Nanoha FanFiction Discussion

[Nijiru]

I still think there's something wrong with your master file.
Part 1: "If we could." Wendi laughed. "We've been trying to make stuff on our own, but everything we've been doing at home keeps reminding us of Ginga."[/QUOTE] Never mind, got fixed while I read part two.
As for Mach Calibur, I thought it was because the magic style is New Belkan, as opposed to Ancient Belkan like the Wolkenritter.

Page Claim: For awesome stories!

[Tempy]

Hmm.

Crossposting from OCT for anyone that cares.

Spoiler for Goodbye:

It was a sunny day, with a comfortable temperature and refreshing breeze. For most, this day
was to be enjoyed to its fullest.

But for some, it was a day of remembrance. For today was the day Belka fell, all those years ago.

There was a memorial near the Saint Church headquarters, a carefully maintained and honored
site with a single obsidian slab at its center. Etched into the volcanic glass and filled with gold was
an epitaph dedicated to the millions of lives lost in the Saint Kaiser’s name. From the knights of
ancient Belka to the warriors of today, to all her subjects past and present, this cenotaph was
meant to remember them when no one else could.

That is why, today, a single man was in front of it, laying a handful of cut flowers by the
monument’s base. Alone, he made no sound as he knelt down, his head bowed in respect. Or at
least, he believed he was alone. It was because of this silence that he heard the quiet footsteps of
someone else approaching, a presence that he could easily guess its identity.

“Lady Kaon,” his voice was abnormally loud in this place.

“I figured you’d be here, Noland,” the inspector greeted, a small bouquet of flowers in her hand.
“For… similar reasons, I suppose.”

“Indeed,” the knight murmured, finding it a little hard to say any more. Not that Kaon minded, as
she came up next to him and laid her flowers next to his. She too knelt, mirroring her friend’s
posture as she bowed her head in silence.

How much time passed, then? Ten minutes? An hour? Neither of them knew. Slowly opening her
eyes, Kaon pushed herself up to her feet.

“Hey, I’m going to head back,” she placed a small hand on Noland’s right shoulder. “Call me
when you’re done here. We’ll grab dinner, okay?”

“Yes,” he replied, followed with a nod. “I will.”

It wasn’t the response that Kaon wanted, but it was fine. Today was a… sensitive day, and she
had many years to cope. But Noland? This was probably his first time here. She had done the
same when this memorial was first raised.

So she left, her hands in her pockets as she quietly strolled away. Despite her relaxed outward
appearance, her mind was a storm of memories. How lucky she was that only one day of the
entire year, those sad thoughts surfaced in her mind…

Damn. She could really go for a drink right now.

---

Noland listened for Kaon’s footsteps to fade away, lost in the quiet ambiance of the monument.
When he had first arrived, his silence was to honor his friends from long ago. With Kaon, they
remembered their service and their king, of their fellow countrymen and their lives. But now, he
was alone once more. A quiet breeze, the gentle sway of trees, there was nothing else here.

Nothing else, but his silent prayer.

Father. Mother. Sisters…

Hello.

It has been… a very long time since we all spoke. I apologize for not coming any sooner; waiting
for a holiday is no excuse to visit family. I wish I had this freedom, back then. I could have come
home far more often. Perhaps, I could have seen little Remilia grow, or helped Cecilia with her
studies. Mother always needed a hand in the kitchen, and Father’s age made fieldwork more
difficult. I wish that I could have visited more frequently, but… it is too late for that.

This new life that I have been granted... it is a gift that I am far from deserving, but I am thankful
for it. Would you believe that the Saint Kaiser, Olivier, lives once more? She is but a child,
innocent and free from the yokes of monarchy, yet I can see little things that remind me of her. I
now stand by her side once more, but this time, I fight for more than just king and country.

I fight for family now, something I should have done years ago. Instead, I brought shame to our
family and ruined our names. In an instant, I destroyed everything we had all built together… I
cannot even ask for forgiveness from any of you. It is a shame that I will forever carry, a reminder
of my sins and regrets.

…

I must sound incredibly stupid. I half expect Cecilia to clout me in the head with her book and
chide me. Wallowing in this self-pity is not me, is it? No… I just… I just want to see you all
once more.

What I would give up just to see your smiling faces again, to chat with Mother as Father returns
from the fields, dirtied but smiling broadly; to drink tea with Cecilia and speak of her school and
her studies, of her new experiences; to hold little Remilia in my arms and hug her and tell her that
everything is all right…! I want to wipe the tears away from her eyes and prove that she has
nothing to fear, that her big brother is here and will always be! I want… I want to save her from
the darkness that I left her in...

Is it so much to ask? To embrace my family just one more time?

Yet… these hands will hold nothing.

…

How can it be, that a knight of the Saint Kaiser still mourns for his lost family after so many years?
What would you say if you saw me now? Scold me, hold me, or cry by my side. Anything!
Anything to dispel this silence… Dear gods, I want to hear you again…

Father. Mother. Sisters…

I miss you so much.

Goodbye. I love you all.

I will come back soon.

With silent grace, Noland stood and gazed at the obsidian monolith.

He took a breath, and then he stepped away.

Spoiler for Extra?:

Unexpectedly, he heard a woman gasp. She stood by the memorial’s archway, a bundle of
flowers cradled gently in her arms. She was petite, lithe and graceful with dark hair tied down
into twin ponytails that trailed down her back. Hazel eyes Dressed in a shimmering white
summer dress, she had a wide-brimmed hat that seemed to glow in the sunlight.

“Oh, excuse me. I didn’t expect someone else to be here,” the newcomer said a little breathily.

“No, I should say sorry. I failed to be attentive,” Noland bowed in apology. “I was paying my
respects to the fallen.”

“Oh, are you a Knight?”

“I…” he hesitated for a brief moment, before nodding. “Yes. I am a Knight.”

“Really? That’s amazing!” she had a bright look of awe on her face. “My eldest brother was a
Knight. He was one of the best, and we were all so proud of him!”

Noland noticed that one word stuck out, “Were?”

“Yes…” her cheer suddenly calmed, her tone becoming subdued. “He died a long time ago.”

Noland mentally berated himself for being a fool. Why else would she be here? “I am sorry.
That was very rude of me to ask.”

“No, its okay,” she replied with a shake of her head. “As I said, it was a long time ago. He died
in the line of duty, fighting for what he believed to be right. But… everyone else calls him a
backstabber. We couldn’t believe that he’d do such a thing, that he had betrayed his allies and
friends. It was such a shock to hear it… and an even greater one when we were told he died.
Mother and father had passed away, then, so all that is left of our family is myself and my older
sister. He left us alone…”

For a moment, Noland was silent. How strange, how terrifying, to hear that there was another
like him. What an odd coincidence that history be repeated once more, the crime of treason
laying waste to a close-knit family. He could sympathize with them, and with the poor soul of
their brother. Did he have a grave? Or was he to be remembered only as the scum of history, to
be reviled and hated so as long as his name is known?

“Do you… do you hate him for that?” he asked with strange gentleness. Somehow, the answer
he got was both surprising and expected.

“What sort of sister would hate her brother?” the girl had a wistful smile. “Even if the world
hated him, we would still love him unconditionally. No, we knew that he did it for a reason, and
for whatever it was, he could not be blamed for it. He had done so much for us, given us
everything he could and all the time he could spare. Our lives were dreams come true because
of his hard work… How could a wonderful person like that deceive his friends?”

Her words sent a haunting tremor down his spine, pangs of jealousy tugging at his mind. His own
desire to hear such reassurance choked him as tears threatened to stain his eyewraps, desperation
barely held back by his will. How he wished those kind words were meant for him…

It took all his will just to make his response sound normal. “He sounds like an amazing brother.”

“He was wonderful and kind. I miss him terribly…” she hugged the bouquet closer to her chest.

“These flowers are meant for him. Elder sister and I, we are the only ones that honor him. She
couldn’t make it today, so I had to come alone.”

Noland was silent once more as the girl approached the memorial and laid the bouquet next to
the other flowers. She clasped her hands together with a bowed head and whispered a quiet
prayer, too quiet for the knight to hear. Several minutes of this hallowed stillness passed before
the girl stood back up.

“Thank you for listening, Sir Knight. It isn’t often that I get to talk to others about my brother,
especially on a day like this.”

“Not at all. He must have been a great person to deserve this faith.”

“You’re too kind,” the girl bowed to him. “Unfortunately, I must be off. Dinner is my
responsibility today. Be well, sir Knight!”

“And you,” he gave her a gentle smile and a small wave. “Ah, wait a moment, please. I never
got your name…”

She smiled brilliantly, “My friends call me Remi!”

[TheShinySword]

BWAHAHAHAHA

After a long Haitus. It returns! the Epic thriller of Jail's innocent and pure first love!

(Disclaimer: The following part does not actually include Jail)

Spoiler for Someone for Everyone part 12:

“...” There was not supposed to be noise coming out of the training room. Not that say there couldn't be but rather that everyone was accounted for and Cinque couldn't think of anyone who could be pounding away in there.

Cinque opened the door with care, she didn't want to startle whoever was in there into hurting themselves with whatever they were using to practice.

Oh, how silly. How could she forget her?

The sound of whirling wind. No, rather the sound of something whirling through the air, rending the invisible force to pieces. The poor hapless drones, a favorite of the doctor's mass produced collection, stood no chance. They were sliced in two, in fourths, into uncountable pieces. Cinque felt pity for the unfeeling things.

