Me too, besides Vivio/Syn and that's just 'cause at the time, Vivio had no friends to fall for that wouldn't fall under the squirk category @_@
Eh, for something like that, I'd have to say "Well why did you have to pair Vivio with anyone at all?" Of course "Because I wanted to" is a perfectly acceptable answer. But still, even though I do like challenging myself by making pairings between loosely related characters work, I don't feel that everyone needs to be paired with some one.
On the topic of OCs, I'm pretty ambivalent towards them. I do mostly pass over fics that use OCs in main character capacities, though. I fell in love with the characters from the show, so when I go read fanfiction I want to read the adventures of those characters.
Of course OCs have their uses, but they shouldn't take away from the show characters. To use an example from my own works, my Ace Enforcer series has a large number of OCs, but that's because it's a mystery fic, so I need witnesses, victims, culprits, etc, and I can't really use established characters from the show to fit those roles. However, the story is still about Fate (and to a lesser extent, Teana and Shari).
OC villains are a different story, though. Since any villains from the show are otherwise disposed, you have no choice but to make up your own if you want an evil for Nanoha and co to fight. But in this case I think its best to have a villain grounded in the universe. Instead of creating a brand new evil organization or what have you, make them a corrupt member of the TSAB, or Precia's former assistant or something. Volvo, my original villain from my Rise of the Daemon Kaiser fic has deep ties to Vivio's genetic source, and was sealed away under the Cradle.
So to sum it up, I think OCs should be used only when there is no canon character who can fill the same role. In such case, it's important they fit into the universe and not take focus away from the established characters.
Of course you can just throw all that out the window if it gets in the way of you having fun. Enjoying your writing is the most important thing, I think.
So to sum it up, I think OCs should be used only when there is no canon character who can fill the same role. In such case, it's important they fit into the universe and not take focus away from the established characters.
Hayate grimaced as she blocked an attack and countered with one of her own. The blast sent her sailing backwards a few feet and she skidded slightly before stopping. In front of her stood three people with a male who was no older than ten keeping the lead. He wore fire red armor on his body that reflected the light brightly as flames flickered off of the metal. A helmet covered his head and the upper half of his face, angling down just over his eyes. Behind him two young girls stood, one with flowing purple hair and the other with short pink strands. "The trio, huh?" Hayate mused while staying on alert for surprise attacks. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"We just want the relics," the pink haired girl told Hayate lightly. "Please let us take them without a battle."
Hayate smiled at her. "Sorry little girl, I can't allow that."
"Hayate!" Fate landed next to the girl with a small crouch before standing and looking at the people in front of her. "Erio, Caro, Lutecia?" The two girls looked at her curiously while the male smiled. "What are you three doing?"
"We," Erio spoke for the group, "are trying to reclaim the relics that were stolen from us."
Fate walked forward, ignoring the fact that the two summoners went on guard. "Ifrit...You shouldn't have him yet."
Caro looked shocked but Erio just smiled more. "You know a lot about my armor."
"I do," Fate told him softly. "Erio, why are you working for Jail?"
"I'm not," He told her simply. "Jail helped me and my friends in the past. Right now he assist us and we assist him when needed. You could call it a mutual understanding."
Fate looked back at the girls. "Caro, Lutecia, same with you?"
The purple haired one spoke first. "How do you know our names?"
Fate thought about answering honestly but chose not to. "I read reports. My name is Fate."
"Well then, Fate-san," Caro voiced, holding up her left hand. "May I request the relics that were taken from us?"
"I'm sorry, I can't allow-"
Caro nodded, the gem on her hand glowing. "Ifrit, please."
Erio's armor suddenly flared to life with fire, making Fate take a few steps back from them. "Well then," Erio smirked, reading his spear type weapon. "We will be taking what's ours back if you don't mind."
~**~
"Nanoha!" Vice's voice made the woman in the helicopter quickly turn from Vivio to look at the pilot's seat. "We have a magic signal from a rooftop three hundred yards from here!"
"A charge attack!?"
"Think so, can you block it? I'm going to try and lose the lock!" Vice shifted the aircraft to the side harshly.
Nanoha grimaced and slid the belts on the seat holding Vivio, frowning as the small girl winced in her sleep at being restrained. "Sorry Vivio, but you have to be safe." With one more fast check of her passenger, Nanoha moved to the side of the helicopter. "Raising Heart?"
"Yes, my master." The wheelchair moved on its own, locking in place on the floor as it moved downward and to the side to form a small torrent. The metal on the helicopter shifted and formed a glass shield to block the wind.
Nanoha scanned the area and saw the ball of glowing energy on top of a building close to them. Her hand raised and her blue eyes focused hard, forming several layers of barriers out in front of herself. The pink magical circles followed her hand, each one growing thicker and thicker with each passing second. Moments passed and the blast was fired,crashing through several of the barriers and closing in on the aircraft. "Vice, brace for impact!"
The last shield managed to stop the attack but the force made the chopper spin a moment before starting to stabilize. "Go back!" Nanoha commanded, putting her hand out again and forming a circle to materialize several magenta balls of energy. "I can get them!"
Vice grimaced. "No can do, the attack scrambled my equipment. I need to pull us before another one stops it all together. We can't risk it with a civilian on board!"
"Dang it..." Nanoha growled and glared at the building, sending her attacks to distract them so they could get away. "You're right, retreat for now." Her hands moved over her armrest of her wheelchair and two monitors appeared before her. "Subaru, Teana, what is your location?"
Teana answered first, obviously running down a street. "We're a little bit ahead of your chopper, heading to the building!"
Nanoha smiled. "Good. Engage and restrain the tar-" Her words stopped when the people on the building leapt off, falling to the top of another office before seemingly disappearing into it. "What in the...?"
"Nanoha-san?" Subaru asked curiously.
"...Never mind, the two are off my radar and out of visual..." Nanoha looked at the building once more before allowing herself to be pulled back into the main hold of their aircraft. "Teana, Subaru, we are going to make a landing nearby, meet us at these coordinates; we have precious cargo on board."
"Ma'am!"
~**~
"Erio-kun!" Caro's voice made the boy fighting Fate jump back to land near her. "I just got contact from our friends, they had to retreat after their attack failed. Requesting our assistance, they found what we're after."
"Right." Erio spun his spear and met Fate's eyes, wiping a streak of blood from a cut on his cheek. "Nice playing with you Fate. We have to go now."
Fate put a hand on Hayate's shoulder when she moved forward to keep them engaged in combat. "Right."
Lutecia hummed, glancing over at them, before smiling. With a small wave, she stood between the two people and formed a magical circle. Seconds later and they vanished from site.
"Fate-chan!?"
Fate twirled her cloak and slapped away something on her uniform before reaching out and grabbing a buzzing insect in her hand. "They're going to track us using this. With it, we can lure them anywhere we want to continue this fight. Right now, we need to get the relics Vivio lost in the sewer. Can you deploy Nanoha's students that are in the city to search for them?"
Hayate stared at the blonde for several long moments before she grinned proudly. "Well thought out. I'm impressed." Fate nodded at her and formed a containment unit for Lutecia's insect, placing it inside and sealing it.
So to sum it up, I think OCs should be used only when there is no canon character who can fill the same role. In such case, it's important they fit into the universe and not take focus away from the established characters.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RadiantBeam
Why didn't I meet you sooner?
Great, another reason to hate my Nano. As if I needed another thing preventing me from writing this November.
I personally run on the "CCxCC and OCxOC only" policy, but it's a free world. Some might disapprove of what you do but hey, it's fanfiction, the home to the most fanatical creatures I've seen. Write what you want, kick the fanatics to the curve, but just heed the possible critique from everyone else regarding canon and small details that might just give your fic that little edge. Now I do not actually read anything here, except certain ones, but I wouldn't have a problem with that fic of yours if I did read.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Satashi
Me too, besides Vivio/Syn and that's just 'cause at the time, Vivio had no friends to fall for that wouldn't fall under the squirk category @_@
This is also the policy I go with, with regard to romance. "Oh, let's bring in a new character and have them hook up romantically with my favorite canon character!" is the basic structure of most Author Insert Mary Sue fics. Thus any fic with a CCxOC romance will immediately have to overcome that presumption. Particularly in a still-ongoing series, where getting Nerfed by Canon will be inevitable for a CCxOC romance fic, which is another reason all on its own to avoid them; it's one thing for a "completed" series but, for example, one could write a fic where Nanoha met a boyfriend...or girlfriend...one year after StrikerS and then...whoops, there she is raising Vivio with Fate-mama in ViVid, no sign of any outside lover...
(Of course, that's a risk anyway...I'm part of a whole cottage industry of "When Vivio Grows Up!" fics that got nerfed by ViVid, but I digress...)
Probably that's the biggest stumbling block for any CCxOC romance for me, honestly. You could write a truly wonderful romance, introducing a well-drawn, three-dimensional character who gets together with a canon character in a natural and organic manner, but from the moment you pick up the fic you know it's an Alternate Universe setting because of the romance!! And the first question that comes to me is, "Why? Why spend all the effort on that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by 00-Raiser
Eh, for something like that, I'd have to say "Well why did you have to pair Vivio with anyone at all?" Of course "Because I wanted to" is a perfectly acceptable answer. But still, even though I do like challenging myself by making pairings between loosely related characters work, I don't feel that everyone needs to be paired with some one.
More like, "Romance/relationship fics are what Satashi writes, and Satashi likes Vivio and wanted to write about her," I suspect. Moreover, Satashi had already paired (trioed) off Erio, Caro, and Lutecia together in his/her 6th Division stories and so had basically used up Vivio's entire generation of known characters. My Vivio fics lack romance because, well, romance is not the first thing I write about.
I do, however, agree with you generally on the topic: there's a lot more to write about out there than romance. Indeed, the Nanoha franchise features plenty of ship-tease, but zero romance in its actual plots.
Quote:
On the topic of OCs, I'm pretty ambivalent towards them. I do mostly pass over fics that use OCs in main character capacities, though. I fell in love with the characters from the show, so when I go read fanfiction I want to read the adventures of those characters.
Of course OCs have their uses, but they shouldn't take away from the show characters. To use an example from my own works, my Ace Enforcer series has a large number of OCs, but that's because it's a mystery fic, so I need witnesses, victims, culprits, etc, and I can't really use established characters from the show to fit those roles. However, the story is still about Fate (and to a lesser extent, Teana and Shari).
OC villains are a different story, though. Since any villains from the show are otherwise disposed, you have no choice but to make up your own if you want an evil for Nanoha and co to fight. But in this case I think its best to have a villain grounded in the universe. Instead of creating a brand new evil organization or what have you, make them a corrupt member of the TSAB, or Precia's former assistant or something. Volvo, my original villain from my Rise of the Daemon Kaiser fic has deep ties to Vivio's genetic source, and was sealed away under the Cradle.
So to sum it up, I think OCs should be used only when there is no canon character who can fill the same role. In such case, it's important they fit into the universe and not take focus away from the established characters.
I find this to be an entirely subjective point, which is dependent on a major question: why are you writing this fanfic within this canon source?
If the attraction of the canon is the characters, then yes, what you say is true.
On the other hand, if it's the universe/setting of the story that's interesting and attractive to you, that's a different story. In that case, then the canon represents the adventures of Canon Characters in that universe, and the fic represents the adventures of...someone else.
For example, I've written a Phantasy Star II full-length novel fic which doesn't have one single canon character in it. I just happen to like the setting of the Algo System and the mix of magic and fantasy elements with sci-fi technology and cyberpunk dystopia worked well with the plot. The big surprise there is that anybody cared and that it was well-received within the fandom at the time.
That's sort of the raison d'etre of the OC thread, after all: for people to come up with their own original characters and concepts that fit within the canon universe.
So the question really is--why are you writing this fic? What is it you like about this franchise?
I'd also like to point out that there is a subtle difference between having an OC where there's another, canon character who could fill the role, and having an OC who usurps a canon character's role.
For example: There are presumably a lot of Enforcers running around within the TSAB. So maybe you want to write a Lost Logia-based mystery/suspense thriller kind of story. You could use Fate or Teana or Ginga as the main character for that. But you might also use someone else, especially since that gives you the freedom to have the investigating Enforcer get killed or get possessed or turn out to be guilty without messing with canon (that matters to me, though it may not to other people--I enjoy the fics I write and the fics I read to either be as close to canon as possible or to be completely AU).
On the other hand, an OC who's a better trainer than Nanoha, or who has more raw magical power (unless a villain--see above) than Hayate, or who exists only to be a moeblob team mascot, or who's a Device Meister for the other canon heroes...well, these are people who are surpassing/usurping the in-canon jobs of the existing characters.
The difference is, a fic which is merely OC-based will generate disinterest on the part of fans who are there for the sake of the characters ("Vivio is a neat character! I want to read more about her, not some OC."), but a fic with OC usurpers will generate anger.
Quote:
Of course you can just throw all that out the window if it gets in the way of you having fun. Enjoying your writing is the most important thing, I think.
