Let Me Tell You A Story
Summary: Let me tell you a story about a boy and a girl. Two halves of the same soul, who came together to create something wonderful. Cana Alberona was very young to be a mother, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it.
Warnings: AU, referenced suicide attempt, implied suicide, teenage pregnancy, childbirth, swearing, blood, referenced underage drinking, and mentions of periods. Also, the summary leaves a lot to be desired, but everything will make sense at the end.
AN: I am not quite sure where the inspiration for this came from, but I became very attached to this concept of the young Cana- that shy little wallflower who no one ever really saw, that never stood out, and never asked for help having a life changing development and not telling anyone about it. I could completely see her hiding a pregnancy, too scared of rejection to tell anyone, but still hoping someone would notice.
Cana hadn't exactly kept her pregnancy a secret- but she hadn't gone out of her way to tell anyone about it either.
She had told herself it was to prevent Erza and Mira from turning her baby into an excuse to go nuts with the frilly stuff, a way to prevent Master Makarov from looking at her in disappointment, but deep down she had hoped that someone had noticed her behavior change. Had noticed that she had quit drinking, started only taking low-risk local jobs, that she had moved out of the dorms into her own house, and that she had started see a doctor regularly.
She was both disappointed and relieved when no one did. She had always been that way-a wallflower, invisible. She had never put a toe out of line until she had started drinking and then once it became routine to those around her, she once again faded to the background. It was lonely being in the background, the loneliness had led to sadness, the sadness had led to despair, and in that despair, she found someone who gave her back something she had never known she had lost.
Now she was going to have a baby, she was going to bring a whole new life into the world that she alone would be responsible for. And as terrified as she was, she was also thrilled. She wanted this child, she wanted it as much as she needed air. This child proved that there had indeed once been a boy and a girl who had shared something wonderful in a moment of hopelessness. She wasn't naïve enough to think she was back to the girl she once had been, that her baby was not a band aid on her wounded soul, motherhood wouldn't magically make her better- but loving this little life might be the first start.
As soon as Cana had discovered the child in her belly was on its way, she knew that it was time to get serious. Her whole life was about to change, as soon as her baby exited her body, she would cease being a child and become an adult. She couldn't run away, she couldn't fall back on bad habits- having a child was an all or nothing deal, if she hesitated even a bit, she had no right to raise it.
She was still trying to decide on whether or not she would stay in the guild or walk away after the child was born. She had no way of knowing what the reaction toward her and her baby would be. Though she still had time to decide, especially since she was one of the lucky ones. Her midwife, Sarah, had given her a long technical explanation that basically boiled down to 'with the way your uterus points and the position of your baby, if you show at all I'll be surprised'.
So now here she was, barely a week away from her due date, trapped in the guildhall during one of the worst storms Magnolia had ever seen. The usual troublemakers of Gray and Natsu, along with Erza and Mirajane who were all busy trying to beat the crap out of each other, with everyone else either cheering them on or trying to mitigate the damage.
A sudden pain ripped across her belly, causing her to let out a hiss in discomfort. She had been feeling contractions for the last few days and Sarah had cheerfully informed her that she was three centimeters dilated- meaning that she could go into labor at any time now. That sobering thought was thrilling for several different reasons, on one hand she was finally going to get to meet her baby, this wonderful gift her boy had given her, on the other she was fourteen and about to become a mother, was about to go through childbirth, she would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous.
She also wasn't sure what would happen if she went into labor around the guild, she wasn't sure what she would say, how she would explain. All she could do was hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
"Cana."
The sound of her name drew the dark-haired girl out of her thoughts as she turned toward Lisanna.
"Do you think that you could go grab some bandages from downstairs, I think we might need them."
As if on cue Mira launched Erza into the request board with enough force to send the red head through the board and into the wall behind it. Looking at the mayhem unfolding around them, Cana nodding while rising to her feet.
"Sure thing, it'll give me a chance to stretch my legs," she said just as another pain struck her belly, her hand moving reflexively to press against her stomach as she winced. Thankfully before she could throw together a likely horrible excuse, Lisanna smiled sympathetically.
"That time of the month?" The white-haired girl asked quietly.
Cana grabbed the excuse like a lifeline, "Not quite but soon."
There, that was both true enough from a certain point of view and misleading enough she wouldn't catch on. The youngest Strauss patted her on the shoulder then moved over to where Erza was holding Mira in a headlock- trying to diffuse the situation between the two rivals.