Sette was brutal. It was an undeniably good thing she was on their side. With the confidence only belonging to trained killers she cut and smashed with cold elegance. Part of Cinque wanted to see the that strength pushed to it's very limits. Nothing more than morbid curiosity though. There was no need for Sette, or any of them, to ever need to go that distance.

So, for that reason, there was no need for Sette to be training constantly. Yet, Cinque watched on. It was a training routine, Cinque remembered helping program it for that matter, so it would run it's course.

Slowly but surely the number of droids slowed to a trickle and Sette relinquished her weapons. It wasn't until the boomerang blades disappeared that she noticed her elder sister. “Cinque.” Sette wasn't one for calling the other Numbers, 'Sister'. Though she did bow her head respectfully.

“Your technique is amazing.” Cinque clapped her hands together. “If there's a battle I'll feel safe knowing you're with us.”

“It is not as you say,” Sette shook her head, “I still require much more training to become adequate.”

Cinque laughed, “If you're not adequate Sette then the rest of us must be complete and utter rubbish.”

Sette's eyes widened a fraction of a centimeter, “That is not what I meant. I simply cannot adhere to the same standards as the others.”

So, Sette did have humanity within her. Even if she gave other reasons, she didn't want Cinque to think Sette thought poorly of the others. Poor girl, so strong and yet... Cinque sighed inwardly.

There was no one to blame but Cinque, herself. If only she hadn't allowed Quattro to tinker with Sette. No. The past was the past. The only thing to be done was fix past errors.

“Sette,” Cinque stroked her chin, “I'm in the mood for tea.”

“Pardon?”

~~~

“This is training? Correct?” Sette studied the kettle in front of her, measuring an exact amount of water into a measuring cup and pouring it into the metal container.

“Oh indubitably, properly prepared tea can invigorate the senses, heighten one's strength and of course raise moral. It also has the bonus of being quite delicious,” Cinque nodded like a wise old man watching his pupil. “Proper preparation of tea is the most important of skills.”

“Then I will master it,” Sette returned to watching the kettle steam.

“A watched pot never boils you know,” Cinque teased.

“I do not believe watching the pot has anything to do with boiling point, Cinque.” And the joke flew right over Sette's head.

“Hmm, I suppose you're right,” Cinque laughed but Sette merely looked slightly puzzled.

They continued to watch the pot boil, apposed to popular belief the pot didn't care whether or not it had an audience. Though it was really that Sette watched the pot with great intensity, while Cinque watched her little sister with great amusement.

“It is done,” Sette announced, seconds before the kettle began to whistle. She removed the kettle as elegantly as she cut down machines. She poured the hot water into a tea pot, already filled with leaves, and then poured that into a tea cup, taking great measure to ensure the tea was well strained.

“For you,” Sette held the tea cup out to Cinque.

“Why thank you,” Cinque sipped, while under Sette's unchanging stare. Cinque smiled. It wasn't awful but Sette didn't really know the first thing about tea making. This was black tea, but at the temperature for green tea. But still... “I like it,” … Sette had made it for Cinque.

Sette's expression stayed the same and she continued to watch Cinque sip.

Clink.

Cinque sat her cup down. “Sette, you aren't a servant, if you make tea you should have some as well.”

Sette blinked slowly, “It could not hurt.” She poured herself a cup of tea.

Cinque watched curiously as Sette awkwardly blew on the tea and tasted the tea with caution. It was enough to make her giggle.

“It is good,” Sette spoke unprompted by anything but the tea itself, “I like it.”

The one eyed girl couldn't keep her smile from growing, “Would you like to try anything in it? Sugar, Milk?”

Sette contemplated the question for at least a minute before asking in return, “How do you drink your tea?”

“I tend to prefer to go without.”

A warm, small smile, almost hidden by the tea cup, wiggled onto Sette's face. “Then I am fine as it is.”

~~~

“I told you it doesn't hurt.”

“Oh really~ then what will happen if I press on it just a li-”

“GAH! Are you stupid?!? Of course it'll hurt if you do that!”

Nove was not in the mood for Wendi's antics. Despite her protests to the contrary, her head hurt, a lot, and she didn't need Wendi's poking and prodding. That's why she grabbed Wendi's hand when the 11th number had reached for the sore spot on her head. That didn't, however, explain why she couldn't make her hand let go.

“Sorry 'bout that,” Wendi grinned and rubbed the back of her head with her free hand apologetically. “It really is a nasty lump.”

“I-It's not that bad.” Great, Nove was still holding on.

Okay hand, Nove told it, let go now.

But the hand refused, it wanted to keep holding Wendi's hand.

“You definitely should get some ice for that,” Wendi leaned up, her hand still in Nove's, to examine Nove's head.

And now Wendi's chest was in Nove's face. Great. Just peachy. Nove had a hand that wouldn't let go and now eyes that wouldn't stop oogling.

That is your sister! Nove's brain told the rest of her.

Not by blood! Shouted the rest of Nove.

“Y-yeah, ice.” And now the blood was all coming to Nove's face. Crooks were caught red handed, pervs were caught red faced. “Sounds like a good idea.”

“Or maybe I'll just kiss it and make it all better~”

“Yes please.”

…

…

…

GAH! Now even Nove's mouth was against her!

There was silence from above. Wendi didn't speak. Nove didn't breathe.

“Well... if you want me t-too,” Nove couldn't see Wendi's face (too much cleavage in the way) but her voice was definitely embarrassed sounding.

No way, there was no way Nove could let Wendi do that. Her hand was against her, her eyes were against her, even Nove's mouth had turned traitor. But her feet hadn't.

Crash.

Nove toppled her chair backwards, falling onto the ground, and taking Wendi right along with her into...

… a position worse than before. Nove was stuck on her back... and Wendi was straddling her. Nove's eye twitched. No way. No friggin' way. She reared up her head and smacked it against the ground, successfully knocking herself out cold.

Spoiler for A/N:

I totally had to google, "How to make tea". orz

For a part that took so long to write it isn't very long, or in depth, or fancy. Actually that month was spent primarily on those opening 4 paragraphs because that's all I could get down for the longest time.

The Nove/Wendi scene at the end was completely different originally, but I scrapped that scene (saved it for later) and replaced it with some lulz. Poor poor Nove, girl had to knock her self out to get away from it all while Wendi plays innocent fanservice girl (or not so innocent hmm :3)

Previously:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

[Nanya01]

Originally Posted by TheShinySword

BWAHAHAHAHA

After a long Haitus. It returns! the Epic thriller of Jail's innocent and pure first love!

(Disclaimer: The following part does not actually include Jail)

Spoiler for Someone for Everyone part 12:

“...” There was not supposed to be noise coming out of the training room. Not that say there couldn't be but rather that everyone was accounted for and Cinque couldn't think of anyone who could be pounding away in there.

Cinque opened the door with care, she didn't want to startle whoever was in there into hurting themselves with whatever they were using to practice.

Oh, how silly. How could she forget her?

The sound of whirling wind. No, rather the sound of something whirling through the air, rending the invisible force to pieces. The poor hapless drones, a favorite of the doctor's mass produced collection, stood no chance. They were sliced in two, in fourths, into uncountable pieces. Cinque felt pity for the unfeeling things.

Sette was brutal. It was an undeniably good thing she was on their side. With the confidence only belonging to trained killers she cut and smashed with cold elegance. Part of Cinque wanted to see the that strength pushed to it's very limits. Nothing more than morbid curiosity though. There was no need for Sette, or any of them, to ever need to go that distance.

So, for that reason, there was no need for Sette to be training constantly. Yet, Cinque watched on. It was a training routine, Cinque remembered helping program it for that matter, so it would run it's course.

Slowly but surely the number of droids slowed to a trickle and Sette relinquished her weapons. It wasn't until the boomerang blades disappeared that she noticed her elder sister. “Cinque.” Sette wasn't one for calling the other Numbers, 'Sister'. Though she did bow her head respectfully.

“Your technique is amazing.” Cinque clapped her hands together. “If there's a battle I'll feel safe knowing you're with us.”

“It is not as you say,” Sette shook her head, “I still require much more training to become adequate.”

Cinque laughed, “If you're not adequate Sette then the rest of us must be complete and utter rubbish.”

Sette's eyes widened a fraction of a centimeter, “That is not what I meant. I simply cannot adhere to the same standards as the others.”

So, Sette did have humanity within her. Even if she gave other reasons, she didn't want Cinque to think Sette thought poorly of the others. Poor girl, so strong and yet... Cinque sighed inwardly.

There was no one to blame but Cinque, herself. If only she hadn't allowed Quattro to tinker with Sette. No. The past was the past. The only thing to be done was fix past errors.

“Sette,” Cinque stroked her chin, “I'm in the mood for tea.”

