Hey! Sorry I didn't update in a while- I'm currently working on another story... it's a high school AU story
Anyway, StoryLover58, I really like the Gildarts' past idea, so here is his past! It's about how he met Cornelia...
Also, Guest, who said that i liiiiike Freed: Of COURSE- HE IS SO COOL- HE NEEDS MORE LOVE! Although, he isn't competition for Laxus~lol
And here's the story:
Levy turned to the next page and her eyes widened.
"Wow, this one is really old!" she said.
"Really old.." Lucy agreed. The picture's hues were faded, and the edges were worn.
"Is that Gildarts?" Levy asked, referring to the young redhead man in the picture. He had his arm around a young, beautiful woman with long, wavy, dark-brown hair.
"I think so," the blonde smiled. "He's so young."
Meanwhile, on the table near them, Cana heard her father's name from the two girls' area. She knew that they were probably looking at that book, and they must've seen a picture of him, so she went over to them.
"Hi, Cana," Lucy said, and showed her the book. "Look, it's Gildarts!"
Cana kept staring at the girl next to him. "Is that..?" She didn't know if it was Cornelia, since her father had been with at least thirteen other woman. The woman did have similar hair, but that was all she could see.
Gildarts, who was currently in the guild at the time, followed his daughter like the overly attached father he was.
"Cana, what are you looki-" he stared at the picture. "Whoa, that's me and Cornelia..."
"Aww, that's sweet," Lucy cooed.
His eyes softened at the sight of his late wife. "Can I have this picture? I don't have many pictures of her."
"Of course," Levy nodded and started to take it out of the album. She was extra careful, because it looked like it was going to fall apart any second.
"Be really careful," she added before giving it to him.
"Definitely," he assured her. "I'll treasure it-"
"GILDARTS, FIGHT ME!" Natsu ran towards Gildarts at top speed with a flaming fist. Gildarts lifted his cape and pushed Natsu aside.
"DON'T HARM THE PICTURE, IDIOT," Gildarts exclaimed.
"WHAT PICTURE?"
"STOP YELLING, WILL YA?"
"BUT YOU'RE YELLING, TOO!"
"Will you two shut up?" Cana yelled at them. "You're so embarrassing!" she then hissed at Gildarts.
Gildarts sighed and glared at Natsu. "Lookwhatyoudid."
Natsu scratched the back of his head.
"I'm going now. I have a headache.." Gildarts muttered, staring at the picture. He then turned around and left the guild, although not before saying goodbye to Cana.
When Gildarts left, he couldn't but smile at his late wife's picture. She was smiling brightly, her Mermaid Heel stamp on her arm was almost shining. Gildarts didn't look nearly as graceful as her, on the other hand, he looked a little drunk.
He started to remember the day he first met her..
The thirteen year old boy grinned and walked into the guild. It was his first time back from a job, and it had gone fairly well, considering he was a beginner mage.
"Hey, Master!" he smirked and lifted his hand in a simple greeting. Makarov's son, Ivan, who was about the same age as Gildarts, looked at his 'friend.' Ivan and Gildarts weren't really friends, since they fought a lot, but one could consider them acquaintances.
"Hey, man," Ivan nodded at him. "You back already?"
Gildarts grinned. "Ya miss me?"
Ivan rolled his eyes. "Hell no."
"Aw," the Crash mage fake-pouted. "But I missed you! Give me a hug, man!" He spread his arms and lunged at him. Ivan dodged and laughed.
"Ha, eat that, bitch," he joked.
"Screw you," Gildarts mumbled. He got up and walked towards the master.
"Hey, Master, I'm back," he said.
"Wow, back already?" the master said. He had short blond hair and was considerably short for a man in his fifties.
"Yup. It was easy," Gildarts bragged.
"Well, you'll be a very powerful mage someday," Makarov nodded and walked away. Suddenly, he turned around and looked at Ivan.
"Oi, Ivan," he said. His son looked up, clearly annoyed.