This is very true on one level. However, on another level it isn't true: if you're going to be submitting your writing for the opinions of other fans, then it's a good idea to have a realistic awareness of how your story will be received. And on yet a third level, I have seen soooo many OC and AU ideas which genuinely aren't half bad on their own, were they not shoehorned into a fanfiction fandom which they had nothing in common with (my main problem with most of the AU NanoFate romances I've seen, for example, is not that they're romances or that they're AU, but because they're neither Nanoha or Fate, just OC who have been modded to look like Nanoha and Fate--neither their personalities nor the themes and central conflicts are preserved from the Nanoha and Fate we know, and thus my interest becomes zero).
Quote:
Originally Posted by spawnofthejudge
Great, another reason to hate my Nano. As if I needed another thing preventing me from writing this November.
You're going to have to expand on that...Dropping hints into a discussion without explanation is not allowed!
One thing, I find that the character limit on these forums is WAAAAAY too small!
Day in the Life
Chapter 29
Normalcy
Spoiler for Normalcy - PT I:
Day in the Life
Chapter 29
Normalcy
____
Yuuno sighed as he lay on his back in bed, Fate curled up beside him as close as she could get. Normally Nanoha would have been with her lovers, but she'd gotten a call from Chrono asking her to come in for a meeting. The brunette had grumbled about the late hour and timing, but she'd gone anyway.
At least the children were still sleeping, which was perfect, honestly. Yuuno was quite tired from the library lately. Whatever idiot decided to summon a million lemmings really needed to get his head examined.
"I'm sorry..." Fate murmured, catching Yuuno's attention. The blond had her eyes closed as she whimpered and trembled in her sleep, before tossing and turning on the bed.
That didn't get Yuuno to move too much...
Not until he saw the tears starting to leak out of her closed eyes.
Yuuno blinked and reached out, gently drawing Fate into his arms. "Fate, it's all right," he said soothingly. "You haven't done anything wrong." When she trembled in his arms, he tightened his grip on her slightly. "Fate, it's okay. You're just dreaming. You're home right now, with me and the kids."
Suddenly she gasped, her eyes snapping open as she looked around, unseeing, her breathing fast and uneven as she clung to Yuuno tightly. She didn't say anything, her body was tense as hell as she squeezed him tightly, tears leaking out of her eyes slowly.
To say he was confused was the understatement of the century, but Yuuno didn't ask yet. He simply held Fate close, stroking her hair gently, and let her cling to him. He liked to think that at this point, she would tell him if something was wrong.
"Yuu...no?" Fate said, slightly confused as she started to blink, her eyes finally gaining clarity and recognizing him. "W...Where am I?" She was a little out of sorts at that moment.
He continued to gently stroke her hair. "You're home, in bed with me. Nanoha got called away to go to a meeting. Vivio and the babies are still sleeping right now."
"oh... Oh.. Oh gods..." Fate clung to him, starting to sob. "I... I'm sorry... I... I thought..." She whimpered and sniffled.
"Fate?"
She took a deep breath and shivered slightly. "I thought.. I thought I was on a mission... Alone, just on a mission in space and that I had no support..."
Yuuno blinked. "You were dreaming about before?" It had never been a secret that for a long time, Fate had gone on one deep space mission after another. It had never seemed to bother her much, and even when she had admitted why she'd done it, she seemed to have no bad memories of the situation.
Fate nodded, sighing. "I think... I think I was getting to the point that... That I felt completely alone, that I had no one to rely on, or support me."
"But you kept going back out..." Yuuno wasn't trying to offend her, he was honestly surprised.
"Didn't want to cause anyone problems." Fate said softly. She gulped slightly. "Yuuno... I... If I had gone out one more time... I think... I think I might have lost my mind."
"I'm not surprised," Yuuno murmured. It honestly didn't shock him; Fate had always been distant and cool to her friends, even when she'd returned home from a mission. Near the end, when she'd confessed to Nanoha and Yuuno, nothing much had been holding her together.
"Yuuno... What... What was wrong with me?" She asked, shivering slightly as she held him tightly.
"I don't think anything was wrong with you. You just reached your limit." He continued stroking her hair. "You can only keep your feelings inside for so long."
He honestly wasn't surprised as she started crying again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She whimpered out, crying hard.
Yuuno still felt sleepy, but he ignored it to soothe his lover. Briefly he wished Nanoha was still with him; when it was two of them, the comforting was easier because it went both ways.
Her absence didn't stop him from trying, though.
"Fate, you don't have to apologize." He wiped away her tears gently. "You weren't doing anything wrong."
She shuddered and cuddled against him closely. "I... I was hurting myself."
"We all were." Yuuno sighed as he rubbed Fate's back gently. "Fate, what you did wasn't wrong, you were scared." He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "So was I. How could I compete with you for her? I couldn't. I cared too much for you and her."
She blinked in slight confusion at him, she knew about this, but something about the way he was saying it... "Yuuno?"
"I never saw you as my rival, Fate, in anything. Especially not for Nanoha. Maybe it would have made my life easier if I had, but... I loved you just as much as I loved her, back then. I still do. I couldn't compete for her against you when I loved both of you too much. It hurt me, but I didn't try."
Sighing, Fate rolled on top of Yuuno and smiled at him gently. "I think... We really are two of the biggest idiots alive, huh? You couldn't tell Nanoha or myself how you felt. I couldn't stand the thought of being left alone by either of you, so I tried to leave... and Nanoha..."
"Wouldn't have noticed until we were both gone." He sighed softly as he moved his hands to rub her back gently. The three of us... We wouldn't have been happy if we did leave."
Fate sighed and leaned down, gently resting her cheek against Yuuno's chest as her arms came around his neck. "But we would have left anyway, huh? We were heading for it, all three of us."
"Afraid so." Yuuno laughed softly. "If we hadn't gone to Hayate's party..."
It wasn't how he'd imagined any of this happening, but in the end, waking up after a night of drinking and being with Nanoha and Fate had given him a chance he never would have had otherwise. He knew Fate felt the same, even if she never said so.
And if it hadn't been for that night, Sora, Isamu, and Alicia wouldn't have even been born.
That honestly was the scariest part, in Yuuno's mind, that he wouldn't have those three children with Fate and Nanoha.
"Yuuno..." Fate sniffled slightly, catching his attention. "Why... What did I do to deserve someone like you and Nanoha in my life?" She asked him, sounding like she was about to cry.
Yuuno blinked before his eyes softened, and he continued to stroke Fate's back. "I honestly don't know. I wonder the same thing when it comes to you and Nanoha. We both must have done something right."
"We met Nanoha." Fate said with a soft laugh. "Yuuno, just... I was wondering something."
"Yeah?" He blinked as she got a slightly scared and nervous look on her face. "What's wrong?"
"If... If Nanoha had never found us and there was no Jewel Seeds involved... Where do you think we'd be right now?"
"Well... I don't know about you, but I'd probably still be at digs, trying to find new artifacts, moving from place to place... I know that much."
Fate sighed softly and nodded. "The three of us would have never met... I would be dead, I think. I honestly think I would be dead right now." She sighed, blinking as Yuuno gave her a squeeze.
"I don't think so." Yuuno said to her, causing Fate to blink and look up into his green eyes. "I think Arf would have saved you long before you died, at least from Precia's hands."
"Really?"
"Yes, really." Yuuno smiled. "Arf loves you, Fate. She would have found a way to get you away from Precia, with or without me and Nanoha there to help."
Fate smiled softly. "I need to remember to give Arf something special next time I see her."
"She's down at the library a lot, though lately Zafira's been keeping her company." Yuuno chuckled; honestly, the two weren't fooling anyone when it came to why they spent so much time together now.
Fate smiled softly. "You think that something's going on between them?"
"I'm pretty sure." Yuuno smiled as he rubbed her back, before he blinked as Fate kissed him on the lips gently. "Fate?"
"I love you, Yuuno." She smiled as she blushed softly.
He blinked several times, then smiled. "I love you too, Fate," he said softly.
It always delighted Fate to see the surprise in his eyes when she and Nanoha said such things to him; like every time they did it was new and fresh for him, something he never got tired of hearing.
Fate moaned softly as he rubbed her back. "Tease." She teased him, smiling as he massaged her back lightly. "Where did you learn how to do this?"
Yuuno blushed softly. "Would you believe that when we were kids, I used to rub Nanoha's back and legs after she worked herself too hard?"
Fate blinked. "Really?"
"Yeah. She never wanted to ask you because you already did so much for her, but she used to come back so sore and tired from her missions that I couldn't just leave her like that. So I used to rub her down to help her relax." He laughed softly. "Apparently, she trusted me enough to believe I wouldn't take advantage of the situation."
"Well, you didn't," Fate teased gently.
"That's right."
Fate smiled at Yuuno. "You're something else, love." She sighed softly and squeezed his back softly. She blushed softly. "Um, Yuuno..."
He blushed as well. "What can I say? You're so beautiful that I can't help it. And I love you a lot."
Fate nodded, but she was still blushing.
"Uh, if you want, I can go check on the kids or something..." Yuuno had been with Fate before, but he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable.
She kissed him on the lips. "While I'm sure that they would love to know that their father is watching over them..." She was blushing more. "Can I be selfish, Yuuno?"
"If you want to be selfish, I won't say no." He smiled, but he was just as red as she was. Somehow, the feelings always managed to still surprise him when it came to his lovers.
She blushed as she reached under the sheets and felt him, causing him to gasp and groan. "Please?"
He smiled at her. "Sure." He kissed her on the lips.
(---)
Nanoha yawned softly as she looked at Chrono. "So, what did you call me here for?" She asked, slightly tired, but used to it.
Chrono chuckled. "I woke you up, huh?"
"You have no idea." She stifled another yawn. "What's going on now?"
The dark-haired man sighed. "Ignoring all the other problems Hayate is currently dealing with, I thought I should warn you that some of the higher-ups are making eyes at your sons."
Her eyes cleared in an instant. "Already? They can't even walk yet." She crossed her arms under her breasts. "What the heck are they expecting? Combat Cyborgs and Artificial Mages that can walk and fight as soon as they're awake?" Nanoha couldn't believe this, it was insanity.
"No." Chrono shook his head. "What they are expecting is that one or both of them will either inherit your talent for fighting or Yuuno's talent for defense. If they inherit both, all the better. Don't be surprised if they start putting pressure on you when Sora and Isamu are old enough to start training."
"Good." Nanoha said, shaking her head. "Chrono, do you honestly think I wasn't going to have my children train?" She sighed. "I want to see their magical potential as well. And, I just know that people are going to try to get to me by going through my children."
He blinked and she smirked sardonically. "Remember Quattro? She had no problems using Vivio to fight against me, hoping that I wouldn't be able to fight against my own daughter. If she did that, there have to be others who will do that."
".... Nanoha, when I say that, I mean they want you to start with them as soon as their bodies can handle it. Four or five, at the youngest."
She rubbed her forehead and grimaced. "I figured. If you need to give them my response, tell them that I'll be the one deciding how far they go and how fast they go with their training." She sighed and narrowed her eyes at her brother-in-law. "I will not push anyone, especially my children, to the point where their bodies fail them when they need it the most."
"I know you won't, Nanoha." Chrono leaned back in his chair. "I just wanted to give you a warning so it doesn't come as a surprise when the superiors start asking you about it."
"Thanks." Nanoha sighed. "Was that it?"
"No. Hayate managed to get a trace on the gun that was used to shoot your sister during her job."
"She did?" Nanoha perked up, immediately interested. "What did she find?"
"That's the thing, she traced it back to a man who died." Chrono grimaced. "Apparently he got wind she was heading his way and swallowed a bottle of pills before she got there."
Nanoha grimaced at that. "Not pleasant." Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair. "Chrono, did Hayate-chan find anything out at all?"
Chrono shook his head. "All the files, data, even hard copies, all destroyed. We've got technicians working on the stuff that was on the computers, but..." He shook his head. "Doubtful we'll find anything, sadly."
"So you don't know what he did to Onee-chan?" Nanoha suspected that from time to time Miyuki's old injury still bothered her, but she tended to shrug it off more often than not.
"We have a vague idea. Basically, imagine taking your Divine Buster or Starlight Breaker, fixing it in such a way that it fits in a bullet, and triggers itself days later because of residue still left inside the victim's body. That's more or less what happened to your sister, though the attack was a basic magic one and not on the level of something you can do."
Nanoha winced, before paling. "Wait a minute... Hayate-chan mentioned that they were using planets like Earth to gather data..."
"Ginga got hit with a barrier-piercing bullet a bit ago." Chrono muttered, his face slowly paling as his eyes widened. "If someone managed to figure a way to combine the two..."
Nanoha's eyes widened. "Chrono-kun, that wasn't that long ago, you don't think...?"
"It might work differently on a combat cyborg... Dammit! And she just went off on a deep space mission, too!"
"Can't you recall her?"
"I'll try, or at the very least call to tell her that she might be in more danger than we thought." Chrono grimaced as he punched up a screen, before blinking. "...This isn't right."
"Chrono?" Nanoha blinked and looked at the screen he was looking at. "...I don't think that's right."
The screen was showing nothing but static.
"Dammit." Chrono scowled. "Don't tell me she's that far out already..."
"What do you mean?" Nanoha frowned in confusion.
"Nanoha, you remember how Fate would go a long, long time without contacting you or Yuuno or Mom?" At Nanoha's nod, Chrono continued. "It's because at a certain point, the ships out in deep space go out so far we can't contact them again, not until they circle around closer."
