Alana awoke suddenly, hearing bells chiming. Usually, anyone would feel peace waking up to such a calming, beautiful sound, but these bells weren't the average church bells.
These bells brought a knot to Alana's stomach, and she thought her dinner from the night before was about to make its way back up.
No, these bells were definitely not the bells she wanted to wake up to.
These were the bells that alerted the town that it was time to change its formation.
These were the bells that signalled Gildarts' return.
She heard the flying microphones above Magnolia announce that it is time to activate the Gildarts Shift, and that everyone should get into their positions immediately.
Alana got into her position: the fetal one, underneath all the covers, with a pillow over her head. Since the rebuild of the guild, she had began living in the women's dorms, as it made it easier to access mission requests, and was less rent than the apartment she was renting before. Unfortunately for her, she spent the night in the infirmary, and the infirmary didn't have soundproof walls like her own room. She could hear the guild's excitement of Gildarts' return downstairs in the main hall.
She heard the sound of the town shifting, as to protect itself from Gildarts' power.
Unfortunately, when Mystogan said that Gildarts was the strongest of the trio, he was correct. He was Fairy Tail's most powerful mage, aside from the master, and was the guild's Ace. He had a problem with controlling his strength, and would often accidentally destroy parts of the city, just by walking through it, and so they devised this Shift in order to protect the buildings and townspeople.
Initially, Alana had thought the "Gildarts Shift" to be funny, and looked forward to the clang of loud, erratic bells. But these bells now signified the return of the man she had been trying to erase from her memory for the past three years.
And judging from the way her heart felt like it was about to burst, from just the thought of him being back, Alana had a bad feeling about what was going to happen, and groaned, hiding deeper under the blankets.
"Alana?"
The wind mage sighed as she heard her best friend's voice. She poked her heard out from under the blankets, looking at the brunette standing by the bed.
"Just wanted to make sure you knew he's coming."
The raven haired woman groaned. "Yes, I know.. I know."
Cana sat down on the bed by her feet. "You okay about it?"
"No. Do I look okay?"
Cana chuckled. She was as nervous to see Gildarts as Alana was, but the wind mage still had no idea that Gildarts was Cana's father. Cana kept her secret her own, and told nobody, not even her best friend. She never even let a hint slip, not even in her drunkest of moments.
"I'll keep an eye out for you if you wanna slip out the back window or something." Cana suggested, chuckling still. Alana's aversion to seeing Gildarts was slightly comical, as it was the only thing to put the typically cold and calculated woman into such a state of disarray.
Cana understood why, of course, but she hadn't seen her friend this way in years. It was nice to see she was still the soft girl she once was, even if deep down.
Even if it did take the man they both wanted to avoid, to do it.
As much as it disturbed Cana to think about her best friend and her father having been together, they both seemed to be the only ones who could keep each other in check. Without Alana, Gildarts was reckless, selfish, and scatterbrained. Without Gildarts, Alana had been nothing but careless, dark, and distant towards the people she used to be closest to. Cana knew that the only reason Alana was the way she was now was because, deep down, she was absolutely miserable over what happened between her and Gildarts.
The brunette secretly hoped that perhaps the two could work things out, the charismatic, friendly woman she befriended eight years ago would return, and she'd never have to see this sad side of her again.
But, this was Fairy Tail; nothing ever went smoothly or the way anyone wanted.
Alana jumped up suddenly, running towards the door, startling Cana.
"What the hell?" The mage stood, following her friend out the door, wondering what had gotten into her. Was she running to see Gildarts? Was she going to make up with him?
"Maybe if I get to the Request Board, I can grab a mission and get the hell out of here before he comes in!"
Cana laughed as the green-eyed beauty jumped down stairs at a time, using wind to propel her toward the request board. She had no idea how Alana, with her stomach, left leg, and right arm all bandaged, made it downstairs as fast as she did without being in incredible pain.
Her laughter was short-lived, however, as the door suddenly burst open, revealing the tall, burly man who was her father.
His hair was slicked back, and his beard had grown in, stubbly and coarse. His robe was in tatters, and he had a knapsack thrown over his shoulder.
He walked to the middle of the guild, and approached Mirajane.
Some people around the guild took notice that he arrived, and began approaching him.
Cana's eyes darted from Gildarts, to Mirajane, to Alana, who hadn't noticed he entered, and was looking over the board at the back of the guild's main hall for a request.
She heard Gildarts ask where Fairy Tail was, and she rolled her eyes. He really was extremely dense at times; she couldn't believe someone so strong could be so unaware of his surroundings, and that person was her father.
Mirajane told him that he was standing inside the guild, and that she was Mirajane. He looked at her oddly, not recognizing her, as she did look completely different than when Lisanna died. The one devilish look she had completely left her as she took on a more innocent, sweet look. She giggled, and nodded, confirming that she knew she looked a little different, as did the guild, since it had been rebuilt.
Suddenly, Natsu, out of nowhere, came jumping down the stairs, excited.
"Gildarts!" He shouted, "Fight me!"
Hearing the name, Alana froze.
Gildarts used no strength at all to send him flying to the back of the guild, landing in a heap next to Alana at the request board.
She looked at Natsu, and turned around, all her surroundings seemingly in slow motion as her eyes met with Gildarts', who's jaw visibly slacked.
"A - Alana..?"