"What?"
"A girl from Mermaid Heel is coming to give us some paperwork. I'm going to be at a conference, so I need you to take it and file it," he ordered.
"What? Why? I have work to do!" Ivan complained.
"Because I say so! Consider it a job."
"A job? Alright..." he rolled his eyes.
Gildarts watched this from his seat at the bar. He wasn't going on work any time soon, so he might as well hang out at the guild. Plus, Ivan might need some 'company.'
[Line Break]
The next day, the master left for his two-day conference. Ivan sat at the bar, facing the door. Gildarts sat next to him.
"I'm bored," the redhead muttered. He looked at Ivan brightly and said, "Wanna fight?"
"Nah.."
"You scared?"
"No!"
"..."
"..."
"Dammit, I'm bored. Why am I even here?"
Ivan yawned. "I'm so tired."
"Then take a damn nap," Gildarts hissed.
"I can't, idiot! I have to wait for this Mermaid woman."
"Aww, poor you," he said in a mocking tone. "You have to sit here and do nothing."
Ivan ignored him. He had been awake almost all night, so his eyes were glazing over.
"Gildarts...Can you wait for her?" he mumbled. "I'm gonna take a...damn nap.." He got up and began walking towards the back room.
"What? No! No!" he protested. Deep down, he felt kinda bad for him. "Screw you! You owe me one, idiot! Fine... Might as well..." His voice got quieter as Ivan walked away.
Gildarts rolled his eyes. He could tell the young mage had been drinking at one point. Stupid lightweight... he thought.
About half an hour later, when Gildarts was starting to doze off himself, the door opened. As soon as the door opened, he looked towards the entrance quickly.
A girl about his age was standing there. In Gildarts eyes, she seemed to have a halo and angel wings. She had long, wavy dark hair, and chocolatey brown eyes. Her turquoise dress complimented her complexion. She looked around the guild and walked towards the bar. The Mermaid Heel mage walked around the redhead who was staring at her. She put down her stack of files and looked at him.
"Hey, do you know where the master of this guild is?" she asked. Gildarts tried talking.
"U-um, he-he's...dead. N-no, wait, he-he's at a conference! Hold on! Stay here! Don't move! " he exclaimed and ran to the kitchen. He ducked behind the oven, even though the girl had lost sight of him once he disappeared through the doors.
'Ok, Gildarts,' he whispered to himself, 'She may be hot, but she has nothing on you. BE COOL. COOL. BE CHILL. DAMN YOU, IVAN. I AM CHILL.'
He took a deep breath and checked his reflection and flashed his prize-winning grin.
Gildarts looked towards the door and walked out with ease. The girl was waiting for him.
"A-are you okay?" she asked him nervously.
"Yes, yes I am. Sorry about that," he said smoothly. "Master's at a conference, and he asked me to accept the paperwork for him."
"Oh," she nodded knowingly. "I'm Cornelia," she smiled and stuck out her hand.
Gildarts had no idea what to do at this point. His 'coolness supply' had obviously run out. He awkwardly stuck his hand out and shook hers.
"Clive. Er- Gildarts. I-I'm Clive Gildarts. I mean, Gildarts Clive!" he blushed. She giggled.
"Well, here's the paperwork, Gildarts Clive," she said and gave him the huge file.
"Thank you, Cooorrrrneelliiiaa," he took the file and pushed it aside. 'If it gets lost, I'll just blame Ivan,' he thought.
"After your long journey, you must be tired," he started.
"Oh, it wasn't lo-"
"Come sit!" he exclaimed.
"Okay," she smiled.
"Do you eat, you know, f-food?" he asked her.
"I have been known to eat food," she joked.
"Why don't we have some lunch? M-my treat," he offered. This time, it was Cornelia's turn to blush.
"That's sweet of you," she said.
"Cool. Um, hold on." He quickly excused himself and ran to the back room. He knocked open the door. Ivan was sitting on the couch, rubbing his eyes. He got up.