“Pardon?”

~~~

“This is training? Correct?” Sette studied the kettle in front of her, measuring an exact amount of water into a measuring cup and pouring it into the metal container.

“Oh indubitably, properly prepared tea can invigorate the senses, heighten one's strength and of course raise moral. It also has the bonus of being quite delicious,” Cinque nodded like a wise old man watching his pupil. “Proper preparation of tea is the most important of skills.”

“Then I will master it,” Sette returned to watching the kettle steam.

“A watched pot never boils you know,” Cinque teased.

“I do not believe watching the pot has anything to do with boiling point, Cinque.” And the joke flew right over Sette's head.

“Hmm, I suppose you're right,” Cinque laughed but Sette merely looked slightly puzzled.

They continued to watch the pot boil, apposed to popular belief the pot didn't care whether or not it had an audience. Though it was really that Sette watched the pot with great intensity, while Cinque watched her little sister with great amusement.

“It is done,” Sette announced, seconds before the kettle began to whistle. She removed the kettle as elegantly as she cut down machines. She poured the hot water into a tea pot, already filled with leaves, and then poured that into a tea cup, taking great measure to ensure the tea was well strained.

“For you,” Sette held the tea cup out to Cinque.

“Why thank you,” Cinque sipped, while under Sette's unchanging stare. Cinque smiled. It wasn't awful but Sette didn't really know the first thing about tea making. This was black tea, but at the temperature for green tea. But still... “I like it,” … Sette had made it for Cinque.

Sette's expression stayed the same and she continued to watch Cinque sip.

Clink.

Cinque sat her cup down. “Sette, you aren't a servant, if you make tea you should have some as well.”

Sette blinked slowly, “It could not hurt.” She poured herself a cup of tea.

Cinque watched curiously as Sette awkwardly blew on the tea and tasted the tea with caution. It was enough to make her giggle.

“It is good,” Sette spoke unprompted by anything but the tea itself, “I like it.”

The one eyed girl couldn't keep her smile from growing, “Would you like to try anything in it? Sugar, Milk?”

Sette contemplated the question for at least a minute before asking in return, “How do you drink your tea?”

“I tend to prefer to go without.”

A warm, small smile, almost hidden by the tea cup, wiggled onto Sette's face. “Then I am fine as it is.”

~~~

“I told you it doesn't hurt.”

“Oh really~ then what will happen if I press on it just a li-”

“GAH! Are you stupid?!? Of course it'll hurt if you do that!”

Nove was not in the mood for Wendi's antics. Despite her protests to the contrary, her head hurt, a lot, and she didn't need Wendi's poking and prodding. That's why she grabbed Wendi's hand when the 11th number had reached for the sore spot on her head. That didn't, however, explain why she couldn't make her hand let go.

“Sorry 'bout that,” Wendi grinned and rubbed the back of her head with her free hand apologetically. “It really is a nasty lump.”

“I-It's not that bad.” Great, Nove was still holding on.

Okay hand, Nove told it, let go now.

But the hand refused, it wanted to keep holding Wendi's hand.

“You definitely should get some ice for that,” Wendi leaned up, her hand still in Nove's, to examine Nove's head.

And now Wendi's chest was in Nove's face. Great. Just peachy. Nove had a hand that wouldn't let go and now eyes that wouldn't stop oogling.

That is your sister! Nove's brain told the rest of her.

Not by blood! Shouted the rest of Nove.

“Y-yeah, ice.” And now the blood was all coming to Nove's face. Crooks were caught red handed, pervs were caught red faced. “Sounds like a good idea.”

“Or maybe I'll just kiss it and make it all better~”

“Yes please.”

…

…

…

GAH! Now even Nove's mouth was against her!

There was silence from above. Wendi didn't speak. Nove didn't breathe.

“Well... if you want me t-too,” Nove couldn't see Wendi's face (too much cleavage in the way) but her voice was definitely embarrassed sounding.

No way, there was no way Nove could let Wendi do that. Her hand was against her, her eyes were against her, even Nove's mouth had turned traitor. But her feet hadn't.

Crash.

Nove toppled her chair backwards, falling onto the ground, and taking Wendi right along with her into...

… a position worse than before. Nove was stuck on her back... and Wendi was straddling her. Nove's eye twitched. No way. No friggin' way. She reared up her head and smacked it against the ground, successfully knocking herself out cold.

Spoiler for A/N:

I totally had to google, "How to make tea". orz

For a part that took so long to write it isn't very long, or in depth, or fancy. Actually that month was spent primarily on those opening 4 paragraphs because that's all I could get down for the longest time.

The Nove/Wendi scene at the end was completely different originally, but I scrapped that scene (saved it for later) and replaced it with some lulz. Poor poor Nove, girl had to knock her self out to get away from it all while Wendi plays innocent fanservice girl (or not so innocent hmm :3)

Previously:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

BAHAHA! Funny, funny! Nove and Wendi! Hooray! Sette getting development?! WHOO!

[Rising Dragon]

Originally Posted by Nanya01

BTW, why is it that Subaru's magic style is Belkan but Mach Calibur speaks in English instead of German?

Originally Posted by 00-Raiser

Because the Neo Belkan style that Subaru and Erio use has Mid magic mixed into it. Hayate, Carim, Verossa, and the Wolkenritter (and possibly Vivio and Einhart) are the only users of true Belkan magic.

Originally Posted by Nijiru

As for Mach Calibur, I thought it was because the magic style is New Belkan, as opposed to Ancient Belkan like the Wolkenritter.

I think it has less to do with the style and more to do with the Device. Mach Calibur is an Intelligent Device, which we've only ever seen speaking English, synced with another Device (Is Revolver Knuckle an Armed Device? If it is, its probably what gives her the Neo-Belken magic style, while retaining an Intelligent Device as her partner). Erio, on the other hand, is armed with an Armed Device, and not an Intelligent Device.

Also, tea is serious business.

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by TheShinySword

BWAHAHAHAHA

After a long Haitus. It returns! the Epic thriller of Jail's innocent and pure first love!

(Disclaimer: The following part does not actually include Jail)

Spoiler for Someone for Everyone part 12:

“...” There was not supposed to be noise coming out of the training room. Not that say there couldn't be but rather that everyone was accounted for and Cinque couldn't think of anyone who could be pounding away in there.

Cinque opened the door with care, she didn't want to startle whoever was in there into hurting themselves with whatever they were using to practice.

Oh, how silly. How could she forget her?

The sound of whirling wind. No, rather the sound of something whirling through the air, rending the invisible force to pieces. The poor hapless drones, a favorite of the doctor's mass produced collection, stood no chance. They were sliced in two, in fourths, into uncountable pieces. Cinque felt pity for the unfeeling things.

Sette was brutal. It was an undeniably good thing she was on their side. With the confidence only belonging to trained killers she cut and smashed with cold elegance. Part of Cinque wanted to see the that strength pushed to it's very limits. Nothing more than morbid curiosity though. There was no need for Sette, or any of them, to ever need to go that distance.

So, for that reason, there was no need for Sette to be training constantly. Yet, Cinque watched on. It was a training routine, Cinque remembered helping program it for that matter, so it would run it's course.

Slowly but surely the number of droids slowed to a trickle and Sette relinquished her weapons. It wasn't until the boomerang blades disappeared that she noticed her elder sister. “Cinque.” Sette wasn't one for calling the other Numbers, 'Sister'. Though she did bow her head respectfully.

“Your technique is amazing.” Cinque clapped her hands together. “If there's a battle I'll feel safe knowing you're with us.”

“It is not as you say,” Sette shook her head, “I still require much more training to become adequate.”

Cinque laughed, “If you're not adequate Sette then the rest of us must be complete and utter rubbish.”

Sette's eyes widened a fraction of a centimeter, “That is not what I meant. I simply cannot adhere to the same standards as the others.”

So, Sette did have humanity within her. Even if she gave other reasons, she didn't want Cinque to think Sette thought poorly of the others. Poor girl, so strong and yet... Cinque sighed inwardly.

There was no one to blame but Cinque, herself. If only she hadn't allowed Quattro to tinker with Sette. No. The past was the past. The only thing to be done was fix past errors.

“Sette,” Cinque stroked her chin, “I'm in the mood for tea.”

“Pardon?”

~~~

“This is training? Correct?” Sette studied the kettle in front of her, measuring an exact amount of water into a measuring cup and pouring it into the metal container.

“Oh indubitably, properly prepared tea can invigorate the senses, heighten one's strength and of course raise moral. It also has the bonus of being quite delicious,” Cinque nodded like a wise old man watching his pupil. “Proper preparation of tea is the most important of skills.”

“Then I will master it,” Sette returned to watching the kettle steam.

“A watched pot never boils you know,” Cinque teased.

“I do not believe watching the pot has anything to do with boiling point, Cinque.” And the joke flew right over Sette's head.

“Hmm, I suppose you're right,” Cinque laughed but Sette merely looked slightly puzzled.

They continued to watch the pot boil, apposed to popular belief the pot didn't care whether or not it had an audience. Though it was really that Sette watched the pot with great intensity, while Cinque watched her little sister with great amusement.

“It is done,” Sette announced, seconds before the kettle began to whistle. She removed the kettle as elegantly as she cut down machines. She poured the hot water into a tea pot, already filled with leaves, and then poured that into a tea cup, taking great measure to ensure the tea was well strained.

“For you,” Sette held the tea cup out to Cinque.

“Why thank you,” Cinque sipped, while under Sette's unchanging stare. Cinque smiled. It wasn't awful but Sette didn't really know the first thing about tea making. This was black tea, but at the temperature for green tea. But still... “I like it,” … Sette had made it for Cinque.

Sette's expression stayed the same and she continued to watch Cinque sip.

Clink.

Cinque sat her cup down. “Sette, you aren't a servant, if you make tea you should have some as well.”

Sette blinked slowly, “It could not hurt.” She poured herself a cup of tea.

Cinque watched curiously as Sette awkwardly blew on the tea and tasted the tea with caution. It was enough to make her giggle.

“It is good,” Sette spoke unprompted by anything but the tea itself, “I like it.”

The one eyed girl couldn't keep her smile from growing, “Would you like to try anything in it? Sugar, Milk?”

Sette contemplated the question for at least a minute before asking in return, “How do you drink your tea?”

“I tend to prefer to go without.”

A warm, small smile, almost hidden by the tea cup, wiggled onto Sette's face. “Then I am fine as it is.”

