So Much for Happy Endings

Summary: Not all stories have happy endings. Cana never went to Tenrou Island and she led the guild when everyone was presumed dead. Shortly after she gives birth to her first child everyone comes back, and even after everything that has happened, she still can't bring herself to say the words. Shortly after the Infinity Clock, Cana is killed on a job gone wrong, and leaves everyone wondering who is going to raise her son.

Warnings: Character death and guilt, bittersweet ending at best

Disclaimer: I don't own.

Seven years. It had been seven years since the destruction of Tenrou Island. Seven years of moving on and accepting death- and they were alive, everyone was alive. This was the greatest day in Cana's life since Henry had been born.

Things had been rocky at first, loosing the majority of their heavy hitters had affected the Guild's standing, but losing a large piece of their family had been devastating to their morale. Suddenly she had been the most powerful wizard in Fairy Tail and everyone had needed a rock to lean on, so she had stepped up.

It had taken a lot of work to keep everything a float and Fairy Tail still had lost prominence, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been.

The last few years had been eye opening for her. She had discovered that she was a lot stronger than she had ever thought. Before she would never even have dreamed about being guildmaster, but look where she was now- a mother of a stunning little boy, respected by the other Master's, a powerhouse in her own right, and by being the leader the guild had needed, she had been able to pay back the kindness they had shown her all those years ago. She was confident in herself in a way that she had never thought she could be.

Gildarts… he was her father, she knew that, but her measure of self worth shouldn't have relied on his approval. It had taken her a while to accept that and to start getting stronger for herself and for her family, and later to be the mother her son could be proud of.

As she looked around at the celebration around her, at the faces she never thought she would see again in this life, Cana found herself totally content.

It didn't matter if he didn't know that he was her father, she could deal with that. She had everything she could ever need, it would be selfish to ask for anything else.

It was such a perfect day.

oOOOOo

It was such a terrible day.

They had thought the worst was over, that after the infinity clock fiasco things would be looking up and everyone would live happily ever after. Boy were they wrong.

Cana was dead.

Strong, beautiful, confident Cana who had lead the guild through its darkest times. Patient Cana, who had always been there willing to listen and with a shoulder to cry on if you needed one. Magnificent Cana who had loved everyone so fiercely. She was gone and her son was an orphan.

Beautiful little Henry, who had been the apple of his mother's eye, was going to grow up without her. The only way he would know his mother would be through stories and pictures- and that just wasn't fair.

"What's going to happen to him now?" Romeo quietly asked his father, watching his surrogate nephew sleep peacefully in his basket.

Macao hesitated a moment," Well… I know Cana left instructions on who would take care of him in case… in case the worst happened."

"Can we take him?" The boy asked, Cana had been the closest thing he had to a sister, Henry was his nephew, it was only right that they took care of him.

"I-I would like to," the fire mage admitted," But we have to follow Cana's wishes, if whoever she picked can't do it, then yes. We are going to take him." They owed Cana that after all she had done to keep this family together.

"Either way Romeo, we are going to be part of his life. I think that goes for everyone in the guild. We all love him so much and we loved Cana so much- everything… everything will work out. I promise."

The young man nodded, not taking his eyes off the sleeping baby- Henry didn't know that Cana was gone yet, and at five months old, he wouldn't understand even when he did. The thought that this boy was going to grow up without a single memory of his mother was a hard pill to swallow.

The world could be such a cruel place.

oOOOOo

"Gildarts- can you come here a moment?"

The man looked up at the sound of his name and headed over to where Makarov was sitting. The old man seemed to have aged twenty years in the last two days, and the crash mage could sympathize.

He hadn't been close to Cana like the other's had been, but that didn't mean her death hadn't affected him.

That little girl he distantly remembered had grown up to be one of the most fantastic mages anyone had ever seen, she had rallied everyone together when it had seemed hopeless, and she had been an incredible mother to her little boy. It… it was a life ended too soon and that was how Gildarts mourned it as.

"What's up?" The crash mage quietly asked the newly reinstated guildmaster, who sighed heavily.

"When I went through Cana's desk to find a copy of her will, I found this." The older man handed the Ace an envelope with the man's name written on it, blinking he accepted it. "There was a caveat in her will that stated that she wanted you to read this before anything else could be done."

What could this be about, Gildarts wondered. He and Cana had spoken maybe five times- what could be so important that she had put it in her will for him to read this?