"But if she just left, she wouldn't have that problem, would she?"
Chrono blinked, thought about it and nodded, before he grimaced as a thought came to him. "Unless she passed by some sort of gravity well."
"Like a Black Hole?"
"Not as intense." Chrono shook his head. "But intense enough that it would screw up communications from here to there."
"So soon?"
"Yes." Chrono frowned. "They're more common than you think, and re-establishing communication when a gravity well is passed is a difficult thing to do."
"And by the time that it can be re-established..." Nanoha trailed off, grimacing as she realized that Ginga might be well out of range. "That's what? A week? Two weeks worth of travel?"
"A week and a half." Chrono grimaced, who knew what else would happen. "I'll see if there are any ships near communications range to relay a message at least."
"Will she still be all right by then?" Nanoha asked, concerned now.
"I honestly don't know." Chrono shook his head. "We've come a long way in building combat cyborgs, but how their systems fully work is still a mystery to us."
"I think she'll be okay, honestly." Nanoha sighed. "As long as she takes it easy."
"You aren't one to talk about that." Chrono smirked at her softly. "But, thank you."
Nanoha laughed quietly. "I'm hoping she will be, for Nove and Wendi's sakes. They haven't taken her leaving very well."
"How so?" Chrono blinked, he hadn't heard everything, being more concerned about his wife's pregnancy and his job.
"Subaru comes over a lot to look at Sora, Isamu and Alicia, she's been whining about Ginga being an idiot and not sticking around to talk about it." Nanoha laughed softly.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I didn't hear the whole story, but apparently something pretty big happened and Ginga thought it would be best for them to spend some time apart."
Chrono nodded at her. "I guess the two of us were lucky to find people that we can love, huh?" He smiled as she nodded. "I haven't been home the last few days, have you seen Amy lately?"
Nanoha smirked. "She's doing just fine, Daddy. Lindy-san's been staying with her and the kids while you've been away, and she's bouncing off the walls."
Chrono laughed at hearing that and smiled. "I'm glad she's doing fine, Nanoha. How about you, Fate and Yuuno? How are you three doing?"
Nanoha's smirk became a full fledged grin as she rested her hand on the table, her rings flashing dimly in the light.
Chrono's jaw dropped. "You're engaged?"
"Yes. Fate wanted to tell you sooner, but you were always so busy." Nanoha smiled at him, she had Fate's ring on her middle finger and Yuuno's ring on her ring finger.
"Wow... I... I really need to get out of here more often." Chrono sighed, he felt happy that Fate had gotten serious with Yuuno and Nanoha now, but he wished that he wasn't so busy all the time. "Thank you, Nanoha. Is Fate happy?"
Nanoha's eyes softened. "I hope she is. I like to think she is. She's certainly excited about it, and she loves our babies."
"Thanks." Chrono smiled at her, before sighing.
"Chrono?"
"I think there's more going on than I know." He frowned and punched up a screen. "Ever since the days of Riot Force Six, there's just too much that pops up with no real explanation of what's going on."
She shook her head. "We both know that there's a lot of cover-up with our bosses, Chrono. The best we can do sometimes is deal with what comes up and hope for the best."
"Yes, I suppose." Chrono sighed, then smiled. "That reminds me, Nanoha, Vita and Signum were looking for you. It's late, but they wanted to talk."
Nanoha yawned softly. "Thanks, Chrono. Was there anything else that you needed to tell me?"
"No. I didn't want our conversation to be overheard though." He motioned to the darkened room. "It's why I called you in, to talk in person."
"Ah, I see." Nanoha rubbed her eyes. "That explains the late hour."
Chrono winced. "Sorry about that."
She waved it off. "Don't worry about it. This was more important anyway. I'll go see them, then I better get home, okay?"
"Sure." Chrono nodded as she left. Sighing, he opened up a view screen and looked at various logs and ships that were out on parole.
---
"Hayate, do you really think Nanoha will come?" Vita frowned and checked her watch, raising a brow. "It's really late."
"Oh, she'll come. She always comes." Hayate chuckled. On her other side, Signum squirmed uncomfortably but made no move to get up; she'd been oddly fidgety since arriving.
Sitting next to Vita, Shamal sighed. "Why am I here again when you didn't even call Zafira?"
"He was busy helping Arf at the library." Hayate smirked softly.
"Doesn't answer the question as to why I'm here." Shamal said, shaking her head.
"I'll tell you when Nanoha-chan gets here." Hayate smiled at the blond. "Just be patient."
Vita smirked at the blond. "She's just grumpy because she was snuggling with Miyuki when you called and didn't want to leave."
Shamal shrugged. "What can I say, it's an addicting sensation."
If anything, at that, Signum started to fidget even more.
"Oi, Signum..." Vita drawled as she looked at the pink haired woman. "You're fidgeting worse than Vivio does when she sits around reading for too long. What's wrong?"
"What makes you think something's wrong?" Signum snapped, blinking as Vita jumped back, blinking at her wide-eyed. "What?"
"You don't get snappy too often." Hayate muttered as she stared at Signum. "What happened?"
Signum blinked several times. "Ah..."
At that moment, someone tapped Hayate lightly on the shoulder; the brown-haired woman looked up and beamed at Nanoha, who smiled tiredly. "Hey, Hayate-chan," Nanoha said softly. "Chrono-kun said you wanted to talk?"
Hayate nodded and grinned at her. "Yep."
"About what, Hayate-chan?" Nanoha blinked in confusion at her.
Hayate smirked and gestured at the small private bar booth they were currently in. "I heard from a little birdie you got engaged, and when Chrono told me he'd call you out to a meeting I thought we'd have a little celebration afterwords."
Nanoha shook her head. "Hayate-chan, while I'm glad that you're happy for me, I'm not..."
Hayate smiled and patted Nanoha on the shoulder. "You don't need to drink anything alcoholic, Nanoha-chan, this is just a celebration of your good fortune, okay?" Besides, as far as Hayate knew, Nanoha was still breast feeding and getting drunk wouldn't be good for the babies.
"I guess that wouldn't be bad," Nanoha said slowly.
"Besides, I wanted to grill Shamal about how life is away from home and thought you'd help since she lives with your sister." Hayate grinned, completely unashamed.
Shamal sighed. "Hayate, there's really nothing to tell."
Judging by the look she was getting, she knew her mistress didn't believe her.
Nanoha had a twinkle in her eye as she sat down. "I see." She chuckled at the nervous look Shamal had. "So, spill it. How is my sister doing with you right now?"
Shamal groaned. "Aren't you supposed to pretend Miyuki doesn't have a sex life?"
"Shamal, I walked in on my sister enough times to know she had a very healthy, active sex life when she was young." Nanoha smirked even as her eyes darkened. "And that after high school, it died down on her last mission while she was a teenager. So spill. I'm curious."
Shamal sighed softly. "Fine, the two of us have a sex life. There? Happy?"
"Nope." Nanoha chuckled as Shamal blushed hard.
Shamal sighed again. "I don't understand what you want."
"Your blush says otherwise." Hayate smirked. "Come on, Shamal, just a few details. We're all curious."
It was true. Vita was sipping her drink but still listening avidly, and even Signum was keeping still long enough to tune in for Shamal's response.
Shamal sighed. "Fine, just a few details." She muttered softly. "Miyuki... She makes me feel so alive, so wanted, so needed. I can't help but feel tingly for hours after we make love. Did you know that Miyuki has a tattoo of a heart on her butt?" She asked Nanoha, who blinked several times.
"What? Really?"
"Yes. I don't know when she got it, but it's there." Shamal shrugged at Nanoha's bewildered look.
"Huh, I took baths with her all the time and never noticed..." Nanoha frowned. "She must have gotten it after I left Earth."
"Maybe..."
Hayate smirked. "So, who's dominant in bed?"
"Hayate!" Shamal yelped.
"What? I'm curious! I know Miyuki had to make the first move to get you to open up, but how is it now?"
Shamal looked around at the others, Nanoha was definitely curious, as was Hayate, Signum had a raised eyebrow at her and even Vita, dear gods, why was Vita openly grinning like that? "..." She muttered something, rather low, getting blinks from the people around the table.
"Shamal, I didn't catch that." Hayate chuckled softly. "What did you say?"
"I am, most of the time." Shamal said, her face so red that it could be confused for a tomato at that moment.
There was a loud thud as Signum fell clean off the booth. Vita buried her face in her arms, trying to hide her blush as her mind was flooded with all kinds of mental images.
Shamal's blush deepened, and she squirmed; only to blink when Hayate laughed softly. "Hayate?"
"So you're the dominant one, eh?" She smirked. "I can't say it surprises me. Good for you."
Shamal was blushing more, before she turned to Nanoha and smirked softly.
"What?" Nanoha blinked as Hayate turned and smirked at her too. "What now?"
"Okay, I gave some details, Nanoha... Now your turn. Spill." Shamal giggled as Signum got back up and gestured to the bartender to send a pitcher of beer to her table.
Vita groaned. "I don't want to hear this. I really, really don't want to hear this."
"Too bad." Signum muttered and put her hand on Vita's shoulder. "If I'm going to sit here and listen, you need to as well."
"Which reminds me..." Hayate smirked at Signum.
"What?"
"Why were you so fidgety before? I got distracted by Nanoha-chan."
Signum twitched slightly. She really didn't want to talk about this. "Ah. It's nothing."
"Weren't you talking with Vice when I found you?" Vita asked offhandedly, not really expecting much.
She certainly didn't expect Signum to stiffen like a board and blush while turning away.
"Oh-ho." Hayate smirked. "Signum, have you been doing something with Vice? I've heard the rumors."
"What kind of something?!" Signum yelped, sounding or looking nothing at all like herself.
The others at the table stared at her as Signum blushed harder. "What?"
"...You really are having a relationship with Vice-kun?" Nanoha blinked and smiled at Signum. "Wow, I didn't know that you two were dating."
"...It's only been one date." Signum looked almost ready to bolt for the door.
Hayate raised a brow. "Then why are you acting like you two went and had sex already?"
"That wouldn't happen!" Vita was quick to defend her fellow Knight's honor. "Signum wouldn't just sleep with a guy after one date!" She blinked, then looked at Signum. "... I'm right, aren't I?"
Signum groaned and rested her head against the table with an audible thunk. "It hasn't gone that far yet, but things were... heating up when Vita came."
Vita stared at Signum, blinking hard. "Seriously?" She blushed as Signum nodded. "Don't tell me that you were planning on sleeping with him..."
"..." Signum's face was so red that it was nearly glowing as she tried to look away.
Vita's face went red before she hid it in her arms again. "Dammit, Signum!"
"I didn't say it was going that far! We were just talking, and the subject kind of came up accidentally and Vice tried to change it, but I was curious..."
Hayate laughed softly and grinned at Signum. "Congrats, Signum." She was honestly surprised that Signum would have made the first move. "Just don't force yourself to doing anything that you'll regret, Signum." Hayate smiled at her. "I want you to be happy, don't force yourself because of what I want."
"I'm not forcing myself." Signum's voice was muffled, as she refused to raise her head from the table. "You can believe me when I say that, Hayate."
Hayate smiled softly at her. "Okay, Signum, just be happy, that's all I want for you."
"Thank you." Signum looked up, her face was still tinged red, but she was smiling softly.
"So... What drew you to him?" Vita asked, looking up, her face still as red as her hair.
Signum groaned. "Vita..."
"What? I'm curious!"
"I am too." Shamal smiled at Signum, who gave her a startled look. "What? I knew that you two were friends, but I didn't think you would try to do that with Vice." She chuckled as Signum blushed more. "Plus, it's not often I see you blushing so hard."
"We didn't do anything, we've only been on one date." Signum sighed. "The subject's come up once or twice, but we're waiting to see where this goes."
Nanoha laughed. "Signum, you must be spending a lot of time with Vice if you've only been on one official date and you're still considering it."
Signum rolled her eyes. "Listen, you... I don't get to spend as much time with Vice as you would like to think. We're both pretty busy, so we only get a few minutes most of the time, and today was one of the few times we both weren't busy most of the day."
Nanoha blinked and reeled back. "Um, sorry." She really didn't mean to hit a sore spot with Signum.
Sighing, the taller woman shook her head. "Don't worry about it, I just don't get to spend anywhere near as much time with him as we would like."
Hayate frowned thoughtfully. "So when you said 'date' you meant actually getting to go out with him and be with him for a longer period of time, right?"
"Well, yes..."
Vita scratched her head. "Wait, I'm confused. Just what was going on when I walked in on you and Vice?" She couldn't figure out if Signum was talking about sleeping with Vice or just going on a date with him. "I mean, it looked like you were about to kiss him but..." She blinked as Signum turned bright red again and turned away.
Signum cleared her throat awkwardly. "Ah... we haven't kissed yet," she confessed quietly.
"Oh." Vita muttered and sighed, before taking the glass in front of her and filling it with alcohol. "I need a drink." She muttered, at least while she was drinking she wouldn't need to think about anything.
Hayate started chuckling and smiled at Signum. "Oh, so that's what you were talking about... I thought you were..."
Signum nodded. "It wasn't sex, we... Just kind of brought up the subject of kissing and..."