~~~

“I told you it doesn't hurt.”

“Oh really~ then what will happen if I press on it just a li-”

“GAH! Are you stupid?!? Of course it'll hurt if you do that!”

Nove was not in the mood for Wendi's antics. Despite her protests to the contrary, her head hurt, a lot, and she didn't need Wendi's poking and prodding. That's why she grabbed Wendi's hand when the 11th number had reached for the sore spot on her head. That didn't, however, explain why she couldn't make her hand let go.

“Sorry 'bout that,” Wendi grinned and rubbed the back of her head with her free hand apologetically. “It really is a nasty lump.”

“I-It's not that bad.” Great, Nove was still holding on.

Okay hand, Nove told it, let go now.

But the hand refused, it wanted to keep holding Wendi's hand.

“You definitely should get some ice for that,” Wendi leaned up, her hand still in Nove's, to examine Nove's head.

And now Wendi's chest was in Nove's face. Great. Just peachy. Nove had a hand that wouldn't let go and now eyes that wouldn't stop oogling.

That is your sister! Nove's brain told the rest of her.

Not by blood! Shouted the rest of Nove.

“Y-yeah, ice.” And now the blood was all coming to Nove's face. Crooks were caught red handed, pervs were caught red faced. “Sounds like a good idea.”

“Or maybe I'll just kiss it and make it all better~”

“Yes please.”

…

…

…

GAH! Now even Nove's mouth was against her!

There was silence from above. Wendi didn't speak. Nove didn't breathe.

“Well... if you want me t-too,” Nove couldn't see Wendi's face (too much cleavage in the way) but her voice was definitely embarrassed sounding.

No way, there was no way Nove could let Wendi do that. Her hand was against her, her eyes were against her, even Nove's mouth had turned traitor. But her feet hadn't.

Crash.

Nove toppled her chair backwards, falling onto the ground, and taking Wendi right along with her into...

… a position worse than before. Nove was stuck on her back... and Wendi was straddling her. Nove's eye twitched. No way. No friggin' way. She reared up her head and smacked it against the ground, successfully knocking herself out cold.

Spoiler for A/N:

I totally had to google, "How to make tea". orz

For a part that took so long to write it isn't very long, or in depth, or fancy. Actually that month was spent primarily on those opening 4 paragraphs because that's all I could get down for the longest time.

The Nove/Wendi scene at the end was completely different originally, but I scrapped that scene (saved it for later) and replaced it with some lulz. Poor poor Nove, girl had to knock her self out to get away from it all while Wendi plays innocent fanservice girl (or not so innocent hmm :3)

Previously:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

BAHAHAHA! Oh man, I missed this fic so much! XD

Sette gets some long overdo character development, and it's nice to see Cinque becoming the big sister she was supposed to be to her. And of course, Nove and Wendi continue to trip and stumble along through their odd relationship.

So totally worth the wait, Shiny. So totally worth it.

[Dr_Tom]

I think I may have to put a hold on reading Alternitives. All I've been thinking as I've read the last few parts is "this can't end well"

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

This is a different story then my Crisis series, where I plan to go into some backstory on the Wolkenritter and the Tome of the Night Sky. Although it can be considered a bit of a sidestory to my Crisis story.

Currently a rough draft, looking for feedback:

Spoiler for Recollections of a Lost Age, Chapter 1: Memory Reinforcement:

-snip-

Edit: Fixed up some grammar errors and made a few parts easier reading. I think that draft was a bit too rough... Oh, also would appreciate if people let me know if this section felt too long or too short. I'm trying to get a feel for a decent chapter size.

Huh, now there's an approach I hadn't thought of before. It makes sense though, a sleeper program. If Reinforce could do it, why not others as well?

Good call.

Originally Posted by TheShinySword

Hayate: Well if you want my professional opinion it would be more incest than anything.
AlternativeS!Hayate: Twincest to be precise.
Hayates: *Gasp*
Hayates: *Hand Clasp* Sister!
Fate: Oh god there's two of them!

And that is why Hayate > all.

Originally Posted by Nanya01

Spoiler for Zafira PT II:

----
-snip-

BTW, why is it that Subaru's magic style is Belkan but Mach Calibur speaks in English instead of German?

Somehow I don't think this is the last we'll see of Ginga's injury...

[Nijiru]

Originally Posted by Tempest Dynasty

Hmm.

Crossposting from OCT for anyone that cares.

Spoiler for Goodbye:

-snip-

Very nice. Touching. It also got a fic idea I've had in my head for a while unstuck, so thank you for that.

[yuiseppe]

Originally Posted by DezoPenguin

Fate: *evil grin* Personally, I just call it "a whole lot of fun."

Originally Posted by Nijiru

Incesterbation!!!

GAHAHAHHAHAHA!!

Originally Posted by TheShinySword

Hayate: Well if you want my professional opinion it would be more incest than anything.
AlternativeS!Hayate: Twincest to be precise.
Hayates: *Gasp*
Hayates: *Hand Clasp* Sister!
Fate: Oh god there's two of them!

The more Hayate, the better, I say. I'm betting Hayate would call herself 'oneesama' just for the hell of it.

As for the fic itself:

Originally Posted by Satashi

AlternativeS Chapter 1 (AS rough draft)

Spoiler for Alternatives 2-1:

I was awake before Bardiche rang out his alarm to tell me it was time to get up. In fact, I had spent the last little while staring at the ceiling of what I knew to be a forward room. Nanoha had given me my room number and Hayate set it to accept me sometime last night when I was having dinner with my friend. Although they called it a 'special room for important guests', I still couldn't help but feel awkward. Here I am, in my home base, laying in a bed that didn't belong to me. I was still slightly in shock from everything that had happened, but I knew that I had to put it behind me and look for a solution rather than mope around.

Alternatives II
By: Satashi

Fate walked down the hallway leading to Nanoha's room briskly. Having being given clothes to wear, the blonde found herself in a standard base uniform that didn't fit quite right but still felt better than her dirty enforcer attire. When she made it to Nanoha' door, she stopped herself from just entering now that she was stored in the device via password, and instead knocked.

"Come in!" A perky voice came from inside. The door swished open and Fate looked around, spying Nanoha at her tiny kitchen. "Good morning, did you sleep well?"

"No, but I rested enough." Fate told the truth, which got her a look that was mixed between sympathy and amusement. "Did you sleep okay? you didn't wake up too early did you?" The blonde smelt the freshly baked biscuits and bacon before she saw the pan on the stove and light in the oven.

"I woke up on my own, don't worry." Nanoha waved her hand over her wheelchair control orb and went to the refrigerator. "How do you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled... mind if I join in?"

"Some hostess I am, letting my guest do all the work."

"I like cooking." Fate moved by Nanoha and started cracking shells. "You want yours over easy with extra pepper, cooked in the bacon grease right?"

"That's kind of creepy." Nanoha mused, not sure if she was enjoying this or was weirded out by it. "Tell me, how did I make the biscuits?"

"If you're referring to adding in honey, I know your mother taught you to do that when you were young."

Nanoha hummed and simply watched the girl cook. "I'd really like to meet me in your world. It must be nice having someone know so much about you."

"You're about the same, from what I can tell..."

"...I'm sorry, I was being selfish. We'll get you back, don't worry. I'm sure Hayate-chan will want us to meet with her first thing this morning."

"What about your students?"

"Vita-chan can handle them for the morning lessons, this is more important. We have to get you registered while you are here so you won't be in trouble. Last night's battle will be covered by the civilian collaborator contract, but you need to be in the records for now on."

"Yeah..." Fate finished their breakfast while Nanoha removed the now cooked sides. "I just realized I won't have my rank anymore..." Her lips turned up into a small grin. "Should I salute you?" The joke made Nanoha giggle to herself and Fate took comfort in hearing the familiar sound.

Spoiler for AlternativeS 2-2:

Just as soon as the two sat down together, A beeping sound came from Nanoha's wheelchair. "Raising Heart, connect please." The command allowed a monitor to appear in front of the girl and Hayate's image formed on it almost instantly. "Good morning, Hayate-chan."

"Morning, Nanoha-chan." Hayate replied back in kind. "Could you please bring Fate-chan to my office this morning?"

"Already planning on it." Reaching up, she tiled the screen to show Fate was next to her. The blonde smiled and gave a small wave which was returned. "Do you have any idea on what could have put her here?"

Hayate shook her head. "I haven't had time to do anything other than talk to everyone in our room last night. Shamal seems to think she could have come through a dimensional rift, but the chances of that are so low its hard to believe. Anyway, I have some people on it. For now, I need her signed as a collaborator before the T.S.A.B swoop in and try to have her signed on. Is that okay, Fate-chan?"

"Yes, that is fine." Fate nodded at the screen. "Nanoha was just telling me that."

"I see," Hayate looked back over at Nanoha. "Well then, enjoy your breakfast. I'll ask Vita to train your students today for you."

"Please." The two friends nodded at each other and the communication was cut off. "See? Hayate-chan is always on top of things."

"She is." The blonde agreed and a small bit of silence passed over them as hey ate, interrupted only by raising Heart's update on the weather, Nanoha's schedule, and the sounds of utensils tapping their plates.

