A Perfect Match
Summary: When Cana starts acting different, no one was really concerned, just teenage rebellion, right? Then she collapses in the guildhall. How will Gildarts react finding out that he has a daughter in this whole screwed up situation.
Disclaimer: I don't own
AN: ALL THE MEDICAL STUFF IS FAKE! I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MEDICINE- I KNOW A LOT ABOUT THE SKELETON BUT THE SQUISHY BITS FREAK ME OUT!
When Cana had first started acting oddly, nobody had really given it much thought, just assuming it to be a normal teenage phase. Wearing darker clothes that covered her up almost neck to wrist, refusing to socialize, and keeping odd hours- it wasn't ideal but not something anyone worried about.
Cana was the responsible one among the younger generation; she was level-headed, reliable, and she knew how to keep herself out of trouble. If acting surly was all they had to deal with when it came to her, they would take it. Especially with Erza and Mirajane's constant death matches, Gray constantly getting citations for indecent exposure, Natsu burning down national landmarks, to say nothing of the boys' fights with each other, and with everything else the younger generation put them through- well… maybe it was a bit cruel, but Cana was pushed aside.
That was until she had collapsed in the middle of the guildhall.
After rushing her to the hospital, the secret was finally revealed. Cana was dying.
She had been getting treated for Tuan's disease- a genetic condition that systematically attacked her body systems. It had disabled her joints, making moving very painful as her limbs frequently popped out of place. Her lungs were filling up with fluid that had to be suctioned out every other day. Her bone density had decreased and as a result her fragile bones snapped easily.
And now Cana had apparently reached stage four- her body had started rejecting all nutrients. She was starving to death.
She had been suffering in silence for almost a year. A whole year that they could have helped her. Apparently, she hadn't wanted to be a burden on anyone- the girl was fourteen, fighting a losing battle, and all she worried about was everyone else.
Her only hope at this point was a bone marrow transplant- and after three rejections it had to be an absolute perfect match or else it would only kill her faster. Yet… even with a marrow donation there were no guarantees that it would help.
But they still had a chance and they were going to do whatever it took to save her.
The entire guild had lined up outside the hospital for testing- in a guild this massive someone had to be a match. They just had to be.
Gildarts was sitting with the group waiting for test results. Cana was a sweet kid and if he could help her, he damn well would. The poor girl had apparently been placed into a medically induced coma in order to keep her as comfortable as possible. Master was sitting with her; he'd hardly left her side this whole time and the crash mage couldn't blame him.
All the members of Fairy Tail were Makarov's children as far as the man was concerned, to have something like this happen had to be totally devastating. To be totally helpless to protect his child. If the worst happened and Cana did die, he had no clue how the guild would recover.
"Um… can- can a Mister Gildarts Clive please come back for a minute?" A shaky voice called across the crowded room. Gildarts turned to face the mousey orderly who looked… shaken for lack of a better term.
"Is this about the test results?" The Ace asked as the two walked along a hallway with the orderly, who let out a squeak like a frightened mouse.
"Y-yes it does," the man said in a high-pitched hysterical tone.
As they entered into what looked like a conference room, the eyes of several doctors and Master Makarov focused on him with varying levels of intensity.
"Um- is everything okay?" He asked hesitantly.
"Gildarts- you might want to sit down." Master said cautiously.
"What's going on?" he asked impatiently as he settled at the table.
The blonde-haired woman by the wall slid a file across the table to him," Mr. Clive- we had an unusual result with your test."
"What kind of result- do you need me to redo it?" Why wouldn't anyone just come out and say whatever it was? How bad could this be?
"Mr. Clive your blood matched with Cana- "
"So, I can help her!" He blurted out elated- that was great news!
Everyone in the room winced as the air in the room grew even more tense, like a coiled spring.
"Not that kind of match." The woman said gently, "She's your daughter."
…What?
"She's your daughter." Makarov repeated. Oh, he must have said that out loud.
She was- Cana was-?
"Where is she?" He surprised himself with the level of desperation in his voice. But he a daughter, he had a baby, and she was dying.
She was dying. Fourteen years old and she was going to die.
He wasn't sure what happened next, just that he all of a sudden was next to her bed. She was so fragile.
Tubes in her arms, in her nose, in her mouth; machines breathing for her and feeding her as best they could. Her cheeks were hollow, her eyes were sunken in, and her skin was the same white as the sheets on the bed. She- despite everything- she was so beautiful.
How was it, that for all his strength he couldn't help his own child?
"H-hey Kiddo," He said to the sleeping girl, his voice beginning to break," Apparently your blood and mine… I'm your daddy kid." He whispered.
This was his baby. Someone had his baby and hadn't told him. He had missed out on her entire life, when she first got diagnosed he should have been sitting right next to her. He should have been with her at every treatment and every appointment. He should have been there to hold her and tell her everything would be alright.
