If he had to quantify it, Gildarts felt ninety-nine percent happy and one percent longing.
Because Laxus was usually a bit careless with emotions, he had only occasionally noticed Cana's wistful expression during the Christmas holidays over the years.
"Don't worry, Cana never blamed you," Ur said gently.
Ur and Wendy emerged from the nearby woods, carrying a large wooden food box.
"Just to clarify, we weren't trying to eavesdrop on you men. We just happened to hear the end of it," Ur smiled, lifting the box.
"What's this?" Raizel curiously craned his neck to see inside.
It was mid-afternoon.
They had come fishing after eating lunch at the guild hall, and Ur and Wendy knew that.
"Wendy made a cake back at the guild. Cana and the others are still busy making those trading cards, so Wendy and I came out here to deliver it to you," Ur explained.
As she spoke, Ur spread a checkered picnic blanket on the snowy ground, placed the food box down, and carefully took out the cake.
"Wendy made it? Then I have to try a piece," Raizel smiled, standing up from his small fishing stool.
"Why is it so big?"
Though they could definitely finish it, Raizel couldn't help but be surprised by the size.
Wendy and Ur had brought a massive cream cake, about ten inches in diameter, baked without any fruit decorations on top.
"I made it with Mira! We each made several, and the rest of the guild has some too," Wendy beamed proudly.
Wendy carefully cut a large slice, plated it, and handed it to Raizel first.
"Thank you, Wendy."
"Delicious!!!" The three men gave enthusiastic thumbs up as they ate.
There were no fruit decorations on the outside because they were all mixed directly into the cake batter.
The soft, warm cake combined with the natural, sweet flavor of the fruit created a truly pleasant texture.
"That's great!" Wendy clasped her hands together, smiling happily at their praise.
"You two have some too. We can't finish all this by ourselves," Raizel said, cutting two small slices for the girls to share.
Although the three men had come to fish, no one paid any attention to their floating bobbers now.
They all sat comfortably on the picnic blanket, eating cake in the snow.
Gildarts seemed not to have heard Ur's earlier words about Cana, eating heartily and occasionally praising Wendy's baking skills with a full mouth.
"Cana understands perfectly well, Gildarts. As a mage, it's natural to pursue the pinnacle of magic on century quests. She never blamed you," Ur said, sitting down.
Even though Gildarts hadn't brought the heavy topic back up, Ur spoke her mind anyway.
Late-night chats in the girls' dormitory inevitably touched on various emotional topics, so most of the girls living there knew the depths of Cana's feelings.
"I can confirm it! Cana-san has always supported your decisions," Wendy nodded vigorously, swallowing a bite of cake.
Cana truly didn't think Gildarts' decision to leave was wrong.
She knew that if she had Gildarts' overwhelming talent, she would have likely made the exact same choice to explore the world.
Although Cana had initially resented Gildarts for not recognizing her at first glance years ago, all that bitterness vanished once they finally acknowledged each other as father and daughter.
Over the recent years, Gildarts had fulfilled his responsibilities as a father as best he could.
In other words, it was now Cana's turn to show some filial piety as a supportive daughter, which was exactly why she unconditionally supported Gildarts' wanderlust.
"Understood. Thank you, Wendy," Gildarts said softly.
He gently patted Wendy's head with his large, rough hand and smiled warmly.
Afterward, Gildarts nodded toward Ur in silent gratitude.
"Thanks for the meal, girls! Let's get back to fishing!" Gildarts laughed loudly, abruptly changing the subject.
He was genuinely touched to the point of tears by their reassurance, but he didn't want to lose his dignity and cry in front of Raizel and Laxus—he'd never hear the end of it!
"Heh," Raizel and Laxus chuckled softly, seeing right through the Ace.
Laxus still couldn't beat Gildarts in a fair fight, so for safety's sake, he decided to let the old man save his dignity.
As for Raizel, he was simply being polite and didn't want to call him out.
"Alright, since you're all finished eating, I'll take Wendy back to the warmth of the guild now," Ur smiled, packing up the empty box.
