A/N: Last chapter before the time skip and we get to the fun stuff! I thought I'd just throw this little filler about Kana's first drink in here to buy myself time. Can you guess who the mystery man is in the preview of the next chapter at the end? (It's really not that difficult. There's only one character capable of what's described. Also, sorry I'm a bit late at updating. Not that anyone cares. Not many people read this fic.)

Once we arrived back at the guild there was a giant party because – well, it wouldn't be Fairy Tail without one. What I remember most of that night, though, was that when Kana saw Gildarts off like usual, after he was out of earshot, she whispered, "Bye, dad." AHJFDHAGUIHNVJREBURE? WHAT?

Two years later, when I was twelve and she was thirteen, I confronted her about it. We were in South Gate park when I asked, "So, when did you find out that Gildarts was your dad?"

She stopped pulling up the grass and stared at me, "What did you just say?" Fey was chasing butterflies but I lowered my voice anyway.

"When Gildarts left after my S-class exam you called him dad. I was wondering when you found out and how. I never would've guessed it. You must've gotten all your looks from your mom then, huh?"

She nodded, "He's the reason I joined Fairy Tail. So I could see him. And I learned cards to predict when he would come home."

I nodded and smiled, "I'm guessing it's a secret, even from him? I won't tell." I pulled my pack around with a conspiring look on my face and flashed a bottle, "So long as you don't tell about this."

Her eyes widened but she shared my smile. "That's sake!" she observed. I shushed her and she whispered, "Where did you get that?"

I shook my head and said, "Doesn't matter. Wanna try it with me? I brought cups." She agreed and I filled our glasses. We clinked them together and threw them back without much reaction.

We sat there for a second until Kana mentioned, "I'm not sure how I feel about it. It burns, but does it have a taste?"

A ponderous look crossed my face as I told her, "That's about what I thought. Want some more?" She nodded and held out her glass. I topped off hers and my own and we knocked them back. We had to repeat this about this another six times and still couldn't figure it out. Our faces were flushed and I slurred to Kana, "I feel warm."

She nodded, "M. Same. We should go swimming."

I nodded, "One more drink?" She agreed and we ended up finishing the bottle when Fey finally flew over.

"I'm tired." the cat whined. "Where's a place I could sleep that I won't be forgotten here?"

I blinked and replied, "I could never forget you. Kana and I were about to find some place to swim, but I'll carry you." Fey hopped into my arms and when I stood I swayed.

Kana did the same but asked, "Are you drunk?"

I scoffed and walked in the direction of Fairy Tail. The world swayed as I yelled at my friend, "If I'm drunk you are, too! The big river backs the guild. Let's go there." The sun was beginning to set as we stumbled towards the guild.

Preview of Next Chapter: "No. P-please stop." a young man spoke. At first I thought he was talking to me, but as I peeked around the corner, I saw that he was talking to the beast…*skipping man appearance description*… The beast pounced toward the beautiful boy who'd spoken and said young man whispered, "I'm sorry." In mid-air, the beast died. What kind of magic was this?