Shamal blushed but laughed softly at her friend. "Sorry about assuming that, Signum."
"It's all right, I know I wasn't being clear about it." Signum shrugged. She honestly couldn't blame them, what with how tongue tied she'd become.
"So you haven't thought that far ahead yet, huh?" Nanoha asked.
Signum shook her head. "We're just taking it a day at a time right now."
Nanoha yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Look, Hayate-chan, I'm sorry, but, I really need to get home." She said softly, getting a nod from her best friend, who moved to let her out. As she stood up, Hayate gave her a hug, causing her to blink as she hugged back. "Hayate-chan?"
"Take care of them, Nanoha-chan." Hayate whispered to the brunette softly. "Fate-chan, Yuuno-kun, your children. Take care of them all."
"I will, thank you, Hayate-chan." Nanoha smiled and kissed Hayate on the cheek. It was just a quick kiss, nothing spectacular, and Hayate smiled at her.
"I'm going to leave as well, I don't think Miyuki would like it if I came home smelling of booze." Shamal said as Signum moved out of the booth to let her go. "Come on, Nanoha, I'll come with you." At least her apartment and Nanoha's home were in the same general direction from this bar.
As the two left, Vita pouted while Hayate sat back down. "Whatever happened to the good old days when we could all stay up for hours on end at a bar and laugh about everything?" Thinking about it, the small redhead grabbed another glass of beer and started drinking it.
"We all got older and have other responsibilities now." Hayate smiled softly and poured herself some alcohol before holding it up. "To our friends and their new lives." She smiled softly as Vita raised her glass up and lightly tapped it against hers. The brown-haired woman took a drink of her beer and sighed.
"Hayate?" Signum blinked as she looked at her master, who shook her head.
"It's nothing. I'm just a little envious of Fate-chan, Nanoha-chan and Yuuno-kun, that's all." Sure, she was happy for the three of them, it didn't take away certain pangs when she was alone after all.
"You loved them, didn't you?" Vita asked as Hayate laughed and shook her head.
"Not like that, Vita-chan. I couldn't see myself, now anyway, with Fate-chan, Yuuno-kun or Nanoha-chan like that." Hayate grimaced as Signum narrowed her eyes and leaned in. "Signum, what?"
"You're a bad liar, Hayate." Signum shook her head. "Why didn't you ever tell them?"
Hayate sighed and shook her head. "What? That I had a crush on Nanoha-chan since as far as I can remember? Or how I envied Yuuno-kun because of how close he was to Nanoha-chan and Fate-chan? Or how I wish I was as beautiful as Fate-chan? Or..."
"You are beautiful." Vita muttered, getting Hayate to blink and look at her. "Just because you're not as tall as them, or your breasts quite as big, Hayate; I think you're beautiful. There's a lot of people who do, I bet. Nanoha and Fate just grab people's attention first, that's all."
"Thank you, Vita-chan." Hayate smiled at the redhead, who winked and took another drink of her beer. "Sorry, childhood crushes are hard to give up, I guess."
"So, Hayate, you know that I'm interested in Vice... How about you? Are you interested in anyone?"
Hayate paused. "That's an odd thing to ask when I've confessed my childhood crush."
"Childhood and adulthood are two different things." Signum chuckled. "Besides, I've heard rumors. Call me curious."
"I'm not making eyes at Carim, despite what the papers say."
Vita snapped her fingers in an overly dramatic fashion. "Aww, too bad. You know that our bosses would have loved that." She said, sarcastically and got a laugh from Hayate out of it. "Besides, I always thought that Schach..."
"No." Signum said, shaking her head. "Schach isn't making any moves on Carim either."
Vita blinked a few times and groaned. "Sorry, I gotta stop listening to rumors." Hell, the only rumors she ever heard about herself was that she had used her hammer to sink some sort of lost continent on another world.
"It's okay, Vita-chan." Hayate smiled softly. "And despite how much time I was spending with him, I'm not making a pass at Genya Nakajima either." She blinked as Signum snapped her fingers and smirked at Hayate. "Signum, please tell me that you didn't believe that rumor."
Signum chuckled softly and shook her head. "The only way I would have believed that Hayate is if you told me or if Subaru told Nanoha that she caught you in bed with him."
"At least some sanity remains." Hayate murmured softly. "As for who I'm looking at..." She trailed off, sighing and taking another drink of her beer. "I honestly don't know." She finished and sat her empty glass down.
"Well, you know there's no rush, Hayate." Signum shrugged. "You have plenty of time."
Hayate nodded, but there was a contemplative, almost lonely look in her eyes.
----
"Ne, Shamal..."
The blonde blinked as Nanoha glanced at her. "Yes?"
"I'm not going to lie, I appreciate the company and I know your home is along the way, but...." Nanoha sighed. "There's a reason you wanted to walk with me, right?"
Shamal blinked, then squirmed. "Ah..."
Nanoha gave her a look.
"Let's just say that I don't feel totally comfortable about talking about my sex life... And... I wanted to ask you something."
Nanoha blinked as Shamal looked decidedly more and more uncomfortable. "Yes?" She shivered as the wind passed by, chilling both women. "What is it?"
"You said, Miyuki's sex life dropped off when she was a teenager... What happened?"
Nanoha blinked, then hesitated a moment. It was brief, but Shamal saw it.
"I was still pretty young when it happened, so it took awhile for Dad and Onii-chan to tell me exactly how it had gone, but... there was a job, one of the last ones she did during her high school years, and it didn't go well." Nanoha sighed. "Honestly, even now, I don't totally understand what happened. I just know that Onee-chan came home bloody, bruised, and pale, and after that she didn't date for a few years."
Shamal sighed at hearing that. "Really? Was that all?"
"She... got a bit jittery whenever a guy got close to her physically."
Shamal blinked. "Jittery?"
"Yes. She was perfectly fine around Dad or Onii-chan, or some of her guy friends... but if it was someone she didn't know very well who was making a pass at her or starting to get physical, she'd find a way to get out of it. It took her a long time to stop jumping every time a guy touched her."
Shamal stared at her blankly and Nanoha wondered just what was going on. "Shamal?"
"Ah, I'm sorry, just thinking." Shamal shook her head. "Nanoha, how long was she like that?"
"Um... it was a few years, I think. A year or two before she settled down around a guy, though... if I remember correctly, you're the first person she's seriously dated since then."
"Really?" Shamal frowned softly. "Nanoha... Do you think that Miyuki..." She trailed off, wondering how to say it.
"Do I think what?"
When Shamal didn't reply, Nanoha shrugged. "I don't know what happened, I just know it was pretty bad. Even now Onee-chan doesn't like talking about it much."
"Even so..." Shamal sighed and looked down. "Think that she'll tell me?"
"Huh?" Nanoha blinked as she turned to see Shamal had stopped a few feet behind her. "What? Shamal? What do you mean?"
"If I asked her about what happened... do you think she'll tell me?"
There was a long pause before Nanoha replied. "I... honestly don't know."
---
Miyuki sighed and closed her eyes, rolling over onto her side. Sleep was evading her; it wasn't so bad, but it was rather annoying since she was exhausted. It was still late, and she liked to think she could get some sleep before the day started.
She sighed as she felt two arms wrap around her, pulling her close, the feel of two rather full breasts pressing against her back and Shamal's scent made her relax more fully. "Welcome back." She said sleepily and cracked an eye open to look at her lover, who apparently decided to come to bed wearing nothing on her upper body at least. "How was the meeting with Hayate-chan?"
Shamal's laugh was soft. "Somehow it went from being a celebration for Nanoha's engagement to an all out tell-all about our love lives and who we like."
"Oh my." Miyuki closed her eye. "Sounds like you had fun."
"Not really. I don't like talking about our sex life, even if I found out that Signum and Vice were interested in each other."
Miyuki nodded, she didn't know who Vice was, but at least that was interesting. "I see." She hadn't thought that Signum would be interested in anyone.
"They found out about the tattoo on your butt." Shamal smirked as Miyuki blinked and looked at her accusingly.
"Traitor." She said, no real venom to her voice. "What else did they or you find out that was interesting?"
Shamal sighed softly. "Miyuki... On a mission in high school... Were you raped by someone?"
Miyuki blinked before looking back at Shamal. "What gave you that idea?"
"Just something Nanoha said... about how after high school, your love life died down..."
There was a long moment of silence.
Miyuki sighed and rolled over so that she could face Shamal. "No. Not raped. Came really close though." She sighed and blinked as Shamal hugged her tightly. "Shamal?"
"I'm sorry... For bringing up old scars."
Miyuki shook her head and hugged back. "No... You... You deserved to know that much about me, at least. I'm sorry that I held it back, but, it's not something to bring up easily."
I know." Shamal stroked Miyuki's hair gently. "I'm still sorry."
Miyuki laughed softly. "It's not your fault. Though, to be honest, originally I think he was just going to kill me... he'd certainly beaten me badly enough to do the job. Raping me didn't occur to him until I was bloody and bruised."
Miyuki chuckled softly. "I'm lucky that I was on my back, not face down, I would have been raped then." There was no humor in her words as she spoke them. "Shamal... Please... I... I don't want to talk anymore."
"Okay..." Shamal whispered softly and rubbed Miyuki's back. "I... I'm sorry I asked too." Her eyes misted up as she tried to blink away tears. "I couldn't help it though, being curious."
Shamal's tone of voice had Miyuki looking up at her; seeing her lover's eyes begin to mist, the dark-haired girl leaned in and kissed her, gently. "Hey, don't cry," she said. "It's not your fault. You had the right to be curious."
"Sorry..." Shamal smiled softly. "Can't help it when I think about you sometimes. I just tear up for no reason."
Miyuki smiled at her. "You are so beautiful, Shamal." She whispered and kissed Shamal on the lips.
"That's an odd thing to say, right now," Shamal murmured when Miyuki pulled away, but she was smiling.
"I think it's fitting. You really are very beautiful, Shamal."
"Thank you." Shamal smiled at her. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow..."
"Yeah..." Miyuki smiled at her. "But, thanks for showing up to hold me tonight." She closed her eyes and yawned, snuggling against Shamal.
Shamal sighed and squeezed Miyuki tightly. No, she couldn't imagine what would have happened if Miyuki hadn't been able to fight that guy off at the end.
...
No, she could. She really could.
And that, honestly, scared her, a lot.
---
Nanoha slipped her shoes off as she came into her house, before hanging up her coat. She had no doubt that Fate and Yuuno were asleep already. Smiling softly, she slipped up the stairs to check on the children. Slipping into Vivio's room, she smiled as she saw her eldest daughter hugging that rabbit toy that she had for the past two years. She leaned down and kissed Vivio on the forehead gently. "Sleep well, Vivio." She whispered softly and slipped out of the room quietly.
Quietly walking down the hallway, she slipped into the baby's bedroom, just to look at the sleeping trio and smiled as she saw Sora and Isamu sleep quietly, but as she got to Alicia's bed, she blinked as Alicia looked up at her, blinking, squirming and groaning.
"Shhh... Nanoha-mama has you." Nanoha whispered as she gently picked up Alicia and held her softly. "Are you okay?" She asked, blinking as Alicia tried to move towards her chest. "Hungry, girl?" She smiled, moved to a chair, sat down while opening her shirt up and letting Alicia feed. "There you go." She whispered softly, rubbing the baby's back, while Alicia closed her eyes and suckled softly.
Sora and Isamu continued to sleep soundly as their sister nursed, quite content to just suckle and be cuddled by one of her mothers. Nanoha honestly thought the girl might have fallen asleep, but when she looked down again she saw tiny green eyes looking up at her.
"Hey." She smiled softly. "Feel better now, Alicia?"
Alicia didn't respond, but she rested a small hand against Nanoha's chest.
Even if Alicia wasn't hers by blood, Nanoha couldn't see her as anything less than her own daughter. "You, your brothers and sisters are precious to Fate-chan, Yuuno-kun and myself." She smiled at Alicia, thinking about Vivio, Erio and Caro in that group too. "Just promise me that you won't become like your mothers and be a battle maniac." Granted, Fate wasn't that bad, but she could be, especially when she fought against Signum.
Alicia blinked innocently up at her mother, and not for the first time Nanoha wondered if the little girl could, indeed, understand every word she was saying. "At the very least, if you become a battle maniac, take your brothers with you," she said. "They'll help you when you need them."
Alicia tapped Nanoha's chest twice as she continued to suckle. Nanoha wasn't sure if Alicia was agreeing with her, or just moving about to feel everything around her. If Nanoha was honest, she would have to say that she was just happy that she could feel so close to her children, all of them. "You're a good girl." She said softly, smiling as Alicia blinked up at her. Even if Alicia did hear and understand things, she probably had no idea just what the words meant exactly.
After a few more minutes had passed, Alicia seemed to have had her fill; Nanoha took a moment to rebutton her shirt before she went over to the counter and picked up a towel, placing it over her shoulder and gently patting Alicia's back until the little girl burped.
Laughing, Nanoha brought her back down into her arms. "I bet you feel better now, huh?" she asked softly, and smiled when Alicia curled closer to her chest.
Nanoha rocked Alicia gently in her arms, humming a nameless tune, just getting her to relax and drift back to sleep before she put her in the crib again.