Once breakfast was over, the two girls headed down out to take care of their business, stopping once they reached the front door. "Raising Heart wasn't kidding when she said high chances of rain today," Nanoha mused while looking out at the drizzling rain.

"Seems so," Fate brought up Bardiche and the device answered her silent call to allow an umbrella to form, casting a translucent yellow barrier above them. "Shall we?"

Nanoha gave Fate an amused look but still allowed girl to hold the shield over them both as they walked to the adjacent building. From there they went up to Hayate's office and the blonde found herself answering questions that both made her grin and sigh out at the same time. Once the paperwork was completed Hayate gave a satisfied nod and began ushering them downstairs once more so they could go give Fate her official ranking test. Their trip was interrupted just moments after they left the main building by Lexus standing in front of them, an umbrella held over his head by none other than a reluctant looking Teana.

Lexus greeted them with a smirk and stepped forward to Fate, making Tea move along with him. "Hello there, Blondie. I did some research and it appeaser you aren't with the T.S.A.B. yet."

"I am a civilian collaborator, and don't call me Blondie." Fate frowned at him but still let her eyes drift to Tea for a brief moment.

"My assistant, Teana." Lexus pointed to the girl. "Not worth anything on the field but she's helpful when I need someone to carry something for me." His words made the girl with him bite down a growl. "Anyway, Hot Legs, why not join my battalion? I have much better resources then these clowns. What do you say?"

"My name is Fate." The woman stated firmly.

"Ooh, my destiny, I like that."

Nanoha chose that moment to interrupt. "Don't hit on my friends."

"Jealous I've never hit on you? Can't see what fun you'll be without moving your hips arou-" His words cut off when a palm connected firmly with his cheek.

"Do not address my friends in such a manor." Fate told him, voice going from her usual soft tone to holding a faint edge to it. "I won't tolerate anyone insulting people I care for."

Lexus licked his lips and looked at Fae with a new interest, left hand going to touch his slapped cheek. "I want you even more now. Have you taken your mage exam test yet?"

"I have not," Fate answered simply.

"Tell you what," stepping closer to her, he forced Teana to lean the umbrella to keep him dry, even though her back was now getting wet. "Let me review you. If I win, you join my battalion, in more ways than one."

Fate felt her body grow stiff, red tinting her cheeks when she realized what the last part meant. Despite this, she still didn't move from him, and answered back calmly. "When I win, that girl with you will join our battalion, and you will address Hayate and Nanoha by their ranks."

Lexus laughed loudly at her. "Well spoken! Fine then. Wingless, we will be using your training field. Lets go, Babe."

Fate nodded and began walking as well, ignoring the astonished look on Tea's face at her sudden involvement with people she didn't even know.

The training area, now free from its morning inhabitants, was quickly changed to form a fake city on it, leaving Fate standing on one building on the east side while Lexus was on the West. The blonde ran her thumb over Bardiche and felt her clothes shift and change around her before forming a barrier jacket to protect herself. 'I don't care if you harass me,' she thought bitterly as a monitor came up in front of her, informing her of how the ranking test would work. 'But I will never forgive anyone who insults my family or friends.'

On the sidelines, Hayate stood with crossed arms. Monitors floated all around her and a firm frown was on her face. "This isn't what I had in mind for today."

Nanoha nodded lightly, moving her hands out to make sure all the necessary information would be recorded and documented. "He is a triple-A plus mage. Fate-chan said she was S, but her performance last night would only suggest a double-A... Was she holding back so she could record for us?"

"... For her sake, I hope so..." Her eyes moved to look at Tea standing next to them. 'And why did she bet that that girl would be transferred to me...? I'm getting too laid back in my old age.' Smirking at the inside joke, Hayate finally pushed the screen to confirm the battle to start. 'Good luck, Fate-chan.'

Spoiler for Alternatives 2-3:

Fate looked out over the make-shift abandoned city from her position on top of a large office building. The screen by her stated that the test was now in progress and she gripped Bardiche a little tighter. "Bardiche?"

"Scan complete, sir." He spoke back calmly. "Enemy is across the field, coming at running speed. ETA is three minutes."

"How impatient, he should have waited for us to come to him." The blonde moved her hand out and placed several binding spells along the ground. "He isn't powerful enough to test us properly... Looks like we will have to be evaluated again once this is over."

"Sir," Bardiche's tone made Fate hesitate leaving the building. "Our situation is weird, please do not be careless."

"...You're right." Fate lifted her hand once more and focused, forming several daggers of energy around herself. "As weird as everything has been, I can not afford to be careless... Especially after he called Nanoha that."

"Yes sir."

Fate frowned to herself and leaped off the building, dropping down to the ground and darting forward. Lexus made it just as she expected and began dodging the sprung traps, twisting and jumping through the yellow binds. When the last one was sprung, his left leg was snared, making him look back in shock. Taking the opportunity, Fate engaged and swung her scythe down hard.

Lexus yelled as his barrier jacket ripped open and barely managed to block the next attack, leaving himself open for several yellow energy daggers to break his auto barrier. The male broke the bind on himself and jumped back, recollecting himself and staring at the blonde who didn't press her advantage. "What's the matter!? Scared you won't do as well after a surprise attack!?"

"Bardiche."

"Yes sir." The device was lifted and circles appeared around them, forming small darts of yellow energy that burst forth, triggering several trap spells that were placed as Lexus retreated.

"Che, you would be a smart one." Making a taunting motion, Lexus smirked at her. "I want you even more now. Tell you what, join me and I'll even let the whore come too."

"Sir." Bardiche's voice made the blonde stop before she lunged at him.

Taking a breath, Fate cooled down and spoke at the man again. "Why are you such a pervert?"

Lexus shrugged. "Guess its in my DNA." Fate twirled Bardiche and walked in a half circle on the mostly destroyed road. Lexus made the other half as they circled each other slowly. Their eyes met and each ran forward. Lexus reacted faster, drawing his device and pointing a gun at Fate and shooting. The magical bullet met it's target and hit the blonde square in the chest before ripping through her back side. "What-the!?"

Fate appeared behind the man as her after-image faded away. A small moment was taken to charge her attack before she slashed her scythe down, the blade pulsating larger than normal. As the man fell forward, Fate caught his collar and pulled him back so she could whisper into his ear firmly. "If you ever look at my wife in a perverted manor again, I won't hold back." When her words were done she let go of him and allowed him to fall onto the ground defeated.

As monitors appeared around Fate, Lexus smirked to himself through the pain in his back. 'So, she does have a weakness...'

Spoiler for AlternativeS 2-4:

~**~

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha's voice made the girl look up and smile at her.

The blonde walked up the ramp leading to the instructor observatory and stood next to Nanoha, red eyes scanning the video image feeds all around her. "Sorry for having to run earlier. Hayate needed me to fill out paperwork and schedule another testing time."

"No problem, she told me before she went to the field to get you. I had to deal with Teana's transfer anyway. Did you get an earful?"

Fate felt a small smile come to her face. "Yes, Hayate scolded me for making that deal and was going to turn it down but Lexus expelled Tea from his base."

"At least my work wasn't for nothing then. I already have her situated in my books."

Fate licked her lips as the screen came up. "Hey...can I ask a favor?"

"Mm?" Nanoha tapped the floating keyboards around herself to make the students training on the field have to swap tactics.

"Can you place Tea with Subaru?"

"Why?" Nanoha looked over at Fate curiously. "That would be a very awkward and inconvenient move for all of our parts. Subaru is a close combat mage while Teana seems to use a pistol. I need to consider Teana's points before I transfer away from where I placed her."

"...Please?"

Nanoha blinked and looked up at Fate once more. "...Why?"

"Its just... in my time, they are forwards... placed directly under your personal training. They improved more than anyone I've ever seen and... well, Tea is my partner when I go on long distance missions."

Nanoha leaned back in her wheelchair and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "The C-ranked mage you forced on me is now suddenly one of my best students who runs with a S ranked mage?"

"Yes."

"Hayate-chan was right, you're really annoying." With a grin, Nanoha glanced up at Fate before typing on her keyboards again. "However, your request will really throw me off. I can't justify this, it just doesn't make any sense."

Fate leaned against the guard rail and looked out over the training field with distant eyes. "I know the feeling."

The blue eyed girl stayed silent for a long moment before heaving out a long sigh. "Hayate-chan is going to yell at me for this."

"Thank you. I will train them myself."

"Nooooo, you're a civilian collaborator, not an instructor. Jeez, does the other Nanoha have to keep you on a leash as well?"

Fate smirked, a playful tint coming to her eyes as she turned to look over her shoulder. "Yes, yes she does."

'What have I gotten into?' Nanoha thought while tapping away on her keyboards. 'I was fine with it when she was just affecting me, but now she's barged into my work and... Maybe Hayate-chan was right, maybe she is here to throw us off balance for some reason...' Eying the blonde looking out over the field, she felt a small tear at her heart. 'But nobody can pretend to be that sad and confused... Even with that smile on her face, I can tell she is about to cry. Just like that girl so long ago, her feelings pour out through her eyes... as if she's screaming for help but can't form the words...'

"You're sighing an awful lot today," Fate told her softly before turning around completely to sit against the railing. "I'm sorry for being so selfish."

"No... I just... I don't know." Nanoha shook her head. "Fate-chan, I'm sorry but can we meet up later? I need to focus on my students."

"Yes, I'm sorry." Fate's tone turned sad almost at once.

'Aw, she probably came to me because she felt alone...' Before Nanoha could speak up again an new voice called Fate's attention.