Cana quickly moved toward the stairs that would take her to the basement- that had been close. While if she was asked, she wouldn't deny being pregnant, she also didn't want to have to explain herself until she knew what to say- which honestly might not ever happen. A thunderclap shook the building, accompanied by another sharp pain in her belly. It was so sudden the girl collapsed against the wall of the stairwell, panting heavily as the pain subsided.
"Wow," the out of breath girl managed to get out, before looking down toward her belly, "You really aren't going easy on Mommy, are you?" She muttered fondly, imagining her child giggling mischievously in the womb.
She quickly recovered and moved the short distance down the rest of the stairs to the basement storeroom, quickly locating the crate she needed, just in time for fluid to gush down her legs. Cana froze in shock, just staring at the growing puddle around her when another contraction hit. The card mage doubled over in pain as a groan escaped her lips.
Shit. Talk about terrible timing. She had to sit down- she had to get help- she had to move- her mind kept firing half formed thoughts as her feet numbly guided her towards the corner of the room where the spare blankets were piled- the bandages she had been sent to get completely vanishing from her mind as she sank against the wall, sliding down as another wave of pain washed over her.
Shit. Just honestly shit, this kid had really horrible timing. A brawl in the guildhall, a fucking monsoon outside, no way to get her midwife, no way to get to the birthing center, and she was alone and in fucking labor- the next contraction hit breaking off the thought as another pained groan escaped her. Damn, these pains were awfully close together- wasn't the first labor supposed to take hours?
Another pain whacked her over the head- first things first, her baby had decided now was the time to come out and there was absolutely nothing she could do but accept it and move on. And the next contraction struck knocking the wind out of her.
Her hands were shaking as she pulled off her soaked underwear and throwing them to the side, taking deep breaths in and out as she braced herself for the next contraction.
It struck hard enough to knock the wind out of her- these pains were maybe two or three minutes apart- it was definitely time. She had taken the damn birthing classes for a reason; she knew exactly what to do so now it was time to do it.
She managed to get herself into a squatting position just as the next contraction hit, and she bared down with it. Another groan escaped her at the exertion. Sweat rolled down her face and her nails cut semi circles into her clenched palms as she bared down again. As the pain momentarily subsided, she gasped for breath, sucking in as much air as she possibly could before the next contraction. She hesitantly moved her hands in between her legs and- oh yeah that was definitely the head. The next contraction hit, and she pushed as hard as she could, she almost felt like she was being ripped in half, but she persisted.
Then suddenly a weight slipped into her arms beneath her body and she fell back against the wall. It was over, she did it. A watery mewl broke her out of her daze as she looked down at her baby- down at her son.
He was red faced and scrunched up, covered in some kind of white gunk, his cord still connecting him to her body. He was ugly, he was slimy, and the most amazing thing she had ever seen in her life. She pulled him up and rested his head over her heart as his little arms flapped against her chest as he snuggled into her. Tears leaked out of her eyes and she was smiling so hard it almost hurt.
"Happy birthday Henry," she whispered into the crown of his head, kissing the thin thatch of dark brown hair," I'm your Mommy."
Nothing else mattered right now, the only important thing was her little son. Cana had no idea how long she laid there in pure peace with her baby, she didn't care either, but she was broken out of her thoughts by a faint call of her name.
"Geez Cana how long does it take to grab some banda- oh my god!"
The exhausted girl turned her head toward the voice, finding the gaping face of Lisanna Strauss. The white-haired girl completely struck dumb in shock at the sight of her friend.
"wait you- what- I'll go get someone- oh my god- j-just stay there Cana- I'll just," the Take Over mage babbled before she raced up the stairs taking them two at a time as she screamed for help.
Cat was out the bag now.
The exhausted brunette turned back toward her child, his little eyes were open and staring blearily up at her. She smiled again, pulling him close and pressing another kiss to his head. She was ready for anything the world could throw at her.
AN: Yeah, I'm probably going to get some hate for this piece, but I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Just to set the record straight, Cana was not raped and no one is getting shipped in this unless you count CanaxOC. Cana is one of my favorite characters, and I have a lot of stories featuring her that I'm probably never going to publish. I always see Cana as someone who is adept at hiding her pain to the point where you could stand right next to her and never really know the real girl, because of this I personally see her as one of the strongest characters. Because it is one thing to fight your enemies and win, it is something completely different to fight your own self doubt to keep on moving. Whatever you think is going to happen, I can assure you I have a few surprises in store. At the moment I'm not sure how long this will be, but I do have this mapped out. Please review if you really liked it, and if you didn't and still review, please be nice- I'm just doing this to try to relieve my boredom from being stuck in quarantine.