Rain's Revelation
“What the hell is wrong with you, Testarossa?” Signum snapped, not even bothering to help her up this time. Fate was sprawled on the floor, for the fourth time that day, staring dejectedly at her feet.
“You can do this, it’s nothing new to you, you’ve cleared this course so many times before,” Signum continued through clenched teeth, glaring at her rival. Grabbing a fistful of Fate’s Barrier Jacket, she wrenched the younger girl off her feet and planted her upright again, shoving Bardiche back into her hand.
Fate’s fingers closed around the cold shaft of her device automatically, but she did so without feeling, without emotion. It was as though she couldn’t feel the power humming through the long shaft, couldn’t feel the strong bond she shared with her weapon. But then again, she couldn’t feel much these days.
“Now, ready yourself,” Signum moved away from Fate, and as she spoke, loaded two cartridges into Laevatein.
[Schlangenform!]
There was a burst of magical energy as Signum’s sword expanded into chain link form, with the flying blades connected by a magical thread, much like a swaying snake rearing to attack. Fate looked at the killer segments warily, tiredly. Did it matter how many times they did this? She wasn’t going to be able to complete the course anyway, she was too slow. She was too slow.
“Nggghh!” Signum snarled, swinging her weapon down in a wide arc, and the jagged pieces of her sword seemed to burn with life of their own, flaring with fire energy, hissing as they made sharp contact with the ground. Fate did her best to evade them, she really did. Dirt flew as the metal soles of her heels hit the ground painfully, with enough force to shatter rock.
Fate weaved in and out of the chain links, hissing slightly as she failed to dodge at one point and ended up slicing her left shoulder. Still she continued. The task was easy enough, evasion and speed, two of the things she excelled at. Avoid being hit by the burning blades; reach the end point, end of training. She had completed this countless times before, why couldn’t she succeed this time? Why was she too slow?
Burgundy eyes widened in surprise as a long chain of metal blades burst forth from the ground right in front of her without warning. Usually, she would have used her momentum to propel herself to the right, to dodge the obstacle without even breaking her stride.
She was too slow.
Fate didn’t even have time to scream before razor-sharp bits buried themselves in her abdomen.
The force of Signum’s attack sent her flying, slamming against the wall, and once again, Bardiche was flung out of her grasp, skidding across the ground to the far end of the room. The piercing screech of metal on metal was the only sound in the gym.
[Schwertform!]
There was a hiss and a rush of air as Laevatein cooled down from the attack. Signum strode over, anger radiating off the pink haired knight with every step. Cold blue eyes bore into Fate’s, making her wince and look down. Blood gushed out from under her ripped barrier jacket, pooling around her waist. Strangely enough, Fate didn’t seem to feel the pain.
“I’m sorry,” the younger of the two whispered before Signum could say anything, her voice thick with unconcealed emotion. Unconcealed emotion that Signum couldn’t read.
“I’m sorry,” Fate choked out again, pulling her legs towards her and burying her head in her bruised knees, clenching her eyes shut and willing herself not to cry. Signum reached out hesitantly, all anger she had for the young Enforcer evaporating suddenly. The leader of the Wolkenritter knew that something was on Fate’s mind, something that was preventing her from performing, but she couldn’t tell what. And she hated it. She hated not knowing how to help, hated knowing that something was wrong, but not being able to do anything about it.
She laid her hand on Fate’s trembling shoulder for a moment, before giving in and dropping her cold exterior, pulling the girl into a fierce hug. Signum stroked Fate’s long hair in an effort to calm the blonde down, whispering comforting words of nothings into her ear.
“I may have pushed you too hard,” Signum began tentatively, not used to showing emotion. “I’m sorry for forcing too much on you today.”
Fate shook her head violently against Signum’s shoulder, fingernails biting harshly into her palms. “It’s my fault,” she mumbled, seeking momentary comfort in the warm embrace of her rival.
Signum knew her well enough not to press the matter, something that Fate was thankful of. Instead, the pink haired knight shifted her grip, looping one of her arms under Fate’s knees and sliding the other under her back. She stood carefully, making sure than she had Fate in a secure hold, before making her way to the infirmary.
“Mou, Signum!” Fate blushed, burying her red face in Signum’s shirt. “It’s not that bad, I can walk!” They both knew that Fate hated showing any sign of weakness, and being carried around by someone was not something she wanted anyone to witness. Signum only smirked and kept walking.
“Let’s get Shamal fix you up, shall we?”
----
Her feet hit the ground painfully, breath coming out in ragged gasps. Rivulets of sweat mixed with rain and poured down her face. Fate swiped at them with an angry hand. Why? Why couldn’t she run anymore?
Her lungs burned with every breath she took, struggling to provide sufficient oxygen for her body to function. Thighs shook with the burden of keeping up with the momentous cycle of lifting her feet, driving herself forward and slamming down again, only to repeat the same action indefinitely. Even her arms ached, elbows tired of the constant swinging, and they dangled uselessly by her sides.