"Thanks… I'll read it and get back to you all," the red headed man promised, walking over to an empty table. Sitting down he carefully slid the papers out of the envelope and began to read.

Dear Gildarts,

Let me preface this by saying I am so sorry for what you are about to read, but I know I would not be able to rest peacefully if you didn't know the truth.

The reason I joined the guild was to find my father, to find you. I don't know if you remember her, but my mother's name was Cornelia, before she died, she told me who you were and how to find you. And when I came to the guild, I knew who you were almost immediately, but the truth about who I was to you became the words I couldn't say.

I tried to tell you so many times, but things just kept getting in the way. Eventually, eventually I became convinced that I wasn't worthy enough to be your daughter, that you would be disappointed that I wasn't as strong as Erza or Mirajane- I didn't give you enough credit and for that I apologize. I promised myself that I would tell you who I was when I made S-class, but of course that never wound up happening.

Then Tenrou Island was destroyed, and we thought all of you were dead. I just, stopped caring. You were gone and I would never get to tell you the truth, that broke me badly, but I had to move on. I had people depending on me, who needed a leader, and I had to become that person for them. Then later I had my son, and he became the center of my entire world, and while I was sad that he would never meet his grandfather, I was totally content.

Then you all came home. Finding out that all of you were alright, it was one of the happiest moments of my life, but I still didn't tell you. I have no excuses for that, beyond that I had kept this secret for twenty years and it didn't seem fair to tell you now when I no longer needed you. The truth was that I was just too weak to say the words- because they were always the words I couldn't say, time didn't change that.

I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry for never telling you the truth, because keeping this secret was not fair to you. You deserved to know that you had a child, and you deserved to know that you had a grandchild- I took away so many moments and I regret that dearly. And more than anything I am sorry that I am telling you all this now, when I am gone, because now you have a child to mourn. I understand if you hate me for all of this, if our positions were reversed, I don't know how I would feel.

And I am not sure if I have the right, but I have a request. My son needs someone to raise him, and I would like for it to be by you: Henry deserves to have his grandfather in his life, and you deserve to be in his. I understand that this is a lot to ask and I understand if you do not want to raise him, but please make sure he knows who you are to him at least. Because he deserves to know his own story.

I'm sorry for all that I have done against you and I want you to know that I am so glad I knew you Dad.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Arcana Alberona

Gildarts couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, in the span of a few paragraphs his entire world had crumbled to pieces and he had no idea what to do in the aftermath.

oOOOOo

He was a father. Was in past tense. His child was dead. His beautiful, intelligent, magnificent daughter was dead and gone before he had ever had the chance to know her.

What was he supposed to do? He needed someone or something to tell him what to do.

Conny had his baby, twenty-five years ago the love of his life had his baby and she had never told him. All these years he had a daughter right in front of him and he had never realized it.

He had missed out on so many moments. He wouldn't know which tooth she lost first, he had never been able to fuss over her when she was sick, he hadn't been able to rock her to sleep or buy her a toy she loved. He hadn't been there when she had first begun learning magic, he hadn't seen her grow to become the magnificent woman she had been.

How hard had it been for her? To see him be a father to all the other children except for her. To see her father blatantly ignore her, to never give her the time of day. He had hurt his own child worse than any torture could have managed.

And he couldn't hug her. He couldn't apologize for all the things he had missed, all the things he had never done, he couldn't promise to do better, he wouldn't be able to get to know her or be there for her. Because she was dead. His baby was dead and cold.

And her baby was never going to know her. His grandson was only going to know his mother from stories, he would know of her, but he wouldn't know her. He would know his mother as the youngest guildmaster in Fairy Tail history, he would know her as 'kind', 'intelligent', and 'strong'. He would know that she adored him, but he wouldn't know that she loved him so much that she created a halo around the two of them. That everyone could feel the amount of joy her baby gave her.

Henry would never know his mother and that just wasn't fair.

In that moment the crash mage made a silent vow to himself, he had failed his daughter, but he would be damned if he would fail his grandson.

He was going to raise him to be a man that his mother would have been proud of and every single day he would make sure Henry knew how much he loved him.

AN: sorry this one was so heavy guys, its just not every fairy tale has a happy ending, and that goes the same for this. I love the father-daughter fluff so much, but I got inspired for this one and had to write it down. Don't ask me who Henry's father is because I honestly don't know, and as for what killed her, I don't know that either. I promise the next story will be happier though.