Soon, the guild members participating in the trial began to choose their teammates. Fried, as a member of the Thunder God Tribe, chose Bickslow without hesitation.
As for the girl Evergreen, she was mercilessly abandoned by the two straight men and was then picked up by Elfman.
Natsu chose his old partner Happy, while Gray chose Loki, also known as Leo the Lion. The two had made a pact last year.
Afterwards, Juvia chose to team up with Lisanna, while Levy abandoned the two simps, Sarusuk and Droy, and chose the Iron Dragon Gajeel. After all, simps only know how to simp and not how to take action.
In the end, only Mest and Cana had yet to choose teammates.
Night fell, and snow began to fall from the sky.
Lucy was walking home alone. Ever since Irene and Acnologia found a house, they had been living a shameless life for two, never asking her to stay with them anymore.
Without Irene's company, she really felt a bit lonely.
Suddenly, she noticed a familiar figure in the alley between two houses, drunk and sprawled out asleep on the snowy ground amidst a pile of trash.
"Cana, why are you sleeping here?"
Lucy's eyes widened in shock. She hurriedly ran over and pulled Cana out. "Hey, wake up!"
Seeing that Cana was dead to the world, Lucy had no choice but to carry Cana home on her back.
"So heavy!"
Lucy placed Cana on the sofa, took off her wet clothes, and covered her with a white blanket.
Then she went to boil some water, prepared a hangover remedy, and poured it down Cana's throat.
Soon, Cana woke up. Looking at the blanket on her, she asked in confusion, "How did I get here? Lucy?"
"You're awake!"
Lucy's face lit up with joy. She briefly explained the situation—that she had found Cana and brought her back.
She took off her tights and shoes, revealing her snow-white long legs, sat on the sofa, and wiggled her fair little feet. "Why were you sleeping there? You've seemed listless these past couple of days."
Cana had already sobered up. Looking at herself, she saw she was a bit dirty, probably from crawling through the trash pile earlier.
"Lucy, can I borrow your bathroom? I want to take a shower."
Suddenly thinking of something, she looked at Lucy and smiled. "Do you want to join me?"
Lucy thought for a moment and said, "Sure!"
They were both girls, so what was there to be afraid of?
Soon, the sound of running water echoed from the bathroom. Cana and Lucy sat facing each other in the bathtub, the air filled with steam.
Cana's voice was low, tinged with melancholy. "Actually, this is my fifth trial. I'm such a failure. I've let everyone's expectations down."
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "I thought it was something serious. So it's about the trial. I thought you'd been dumped."
"How could I possibly be dumped..."
Cana retorted, then suddenly became listless again. "I'm the only one who's failed four times. So, I've decided this is the last time. If I still don't pass, I'm going to leave the Fairy Tail Guild."
Lucy was puzzled. "Why are you so fixated on becoming an S-Class Mage? Even if you're not an S-Class Mage, aren't we all still comrades?"
"But if I don't become S-Class, I won't have the face to meet that person."
"Who?"
"My father!"
Cana slowly began to tell her story, a tale from long ago... "Gildarts is your father?"
Lucy was deeply shaken. She never imagined Cana had such a past. All of this was to prove herself to Gildarts, to prove she was worthy of being his daughter.
After a long silence, Lucy suddenly said, "Cana, let me be your teammate. I'll definitely help you become an S-Class Mage!"
"Acnologia taught me the correct way to use Celestial Spirits. With our combined magic power, we can face any enemy!"
"I absolutely won't let you leave the guild!"
Lucy hated farewells. She hated even more when comrades left the guild. No matter the reason, she would do everything in her power to stop it from happening.
Looking into Lucy's determined eyes, Cana's eyes gradually reddened. "Lucy, thank you..."
"You could just tell Gildards directly."
Suddenly, a relaxed voice chimed in. Lucy and Cana were startled. Looking up, they saw Irene, already undressed and with an enchanting figure, walking in.
She then stepped into the bathtub, squeezing Lucy to the side.
"What are you doing..."
Lucy was speechless. The bathtub was only so big; two people was already the limit. Now she was practically sitting on Irene's lap, and those restless hands were wandering again.
She felt a bit annoyed. *If you're going to touch me, I'll touch you too.*
Cana asked, confused, "Irene, why are you here?"
Irene lazily rested her arm on the edge of the bathtub. "Little Erza noticed you've been down these past few days. She was a bit worried but felt too awkward to come herself, so she sent me to check on you."
"I sensed your magic power at Lucy's place, so I came straight over."
Lucy hesitantly asked, "What you said earlier about Cana telling Gildarts directly... would that really work?"
"Why wouldn't it?"
Irene smiled. "No parent would refuse to acknowledge their own child, unless they're heartless. And Gildarts clearly isn't. If he knew, he would definitely regret not finding you sooner."
Cana shook her head in refusal. "But he's the strongest S-Class Mage. I don't want people to know his daughter is a failure who couldn't pass the trial four times."
Being ridiculed herself wasn't important; what she feared was her father Gildarts being... "You two are overthinking things..."
Irene advised, "A father and daughter reuniting is more important than anything. As long as you don't care, why worry about what others think?"
"Just like me and Acnologia. Even without the title of S-Class Mages, didn't we still manage to latch onto Erza?"
Although they were kicked out that very night, at least they were reunited.
The reason they could reunite with Little Erza so quickly was mainly thanks to Acnologia's shamelessness—hugging and kissing her upon meeting, as if no time had passed at all after seven or eight years.
Cana lowered her head. "But you two already had S-Class strength from the start. And me..."
Erza and Mirajane, both younger than her, had become S-Class Mages. Only she was stuck in the middle. No matter how carefree she tried to be, it still hurt.
And what she feared most was seeing the disappointment in her father's eyes.
Irene smiled and said, "At the very beginning, we didn't show our strength. So what do you think made Erza acknowledge us?"
"As an S-Class Mage, Erza has parents who ran off with huge debts. Has anyone in the guild ever mocked her for it?"
Lucy nodded in agreement. "Sister Irene makes a good point!"
"Cana, maybe you really can tell Gildarts directly. You two are sure to reconcile."
Compared to her own lack of experience, Irene clearly had more authority on such matters.
Cana thought for a moment, hesitating slightly. "Then... I'll try?"
"But, I want to give the S-Class Promotion Trial one last shot. Whether I pass or not, I'll tell him."
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you can see things more clearly now."
Irene laughed. "You should have done this sooner. The outcome is the same whether it's early or late, so why not say it earlier?"
She stood up from the water, her long, beautiful legs stepping out of the bathtub. Magic power surged around her, evaporating the water from her body. Then, she used her magic to materialize a set of magic robes.
"I'm off. Don't bring up leaving the guild again."
Irene waved her hand, walked out of Lucy's house, and transformed into a streak of red light, vanishing into the distance.
Cana and Lucy stepped out of the bathroom, using towels to slowly dry themselves.
Lucy said sincerely, "Sister Irene and Erza are both very considerate people."
"That's true!"
Cana nodded in agreement. Usually, Irene and Erza liked to bicker and roughhouse, but she also envied their mother-daughter dynamic.
She hoped that one day, she and her father Gildarts could be like that too.
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