“Why did I lose my speed? Why!” She growled out, frustrated at losing the thing she excelled at. In the past, when she ran, she thought of nothing and everything, putting all her troubles behind her as she raced effortlessly to the end point. Now, the only thoughts that went through her mind were of how she couldn’t make it, of how she would collapse and hit the floor any moment.
Speed was something that people associated with Enforcer Fate Testarossa Harlaown. She knew that, and she was proud of it. She was proud of how her superiors looked up to her as the ‘fastest the TSAB has ever seen in years’, as the only mage whose Sonic Move could cover a kilometer in a few seconds flat. What had gone wrong?
She used to love the feel of the wind roaring pass her ears, the sheer speed of her steps whipping her long hair back. Now, all she could hear were the sounds of blood pumping painfully in her ears, the agonizing sounds of her footsteps hitting the wet puddles, the choked sounds of her harsh breathing.
She used to run and run and not want to stop, yet now all she wanted to do was to give up and crumple to the floor in a heap.
Running used to be the only thing that made her feel truly free, and now she couldn’t even do that anymore.
Her tired legs could move no longer, tripping over themselves and she hit the floor, hard. Slamming face-first into the wet ground, Fate let out a cry of pain as blood flowed freely from the knee that had scraped against the floor. Was it the left knee or the right one? Fate didn’t know, and honestly, she didn’t care anymore.
There was another roar of thunder, and the rain fell harder than before. Forked lightning lit up the dark sky momentarily, and the blonde rolled onto her back, clutching her ripped knee and grunting in pain as she looked up into the angry sky. Ignoring the rain that stung her cheeks, she stared at the tumultuous clouds, mouth moving in a silent whisper as she asked herself the same question over and over again.
The Enforcer had no idea how long she stayed in that position, no idea how long she lay motionless as bullets of rain struck her, as the cold mud seeped into her Barrier Jacket. She was numb with cold, and the pain in her knee had long subsided, having given way to the more painful mental anguish that was raging in her head.
She would have stayed that way indefinitely, until the sound of running footsteps met her ears.
“Fate-chan!” A faraway voice was calling, the sound of shoes splashing through water getting louder by the second. “Fate-chan!”
“Go away,” she silently willed whoever it was, wanting to be left alone to wallow in her misery. No such luck.
“Fate-chan!” The voice was panicked now, and Fate found it vaguely familiar. A shadow covered her vision for a moment, briefly halting the torrential rain that pelted against her. Warm hands wrapped themselves around her numb arms, pulling her up against an even warmer body.
“Oh my god, Fate-chan!” The same warm fingers were cupping her face now, forcing her to look up. Wine red eyes met frightened blue orbs, practically overflowing with worry and anxiety.
“Na.. Nano..ha…” Fate trailed off, not finding the strength to move her lips. She let her eyelids slip shut, resting her head against her best friend’s chest.
“Fate-chan…” Nanoha looked worriedly down at her, brushing wet blond locks away from her closed eyes. Rain beat harshly down upon her back, and she wondered how long Fate had been lying here in the storm. She had only been out in the rain for a few minutes while looking for Fate, thanks to Raising Heart locating Bardiche’s position on her scanner. She had just returned from a week-long mission and had rushed to find her best friend, only to discover a worried Shamal and a pissed Signum prowling the corridors anxiously. Apparently Fate had disappeared from the infirmary a few hours ago and no one could find her anywhere. Nanoha had panicked then, feeling the cold tentacles of fear grip her heart suddenly at the thought of her Fate-chan missing, lost somewhere out there in the furious storm.
Nanoha looked sadly at her friend, pulling Fate closer towards her and attempting to shelter her from the rain with her body. She had heard from Signum that Fate wasn’t performing up to standard these days, having suffered a dramatic decrease in speed and a noticeable drop in stamina. She threaded her fingers through Fate’s hair affectionately, smiling slightly as Fate leaned closer, seemingly enjoying the gesture.
“What’s wrong, Fate-chan?” Nanoha asked quietly, stroking her hair. “Let me help you.”
Fate opened her eyes tiredly, and it broke Nanoha’s heart to see her beautiful burgundy eyes so hauntingly empty. Tears gathered in Nanoha’s own slate blue ones, indescribable anguish filling every fiber of her being. She couldn’t explain it, but each time she saw Fate-chan sad, it seemed to make her heart constrict painfully.
Fate looked away then, into the sky up at the moon, which was barely visible through the swirling clouds. She looked so tormented, so agonized, that Nanoha couldn’t help but grab her roughly by the shoulders, shaking her forcefully. Fate’s head snapped back to look at Nanoha, but she still refused to open her mouth, only averting her eyes to stare instead at an unseen spot behind her friend.