"I-I'm so sorry Cana. I didn't know- I swear I didn't know that you were mine. I've missed your entire life, but that ends now. You're never getting rid of me kid." He said with a watery laugh as tears began to fall down his face. He couldn't even hold her hand with all the needles and wires in the way- what if he shifted one out of the way and it hurt her? He would never forgive himself if something happened.
"You- you're going to be fine sweetheart- I promise. When you get better, you're going to come live with me, we'll be a family. I- if you get better princess, I'll get you a puppy or a pony if you like that better." He would give her the entire world if she would open her eyes right now.
"I love you so much already sweetheart and I am not going to leave here without you." He swore. He had a daughter now- she was the only thing that mattered.
She was sick and he was going to take care of her until she got better. And she was going to get better.
She just had to.
oOOOOo
"-and as they looked up at the bright orange light someone cried out 'it's a ghost!'- with nothing else said we packed up our kit and moved to the orangery." Gildarts read to his sleeping beauty. Her doctor had assured him that she could hear what was happening around her and that reading to her could help keep her cognitive function from atrophying. He would have preferred to read her a story about dragons and knights in shining armor, but a nurse had been nice enough to donate this book so it would have to do.
Master had gone to get Cana's file from the guild, because unless his name was on her birth certificate her doctors could not legally give him information on her condition- the blood test was not a substitute. Gildarts was annoyed about that, but he knew that they were just following policy and he had to respect that.
A cleared throat got him to turn around to the open doorway, Master had come back, and he looked… shocked, like he had been the one to see a ghost.
"Master?" Had the doctor told him something bad?
"…Gildarts," the older man started, before cutting himself off and just shoving the file into his hands, "I am so sorry Gildarts."
Well, that certainly was alarming. As the red-haired man turned the manila folder with the guild crest stamped in the center- this was Cana's file. What could be in this that had spooked the miniature guildmaster so badly?
As he opened the folder, he saw it almost instantly.
Rebecca Arcana Alberona, mother: Cornelia Alberona.
Conny.
Conny had- she was Cana's-?
"…She hated the name Rebecca." He said numbly, fighting to try and create some kind of order to his disjointed thoughts.
"Really?" Makarov said, in that tone of voice you use when trying not to spook a skittish animal.
"When… when we talked about kids, I told her I always wanted to name my daughter 'Rebecca'. She hated it, wanted to name any girl 'Arcana'… Conny named her Rebecca."
Makarov still looked nervous before gently prodding," Gildarts… there's a paper behind her birth certificate you need to see."
Apprehensively he pulled the page from behind the certificate (oh good- he was on it after all) and stared as a sudden wash of horror crashed over him. It was a death certificate, Conny's death certificate. He'd known about her death for a while now, and while the reminder hurt, it wasn't what made his blood run cold.
Tuan's disease. Conny had died from Tuan's disease. The same disease that was destroying his baby from the inside out.
That wouldn't happen to Cana, he wasn't going to let it happen to her. She wasn't going to die.
But… at this point it would take a miracle.
oOOOOo
If you had asked Gildarts a few years ago if he believed in gods or miracles he would have been on the fence- but now?
Gray Fullbuster was as perfect of a bone marrow match as you could get. Miracles were real, Gods were real, and he was so fucking grateful.
Cana was going to live; she was responding well to the transplant and her doctors said that she was going to recover. They were going to ease her out of the coma in the next few days and within the next few weeks she would be able to go home.
Thankfully her room would be done by then. It hadn't taken long for the truth of her parentage to get around- and while everyone was shocked, they all took it in stride. Several members of the guild had offered to build onto his house for him- since they couldn't do anything else for Cana it would be a nice way to work off the energy, for which the crash mage was grateful. When she was ready to go, she could move right in!
He had also managed to get his hands on a book about dog breeds- he had promised his princess a puppy if she got better and she had kept her end of the deal so he had to keep his. He was trying to pick out a dog that was just the right level of strong to be trained to be a guard dog (he acknowledged that he couldn't protect her 24/7- but that didn't mean he couldn't find an alternative) and cuddly enough to be a good companion. He had a couple things in mind, but he'd just have to see what he could get.
It was a good distraction from the elephant in the room: he was making all these plans, making sure he knew how to take care of her, building onto his house… and she still had no idea. At this point the only one who didn't know the truth was Cana and… he wasn't sure how he was going to handle this. How do you tell someone who had been through something like this that you were their parent?
Though, the doc did say that she could hear everything around her… maybe she heard him the first time and he was worrying over nothing.
He wouldn't know until she woke up.
oOOOOo
Two days later Gildarts was hovering over his daughter more than usual. That would be because the nurse had gone through the procedure to take her out of the coma that morning. She could wake up any moment now and he selfishly wanted to be the first person she saw.
It was around eleven in the morning when a sleepy noise had him snap towards her. He watched the adorable way her nose wrinkled as she cracked open her eyes, squinting against the light, groggy and confused.
