Please enjoy!
Rules and Regulations:
X Everyone must be present in mind and body for all sessions/activities unless excused by an adult leader for medical or other serious reasons.
X Each participant is required to have a name tag for all sessions and program booklet for all morning sessions. (If you lose one or leave it behind, you must buy another one by the next activity.)
X Modest, appropriate clothing must be worn by all participants. If it's questionable, make a more modest choice. Clothing with alcoholic beverage advertising, profanity, or questionable symbols or wording is not allowed.
X Have fun.
Prohibited items include:
X personal music devices
X Video games
X Alcohol
X Tobacco products
X Unauthorized drugs
X Skateboards
X Rollerblades
X Skates
X Laser pointers
X Weapons of any kind
• Fireworks
Prohibited activities include:
X Inappropriate displays of affection
X Leaving Fairy Tail campus without adult leader
X Fighting
X Profanity
X Water battles
X Shaving cream fights
X Anything that damages property
X False use of security or fire alarms
In dining area:
X No breaking in line
X No food fights
In dorm rooms:
X Guys are not to be in or around girls rooms. Girls are not to be in or around guys rooms. Violation is grounds for being sent home.
X Quiet time will be observed from 11:00 pm until 9:00 am. NO LOUD NOISE
X No one should be out of his or her room between 11:15 pm and 6:45 am
X Rooms are inspected before and after occupancy and any damage will be reported and charged to your group.
In auditorium and in sessions:
X No drinks, gum, candy, or food of any kind
X No disturbing others - includes talking, note passing, texting, phone calls, etc.
X No flash photography or videotaping
X No saving seats - all personal items must be removed after each session
X No throwing of objects
X Cell phones should be turned off or set to silent during all sessions
Cana stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. Gildarts was sitting on top of his desk at the front of the classroom.
"Hi, Gildarts," Cana mumbled as she made her way to the front of the room.
"Hi, Cana. Did Laxus tell you why you're here?"
"Yeah."
"How much did he tell you?"
"Just that you're my..." She choked up. "My father."
Gildarts breathed in deeply and then exhaled loudly. Cana reached him and then hopped up to sit on the desk next to him.
"Do you have anything you would like to ask me?" Gildarts had decided that he would listen to her first, listen to her frustrations and then explain himself. He didn't want her to feel like he was trying to explain away his actions to "get in good" with her and her mother again.
"Why did you not like me?"
"What?!"
Cana looked up at him, a little confused.
"I'm the reason you left right?"
"What?! Of course not," Gildarts immediately exclaimed. He was so surprised and disgusted by the words that came out of her mouth. Where did she even get the notion. "I didn't even know Cornelia was pregnant when I left!"
Cana's eyes went wide. "You didn't," she asked.
"No! Where in the world did you come up with that idea?"
"My entire life...I've just felt like it's been my fault. My mom blames me for it so I just started to as well."
Gildarts shook his head.
"Cornelia asked me to give up smoking because she was pregnant. I didn't know she was pregnant at the time but apparently she was. That might be it? We got into a huge fight over it. She might blame that event for my leaving. But it wasn't. It was my own guilt."
"She would come up with an idea like that," Cana laughed dryly. "She's paranoid like that."
"You have no idea," Gildarts grumbled back. It caused Cana to giggle a little bit. They fell into a silence after that, unable to think about where to go from there. Cana racked her mind for more questions.
"So...that woman that you were talking about in your sex class...that was my mom?"
"Yes. Cornelia is the only woman I've ever truly loved. But my addictions got in the way and I hurt her. I was so guilty for everything and I blamed her for it so I just left."
Cana sighed. She understood. Although she hated to admit it, Cana knew that her own addiction brought pain to her mom. Cana never really wanted to give her mom credit for anything. She was a shit mom and they argued half the time. But when it came to her alcoholism, Cornelia was always genuinely worried and tried everything she could do to help. This camp being one of those ways. Cana had always suspected she knew but it wasn't confirmed until he outburst before camp. Now Cana could see and understand why her mom was so sensitive about her drinking. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her flask.
"I think this is yours," Cana mumbled, holding out in front of them.
"My flask!"
Gildarts took it out of Cana's hand slowly and held it gently.
"It was a gift from your mom...why do you have it?"
Cana smiled sadly.
"Like father like daughter. I think there's still some Baileys in there if you'd like it."
Gildarts opened the flask and took a sip. She watched him swallow some.
"You shouldn't be drinking. It's awful," Gildarts muttered. She could see the guilt and remorse on his face.
"It started out as a coping mechanism, now it's just my way of life."
"Your mom blames me for this," Gildarts told her. There was no question in his voice, he was sure of it. "I never wanted this for anyone, especially not my child."
"Hey, it's not like you had any control over it. You didn't know."
"I should have. I should have never left."
"Stop that. What's done is done and we can't go back so there's no point in regretting it."
"It's not something I can just move on from," Gildarts exclaimed. She could see he was getting emotional. "I left the love of my life and my daughter, my daughter! And for what? I've missed out on your entire life. I'll never be able to go back and give you the family you deserve. I'll never get the opportunity to tuck you in, or watch cartoons with you, or any of that stuff. And look! You're drinking to cope? I can only assume that's somehow my fault! This stuff really messes you up and I was responsible for it!"
He had tears running down his face.
"All I wanted was the chance to be forgiven and for Cornelia to allow me back into her life. But I don't even deserve it after what I've done to you."
Cana was shocked. Never had someone cared so much about her to say something like that. He blamed himself for this when he didn't even know? He really wanted to be part of her life as a loving father when he had only known her for eight days and only known her as his daughter for like thirty minutes?
