. "No. It was just Ariel and Rebecca again. I wish they'd just leave me alone."
"Don't let them get you down Levy." "Yeah, they're just jealous of you. I mean look at where you work!" "
And look at yourself in the mirror girl, you're beautiful!" "And very talented." Juvia added with a smile.
Levy sighed and gave her friends her best smile, "Thanks guys." "The second you finish that song, tell Cana or Gramps and you'll be up on our stage singing your little heart out." Levy nodded, her dark hazel eyes bright with determination that was slowly eating away at the lingering sadness in her eyes. The petite woman followed her friends to the showers, her thoughts drifting between tonight's dance and the song that was itching to be finished.
Cana closed the door to the office and sighed, leaning against it. Her dark eyes watered as a dull pain shot through her chest. She forced herself to calm down, to take a deep breath and fought off the tears that had built up in her eyes. Cana glowered at her actions.
"I am done crying over him. I'm done. No more heartbroken Cana. No more tears. No more pity. Fairy Tail is my world, my friends, and my family. I don't need a lousy jerk like Bacchus."
The brunette straightened herself up and wiped at her eyes before heading for her desk. She quickly began scanning the most recent bills and letters, trying to decide if they would have enough money to pay the utilities.
After glancing over the bills and adding and subtracting numbers, Cana released a frustrated sigh before leaning back in her chair. "Mom how did you manage to keep this place running?" she whispered to herself.
They were close to being in the red and that scared Cana. Her eyes darted around the office quickly, this place was all that was left of her mother and she was not about to let it go without a fight. "Looks like I'll have to call a meeting tonight. Shit this is going to suck." Her thoughts drifted to Juvia and Evergreen, the newest employees. Cana didn't have to keep either of them; they had enough dancers, especially with Levy and Lucy finally being allowed on stage.
Maybe….
No. She would not fire them. Evergreen and Juvia were fantastic dancers and she was not about to lose them because they were close to the red. They weren't there yet. Cana glanced at the numbers again and groaned slightly. She was going to have to manage her alcohol intake, especially if she wanted to keep up. This place was more important to her than her dependence on alcohol.
There was a knock at the door and Cana was thankful for the distraction. "Come in."
Mirajane entered with a worried frown on her face. "Hey you've been in here for a while." "
I was just looking at the numbers, that's all." The brunette replied, waving off her friend's worry.
"That explains the wrinkles." Mira teased. "Shut up." Cana retorted, crumpling up an old receipt and throwing it at her best friend. "So how is it looking?" the blue eyed woman asked.
"We're about a thousand dollars away from being in the red. It's going to be tough this month." The brunette replied.
Mira nodded but didn't say anything. "You don't have to pay me this month." She replied casually.
Cana shot her friend a shocked look before she shook her head, "I won't hold your pay because we might need more cash. Don't worry about it Mira. Besides, you need to pay rent for you and your siblings. I'm not taking that away from you."
"I just thought I would offer, you know, as your best friend." Mira replied with a smile. "And as my best friend, you're going to see me get us out of this mess, just like I always do." The white haired woman scoffed, "That's when you aren't the one getting us into trouble."
"Yeah yeah, hey are the chores done?" "Nearly done. Gramps should be here soon. Go shower, we're going to be opening soon. I'm sure everything is going to be alright." Cana nodded and stood up, stretching after having been slouched in her chair for too long.
"I'm going to go shower. Keep an eye on things for me." "Of course." Mira replied with a reassuring smile.
Alright, this is part one of chapter 3, and the next part has all the exciting stuff. For example you find out what Laxus didn't want to tell Makarov. It comes out later in another chapter too. Its good I promise. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed getting to see more of Cana and parts of Levy. The next part is mainly going to be from Laxus's point of view, so there's that. I personally like the way I chose to have Cana's first impression on Laxus. It'll come back later.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'll have part two posted once I'm half way through chapter six. Thanks so much for reading!
Also don't forget to review! I'll take all the constructive criticism I can get!