"Cana… sweetheart can you hear me?" He asked gently, mentally squealing over her as she groggily nodded, a small sound of protest escaping her mouth.
"Uh-Huh."
"That's good, you were really sick- but you're getting better. Do you know who I am?" The doc had given him a few questions to run through, to check and see how conscious she was. The sleepy girl nodded.
"You're my Daddy- Mama said so."
Suddenly he was struck dumb, Conny had-? Just how close to death had Cana been?!
"She sent me to find you- came to find you. Wanted to say…" The brunette yawned, before falling back to sleep, unaware of how much she had startled her father.
Had Cana really seen her mother? Or was she just piecing together things that she had heard in her coma? Had Conny wanted her to say something to him or had Cana wanted to say something to him?
Didn't matter.
He could ask all those questions later, she had called him 'daddy'- he didn't care why or how she had known to call him that, his baby had just given him the greatest gift he could ever receive.
oOOOOo
It took another few hours for Cana to wake up completely during which time he had unfortunately been in the bathroom, and had come back to find his princess laughing with Gray, loudly declaring that the ice mage was her brother for real now.
It was so nice to know how close the two were so close and that she had someone she could rely on for anything.
He cleared his throat, causing the teenagers to turn his way," I'm glad to see that you're up Cana." He said gently to the now blushing girl.
"Gray… do you think you could give us a few moments?" She asked the dark-haired boy, who looked between the father and daughter before declaring he was hungry and walking out the door.
The sudden silence was awkward.
"So… Cana you woke up earlier today- "He stopped when she nodded her head a quiet answer coming from her.
"Yeah… I remember…Dad."
Unbidden he felt tears rise to his eyes, hearing her call him that (though he would be lying if he said he didn't want to hear her call him 'daddy' again) without being too heavily drugged up.
"I'm… I'm glad you do. Cana you said something about your mother- "
She swallowed nervously," Yeah. She… before Mama died, she told me who you were and how to find you. I-I tried to tell you, but it just never wound up happening. Then- then I got sick and I didn't want to tell you just to die."
He didn't say anything, he couldn't say anything, all he could do was sit on the side of her bed and pull her into his chest (not too hard- she was delicate), resting her head over his heart. She had known. All these years she had known, she had gone through all of this… he couldn't get those years back, but he could live in the moment now. He was her father; his job was to make sure that she knew that she was loved in this world.
oOOOOo
A few weeks later and Cana was about to be discharged.
She had recovered faster than any of her doctors had thought possible. The color returning to her cheeks as everything returned to how it should be for a fourteen-year-old. Her bone density was returning to stable levels, her lung function was almost completely fine, and she could eat again.
To say everyone was thrilled was an understatement- Fairy Tail was planning the greatest party in the history of the guild- and probably in the history of any guild period.
The person who was the most excited was Cana herself, who had been going stir crazy stuck in her hospital room- Gildarts was convinced that the reason she had recovered so fast was because she was desperate to leave.
But… he still had to keep up his end of the bargain.
"Hey Princess think you could close your eyes for a minute? I have a surprise for you." Cana raised an eyebrow at her father before obediently closing her eyes.
"Now hold out your hands." And as soon as she did so he dropped the two-month-old deerhound puppy into her arms- the dog immediately licking Cana's face as her eyes flew open. Gildarts could tell that he made the right choice- it was definitely love at first sight.
He'd gotten special permission from her doctors to bring the dog into the hospital to surprise her, they had been more than excited for the pair. Turned out one of the nurses was a breeder and he'd gotten the puppy from her- soon as he'd seen Minty, he'd immediately known she was the one.
His princess was cooing over her right now- looks like they had just made their family bigger.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Cana squealed as she tried to hug him and kiss Minty at the same time.
"You ready to go Sweetheart?"
"Yeah, yeah I am Dad, let's go home."
And without another word the father and daughter left the hospital, puppy in tow, heading home.
AN: Not sure about the ending, but I am pretty happy with how this all turned out. In case you were wondering, the book passage was from a book about Margam Castle- one of the most haunted buildings in the UK. The deerhound puppy was also a reference to Margam- I have a friend who used to work there, and he has a deerhound named Aminta (but everybody calls her Minty- its apparently a reference to Animal Ark), so I thought it was fitting. Also: ALL MEDICAL STUFF IS FAKE! I MADE IT UP! IT IS IN NO WAY ACCURATE!
I actually have two other drafts for this idea, one in 'Letter to You' where Gildarts is there to help her through everything and a different one where she tells them to tell Gildarts the truth from her hospital bed. These may go up and they may not- I don't really plan this stuff out too far before I do it.
If anybody gets the reference with 'Tuan's disease' a virtual cookie to you (no seriously, if you get I'll be seriously impressed, its pretty obscure)! If anyone has anything, they want to see please let me know and I will see what I can do! On top of that- what has been your favorite chapter of this story? I really want to know!