"You...care about me?"
"Of course! I don't care if I knew you your entire life or for two minutes. My daughter is my daughter and I love you with all my heart!"
Cana couldn't help herself from throwing her arms around him. She was just so overwhelmed by all of these emotions. And at the center of them all was having the father figure she always wanted, even if it was just for a few minutes. Gildarts himself was taken aback but wasted no time in returning the hug, feeling as if every mistake in his life was worth it just for this moment. In that moment, he felt as if all of his failures had been absolved, just because he could hold his little girl. His daughter. He decided in this instant that no one on the planet could ever take her away from him ever again and he was going to do everything he could to be the best dad ever.
"Thanks, dad," Cana muttered.
Suddenly, Laxus burst through the door, causing the father and daughter to jump apart in surprise.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we have to go, Cana!"
Cana hopped off the desk and began walking towards him.
"Bye dad, it was nice to finally meet you."
"Wait."
Cana turned to find Gildarts tossing her flask back at her.
"But it's yours," Cana explained with confusion.
"Keep it for now. This won't be the last time I see you."
Cana couldn't stop a massive grin from spreading across her face. Gildarts returned it and kept smiling as he watched them turn and leave.
He knew the plan. Laxus had told him everything. Told him all about the rule breaking and how there was still one more thing that he and Cana needed to do before her mom took her away. And while Gildarts was usually a stickler for the rules, he decided to make an exception just this once. So, he sat on his desk waiting. About a minute later, Cornelia, Makarov and the other camp leaders and counselors were running through his door.
"Where is she, you bastard," Cornelia spat.
"You mean my daughter? Did you lose her already," Gildarts joked, crossing his arms.
"How did you find out?" Cornelia's face went pale.
"She's a pretty smart kid. She and her boyfriend. She's giving me the chance to start over and make things right again."
"No if I have anything to say about it."
"Well, you better go catch her then."
Suddenly, from outside the building, they all heard massive explosions. The leaders and counselors all jumped in surprise.
"What is that," Makarov demanded to know.
"No clue," Gildarts feigned innocence. "Maybe you should see for yourself."
Makarov led the leaders out of the room. Across the hallway from Gildarts's class was a huge window and as they all gathered around to look through it, their jaws dropped. Fireworks were going off left and right from every rooftop on campus, from the lawn, from every inch of the school, fireworks were shooting into the air all at once.
"How is this possible?!"
"Like I said, pretty smart kids."
Earlier
"But it's yours," Cana explained with confusion.
"Keep it for now. This won't be the last time I see you."
Cana couldn't stop a massive grin from spreading across her face. Gildarts returned it and kept smiling as he watched them turn and leave. Laxus took Cana by the hand and they rushed out of the room.
"Where are we going now?"
Laxus pointed out the large window that was across from Gildarts's classroom. Cana could see her mom and all of the Fairy Tail leaders and counselors coming up the sidewalk and entering the building.
"Isn't that the point? I talked to Gildarts, aren't I supposed to go home now?"
"Not yet. There's one more thing we need to do."
Laxus pulled her down the hallway away from the stairs that the adults would be taking up. There was another flight and they ran down it. Laxus pulled out his phone and began dialing a number. They got to the bottom floor and raced to get to the main exit.
"Who are you calling?"
"Natsu! Now," Laxus exclaimed into the phone, hanging up immediately. They burst through the doors and out into the cool evening air as fireworks went shooting up into the air. They were coming from everywhere. They were firing up from the roofs of the school buildings and near the pond on campus. The sky was exploding with light and color in every shade and hue imaginable. Cana's eyes widened in surprise and she couldn't help the loud squeal of excitement that came from her mouth. The sky was alive and it was beautiful.
Laxus stepped away from her to dig through a bush, finding a firework hidden there. He planted it into the ground and then held out a lighter for Cana to use.
"Would you do the honors," he asked jokingly.
Cana took the lighter and et the fuse aflame. They stepped back and the firework went soaring into the sky, creating a massive blue explosion.
"But how," Cana asked in wonder as the fireworks began to slow.
"I talked to Gildarts and your group. I explained everything to them about what we've been doing. I asked for their help on this last one."
"And they agreed?!"
"Gildarts would do anything for you. And it turns out that you're closer with your friends than you thought. So I gave them all a designated amount of fireworks and an area to set them off from. Think of it as my parting gift to you."
Cana smiled and reached for Laxus's hands. He took them and then spun her as if they were dancing to the loud popping coming from the explosions. They swayed softly until the last firework exploded.
The adults came rushing down the stairs and out the main exit, spotting Cana and Laxus. The two stopped and stood straight, ready for the lecture that was coming.
"You," Makarov yelled, pointing at the two of them furiously. "You two have blatantly disrespected and disregarded the rules of Fairy Tail! You," he aimed his angry finger at Laxus, "have committed the act of kidnapping! And you," now he was pointing at Cana, "you have deliberately disobeyed the wishes of your mother and the leaders of Fairy Tail! Any hopes you had of staying here any longer are gone! You two are both to be sent home and banned from any more Fairy Tail functions forever!"
"Okay, fine," Cana grumbled without missing a beat. She turned to Laxus and pulled him down to her height, making out with him right in front of the group. She could hear Makarov making grumpy old man sounds. Cana pulled away from him and then signaled to her mother. "C'mon, bitch! Let's go!"
Cana began walking towards the car and her mother had no choice but to stumble away behind her, shocked.
Laxus began laughing loudly as Cana walked away, seeing the looks on everyone's faces. He then turned and walked away as well, heading to his dorm to get his stuff together.