"Fate." Signum walked to the bottom of the ramp and met the blonde's eyes. "I need you to come with me for a moment."

"Okay." walking down ramp, she gave Signum a curious look. "What is it, Signum?"

Signum stopped to get a drink from a vending machine and waved her device over it again, putting in enough credits for Fate to get one as well. "Mistress Hayate requested for me to accompany you to the bank to set up an account, as well as try and get some more information from you regarding your situation."

Fate picked her drink and smiled while bending over to get it. "You don't trust me."

"I don't."

"I understand." Fate fell into step beside her and walked along the sidewalk. "Later... Lets have a sparing match."

"Why?" Signum eyed her without turning her head.

"Because you and I both can feel someone's emotions when fighting them."

"How do you know that?"

"Because..." Fate whispered softly. "You're my role model. The one I always looked up to and sought advice from."

"... Fine, we will spar later."

"Thank you, Signum."

"Don't thank me yet." A small giggle made her look at Fate curiously. "What?"

"I'm just relieved... Everyone is the same."

"...We can get lunch while we're out too."

"Thank you."

Spoiler for AlternativeS 2-5:

~**~

"That was awkward." The understatement made Signum repress the urge to scoff at the blonde trailing her. "I'm sorry, really."

"You could have at least come up with a story before we got inside the bank." Signum spoke back flatly, clearly annoyed at the embarrassing act. "I thought Hayate and you would have surely discussed what you would put down on the paper. I'm sure Nanoha is thrilled."

"I can't help it, it was instinct!"

"Writing down that you are married and live with the top instructor on this planet isn't something that comes as instinct. You're lucky Nanoha played along with it. I'm sure you saw how embarrassed she was."

"...Yes." Fate sighed and sat in Signum's sports car, closing the door almost too softly to latch. "I've caused so much trouble since I showed up... I really don't know how to apologize for it all."

"Start by thinking more." Signum started the engine and looked over her shoulder to back out of the parking space. "Am I really your role model? I expected better."

"...You don't have to rub it in." Fate's tone made the older woman exhale a defeated breath.

"Okay... Okay, I apologize for getting upset. Don't get all whiny on me... How do I normally deal with you when you do this?"

"Honestly?" Fate inhaled deeply to calm herself down. "You ruffle my hair and tell me to get over it. If its really bad, you'll hold me and kiss my forehead."

"I wouldn't be caught kissing someone's forehead."

"I know." Fate felt a little of her energy come back. "You always hide the fact that you do it. Not even Vita knows, and you do it to her too."

Signum stiffened slightly. "That's very creepy. Knowing things about me that I do not wish you to is very unnerving."

"Yeah," Fate looked out the window. "I've been getting that all day. No matter how casual I try to be, it still freaks people out when I talk like I've known them forever... Tell me, Signum... If you were in my place, how would you handle it?"

The swordsman hesitated her response, rolling the question over in her head as she drove them down the roads in the capital. Finally, after contemplating it for several long moments, she answered. "I would tell you something that there was no way you could know unless we were as close as you say. Having people support you and take you seriously without doubt would be the best way to stay stable."

Fate nodded. "This is embarrassing."

"Say it."

"You have a cosplay fetish, and Shamal dresses you up when you make love. Hayate makes them for you, and you pose in them to satisfy her and not let her know what you two do with them... Also, you-"

"Okay!" Signum interrupted her, cheeks splashed red. "Did you have to pick something sexual? Why not say something simple like..."

"You have a mole on your inner thigh that looks like a star? Because anyone who bathes with you would know that."

"...You impress me." Signum nodded to herself. "But might I ask... How did you get that information?"

Fate grimaced. "When we were younger I caught you two doing it several times but I never understood it until after Nanoha and I made love the first time when we were sixteen... I couldn't look at you in the face for weeks."

"So we don't...?"

"No!" Fate almost shrieked, blushing herself now. "I'm dedicated to Nanoha! Fully!"

"Good..." Signum felt a small grin come to her face. "Well then, Fate, how do you feel now?"

"...Better." Looking at her lap, she played with her fingers. "I'm sure you will understand more when we spar tonight but... I'm glad you gave me a chance. I don't like it when you don't trust me."

"We'll discuss that topic more over lunch, where do you want to eat?"

"Well Fuji's isn't open yet so....."

"Fuji's?"

"Yes?" Fate thought about the bar. "Oh... That's right, I directly had an impact on that place... Since Nanoha isn't an Ace and I wasn't there to find it... Kuhn couldn't have opened his bar." Groaning, the blonde leaned back in her seat. "I don't know then, you pick."

"Okay." The woman flicked her wrist and turned on the car's blinker, moving over to take a turn. "I know a good place."

~**~

Hayate looked up from her monitor when a knock came at her office door. "Come in." Her words granted Fate access and she smiled at the woman walking up to her. "Ah, special collaborator Fate." Standing, she walked over to the front of her desk and saluted. "Allow me to officially welcome you to my base."

"Thank you," Fate saluted back before getting casual. "I'll do anything I can to help while I'm here. Thank you again for helping me as well."

"I have people on your case already, investigating where you woke up and searching for anything that could be related. We don't have much to work with so the best I can say is that I'll contact you the moment we find out anything."

"Thank you." Fate smiled lightly. "I really appreciate this, Hayate."

The shorter girl leaned forward, inspecting the cut on Fate's cheek. "What happened to you?"

"Signum got a lick in." rubbing the spot lightly, she smiled. "We had a little sparring match."

"As long as you don't get hurt. Do you need to go to Shamal?"

Fate shook her head. "I just need a bath. By the way, could I get a small advance on my pay? I need to buy a few things while I'm here."

"I'm sorry, but you're only stationed here. I don't have any control over you except for your duties. Your pay comes from the T.S.A.B directly. I can loan you some of mine though."

"Ah, I'd feel bad... Maybe I can just borrow some clothes from Nanoha until I get my first check."

"If you change your mind, don't hesitate. By the way, did you really put down Nanoha as your wife on the bank application?" The embarrassed look on the girl's face made Hayate put a hand on her hip. "I'm sure Nanoha won't mind, but please don't get her upset okay?"

"I won't."

"Nanoha is... very weird in that area." Hayate thought about how to word what she was thinking. All the time growing up she felt like she wasn't part of her family. Same with the times I've known her as well. People love her, I love her, but she has never truely felt love before. You know what I mean?"

"She desperatly wants someone to be in love with her. I know, she was like that with me as well."

"But you were there... you weren't for my Nanoha. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Fate nodded. "I love my Nanoha. I would never cheat on her, even if its with the same girl in another time line. She is Nanoha, but she's not my Nanoha."

Hayate smiled and gave a relieved chuckle. "Thank you, that makes me feel so much better. I was worried that when you left... it might hurt her."

Fate started walking with Hayate as she closed down her office and walked towards the door. "Don't worry, I don't think she'd fall for me that easily. Nanoha and I danced around each other for years before we started dating. In fact, it was you who brought us together."

"Really?" She tilted her head curiously.

"It was at a sleep over, you dared her to ask out her crush to the dance at school. You got her phone and called her crush and... my phone rang. I remember looking at it and slowly picking it up. I brought it to my ear and looked at Nanoha, who quickly turned away from me and looked down at her lap... Then she meekly told me hello and asked if I had a date yet. It was the cutest thing you would have ever seen. I thought she would pass out, her ears were so red."

With a giggle, Hayate shook her head. "That would be so amusing. Nanoha is so independent it is hard to imagine her all shy blushy."

"Blushy? Is that a word?"

"Its a technical term." Hayate smiled as they walked to the residential area. "Nanoha normally takes a bath in her room so I'm sure she won't mind you taking one there as well. She doesn't like people offering to help her, gets really touchy about it."

"Sounds like her."

"I know, right? One time I offered to carry her to the bathtub and she got really upset. She never lets anyone carry her anywhere, its like her pet peeve."

"Really?" Fate stopped walking and looked at her with a confused look. "I carried her to bed last night and she seemed rather pleased."

"You carried her?" Hayate shook her head. "No, no, nobody carries Nanoha. They would lose their arms."

Fate scratched her head before placing her hand on her hip. "Odd, maybe she was just too tired to say anything."

"Must have been being polite," Hayate agreed. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," Fate nodded and left the elevator once it was on her floor. The short walk was made and she found herself standing in front of Nanoha's door. 'I hope she isn't upset about earlier...' Taking a breath to steady herself, Fate knocked on the door leading into Nanoha's loft. A call from inside bade her entrance and she made her way into the overly large room. "I'm back," she called testingly, seeing Nanoha move over from behind the kitchen cabinets and face her.

"Welcome back," Nanoha smiled in greeting "So, you're registered here, miss Takamachi?"

"I... didn't mean for it to turn out that way. I'm sorry..."

"I don't mind." Nanoha mused, turning her chair around and going back to the kitchen to finish preparing her drink. "You could have told me beforehand, though. I was contacted in front of all my students as I was dismissing them. Now they are all asking me weird questions."

"I'm sorry..." Fate looked down.

"Don't get all pouty on me. Like I said, I don't mind. I'm your wife after all, that's kind of neat. I've never even been on a date and now I have a wife. I should call my parents."

"Nanoha!" Fate felt herself blushing, a fact that the girl didn't miss. "A-anyway, um..."

"Make yourself at home. Want anything to eat or drink?"

"Uhm, a drink would be nice."

Nanoha smiled. "What would you like?"