“Fate-chan, please tell me what’s wrong,” Nanoha was begging now, hot tears coursing down her cheeks, splashing onto Fate’s own. Still, she got no reply.
Nanoha opened her mouth to speak again, but found herself cut off when Fate whispered something quietly.
“You’ll never understand how I feel,” Fate started brokenly, her voice so low that Nanoha could barely make out her words. “No one can ever understand how I feel.”
Nanoha started to protest, but found herself interrupted yet again by the blond in her lap.
Fate was staring at something distant now, eyes unfocused and unblinking, wet with unshed tears. “You’ve never known what it’s like, to be deprived of the most basic form of love. Ever since I was born- no, ever since I was
created,” Fate spat out that word, “my dear mother never once told me she loved me, never once even smiled at me.”
Fate bit her bottom lip, closing her eyes as the pain of past memories came flooding back. “I suffered for years, barely eating, hardly sleeping in futile attempts to fulfill my mother’s twisted wishes. And then, I was saved. After years of living the lift of a puppet, I was finally saved, saved from myself, saved from my mother, saved by you.”
Nanoha felt herself being wracked with choking sobs, as she once more relived the memories of when she had first met Fate, tortured and beaten and desolate and just so damn broken it broke her heart. “That was the past, Fate-chan, there’s no need to think about that anymore-”
“I thought I had it all then,” Fate continued as though she had never stopped. “I had been adopted by a warm loving family, I had friends, I had people who loved me.”
Fate paused, suddenly shifting her gaze to stare piercingly at Nanoha.
“And then…” Nanoha leaned closer, straining her ears to hear what Fate had to say. “I had to ruin everything. I had to bleeding ruin everything by falling in love!”
Nanoha’s eyes widened. Shock registered in her mind as her friend’s words replayed themselves over and over in her head. Her best friend was in love with someone, probably Chrono or Yuuno or some other guy. She couldn’t understand why she was feeling so devastated, couldn’t explain the sudden stabbing sensation in her heart. “W-Who…Chrono? Or…”
Fate smiled humorously. “I wish. Maybe if I fell in love with a guy, it wouldn’t make it so bad, would it?”
Nanoha didn’t understand. “Fate-chan?”
“I fell in love with
you, Nanoha,” Fate snarled, suddenly angry. “You!”
Time seemed to stop.
Nanoha could hear the blood rushing in her ears, feel her heart beating painfully fast. She tried to open her mouth to speak, but no words came out.
Fate pulled away from Nanoha; somehow the simple action of leaving the protective embrace of her best friend was extremely tough.
“You hate me now, don’t you,” She continued angrily. “Who wouldn’t? The sad fake clone who never really had a proper life, who never experienced love, who craved that damn emotion so badly she has to fall for her best friend-” Fate stopped suddenly, too choked up to continue.
And suddenly Nanoha understood. The anger that Fate was displaying, it wasn’t directed at her. It was self-loathing. “Fate-chan…” Fate was not angry at her, but was furious with herself for having made the mistake of falling in love with another girl. She reached out to touch her friend’s shoulder, but Fate jerked away as if electrocuted.
Scrambling up from her position, Fate attempted to get up but found her limbs unwilling to cooperate. She collapsed back onto the ground, and tried to move away, to move anywhere as long as it was away from Nanoha. Tears were streaming down her face as she finally, finally revealed her feelings, and now Nanoha hated her because of her foolishness.
Damn it, why, why did I have to fall in love with my best friend!?
Fate’s eyes widened in shock as she suddenly felt a pair of very real; very warm lips cover her own.
“Mmph!” Fate’s first instinct was to get away, to get away from Nanoha, who currently had her arms around her and her lips on hers. She soon gave in though, when she realized Nanoha wasn’t going to let go anytime soon. Melting into the kiss, she felt fresh tears well up. It was nice of Nanoha to give her a sympathy kiss.
“I love you, Fate-chan.”
Fate froze. Hearing the words she had longed to hear- had craved to hear, since she was a little kid overwhelmed her. Nanoha was so sweet to let her hear them.
“Thank you,” Fate murmured quietly. “It’s so sweet of you to let me hear those words, at least once, in my life.” Pulling away from the embrace, she looked away sadly.
Nanoha blinked, confused, then registered what Fate meant. She grabbed her hand, pulling Fate back against her roughly.
“I love you, Fate-chan. I really love you. I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore. I want to protect you,” Nanoha cried, hot tears tricking down cold cheeks. “What I’ve been feeling all along, is love. I was too afraid to acknowledge it; I was too cowardly to admit it. I was scared of being in love with another girl, terrified of what others might think if they find out, but now I’m not. I want to be with Fate-chan, I want to protect Fate-chan because I love Fate-chan!”
