"A - Alana..?"
Gildarts' whole world seemed to stop, the whole guild around them turning into a fog, and all that was clear to him was the woman across the hall.
She was as shockingly beautiful as ever, even if she did look completely unlike herself. Her eyes were still shockingly green, so bright that he could see them from his distance, but everything else seemed different. Even the air around her had changed.
Her face was visibly hardened, her posture stiff. Her fists were clenched, and her entire body seemed like she hadn't taken a calm breath in a long time. She was bandaged up, similar to him obviously injured, just as he. He internally laughed at the similarities between them still, even after not seeing each other for three years.
Her hair, he noticed, was short now: to her chin, a total change from the long hair he used to compliment her on so often.
She was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
He unintentionally dropped his knapsack to the floor, and the sound brought him back to reality. The people around him came back into view, including Mirajane, standing right in front of him. They looked at him oddly, oblivious as to what had just occured.
"Gildarts? Are you alright?" she asked, slightly concerned, looking at Alana and understanding what happened. She smiled at him apathetically.
Gildarts smiled at her, and ran his fingers through his hair, laughing heartily.
"Sorry 'bout that! Got a little distracted for a minute."
He reminded himself internally that Alana had left him, years ago. That was the reason he took on the mission that Master Makarov had been asking him to do for quite some time. A 100-year quest, which was too difficult for anyone, even for him. He understood why it hadn't been completed in over 100 years: the mission had cost him many body parts he would have much rather kept, which was why he had to return home.
He knew coming home would mean seeing her, and he had amped himself up for this very moment, but obviously he didn't prepare enough, as she still had his hearts in knots, even after leaving him heartbroken and angry years prior.
He walked over to the bar and ordered himself a drink, mentally ordering himself to ignore the girl he so wanted to approach. He needed to have self control. He thought about the way she broke things off with him, and the anger in the pit of his stomach re-emerged. He had used this anger to motivate him through his most recent mission, and it proved useful, despite him failing. His anger was an instant trigger to his strength, and if he hadn't been fighting a dragon, he would have turned whatever else he fought into microscopic dust.
Alana watched as Gildarts made his way to the bar and order himself a drink, then forced herself to look away. She was no longer with this man, she left him, and she had to do her best to continue living as if he weren't even there.
She grabbed a flier for a simple, in-town mission and made her way out the front door.