Noah's days had settled into a steady rhythm of study, training, and taking on requests.
As his strength increased, so did the scope of his missions expanding from simple jobs in Magnolia to tasks that took him all across the Fiore Kingdom.
With constant reading in Fairy Tail's library, combined with his ever-improving memory and learning speed, his magical knowledge grew rapidly. Along the way, he mastered a number of different spells.
Three months later, Laxus finally earned Makarov's approval to begin taking on requests of his own, starting with jobs in the Magnolia area.
Once a week, without fail, Laxus would challenge Noah to a fight. And once a week, he would lose. By now, Noah could defeat him with ease.
That only fueled Laxus's determination. Outside of his missions, every spare moment went into training.
Noah even tried teaching him medical skills, but after struggling to memorize medical texts for a while, Laxus threw in the towel.
Unnoticed by either of them, time slipped by. Two years had passed, and it was now the year X772. Noah was eight years old.
One day, after returning from a mission, Noah was sitting in the guild hall, reading a book while listening to the chatter of the other members. By chance, he glanced up and noticed a little girl sitting alone in the corner.
He frowned slightly in curiosity. Whose child was that? Had Makarov picked up another stray like he had with him?
Pulling a nearby guild member closer, Noah asked, "Who's that little girl over there? Is she new to the guild?"
"Oh, her? No, she's not a member," the man replied. "But she seems to really like it here. She's been coming by every day for the past several days."
Noah thought for a moment, then stood and walked over to her.
"Hello, little sister," he greeted warmly. "What's your name? Do you need any help? I'm Noah from Fairy Tail, and this is my guild mark."
He raised his right hand, showing off the orange Fairy Tail emblem stamped on the back. It was second nature by now he always revealed his guild mark when introducing himself.
The girl looked about five or six years old, with short, pure-brown hair. For some reason, her hair color and appearance felt oddly familiar to him.
She had been resting her head on the table, lost in thought, but at the sound of his voice, she lifted her gaze to him.
"My name is Cana," she said softly. "I'm looking for someone."
Noah froze for a moment. His eyes studied her more carefully now. So this was Cana. He remembered that among Fairy Tail's children, only Laxus had joined earlier than her. This must have been when she first arrived.
"Have you found them yet? Do you want me to help you look?"
Cana hesitated, then shook her head. "Not… not yet. No, thank you."
From her tone, Noah guessed she had already crossed paths with Gildarts. He recalled that Gildarts had returned to the guild a few days ago, taken a few missions, and then departed again. At this point, finding him would be impossible.
Still, Gildarts was expected back before the end of the year Makarov had mentioned there was something important that required his return. Noah was also looking forward to that event.
Noah thought for a moment, then asked Cana,
"Where are you staying now?"
"I'm at the church's orphanage."
"The church? I know Father Brock too. Let's go together. It's too noisy in the guild doesn't seem like the best place for a child to stay for long. Besides, I have something I need to talk to the Father about."
"You know Father Brock too? Then let's go together."
"Alright. Wait here for me a moment I'll just go home and get something, then we can head to the church."
Noah returned to his home, went straight to his room, and pulled a small package from a drawer. After tucking it securely under his arm, he made his way back to the guild. Finding Cana where he'd left her, he smiled and gestured for her to follow as they headed out together toward the church.
As they walked, Noah despite already knowing some of Cana's circumstances from memory decided to confirm the details directly.
"How old are you this year? And who exactly are you looking for? What about your parents?"
"I'm six years old," Cana replied quietly. "My mother has passed away. My father… the person I'm looking for is my father."
"What's your father's name? Maybe I know him."
"Father… My father's name is…"
Noah noticed her hesitation. From her expression, he guessed that she had already seen Gildarts but hadn't been able to speak up at the time, and now the words were even harder to say.
He stopped walking, turned toward her, and crouched down so that their eyes met.
"Don't be afraid," he said gently. "You need to say it, alright? Only if you tell me can I help you. We can look together, and that way we'll find your father faster. Don't you want to see him as soon as possible?"
Cana's small hands clenched at her sides. After a long internal struggle, she finally whispered,
"Father… My father's name is Gildarts Clive…"
Hearing that, Noah nodded to himself. His memory had been right.
"So it really is him," he said with a faint smile. "I didn't expect him to have a daughter. He looks so well, never mind. Have you met him? I remember he came back to the guild just a few days ago."
"I've met him…"
"You have? But he never mentioned it to me. I'm guessing you couldn't bring yourself to say it, right?"
"Mm…"
"It's alright. Next time I see him, I'll give him a good beating for you. Imagine that having such a cute daughter and still making her go through all this trouble. He definitely needs a lesson."
"No… no, it's my fault for not saying anything. It's not Father's fault."
"Don't worry. Even if I can't beat Gildarts right now, I can still give him a solid smack when the time comes.
Anyway, we've arrived at the church. Let's go see Father Brock together."
Only then did Cana notice their surroundings. They were standing before an old archway, above which a cross was mounted. Inside the arch stood an iron gate, and beyond it, a multi-story building topped with an even larger cross. Smaller buildings were scattered around the courtyard.
All of them looked old and weathered, the kind of place that had stood for many years and seen countless stories pass through its doors.
This was the church, which also served as an orphanage the place Cana now called home.
The front door was unlocked. Noah pushed it open, and inside they saw an elderly man step into view. He wore a tall hat embroidered with a cross and a red-and-green clerical outfit. This was Father Brock.
He had come out upon hearing the sound of the door. When his eyes landed on Cana and Noah, his face lit up with genuine warmth.
"Cana, you're back! And isn't this Noah? How have you been? It's been a while since you last visited."
Noah smiled, his own expression brightening at the sight of the old man.
"Hello, Father! I've been doing well. And you? How have you been lately?"
"I recently took on a mission and was away from Magnolia for a bit," Noah explained. "It ended up taking longer than expected, so I only just returned.
When I happened to see Cana earlier, she told me she was staying here, so I brought her back and also thought I'd take the chance to visit you and everyone else here."