"Bye-bye!"
Before leaving, Wendy waved cheerfully to the fishermen.
Gildarts had been in a good mood to begin with—otherwise, he wouldn't have suggested a fishing trip in the winter—but after Raizel and Laxus noticed his relief regarding Cana, his mood improved even further.
He even hummed a cheerful, off-key tune while casting his line!
...
Magnolia, nearing Christmas, was beautifully blanketed in silver snow, resembling a scene straight out of a fairy tale.
Snowflakes drifted down gently from the grey sky, fluttering and dancing in the wind—each one crystalline like jade, pure and flawless.
The cobblestone streets, slate rooftops, bare trees, and even the pedestrians were adorned with a dusting of white.
People, bundled tightly in thick coats, woolen hats, and scarves, tread carefully and cautiously through the icy streets and alleys of the city.
Thanks to his usual grueling physical training, Raizel didn't have the Dragon Slayer mages' natural immunity to extreme heat and cold, but at least he wasn't overly sensitive to the winter chill.
A comfortable set of casual winter clothes was more than enough to keep him warm.
Arriving at the Fairy Tail guild entrance, he saw eight lush Christmas trees already placed neatly on either side of the heavy wooden doors.
The doorframe and surrounding brick walls were draped with colorful light strings and red ribbons, with the magic lights set to be officially turned on Christmas Eve.
Entering the open-air café section, he spotted an exceptionally tall, magnificent Christmas tree standing right in the center of the courtyard.
This tree stood exactly twelve meters high.
It wasn't an estimate or a rough guess, because Raizel had bought and hauled the massive pine himself.
Raizel felt that this year's Christmas deserved to be celebrated extravagantly, so he splurged his reward money on this giant tree and the five smaller ones outside.
This year had been an incredibly special, chaotic one for the guild.
First, they clashed with Phantom Lord, rebuilt the ruined guild tavern from the ground up, and fought several grueling battles with the Oración Seis and other Dark Guilds.
Many new, powerful members had also joined their chaotic family—Lucy, Gajeel, and Juvia.
Gildarts had finally returned from his century quest, and most importantly of all... everyone had returned safely from the war on Tenrou Island.
Raizel didn't know what political repercussions would follow the fall of Grimoire Heart, or how things would unfold from here.
But if given the choice, he certainly wouldn't want to sleep for seven years frozen in a fairy sphere on Tenrou Island.
With those extra seven years of freedom, even if Zeref eventually went berserk and declared war on Ishgar, Raizel believed they would have enough time to find a way to stop him.
Standing quietly before the giant Christmas tree, Raizel reminisced about the heavy events of the past year.
Suddenly, a cheerful voice broke through his thoughts, interrupting his reverie.
"Raizel! I'm back!" Mavis exclaimed excitedly.
Her feathery magical ears twitched and her large green eyes sparkled in the snow.
"First Master! When did you get back?!" Raizel turned around, genuinely thrilled. He hadn't seen Mavis in a long time.
"Just now! I've been secretly following behind you down the street the whole time!" Mavis giggled.
She wore a proud expression that seemed to say, 'Aren't I amazing?' as she eagerly sought praise for her stealth.
"Is that so? Impressive! I had no idea at all," Raizel smiled, giving her a thumbs-up.
But truthfully, Raizel hadn't noticed Mavis mainly because as a magical projection, she walked without making a single sound or leaving footprints in the snow.
It wasn't as if Raizel would suddenly turn around while walking for no reason, so it was perfectly normal that he hadn't spotted the ghost.
"As expected of me!" Mavis became even happier after being praised, her feather-like ears twitching continuously with joy.
"By the way, where is August-san?" Raizel asked, glancing down the snowy street toward the back alleys.
Mavis replied with an unchanged, cheerful expression. "He returned to the Western Continent! He said Zeref urgently needed him for something, though we don't know the specific details of the summons. So he escorted me back home to Magnolia first!"
"No need to look for him—he teleported away right after dropping me off at the main gates of the city," Mavis added.
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