After tucking Alicia in, Nanoha checked on Sora and Isamu and was glad when they didn't stir, before she quietly slipped out of their room and to her bedroom.
Opening the door, she blinked and pouted as a smell came to her. "Mouuu..." She was a little upset that they hadn't waited for her, but seeing the contented looks on Fate and Yuuno's faces, and the small amount of sweat on their bodies, she couldn't bring herself to be upset at all. "Good night." She whispered as she stripped out of her clothes and slipped into bed, smiling as Fate and Yuuno silently pulled her to them, cuddling against her in their sleep.
----
It was a relatively nice night, all things considered. Clear and quiet, with no clouds or storms outside, and the temperature wasn't unbearable.
It was a nice night...
But Wendi and Nove couldn't sleep. Not that they weren't trying.
Wendi gave up and sat up, ignoring the way she was nearly naked, save for her underwear, she went over to the window, sat down on a chair and looked out the window at the stars. "...This sucks." She muttered, causing Nove to get up and glare at her lightly. "It does!" She protested as she looked back and caught the look on Nove's face.
"Look, Wendi, it's two in the morning." She yawned. "We're finally going to be able to start working for real soon, let's at least get some sleep."
"Why? It's just grunt work." Wendi muttered and looked away, sighing.
Nove was silent, before she got out of bed and walked over to Wendi, before tapping her on the shoulder. When Wendi turned to look at her, Nove leaned in and kissed her on the lips, their bare chests pressing against each other as Nove hugged Wendi tightly.
After a few minutes, the shorter redhead broke the kiss, getting a soft blush from Wendi. "What..."
"I don't like this either, Wendi, but... I don't want to think about it right now." Nove sighed and rested her head on Wendi's shoulder. "You, me, Ginga..." Her body trembled in Wendi's arms. "I want her back too."
It wouldn't have been so hard if Ginga hadn't purposely timed her leaving during times when she knew Wendi and Nove would be busy and wouldn't be able to stop her one last time before heading out. She genuinely seemed to believe they needed this, even if she'd been just as miserable as Wendi and Nove before heading out for the mission.
The two redheads couldn't get used to not having her around. The house was too quiet, and the bed felt too big and cold.
Wendi sighed, she really didn't want to talk about this, not yet, but the loneliness was starting to... She blinked as something came to her. "Hey, Nove... Wanna go sleep in Ginga's room tonight?" It wouldn't be the same, but it still had Ginga's feel to it, so, maybe that would ease the loneliness a bit.
Nove blinked at the suggestion before she nodded slowly. "Sure... why not," she said. It wouldn't hurt anybody if she and Wendi spent the night in Ginga's room. It wouldn't be the same, but maybe at least it would feel better than trying to sleep in their room.
The two grabbed some blankets, wrapped themselves up and slipped down the hallway to Ginga's room before climbing onto Ginga's bed. It was much smaller than the one that the three of them shared, but, there was a scent, soft, subtle, but it was definitely Ginga's scent. And the way that the two of them had to practically lay on top of each other.
In all honesty, the two actually did feel a lot better in Ginga's bed than they did in their shared bed. There was just the feel of Ginga that this room had that their bedroom didn't have for some reason.
"Hey, Wendi?" Nove asked softly.
"Hmmm?"
"Why did Ginga move out of this room?"
Wendi shrugged. "Our bed was bigger, I think. If we came in here we would have been crowded."
"Probably." Nove sighed and gave Wendi a kiss on the jaw. She blinked as Wendi rubbed her back, squeezing her muscles gently and tracing a finger down to her rear. "Wendi?"
"Can we... Just the two of us tonight?" It wasn't often that Wendi blushed, but when she did, Nove honestly thought that when Wendi did, she was the most beautiful person in the world.
Nove blushed deeply; she didn't have to ask what Wendi meant. "Uh... sure," she whispered, wondering why she suddenly felt so shy and nervous. It wasn't like she and Wendi hadn't done it without Ginga before; they had, often enough.
Wendi smiled and slipped her hands under Nove's panties as she kissed her shorter lover. "Thank you." She whispered to Nove as Nove rubbed Wendi's chest gently.
__________________
My fics Due to certain things, I am not here, find me over on TFF.
Stretching as he woke up, Erio smiled and took a deep breath. "Hey, Caro! Fried!" He called out to his two friends. "Come on!" It wasn't often that they had most of the day off, and they wanted to hurry up and make their rounds, before heading over to Lutecia's place and spend some time with their friend.
There was a moment of silence before Caro timidly opened the door to the outside. "Erio-kun?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"I think something's wrong with Fried." Caro cradled the tiny Dragon in her arms. He wasn't moving much, just dozing quietly in her arms; she wanted to say he might even be sick, though she honestly couldn't tell. He'd never been sick before.
Erio scratched his head and looked at Fried. "I honestly don't know, Caro... There's a doctor not far from here, let's go see her, okay? Maybe this is normal for Dragons?"
"I hope so." Caro said, sniffling, she didn't want her Dragon to be hurting.
"Was he like this when you woke up?"
"Yeah... he was acting weird last night, too. He wouldn't eat anything and just wanted to sleep." Indeed, if she hadn't gently called his name, Caro didn't think he would have even stirred this morning, he'd been sleeping so deeply. "He feels a little warm."
Erio frowned. "Has he been sick before?"
Caro shook her head helplessly.
He nodded at her. "Come on, it's twenty minutes to the vet if we hurry."
The way she trembled and whimpered, it really made him hope that Fried was just going through some sort of growth cycle and wasn't actually sick.
---
"Well, how is he?" Erio asked, since Caro was trembling, fearing the worst for the first companion she had since she was little.
The vet gave Caro a reassuring smile. "He's yours, right?"
Caro nodded.
"He should be fine." The vet checked the notes she'd taken. "It looks like he just caught a small case of some kind of animal flu. You must have exposed him to a sick animal and he got infected. He'll be fine, he just needs some time and antibiotics to recover."
Caro looked almost ready to start crying, even when the vet assured her that Fried would be alright, it still didn't make it easier. "Can... I can I see him?"
The vet nodded. "Sure. But don't be surprised if he doesn't react, this took a lot out of him."
Caro nodded and went into the room where Fried was. When she left the vet looked at Erio, who grimaced at the look on her face.
"What didn't you tell her?"
"Dragons don't get too sick too often." The vet shook her head. "But, I wasn't lying about her Dragon getting better with some rest. But... How old is her Dragon?"
"Not old." Erio shook his head. "Younger than we are, at any rate. Caro found him when he was a new-born."
The vet nodded and smiled. "Then it's okay. Looks like the Dragon's just going through a small change right now. It just had some bad luck to get sick at the same time."
"So Fried will be all right?"
"It will take time." The vet sighed. "Dragons don't get sick often, and when they do, even if it's a small thing, it really knocks them out. He'll be fine, but it will take some time for his immune system to catch up with him and beat this."
Erio nodded and smiled in relief. "So... What did you mean by small change?"
The vet laughed softly. "What I mean is, he's physically growing and gaining new powers. If he's as young as you say he is, then he's just going from the equivalent of a human toddler to a young child."
Erio frowned, trying to think. "So he's... what, the equivalent of a teething infant right now?"
"More like a little kid who caught his first cold." The vet smiled. "Feels like crap right now and will probably be out of it for several days, but once it's done and over with he'll be much stronger and healthier."
"So... Dragons age slowly?" Erio scratched his head, blinking in confusion.
"Oh yes." The vet laughed. "An adolescent Dragon is generally a couple hundred years old." She laughed at the dumb-founded look on Erio's face. "It takes somewhere from five to eight hundred years for a Dragon to become the equivalent of a young adult."
---
"Fried..." Caro said, looking at her Dragon. "I'm sorry. I should have seen it sooner."
"Ku ku..." The small Dragon lifted a wing slowly as if trying to tell her that it was okay.
Caro reached out timidly, gently resting her hand on Fried's head and rubbing it, scratching him behind his ears just like she knew he liked it. He didn't react much, but she felt a little better when he purred weakly. His wing gently brushed the back of her hand as he nuzzled closer to her, as if trying to tell her he'd be fine.
The small pink haired girl had her eyes mist up. "I'm so, so sorry, Fried."
"Ku...Ku..." The small Dragon shook his head.
"I'm still sorry." Caro wiped at her eyes. "I should have known. I should have been able to tell."
Fried whacked her hand gently with his wing, as if telling her to knock it off.
"Caro..." Erio said as he walked into the room. "The vet said that Fried will be okay. He just got sick and is growing up a little at the same time."
"Growing?" Caro blinked as Erio nodded.
"Yeah. Dragons age really slow. It takes them a few hundred years just to become a teenager." On the bed, Fried seemingly nodded at hearing that.
"So he isn't sick?"
Erio scratched the back of his neck. "Well, no, he's sick, but... according to the vet it's a normal thing for a dragon to go through while its growing up."
"So, what should we do?" Caro said, looking quite confused.
Erio looked at Fried and Caro. "I think we should go see Lutecia. It'll take some time for Fried to recover. Is it okay, Fried?"
"Kuuuuuu," the little dragon replied, nodding his head. He didn't like the thought of missing a chance to hang out with Garyuu, but he didn't think it was fair for Erio and Caro to not go just because he was sick.
Caro looked at Fried. "Get well soon, Fried." She kissed her fingers and rubbed the top of Fried's head.
"Kuuuu..." The small Dragon purred softly.
---
It was after lunch when Megane heard a knocking on the door. Blinking, she picked up her cane and hobbled over to the door, opening it up. "Caro! Erio! How are you two?" She blinked as she realized someone wasn't there. "Where's your Dragon?"
Caro smiled weakly. "He wasn't feeling well. We took him to the vet, and apparently he's just going through a growth spurt or something."
Megane nodded thoughtfully. "I heard it takes them a long time to be considered adults."
"I guess so. Fried's having his first growing pains."
Megane smiled at that. "It's okay. Are you looking for Lutecia?" Seeing them nod at her, she pointed to the back of the house. "She's playing with her summons out back." She winced slightly. "My leg..." She grimaced, smiling as the two helped her hobble into the living room. "Thank you. Just... Don't tell Lutecia right now. I want her to have some fun without worrying about her injured mother."
"Are you sure?" Erio frowned worriedly. "I'm sure Lu wouldn't mind helping you if she knew."
Megane smiled and shook her head. "Thank you, really," she said softly. "But it comes and goes. I'm still not as strong as I'd like to be, but I'll be fine."
"Besides, I want her to get as much happiness as she can. And she's always happier when you two are here."
Erio nodded and looked at Caro. "Um... Megane, maybe you should come outside... Just in case your leg hurts worse?" He really didn't think that Megane should be alone if her legs were hurting so badly that she couldn't walk.
Megane chuckled. "Very well, then."
The three made their way outside.
Lutecia looked up and smiled softly, blinking as she saw her mother limp out. "Caro, Erio." She said softly, happy to see them. "Are you okay, mother?"
"My leg hurts a little, but I'm okay." Megane assured her daughter.
Lutecia frowned. "Are you sure? Garyuu can help you if you need it."
Megane chuckled. "I'm fine, really. Just a little sore today."
Lutecia nodded slowly before turning back to Caro and Erio, blinking. "Where's Fried?"
"He's not feeling good." Erio said to her. "He got a little sick, but he'll be better in a couple of days."
Lutecia nodded at hearing that. "I hope he's alright." She said softly. "I'm glad that you're here though." She smiled softly. "I missed you two."
"We missed you too." Caro darted forward and gave Lutecia a quick hug, making the other girl stiffen a moment before she relaxed. "Besides, we have some messages from Vivio."
Lutecia blinked and smiled softly. "How is she?" She missed her friend and hoped she was alright.
"I think she wants to visit soon." Caro sighed. "She had a rough time back home with a friend, and it made her miss you."
Lutecia nodded and smiled at Caro. "Thank you."
"Ah... Lu..." Erio rubbed the back of his head. "Fate-san called us last night... She, Nanoha-san and Yuuno-san are engaged now."
"Really?" Lutecia's eyes lit up as she smiled. "That's great news! It must have happened recently."
Caro grinned. "Yeah! I can't wait for the wedding."
At that, Lutecia sighed.
"Lu-chan?" Caro blinked as Lutecia looked away.
"I won't be able to go." She said softly, she would have wanted to go to see Caro and Erio's mother get married.
Caro blinked. "Why not?"
"Because. I can't come back to Mid-Childa until I'm eighteen."
"Lu-chan..." Caro hugged her friend tighter. "I'm sorry." It wasn't fair that she had to go through such a harsh punishment when everyone else who had confessed got off much easier than she did.
Megane frowned thoughtfully, leaning slightly against her cane. "I think I can speak to Hayate-san," she said at last. "She offered her help if Lutecia and I ever wished to return to Mid-Childa."
Lutecia shook her head. "I messed up." She looked away, softly, sadly. "I don't deserve that..."
Caro shook her head. "We'll ask Hayate-san. I know Vivio would like to see you there, too."
"Caro..."
"You didn't mess up." Lutecia blinked as Caro smiled. "You did no worse than any of the Numbers did, Lu-chan. You have every right to return to Mid-Childa."
