That all was three years ago. Three very long years, since that fateful day that Gildarts left Alana last.
The guild had gone through extreme hardships, like losing Lisanna Strauss, Mirajane and Elfman's little sister, in a terrible mission gone wrong. It hit everyone hard, and being so close to Mirajane, Alana had to try and console the remaining two Take Over siblings as they dealt with such an extreme loss. It was difficult, and only hardened Alana further, having viewed Lisanna as a little sister herself.
She began caring less, drinking more, and taking on more and more difficult missions as to keep herself busy and not able to let her thoughts catch up to her.
Cana stood by her, always by her side when she got home from a mission with a glass of her favorite whiskey, and they'd drink until morning. The two became quite well-known for their drunk antics, Cana moreso, as she was always around the guild, while Alana was mostly on the road working.
One day, though, Alana came home to a disastrous state. Laxus Dreyar, Master Makarov's grandson, had returned, and had waged an all out war against the Fairy Tail guild, trying to take it over. He, Fried Justine, Bixlow, and Evergreen, all incredibly powerful mages in the guild, turned everyone on each other in a demented form of competition to see who was the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail.
Alana, as an S-Class wizard, was all for competition, but the winds turned cold around her as her anger grew, seeing that the four younger wizards had put the town of Magnolia in danger as a form of blackmail against the guild. As an S-Class mage, Laxus had a responsibility to uphold the safety of the guild and town, and he was disgracing not only the guild but himself by doing otherwise.
Alana made her way to the guild, where she was met by the master, Natsu, Happy, and another odd-looking man, who's face adorned many piercings.
When she was told what happened, and saw the girls frozen to stone behind her, which included her best friends, she became absolutely overcome with rage. Makarov, in an attempt to calm her, told her that Erza Scarlet had somehow freed herself from this stone encasing, and was on her way to find Evergreen, the mage who did this to the other girls.
As if on some sort of cue, the runes in front of the entranceway announced that Erza had defeated Evergreen, and all the stone statues shattered, freeing everyone. Having been able to hear through their rocky imprisonment, they all knew exactly what was happening, and decided to go help their friends, going separate ways, as they knew they could all get trapped by Fried's powerful runes that forced everyone inside them to fight each other.
Alana managed to find Fried Justine in a heated battle with Cana and and Elfman, just at the same time as Mirajane. Cana had been defeated, and Alana went to her aid immediately. She gasped when she saw what Fried was doing to Elfman, and was about to go to his aid when there was a huge gust of air coming from Mirajane's direction, and when she looked, saw that Mira had somehow gotten back her ability to use her Take Over magic. With her Satan's Soul back in action, she proceeded to take Fried on herself, and Alana tended to Elfman, making sure he was still breathing as Cana was. She drew all the strength she could from the wind to transport them all to where she found Mirajane and Fried, both laying on the ground, both having lost the will to fight.
Fried told them Laxus' ultimate plan, and told Alana where she could find the lightning mage. Mirajane assured her they would all make it back to the guild safely to recover, and Alana used the wind to travel as quickly as she could to Kardia Cathedral, where she took him on alone.
After a heated battle that left them both breathless, she found the lightning mage to have the upper hand, and was caught off guard by a powerful bolt of lightning, falling to the ground.
Just as she thought he was about to finish her off, he was stopped by a powerful beam of light, which sent him backwards. Alana stood, looking for the place the light came from.
Mystogan appeared, taking him on, and was also caught in a bolt of electricity, though he remained strong enough to stand. Laxus asked the two of them which of the three mages they thought was the strongest in Fairy Tail, and Mystogan replied immediately, saying none of them, but Gildarts.
Alana's heart dropped, immediately paining, but she stood strong, until Laxus looked in her direction. "Gildarts! Alana, you think so as well? You think your old fart boyfriend is stronger than me?"
Alana gritted her teeth, spitting a fierce "Fuck you" in his direction.
This took both the other wizards by surprise, as they never heard her speak so profanely.
They all heard footsteps, and Alana and Mystogan turned back towards the door, seeing Erza and Natsu. Laxus attacked Alana and Mystogan then, electrocuting them both critically, shredding Mystogan's mask.
Natsu took on Laxus, and with the help of all his friends, eventually won.
Laxus was banished from Fairy Tail, and many members, including Alana, remained out of commission, in the infirmary, for quite some time.
Once she was completely healed, Alana set back out on an S-Class mission, and wasn't seen again for quite some time.
When she did come back, she was in a similar state to the one she was in before she left. The mission had taken quite a physical toll on her, and she was left in Mirajane's care so that she could recover from the severe injuries she had taken.
The morning after she returned, however, made her wish she never came back at all.