"Don't suppose you have scotch?" The girl cocked an eyebrow at her. "I don't drink often, but I could use something to mellow me down right now."

"Sorry, don't have any. I have some frozen daiquiri mix and some rum?"

"Thanks but I can't handle the sweetness." Fate moved to the large couch and fell down on it.

Nanoha moved over to her and lifted her arms. The wheelchair shifted and two bars came out for her to grab, allowing the girl to easily move so she was sitting on the couch as well. "So," Once she was set, the wheelchair moved away from them. "Other than looking like a nervous wreck, how was your day?"

"Bad... Good... I'm not sure." Looking down, Fate moved her hands out in a helpless gesture. "I mean, everything is going okay and my day wasn't really that bad, it's just..."

"You're not where you want to be."

"Yeah... which is weird, because this is exactly where I want to be."

"Tell me," Nanoha picked up a pillow from the couch and sat it on her lap. "What do I normally do when you're upset?"

"Rub my back and make advances on me." Fate smiled at the thought. "You're really physical. I remember you telling me that you couldn't express how you felt with words so you tried to do it in a way that would show me."

"Wow, that's interesting." Nanoha leaned forward to make Fate look at her. "So a massage?"

"I- I couldn't-"

"Its okay, you're my wife after all." Nanoha laughed at the statement. "That's so weird to say, I like it. Come on, lets go upstairs and I'll rub your back. Its the least I can do for you fighting for me this morning. Besides, I heard what you said to Lexus."

"A-Ah, that was... Just instinct."

Nanoha smiled more, asking a question fondly. "Am I always in your instinct?"

"...Yeah, you could say that. Not a day goes by without me thinking about Nanoha."

The girl leaned to Fate more. "Then let me help you out for a change. Lets go upstairs... Carry me?"

Fate hesitated, blinking at the innocent eyes gazing at her.

*I* wanted to interrupt Fate from picking the worse from her Closet of Signum's Secrets (tm). Poor choice :P That's probably not something Fate should know even if she was close with Signum (I can't imagine Signum telling Fate any of that), so it only helps to paint Fate as a freaky omnipresent perv. Granted, you can argue that Fate wouldn't have had the chance to walk in on the 2 Wolkies unless she was close to them, but it's still probably not what you'd say to gain a good impression. Felt like fanservice was forced there.

Oh, and reocurring spelling mistake that cropped up in the previous 2 chapters: manner, not manor.

Originally Posted by TheShinySword

BWAHAHAHAHA

After a long Haitus. It returns! the Epic thriller of Jail's innocent and pure first love!

(Disclaimer: The following part does not actually include Jail)

Spoiler for Someone for Everyone part 12:

… a position worse than before. Nove was stuck on her back... and Wendi was straddling her. Nove's eye twitched. No way. No friggin' way. She reared up her head and smacked it against the ground, successfully knocking herself out cold.

Spoiler for A/N:

I totally had to google, "How to make tea". orz

*throws tea at Shiny* Can't believe you had to google the tea making process!
I'm actually growing fond of Cinque - honestly I did not care for the Numbers at all during Strikers. It wasn't just because they were named after numbers (at least they managed to pinned that on Jail's lack of creativity/care), but rather it seemed like the Numbers were spawned just for the sake of covering every character cliche and fetish out there.

And lol @ Nove's act of desperation.

[XenahortCharybdis]

Originally Posted by Tempest Dynasty

Hmm.

Crossposting from OCT for anyone that cares.

Spoiler for Goodbye:

*snippety snappety*

Anyone that cares - oh, how you hurt me so.

A touching short of Noland revisiting a past long ended (like most of your emoshorts, the form is pretty fair)...

...And how can it be, that a knight of the Saint Kaiser still mourns for his lost family after so many years? O good knight...

For kings we mourn a summer,
For heroes grieve a year
But mourning left from kin bereft
Shall aught but disappear.

...But on from the brevous leaden weights...oh, ho, what have we there? I wonder, what was Kaon expecting from Noland, then, if not simply assent to dine?

Originally Posted by Tempest Dynasty

Spoiler for Extra?:

*ONORE TEMPEST!!!!*

Somehow I was expecting this to happen...

...and the story goes on.

Originally Posted by TheShinySword

BWAHAHAHAHA

After a long Haitus. It returns! the Epic thriller of Jail's innocent and pure first love!

(Disclaimer: The following part does not actually include Jail)

Spoiler for Someone for Everyone part 12:

*snipsnapsnipsnap*

Four Things To Do Before You Read What's In The Spoiler Tags:

1. Please check the spelling of the first few lines of your post
2. Note this: No Jail, No Problem, Will Travel!
3. I think you requested this before - I shall oblige: I HATE YOU.
4. And Welcome Back to the show.

Spoiler for nwcnebuchadnezzar:

Alright. Pretty entertaining addition to your series. I see you put the Sette-centric short to some use at least (even if it was in infinitesmally insignificant dribbles).

Cinque's one of the stiffs herself, but at least she's someone you can call a 'sister'. Her method was fairly unique...it kind of 'feels' like something she'd do, discreet and civilized - instead of the usual over-the-top stuff. Well, as they say, a mature woman always acts differently. *cough*

And just when I thought I knew the vocabulary game well, it took me about half a second to realize that indubitably was not a spelling error - I'd used it myself somewhere else, and happened to forget it. And then you came along...

...and back to the scene, enough of the cheesy talk~

It's a pretty cute scene, to be honest, even though they -as you would know- aren't really the number one candidates for cute scenes (EVEN THOUGH I THINK ONE-EYED MOE IS GOOD MOE, WHO'S WITH ME? I WANTZ MOAR DELISHUZ CINQUE-NEE.) The conversation goes pretty well, and there's some undertones of...oh nevermind-

-and then the next scene kind of ruins the nice, quaint and quiet feel...it's like having a nice cup of tea, and then suddenly having Chilli Con Carne, seven beers and a recording of 'Mambo Number Five' force-fed down your throat. Or "Macarena". Or "Speedy Gonzalez". Heck, maybe all three. Whatever.

Basically, the last scene is pretty out of whack when you put it together with the first two. Call it CD, contrast, juxtaposition, culture shock...anything, but well if the incident was going to be awkward, it could be made to be less awkward in the context in the light of the whole part, and just awkward in terms of their relationship. As it is, it's like fanservice in Saki without the SUPAH MAHJONG POWAHS.

Some awkward sentence structure here and there noted. Not much, but stuff like 'she felt pity for the unfeeling things' feel like you were feeling some lack of feelings for the feel of the 'feeling'. This in vaguely understandable English refers to my observation that it could have been better put. But that's an irregularity, I suppose?

And that's about it.

A sleeping serpent, just passing through, punctuating those slothful, unproductive naps with yawns like this one...

Originally Posted by Kaijo

This is a different story then my Crisis series, where I plan to go into some backstory on the Wolkenritter and the Tome of the Night Sky. Although it can be considered a bit of a sidestory to my Crisis story.

Currently a rough draft, looking for feedback:

Spoiler for Recollections of a Lost Age, Chapter 1: Memory Reinforcement:

Recollections of a Lost Age
Chapter 1: Memory Reinforcement

*Snip*

Oh, this is fine by me. I've seen chapters anywhere from 1000 to 16 000 words in length.

Interesting Mind Trip is Interesting. About writing bits of the history of the Tome of the Night Sky, though, asking a certain Nightengale might help you formulate 'em ideas.

First off...you're not making Reinforce...a TRAP, are you? For if you do...prepare to die, heretic.

Alright, I was kidding.

You want feedback?

Aye, Luigi, that's one Frickin' Freakily Fast n Furious Flummoxing Feedback - Fabolously Fun-Sized...(Though I'm hard up on time here, let's see what I can say.)

Spoiler for nwcavertingyoureyes:

It's a pretty novel concept. I quite like it, and like I said earlier, my problem is not really with the length of it. The writing's fairly alright too, though in some places the pacing is a little clunky...I'll just cite the ending as an example:

"The Belkan mage froze, noticing for the first time the golden locket around his neck, that his previously crossed arms were hiding.

The shining surface held the symbol of Rein's Azure Sky Tome on it."

The last line does not...so to speak, have impact as the final line of the chapter, and that lack of a punch/kick is accentuated by the fact that it follows what should be the leadup to a serious "Um, WHAT?!" moment, thus ensuring that the text as a whole ends on a whimper instead of "Wait just a damn minute there, what the hell was that" which is probably in all sense more befitting of a revelation like this one.

I'll kind of do a rushjob of an edit, just for reference, take it, leave it, or...actually, it's just take it, reference it or leave it.

"The Belkan mage froze, noticing for the first time the golden locket around his neck, that his previously crossed arms were hiding.

Behind the obscuring reflection, a cross on a circlet, glinting softly against a blue backdrop.

The Mark of the Azure Sky Tome."

Or something like that...oh well, humdeedum, moving on...

Rather, I think perhaps that you're revealing too much at one shot. Like for example, if you want the old dude to play any larger a role in the story (unless you don't want to) than the length of this chapter, then an almost absolute no-no is to reveal his backstory, background, and even drop a hint about Reinforce...all in the first chapter.

Unless he's lying - which to be honest I don't think you meant for him to. Am I wrong?

My advice - take it easy, and pace your development so you don't run out of ammo by chapter...2, 3 or something that you may find too early for your tastes. We like our revelations piecemeal here, like they do everywhere else except Wall Street This is especially important since you want to cover all the Wolkenritter in like...6 chapters? I think that's a little too little, but I'll see how you handle it. It could work.