Lutecia shook her head. "I was told I can never go back until I was eighteen at least."
Erio scratched his head. "But that's just to Mid-Childa, right?"
Lutecia blinked and shook her head. "I'm banished to this world... I don't see why going to another world would change that."
"But that just holds up for Mid-Childa specifically, right?"
Lutecia nodded slowly. "Well... yes, I assume so. No one ever said I was banished from anywhere else."
"Then you can come to Earth!" Caro exclaimed.
"Are you sure? I... I don't think I'd be allowed to go anywhere." Lutecia was trying hard to not get excited at the thought, even if just for a bit, of leaving and seeing everyone again... But...
"Would the Numbers and Agito be there too?"
"Yeah! Everyone would be there!" Caro paused. "Well, almost everyone, I don't know if Ginga will be back in time for the wedding..."
Erio scratched his head. "Um, Caro... I think that Fate-san said that it's going to take a little bit of time, Ginga might be back by then." Whoever else was on a mission at that time was a different story. His eyes widened. "Oh yeah! Aunt Amy was going to have another baby soon!"
"Ginga might not be back in time for that, though," Caro murmured.
Megane smiled. "Really? How nice. Boy or girl?"
"She doesn't know yet." Erio grinned. "But if it's a boy she wants to name him Clyde, after Lindy-san's husband and Chrono-san's father."
Megane nodded and looked at Lutecia, who blinked and squirmed slightly. "Mother?"
"Nothing." Megane smiled softly.
"Um, how are Fate and Nanoha's babies doing?" Lutecia asked, curious and saddened that she couldn't go to that.
Caro laughed. "They've gotten so big! Alicia is always making noises at you, and Isamu never stops moving. The two of them always get into some kind of trouble."
"Sora's really calm, though," Erio added, and smiled. "He just lets you hold him."
"They sound like good children." Lutecia smiled softly and looked at her mother. "Mother... How was I when i was a baby? When you had me."
Megane laughed. "Oh, you were so quiet and good, but so stubborn. Once you wanted something, you found a way to get it no matter what you had to do. It drove me insane. I swear I'd leave you alone with Quint for baby-sitting and she'd almost have a heart attack."
"Subaru, Ginga and I knew each other?" Lutecia blinked, knowing who Quint was from her mother's stories of the other woman.
"When you were all quite young, yes. Though I'm not surprised none of you remember, it was a long time ago."
Lutecia nodded at that. "I see..." She just wished she could have remembered it. "...Caro, Erio... You were there when the babies were born... What was it like?"
Erio and Caro exchanged looks. "It was just so..." Erio trailed off.
"Amazing," Caro finished. "They were so little, and sweet, and everyone was gathered together and so excited and nervous... it really felt wonderful."
Lutecia smiled at that. "They sound good." She sighed softly. "They'll be six when I can go to Mid-childa, won't they?"
Megane sighed softly as she sat down. "Please, Lutecia..." She got her daughter's attention. "Please... Just have fun with Caro and Erio right now."
Lutecia hesitated, then she smiled and nodded. "Okay, Mother." Honestly, she couldn't help but think about it, but maybe there was still some hope yet.
Megane sighed and leaned back as Caro, Erio and Lutecia went around the back yard and actually started playing with each other, forgetting everything other than actually being children for once.
Six years was still a long time, she mused. But right now, all that mattered was the present; and that Lutecia got the chance to live the childhood she'd never had.
---
Stretching as she woke up, she stretched and blinked as there were a pair of strong arms around her body. "Huh?" Looking to the source of them, she gasped and smiled. "Chrono..." Amy teared up and hugged her husband, who smiled at hearing his voice. "I missed you."
"Missed you too. Sorry I was at work so much."
"It's okay." Amy smiled and snuggled happily. "This is such a lovely surprise."
"I figured I'd come home and surprise you after letting Nanoha go."
Amy kissed Chrono on the lips. "Thank you, Chrono. I missed you."
"I missed you too." Chrono kissed her softly. "I'll try to be home more often after our next baby is born."
Amy giggled. "That would be great, though if you did that I don't think Lindy-san would know what to do with herself. She's made a career out of fussing over me."
Chrono laughed at that. "I know mom can be slightly crazy about worrying about you. How are you holding up?"
Amy smirked and tapped him lightly on the nose. "Neither of you give me enough credit. I'm feeling just fine."
"Sorry, we're just worried about you, and your baby." He smiled at her. "I can't help but worry and love you. I wish I had been here last time you gave birth."
Amy laughed softly. "Thank you, but the doctors would have probably kicked you out of the room like they did to poor Yuuno when Nanoha and Fate were giving birth."
He gave her an amused look before kissing her. "My gods, you're so beautiful." He smiled more as she blushed in the low light.
"Liar. I'm all fat and pregnant." She said, lightly punching him in the shoulder.
He shook his head. "No... All I see is the an extremely mature and sexy woman that's giving birth to my child." The way her face lit up in embarrassment was more than he had hoped for, but he enjoyed the sheer enjoyment that shone in her eyes as he spoke.
"You're just being a flirt," Amy said lightly, but Chrono saw the delight on her face.
"Guilty as charged. What's my punishment?" There was a leer on his face as he chuckled softly.
Amy smiled sheepishly. "As tempted as I am to hold you down and punish you right now..." She trailed off, wincing slightly. Her body was still sore from the pregnancy, and the baby was especially active tonight.
Chrono nodded, smiling as he leaned up and kissed her on the lips softly. "Rain check then... How's he doing?"
Amy rolled her eyes. "So convinced it's going to be a boy, aren't you?" She hadn't found out just yet what gender her baby was going to be, she wanted to be surprised when the baby was born.
He smirked at her. "Why shouldn't I? Fate managed to call her child, why can't I call mine?"
She narrowed her eyes as she smirked softly. "Oh, I don't know, because I'm the one having the baby and you aren't?"
"But can't a father trust his instincts, too?"
"Instincts?" Amy stifled a laugh. "What kind of instincts?"
"I don't know. Just a feeling."
Amy laughed softly and kissed her husband. "You're a good husband. I'm glad we got married."
He smiled and hugged her gently. "Me too." He said softly, rubbing her back. "How are Karel and Leira?"
"Doing fine. Both are doing well in school, though they make a mess out of the house some days." She laughed, not upset about it. "Plus they're getting excited to have a little brother or sister running around with them. I think they're jealous of Vivio."
Chrono blinked. "You think?"
"Well, I don't know if jealous is the right word, but they always have a lot of fun with Alicia, Sora, and Isamu when they go to visit." Amy smiled. "And they always talk about them a lot. So I think they're looking forward to becoming older siblings."
"It'll be good for them." Chrono smiled at her. "I think the best thing in my childhood was when mother adopted Fate."
"I think so too. You relaxed a lot after that happened." She smiled and snuggled up to her husband. "But, Chrono... Thank you. I missed this." She closed her eyes as she relaxed against him.
Chrono closed his eyes with a smile, sighing softly as the two drifted off to sleep. The warmth, the feeling, the heartbeat of his wife... He had missed it.
---
Cinque yawned and stretched as she came out of her room, her one good eye was barely open as she trudged her way to the kitchen, put a pot of coffee on and then sat at the table "...mrnn..." She muttered out to Dieci, who was chewing on a bagel.
"Hi, sis. How're you?"
"...trd..." The small cyborg groaned softly. "...hngy... bgl..."
Dieci nodded and gave Cinque the uneaten half of her bagel.
Cinque took a huge bite out of it. "How are you even awake this early in the morning?" she asked as her speech patterns got back to normal, rubbing her eye sleepily.
Dieci shrugged and took her bagel out of her mouth to reply. "I've been up. Still studying the books Arf let me borrow from the Infinite Library."
Cinque blinked, or winked, depending on how you looked at it. "You mean that combat cyborg stuff?"
"Yeah."
The silver-haired cyborg nodded at hearing that. "Too bad none of us know the full details on how our bodies work."
"At least for the cybernetics." Dieci shook her head and leaned back in her seat. "There might be a few people that know a lot, but there's a few details that we don't know all that much about." Which made her wonder just how making combat cyborgs could be made.
"... Hey, Dieci, are you thinking of getting some experience with scientists like Mariel? They know a lot about the system... more than any of us do, anyway."
Dieci chuckled softly. "I need to get trained in a lot of things. It'll probably take me at least six to eight years to even be able to do basic work on any of our systems."
Cinque smiled softly. "You should be able to do it. I have faith in you."
"Thanks, Cinque." Dieci smiled and got up. "Want anything in your coffee?"
"Nah, just black is fine. I need to wake up."
Dieci nodded as she got a cup of coffee and poured Cinque some, before giving it to the small cyborg.
"Thank you." Cinque smiled and took a drink of the godly confection. Really, whoever had discovered coffee and tea was the best person to ever live, in Cinque's opinion.
Dieci chuckled. "You know, I never expected you to get hooked on coffee."
"It's Ginga's fault." Cinque lowered her cup slightly. "Sometimes when we couldn't sleep or I was thinking she'd have the bright idea of going out at night, and she got me hooked on the stuff."
"You were already hooked on tea, so one more caffeinated drink wouldn't hurt, huh?" Dieci said with a small laugh.
Cinque rolled her good eye as she got another bagel to eat before Wendi and Nove woke up. The two were surprisingly pretty good at cooking large amounts of food.
"Hey, Cinque, you've been home a lot lately, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"How are Nove and Wendi doing? Dad's been worried about them."
"He should come home more often." Cinque said, shaking her head. "As for our lesbian sisters, I have to say that they're acting like someone died." She sighed. "I rather miss Wendi's hyper-activeness and Nove's attitude."
Dieci frowned. "... Honestly... I'm kind of surprised they're taking it so badly."
"I'm not." Cinque said, getting a blink from her taller sister. "I read a lot. There are magazines on relationships all over the place. One of them mentioned something about how people that are new to relationships take things like this harder than those who have been in relationships longer."
Dieci hesitated. "... You know, honestly, I kind of expected this... because Ginga always felt like the odd one out, remember? Nove and Wendi together made sense, but Ginga was just... there."
Cinque shrugged and shook her head. "I wouldn't know. Does Ginga fit with Wendi and Nove? I can't answer that. I wouldn't know. Sometimes things happen that we don't foresee but can't complain about when it's over."
"So... What are we going to do with them?"
Cinque shrugged as she took another drink. "What should we do? Get them riled up, get them out of their current funk."
"...You want to get them angry?" Dieci sweat-dropped at her sister, who shook her head.
"Pissed off, not angry. I want them to lose their tempers and vent." Cinque said absolutely calmly. "I'll get Subaru and Teana before we do this."
"Subaru and Teana?" Now Dieci was confused.
"In case it gets out of hand." Cinque admitted to Dieci. "I'd rather have someone to pull out of the fire if they lose their tempers completely and try to kill someone."
Dieci nodded. "... All right, I'll go bug them, then." She stood up. "At worst, even if I can't get them angry, I can at least get them to talk a little bit."
Cinque smiled softly. "You do that, I'll give Subaru and Teana a call."
"All right, wish me luck." Dieci darted down the hallway, praying she wouldn't walk in on something incredibly awkward like she tended to do.
Knocking on the door, she didn't hear anything, so she opened the door and blinked at the empty room. "Uh..." What the heck? Wasn't this the room that Nove and Wendi slept? "Cinque-nee!" She called down the hallway.
"Yeah?" Cinque asked as she came down the hallway, wondering what Dieci needed. "What..." She trailed off, blink, err, winking as she looked at the room. "This is weird."
Dieci frowned. "Do you think they went out?"
Cinque shook her head. "No, I would have seen them heading out, or at least heard them." Wendi and Nove were not masters at moving silently, at all; she definitely would have heard them.
"So... if they're still in the house, where did they go?"
"Check the bathroom?" Cinque suggested and Dieci shrugged and did just that, the two stopped at the door, which was open, and there was no sign that anyone had been in the bathroom at all. "...This is weird." Cinque muttered and scratched her head. "...You check the guest room, I'll check Ginga's old room."
Dieci nodded and darted down the hall to the guest room as Cinque headed for Ginga's old room, shaking her head. This really was strange; where had those two gone?
She pushed the door open and blinked; a minute later, her eye softened.
The two were cuddling against each other on Ginga's bed, Wendi was on her beck while Nove was curled up to her side, Nove's head on Wendi's chest as the two slept. At least it was cute, even if both were naked.
Moving lightly on her feet, Cinque stepped into the room and went over to the bed, laughing softly when she saw just how squished together Nove and Wendi were; Ginga's bed wasn't as big as theirs. Very gently, she ran a hand through Nove's hair, knowing the short redhead woke sooner than Wendi. She'd seen Ginga do the gesture enough times to know it worked.
Groaning, the short redhead cracked an eye open and rolled over onto her back and blinked as she looked up. "Cinque...nee? What time is it?"
"Almost breakfast time." Cinque said softly and rubbed Nove's head gently. "Nove... We need to talk."
"About what?" Nove blinked at the serious look in her older sister's eye.
"Ah...."
Oh, hell, no point in lying.
"Ginga."
The effect was instantaneous, Nove sat up, looking at the short cyborg. "What? Is she okay?"