Fate felt her entire body stiffen then, too overcome with emotion to function properly. For a moment, she forgot how to breathe, and her heart pounded painfully against her ribcage before she finally remembered how to take in air.
“N-Nanoha,” She whispered, moving her hand up to wipe away the brunette’s tears with a finger while she herself sobbed uncontrollably. Nanoha leaned down again, and captured both their lips in a fierce kiss.
Fate felt a warmth spread through her then, making her body feel alive with something she hadn’t felt in days. And suddenly she knew, she
knew, her speed was back.
----
[Haken Sabre!]
Signum whipped around and tried to bring up a shield, but the lightning mage was much too quick for her. Fate was but a blur as she danced around Signum, laughing gaily as she pranced about the knight tauntingly, stopping just long enough for Signum to spot her, before vanishing again when her rival moved to strike.
“Damn it, hold still!” Signum snarled in frustration, swinging Laevatein at Fate. Or at least at where she used to be anyway. The deadly blade slashed through thin air as Fate dodged yet again, and Signum growled, annoyed. This had been going on for the last half and hour now, with Signum barely even landing a hit and Fate getting a big kick from evading all of her blows with ease. Signum herself was getting tired, the strain of maneuvering her heavy blade taking its toll on her. Not that she would admit being exhausted to the point of fainting, of course. She’d rather faint than admit weakness in front of Fate. Scratch that, she’d rather die than faint in front of Testarossa.
“Go Fate-channnn!!” Nanoha was screaming from the sidelines, jumping around and hollering encouragement like an over-excited nine-year old. Nanoha, Hayate and the rest of the Wolkenritter were watching Signum’s mock battle with Fate. Vita was almost as animated as Nanoha, waving Graf Eisen in the air and screaming for Signum to ‘smash Fate into pulp’ before Signum ‘embarrassed the Knights’ and ‘disgraced their honor’.
“You try hitting her then, if you think you’re so fast!” Signum finally snapped at Vita, brandishing Laevatein threateningly at her. That made Vita shut up, for she had no intention of crossing paths with a Sonic Form-ed Fate. The lightning mage had never been so fast, and Signum was getting careless as exhaustion took its toll on her.
[Photon Lancer: Full Auto Fire!]
Signum’s eyes widened as spheres of crackling electricity formed around her suddenly, and she scarcely had time to dodge before dozens of lightning projectiles were launched, speeding hungrily towards her. Laevatein expelled a cartridge as flames ran along its blade, and Signum swung her weapon towards the incoming onslaught. The barrage of photon lancers were temporarily deflected, but soon turned on Fate’s command to continue the assault.
[Shiden Issen!]
Laevatein flared up brightly and blazed with intense heat as Signum brought her sword crashing down in one fluid motion, shattering all the lightning projectiles. Her eyes darted from side to side, trying in vain to spot her opponent, sword at the ready. She blinked when she saw the blonde hovering slightly in front of her with a huge smirk on her face. She knew that look.
Signum knew, even before Fate moved, that she had lost this round. Fate was grinning, and the lightning blade of Bardiche’s Haken form was considerably brighter than usual. Even Laevatein seemed to know what was coming.
“Shit.”
[Sonic Move!]
Everything was suddenly a blur as time seemed to speed up. One moment Fate was standing there smirking, and another moment Bardiche’s blade had sliced past Signum’s armour. Fate herself was leaning down staring at Signum with a huge grin on her face. Signum didn’t even register falling.
Cheers erupted around them as their audience showed their appreciation for the intense battle. Nanoha ran up and threw her arms around Fate in a hug, causing Fate to blush cutely and look away.
“Hmph!” Signum huffed, rejecting the hand Fate offered her and pushing herself up, wincing as her body screamed in protest.
“You just got lucky, Testarossa.”
Signum’s tone was cold, but Fate could hear the silent pride in her voice as she wordlessly applauded her rival’s victory. She would never admit it aloud, Fate knew, but Signum was proud to have her as a rival.
Their audience slowly drifted away, leaving only Fate, Nanoha and Signum alone. Signum nodded briefly at the pair, before slinging Laevatein over her shoulder and walking back into the building. They watched her leave, before Nanoha spoke up.
“Eh Fate-chan, you’re awesome! You’re probably the only person who can lie in a thunderstorm for two hours, not fall sick, and still be alive the next day to kick the crap out of Signum!” Nanoha gushed, and Fate’s cheeks were stained red once again as she shuffled her feet, embarrassed.
“There’s no way I’d fall sick, Nanoha,” Fate murmured quietly, looking into the brunette’s eyes. Nanoha raised her eyebrows questioningly, and Fate’s lips turned up in a smile.
“Because if I fall sick, I can’t do
this to you.”
Nanoha’s squeal was cut off halfway as Fate’s soft lips met hers, and her eyes widened in surprise.
It was going to be a very long day.
2008-05-29, 14:58
Graphic Designer
XD