"Sorry about that," he muttered. "I can wait for the Mermaid chick now."
"Hell no! It's too late, I call her!"
"W-wha-"
"I need money!"
Ivan came to his senses. "Wha- Fuck you! I'm not giving you money!"
Gildarts looked around the room, and saw Ivan's backpack. He grabbed it and started rummaging around for jewel. "Aha! I'll pay you back!" he exclaimed and pulled out the jewel. He stuffed it into his pocket and ran outside.
"Hey, Cornelia," he said smoothly. "Shall we order?" They ordered some light food, then made conversation. Gildarts immediately loved everything about her. The way she talked, the way she smiled, the was she laughed, even the way she way she ate.
"I better go, Gildarts," she said, getting up after they ate. "Thank you so much, but it's getting late."
"Wait!" he said. "You're from Mermaid Heel, right?"
She nodded.
"Can I join?"
he asked hopefully.
Cornelia laughed. "Of course not," she giggled.
"Why? You don't like me?" Gildarts asked.
"It's not that! Mermaid Heel is an all-girls guild," she said.
"Crap."
"Maybe I'll come back to visit," she smiled, "You never know..."
Gildarts blushed. Her eyes seemed to gleam as she walked away.
"I think...I'm in love," he said to no one in particular. Suddenly, he felt someone punch his shoulder, hard.
"What the fuck?" he yelled and turned around. Ivan was glaring at him.
"You stole five hundred jewel from me!"
"So what? I need money!"
"Dammit, you better pay me back!"
"No way! It's only, like, five hundred."
"God, I hate you so much- What did you even use it for?"
"Food, okay? I was getting some lunch!"
[Line Break]
Gildarts snapped out of his thoughts. He scowled, remembering the idiot who just interrupted his Cornelia moment.
Where am I again? he thought. He looked around and noticed he was in a graveyard. He couldn't help but shiver.
Suddenly, he saw the grave in front of him.
He bit his lip, and shuddered. It was sad to think that he left on such a long mission, and to not know that his wife had given birth. He didn't even know she was pregnant in the first place. Slowly, a small tear appeared in his eyes. He thought of every moment spent with her, and the last moments he saw her. They said quick goodbyes and shared a kiss, then he was off. He brushed away the tear.
"Father!" he heard a small voice call.
"Cana," he gasped. "Totally forgot about her." He ran to the edge of the graveyard as fast as he could and looked around. She was on the outskirts of the market, looking around. Of course, in Gildarts' eyes, she was a small, maybe five-years old girl with a puppy on a leash, and she was yelling 'Daddy!' as loud as she could.
He felt a rush of tears, then smiled. "CANA!" he yelled and lunged towards her. She screamed and jumped to the side.
"Oh, sorry, dad," she apologized.
"That's okay, Cana! Wanna go back to the guild?" he asked her.
"Sure. I could use a drink," she shrugged, then looked at him. "What were you doing here anyway?"
Gildarts scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, you know...just visiting your mother's grave. "
Cana glanced up at him. He was silent as they walked.
"You remind me so much of her, you know," he smiled softly.
Cana gently took his hand.
"What was she like?" she asked.
"Well," the S-class mage started, "She had this beautiful smile, and I think she was the only one who would put up with all my shi- er..stuff, and-"
Cana rolled her eyes. "I'm not five, you know. I know you're about to say shit."
"Oh. Oops. Don't say that word, okay? Anyway, she wasn't a member of Fairy Tail at first, actually I met her when one of my friends was too lazy to get some paper work, and"
Cana and Gildarts walked back to the guild talking about Cornelia. Gildarts managed to looked back and smile a little at the grave.
RIP
Cornelia Clive,
Loved Wife
Mage, and Friend
Ha, I love the relationship between Cana and Gildarts! Gildarts is so cool~ Anyway, next, i think i'll write about... someone. I don't know yet.
-thunder-crashed