"Haven't heard anything." Cinque shook her head. "But... Aren't you taking Ginga's breaking up with you and Wendi... A little hard?" There was no point in dancing around the issue at hand.
Nove's eyes went dark and dangerous.
"I mean... to be honest... Ginga always seemed like the odd one out. You and Wendi never seemed to notice her much, it just seemed like... you kept her around for kicks or something."
Nove's face started to turn red as she gripped the sheets tightly.
"I mean, sure, Ginga's beautiful and there are guys and girls lusting after her all over the place, but maybe you two were just using her as some sort of sexual relief and..."
Cinque fell to the floor as Nove tackled her to the floor. "Ack!"
"How... DARE... YOU... THINK SO LITTLE OF HOW I FEEL?!" Nove glared, her eyes glowing as she straddled her smaller sister.
And for the first time since Subaru nearly killed her, Cinque actually found herself afraid for her life.
In the bed, Wendi stirred sleepily. "Nove? What's going on?"
So much for sleeping through an atomic explosion, Cinque thought. Despite her position, she kept talking. "Am I wrong? It's not like you or Wendi ever spent much time thinking about what Ginga means to you. You didn't even realize how she felt until after her mission with Teana."
Nove glared at her sister. "How... You..." She trembled, wanting to hit Cinque, but not able to will herself to do so. "Why are you asking me this?!" She yelled at Cinque, tears starting to fall down her face.
Cinque sighed. "I'm asking because unless you two think long and hard about what she means to you, she's going to come back and you'll both just hurt her more if you want her to come back without considering what she is to you." She cleared her throat. "You hear me, Wendi?"
Nove blinked a few times before growling and punching down.
"Nove!" Wendi jumped, before sighing as Nove's fist was just hitting the floor, and not Cinque's head.
"...What would you do, Cinque?" Nove asked, trembling and causing the silver-haired cyborg to sigh at her.
"I've never been in a relationship before, Nove, I can't tell you. But, you have to think about what she means to you. Do you need her, can you live without her? Or is she just there for the fun of it?" Cinque reached up with a hand and gently cupped her younger sister's cheek and rubbed gently. "I care too much for you and Wendi to see you hurt again."
"And it isn't just you." Cinque smiled sadly. "I love Ginga, too. Seeing the three of you hurt like this is hard. I don't doubt that you love each other, but is it really fair to her if you could live without her? Is it really fair to you two, to keep hurting because she's hurting?"
Nove slumped helplessly. "Cinque...." Her voice was anguished.
"I know you love her. I know that. I know she loves you, too. But she's gone away to figure herself out, and I think it's only fair that you and Wendi do the same thing before she comes home."
Wendi sat back, sighing before smiling softly. "Cinque... Always looking after us..." She sniffled softly. "What... Do you think we should give up?"
Cinque's eye softened at hearing that. "...I can't say that it's right to give up. But, if you two can't..." She trailed off, trying to figure out what to say next. "If you two, after taking a good hard look at the relationship, can't see Ginga as anything more than something as something that you need to help be comfortable, then... Maybe it wouldn't work out in the long run." She sighed heavily. "I... I don't want you three to hurt worse than you are now."
Cinque squirmed out from under Nove. "With that in mind, I'm going to go find Dieci. We panicked when you weren't in your room. What brought you two in here, of all places?"
"...We were missing her and our bed felt too big without her with us in it." Wendi rubbed the back of her head nervously.
Cinque smiled at her. "Get dressed you two, let's have some breakfast and then you two... Sit down and talk about it."
The two redheads nodded quietly. Satisfied, Cinque stood up, brushed herself off, and went to go find Dieci, leaving the pair alone to get dressed and gather their thoughts.
---
Nanoha smiled as she dismissed the students from training. "I missed this." She said, looking at Vita, who grinned at her.
"Glad that you're back." Vita smiled as Nanoha laughed.
"Not completely. But I can train students normally." Nanoha smiled and ruffled Vita's hair, causing the small redhead to flush slightly.
"Motherhood's screwed with your mind." Vita chuckled at her friend.
Nanoha rolled her eyes at that. "I think you're jealous."
"Bah!" Vita snorted. "No way." She shook her head, smirking as she saw who was coming to the training grounds. "Hey, Ferret-boy." She waved at Yuuno. "I'll.. I'm just going to head in and do some paperwork. See you two later."
Nanoha blinked. "Ah, Vita-chan?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Vita waved a hand as she left. "I just remembered, I have stacks of paperwork to do. Don't worry about me."
And with that, Vita was gone.
"... Weird."
Yuuno laughed softly. "She doesn't have that much paperwork I bet." He looked at Nanoha and shook his head. "So, how was training?" He asked as Nanoha recalled Raising Heart back to its gem form.
"Not bad." She smiled and walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck softly and kissing him gently. "I'm a little out of shape, I think, but the new kids are pretty good."
"Oh?" Yuuno chuckled. "Any potentials like Subaru or Teana?"
"A couple caught my eye, but those two were once in a lifetime kids." Nanoha smiled. "You look happy."
"Just finished talking to some of my old clan members, actually."
"How'd it go?" Nanoha asked, completely curious.
"Good. They actually want to meet you, Fate and our children." He couldn't keep the smile off of his face if he wanted to.
Nanoha laughed. "And you were so nervous."
"Can you blame me?" Yuuno smiled sheepishly. "It's been years since I saw any of them after meeting you and Fate."
Nanoha laughed softly. "I guess so. I remember when I told mom and dad about Vivio. I was rather nervous about how they'd take to me having a daughter."
"How'd they take it?"
Nanoha smiled at the memory. "Mom took one look at Vivio, picked her up, and carried her into the kitchen asking her if she wanted homemade caramel milk."
"Sounds like your mother." Yuuno smiled at Nanoha, before kissing her softly.
Closing her eyes, Nanoha smiled into the kiss as she returned it, pressing her body against his. Groaning softly, she rather liked this feeling.
Remembering where they were--just barely, it was always hard for Yuuno to think straight when Nanoha was pressing so close--Yuuno managed to break the kiss and keep his head from spinning. "Ah... what's Fate up to?"
Nanoha sighed softly. "She got called in on a case." Seeing Yuuno's blink and the way he tensed, she shook her head. "Not field work. Just overseeing some paper-work and investigating the after-math of the case and helping some people out."
"Awfully soon for her to go back to that kind of work, isn't it?"
Nanoha sighed. "Chrono-kun said it's odd, but there's nothing she can do about it since she was on leave for so long. She's one of the TSAB's best Enforcers, after all."
Yuuno nodded and let go of Nanoha, smiling as she took his hand. "So..." The two started to leave the field together. "Will she be okay?"
Nanoha nodded, smiling. "Oh yeah, Fate-chan's just helping the clean-up and dealing with the paper-work. That's all."
"I thought Fate didn't like paperwork."
Nanoha winced. "She doesn't, to be honest, but she really has no choice since she isn't strong enough yet to go on active duty. And right now, I think she prefers the paperwork to being out on duty."
Yuuno nodded at hearing that. "So... What's the plan for the rest of the day?"
Nanoha smiled. "Actually, I have some free time so I was going to go check on Fate-chan...."
Yuuno saw the way she was looking at him and shook his head. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I have to go back to the library and help Arf. Some kid was checking out our summoning books, and who knows what will happen if I don't go back."
Nanoha blinked a few times. "...How bad could it be?"
Yuuno sweat-dropped, he really didn't want to know.
---
"Get the treasure booty, boyos!" A pirate captain yelled as he pointed his sword out to the library.
"I'm a girlie, fat-ass!" A large-breasted pirate yelled and kicked the captain in the butt.
Arf groaned. "Summoning Leprechaun pirates that have human-sized robots?" Okay, the robots were big for the Leprechauns, but it was still ridiculous. She glared at the book. "What the heck is in these things?!" She ducked a blast from one of the robots. "And what's with that Ninja Pirate!?" She screamed, wondering why that guy had a sword strapped between his legs.
"Pirate Ninja!" One of the Leprechauns "corrected" her.
"Whatever!" Arf yelled at him.
---
Yuuno groaned. "Nanoha... You just doomed Arf, I swear it."
Nanoha pouted and nodded at him. "Alright, Yuuno-kun. Tell Arf hi for me."
"Assuming she's still in one piece." Yuuno gave Nanoha a light kiss before he left to return to the library, having a bad feeling that he was about to walk into something he wouldn't like.
Nanoha smiled and shook her head, then left the area. She knew Fate's office was nearby, and she still wanted to visit her and see how she was doing. It had been hard for Fate to leave the babies behind; hard for Nanoha as well, but Fate seemed to take it worse.
---
Fate sighed and looked over the paperwork. The case wasn't too bad, just a lot of messed up stuff was going on. Still, it didn't look like anyone was going to need to get arrested or be put on trial. "Just some kids who grabbed a Lost Logia by accident." She shook her head, smiling softly. At least some people had come together over the events.
"Almost like looking in a mirror of our pasts, huh, Fate-chan?" Nanoha said from behind her, causing the blond to gasp and jump out of her chair.
"Nanoha." Fate took a deep breath. "You startled me."
"Nyahaha, sorry." Ever curious, Nanoha gently wrapped her arms around Fate's neck and rested her head against the blond's shoulder. "I just wanted to check on you. I know you don't like doing paperwork."
Fate chuckled and stretched. "Just a big pain of formalities right now. Just some kids that found something they shouldn't have and it went a little crazy, that's all." She shook her head, smiling. "Nothing serious is going to happen to them, they just need to answer some more questions, but they'll be fine."
"I'm glad." Nanoha smiled at her lover. "So... Fate-chan... If you're done... Wanna spend some time with me? Yuuno-kun had to go check on the library to make sure that Arf was okay."
Fate smirked up at her lover. "Oh? You have something in mind?"
"Maybe some time around town, a little fun with just the two of us, catch a movie, you know, just spend some time together." Nanoha smiled softly. "How about it?"
"What about Vivio and the babies?" Fate asked, frowning slightly.
Nanoha rubbed the back of her head. "Eh heh... Mom and Lindy-san said that they'd watch them tonight."
"Oh?" Fate smiled as Nanoha nodded. "What's wrong, Nanoha? You aren't like this normally."
Nanoha blushed softly. "Um..." She poked her fingers together. "Can I just spend some time with you for now? I... I just want to spend some time with you and Yuuno-kun, that's all."
Fate lifted a brow before she turned in her chair, gently pulling her lover into her lap, stroking her hair. "I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm just surprised. It isn't like you."
Nanoha pouted softly. "Why do you say that?" Seeing the look she was given, Nanoha sighed. "Fine... I... I just wanted to spend some time with you, no children, no responsibilities, just two adults having fun."
Fate had to laugh. "So first you looked for Yuuno since he's usually free, but he's busy with the library."
Nanoha nodded.
"... I swear, Nanoha, I think you got spoiled from being off of work." Amused, Fate kissed her lover gently.
Nanoha chuckled after they let the kiss go. "Maybe, maybe... But I think having lovers and children spoiled me more."
"Oh?" Fate smiled, gently running her fingers through Nanoha's hair in a gesture that pleased them both as she pulled her lover closer. "You think?"
Nanoha nodded, sighing happily as she leaned against Fate. "Yeah, I do." Nanoha smiled and kissed Fate on the cheek. "Love you so much, Fate-chan."
"Love you too, Nanoha." Despite herself, Fate sighed. "I still have some reports left to look over, but I don't think Onii-chan will mind if you keep me company so long as I get them down. We can go out together when I'm done, does that sound good?" She kissed Nanoha lightly on the nose.
Nanoha giggled and got off of Fate. "Sure. I can do some stuff while I wait." She blushed at the raised eyebrow. "I can put it off till tomorrow, but I might as well work on it now."
"Training schedules?"
"Just over-looking what Vita-chan and Yuuno-kun have set up, that's all." Nanoha chuckled nervously.
Fate blinked. "Is it very different from what you were doing before?"
"Not really, but they set up a certain system to balance things out, so I want to take a look at it and see how it works just so I know I'm not messing anything up."
The two were working at their consoles for longer than they had originally thought, but in the end, everything was taken care of and the two stretched as they got up. "So... Where should we go?" Fate asked Nanoha, smiling softly.
Nanoha grabbed Fate's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze even as she laughed softly. "Would you be mad at me if I said I honestly have no clue? I just want to spend time with you."
Fate laughed softly. "No. But, would it be wrong if I wanted to give Vivio a call?"
Nanoha smiled and shook her head. "No... I was going to tell Vivio that we were gone too." She giggled softly.
"And the babies?"
Nanoha chuckled. "Mom and Lindy-san wanted to watch them for tonight. Dad's coming along just for fun."
Fate nodded, smiling and pulled up a communication screen and punching a few numbers. "Still, I just..." She trailed off, smiling as Vivio's face, and her one friend, Fate couldn't recall her name off the top of her head, appeared on the screen. "Vivio."
"Fate-mama! Nanoha-mama!" Vivio smiled brightly. "Is work going good?"
"It's going very well. We're actually done for the day." Fate smiled gently. "What are you up to right now?"
"Oh, just hanging out and keeping Grandma Momoko and Grandma Lindy and Grandpa company while they play with Alicia and Sora and Isamu." Vivio grinned. "Isamu was really fussy when he woke up. Grandma Momoko's holding him right now, she said he had a nightmare."