And that's about all from me.

Minor Comment: Is Diabolic Emission really what she should be preparing in an enclosed environment? Sounds like a waste of a good AoE Wide Area Spell to me, really, and it isn't really her best move at mano-a-mano combat...

And it's Zafira, not Zafiras.

[TheShinySword]

Originally Posted by XenahortCharybdis

Four Things To Do Before You Read What's In The Spoiler Tags:

1. Please check the spelling of the first few lines of your post
2. Note this: No Jail, No Problem, Will Travel!
3. I think you requested this before - I shall oblige: I HATE YOU.
4. And Welcome Back to the show.

Spoiler for nwcnebuchadnezzar:

Alright. Pretty entertaining addition to your series. I see you put the Sette-centric short to some use at least (even if it was in infinitesmally insignificant dribbles).

Cinque's one of the stiffs herself, but at least she's someone you can call a 'sister'. Her method was fairly unique...it kind of 'feels' like something she'd do, discreet and civilized - instead of the usual over-the-top stuff. Well, as they say, a mature woman always acts differently. *cough*

And just when I thought I knew the vocabulary game well, it took me about half a second to realize that indubitably was not a spelling error - I'd used it myself somewhere else, and happened to forget it. And then you came along...

...and back to the scene, enough of the cheesy talk~

It's a pretty cute scene, to be honest, even though they -as you would know- aren't really the number one candidates for cute scenes (EVEN THOUGH I THINK ONE-EYED MOE IS GOOD MOE, WHO'S WITH ME? I WANTZ MOAR DELISHUZ CINQUE-NEE.) The conversation goes pretty well, and there's some undertones of...oh nevermind-

-and then the next scene kind of ruins the nice, quaint and quiet feel...it's like having a nice cup of tea, and then suddenly having Chilli Con Carne, seven beers and a recording of 'Mambo Number Five' force-fed down your throat. Or "Macarena". Or "Speedy Gonzalez". Heck, maybe all three. Whatever.

Basically, the last scene is pretty out of whack when you put it together with the first two. Call it CD, contrast, juxtaposition, culture shock...anything, but well if the incident was going to be awkward, it could be made to be less awkward in the context in the light of the whole part, and just awkward in terms of their relationship. As it is, it's like fanservice in Saki without the SUPAH MAHJONG POWAHS.

Some awkward sentence structure here and there noted. Not much, but stuff like 'she felt pity for the unfeeling things' feel like you were feeling some lack of feelings for the feel of the 'feeling'. This in vaguely understandable English refers to my observation that it could have been better put. But that's an irregularity, I suppose?

And that's about it.

A sleeping serpent, just passing through, punctuating those slothful, unproductive naps with yawns like this one...

1. When I write at 3 AM my grammar goes out the window (alas I write my best content at 3 AM. So I'm ignoring all grammar and structure problems as actual grammar and structure problems and just things to be fixed up.

Spoiler for Response:

Dude. You didn't know the word indubitably seriously Xena you just lost a lot of points for that. You, King of the pointlessly complicated paragraphs, may just have lost your title. I can accept that from someone else but *sigh* tsk tsk tsk.

BTW you want to know why I remember that word~~

Do you really want to know~~~

Sure~~


It's in the song supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins. :3
It has forever sunk into my brain.


don't have much more to say, to be honest it's pretty hard to get what you're trying to say but I'll try to take it all into consideration in the final draft.

[Satashi]

Originally Posted by Dr_Tom

I think I may have to put a hold on reading Alternitives. All I've been thinking as I've read the last few parts is "this can't end well"

In a bad way?

Originally Posted by yuiseppe

*I* wanted to interrupt Fate from picking the worse from her Closet of Signum's Secrets (tm). Poor choice :P That's probably not something Fate should know even if she was close with Signum (I can't imagine Signum telling Fate any of that), so it only helps to paint Fate as a freaky omnipresent perv. Granted, you can argue that Fate wouldn't have had the chance to walk in on the 2 Wolkies unless she was close to them, but it's still probably not what you'd say to gain a good impression. Felt like fanservice was forced there.

Oh, and reocurring spelling mistake that cropped up in the previous 2 chapters: manner, not manor.

I couldn't think of anything else to put there Seems like others liked it so I'm not really concerened it took away from the story much. As for Fate knowing, she said she caught them a few times but never understood what was going on until she was older. Which means it was probably Signum and Shamal "babysitting" Fate when it happened. Besides, Signum asked for something that nobody else could know, and that generally implies the love life.

Manner, manor....... ugh. I hate that word.

[Alavon]

Well...I just uploaded Animal Instincts chapter 2 on ff.net if anyone is interested... :3

*sits back reading a newspaper while waiting patiently for Satashi's AlternativeS update*

[DezoPenguin]

Originally Posted by TheShinySword

BWAHAHAHAHA

After a long Haitus. It returns! the Epic thriller of Jail's innocent and pure first love!

(Disclaimer: The following part does not actually include Jail)

Spoiler for Someone for Everyone part 12:

*snip*

Spoiler for A/N:

I totally had to google, "How to make tea". orz

For a part that took so long to write it isn't very long, or in depth, or fancy. Actually that month was spent primarily on those opening 4 paragraphs because that's all I could get down for the longest time.

The Nove/Wendi scene at the end was completely different originally, but I scrapped that scene (saved it for later) and replaced it with some lulz. Poor poor Nove, girl had to knock her self out to get away from it all while Wendi plays innocent fanservice girl (or not so innocent hmm :3)

Previously:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

SHINY!

Short chapter but good! Sette's developing humanity could take a whole story all by itself; it's nice to see Cinque being a good sister and trying to help her expand her existence beyond combat training (which could be rather important. After all, if Jail is going to be retiring from the Evil Mad Scientist routine, he's not going to need combat cyborgs who don't know how to be useful around the house. Wendi and Nove can provide hours of entertainment as they stumble through their budding romance, but we don't want to have to trade Sette to JAIL for a minion to be named later.

The way you wrote the Nove/Wendi scene, it almost seemed as if Nove's budding affection for Wendi was a computer virus steadily affecting certain of her subsystems one by one...

MORE!!

[RadiantBeam]

...

Well, this is awkward.

Okay, so... I've actually been thinking about this for quite awhile, but some things happened last night that, for me, confirmed that this is something I have to do, at least for the moment. Because if I don't do this, then I might do something I regret, and I don't want to do that.

Basically, I'm taking a little break from writing. I just... I can't do it, not right now. It's not a matter of time, my spark has just.... gone out. Died. For the first time, I don't want to write anything, not even little shorts. So, as of right now, BtBR, "Sisters", and my ViCia series are officially on hold until I can step back and figure out what the hell's going on with me.

As for "Day", well, that's something I have to discuss with Nanya, because it isn't fair to him for us to put the series on hiatus just because I'm going through a bit of a mental breakdown right now. I know you can't force writing, but at the same time, it isn't fair to him or to the people who like "Day" for me to just drop it because of personal issues, so... I'll talk to him about it and see what he has to say.

This is only temporary. I know I'll definitely write again. I just don't know when, because... my spark is gone, and nothing I've tried can get it lit again, not right now.

I'm really sorry about this. I know I'm letting a lot of people down...

[Satashi]

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

...

Well, this is awkward.

Okay, so... I've actually been thinking about this for quite awhile, but some things happened last night that, for me, confirmed that this is something I have to do, at least for the moment. Because if I don't do this, then I might do something I regret, and I don't want to do that.

Basically, I'm taking a little break from writing. I just... I can't do it, not right now. It's not a matter of time, my spark has just.... gone out. Died. For the first time, I don't want to write anything, not even little shorts. So, as of right now, BtBR, "Sisters", and my ViCia series are officially on hold until I can step back and figure out what the hell's going on with me.

As for "Day", well, that's something I have to discuss with Nanya, because it isn't fair to him for us to put the series on hiatus just because I'm going through a bit of a mental breakdown right now. I know you can't force writing, but at the same time, it isn't fair to him or to the people who like "Day" for me to just drop it because of personal issues, so... I'll talk to him about it and see what he has to say.

This is only temporary. I know I'll definitely write again. I just don't know when, because... my spark is gone, and nothing I've tried can get it lit again, not right now.

I'm really sorry about this. I know I'm letting a lot of people down...

I know the feeling, as its happened to me before. I'm sure everyone respects your decision as well :3 I hope whatever is holding you back leaves soon. If I can help in any way, I'm just a PM away ^_^

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

You've burned yourself out from the sounds of things.
Looking at your project set, you have four differrent projects going on at the same time. Believe it or not, that's a LOT of thinking.

Mental exhaustion takes its toll.

So relax for a few weeks and let your mind sort itself out.
I do this on a regular basis really. I'll hit this roadblock where it's not a matter of inspiration, but a matter of motivation.
All you want to do is vegiate.

I've noticed that for me, it tends to synch with the lunar cycle. I get my most motivated in the days leading up to the full moon and then right after it I burn out and go down for a week or two. Sometimes I really burn out and go down for months.

No biggy. Creative work is not something that should be rushed.

[TheShinySword]

Psst don't worry about it. My spark comes and goes like a bipolar monkey. You just take your time gettin' your stuff together then write some more if ya feel like it. I'm here too if ya ever need to talk.

[Rising Dragon]

We're only human, so we can't fault you for getting worn out. I think everyone in this thread's experienced such a thing.