A/N:
Hi guys! I'm a bit into the story now, so I figured it's about time I said hi and got a little bit more personal with you guys.
I've been into Fairy Tail for quite some time now, and I'm not seeing much Gildarts love here! I'm not big into shipping anyone who isn't quite obvious, so I typically make up OCs to pair them with. I hope you guys are enjoying this story! I know there was an awkward chapter four, with the three-year summary. I tried to keep Alana present within the guild, as that's how I'd prefer her, rather than skipping a whole three years and slapping you with a suddenly hardened Alana with no reason! So hopefully you guys didn't mind that bit.
But AH! I've had the idea for Alana in my head for so long (took me a while to figure out what magic she'd have), and I promise we'll get more into her in the near future - we're just catching up to current time here.

I'm obviously not going to have any Edolas chapters, as you can easily assume she was just part of the lacrima with no recollection of being turned into a lacrima.
This chapter takes place at the end of the Edolas Arc, after everything is returned to normal in Earthland. Just for reference, italics are a flashback.
Enjoy you guys, and thanks for your support!
xoxo

The whole guild was sent reeling after finding out they spent days as a lacrima in a completely other parallel world called Edolas. Everyone sat in the main hall, drinking, celebrating Earthland Lisanna's return, because apparently she wasn't dead at all. The Anima from Edolas had absorbed her in an attempt to replace their own dead Lisanna, but she was returned with everyone else when they were sent back home with the guild, and all of Magnolia. Everyone made it a point to come and celebrate, including Gildarts and Alana. It was uncomfortable, but they ignored each other for Lisanna's sake.
Alana was never so happy to see someone in her life, and held Lisanna and her siblings as they cried. Finding out someone she saw as a little sister wasn't really dead was crazy, but it melted her frozen her heart ever so slightly.
Natsu was going over what everyone's Edolas counterparts were like, and everyone wanted to know what another version of them was like. Jet and Droy were apparently the strongest wizards in the guild, and Nab was constantly working. Natsu told Cana she dressed like a young girl, completely modest, was very quiet and polite, and refused alcohol. Cana laughed at this, downing the rest of her drink.
Gildarts, from the bar, asked what he was like, and Natsu's eyes got very large. "You were the guild Master!" He got very awkward then, and looked at Alana with furrowed eyebrows. "And married to Alana."
Gildarts' face became completely serious, and the guild became completely silent.
Cana poured herself another drink, and immediately finished it off.
Alana forced a laugh. "I wish I could've seen everyone opposite counterparts! Everyone there seems so unlike everyone here."
"Yeah!" Natsu said, touching the back of his head, smiling. "You guys were all lovey-dovey and stuff. Like the mom and dad of Fairy Tail! You guys took care of everybody."
Cana looked at Gildarts, who had a thoroughly sullen look on his face. She knew that must have been awkward for him, and she poured him a drink, sliding it down the bar to him. He looked at her, nodding appreciatively. He figured she knew what was going on, as he knew she was close with Alana, but he didn't expect her to have any empathy for him.
He watched as she poured a large glass of whiskey for Alana. Whiskey had always been the raven-haired beauty's favorite, and they used to ever so often top off a bottle before having a thrilling, passionate night together.
He was proud of Cana for caring about both ends of the spectrum in this situation. She had definitely grown into an incredible girl. He always did see her as a daughter figure, looking after her and advising her when he'd come home from missions. She always knew what was going on between him and Alana, and she never passed judgement on either of them.
He smiled, feeling warm by the kindness of the younger mages of his guild. He had so much faith in them.
Cana brought the drink the Alana, who downed it, causing Gildarts to smirk. She never was one to waste time, no matter what she was doing. Whether it was completing a mission or just cleaning the house, she always had to do it quickly like a gust of wind. He always liked that about the emerald-eyed woman; she was always swift and determined in all her endeavors. Even when they first met, when she was just 18, practically a child, she never beat around the bush.

He had just come home from a mission. It was a difficult one, taking him a year to complete. He came back slightly injured, but nothing serious: just a popped shoulder, nothing that couldn't be fixed up quickly. He sat down at the bar, but didn't even get time to order a drink.
Natsu greeted him by asking for a fight, to which Gildarts sent him into the floorboards, telling him that next time he expected at least a "hello".
"Hello." He then heard, and he turned to the girl behind the counter.
His jaw dropped as soon as he saw her. She was average height, yes, but that wasn't what was so spectacular about her. Her eyes were the deepest green he had every seen, like the color of grass in the middle of spring after a decent rainfall. Her hair was long, elegant, and luminous, flowing beautifully from the light breeze that surrounded her.
He felt the warmth of the air that engulfed the dainty girl in front of him, and she smiled mischieviously, looking up at him through her eyelashes.
"I figure I'd start off on the right foot and give you the welcome home you'd like."
"Well if that's what you're aiming to do, I'll show you to my bedroom." He smirked, and she countered his perverse flirting with her own.
"You should probably loosen up first," she poured him a glass of whiskey without him asking, "don't want you putting out your back trying to keep up with me."
After a few drinks, and hours of fun conversation (including poking fun at him for having so little self-control that the whole town changes shape for him to walk through it), she told him she had no intention of sleeping with him, and he told her he wouldn't dare tarnish such a great connection by throwing it away with a one-night stand.
He took her out to dinner every night that week, ending their nights with a glass of whiskey at the bar before going their separate ways.

He took a mission at the end of that week, and she didn't see him for seven months.
When he got back, she had a bottle of their favorite whiskey ready, and he spent hours telling her about what he had been doing out on the road.
Natsu came over, expecting a gift, which Gildarts usually had for the young boy. This time, he gave the dragon slayer a flame in a far from a distant land, and after the younger boy left, she pouted playfully.
"Nothing for me?" she joked, and he smirked, pulling from behind him the largest bouquet of the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen, bringing tears to her eyes.
They slept together that night for the first time, and he knew then he'd never let this perfect woman go.

He wondered how they got from that to this. She left him, out of nowhere. Seven years together and she dropped him like it had all meant nothing to her. All the things he did for her, all the lavish gifts he brought home from his many journeys, disregarded because she wanted him to stay put in Magnolia.

It wasn't that he didn't care about her, because he did, and having spent three years knowing he left on a bad foot bothered him throughout his mission. But he was also angry, as he hadn't done anything wrong. He proved time and time again that he was faithful to Alana and she chose to ignore all the things he did, and focused on the things he wasn't doing.
He growled thinking about it. So his Edolas counterpart was married to the woman, and they were viewed as the caretakers of the the entire guild. Sure, he loved this guild, and looked over all the younger kids, but no way would he consider himself a father figure. And, to think that he was also the Master. Master Gildarts? What an incredibly funny thought to him.
He shook his head, getting up to leave. The fact that his complete opposite counterpart was married should be an eye opener to the woman watching him walk out the front door, that he just wasn't the stay-at-home type of man.