Fate frowned softly. "Is he okay?" When Vivio nodded, she sighed softly. "Nanoha and I are going to spend some time alone tonight. Will you be okay with your grandparents?"
Vivio nodded and grinned at Fate. "Yeah. You're always so happy when you spend some time with Nanoha-mama or Yuuno-papa."
Fate laughed. "Thank you, Vivio. Be a good girl for your grandparents, okay?"
"I know!" Vivio nodded and grinned.
"Vivio, make sure you get plenty of sleep, okay?" Nanoha smiled at her daughter. "Help your grandparents get your brothers and sister to bed too, okay?"
"Okay, Nanoha-mama!" Vivio smiled happily. "I'll be a good girl!"
"All right, good girl." Nanoha smiled, then blinked. "Ah... I'm sorry, but who is your friend?"
Vivio laughed softly. "It's Corona, don't you remember, Nanoha-mama?"
Nanoha laughed at that. "Oh yeah, sorry. You grew your hair out, last time I saw you, you had short hair."
The other girl smiled and shook her head. "It's okay, Nanoha-san."
"Anyway...." Nanoha laughed sheepishly. "You both be good girls, okay?"
"We will!"
Fate smiled as the screen turned off. "I'm glad." She smiled softly. "I still feel guilty when I'm not there for our children, Nanoha."
"I know." Nanoha gave Fate's hand a gentle squeeze. "I do too, but they'll be all right, Fate-chan. You know they'll be all right."
"I know." Fate smiled softly. "So... Should we just head to town then? See what's up and take our time?"
Nanoha grinned at her blond lover. "I thought you'd never ask."
__________________
My fics Due to certain things, I am not here, find me over on TFF.
Hayate grimaced as she blocked an attack and countered with one of her own. The blast sent her sailing backwards a few feet and she skidded slightly before stopping. In front of her stood three people with a male who was no older than ten keeping the lead. He wore fire red armor on his body that reflected the light brightly as flames flickered off of the metal. A helmet covered his head and the upper half of his face, angling down just over his eyes. Behind him two young girls stood, one with flowing purple hair and the other with short pink strands. "The trio, huh?" Hayate mused while staying on alert for surprise attacks. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"We just want the relics," the pink haired girl told Hayate lightly. "Please let us take them without a battle."
Hayate smiled at her. "Sorry little girl, I can't allow that."
"Hayate!" Fate landed next to the girl with a small crouch before standing and looking at the people in front of her. "Erio, Caro, Lutecia?" The two girls looked at her curiously while the male smiled. "What are you three doing?"
"We," Erio spoke for the group, "are trying to reclaim the relics that were stolen from us."
Fate walked forward, ignoring the fact that the two summoners went on guard. "Ifrit...You shouldn't have him yet."
Caro looked shocked but Erio just smiled more. "You know a lot about my armor."
"I do," Fate told him softly. "Erio, why are you working for Jail?"
"I'm not," He told her simply. "Jail helped me and my friends in the past. Right now he assist us and we assist him when needed. You could call it a mutual understanding."
Fate looked back at the girls. "Caro, Lutecia, same with you?"
The purple haired one spoke first. "How do you know our names?"
Fate thought about answering honestly but chose not to. "I read reports. My name is Fate."
"Well then, Fate-san," Caro voiced, holding up her left hand. "May I request the relics that were taken from us?"
"I'm sorry, I can't allow-"
Caro nodded, the gem on her hand glowing. "Ifrit, please."
Erio's armor suddenly flared to life with fire, making Fate take a few steps back from them. "Well then," Erio smirked, reading his spear type weapon. "We will be taking what's ours back if you don't mind."
~**~
"Nanoha!" Vice's voice made the woman in the helicopter quickly turn from Vivio to look at the pilot's seat. "We have a magic signal from a rooftop three hundred yards from here!"
"A charge attack!?"
"Think so, can you block it? I'm going to try and lose the lock!" Vice shifted the aircraft to the side harshly.
Nanoha grimaced and slid the belts on the seat holding Vivio, frowning as the small girl winced in her sleep at being restrained. "Sorry Vivio, but you have to be safe." With one more fast check of her passenger, Nanoha moved to the side of the helicopter. "Raising Heart?"
"Yes, my master." The wheelchair moved on its own, locking in place on the floor as it moved downward and to the side to form a small torrent. The metal on the helicopter shifted and formed a glass shield to block the wind.
Nanoha scanned the area and saw the ball of glowing energy on top of a building close to them. Her hand raised and her blue eyes focused hard, forming several layers of barriers out in front of herself. The pink magical circles followed her hand, each one growing thicker and thicker with each passing second. Moments passed and the blast was fired,crashing through several of the barriers and closing in on the aircraft. "Vice, brace for impact!"
The last shield managed to stop the attack but the force made the chopper spin a moment before starting to stabilize. "Go back!" Nanoha commanded, putting her hand out again and forming a circle to materialize several magenta balls of energy. "I can get them!"
Vice grimaced. "No can do, the attack scrambled my equipment. I need to pull us before another one stops it all together. We can't risk it with a civilian on board!"
"Dang it..." Nanoha growled and glared at the building, sending her attacks to distract them so they could get away. "You're right, retreat for now." Her hands moved over her armrest of her wheelchair and two monitors appeared before her. "Subaru, Teana, what is your location?"
Teana answered first, obviously running down a street. "We're a little bit ahead of your chopper, heading to the building!"
Nanoha smiled. "Good. Engage and restrain the tar-" Her words stopped when the people on the building leapt off, falling to the top of another office before seemingly disappearing into it. "What in the...?"
"Nanoha-san?" Subaru asked curiously.
"...Never mind, the two are off my radar and out of visual..." Nanoha looked at the building once more before allowing herself to be pulled back into the main hold of their aircraft. "Teana, Subaru, we are going to make a landing nearby, meet us at these coordinates; we have precious cargo on board."
"Ma'am!"
~**~
"Erio-kun!" Caro's voice made the boy fighting Fate jump back to land near her. "I just got contact from our friends, they had to retreat after their attack failed. Requesting our assistance, they found what we're after."
"Right." Erio spun his spear and met Fate's eyes, wiping a streak of blood from a cut on his cheek. "Nice playing with you Fate. We have to go now."
Fate put a hand on Hayate's shoulder when she moved forward to keep them engaged in combat. "Right."
Lutecia hummed, glancing over at them, before smiling. With a small wave, she stood between the two people and formed a magical circle. Seconds later and they vanished from site.
"Fate-chan!?"
Fate twirled her cloak and slapped away something on her uniform before reaching out and grabbing a buzzing insect in her hand. "They're going to track us using this. With it, we can lure them anywhere we want to continue this fight. Right now, we need to get the relics Vivio lost in the sewer. Can you deploy Nanoha's students that are in the city to search for them?"
Hayate stared at the blonde for several long moments before she grinned proudly. "Well thought out. I'm impressed." Fate nodded at her and formed a containment unit for Lutecia's insect, placing it inside and sealing it.
Spoiler for AlternativeS 3-8:
~**~
Fate opened the door to the hospital room and stepped inside quickly, almost not closing the door behind herself in her hurry. "How is she?" She asked softly while making her way to Vivio's bedside. The small girl, no more than four years old, was fast asleep on the bed. Eyes closed and breathing steady, Vivio showed no signs of knowing she had company.
"The doctors said she will be fine," Nanoha told her friend in a quiet voice as to not disturb the girl's sleep. "She has a few scrapes and bruises but mainly she seems to have over exerted herself trying to get away from the people keeping her."
"I see..." Fate sighed out thankfully while pulling a chair up to sit by her. Red eyes noticed a small plush bunny laying beside the girl and smiled at it fondly. "You got her a stuffed animal?"
"Mmn, I thought she could use a friend to be there for her when she woke up."
"Mama..." Both girls looked at the girl sadly.
"...Hey, Fate-chan?" Nanoha looked over at her. "This girl, Vivio, she's... our daughter in your world right?"
Fate slowly nodded. "...Yeah."
Nanoha looked back at the small girl, curiously taking her in. "I see..."
The blonde shifted uneasily in her seat. 'I can't take care of this Vivio, I have my little girl waiting for me back home... But Nanoha isn't really capable of taking care of a girl Vivio's age right now... Between her job, not having me to share responsibility with, and her being more limited in this universe...'
"To be honest, I don't really know what I'll do." Nanoha moved her eyes from Vivio over to Fate. "I know I took her in, but things are different here. I'm not sure if I can handle raising a child on my own." A long breath was taken. "For teh time being, we should let the church look after her. Maybe they will have someone who can help her."
"...Yeah." Fate agreed softly, eyes downcast. 'I can't force her to make the same decisions she made in my world... If she can't handle it, then I'm sure Vivio will be placed in a loving home that will take care of her.' Fate nodded to herself. "There are a few things about her that we have to take care of, first." Fate stood up and moved to the end of the bed. "We should talk about this at home while Vivio rests."
"... I'd kind of like to stay with her a little bit longer, if that's okay."
Fate blinked, but still agreed. "I don't mind... I think I'm going to meet with Hayate, though... I'll see you later?"
"You're not going to stay with her?"
"She's... I can't raise her, and she doesn't know who I am." Fate told her sadly. "She's not my daughter."
"...But that doesn't mean that you don't feel attached to her, does it?"
Fate looked down sadly. "Of course it doesn't. Maybe that's why its so hard to leave right now...Nanoha, I can't stay here."
Nanoha gave her friend a sad smile. "Even though its hard to leave?"
"Its harder to stay," Fate whispered softly as she started walking to the door again, closing it gently behind herself.
The woman stared at the door for several long moments before a scared, weak voice beside her once again called for her mother. "Don't worry, Vivio," Nanoha whispered softly down at her. "I'm here, don't be scared." Her palms were placed around Vivio's small hand and she felt her lips turn up when the girl tried to grip one of her fingers. "I'm here..."
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
For me, the major draw of a universe is the characters *and* the setting. It's the main reason I write and read; because I want to see the adventures of these characters continue in that universe.
It's really hard for me to read a fic that diverges too much from the tone of the series. If it's light and fluffy, someone writing an extreme dark/horror fic seems incredibly out of place. Or someone who screws around too much with the characterization or pairings of a series. I mean, if you're gonna change it and throw out half the conventions or more, why don't you just do an original story instead? Messing too much with it, just screams "I don't like what the creator did, so I'm making it MY way."
If you don't like certain aspects of the series, there are many more out there that would probably suit you better.
It's partially why I don't particularly like reading AUs, crossovers, or fusions. It turns the world I know into something unrecognizable, and thus a fanfic author has immediately failed to make a connection. Not that I'm putting down people who write such; just stating my reasons for why I don't particularly care for them.
I was originally going to write a fic with the Tenchi OAV continuity. Then I saw the third OAV series, and gave up on that, because I didn't like where it was headed. I would have had to change too much.
Pairings is another issue. If there is decent support for the pairing in the canon, I can usually go with it, ie, Nanoha/Fate or Nanoha/Yuuno both are plausible. But reading a fic where Chrono leaves Amy for Arf doesn't come across as believable for me (except as a humorous spamfic, which someone is now going to write...).
It always reeks to me of the author saying: "Well, I hate this character, but I like these two, so I'm gonna destroy the one I hate while bringing these two into a quick lovey-dovey relationship, despite the fact that they never showed these kind of feelings before."
One thing, I find that the character limit on these forums is WAAAAAY too small!
I think your chapters are just waaaay too big, oi x.o
Quote:
Originally Posted by SulliMike23
Hey 00-Raiser, when's the next chapter for your Decade crossover gonna be done?
Dunno. I have some papers I should be working on, but I'm a hardcore procrastinator. They're both due on Tuesday, but I have Friday - Sunday off, and I have plenty of time on Monday between classes to work on them too.
I should also finish off my 2nd Vivio centric fic, and the recent drama repeat on Nanochan inspired a Yuunoha fic, and there's also a solemn Remembrance Day style fic I wanna do.
So much to do... Well, I'm watching Kamen Rider Den-O right now, so that'll keep my interest in that fic on the top of the list. There's only the big fight chapter left to write anyways.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanya01
@ Sulli, that's kinda rude and demanding. It took RadiantBeam and myself six days to get chapter 29 out.
Don't worry about it Nanya. I can usually shoot out a chapter in a few hours. Of course they're not as long as yours x.o
If anyone wants an update, though, it's probably best to PM/visitor message me about it rather than make a post.
"Get the treasure booty, boyos!" A pirate captain yelled as he pointed his sword out to the library.
"I'm a girlie, fat-ass!" A large-breasted pirate yelled and kicked the captain in the butt.
Arf groaned. "Summoning Leprechaun pirates that have human-sized robots?" Okay, the robots were big for the Leprechauns, but it was still ridiculous. She glared at the book. "What the heck is in these things?!" She ducked a blast from one of the robots. "And what's with that Ninja Pirate!?" She screamed, wondering why that guy had a sword strapped between his legs.
"Pirate Ninja!" One of the Leprechauns "corrected" her.
2009-11-05, 07:58
IT Support
. Yay for the Amy inclusion! 
